Christmas Shaker ornament - step by step

I've been asked to explain how I made the ornament I posted yesterday so here you go, some instructions for you!

I made this in a slightly different way than the "classic" method of using foam pads to achieve the depth needed for your shaker inclusions. I figured that with a circle that's a bit of a pain and you're likely to end up with tiny gaps that stuff could leak out through and the job of neatening up the outer edge. So, here's how to do it the way I did:

1. Cut four rings from black card by placing two Nesties one inside the other on your cutting platform - two consecutive ones from a set gives a nice width frame. Use a magnetic mat or a couple of pieces of low tack tape to hold your Nesties in place so that all the rings are exactly the same (you might need to use a pokey tool to ease the ring out of the dies if you use a magnetic mat since you can't push it out through the hole while the dies are in place). Emboss the final ring with the tan mat before you remove it from the dies.

2. Now remove the smaller die and use the larger one to cut three circles: one each of black, white and acetate.

3. Stamp and colour your image on the white circle. Make a wire loop and stick it to the back of the circle to make a hanger at the top.

4. Emboss the black circle in your choice of Cuttlebug folder (I used Textile Texture as the small scale is perfect here). Use Rub n Buff to gild this textured circle and the one ring you embossed while still in the Nesties. Go lightly and you'll leave some black showing which gives that lovely aged appearance.

5. Now you're ready to stack! I used Glossy Accents as it's strong and quick drying. Glue together the three plain rings then glue the stack of rings onto the stamped image. Glue the embossed and gilded ring onto the acetate circle. Spoon some glitter and/or microbeads into the ornament (glass glitter is perfect for this as it's heavier and creates less static so it won't stick to your "window" so much) and then glue the acetate layer and frame on top.

6. Glue the textured circle on to finish the back. You may find the circe is very slightly smaller than your ornament because of the embossing - just add a little Rub n Buff around the margin if needed.

7. Once everything's dry, add a little Rub n Buff around the edge of the ornament and a silk bow to top it off.

You're done - a pretty ornament that's safe around children and pets!

See this post for a complete list of supplies if you're interested in the exact stamp set and so on.

Christmas ornament

OK, so the one layer, clean and simple card making was probably too good to last - lol! I've come over a bit vintage and pretty and not card-based by way of an antidote.

ETA: I put up a step by step for making this ornament in this post

In the Crafty Secrets member forum on Splitcoast Stampers this week, Marcy's challenge is "Just hanging around" - make something to hang or that has a hanging element. I had an immediate image in my head of a shaker ornament using this stamp and for once I not only manged to find time to do it but it came out looking something like I imagined!

I cut three extra rings and stacked them up to give the ornament some depth and added glass glitter and microbeads behind an acetate layer to give her some sparkly snow to sledge through! Doing it this way gives a neater edge than messing about with foam pads, I think and you don't have any issues with possible gaps for stuff to leak through. I use a piece of magnetic paper to keep my Nesties in place so the rings are all the same.

The back circle was embossed and rubbed with the same Rub n Buff I used on the frame so that it still looks pretty if the ornament twizzles round as it hangs.

Stamps:
Sweet Kids (Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets)

Paper:
Smooth white
Black

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Nestabilities by Spellbinder (Large circles)
Deko ice glitter by Efco (Crystal)
White microbeads (these are steel one sold for nail art)
Rub n Buff by Amaco (Gold Leaf)
Cuttlebug embossing folder (Textile Texture)
Silk ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Note for Amaco - I didn't ignore your last comment on my blog but you left no contact details and an e-mail to your customer services address got no response so presumably didn't get passed on. If you read this, please leave a contact e-mail address!

More one layer work

I obviously got bitten by the one layer bug when I made the card for this week's One Layer Wednesday challenge. I needed a card for my brother's birthday and went with another nature-inspired clean and simple design.

I just treated myself to some new stamps including Under the Sea from Darkroom Door. It's my first Darkroom Door purchase but I'm sure it won't be my last! The stamps are wonderfully detailed and the quality is great. There are quite a few places that stock them in the UK too so no hanging around for post to arrive from down under, even though they're an Australian company.

I stamped the seahorse and coloured with Copics then masked it and used Post-It notes to mask off a rectangle and sponged blue inks in there. A teeny weeny birthday sentiment finishes it off and I have a masculine and easy-to-mail card ready to go!

