Last minute Christmas gifts - handmade ornaments

If you are one of *THOSE* people, you know, the ones who have had all of their holiday shopping and gift-giving needs taken care of since July, well, then, you may just want to skip right over THIS post.  ;)

BUT, if you are anything like ME, and you are still frantically trying to finish up final handmade gifts and trying to make sure you haven't forgotten anyone on your list,...well, then, I have some really beautiful and quick last-minute ideas to share with you!

For all of these ornaments, I used vintage sheet music - which I absolute LOVE using on projects.  I think it just adds such a wonderful charm and loveliness to any project!!  

For the ornament pictured above (the inspiration for which I got here), of which I made 3 variations, I started by cutting a background from red foil cardstock using the largest of my Classic Scalloped Circles Large Nestabilities die-cutting set.  I then used my hot glue gun to attach ribbons and pieces of Christmas picks.  I used the Tim Holtz Sizzix Rosette die to cut the rosette from the sheet music, and assembled it per the instructions; then attached it with hot glue as well.  Finally, I took grunge board letters spelling "JOY," inked them with Fired Brick distress ink, and applied Fired Brick distress stickles to them.  Once dry, I glued them onto the rosette, and my ornament was complete.  (Note: you can use a heat gun to dry the ink and the distress stickles, but do NOT use a heat gun on regular stickles.)  

I think even my husband was impressed - since I saw him grab one off my craft table this morning on his way to the office to drop off Christmas gifts to the supervisors he manages!!  (That, and he wants to get some return on the "investment" he has made into my crafting supplies!!)

The second ornament also has a rosette made of vintage Christmas music - but it is much larger, and was made using the Martha Stewart Scoring Board.  The ornament has about a 6" diameter, and I had to glue two strips of music together to make it.  Once I made the rosette, I inked the edges and ridges with Fired Brick distress ink.  I then applied a line of glue around the edges and sprinkled silver glitter over it.

For the center, I again used my Classic Scalloped Circles Large Nestabilities to die cut two pieces from a pad of K&Co Christmas paper.  I inked them using distress inks and glued them to the rosette using hot glue.  Finally, I added a dimensional K&Co sticker to the center.  I punched a small hole in the top of the ornament and tied a piece of silver cord through it for hanging.  

 

I hope this gives you some ideas for quick but beautiful last-minute gifts.  What are your go-to crafts for last-minute gifts?

The (Paper) Trailmakers Challenge Blog - Guest Design Team project

I tell you what - I am really loving playing with this December Paper Trail kit!! First, the frame project was a blast to make, and now, these cards were SO FUN!! These papers by Lily Bee Designs are just wonderfully versatile and coordinate so well together, the kit makes it super easy to put together great projects, no matter what you're making.

This first challenge of "put a stamp on it" was not such a stretch for me - me who recently "de-stashed" by getting rid of over 100 stamp sets!!! Yep, you read that correctly!! Not to fear - I still have well over 50 stamp sets still in my stash, and somehow still manage to pick up a new one here and there - and always have more on my wish list. Actually, my papercrafting - really, my entire artsy-craftsy life - started out with rubber stamping. I went through a time period of several years when I didn't even pick up a stamp, though, and I thought I was done stamping...but then just in the past 6 months or so, I've gotten back into it. There really is SO much you can do with stamping and ink - I think that's what draws me to it...the huge variety of techniques. I'm a technique junkie, of sorts. Anyway, for this challenge, I made three different cards for you, all using different stamping techniques.

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For this first card, I stamped an outline stamp of a couple trees on a small piece of watercolor paper. I like using watercolor paper for this technique because it holds up well and you can move color around nicely on it. After stamping the trees in brown permanent ink, I rubbed distress inks directly on my craft sheet, then used an aqua painter (a brush filled with water - you could also just use a paint brush and water) to pick up the ink and paint the stamped trees. I also painted some snow and a faint sky background. I used a paper distresser along the edges of both the watercolor piece and the red piece beneath it, and inked the edges with distress ink.

Finally, for a little glitz, I added some Christmas Red Stickles over each red dot at the top of the Christmas trees on the background paper. 

