Initial Christmas Tree Decorations

I was sorting out my little “fairing “ gifts, as my Mother In Law used to call them this morning for my friends at work.  I wanted to give them all a “Wish Bauble” (see 8th December) but I didn’t have quite enough ….. aghh…

  

But, I also had these ceramic letters from Hobbycraft (about £1.79) that  I bought a while ago, but they looked plain and boring … and not at all festive.

 

At first I was going to try sticking stars on them, then I remembered  a packet of “Say It In Studs” ( Prima) I got from the NEC in November – wooooo hooooo, everything started to fall into place!

I stuck the studs on first, and then fiddle farted a little more by adding a few tiny flat backed pearls and black dots using a sharpie pen and finally an ivory ribbon.

Job done, a little gift to hang on their tree for years to come for less that £2.00, result!

Reindeer Noses - Christmas Sweetie/Favor Bags

These first noses are whoppers!  I got them from one of those big Pick and Mix stalls they have in shopping centres that cost a fortune. The times I have seen people go pale when they are told how much their suck comes to and then ask if they can put some back. But when I saw this huge marshmallows I just had to have them.

The reindeer heads on the tags  are Accessorize Christmas stickers.

This second packet contains smaller foamy strawberries but are equally as cute!

Snowball Sweetie/Favor Bag

I used Cadbury’s Snow Bites for these little bags, it’s a wonder I’d  got anything left to put in them as they are scrummy!

The snowmen are from an Accessorize Christmas sticker pack and I have doodled the snow and snowflakes with a white gel pen.

New Years Resolutions

This is an idea I saw a while back that I thought was a bit different from the usual small crafty desk/magnetic calendar.

I’m not entirely happy with it, I don’t think the proportions of the bulldog clip are quite right compared to the size of the board, but I have plenty of time to jiggle around with it before New year.

The papers under the clip are loose, but could be replaced with post-it notes or a small note pad.

The flowers have been stuck in such as way as to allow the calendar pages and resolutions sheet to be removed without spoiling the effect

Snowman Christmas Card

This is the only card I have done to order this Christmas, I have made it for a colleague for her granddaughter’s first Christmas.

I have used a digital download set from Sweet Shoppe Designs called Little Joys by Zoe Pearn.  It is sooooo cute.

I enlarged the snowmen to the size I needed, then printed and cut out a few spare so that I had enough make a simple decoupage with the scarves for extra dimension.

The snowman are standing on a layer of cream glitter card over a background paper from the set.

I have used small black Glitterati sticker dots to go over the eyes and mouth and a little Anita’s 3D clear gloss finish on the nose.

The letters are a mixture of alphabet stickers from American Crafts.

To match the printed zig zag pattern on the snowmen, I have doodled round the edge of the card in a light brown fine tipped pen.

As a first Christmas card is extra special I have added a strip of another backing paper from the set down the side of the envelope

And again on the inside, adding a snowman’s head peeping out.

Phew! I think this took me about an hour and a half to put together.

Christmas Wish Bauble

To get a decent picture of this wish bauble was nigh on impossible, but I hope you can get the gist of what I have done.

The iridescent baubles from Paperchase  come in a box of 9 and measure 6cm.  They cost £5 per box which works out at 55p each.

I printed the word “wish” in blue and then ripped the paper around the word giving a rough edge.  I then added Hero Arts hologram micro glitter, using a sukura glue pen around the edges and lightly over the word.

I then carefully placed the paper and some small very pale blue stars into the bauble.  Done!
I am giving these baubles  instead of Christmas cards this year, a card is soon forgotten, but hopefully these baubles will be hung on friends trees for many years to come.

Jazzy Christmas Tree Card

This is an experiment ……. as I have made all my cards for this year, I now have time to experiment with some of the embellishments I have not used yet.

The tree is from Hobbycrafts own range of wooden embellishments that I have just added a few flat backed gems to.  The scalloped square is made using a nestabilities die.

Jewelled Christmas Wreath Card

Hmmm, I can’t say that  I like the stamp I have used for this card that much. It was only 99p and is by Zap! Scrap, found in one of those tubs they have in craft shops. It’s been in my stamp drawer for ages, I bought it on impulse and after stamping with it once  decided that the design was not delicate enough for what I had in mind.  I love Christmas wreaths but as of yet haven’t found one I really like.

