Craft Social Swap

A couple weeks ago, I took part in the I Heart Craft Social swap (http://www.craftsocial.net) organized through SwapBot (http://www.swap-bot.com/).  We were given a template of a heart and then free reign to do whatever we were inspired to do within the guidelines of that template.

This is what I made.  Sorry the picture’s a bit blurry – the surface was so shiny and reflective that it was difficult for me to get a decent shot.  The heart itself is made from a piece of scrap cardboard.  I then covered it with my favourite metal repair tape (used for repairing ductwork) and rubber stamped the clock and key shapes using Staz On ink.  In the upper left corner is a simple metal washer that has been wrapped with copper wire, bottom left is a piece of copper strapping (purchased at my local hardware store), and bottom center are some little locking washers that resemble the look of gears.  Over to the right is a metal nut and above that is a small plastic Valentine token I found at the Dollarama.  I covered it with more of the metal tape, pressing around the shape of the heart so it looks embossed and then adding some ink to emphasize the shapes.  I added a key charm (it had been an earring) to the center of the heart and then the heart shaped lock necklace (from the same set as the earring) at the top of the heart.  I wanted some sort of hanger on it so that it could be worn as a necklace or hung up somewhere as an ornament of sorts and when I found this necklace and earring set at Dollarama, I knew I had found the perfect thing to use.  Instead of adding jump rings and a chain or beadwork for it, I simply glued the premade lock necklace onto my heart and voila!  It added the lock detail that the pendant needed and serves as a necklace/hanger portion all in one!

Here’s a portion of the package I received all the way from Australia. I can’t show any more because of personal details on it but I did want to show you how adorable it was.  I love how it was wrapped as an old-fashioned “brown paper package tied up with string” and then lovely rubber stamped details were added to it.

Inside was this lovely little stitched and stuffed heart from Katie of http://sweetrustic.blogspot.com/.  Look at the sweet little pink buttons and green stitching she added as floral details – she didn’t even know how much I adore buttons or that pink is my favourite colour!  I’m always sitting in bed working on some kind of needlework and this will be a perfect little pincushion that actually coordinates with the decor of my bedroom!  Perfect!  Thanks Katie for such a wonderful gift and for being such an awesome swap partner!