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For the second card, I only did a little stamping - I stamped "Joy to the World" on one of the kit's cardstock stickers, layered it on black cardstock, and popped it up on foam squares, on the front of the card; and I stamped a greeting inside the card, as well. I layered a couple of the pattered papers from the kit, using a notebook-paper edge punch along the top of the red one. I added distress ink around the edges of both papers. I made a paper rosette with the black and white paper, using my Martha Stewart scoring board, and layered one of the chipboard buttons from the kit on top of it, placing some additional chipboard buttons beside it. 

The greeting inside the second card.

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Finally, the third card. This was my favorite to make - I think because I love the colors, and because I absolutely LOVE this Tim Holtz Sizzix die that I used. It's called "Townscape," and I just think the miniature houses are adorable!! They have so much potential - and for every season!! Anyway, I created the houses by gluing a piece of the black cardstock to a piece of corrugated cardboard. I then ran it through my Sizzix Big Kick with the Townscape die, cutting the houses. I trimmed just a tad off the bottom, and a little off each end, to fit the card. Then I used my Snow Cap (white) Adirondack paint dabber to ink up my definition background stamp, and stamped the houses. I thought it looked really cool, with the black text on the white snowflakes on the background paper. (Note - I love using my paint dabbers on my stamps - and you will too - but make sure you wash them off right after you use paint on your stamps, or you won't be happy with your stamps the next time you go to use them!) I used the paint dabber to add a little "snow" to the roofs of the houses as well, and then glued the strip onto the card.

Then I added the 25 with Thickers from the kit, and stamped a sentiment inside.

So...there you have it. Now it's YOUR turn!! Have you grabbed your December Paper Trail kit yet? And if so, what are you creating with it? Stamping isn't just for cards, either - you can certainly use stamps on scrapbooking layouts, tags, home decor projects - most anything! Make sure you add your stamped project to our linky widget in the challenge post so that we can see what you've created and for your chance to win some of the Lily Bee papers from this kit!!  You have until Saturday, December 18, at 5 pm EST to get your project linked up for your chance to win!

Halloween Fright

I really haven't been much into Halloween in the past, but for some reason, this year I've had more fun playing with all the fun Halloween papers, accessories, tools, and color themes!!  And even though I don't typically like the whole "scary" aspect of the holiday, and for my kids, I definitely keep it more fun and lighthearted, for my projects, I have not been drawn to the more whimsical papers and colors...but the darker, spookier colors instead.  With that said, I present my Halloween Fright wall hanging.

I am linking this to the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #17 - Fragment Charms, as well as this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge, "Show Some Metal."  

This started with an 8x8 sheet of patterned paper from a Recollections Halloween pad from Michaels.  I ran the paper through my Zutter Distrezz-it-All just mildly, and inked the edges with Spiced Marmalade distress ink.  I took a sheet of white cardstock and embossed it using Tim Holtz's Halloween Fright texture fade.  I then used distress inks to add color, and covered portions of it in Rock Candy crackle paint.  I decided I wanted to place this piece behind the crow on the patterned paper, so I used a craft knife to carefully cut around the crow.  I then used an embossing pen to cover the crow, and heat embossed it with black embossing powder. I used Lettuce alcohol ink to color a pearl sticker accent for the crow's eye.

For the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge this week, I had to make a Fragment charm - which is the clock.  I can't share the details of how I made it, per the rules.  :)  I attached a couple jump rings, and then a swivel clasp - showing some metal - which was the challenge for Simon Says Stamp and Show.  I attached the swivel clasp to the header on the layout with a brad.  The brad was originally bright sparkly purple and silver - which would NOT have fit in - so I covered it with some Pitch Black acrylic dabber paint, and it had the perfect effect.

The title piece started as a blank white piece of watercolor paper.  I used a technique called "block inking."  I first applied Spiced Marmalade distress ink all over an acrylic stamping block, and then went around the edges with a darkish purple dye-based ink (I don't have a purple distress ink yet).  I then spritzed the block a few times with water, and then placed it down on the paper.  I pushed it down until the paper was completely saturated under the block, and then carefully lifted straight up.  I then used a cloth to blot the excess puddles of ink off the paper, and used my heat gun to dry the paper.  I then used my Distrezz-it-All to distress the edges of the paper, and used distress inks to add color to the edges all around, then glued the header to the background paper.  I stamped "Happy Halloween," using a dark purple dye-based ink - with a stamp I had cut on my Cricut.  

