Kusudama Flower Christmas Wreath

Are you all ready for Christmas?  The countdown sure is on now!  Only a few more days left!!!  So, I have a very special project to share with you today.  I was inspired by one of this years Stampin' Up! Artisan Award winners, Jodie Olver, who made the most amazing paper cake, covered with beautiful flowers.  In case you haven't seen it yet, you can see her gorgeous paper confection here. 

I wanted to make a Christmas wreath using the same type of flowers she did.  These flowers were originally for a form of Japanese Kusudama, and you can see the tutorial for making these flowers here.

Here's how my wreath turned out:

And, a close up of the flowers:

I used a retired Stampin Up! designer series paper to create these -- Holiday Treasures, from way back in the 2008 Idea Book!  I love the colors and patterns in this paper -- and had just the right amount left to make the wreath (it took my two 3/4 complete packages -- not quite sure how I managed to end up with two partially used packages, but at least it worked out right for this!)  From current papers, I think the Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper or one of the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stacks would make great choices if you'd like to make a wreath of your own and don't happen to have Holiday Treasures in your stash.

For my flowers I used squares ranging in size from 2.5" to 4".  The 2.5" squares were particularly challenging to fold . . . I wouldn't recommend going smaller than that unless you are an extraordinarily patient person! 

I also discovered that I love Tombo Multi-Purpose Adhesive . . . it worked so well for gluing these petals and flowers together! 

The Pearls are from the now retired Pretties Kit, and were hot glued in the centers of the flowers, and I hot glued the flowers onto a foam circle wreath base.

I'm thinking it would be great fun to make another one of these for Valentine's Day -- in a heart shape, of course!  And, the red and pink papers from the Love Patterns Designer Series Paper, available exclusively as part of the special Filled with Love promotion would be perfect for this.  Once I finish my Christmas preparations, maybe I'll get started on that!  I'll keep you posted . . .

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle 

Vintage-Inspired Christmas Tags for Hostess Club

Can you believe it is only one week until Christmas?!  Wow!  This week has been very busy with trying to get some projects finished up for the kids' schools, plus still working a bit on Christmas cards, wrapping gifts, etc....  Every year I tell myself I'll get these things finished earlier.  Maybe next year!

Anyway, I have something gift-wrapping-related to share with you! At last month's hostess club, we made two projects -- the first was the snowglobe card in this post.  And, the second was a pouch filled with 5 gift tags.  Here's the pouch:

This pouch was inspired by a project I saw on the cover of the November issue of Stampin' Up!'s special magazine for demonstrators (Stampin Success), which actually used the same fabric with a different Big Shot die -- the Scallop Envelop.  Anyway, my pouch uses the fabulous Deck the Halls Designer Fabric from the Holiday Mini Catalog. 

To create it, I ironed the fabric to some of a Big Shot Fabric Adhesive Roll, then ran the fabric through the Big Shot using the Pillow Box Die.  Next, I cut a piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock on the Pillow Box Die.  Then, I peeled off the backing from the fabric adhesive and ironed the fabric and card stock die cuts together.  Easier than my explanation just made it sound!

Some Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon around the outside and a Deck the Halls Big Designer Button tied on with linen thread dress up the outside of the pouch nicely.

Here's the pouch with the tags we made to go inside:

And a close up of the front of one of the tags:

The tag is made of Crumb Cake card stock, punched out using the Designer Label Punch.  We stamped the poinsettia from the Bells & Boughs Stamp set on the tag using Early Espresso ink.  Then, we sponged on Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink for the flowers and Always Artichoke Classic Ink for the pine boughs.  We added a touch of bling by painting around the edge of the tag and in the center of the flower with Gold Lame Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink.

Hope you like it!  If you'd like to purchase any of these products, please be sure to visit my online store.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Winter Treats by Marlene

I still have a couple more of my talented friend Marlene Caravello's projects to share with you! 

First, is a treat basket filled with hot chocolate mix and marshmallow-- isn't this a sweet gift!  The basket is made with the Fancy Favor Box Bigz XL Die for the Big Shot, and Marlene added the handle.  Isn't the tag cute, too -- that's from the Tags Til Christmas stamp set, tied to the basket with some of the fun Clear Tinsel Trim.

 

Second, is a stocking stuffer of candies in a test tube and treat holder! 

The designer paper is Candy Cane Christmas -- now only available digitally!   The beautiful ribbon is 5/8" Real Red Satin ribbon, and the tag is from the Tags Til Christmas set, again attached with the wonderful clear Tinsel Trim!

Here's a close up of the tag:

Thanks, Marlene, for letting me share these beautiful projects!!!

Blog Candy Winner

A big thanks to those who entered for my blog candy!  I had my boys draw a number, and they selected entry number 3 as the winner.  So, looks like that is redstampinsam.  Please email me your snail mail address soon, so I can get your goodies right out to you!

