Many Merry Stars Simply Created Kit

My first star from the Many Merry Stars Simply Created Kit. The instructions advise you to start with a medium-sized star, so this is what I did. They also advise you to punch a hole before assembly if you wish to turn it into a hanging decoration. This was my only mistake - I accidentally punched it in one of the valley folds instead of a mountain fold, but it’s barely noticeable.

I varied this from the instructions; you don’t have to make them up as shown as you get lots and lots of supplies. I was surprised at just how much there is in there. In fact, I didn’t spot the Gold Baker’s Twine until after I’d dug out and used my Linen Thread on this star.

After this I couldn’t resist making the HUGE star, but the picture isn’t so good as I took it at night. Here it is anyway. Love those wooden snowflakes!

Now I want to hold back on making any more as I am saving them for my next team meeting – it will be a fun and easy activity for us while we do what we do best... chat! But wouldn’t these look fabulous strung together as a big starry 3D festive banner?

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Christmas banner - Stampin' Up-style!

First things first: my mobile phone is currently out of action so please don’t text me. Use email or my landline if you need to get in touch.

Now to today’s project, and it’s a whopper! Saturday was my final class of the year – the much-anticipated Christmas: All Wrapped Up.

The main project of the afternoon was this one and I admit that this project was big enough to fill a whole class. I’ll be working on timings next year, I promise! The picture isn’t great as it’s so dark all the time right now; I should have taken one at the hall on Saturday.

We used the banner kit from the Autumn/Winter catalogue. This kit is really generous and definitely one to consider for any time of the year. In the kit you get:

• 18 canvas banner pieces in three different shapes
• Three pattern stencils
• One circle stencil
• A full alphabet of stencils
• A length of thick jute twine
• Two spritzer bottles 

You can also purchase additional banner pieces to make more projects. I highly recommend both and wish I’d latched onto this earlier in the life of this catalogue, which expires at the end of January!

We began by sponging ink onto the banner pieces through the stencils. I’ve been reliably informed that spritzing ink through the stencils can cause smudging, so we used sponge daubers instead, picking up the ink from the lids of ink pads. 

It's a shaker behind the Frosted Finishes embellishment

There was a LOT of die-cutting for this project so, in the end, I stood at the Big Shot to help out. The muscles in my right arm are now quite developed!

I love the stamp set, Lovely as a Tree, and was surprised that one of the ladies at the class hadn’t used it before. Needless to say, it’s now on her wish list. She won’t regret buying it; it’s one you can use all year round for Christmas, birthdays, masculine cards and sympathy cards. Here we stamped and stamped off to get various shades of Old Olive on the Very Vanilla ovals.

Chris was justifiably proud of her banner!

The embellishments in between add some bling – and are a little over-the-top for me, I’ll admit. I was inspired by a swap I received at Convention from my friend Frenchie Jo. 

Jo's fab Christmas ornament

What you can’t see from the photo is the shaker element of these sections of the banner (that’s the bit inspired by Jo). This bit was quite tricky as it has to be done in the right order! Behind the Frosted Finishes embellishments is a piece of acetate covering a spoonful of glitter which is held in with the fabulous Shaker Frames from the main catalogue. These are perfect circles in various sizes and made just for creating shaker cards.

We have silver AND gold on this banner – Silver Glimmer Paper and some Gold Foil cardstock, as well as lots of Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive… my perennial favourite colour combination for Christmas.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree

Cardstock: Textured Cherry Cobbler 12x12, Very Vanilla, Silver Glimmer Paper, Gold Foil cardstock

Paper: Season of Style DSP stack

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Baked Brown Sugar

Accessories: Build a Banner Simply Created Kit, Banner Simply Created Kit, Frosted Finishes embellishments, Festive Flurry framelits, 1” circle punch, acetate, sponge daubers, Gold glitter, Shaker Frames

Season of Style washi tape Christmas card

Another of my Creative Tour projects was this card. I made the trees using the Perfect Pennants die. One was embossed using the Fancy Fan embossing folder – the other was Whisper White covered in washi tape.

Stamps: Greetings of the Season

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler (textured), Whisper White, Early Espresso Core’dinations

Ink: Black Stazon

Accessories: Perfect Pennants Die, Season of Style washi tape, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Brights candy dots, Expressions Thinlits

Told you I’d bought a lot of pegs! Here are two more, decorated with Season of Style washi tape (it’s so easy!) and topped with a monogram. The theory is that they will stand up and act as place cards. They do stand up, honest – just not on this particular surface.

Stamps: Morning Post Alphabet, Merry Little Christmas

Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive

Accessories: Apothecary Accents dies, Season of Style Washi Tape 

Expressions Thinlits and Washi Tape napkin holders

Staying with the clothes peg theme (well, I did buy 50!), here’s another of my Creative Tour creations. Not sure what to call them… I suppose they are a kind of napkin holder. They would make your Christmas table look pretty festive anyway.

I happened to have some Ikea napkins in Old Olive (somehow I keep being drawn to that colour, even after all these years), so I dressed them up with a doily and a Cherry Cobbler “merry”. The pegs are just decorated with Season of Style washi tape. Very easy to church out lots of these!

Accessories: Season of Style washi tape, Expressions Thinlits, Paper Doilies

Creative Tour display - and washi tape bird

I was very honoured this summer to be asked to create some projects for Stampin’ Up!’s Creative Tour, which ended last night. The projects have had to be kept firmly under wraps while the tour was in progress but now I can show you at last.

I was asked to showcase two products from the Autumn/Winter catalogue; the Season of Style Washi Tape and the Expressions Thinlits Dies. In the beginning it was a bit of a challenge but I soon got into the groove and I think it make me think outside of the box a little, too! It helped that the colours of the washi tape are my most favourite Christmas colours – I do love to keep things traditional with red and green.

Above is (almost) the full set (I accidentally missed one off the photo) – I’ll be showing you the projects in more detail over the coming days.

Today you can take a closer look at one of my favourite projects – my little Christmas robin. I got the idea from a magazine but then went my own way. Here’s how to make him:

1. Take some newspaper and screw into two balls, one larger than the other. Make a long triangular shape, too (for the tail).
2. Bind it all together with masking tape. If you’re making your bird from DSP instead of washi tape, you could use Sellotape but washi tape is semi-transparent, so I wanted to hide the newsprint.
3. I made a black cardstock beak with quite big flaps, taping it down using masking tape.
4. Next I stuck washi tape all over the bird. I wasn’t sure whether to go random or aim for a pattern, and in the end settled on a red breast (the temptation was too much to resist) and some green “wings”.
5. The legs are made from wire. I won’t pretend this was easy – in fact I had to call on my husband for help. It might be easier if you have softer wire, but he just found this in the garage for me. The feet are so big so that the bird stands up easily.
6. To “install”, I poked them into the newspaper to make the holes, then removed them and covered them in Crystal Effects before re-inserting.
7. The eyes are Basic Black candy dots – big thanks to fellow demonstrator Michelle Bryant for coming to the rescue with those!
8. Finally I made a tiny envelope for his beak – not sure how well this has lasted on the Creative Tour; it was looking a little limp by last Wednesday, so by Convention I’m sure it will be very droopy!

Hope you like him!

Stamps: Wishing You

Cardstock: Basic Black, Very Vanilla

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Season of Style washi tape, Neutrals Candy Dots, Crystal Effects

Other: Newspaper, masking tape, wire… patience!