I took two small skulls from the minis set of grunge board, and wanted to paint them with metallic dabbers; however, neither the gold, silver, or copper seemed to fit with the bronze colored swivel clasp.  So I mixed some copper and black on my craft mat, and got almost a perfect match, then used my finger to apply the paint to the grunge pieces.  I attached both to their respective places with the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (seriously - BEST little stapler EVER!).

I added a piece of velvety bat trim (Recollections from Michaels), and made a rosette out of a piece of Donna Salazar's Crafty Chronicle using the Martha Stewart scoring board.  (If you've never seen Donna's Crafty Chronicle - you seriously NEED to!  It's like a newspaper, but not...it's all crafty articles and tutorials, on acid-free newsprint paper, intended to be read and then used for flowers and such!  She even has a new one out just for Christmas, called Musical Memories!  So fun!)   I spritzed the rosette with Tiger Lily Glimmer Mist and some homemade purple glimmer mist, then cut out a couple nesting circles of purple and orange cardstock for the center.  Finally, I stapled the second painted grunge board skull to the center, and used hot glue to attach the rosette to the entire piece.

To finish it off, I used the Tiny Attacher to add a few "stitches" along a couple sides.  I decided the piece should be a wall hanging, so I backed it with a pieces of cardboard, and added a piece of wire and tied a few pieces of coordinating tulle and ribbon and fibers around the wire.

CCC #16 - Wrinkle Free Distress

This is my first week joining the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge (CCC), hosted by Linda of Studio L3.  Each week (or in this case, two weeks, as many of the participants have just spent the last week on a cruise with Tim Holtz himself!), Linda posts a challenge using one of the techniques presented by Tim in his newest idea book.  You should DEFINITELY check out Linda's blog - her artwork is amaZING!!!

So, to start off, I knew I wanted to do a tag - but I don't currently have any size 8 tags.  I do, however, have grunge paper.  Many of my friends, who are not Tim Holtz addicts like I am, may not know quite what grunge paper is, exactly.  It's not really paper, and it's definitely not chipboard.  It's hard to describe - but it's sort of got this leathery feel (and smell!) to it, and it's very flexible!  It inks, paints, cuts, distresses, etc., just like you can do with paper.  It is VERY cool stuff!  So, knowing the dimensions of a size 8 shipping tag, I made my own from grunge paper - complete with cardstock hole reinforcements.  :)

Here are a few photos to show you the thickness and flexibility of grungepaper.

 

You can see that even after folding down the corner, once I release it, there is no crease mark at all, thanks to the qualities of the grunge paper.

So, onto the tag itself.  While I cannot tell you about the actual challenge technique (out of respect for Tim and  his book and copyright issues), I can tell you about the rest of the tag.  :)  I used my Zutter Distrezz-it-All to distress the edges of the tag, and then used Walnut Stain distress ink to ink the edges.  I stamped a Donna Downey-Unity stamp quote onto the upper right side, using brown Staz-on ink - I love this quote!!  I threaded multiple earth-toned fibers through the hole at the top of the tag.

At the bottom of the tag, I laid a piece of natural-colored magic mesh (remember that stuff???) that has been in my stash FOREVER!!  Then I took a piece of thin brown paper (it actually came from a box of goodies I received - it was packing material paper), and spritzed it with homemade red and green glimmer mists, and Tattered Angels tiger lily Glimmer Mist.  Then I put down a line of Beacon 3 in 1 craft glue, and gathered the paper into pleats while adhering it to the bottom of my tag.  I took a piece of mustard-colored cardstock the width of my tag, used several colors of distress inks on it, and added some distress stickles to it, before gluing it over the top of where the pleated paper was glued to the tag.  I then used deckle scissors to cut off the misted paper to the length I wanted it.  Finally, I cut a 1"x12" piece of cardstock from Tim's Lost & Found paper pad, and used my Martha Stewart scoring board to score it every 1/4".  I then folded it accordian-style, cut off one piece, used my Tiny Attacher to join the ends together, and pressed the center down to form a rosette, using a hot glue gun to attach the rosette to a circle of cardstock on the back.  I cut another piece of cardstock for the front, used distress inks on it, added a smaller piece of patterned cardstock, with distress stickles on it, and glued those onto the front of the rosette.  I used Walnut Stain distress ink around the edges of the rosette and brushed it lightly on top of some of the peaks of the rosette, then used hot glue to attach it to the tag.  You can see the vintage sparkle on the cardtock above the ruffle, and the shimmer from the mists on the ruffle itself.

