Another Stampin' Up! Christmas Tree!

This was my second entry in the Paeroa Christmas Tree Competition.  It sits on a round base made with chipboard and Very Vanilla cardstock, heat-embossed with Baroque Motifs in gold.

I started making rosettes using the Designer Rosette Bigz XL Die, starting with 12" strips 6" wide, and decreased these by 1/4" each layer down to 1/2" wide.

The end of each strip of rosette was scrunched up with versamark ink applied directly from the bottle, then dipped in gold embossing powder and heated.  This was quite time-consuming but very effective!

4 strips of cardstock or DSP were needed to made a whole rosette for the wider layers at the bottom which was decreased to 2-3 layers as I got closer to the top.  I used Tombow (which glue like PVA) to join strips together.

The trusty glue-gun was my adhesive of choice, both for holding rosettes together in the middle, then for attaching layers together.  It was such a strong adhesive that the hole "tree" could be turned upsidedown when finished!

The retired Elegant Bird die became the dove on the top of the tree.  I cut 3 circles with my 1 1/4" punch to attach bird to tree.

Last touches were made with a snowflake punch and glimmer paper.  The whole tree took about 1 day to make and sits about 40cm tall.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Old Olive, Newsprint/First Edition DSP, Champagne Glimmer Paper
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Big Shot, Designer Rosette Bigz XL Die, Elegant Bird Die, Chipboard, Snowflake Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

"Jesus is the Reason for the Season" Stampin' Up! Christmas Tree

There is a Decorated Christmas Tree competition happening in Paeroa at the moment and this is my entry in the "Spirit of Christmas" category.  The competition is being run by Paeroa Christmas Lights Show and the Paeroa Skate and Leisure Centre.  I'm also entering this in this weeks Just Add Ink inspiration challenge.  I have made another tree in the "Peace" category which I will share soon.

"The Tree"
I started off with some manilla paper which comes in the Stampin' Up boxes, along with a frame made from the actual box.

 

I stamped all over it using the big flourish stamp from Baroque Motifs with White Craft Ink.  I tried using the flourish from Creative Elements but felt it looked better with the bolder flourish.

I then made a cylinder with the paper and placed over the frame.  I didn't attach the paper to the frame as it sat there just fine.

" The Leaves"
I cut out approx 200 leaves using Leaves #2 die (retired but there is a similar current one called Autumn Accents in the catalogue).  I think I used about 7 pieces of 12x12 Whisper White cardstock.

They were embossed using Manhattan Flower embossing folder:

Then I applied glue stick over the raised area and blinged them up using Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.  This was the most time consuming part.  I took about 30mins to process one piece of 12x12 cardstock into leaves that I could stick on the tree, and that was only 32 leaves!

Then starting from the bottom, I stuck leaves on the tree with 1-2 glue dots.  I didn't want heaps of adhesive on them as I wanted them to stick out from the tree.  I also wanted the background to peep through too.

 "The Lazy Susan"
I needed a platform to manage the tree by this stage as I was getting glitter everywhere trying to stick leaves on the tree  :) so had a go at making a Lazy Susan using chipboard and Basic Black cardstock.

This was my first attempt at doing the "ball-bearing" part, unfortunately I accidently deleted the photo from my better second attempt.  I used pearls threaded with cotton thread and attached as you see in this photo.  The sellotape wasn't a strong enough adhesive to hold cotton thread so in the second attempt I placed sticky tape (double-sided) under crochet thread with sellotape on top which held it much better.

 

 Parts put together with a nice long brad.

 And voila!

I didn't end up putting feet on it (was thinking about using buttons) as it is sitting nice and flat on the brad head.

"The Star"
Using the Lattice die I cut out 2 each of silver and champagne glimmer paper with a vellum cardstock square.

 Using glue dots I stuck them all together alternating silver and champagne on each side.

 "Putting it all Together"
The story I wanted to tell on the tree was that of the baby Jesus being born, his ministry, his gift of salvation through his death on the cross, rising from the dead and how people can accept his gift of eternal life (www.needgod.com).  I found images on google which supported these themes and used My Digital Studio to made them the right size for printing.  They were then cut out using Labels Collection Framelits Dies framed on Real Red cardstock.  I printed out bible verses to correspond with each picture and cut them out with the Ovals Collection Framelits.

I used sticky strip to attach the tree frame to the lazy susan, with the cylinder sitting on top.  Then the verses and pictures were all attached to Real Red ribbon using sticky strip (glue dots didn't have enough stick).  Then with sticky strip along the back of the ribbon, starting at the top I wound the ribbon around the tree leaving extra ribbon to wind around the base.

As a final note, I have to say that I never truly realised how beautiful Stampin' Up's Dazzling Diamonds glitter is.  It's colourless but when light shines on it, a rainbow shines back!

This project took me about 2 days to complete and stands 65cm high.  Hope you enjoy!

It's About Time I Posted A Mother's Day Card!

I did manage to whip this up for my Mother-in-Law for Mother's Day but just haven't got around to posting it!  I cased this beautiful purple card but changed the colour to Calypso Coral because Coral just happens to be my MIL's name!

