Graphic 45 
'Self Portrait' 

Princess 

Castle Renaissance 

'Happily Ever After'

Hello dear G45ers! 

I am absolutely thrilled to be part of this 
amazing team for a second year and so
 excited to share my #G45Selfie project 
as a Graphic 45 Brand Ambassador.

For our first project I was asked to create
a ‘Self-Portrait’ project that reflects me as
an artist using my favorite paper

medium and go-to technique.

But first a little Introduction...

My name is Tanya Cloete aka Tanya
 Scrap. I live in a city called Pretoria,
 South Africa. Pretoria is the administrative 
capital of South Africa and is also known as
 'Jacaranda City' for its thousands of
 Jacaranda trees Wikipedia. These 
trees have pretty little purple/blue 
flowers. I am what you would call 
an avid scrapper. I spent most of 
my time crafting away in my little 
piece of heaven, my happy place.
 This all started about 9 years ago 
seeking a hobby to keep me busy.
 I have always loved making crafty
 things as far as I can remember 
but never imagined that scrapbooking 
papercrafting would develop into such 
a passion. I still love every single moment 
of my crafty journey! I enjoy all types of 
paper crafting but my love lies in creating 
Off the Page projects and Graphic 
45 papers inspire to do just that! 

A special thanks to the wonderful 
Graphic 45 Family for letting me
 join this FABULOUS teamfor another
 year. Such an honor to represent 
their AMAZING brand! 

So without further ado I present to you my
love for off the page a Castle Renaissance
Model featuring the gorgeous Princess
collection, one of my favourite Graphic 45
lines at the moment. I love the patterns and
soft colours of the papers, they are so pretty.
My favorite paper medium currently is
watercolor paper, I die-cut shapes with
this paper and add a bit of it to almost every
project. I love the texture and the off white colour,
it goes so well with all types of paper collections
and adds a lovely accent to your project. I
love layering and adding embellishment
clusters to my projects, so I would say that my
go-to technique would be lots of die-cuts and
fussy-cut pieces layered onto a project.

Herewith the Supplies and Instructions you 

may use to recreate such a project:

G45 Supplies used:

Princess Collection 12x12 Paper Pad
Princess Collection 8x8 Paper Pad
Princess Collection 12x12 Patterns and Solids
Princess Collection Chipboard
Princess Collection Stickers
Shabby Chic Metal Clock Keys
Shabby Chic Metal Door Plates and Knobs
Washi Tape Set
Shabby Chic Ornate Metal Key Holes

Other Supplies used:

Silhouette Cut Files: 

Castle Renaissance 3D Model by 
Snapdragon Snippets Design ID 119171

and assembly instructions here.

and

Crown Favor Box by Sweet Afton Design ID 79437

Wood Canvas (to be used as the base
for your Castle)

Various Dies

Eyelet & Brads

Flowers

Ribbon
String

Metal Crown Embellishments
Metal Chain
Metal Knobs
Pins
Punch

Double Sided Tape
Soft Gloss Gel/Glossy Accents
Foam Board

Watercolor Paper

Rhinestones & Flat Back Pearls

Paper Straws

Toothpicks

Main Castle Walls and details

Tall Towers with details

Octagon corner Tower and accents

Portico entrance and arch side wall Balconies

Rampart walls with accents

Identify and cut the Castle shapes in the quantities

 shown in the assembly above using the pattern sheets

 in the 12x12 paper pad as well as sheets in the patterns 

and solids paper pad. Adhere the pieces with red 

double sided tape.

Tip: I always use the red double sided 
tape for all my off the page projects.
 It makes assembly easier and will also prevent

the project from falling apart.

Cut a crown box from the pattern sheets and

 assemble accordingly. This will be added

 onto the 'roof' of the castle.

Die-cut a few butterflies, leaves, swirls and 

flowers for the layered embellishment clusters.

Tip : Did you know... you can use wax/parchment 

paper to place on your die and then your cutting 
material before putting it through your die cutting 

machine. This will make removing the shape
 from the die easier. 

Die-cut a few bows, assemble and 

fasten them with a brad.

Tip: Curl two bow strips forming a curve 

using the back of a pencil or similar 
object. This makes folding the end pieces 
together a little easier. 

Add the shabby chic metal door knob

on the front of the arch. 

Tip: Adhere with a soft matte gel or glossy 

accents, thus making sure it doesn't fall off. 

Add eyelets to the chipboard 

sentiment from the collection, also 

place a metal key between the 

petals of the of flowers. Do not glue.

Add a cute little bow and die-cut butterfly

 to the crown box. Adhere this box at an angle. 

Tip: Place a piece of foam board underneath
the box on the one side and glue to the surface
of the roof, this will help with tilting and
keeping the box in place.

Add some more bows on each 

side of the castle. Add rhinestones to the 

center of the butterflies and flat back pearls

to the die-cut flowers.

Use toothpicks to wrap the little pennant flags 

around them. Add to the cupola/cone hole.

Add the die-cut cluster embellishments on 

the front pillars of the castle, one on

each side. 

Add the metal crowns, adhere these with 

a soft gloss gel. Add the metal chain 

to the bows.

Add the paper straws on the 

sides of the arch. Make a bow

with some ribbon and adhere to 

the top. Add a pin to the open ends

 of the straws.

Tip: Add tape to the end pieces of the

ribbon, curl and adhere to the bottom of 

the castle, thus ensuring they stay in place.

Add a metal key hole to the back of the
'portcullis base' and fasten both ends
with metal knobs.
Tip: Make sure that these knobs are 
not too tight thus still being able
to slide the key hole to the side to
open and close the door.

Add some metal chain on the

inside of the door, fasten with brads.

Some more photos...

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Papercrafting!

Tanya