A Fun Little Christmas Ornament by Donna Sledzik

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving.  Now it's time to transition into the Christmas season!

Today I have a simple Christmas ornament for you to create.  

I started by die cutting a 3.5" circle from plaid paper and set it into a 3" wooden embroidery hoop.  I centered the die cut circle over the smaller piece of the embroidery hoop.  I gently folded the paper over the hoop.  Next, I placed the larger hoop on top of the paper.

I die cut the saying from white foil paper and glued it to the center of the plaid paper.

Next, I die cut the Pine Needle Frame from white cardstock and cut the pine boughs from the frame.  I used a blending brush and Peeled Paint Distress Oxide Ink to add a little color to the pine die cuts.

I used liquid glue to adhere them to the embroidery hoop.

To finish the ornament I added some Christmas Fairy Crystals to the ornament.  I tied a piece of twine thru the top of the hoop to hang the ornament.

That's it for today!  Have a great weekend!

 

Supplies

 

CRY102 Christmas Fairy Crystals

94707 Repeat the Sounding Joy Curled Script

94687 Pine Needle Frame

FP1002 Vintage Pastel Mirror Pad

Happy Halloween 6X6 by Anne Thompson

I'm loving the new Halloween/2022 Fall Collection, especially the Flying Witch.  She becomes the focal image on this 6X6 panel...

to make this panel

• cut a piece of BLACK GLOSSY PAPER 44004 into a 6" square
• cut a piece of brown plaid paper from WOODSY PLAID PP1018 into 5 7/8" square
• layer the plaid onto the black glossy square
• cut another strip of a different brown plaid 3" X 5 7/8" and add it toward the bottom of the larger plaid panel
• die cut a circle of orange glitter paper from the GLITZY GLITTER PAD GP1007 using the CIRCLE BASICS SET 30087--I chose one that would fit the center of the white doily
• glue the orange glitter paper circle in the center of a white doily and attach to the plaid paper in the upper left
• die cut the FLYING WITCH 94624, the RICKETY HOUSE 94632, and the background for HAPPY HALLOWEEN 94585 from more of the black glossy paper
• use Scor-Tape to attach the Flying Witch onto the orange glitter paper "moon"
• add the Rickety House in the lower right corner with its fence using a glue pen
• die cut the detailed HAPPY HALLOWEEN 94585 lettering from a bright orange paper from the SUNNY ORANGE COLLECTION SP1002 and use a glue pen to attach it to the black background and then secure it in the lower left corner
• At this point I felt like it still needed something so I made a small floral arrangement for the upper right corner--some orangey leaves, gray flowers with orange centers, burlap twine, and black stamens all held together with large Glue Dots.

materials used

I haven't quite decided how I will use this panel.  It could become the front of a 6X6 card.  It could become part of a scrapbook page with Halloween photos added.  It could become a piece of home decor for the fireplace mantel at Halloween.  It could decorate the top of a Halloween treats box.  So many possibilities...

Happy Crafting!

A Little Sparkle Project by Donna Sledzik

Happy 4th of July weekend!  Today's project is a fun way to use leftover scraps of paper that we all have!

I started by going through my scrap basket and pulled some red, white and blue papers. 

Next, I tore them into strips, added some ink and stamping accents to give them some interest.

I cut a 5" x 7" background piece of cardstock to get an idea of how big to make my woven piece. Once I created the piece, I glued it to the background paper and spattered it with white and black inks.

Next, I die cut the solid stars and frame using the Shining Star Die set.  I inked the large solid star with Faded Jeans Distress Oxide ink. 

I glued some black thread to the back of the large solid star and used foam tape to adhere it to the background. Next, I glued the other stars to the project.

To finish the project I stamped and white embossed the sentiment on a strip of black cardstock and used foam tape to glue it to the background. 

Since I don't really send out 4th of July cards, I thought I would turn this into a home decor item.

