Sizzix Bigz die - Christmas Stocking and Embossing folder

A simple Christmas card using this older Sizzix die and embossing folder.  I used a white Stampin Up  ink pad  to highlight the embossing on the stocking.

Sizzix - Victorian Carolers

It was a bit of a mission to get my hands on this die as I could not find it anywhere in the UK and ended getting it from the US.  I used it this Christmas to mass produce cards.  I teamed the figures up with a Marianne D die for the lantern (bottom half trimmed off), Creative Memories background paper and a sentiment from a Peachy Keen set.

MFT Die-namics - Christmas Stocking

For table settings on Christmas day I made felt cutlery holders using a MFT die, Christmas Stocking. I bought the red and white starry felt from Hobbycraft here in the UK.  As I ran out of time I quickly sewed the edges of the red stocking by hand, glued on the white topping back and front then hand sewed down the side to finish it off.  If I had to make any more I think I would get the sewing machine out to make it easier.

Penny Black - Flambeau

I love the Penny Black stamp Flambeau and used it this time with the Misti.  Using a variety of markers, mostly Distress, I stamped the image onto watercolour paper to give an uneven look.  I then stamped the same image on a piece of scrap paper and rough cut around it to use as a mask.  The background stamp is also a Penny Black one - Christmas Story.  The inks sponged on afterwards are all Distress inks.

Christmas Ornament - Sizzix Fox #2 die

This time I used the whole die for the ornament.  I cut the fox out of felt and used the templates I had made previously to hand cut the black face, white tail tip and ears and chest area.  This time I used blanket stitch for the edging.  As I have previously mentioned, sewing is not my strong point !

Christmas Ornament - Peachy Keen

I had this adorable mouse already coloured in and cut out in my Christmas stash.  I know it is from an old Peachy Keen set but not sure which one.  The background is a Spellbinders die - large scallops.  I used craft glue to adhere the card stock to the felt.  I hand sewed the edges and lightly filled the inside of the ornament.

If you are wanting to have a new set of different, fun Christmas ornaments for your tree then using your stamps and felt shapes is the way to go.  I would not think they would last until the next Christmas season but then new stamps will be out by then and you can create a whole new set of tree decorations.

Christmas Ornament - Penny Black Jolly Follies

The felt shape is an old retired MFT Die-namics Stax die.  I had the Penny Black Jolly Follies image already cut out from last Christmas so I just had to colour it in, stick it to the felt and add a bit of 'snow' felting from a few strands of white wool.

Christmas Ornament - Fox

When I was first told the theme for the Christmas Tree Festival was British wildlife I knew I did not have too many dies that would work.  We were out and about one evening in our local town and I saw a few shop window decorations that were interesting.  This fox was a decal on a window so I took a photo, printed it in black and white in the size I wanted and cut it out to use as a template.  This was an easy shape to cut out with felt and I just had to add a few bits of white and black to finish it up.

The background felt shape is a Spellbinders die - large scallops and the foliage bit came from some scraps I had in a container of left over die shapes.  Not sure but I think it is a Marianne D die.  Under the fox I did some felting with strands of white wool.

Christmas Ornament - Butterfly

Whilst looking through my craft drawers I found my stash of silicone moulds and this butterfly one amongst them.  I used Stampin Up Clay which is white in colour and left the butterfly in the mould to air dry.

As there are 2 butterflies in this mould I used the smaller one to experiment on as it was the first time I had used Stampin Up Clay.  I found that Distress inks and markers worked well and I used a combination of these on the butterfly.  Once dry I topped the body in the centre off with Distress Stickles and the tips of the wings off with Stickles as well.

The butterfly was glued onto 2 Spellbinder heart shapes cut from felt.  I lightly stuffed the white heart shape to give the ornament a bit of dimension.  Again I used the Felt Glue which worked well.

Christmas Ornament - Cottage Cutz Mouse w/Sunflower

I just love how this ornament turned out.  The mouse is so cute !

For the background I die cut 2 x Spellbinders Scalloped Circles out of white felt.  The sleigh is a Marianne D Creatables die, the mouse is from Cottage Cutz Mouse w/Sunflower and the reindeer antlers were taken from the Cottage Cutz Festive Owls set.  All the die cuts were done out of card stock and adhered on with Felt Glue.  The "reins" were just to lines of embroidery thread.  I did add a little glitter glue onto the sleigh to jazz it up a bit.

Once the glue was set I stitched the two scalloped circles together using a zig zag pattern and added some filling in to give it a bit of body.  With card stock being rigid it is best not to add in too much filling.

Christmas Ornament - Cuttlebug Christmas Tree

This old Cuttlebug Christmas tree die is perfect to cut out of felt.  I glued the tree onto a Spellbinders Circle cut out of white felt and decorated it with an Impression Obsession Rabbits die (glued on) and added a beaded string plus a couple of buttons.

