Oh Christmas tree

I was inspired by this post from Melissa Phillips to create my own 3D Christmas tree and here's what I came up with:

The tree is sitting on a papier mache box which I decorated with patterned paper, glitter and buttons:

I made flowers out of zipper ribbon and also used vintage buttons and glitter leaves:

A wired ribbon was used to tie to the double bow on top:

 
Supplies 
Paper - Bella glitter paper; Melissa Frances patterned paper
Accessories - Polystyrene tree; papier mache box; muslin; vintage lace; Melissa Frances zipper ribbon; Maya Road trinket pins; Prima Flowers; satin ribbon; Kaisercraft pearl brads; PTI Harvest Berry dies; PTI buttons; Cricut; glue gun

Yet more....

Christmas cards - if you can bear them. Just about finished my cards for this year, then a few tags will wrap things up. Can't get enough of Tremendous Treats so they feature here again:

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - Kraft, rustic cream, sweet blush, aqua mist; SU patterned paper
Stamps - Tremendous Treats: Christmas
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black; Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories - Tag Sale Die; circle dies; ribbon; foam tape; sewing machine; colics

More Christmas cards

Needed a few more Christmas cards, so decided to break out Tremendous Treats. Colouring the images is very therapeutic!  Here are a few of the examples. My next task is to make some matching tags!

Supplies (PTI unless otherwise noted)
Paper - kraft, sweet blush, pure poppy, hawaiian shores; SU patterned paper; green from stash
Stamps - Tremendous Treats
Ink - Versafine onyx black; Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories - copics; ribbon; circle dies

Merry Christmas

I've made about 20 Christmas cards but need a few more to add to my stash. Found some SU Christmas paper and whipped up this card - fussy cut two lots of trees which are popped up on foam tape to add some dimension and some rhinestones add a bit of sparkle:

A little birdie told me

Here's another Christmas tag if you can bear it. Thought I might actually turn this one into a card. More Tremendous Treats and copics at work:

Supplies
Paper - PTI rustic cream, kraft, aqua mist pattern pack
Stamps - PTI Tremendous Treats: Christmas
Ink - Memento
Accessories - PTI Tag Sale dies, stickler, button twine, foam tape

Cutie for Christmas

I'm getting a head start on some tags and cards for Christmas. Pulled out my Tremendous Treats: Christmas set and had a go at colouring some of the cute images. Couldn't resist this little reindeer:

Supplies
Paper - PTI rustic cream, hawaiian shores, pure poppy pattern pack
Stamps - PTI Tremendous Treats: Christmas
Ink - Memento
Accessories - PTI tag sale die, copics, stickler, svg doily file, bakers twine

Christmas take 2

Yes, just getting a head start on some cards. I don't like having that rush at the end of the year, especially as I'll be away for 3 weeks in November (in NYC running the marathon - more about that later!)

Normally I choose one design and make 30-40 cards, but this year I think I might experiment a bit more and come up with one or two more options. Does you good to have a little fling now and then :)

Supplies
Paper - PTI stamper's select white, rustic cream, enchanted evening, kraft; SU paper
Stamps - PTI Star of Wonder
Ink - Amuse navy, Versamark
Accessories - clear embossing powder, silver glitter glue, metal dots, cricut machine, foam tape

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Well, Christmas, actually. Here are a couple of tags to share and I've been working on a few holiday cards too. Saves all the rush at the end!

Supplies
Paper - PTI rustic cream; kraft; vellum; SU Christmas paper
Stamps - PTI Peace, Love, Joy
Dies - PTI Tag Sale 3
Ink - Versamark; Amuse Currant; PTI vintage tea dye duo
Accessories - clear embossing powder; baker's twine; white gel pen

A tag a day...

Well, not quite, but I did make one this week. This is a matching tag for the first Christmas card I tried out last week:

Supplies

Other - SU patterned paper; American Crafts stamp

Festive Friday Challenge #2

I heard about a new challenge on Melissa Phillips' blog. Check out the Festive Friday blog for some inspiration to help you beat the holiday rush!

