So my first few Christmas trees that were ‘mine’ to decorate were decorated on a students budget - so they all had homemade decorations like the ole popcorn/cranberry chains, salt dough cookie cutters ornaments and pinecone angels that I had made with pine ones, milkweed pods, wooden bobbles and pipe cleaners and sprayed gold - they haven’t made it through the years unfortunately!
However this Little hand crafted Angel - she was a gift from a coworker/friend - so if my memory and math is current I have had her over 30 years that she’s topped my tree!
Goodness how’s that possible? She still looks as amazing as the day I got her!
OK I already loved the Bright Baubles Bundle but seeing this Artisan team member inspiration and now he layered them to really make them POP I want it even more!!!
So intricate and elegant! They’d look lovely hanging on a tree too! I just love making paper ornaments for my tree!
Tombow glue is perfect for intricate gluing and dries clear. A little trick I use if I need a really intricate dab of glue is make a puddle in my silicone mar and use the paper poker to dot on OR I use a sponge and dab the glue onto sponge and than dab onto the paper dies for a nice even application.
Finally carved out some scrapbooking time recently and got a layout of the girls when they were wee littles in foster care still. Our foster mom Angela takes the most amazing photos of the babes she takes in 💕💕💕
Used an inspiration layout from over Scrapbook Nerds Facebook community and combined it with last months corrugated cardboard technique and the new Butterfly Wishes stamp set from Stampin' Up!
They are just so adorable and their coloring begs for the use of gold, crumb cake and black color palette! I was pleased that the corrugated cardboard was easily cut using the Big Shot and heart dies from Stampin' Up! I brushed it with gold Nuvo mousse to give the raised corrugation a shimmer effect.
Accents of gold were added using gold foil and the Be Mine Stitched Heart die from Stampin' Up!
Love how the corrugated cardboard offers so much dimension to the project!
There are no more kids in school in the house to make 'teacher appreciation' Valentines for so will have to rely vicariously through custom orders from clients!
If I had a video recorder and stand I would totally make my own video on how I made mine to share but I don't so thank you google for finding me this awesome paper crafter who shared her's for anyone who'd like to case the idea themselves!
If you are not a papercrafter and love these hope on over to Totallyawake4-stampin and make a custom order for the teachers in your life! .
Have an amazing day! Margaret Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much Be Totallyawake4-life
I love FLOWERS ... there is something extra lovely about flowers from their pretty array of colors to their often intoxicating scents!
If I could afford it I would have fresh cut flowers around my home ALL the time. Once upon a time I use to actually struggle with the ethical challenge of fresh cut flowers ~ the whole they start to 'die the minute you cut them from their plant' but than a friend who is a florist and lover of flowers themselves put it in a way that made sense to me. A Flower starts to die the minute it buds. You can leave it to open and blossom and wilt and die alone in the field or you can carefully prune it and place it a vase in a place of honor in your home and cherish it for the duration of its life span but either way its life span is going to pass. So now I treat myself to fresh cut flowers as often as my budget can afford it.
In the meantime I enjoy PAPER flowers cause they have a much longer lifespan and they too can be scented by infusing the paper with essential oils! So win win!
I am just loving this new stamp set and die bundle from Stampin' Up! The Botanical Garden set suite has so many awesome cool things with it! From the Stamp set, the Die cut to gorgeous designer series paper and coordinating embellishments with the washi tape and jewels!
Bundles at a discount!
Jewel Embellishments
Coordinating cardstock
Stunning Designer Series Paper
Coordinating Washi Tape
The amazing Botanical Gardens Suite set can be made to use so many gorgeous pieces for home decor, celebrations and gift accents! Also love that the artisans of Stampin' Up! are so willing to share their designs and they encourage those who need a little help to 'copy and share everywhere' the stunning work they do!
Here are some amazing samples inspired from fellow demonstrators .... just so versatile the looks and creations you can get depending on what colors and items you choose to put together. I LOVE that they designed the coordinating paper so that you could stamp on it too!
One of the challenges though with working with so many small pieces is getting a pattern you like laid out and than having to 'adhere it' without loosing your pattern ... the crafting community to the rescue again with amazing tips, tricks and tutorials for making crafting easier! Love this one which would work PERFECT with placing the Botanical Gardens suite elements on your card!
Another great thing about Stampin' Up! that I love is all the coordinating pieces take the guess work out of choosing color palettes that coordinate when it comes to ink and papers ... everything matches and goes well together, Including this cool Vellum from the Sale-a-bration catalog shown here!
Between January 5th and March 31st did you know for every $60 you spend with your Stampin' Up demonstrator you can buy the Botanical Gardens bundle and earn the Vellum shown in the video for FREE! Who doesn't love FREE stuff specially when it coordinates so dang well?
How gorgeous are these handmade paper Magnolias from Lia Griffith?
I love paper bouquets because they will last so much longer than fresh cut do! When I want a floral aroma to go with them I just diffuse a essential oil blend with floral hues!
Find the Tutorial on how to make these gorgeous Magnilia inspired paper creations here.
Ian the Elf brought the crew everything we need to make our annual hand print keepsake ornaments ~ this year we voted for a Tree theme!
What You Need
Large clear ornaments ~ we get ours at Michael's
Acrylic paints ~ green and various colors for the 'lights'
Plastic disposable cups - to hold ornaments while you work
Metallic Marker
Hairspray
Glitter
Funnel
Soapy Warm Water and washcloth you do not care about
Rubbing Alcohol
What You Do
Wipe glass or plastic with rubbing alcohol to remove any oily residue
Paint childs hand and place firmly on the ornament ~ you can orient it either fingers up and closed or down and spread open for the branches we opted for up so they would fit on the ornament.
Place paint side up into a plastic cup to dry.
Once dry you can revisit and decoarte your tree adding lights with toothpicks or fine paint brush dots and tinsel or stars and whatever the child wants. Let dry again.
If using clear ornaments you can carefully remove the hanging top as they are fairly fragile and glitter them up by spraying the inside of ornament with hairspray make sure to direct spray to cover entire inside and than use the funnel to carefully pour in glitter.
Cover top with your thumb or return the top and shake to distribute glitter. Repeat as required to get full coverage.
Add a ribbon to your hanger hook!
Wrap and put under the tree for the big day!
Hand print ornaments are always a hit with loved ones ~ something extra special about capturing their little hands for prosperity! If you missed our other post on the 10 keepsake hand print and photo ornament ideas you can view it here