Christmas Ornament - Sizzix Decorative Strip Die Tim Holtz Snowflake Rosette

Not a great photo, sorry.  I cut 3 strips in each colour and mounted a punched duck and butterfly and an Impression Obsession rabbit die to the front of each snowflake.  This took care of 9 ornaments all done in one evening.  The card stock is glittery so they look a lot nicer than the photo shows.

Christmas Ornament - Cottage Cutz Winter Owl

I thought hearts made for a good Christmas ornament shape.  This is a Spellbinders die and I used Cottage Cutz Winter Owl for the topping.  The owl and accessories were mainly cut out of felt with a few bits being card stock.  I found the more delicate parts of the dies were not so easy to cut out of felt as they tended to break up too easily.  I must say how impressed I was to be able to use Cottage Cutz dies with craft felt.

Christmas Ornament - Cottage Cutz Squirrel

Many of the dies I dug out for the Christmas Tree festival decorations are old but it is certainly fun to be using them again.  For this ornament I cut out 2 Spellbinders Mittens, added a piece of red felt on the top of the front one only and needle felted the bottom of the mitten using individual strands of white wool.  I thought it would be cheaper and easier to use wool instead of trying to source white felting and waiting for it to be delivered.  The joys of living in a rural part of the country !

The squirrel is from a Cottage Cutz die as is the present.  The squirrel was cut from card stock and I used Distress inks and a sponge to darken certain areas.  Again I used Felt Glue to stick the squirrel to the felt.  It really is an excellent glue.

To finish off I attached a loop of ribbon on the top and lightly sewed it in.  I then sewed around the edges leaving a small gap to insert filling in before closing it up.  I am not overfilling these ornaments especially the ones I am using card stock toppings on as the card stock needs to sit as flat as possible for it to look nice.
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Christmas Ornament - Cuttlebug Tortoise

When I was looking through my die stash I nearly forgot about all the old Cuttlebug dies I have.  I found this tortoise, added a Christmas hat from one of my Cottage Cutz dies and did some basic felting using a little wool.  I separated the strands of the wool making a small loose ball with each one before using a 2 needle felting tool to adhere it to the felt background.  It is a bit time consuming but I like the end result.

The outside scalloped circle is a Spellbinders die called Petite Scallop.

Christmas Ornament - Sizzix Die Fox #2

Continuing on the theme of British wildlife for the charity Christmas tree festival I dug out my Sizzix Fox #2 die and used the head only for this ornament.

What I did with this die was to run fairly heavy card stock through a couple of times and I then cut one of them up along the embossed lines for the black section of the head, the eyes and the tips of the ears.  This made it easier to cut these sections out of felt using the card stock as a template.
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Christmas Ornament - Spellbinders Owl

After volunteering to make Christmas ornaments for a local charity Christmas Tree Festival I started to go through my stash to see just what I could create.  The theme is British wildlife.  Easy for the locals but being from another country I had to look up as to just what constituted wildlife here.

My first effort was this owl made with the Spellbinders Owl die.  I used craft felt and bought some amazing felt glue which helps a lot as hand sewing is not my strong point !  For the eyes I used some scraps of ribbon and a couple of dark beads.  It was a lot of fun.

La Pashe Flippin Stamps - Golfer

DH needed a birthday card for a fellow golfer and retired vet so I thought I would give this stamp another go.  I have previously struggled to get a decent image having tried many different ink pads.  Since I now have a Misti it makes it a lot easier and quicker.  I used Momento Tuxedo Black ink on special Copic card which I purchased from Flourishes a long time ago.

The colouring in was done using Copics.  The cats are from an Impression Obsession die and the dog is an Art Impression stamp.  The background paper is from my large stock of old Creative Memories and the 'window' was made using 2 dies from Spellbinders Rectangles large.

Now why did I not think of this before !

I usually struggle when cutting out fiddly or alphabet dies.  I am not a fan of using glue to stick them down as have often seen the glue not holding.  I normally cut tiny strips of double sided tape with more ending up sticking to my fingers than on the die cut. 

Whilst doing my latest card I had a brainwave !!  On the back of the card stock to be used for the letters I was die cutting I stuck a strip of double sided tape (see above) and ran it through the Cuttlebug (see photo below).

In the next photo is the reverse side of the cut out letter.  After that I simply peeled off the double sided tape on the back and stuck it onto the card.  I cannot think out why this has taken be so long to fathom out !  Will definitely be trying it with the more intricate dies even if I can just get some of the fiddly bits taken care of then I will be happy.  I did not experience any problems with removing the card stock from the die.

Stamping Bella - Big Guy Golfing by Mo Manning

 DH commissioned this card for a golfing buddy who has not been well.  I have a few golfing images but thought this one would be better suited to a senior golfer.

The background paper is an old Creative Memories one.  The sentiment is taken from an old Cuttlebug alphabet die using Stampin Up Certainly Celery card stock and the image is a stamp from Stamping Bella - Big Guy Golfing by Mo Manning.  To colour the image I used a variety of Distress Stains and markers sometimes mixing a couple of the colours.  For the skin I used a combination of Letraset Aquamarkers Mocha and Eggshell with an aqua brush.  I normally struggle with skintones but this time I managed to get it right.