Stamps: French Foliage, Itty Bitty Banners, Elementary Elegance, Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Calypso Coral
Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Bitty Banners Framelits, Beautiful Wings Embosslits, 1/2" Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon, Pearl Basic Jewels

JAI Scrap Challenge #8 Buttons and Bows

 I've just completed my entry in this month's JAI Scrap Challenge and used up lots of retired ribbon in the process.  Yay!!

Hint:  It took a while to lay out my title but in the end found it much easier to use a small plate, laying it over the photo and then placing the letters around it.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Temping Turquoise, Old Olive

Accessories: Ice Cream Parlour 1/4" Ribbon, Melon Mambo/Daffodil Delight/Tempting Turquoise Buttons, Melon Mambo/Daffodil Delight/Tempting Turquoise Ribbon, Big Shot, Simple Letters Alphabet Bigz Dies, Elegant Bird Die, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Simply Scored Tool, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Rhinestone Jewel

StampAMemory Challenge - Double Layout

I didn't get a chance to take a photo of these side by side sorry, but this is my double layout entry in the latest StampAMemory challenge.

I've been on a "use up retired product" binge lately, and this layout is no exception!

Stamps: Punches Three, Cute & Curly, Baroque Motifs, Fun & Fast Notes
Cardstock: Ski Slope DSP, Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Circle Die, Scallop Square Die, Top Note Die, Old Olive & Real Red Ribbon, Gold Brads, Small & Large Star/Scallop Square/Curly Label/Bird Punches

More Christmas Cards

I've been using my retired product again! I've just finished 2 sets of 6 cards and am loving the new silver glimmer paper. It will be coming out in the upcoming Summer Mini Catalogue to be released on 1 December. It is available in red also and is a no-mess way to add glitter to your cards, pages and Christmas projects!

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Punches Three
Cardstock: Fresh Cut Notes, Ski Slope DSP, Real Red, Old Olive
Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Word Window/5 Petal Flower/Scallop Edge Border/Boho Blossoms Punches, 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Rhinestone Brads, Silver Glimmer Paper

"Heartfelt" Layout

Here's the other page I'm uploading for the latest challenge on StampAMemory. This one is Real Red! It's actually an oldie but a goodie as I made it a couple of years ago, but wanted to share it as 1. it's RED, and 2. it's got a love theme, and February is a great month for a love theme! Apart from the title, everything on the page is still current product. My upline, Tracee Jones, originally taught the following layout at an extravaganza and I loved it so much I used the same layout in different colours.

Stamps: Priceless, Heartfelt Thanks
Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink
Ink: White Craft, Real Red, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Photo Corner Punch
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories: Photo Corner Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch

Baby Mini Album

My nephew and his wife had their second baby boy (named Cooper) recently, so of course out came the crafting tools and I set to work on an original gift that they will be able to enjoy for many years to come.

It's got 12 6x6 pages with page protectors inside, with cardstock front and back. On the front I also added a clear binding cover to give it extra protection (especially when little fingers start wandering all over it ; ) ).
I basically went through all my stamp sets and pulled out all the verses/words that were appropriate for a baby (and cleaned each as I went along too). I used black for each one to "ground" it and give it some consistency (hope you know what I mean)!

You'll see that I used a retired DSP as I didn't have one from the current DSP's that I felt was appropriate, but a project like this is great for using up things like that, especially scraps etc. I made it in the same colour-blocking style as this album.

And here's the card to match:
Stamps: Medallion, Broadsheet Alphabet, So Many Sayings, Vintage Labels, Every Moment, Punches Three, Whimsical Words, Picture This, Kind Heart, Fun & Fast Notes, Office Accoutrement, Vintage Vogue, Hello Again, Curvy Verses, Baroque Motifs, Priceless
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Washington Apple DSP
Ink: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Scallop Circle Die, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Lots of Tags Sizzlits Dies, Hearts & Brackets Originals Die, Two-Step Bird Punch, Curly Label Punch, Photo Corner Punch, Scallop Square Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Square Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Star Punch, Medium Oval Punch, Word Window Punch, Hodgepodge Hardware, Sponge Dauber, 1/4" White Grosgrain Ribbon, Pumpkin Pie Ribbon, Buttons, Rhinestone Brads, Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-A-Dile, Rhinestone Jewels

"Cherish" 6x6 Scrapbook Page

Here's the page I made as my swap for the Hamilton Regionals back in August. (Just another thing I've been meaning to blog for a while :) ). I've given this one to my midwife as part of her thank you gift as she asked for a photo of our family.
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Newsprint Designer Paper
Ink: Basic Black, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Lots of Tags Sizzlits Dies, Spritzer Tool, Sponge Dauber, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Large Oval Punch, Silver Brad

Wedding Invitations

I had the pleasure of helping to design and make wedding invitations for a good friend of mine. Her colours were cream, burgundy and dusky pink and it didn't take long to design a simple yet effective invitation that she loved!We made a pocket using Very Vanilla to pop the invitation and Flight Centre info in. For the After Function invitations we left out the pocket so that the invitation slipped straight into the Top Note sleeve.

Stamps: Priceless, Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Bravo Burgundy, Crumb Cake, White Vellum Paper
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Versamark
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Manhatton Flower Embossing Folder, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Slot Punch, Gold Brads, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Dusky Pink Ribbon