Last look at ornaments

My ornament making is now complete with the addition of these two. All paper, stamps and chipboard are Crafty Secrets. The tutorial for this style of ornament you can find HERE. I love birdies and I think they will make a neat vintage addition to the tree. Make sure you head on over to Crafty Secrets, they have a fantastic product line and I've really enjoyed working with such quality!

In this closeup you can see the watercoloring I did of this stamp image. After it was dry I applied Tim Holtz crackle finish to it. Love the vintage look it took on. The backside finished nicely as well.

Thanks to all of you for all your ooohs and ahhhs in your commenting on these ornaments, they have been a joy to create!

All is Calm, All is Bright

Here is another ornament idea that I created for the Crafty Secrets booth at the BC Creative Expo. The show is running November 8-10 and it looks like there will be LOTS to do and see! I'm using up all the Cotton Scraps on the wonderful winter sheet by Crafty Secrets. This ornament I used my coluzzle to cut the ovals and created the front and back seperately. I then lightly pasted them together (making sure I didn't apply adhesive to where I would be stitching) and then stitched them together with the ribbon sandwiched in between. This makes a wonderfully sturdy ornament being that it is two pieces of cs together giving it strength. All the patterned paper is also from Crafty Secrets, it coordinates so well with their images.
My ornaments always seem to twist and swivel on the tree so it was important to me that the back be pretty as well. These are the sentiments in the cotton scraps set and I thought they captured the feeling of this ornament.
Hope to see you at the show if you are in the Abbotsford area!
Happy Creating!

A couple more.....

I am slowly chipping away at the projects I need to get done. Here are a couple more of these tree samples for the creative expo. I will say it again, the cotton scraps from Crafty Secrets are wonderful! They are rich in color, they also have a fantastic dimensional look in real life. Perfect for a crafty tree!
All these cotton scraps I have been using are from one sheet (the winter collection). I've added some vintage elements to the snowman one. The old buttons and fringe. I added some glitter to the hats as well.
The bird image has wonderful color! I used CS stickers for the hinges which I glazed to give the shiny finish.

If you are in the Abbotsford area on November 8,9,10th make sure you check out the BC Creative Expo. There are SO many classes and there will be a TON of eye candy. Come see me at the crafty secrets booth!
I'm off to create some more samples! Thanks for coming to look!

Cotton Scraps

It is amazing what you can do with scraps! These are not your ordinary scraps, they are the Crafty Secrets cotton scraps. I am doing ornaments up for the tree at the Crafty Secrets booth in the Creative Expo here in Abbotsford, BC. All supplies are Crafty Secrets. I just love their patterned paper as well. You all know by now how much I enjoy the vintage look! I cut the stare shape out with my coluzzle, just to add more dimensional interest. I think these will look nice against the greenery of a Christmas Tree.
Hope you all enjoy your day!
***Just a thought, when you get sick of hanging these on the tree, they are wonderful card fronts, all they need is to be pasted to a base and there you have some fabulous Christmas cards!

Ornament Tutorial

You are gonna need a coffee for this post! This took some time to put together so I am hoping it makes good sense to you. I tried to number my photos in the tutorial to help you if the text and the photos don't line up.
Well, I have really loved making these tree ornaments for Crafty Secrets. The chipboard, cotton scraps, and patterned paper are all courtesy of Crafty Secrets. I love the cotton scraps because they are flexible, so I can create these panels with dimension...so cool! I added a few final touches that I don't discuss in the tutorial. The blue ribbon to match the girl's dress and the bead at the bottom to give my ornament some weight. Ok...Here we go!
1. Here are some of the supplies I used for this project. Really it is quite inexpensive to make but the final results are fabulous!

2. Cut strips from your double sided patterned paper 4" long by .5" wide. I cut 9 of them.
3. I gathered them together then used my Crop-a-dile to create hole in each end for my ribbon to thread through. I tie a knot at the end to prevent them from slipping.

4. Tie another knot about 2 inches from your last knot, this will be the height of your Christmas ball.
5. Bend and string on your strips and tie one more knot to secure it. You can now fan out your strips to make the shape of a Christmas ball.
Now I will go into the instructions for the puffy panel.

6. trace out the shape of your chipboard on the patterned paper. Remember one will be the backside (without the hole) on one will be your front (with the hole cutout).
7. Modpodge the front only to your chipboard frame. I then sand my edges and add a little sponging of distress ink to the edge to hide the chipboard look.

8. Cut out some cotton batting squares using the square insert of your chipboard as a reference. I cut out 2 so that my panel would be extra puffy!
9. Layer up your items. Your panel first then your batting and lastly your chipboard square.


10. Push your backing through so that it is flush with your frame. I then took some double sided tape and secured the edges of my cotton panel to my chipboard.
11. This is what it should look like from the front an nice raised panel that is soft and springy when you press on it.

Well those are the basic elements to this ornament design. Try it out, it is a fun way to use scraps of paper and you can either do this puffy panel on top or see my post below with the chipboard bird. Phew, now to go make another latte and get some stamping done!

Ornamental Bird

I have been hired by Crafty Secrets to help make some ornaments for their Christmas tree that will be at their booth for the BC Creative Expo. I was playing around with some ideas for their chipboard and you know how I am with birds! This little ornament looks darling from both sides. It was quite simple to make, I'll probably post a tutorial when I make a second one. All paper and chipboard are Crafty Secrets. I love this paper because it is two sided. This way the ornament looks pretty on the inside too.

Yes, my favorite part is this bird. The little pearl eye I colored with my copic marker, it is made by "robin's nest" how fitting! I went to the hardware store today to buy some files so that I could sand all the creases in this chipboard. You will see a menagerie of trinkets for the tree in the coming month!

OK lots of requests already for a tutorial, watch for it tomorrow!