I used to wonder what the draw was in decorating "shipping tags."  Oh my.  Whatever was I thinking?!  LOL!!  I am SOOOO hooked!  There is SUCH gratification in creating a work of art in a relatively short period of time, and the tag is just such a wonderful medium to work with in doing so!  

And wow, these rosettes are TOTALLY addictive!  Don't be surprised in the least if they seem to show up on anything and everything that I make in the near - and not-so-near - future!!  ;)

Boo! A fun Halloween tag

This tag has actually been in progress for a couple weeks now...I just didn't know what I was going to do with it!  Does that ever happen to you?  I started off with a color palette that I loved...green, purple, and orange...for Halloween.  I had some Glimmer Mist in "Tiger Lily," which I don't think exists any more, but is my favorite orange, and I had some homemade shimmery mist in purple and green.  But FIRST, I wanted to try something else out.  I had this roll of white Martha Stewart spider web felt I got on clearance last year after Halloween.  I wondered if I could use it in my Sizzix Big Kick to emboss this tag - and as it turns out, I WAS able to...by putting the felt on top of the multi-use platform, then my tag, then the rubber embossing mat, then the black plate...and a couple pieces of cardstock under the whole thing to shim it.  

So after I embossed it, I rubbed my Spiced Marmalade distress ink pad over the embossed spider web (you can see it diagonal across the tag.  Then I spritzed the glimmer mists on the tag - some purple on the top, some orange in the middle, and some green on the bottom.  Next, I ran all the edges of the tag through my Zutter Distrezz-it-All, and then inked the edges with Walnut Stain distress ink.  (I would have used Black Soot if I had it, but that's a color I don't have yet.)  Then, I used a homemade spider mask I had cut on my Cricut using the Tim Holtz masks, and inked over it with some Walnut Stain distress ink in a couple places on the orange spider web.  I just love how you can still see the shimmer of the glimmer mists even under the distress ink, and how all the colors blend together so well!!  Then, I glued on a piece of black felt spider web (yes, Martha DOES have black out this year, but this is actually white that I dyed black with black ink).  

I used my newest fun tool - the Martha Stewart scoring board - and made a rosette using a 1"x12" piece of Tim Holtz's Lost & Found cardstock.  I punched a coordinating circle for the center, stamped a Cricut-cut bat on it, and covered the whole center circle with Spiced Marmalade Distress Stickles.  I am totally in love with distress stickles!!  I glued the rosette onto the tag, and stamped another Cricut-cut stamp, "Boo," above it.

Finally, my finishing touches.  I threaded some black organdy ribbon and orange satin ribbon through the hole at the top of the tag.  I then took a small safety pin and used black Staz-on ink to color it a bit so it wasn't so shiny silver.  Then I added a few black and silver beads (from an old necklace) to the safety pin using jewelry pliers.  I love that special touch they give the tag!!

I still haven't decided what my kids are going to be for Halloween this year...but at least this little tag is getting me in the mood!!  Have you started any Halloween decorating or crafts?  What about you?  Any costumes in the works?