Stamps:
Under the Sea (Darkroom Door)
Sentiment from Kinkade Birthday Expressions (CHF, retired)

Paper:
Smooth white

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso, Cloudy Blue, Stonewashed, Denim)

Other:
Copic markers

Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Hello

It's one layer Wednesday time again and I'm actually playing on the day this week - yay!

Susan's challenge this week is for a one layer card inspired by nature. I've combined with this week's challenge in the Crafty Secrets member company forum at Splitcoast and made a "thinking of you" kind of card.

Stamping doesn't get much simpler than this! I pressed my Distress ink pad straight on to the card for the colour block (don't press too hard if you want the colour fairly light). I love the rustic, distressed look this gives. Then the flower stem and sentiment are stamped in black and a few tiny dots of gesso added to pick out the flower heads.

Stamps:
Wild Flowers (Clear Art Stamps by Crafty Secrets)

Paper:
Smooth white

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Bundled Sage)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Gesso

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry and Bright

I recently saw Paula do a card for "one layer Wednesday" and thought it looked a fun challenge so I'm joining in this week. Susan Rahalia (if you're on Splitcoast Stampers you might know her as Lateblossom) has a lovely sense of style and proportion in her cardmaking and on Wednesday each week she's setting a challenge for a one layer card (or a no layer card, depending on your point of view - basically a card base without any extra papers etc stuck on).

This week is "Three plus one" - three images, one sentiment. I went back to one of the very first stamp sets I ever bought and made a Christmas card. I tied in with Kaz's challenge on Bubbly Funk to use bright, funky colours this month.

I stamped the trees in a bright green ink and then added spots of pink pearl dimensionsal paint over the baubles and sprinkled fuschia pink glitter over while the paint was wet. The pink of the sentiment matches better in real life - dull Northumberland day here means tricky getting a decent photo!

Stamps:
Christmas tree by Skipping Stones

Paper:
Smooth white

Ink:
Versacraft by Tsukineko (Spring Green and Cherry Pink)
Adirondack by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Pearl dimensional paint by Dylon
Microfine glitter
Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the challenge, Susan!

Life is a journey

We're doing another postcard swap over on UK Stampers. I've decided I like the idea of the "real" postcard ethos of sending something with no envelope so I'm sticking with flat and light with nothing stuck on that might drop off!

My recipient this time is Sam who lives in Evesham so I chose an appropriate chunk from an old road atlas for my central panel. The sentiment is embossed in copper and then swiped over with that staple of the modern craft room, gesso (ah! whatever did we do without this stuff?!) to help it stand out from the busy background. As the paper had a coated finish, the car didn't stamp quite as cleanly as I would have liked so I gave it a bit of help with a black marker in a few places.

Stamps:
Vintage Transport (Tanda Stamps)
Sentiment from Encouragement Expressions (Cornish Heritage Farms, retired)

Paper:
Black
Old road atlas

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Memento marker (Tuxedo Black)
Detail embossing powder (copper)
Gesso
Nestabilites by spellbinder (Labels Eight)

Hope life's journey is treating you kindly - thanks for stopping by!

Monster birthday

A quick birthday card for a six year old boy!

I used a handy trick to get the whole of my 5" square card front embossed. It does need a folder that you can use sideways on (so wording ones are no good to you, for example, unless you want your wording to run vertically on the card, of course). Put your cardstock into the folder and run it through your die cutter - you'll have a strip hanging out of the folder that doesn't get embossed. Now put that plain bit into the folder and run it through the die cutter again - this time it will be the bit you embossed in the first step that's haning out of the folder. I tend to reverse the rollers once I've embossed the bit I need to rather than running right through. For a design like this where you stick a strip of something over the top, any "join" in the embossing is hidden.

Stamps:
Little Guy (Kim Hughes Collection from Cornish Heritage Farms)
Alpha stamps (unknown maker)

Paper:
Textured green and orange, both Papermill
Smooth white

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Small circle punch
Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Circle cutter by Fiskars
Copic markers
Dymo label maker and tape
Copic multiliner
Corner Chomper
Cuttlebug embossing folder (Traffic Jam)

Thanks for stopping by!