Christmas cards

Here are my 15 Christmas cards I made this year and they were so quick and easy I was pretty please to knock them over in a few hours.

 I used half of an A4 piece of Tim Holtz Core'dinations Kraft Core paper for each card base and embossed the front using Tim Holtz Texture Fades (Fancy Floral Frames). I then sanded the raised parts of the embossing to reveal the kraft cardstock underneath.

To make the tree I cut a triangle shape from scraps of chipboard sheet and also a base for the tree and covered them in pattern paper. I then inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, glued some ribbon on the bottom with Mod Podge and adhered it to the front of the card base with some raised foam tape for dimension. There are also a few buttons put on with my hot glue gun.

 I haven't made Christmas cards for everyone in years because I usually have trouble making them simple enough to make them in bulk. I might have to try another version of this again next year!




Supplies:
Tim Holtz Kraft Core cardstock
Tim Holtz Sanding Grip
Tim Holtz Fancy Frames
Chipboard sheets
Mod Podge
Ink Blending Tool
Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Hot Glue Gun

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more

 

I love How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the Jim Carrey version of the movie) and watch it every year. This year I took some inspiration from some Christmas signs I saw on Pinterest and made a sign to hang on the wall.

I used photoshop to create the text for my sign which is 90cm high and about 40cm wide. Then cut a stencil of the text using my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot 2 from Cricut Decor Vinyl. It probably won't hurt to do a video one day so I will remember that but next I took my sign (that I had already painted the white base coat on, removed the letters themselves from the stencil and discarded them and then stuck down the negative space around the letters on the sign. I then painted in each individual letter instead of sticking the vinyl letters on the sign and painting the back around it. Painting the letters takes longer but gives a much cleaner result as you don't get a heap of paint build up around the outside of the letters.

Now, this all sounds easy enough but I did this all three times before I was happy with the end result. My font was the issue the first time and I decided I wasn't a fan. I can't remember my issues the second time. Oh, that's right. I decided I wanted to colour and change the font of some words but by then I had decided I was sick of sanding the white paint back and repainting it so I just sanded the green words I had painted and left it aged and a sanded mess. Turns out it made it look a lot better that way anyway.

Supplies:

Cricut Decor Vinyl
Claudine Hellmuth Brushes Artist Quality
Acrylic Paint

Christmas Stockings

My mum is a fantastic seamstress and she had her own costume shop when I was a kid and made hundreds and hundreds of amazing costumes from basic to elaborate Renaissance dresses that were just stunning. Dress up parties as a kid were never an issue in our house.

With such amazing talent from my mum, nanna, sister and aunties on both sides, you'd think I would be able to sew. Nope! This year I decided to stick with it and hope my skills improve and what do you know! They have! But only slightly.

I made our own Christmas stockings this year and they turned out so well I am really impressed. I liked them so much that I made another six curly toe stockings for gifts for friends. You can find the free pattern here I used here with a handy video too.

Rolled Rose Christmas Tree

 

This year I decided to embark on an epic project of a tree decorated entirely in rolled roses. I got the idea from the Teresa Collins blog but ended up making the tree bigger and ultimately ended up needing a lot more rolled roses. I think I spent about 20 hours inking, scrunching and rolling roses from double sided Kaisercraft Twig & Berries paper, then glued them on a cone made from poster board and finally glued on a candle holder as the base. It was worth making all of the rolled roses. I have no idea why but I have even started working on another project with heaps of rolled roses so fingers crossed I don't lose my mind before Christmas even gets here!

Supplies:

Ink Blending Tool
Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Distress Ink Pads
Spellbinders Sprial Blossom Die
Spellbinders Bitty Blossom Die
Mod Podge Matte Glue

How to cover wood or chipboard with paper

I often get asked how to cover chipboard with pattern paper and here is how I do it.  

Watch this video on you-tube - http://youtu.be/U54q0L9gUtE

 

I made this JOY project using some MDF letters that I cut with the jigsaw and a giant bauble decoration. I covered the bauble with rolled roses made from Kaisercraft Twigs & Berries paper. I lost count of how long it took to ink, scrunch and roll the roses at the 25 hour mark! I also made a bigger bauble top with a loop of copper wire and covered the letters in pattern paper. 

 

Supplies:

Ink Blending Tool
Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Retractable Craft Knife
Making Memories Craft Knife Blades

Cane-deer Tutorial

 

I love making my little Cane-deer every Christmas and this year decided to make a video on how they come to life. They are so simple you can make an entire herd!

Watch this video on you-tube - http://youtu.be/8mn5VaDAAPQ

Supplies:
Candy Canes
Googly Eyes
Pom Poms
Pipe Cleaners
Glossy Accents
Artistic Wire
Silver Bell Pliers

Perfect Christmas Bow Tutorial

Here is a quick video on how a bow challenged person like me, can fake it for a perfect bow for a present or Christmas tree.  

Watch the video on you-tube - http://youtu.be/VHcpd3Atu1Q

Supplies:

Wired Ribbon
Fabric Glue
Mini Clamps

Fizzy Moon Christmas Cards

 

Talk about quick and easy. I made these cards in about an hour and a half so they are a great way to whip up some pretty impressive 3 dimensional cards for Christmas. I used a Fizzy Moon Decoupage Pack called Christmas For Her and all of the layers are die cut so you just pop them out and stick them down with 3D foam tape in the middle. The pack also comes with matching pattern paper to decorate with.

 

Supplies:
Fizzy Moon Decoupage Kit
Ink Blending Tool
Vintage Photo Distress Ink