Card Gift Container

This pack of cards was made for a gift.  The die is a Marianne D one -  Bird with Small Branch.  I made up the card container around the size of the cards and scored the relevant areas.

Jelli Plate Birthday Card

Even though I have been gone a long time from this blog, I have been making a few projects.  We moved home again at the end of January this year (5th time in 2 years) and it has taken a while to get my craft room up and running.  The downside to having cupboards to house most of my stash is that I cannot remember just where things are.  As a result I have tried to keep my projects simple.

The Jelli Plate is a great for making mono prints.  This is one background I made a while back.  For this card I cut 2 vertical slits half way on either side of the card and inserted a strip of white card stock.  Not sure where the sentiment came from.

Tonic Studios - Wine Bottle Gift Box

Giving a bottle of wine as a gift is popular these days and this Tonic Studio die just finishes the gift off beautifully.  Add a tag or other embellishments and you have an eye catching container.

I have found the trick is to use a medium weight card stock and you can make this out of one 12" x 12" sheet.  For the first one I needed to use 2 sheets but with careful planning you can squeeze it out of 1 sheet.  Cut the die 3 times and use extra sticky red tape to piece it together.  At this stage I found it easier to slip the sleeve over an empty wine bottle (a full one was too heavy).  Cut 2 circles out of matching card just less than the bottom of the wine bottle in size.  I laid the bottle in the sleeve on its side and popped one of the circles underneath the bottom flaps (in other words, at the base of the bottle) and attached it to the wine sleeve bottom flaps with double sided tape.  Stick the second circle on the outside of the bottom flaps and you now have a firm base.  If you don't get the base quite right you can always stand the container upright and stick on a thick ribbon at the bottom of the container.  This is also easier to do with a bottle in.

Embellish with the long rectangle panels that come with the die or if you use pretty patterned themed card then this might not be necessary.  I used a raffia type twine for the holes at the top of the die and an old Clear Dollar die for the sentiment.  The sentiment comes from MFT.

The downside of not drinking is that we never have any wine bottles around so I went down to the local recycling bin and rummaged around until I found a suitable empty bottle !  I have just found some pretty patterned Christmas card stock and will be trying that out soon.

Christmas Card - Watercolours

A beautiful hand painted Christmas card made by my husband for me.  No stamps involved, just a picture traced (via a light box) onto watercolour paper and painted using watercolours.  He is not used to doing normal card sized paintings and, this being his first attempt, I am most impressed.

Peachy Keen - Snow Sweet Home

Apologies for the poor quality photo - I cannot seem to find a decent light to photograph with.

This is a plain and simple card using Peachy Keen's Snow Sweet Home stamp coloured in with Distress inks and an aqua brush.  The 'snow' on the image is a result of my new white Distress Paint and Tim Holtz splatter paintbrush.  I think I had a little too much fun with it !

The Spellbinders circle background was embossed with a snow theme embossing folder.  The sentiment is from the Hobby Art set called Christmas Greetings.

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a joyful and happy 2016.

Cottage Cutz - Santa and Reindeer Resting

I do love this Cottage Cutz die and with doing so many of them this year I can get a number done in a production line quite quickly.   The background is done with shimmer mists I bought at a local craft fair.  I do find working with the sprays a challenge and make a huge mess but I like the end product.  The sentiment is from an old Hero Arts set called Holiday Sayings.

Cottage Cutz - Santa's Retreat

This was a time consuming Cottage Cutz die to put together but I made a few at the same time so it did make it a little easier.  The background paper is an old Creative Memories one and the sentiment is from my stash.  I really must start writing on the back of them !

Cottage Cutz - Santa and Reindeer Flying

A very quick and easy card to do - Cottage Cutz dies to the rescue again !  The sentiment was one I found in my stash and the background paper was from an old craft magazine.

Cottage Cutz - Santa and Reindeer Resting

Apologies for the shadow on the card but photographing in miserable rainy weather is not my strong point.  I prefer to rely on natural light but it seems I am going to have to change my ways and get used to the lack of light in the northern hemisphere winters.

I bought this cute Cottage Cutz Santa & Reindeer Resting die online last week.  I wanted something a little different and have always liked Cottage Cutz dies.  I think I will be using this die with different backgrounds in the future, perhaps a watercolour night sky.  Will have to ask DH to knock me up a few !

The sentiment is from an old Hero Arts set called Holiday Sayings.

Peachy Keen - Snow Sweet Home

This is an image I stamped and cut out last year so it was easy to colour and pop onto a background.

The stamp is from the set by Peachy Keen called Snow Sweet Home.  To colour it in I used a mixture of Distress Stains, Distress markers and Marvy Le Plume markers.  The background was created using Brusho's which I love.  The crystals react beautifully with a few sprays of water and you never know just what will come out of it.  I tend to do a whole lot at the same time which is a lot of fun (and messy).  The sentiment is from an old Hero Arts set called Holiday Sayings.