After stamping, I have coloured it in quite roughly using three different shades of green from my Whisper pens.

I have then cut it out and mounted it on the card using foam pads to give it a lift. I have finished it of by adding lots of very small red and clear flay backed gems, which was very fiddle farty.  I am not sure about the micro glitter I added to the bow. Anyway i will stick it in my card box and see if it goes.

Gingham Christmas Pudding Card

I think I may have peaked with my Christmas ideas! I am hoping I can still keep a steady flow of cards and small gifts going, but if I were to do it all again, I should have started Christmas in mid October.  But there again, I know a lot of other crafters are getting their ideas together in the summer, so its swings and roundabouts really.

My confidence in stamping is increasing since I set myself a target of stamping at least once a month.  This is another stamp I have used only once before assigning it to the dusty stamp drawer

When I first tried this card the design looked too stark and flat on white despite my colouring it in. Then I hit upon the idea of stamping on gingham card first, which I did with some trepidation but much to my surprise it worked!.

I stamped the pudding out again on white, cut it out, coloured it in, added micro hologram glitter and then placed it onto the main part with a foam backed pad to add dimension.

Next followed a bit of mat and layering on white, silver and red and faux doodle stitching.

I did add some tiny weenie silver rhinestones to the centre panel around the pudding, but I am not sure they really added anything to the finished effect.

Christmas Branch Card

This is the sort of card I would like to receive; plain, simple and magical.  It only took a few minutes and I am so pleased with how it turned out.

The branch is made from four punchies using a punch I bought recently at the NEC, (there is no manufactures name on it, so I don’t have a clue who made it)

When I bought the stars (49p pot) I thought they were an unusual colour and so might be hard to find a project  to use them on , but they go perfectly with the olive green bazzill paper used for the branch.

I’ve added a dusting of hologram micro glitter and a few tiny flat backed gems (but, if I made the card again, I might not use them, as I am not sure that they added to the overall effect.

I handwrote the greeting, I find if I write in a random sort of way, it looks like it was meant to be like that, if you know what I mean!

I have forgotten to add over the past few months that I put in a blank insert in all of my cards.  This is a job I hate doing, cutting to size etc. but have to admit it finishes a card off perfectly.

This is a design I plan to use next year, as there is no time at the moment to make anymore .

Over the past month or so I have been posting a variety of Christmas card ideas I have made, some I have made a "run" of and others are still in need of a little fine tuning, so I will probably make them next year.  In all, I had made about 200.  I took a box into work yesterday and another friend took a box into her staffroom. ….. well, I now have about 15 left,  even the “one off” samples have gone!

I like to see what went down well and what didn’t.  The Bare Tree With Heart, Early Learning Baubles and Mistletoe with pearls disappeared immediately, the ones that proved the least popular were the Accessorize Snowmen squares.

I usually rely on what’s left over to use for myself  but this weekend I will be frantically making another pile for me! Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Bauble Card

Another very simple card.  The baubles are die cuts from Craft Work Cards.  They came in a pack of four sheets of varying shades of blue, with about 12 die cuts to each sheet in different sizes.  All I have added is a thread using a fine tipped liner pen and very small silver star sequins.

Advent Calendar Crafts

Both of the Advent Calendars I have made this year disappeared very quickly when I put them in the staffroom, I made 20 mini and 8 chalkboard ones, but tonight I have found myself making one more of each.

I had to laugh because I had to consult my own blog for instructions on how to make the mini advent calendar! A friend said to me on Friday that her daughter had taken one look at hers and had swiped it for her student digs and now she didn’t have one!

I know I always harp on about the great craft stuff you can find in Poundshops, but I have to admit to being very disappointed with their stickers this Christmas. These chipboard 3D stickers were on sale last year and again this year. I may be being fussy but they are a little too American for me, especially with the Happy Holidays and Believe phrases, but I got a couple of packets just in case…..
 
And I am glad I did, because I have used them tonight to make another Advent Chalkboard (see October achive)

The snowman was a perfect substitute for the original snowman. Now all I have to do is find a use for each of the other stickers.

