As I mentioned earlier this week, yesterday I held an all-day Christmas workshop with a lovely bunch of ladies and we made a good start with our preparations for the festive season with a number of 3D projects. I'm going to share the first of these with you today: a door wreath made out of paper rosettes and featuring the sadly recently retired Be Of Good Cheer Christmas DSP. After much scoring, gluing and decorating, this was the finished article:

This picture shows my version of the wreath suspended. In hindsight, I should have photographed it in situ on my front door, although then my neighbours would have thought me completely mad (they already think I'm part way there, as I grow potatoes and pumpkins in my front garden, but that's a story for another time!!) The rosettes made from the patterned paper were cut using the Designer Rosette Bigx XL die, which is great for fast and easy cutting and scoring; unlike the ones made from the plain cardstock, which we scored using the Simply Scored scoreboard so they took a little longer. We used a variety of circle and scallop punches to create the centres; here's a close up of a couple of mine:

The one below was our focal point rosette, complete with ribbon trim - did you spot the lovely new Cherry Cobbler chevron ribbon in there? - and we also included a banner sentiment in keeping with the season:

The nice thing about a project like this though is that whilst everyone starts out with the same materials, each person has their own 'take' on what theirs should look like, so you end up with lots of similar but slightly different outputs. To illustrate, here is one of the finished wreaths of one of the ladies who attended:

Isn't Maureen's wreath just lovely? I'll share the other projects we made with you later this week. I'm off now to recover from the party excesses of my day - my downline Barbara and I held a joint party for our 6 year old sons this afternoon: swimming party followed by birthday picnic in the park. I will share the invitations and thank you notes we made tomorrow; meanwhile, time for a nice quiet glass of wine and to put my feet up, I think!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Sweet Essentials, Tiny Tags (retired)

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler, Be of Good Cheer Designer Series Paper (retired)

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Cherry Cobbler

Tools: Simply Scored, Big Shot, Rosette Bigz XL Die, 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8" Circle Punches, 7/8", 1 1/4" 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punches, Itty Bitty Punches (circle), Merry Minis Punch Pack (star), Jewellery Tag Punch (retired)

Finishing Touches: Champagne Glimmer Paper, Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, In Colour Dahlias, 3/4" Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon,  Cherry Cobbler 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon

I thought today I would share a card I made at my last training session which showcases a very cool technique using ink, alcohol and filter paper. Here is the finished card: 

The real focal point of this card, designed by the lovely Monica Gale, is the central rainbow panel, which is so easy to achieve. All you need to do is colour an acetate window sheet using Stampin' Write markers in sections - for this card we used Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse and Rich Razzleberry - then spray this liberally with water, or isopropyl alcohol if you want it to dry more quickly, until the ink blends. Once this happens, you simply lay your filter paper (rough side down) onto the ink until it's absorbed, then peel away from the acetate and leave to dry. Once dry, the filter paper can be glued to a piece of white card and cut to size to fit your project.

The result varies depending on the colours used and the shapes drawn onto the acetate, but that's the great thing with a technique like this - a unique output every time. I will be using this on other cards for sure and may even record a short video to demostrate just how easy it is to achieve - watch this space!

Back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Rain or Shine, En Francais, Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Basic Grey, Whisper White

Ink/Stampin' Write Markers: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse and Rich Razzleberry

Tools: Jewellery Tag Punch, Creped Filter Paper

Finishing Touches: Basics Rhinestones, 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon Basic Grey, Alcohol Shimmer Mist

We are back to the LOVE theme today, with a cute set of four notelets with a coordinating box. I have designed them with Valentine's Day in mind, but these little 3" notelets are perfect for tucking into a lunchbox or loved one's pocket for a surprise love note.

I've used a selection of stamp sets to create this set:

From the left, do you recognise the stamp used on the first card? I created the patchwork heart design by using my marker pens to colour the central section of the 'recover rapidly' Band-Aid stamp from the Sale-A-Bration Patterned Occasions stamp set, aligning each one with my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig to align them into a neat patchwork pattern. The second stamp is from a now retired set called 'Sprinkled Expressions' and the third uses the cross stitch heart from the Hoop La La set in the main catalogue. Lastly, the heart/flower stamp is one of 24 available in the set 'Spring Sampler' available in the new Spring Summer seasonal catalogue that goes live TODAY! There are lots and lots of lovely new items, some of which I've already featured and many of which you will see on my blog during the coming weeks and months. There is a link to the catalogue on the right hand side of my page; if you would like your own copy of the catalogue or would like to place an order, do get in touch with me at joanne@thecraftyowl and I will be happy to help.

I also whipped up a lovely two-tone box to keep them all in out of melon mambo cardstock with a co-ordinating regal rose flap shaped using one of the small Labels Collection framelits. To finish off, I stamped and cut a pair of hearts using the Hearts a Flutter set to tuck the box flap into and hold it in place.

My little girl has had her eye on these ever since she saw me putting them together, so I'm thinking I might slip the first one of mine into her school bag for a little surprise. The second might go into my husband's lunch box - assuming I stop crafting for long enough to make him a sandwich of course! I hope you are inspired to have a go and make something similar - do leave me a comment and let me know who you are sending yours to. Off to create now - until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Patterned Occasions, Sprinkled Expressions (retired), Hearts A Flutter, Hoop La La, Spring Sampler, Tiny Tags, Hearts a Flutter

Paper: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose

Stampin' Write Markers: Real Red, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose

Tools: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Labels Collection Framelits, Simply Scored