- Michelle

Wish List, My Digital Studio and More!

Christmas preparations are in full swing here -- I'm working on Christmas cards, designing some projects in My Digital Studio, and more!  So much to do so little time!  However, I had to take a moment to pop over here and share a few things with you.  One is that I've created a little something in My Digital Studio you can use to let Santa know what's on your stamping wish list.  Here that is:

I believe you should be able to download the image and print it.  If you'd like me to email it to you instead, please leave me a comment (or use the button on the side bar to send me an email). 

While one the topic of My Digital Studio, more new digital downloads came out yesterday.  You can see all the latest and greatest by clicking here.  Lots of great new stuff, but I was super excited yesterday to see the

2011 Noteable Desktop Calendar Digital Download   I've already created a desktop calendar with it (super fast and easy, what took me the longest was figuring out which photos I wanted to use for each month).  When Greg saw it, he liked it so much, he wanted me to use the same materials to create a larger calendar!  Although the software doesn't allow you to just resize the project from a desktop to an 8.5 x 11 or 12 x 12 calendar, it is easy to use the same page elements and adjust them to fit one of the other sizes.  There is a way to access elements of other projects you have created and that's a great shortcut! 

So, I don't want to give too much away since this might be part of a gift to someone who reads this, but I did want to share at least one of the pages with you so you could see how beautiful the designer paper included with the calendar download is (I'll definitely be using it again in other projects!): 

The bow is from the Crochet Trim digital download, and the pretty pink flower in the center of it is a sneak peek at a new digital download that will be available from the Occasions Mini Catalog in January!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle

Marlene's Wiper Card

Today I have another of my friend Marlene Caravello's creations to share with you.  Here is the front of the Christmas card she created for our swap: 

Isn't the poinsetta beautiful?  Marlene made that using the Ornament Punch.  The center looks like one of the Boho Blossoms Punch flowers, and has some of the beautiful Glass Glitter from the Holiday Mini on it!  Very sparkly.  And, I love how Marlene created the background with the spritzes of color and the texture from the Finial Press Embossing Folder. 

When you "open" the card, the wiper pops up:

And, here's a close up of the wiper:

The image with the family decorating the tree is from the Welcome Christmas stamp set, and the oval with holly in it is from the Tags Til Christmas stamp set. 

Thanks, Marlene, for letting me share your beautiful art work!!!



-- Michelle

P.S.  Want to make your own wiper card?  Here's a link to a great tutorial.

Marlene's Snowglobe Card

As promised a few posts back, here's the beautiful Snowglobe card created by my friend Marlene Caravello:

I love how she sponged her embossed Old Olive background to give it a snowy look! 

Marlene and I swapped some Christmas cards and projects last month, and I've shown you a couple of the projects I made for that swap already, but still have one more from that to show soon, plus Marlene's fabulous creations!  You'll want to stay tuned to see those!!

-- Michelle

Time for Blog Candy!

It's been a while since I've given away blog candy -- and now seems like the perfect time!  Here's a peek at what I have for you:

(Welcome Neighbor 6 x 6 Designer Series Paper Pad, Scallop Trim Punch Border, and two spools of ribbon -- So Saffron Grosgrain and Certainly Celery Twill).  Plus, I'll throw in another surprise or two! 

Would you like a chance to win this?  Simply leave a comment on this blog post by midnight December 12th (for those reading this on Facebook, please be sure to click through to the blog to leave your comment!)  While I am thankful for my international readers, too, I am afraid that I can only give this blog candy to U.S. residents.  Winner will be randomly selected and announced in a blog post shortly after Dec. 12th. 

By the way, did you notice I have a new blog header?  I had great fun making that with some of the latest and greatest My Digital Studio downloads.  Click here to see all the new ones!

Thanks for stopping by!  And, don't forget to leave me a comment below!

-- Michelle

Scrapbook in a Tin Christmas Ornaments

I've been working on finishing my boys' scrapbook in a tin albums for 2009 for a while now, and finally managed to last weekend -- just in time to hang the ornaments on the Christmas tree.  The boys enjoyed looking through the pages I created, and as we were hanging ornaments on the tree, it was fun to look at the other mini scrapbooks we'd created and remember Christmases past.

Here are a few of my favorite pages from the 2009 mini albums:

If you'd like to see what the tin that these pages are in looks like, click here.   You can see other examples of my scrapbook in a tin ornaments in this post and this post (my 2008 ornament), too.

I also can now reveal one of the tins I've designed for this year!  Here it is:

I used an image from Merry Crittermas for this one -- such a fun stamp set, and my kids can't wait to stamp and color their own images for their ornaments.  I also have a selection of more elegant stamps that work well.  This year's Scrapbook in a Tin class will be this Friday afternoon -- I still have a spot or two if you are in the area and would like to come.  Or, if you are interested in a kit, please let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Michelle