A Floral-tasticly good project from the new book- Kanzashi in Bloom

I love making flowers to decorate things and I am always on the lookout for a new way and here one is:
Kanzashi in Bloom: 20 Simple Fold-and-Sew Projects to Wear and Give
By
Diane Gilleland

Kanzashi tsumami is the Japanese art of folding delicate squares of silk into three-dimensional flower petals. In the United States, the online craft culture has sprouted a renewed interest in making Kanzashi with American crafters devising simplified ways to create these gorgeous fabric flowers and incorporating more user-friendly materials like cotton and synthetic fabrics along with the traditional silks.

Kanzashi in Bloom takes the American interpretation of Kanzashi a step further, presenting modern, more easily executed flower designs as elements in a variety of fun, fashionable, hip craft projects. Kanzashi in Bloom offers advice on materials, three petal-folding styles, and techniques for assembling a Kanzashi flower. You’ll also find instructions for 20 projects to wear and give as gifts, including:

• Tiny blossom earrings
• Flowers-in-your-hair clips
• The happiest belt buckle ever
• Elegant floral gift topper

Well since I have to test-drive every craft technique I can possible get my hands on and this one is no exception. I followed the impeccable directions and let's just say I tend to have to try a couple of times when I am doing origami, such is not the case here, first shot out I got it! The photos matched the words and explained everything so clearly.

As you can see in the first photo with the book cover I made a pink gingham flower using two of the folding techniques, the pointed and the round. I think my choice was a bit floppy but I am still tickled with the result. I glued it onto a hair clip and I am wearing it while I type!

So if you are like me and like, flowers, origami, fabric, and making cute little things to embellish and decorate just about anything I bet you will like this book too!

Thanks fellow Church of Crafter for writing such a good book.

Sweater Surgery Flower with a little Help from Sherri Haab's New Book- Felt, Fabric, and Fiber Jewelry

Hot off the press:Felt, Fabric, and Fiber Jewelry: 20 Beautiful Projects to Bead, Stitch, Knot, and Braid

From Amazon:
More exciting ideas from crafting diva Sherri Haab
* Twenty gallery-quality jewelry projects--necklaces, earrings, more
* Simple introductions to fabric crafting
* Top-selling author!

Sherri Haab knows jewelry. Sherri Haab knows fiber and fabric. Sherri Haab knows crafting. Is there anything Sherri Haab can’t do? Frankly, no. She’s the Superwoman of crafting books! Now she shows her readers how to make stunning gallery-quality jewelry by combining fabric, ribbon, thread, cord, beads, buttons, and other materials with a variety of needlework techniques, all engagingly explained. Each chapter of Felt, Fabric, and Fiber Jewelry spotlights a different technique: embroidery, felting, crochet, tatting, braiding, and macramé. Then there are stunning necklaces, pendants, bracelets, and rings to make, all in a fresh, appealing style.

Twenty projects mean great looks and great gifts for any occasion. We can’t all be Sherri Haab...but we can do crafts the way Sherri Haab does them!

About the Author
Sherri Haab is the best-selling author of The Art of Metal Clay and many other crafting titles. She has more than 2.5 million books in print worldwide. She lives in Springville, Utah.

From me:
I "heart" Sherri! I have met her at trade shows and have several of her books, let's just say I am slightly short of being a stalker of her designs.

So when I got a copy of Felt, Fabric, and Fiber Jewelry: 20 Beautiful Projects to Bead, Stitch, Knot, and Braid I savored it emidiatly!

And of course I had to make something from it right away and I decided to start with the cover piece. But I don't craft directly from books I like to take my inspiration from them and put my spin on it. And being that this is Sweater Surgery, well you know. These flowers are made from wool felt in the book so it really isn't so much of a stretch to make them out of recycled felted wool sweaters.

I used the included patterns from the book.
And I followed the directions and stiffened them up a bit with-what else Stiffy! from Plaid. I also let them dry over a tiny bowls I covered with foil.
I popped a tiny black pom pom in the middle and glued the flower on a ring blank. I really like biiiiigggg rings right now!
I can't wait to make more projects from this book-they all are so good! Thanks Sherri!