Be yourself by Gill Humphrey

It really is so very important to be yourself, we are all unique and staying true to who you are and what you love is what makes you you. For my piece this week I have used the Warm Breeze Collection by Craft O'Clock - why because one of my favourite things to do is to fussy cut. I use it as a mindfulness exercise to look closely at the papers and to ensure I don't cut myself as I always use a scalpel for this job (I am a surgeon so that comes naturally to me) but you could just as easily use a pair of good quality small scissors. One essential tip if using a scalpel is to have a fresh blade - it means that the blade cuts instead of drags and you are then less likely to injury yourself.

My piece has been created on an 8 x 8 MDF Chunkie which was assembled using That's Crafty! Multi Purpose Glue Pen. Having constructed the base I covered the surface with wood effect paper from the 12 x12 collection and then put it aside whilst I prepared my top element.

I selected a contrasting piece of paper from the 12 x 12 collection and trimmed it so it measured around 0.5cm less than the base. Using scissors I scruffed the edges adding some tears along the way and then adhered this using foam tape to the base. Paper scraps were then tucked underneath the torn areas creating another layer of visual interest but in a very economical way.

The 6 x 6 Warm Breeze Paper Collection has multiple copies of each pattern making it ideal for using for decoupage pieces - I chose the paper with the floral wreath and fussy cut the whole wreath from one piece and multiple elements from the remaining two pieces. 

I used a combination of my fingers and a ball tool to add shape to my floral elements and then layered these elements on to the pink paper using glue gel to do this.

Layers 1 and 2

Layer 3 in place

Having cut out the flowers I was left with a number of part leaves - I shaped them in the same way I had the flowers and then added them to the wreath carefully disguising that they were only part elements by tucking them underneath the other elements. 

Next I added a tag from the fussy cut sheet that comes in the 12 x 12 pack and some shabby ribbon.  I wanted to add another textural element and taking the inspiration from the little butterflies on the tag I chose some Craftyboards from the balloons and birds set and also the bees and butterflies set covering them with Shabby Pink embossing powder before tucking them in to the wreath. Finally I cut some words out from the Warm Breeze Journal Extras pack and adhered them in place.

I hope that this bright and cheerful project will bring some sunshine into your homes as we enter what can often be a very dreary season.