Burlap anyone?? Come Off the Page With Me.

It is becoming the trend to use some more natural materials and fibers on the different crafting projects being created. I love the look of canvas, burlap, linen etc. used on a layout. It adds a different textural element to the page. Today I went off the page though and am sharing a fun little gift I made for a Secret Sister swap that I was part of in February. I have met an amazing group of gals through an online forum I take part in and have quickly made friends from both here in the US and even as far as Jamaica. When I first got my sister's name I panicked because this girl has talent! She amazes me with her creativity and is constantly sharing layouts or projects that make my jaw drop. Talk about pressure! So off to Pinterest I went and started looking for some burlap projects because I know that Rebecca has a thing for burlap. This is the idea I came up with after looking around and seeing different ideas displayed. I don't have a specific pin that inspired me because I kind of took the best of several ideas and then began creating on my own.

I started with a wood plaque from Hobby Lobby (gotta love that place!) and found a wooden initial R. After grabbing some paint (black, bright blue and some bright green because I know how much she loves those colors)  and stopping by the material counter to have some burlap cut for me I headed home and began creating. I started by painting the wood pieces all black. Then I took a dry brush and swiped some blue over the black background. I used a little sanding paper to add some of the distressed look. I wasn't sure how I was going to attach the burlap but I ended up using some craft glue behind where the R would be and also added some behind the metal brads (backs cut off) that I used in each of the corners. Knowing Rebecca is a flower girl to the core, I had to finish off with a couple of flowers in her colors to tie the project together and finish it off. I had so much fun creating this gift for my online buddy. Amazing how the Internet brings a whole new world of friends to our doorstep that we would otherwise never know.

This project is also up on the Practical Scrappers blog as part of the Ten Things Tuesday post. There you will find 10 different ways to add the texture of burlap to your page and 3 bonus projects from some guest designers. Come have a look at some awesome ideas and then add a project of your own to the blog. We'd love to see what you create.

Lisa