Crafters Corner : Foamiran Flowers Tutorial and 3 D project tips

Hi friends,Dr Sonia here and sharing a DIY Shaped Drawer + Easel card decorated with lots of handmade foamiran flowers. Sharing a video Tutorial on how to easily make simple foamiran flowers plus a few tips and tricks about how to make a shaped drawer.

All the flowers you see were made using foamiran . The pink ones were made from really thin foamiran and the white ones from slightly thicker sheets[ even genuine foamiran varies in thickness from sheet to sheet so dont worry if you discover that some sheets are thinner than others!]

The butterfly was made using air drying clay and a clay mold, and made to sparkle using microfine glitter from dress my craft.

I used beautiful Lemoncraft papers to line the card and box and added a lovely background texture using my favorite Scrapberry's Petals Pattern Stencil and Prima White Crackle texture paste.

I used the Cheery Lynn tea rose die to make a tiny rose from pink foamiran and hung a bottle from the rose. The bottle is filled with tiny dress my craft little hearts and micro mini pearls!

Foamiran Flower Tutorial

Here is the short video Tutorial

More tips while making foamiran flowers

If you are diecutting foamiran sheets die cut 3- 5 flowers in one go depending on the thickness of your sheets. This helps to flatten your foamiran sheets even more!
Heating your flowers is completely optional but fun and can give a different look- In this project the buds were created using same Cheery Lynn sunflower die but after heating with the iron-box to curl the petals.
Adhesive- the easiest is hot glue and you can get a nice permanent bond but do remember to tackle those pesky glue strings while you make the flower and as soon as you glue otherwise your project will look like a nest with all those strings!!!

DIY Shaped Drawer - Tips
I love making 3 D projects and here are a few of my favorites: 3D House shaped Organizer, 3 D Garden Shed, Shabby Chic Dresser.
They are time consuming and not easy to construct from scratch but very gratifying nevertheless!! So I though of sharing tips I have discovered over the years especially for making 3 D projects.
The seasoned crafter will be familiar with the tips I am sharing...this part of the post is more for those starting out in this very rewarding part of our paper-crafting hobby.

If you are a hobby crafter or a professional and you want to make something sturdy and long lasting...chipboard is your best friend!! You can buy chipboard in different thickness and choose the thickness you feel will be best suited for your project or recycle sturdy boxes and calendars as a source of your chipboard.I recycled an old desktop calendar to make the sides of the drawer box in this project.

Cutting:since only a few dies like the BigZ or the special Spellbinders Contour dies can cut chipboard your best option is a craft knife. You can start off with the local ones and when you feel you need something better you can explore the branded Craft Knife options
Cutting Mat : If you are just starting out and don't have a self healing cutting mat a good alternative is the kitchen chopping board .In case you are thinking of buying a cutting mat you will be surprised to know that there are quite a lot of nice options . I have an A2 mat from Morn Sun and a magnetic one by WRMK . The morn sun one has been with me more than 7 yrs and is a good , sturdy and economic option but after I got the magnetic mat that has been my go to option since the mat is large and easier to use for big projects plus it is magnetic and since the ruler is metal your chipboard will be held more securely without slipping while cutting[ that means less stress on your hands!]
Cutting Curves

The easiest way to cut a curve is to use a plate or any other flat edged object at home. Mark the center of your chipboard edge and use the grids of the cutting mat to help you get that perfect symmetry which will later help give that neat look.

Sandpaper is a good investment for crafters who are interested in making projects with chipboard as it is super useful to smoothen the cutting edges and shave off millimeters off an edge! You can get these from the hardware shops and they come in different grits--- pick up a couple of different ones as they are super super useful not only for chipboard but for decoupage and mixed media as well.

Adhesive - If you are making an album then choosing an acid free adhesive is super important so that you dont destroy your beautiful papers and photos several years down the lane. You can use the good old fevicol mr but it's drying time is crazily slow and not my preferred adhesive for quickly making 3 d projects. A fabulous quick drying alternative is Aleene's tacky glue. Recently I tried Elmer's Craft Bond tacky glue but found it too runny ! The hot glue gun is not a good option for creating durable projects unless you are using it to stick foam as the hot glue undergoes variations based on the temperature and in a country like India where the climate changes drastically you can have projects literally falling apart if you relied on only the glue gun!
Supportive Strips. Any kind of glue takes time to dry when making 3 d projects and if you want nice perpendicular walls use strips of carstock to hold the pieces together like int his project : Garden Shed or for a super quick method use carpenter's adhesive tape[masking tape]

The drawer box has lining of foam on the base and here is the side view showing dangling faux leather tassels[ from dress my craft] and the crystal feet!