The latest challenge is to create a project with a rustic country theme. Here's the inspiration photo:

And here's what I came up with:

And here's a close up of the wreath:

Love the idea of incorporating burlap but I don't have any on hand.  I decided to add a bit of texture with a burlap stamp instead. My friend Pattie sent me some cute die cut wreaths (thanks Pattie!) and this was a perfect occasion to use one. I'm making an early start on Christmas cards this year, so can't wait to play along with more challenges.

Supplies
Paper - PTI kraft
Stamps - Market Street Stamps Bit of Burlap, PTI Peace Joy Love
Ink - Amuse Cherry, Versamark
Accessories - Memory Box Breezy wreath die cut, brads from stash

And another one

Christmas card that is. Here's another idea for a simple card that can be mass-produced this year.  The image in this one was covered with UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel). Not that easy to see, but in real life it's pretty shiny:

Supplies Other - SU patterned paper

Ready for Christmas?

I know it's only February, but I thought I'd try out a few designs for Christmas cards and tags. I like to make a few each month so the end of the year is not such a rush.

I usually use a different stamp set each year, and for this year, plan to use Papertrey's Star of Wonder. As I make multiple cards, it has to be reasonably easy to produce.  Here's the first card:

Supplies Other - SU patterned paper

Peace, hope, joy

Now that advent has begun, the colour purple features a lot in our church. After I sat looking at a purple alter cloth and vestments last Sunday I was inspired to break out the glitter and create this set of cards:

Wishing you all these things this Christmas season!


Supplies
Other - sewing machine, Prima lace

Christmas packaging

I'm giving a few gift vouchers and cash gifts to teens this year, so wanted to find a way of packaging those. I've gone for a pouch shape which will hold the gift and also double as a tag. Here are a couple of examples using some Stampin Up products for a change. I just bought some new Christmas paper and a set with a collection of images which will be perfect for tags and small cards.  The stamps have matching framelits dies which are very easy to use - just line them up around the stamped image:

Supplies

Other - sewing machine, SU Good Cheer and  Festival of Prints patterned paper, Scentsational Season stamps and Holiday Collection framelits

Nine weeks til Christmas...

And I've just about finished most of my preparations. I've made a few calendars to give as gifts this year.  Great way to use up patterned paper!  I have a perpetual calendar generator that works with Photoshop Elements and that's what I used to create the mini calendar blocks. Nice thing is it produces calendars in a variety of languages, so I was able to make this calendar for one of my German speaking cousins in Vienna:

And this one for a local friend:

Supplies Other - SU patterned paper,  cd calendar cases

Last of the Christmas tags

At least I think it is! Another set of 3 tags, this time using PTI's Star of Wonder and the frame from the Round and Round anniversary set. Because of the shape of the frame, I decided to go with a horizontal tag - cut with my cricut. I put a layer of crystal effects on the focal images to make everything a bit 'sparkly'. Really pleased with how these turned out.

Supplies

Quick Christmas tags

Trying to get most of my Christmas prep done well ahead of time as I need to send a few parcels overseas. Realised I needed some more tags, so here is a set of three I whipped up. The set I've used is PTI's Love Lives Here: Holiday.  Love the 'homespun' charm.  I cut the base of the tag from cardstock and glued 2 layers together to make sure it's nice and strong:

Supplies

More Christmas tags

I'm on a roll with Christmas tags so decided I might as well keep going. These are shaker tags. I got the idea from Cristina Kowalczyk who had a great tutorial on her blog. You can check it out here (scroll down a bit).

Supplies Other - Kaistercraft patterned paper

Christmas wreath

I've been churning out window cards since I bought my Memory Box Madison window die which I described in this post.

My latest card also uses the cute shutter die and a little wreath made with a Martha Stewart punch. I'm not sure whether these are still being made, but I managed to find one on eBay. Love the effect!

Supplies

Other - Martha Stewart pine branch punch

Christmas ornaments part 2

I've been making a second batch of Christmas ornaments using the method I described in this post. These one feature the bough and stocking images from Love Lives Here: Holiday. I've really enjoyed making ornaments instead of cards this year.  Can't believe it's only May and I've already done most of my prep!

 
Supplies