Random weekend crafty fun

How completely GORGEOUS is this flower rosette?!  I have been admiring these paper rosettes for a while now, on other people's blogs.  I've seen tutorials on how to make them, and I've seen Tim Holtz's new Sizzix die cut that makes it super easy to make the rosettes.  My super-sweet hubby gave me a Michael's gift card this weekend, and I was able to get a few hours of ME time this weekend, so I spent some time wandering the aisles of Michaels, loving their new-and-improved selection of Tim Holtz products.  Anyway, they do not have the new rosette die...but I was thinking that I might want the Martha Stewart score board anyway, so that I could make multiple sizes of rosettes...so I got one!  Additionally, I did find a pair of Tim Holtz Sizzix embossing folders (the one with the notebook page and the numbers collage).  My first few attempts at making the rosette failed, but after watching this YouTube video, I finally got it right (AND got the idea to scallop the edge before scoring the paper, which I LOVE, anyway).

I don't remember the name of the paper pad this sheet of paper is from.  I used a scallop-edge punch from Stampin' Up!.  For the center of the rosette, I used the numbers collage embossing folder to emboss a sheet of mustard-colored cardstock.  I then used distress ink pads direct-to-paper to rub over the raised portions (colors used - Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo).  I punched out a circle, and inked around the edges with Walnut Stain, then glued it onto the rosette.  I also used Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain distress inks with a foam ink applicator to apply ink to the scalloped edges of the rosette and the raised "mountains" of the rosette.  Finally, I added some Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade colored Distress Stickles over the  embossed center of the rosette to give it a bit of vintage sparkle.  

Can you see that gorgeous sparkle from the distress stickles?  I LOVE them!!!  They are more matte and muted than regular stickles, and have a more vintage look to them.  They are quickly becoming a favorite of mine!!  I think I have 9 colors now...but STILL haven't found the ONE I've been searching for - Rock Candy!!  Anyway, I can't wait to make more of these rosettes and put them on some fun projects!!  (Or even make a project out of just the rosettes...can you see a rosette garland in your mind??)

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This next project is one I did with the kids, and I got the idea from here.  I free-hand drew the tree onto kraft paper and used removable glue dots to stick it to the slider doors.  I used recycled (i.e. the brown ones, not ones I've used!) coffee filters, and I sprayed them with water before the kids began painting them.  Rather than use watercolors (which the twins tend to really dig the paintbrushes into), I just watered down some tempera paints.  They had a blast - especially Mackenzie, who dumped the bowl of orange paint not once, but twice!  I let the coffee filters dry, and then cut various sizes and shapes of leaves out of them.  The kids then helped me stick them to the slider door...on the tree, and falling down to a "pile" near the bottom.

I love the colors of the leaves, and the way they seem to have a stained-glass effect against the outdoor light.  AND, as a bonus, while it was VERY hot all week, like magic, today it was wonderfully cloudy and cool!!  It was almost as if putting up the "fall tree" brought with it some "fall weather."  :)  If only the fall weather would stick around!!

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This final project is a simple little tag I made using another paper flower technique.  It was originally designed to be made using Tim Holtz's grungepaper, but not having any yet, I've been using cardstock.  I first made them on my fall banner, but since then, have learned that coating the flower pieces with Mod Podge on both sides before assembling the flowers actually helps a lot in helping the flowers keep their structure and gives them a really cool leather-like texture.  To make this tag, I started with a piece of pale yellow cardstock.  I cut the tag on my Cricut, and used an EK Success edge punch along the bottom.  I cut a 1/2" circle using a punch, out of the same paper I was using for the flower, then used a 1/4" hole punch to punch the center out of it, thus creating a "hole reinforcement" for the hole at the top of the tag - a technique I learned during one of the many tutorials I watch.  I then used 3 leaves I cut from my Cricut as masks, around which I applied several colors of distress inks and some Glimmer Mist in tiger lily.  

Finally, I stamped "gratitude" along the bottom, and tied a ribbon through the top.  I inked the edges of the flower with a little distress ink before gluing it to the tag, and that was it.  I sent the tag off with a note of thanks to a mama who had loaned a baby wrap to me for a while.

OH - I also did a page in my Inspiration Journal...I'll post that sometime this week.  And yes, I realize I didn't post an Inspiration Wednesday post last week.  I just didn't get a chance to work in my Inspiration Journal last week...but I made up for it this weekend.  :)

What about you?  Did you have a creative weekend?  I'd love links to whatever you created, if you did!!