Merry Christmas Banner

I fell in love with Graphic 45’s 12 Days of Christmas line. But I couldn’t think of a use for it … outside of making a 12 Days of Christmas album and I knew I didn’t want to do that.

Still, I knew it was too beautiful not to use for something, so I bought a few sheets that featured a beautiful background and birds, ducks and a goose.

Eventually, I settled on a banner.

I enjoy making banners, but they are one of the hardest things to photograph! I hope from the collection of photos I am including, you can sort of see what I created.

I used the top of Bell Jar w/Pedestal Die from Tim Holtz/Sizzix to cut out both paper and chipboard for the base of the banner.

I then attached the paper to the chipboard and used my Crop-A-Dial to attach an eyelet to the top of each one.

I used the Tim Holtz/Sizzix die Word Play to cut the letters out of gold paper.

Next I fussy cut words, birds, flowers and a nest. I then coated them in UTEE and attached them with pop dots to create a glassy effect.

Then I added beads, gems, lace, punches and more to finish decorating.

I tied each one with crinkle ribbon and attached it to a wire to hang.

What do you think?

 

 

 

“Glass” ornaments technique

So, I may not be the first one to come up with this technique, but I really did come up with all on my own — as incredible as that sounds!

It started out innocently enough — I wanted to make a bookmark and wanted to play with my new Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folders. Then, I added a little color and a little more color and thought, hey, I wonder what would happen if I added a bit of UTEE to the top?? Well, let’s just say I “impressed” myself!

Pretty amazing, huh!?

Here are the instructions:

Cut a piece of cardstock to the size of the bookmark you want. (I used white)

Place it in the Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folders (or one of the Tim Holtz folders would work, too) and emboss with the Big Shot or similar cutting tool. (This is the Christmas and Thin Ice set.)

Lightly apply Barn Door Distress Ink with an ink applicator. This will add color to the raised areas and a hint to the rest.

Then, to add a bit more dimension, go over it again, with an even lighter hand, with Fired Brick.

Here’s the cool part …
Turn the Distress Ink Embossing Pad over and lightly run it across the surface of the tag (or bookmark). Don’t worry about it being perfect.

Now, add UTEE and heat.

Then, add Ranger’s new Liquid Pearls to the dots on the ornaments for even more texture and dimension.

To the bottom, because I didn’t want to cover up too much, I added a sticker from the new Seasonal Salvage Stickers by Tim Holtz, a mini safety pin, a strip of ribbon (colored with Distress Ink), a scrap of ribbon and the mini brads by Tim Holtz.

To make the bookmark a little thicker, and to cover the back side, I attached another piece of white cardstock to the back, trimmed it to fit, and then went around the entire edge with Fired Brick Distress Ink.

The Crop-a-Dile easily punches a hole at the top for an eyelet. A few Baubles and a Swivel Clasp by Tim Holtz and a bit more ribbon to the top, and I called it done.

I absolutely love the result. I wish you could feel it through your computer screen, because it is really amazing! It could be a bookmark or a tag for a holiday gift, but it is pretty enough to hang on the tree. (click on the photos for a better look …)

Ornamenting the tree

Making ornaments for the Christmas tree is easy — if you have the right products.

These are wooden ornaments by KaiserCraft. They only cost a couple of dollars and can be covered with a variety of products for unique, and beautiful, gifts.

For this one, I wanted to play with Vintage Glass from Art Glitter. I thought it would provide a little more texture than just the microfine glitter I normally use, so I used it for the tree.

Then, I added glitter to the remaining part of the ornament. I just used my finger to spread around Art Institute Glitter Glue in Clear and then poured glitter on top.

Then, I added a few beads, also from Art Glitter, to finish it off.

Although it’s hard to see the beauty and dimension of the different hues and sparkles in the glitter, I hope the photos are good enough to inspire you. (Click on the photos to make them bigger) I can’t wait to see how they look next to the lights on my tree!

When I finished the first one, I found that I loved the deep purple so much, I covered the entire last one in it. It was simple and super easy, but I think the result is amazing!

For the middle one, I wanted to try something different, so I covered it in Tim Holtz Distress Ink.

Then, I used a snowflake stamp by Inkadinkado and black Ranger Archival Ink to create a patterned design.

Next, I added a bit of gold Perfect Pearls for some shimmer. In the end, there isn’t a whole lot of it visible, but I think it adds to the overall look.

Then, I applied four layers of UTEE, which turned the ornament from flat to sculpted. I absolutely love the dimension it created. It’s going to Guam for my son’s tree.

The two glitter ornaments are currently at Scrap Tales, if you’d like a closer look …