Tesco Advent Calendar House

How brilliant is this?  It’s The Tesco Advent House. I had read about them on a thread in Scrappers but they are a devil to find, but thanks to my sister’s shopping tenacity she was able to locate a couple for me.

They only cost £5 and are made from wood/MDF, unbelievable value.  My plan is to alter mine like the ones I have seen on UKS, but obviously with the start of Advent only two days away, it’s not going to be ready for this year.  I think it might turn into a labour of love, which I hope to start over Christmas when I am home for two weeks.

The first thing I am going to do is repaint it in a cream colour, that will probably send me scatty, especially when it comes to the 24 little boxes, but they say preparation is everything.

The next step will be to cover the front of each drawer, I am thinking a vintage/worn red, sage green, and cream – hopefully I will be able to find some lovely papers in the sales, perhaps K & Co or Basic Grey …. any way I shall post each stage as I get to it.

If you would like to see other peoples Advent houses click on the link below which is a UKScrappers Thread dedicated to Advent Houses

http://www.ukscrappers.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=279319

Accessorize Stickers Christmas Card

This card is made using Accessorize stickers I had leftover from last year.  Though I am Accessorize’s  number one fan, I have to admit that this years stickers aren’t a patch on last years.

Nothing fancy about this design, just a simple centre panel which has been mat and layered on green and silver.  The stickers are stuck onto small square scalloped edge punchies.  That’s it!

The scalloped edge punch lay in my drawer unused for years before I discovered stickers like this, now it is one of my most used punches. The nearest I have found to it is in Paperchase for about £5.99.  I really should get another one as a spare because I would be lost without it.

Small Paper Flower Wreath

I haven’t got a clue what this is, but it was fun to make, I made it after seeing Christmas Wreaths made from paper on various forums and I thought I would make a mini version, but somehow it turned into something more suitable for Easter ( which makes me as bad as Cadbury’s when they have cream eggs on sale on Boxing day!)

I have used a flat plastic bangle as the base and then stuck on  punched flowers and leaves in colours and patterns that I didn’t attempt to match, just to see what the effect would be like .

The flower centres are Rainbow Drops from Crafty Notions.
I think I will just hang this on one of the notice boards in my craftroom until I come up with an idea on how to use it!

I really must stop photographing my stuff when the glue is still wet, close up pictures are merciless and yet again my gems have slipped off centre!

Christmas Pudding Card

I was wondering what one of the Christmas Pudding badges that I featured back in Sept/Oct would look like on a card, so I took the back off one and had a play …….

And,  I am quite pleased with the results. The background paper is a Christmas Pudding recipe from a lovely Christmas download set available from Mad About Cards.

I have used an ivory linen card blank for this card, white was too stark.

Fridge Magnet Calendar

I have been playing with the idea of making some fridge magnet calendars after seeing some lovely ones here Rainmacsplace.

I don’t think I have got it quite right, I need to do a little bit more tweaking......

The base is a covered blank beer mat and the flower centres are Rainbow Drops from Crafty Notions,  which make a lovely change from using flat backed gems.

The beer mats aren’t really big enough to add bigger flowers to the top right corner like Rainmacs, which is what I had first planned. Hmmmmmmmm

Dandelion Card

I love this stamp. It’s so beautiful and simple , you don’t have to do much to make a stunning card.

The stamp is from Hero Arts (G4817 Dandelion) and  I have stamped it with Versa Magic Hint of Pesto which has a chalky finish. It is finished off with a sprinkling of hero Arts Hologram micro glitter which gives the dandelion it’s magical appearance.

You may have noticed that most of my blanks are square, but this image screams to be on an rectangular one.

I have made this card as a set of notelets and it would also make a lovely sympathy card.

There’s Snow Business ….. Christmas Card

A very simple stamping project.  The stamp is by DoCrafts .  The background paper is Daisy and Dandelion - “Winter’s Tale”, matted on silver with a few snowflake punchies, flat backed gems and a snowman button.

I’m Dreaming of A White Christmas Card

This is another experiment

I like the idea of white snowflakes on a white background,  but the middle of this card just is not right.  It needs to be a lot subtler. I need to totally rethink the centre, I think a handwriting font in a very pale blue would look much better, and the silver matting is too much  …… back to the festive drawing board!