I hope everyone has fun 4th!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

Supplies

 

94321 Shining Star Set

CL5241 Rose Bouquet clear stamp set

CL5266 Joyful Moments clear stamp set

PP1001 Dashing Holiday 6x6 pack

PP1009 Christmas Plaid 6x6 pack

PP1006 Springtime Bouquet 6x6 pack

PP1004 Cottage Stripes and Dots 6x6 pack

3-D Snowglobes & Glitter Paper by Angie Cimbalo

Hello and welcome!  I have made a couple of pretty 3-D scenes using the newly released snowglobe dies and some beautiful glitter papers from Memory Box.  These die sets can be used individually or in combination with each other to create lovely 3D snowglobes.  In addition to the main large die piece in each set, they come with other small dies such as a cloud, a cabin, critters, snowmen, and more.

For my projects today, I combined four dies for the first one and three dies for my second snow globe.

To see how these dies work together, check out Laura's post HERE.  She has some great tips and pictures that show just how easy they are to assemble.

For the first snow globe, I applied Distress Oxide and Distress inks direct to white card stock panels, splattered them with white acrylic paint and die cut the following:

1)  "Snowmen Snowglobe":  Iced Spruce Oxide panel

2)  "Cabin Snowglobe":  Speckled Egg Oxide panel

3)  Background opening:  Pastel Glitter Paper (blue) 

4)  The cloud die:  White Pastel Glitter paper

5)  The tiny cabin:  Watercolor paper inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink

6)  "Snowglobe Backer" & snow on cabin:  White card stock (I added a strip of Iced Spruce on the bottom front)

7)  Chimney smoke and back of cabin:  Brown card stock

Once the die cutting was complete, it was very easy to assemble because the backer has score marks to 1) show you where to place the inner snowglobe dies and 2) another one on the edge to actually fold upward to create the bottom snow drift in the front.  I had cut the backer in white and after assembling it, i decided I wanted Iced Spruce on the bottom snowdrift, so I used a scrap of that card stock to die cut just the bottom of the backer die.  I trimmed it with scissors and added it to the front of my snow globe.  Now my bottom snow drift was the color I wanted it to be!

Here's a look at my second one:

This time I used Evergreen Bough Distress Oxide ink then die cut the "Radiant Snowglobe" background.  I only used the sky background from that piece and combined it with all other white die cuts.  The trees in the front were cut from white using the "Cabin Snowglobe" die set.  After adhering the two snowglobe dies together inside the backer die, and before gluing the bottom snowdrift on the backer die up, I stamped the sentiment from the "Spirit of Christmas" stamp set.  I added a star gem from my stash on the background to draw your eyes to the gorgeous radiant die-cut lines.

On both projects, I added thin gold twine in a loop though the holes at the top.  Now I can either hang them on my tree or use them as home decor items during the holidays!

Here's a few more views of my finished snowglobes:

I hope you like my projects for today....be sure to check out all the newly released products from Memory Box's 2020 Christmas release.  There are so many beautiful things to be made with them.

Thanks so much for stopping by, see you next time!

 

 

Supplies

 

94491 Snowglobe Backer craft die

94492 Snowmen Snowglobe craft die

94493 Radiant Snowglobe craft die

94494 Cabin Snowglobe craft die

CL5261 Spirit of Christmas clear stamp set

GP1001 Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad

WP101 Watercolor Paper

Dollar Store Halloween Shadowbox by Laura Fulcher

Greetings friends.  I wanted to share a Halloween shadowbox with you today that I created from a frame I purchased at the dollar store.  I like to buy things from the dollar store and then alter them using my crafting supplies.   I started out with this ugly item:

It was just begging to be covered up by something else.  I ripped of the "good morning" circle from the frame.  The circle is on a wooden block to raise it up off of the backing.

Next, I added some striped grey paper over the pink frame back.  For the circle, I cut out a cream circle that was roughly the same size as the good morning circle and edged it with some Pumice Stone and Hickory Smoke Distress ink.  I then added some bats cut out from black glitter paper and a sentiment for the season:

For the corners, I added some of the small elements from the Haunted Entrance Dome Layer die.  I first cut out the wrought iron gate with black paper so that it blended with the frame.  It was important to do that so that the edges blended in with the frame.  I then cut out the fence again in silver paper and glued it on top of the black.  To finish the corners, I added a ghost and a few pumpkins:

Have you bought things from the dollar store to alter?  I especially like to do it for seasonal home decor items.  Let me know what you like to make!

 

 

Supplies

 

CL5264-D Halloween Pumpkin clear stamp and die set

94507 Haunted Entrance Dome Layer craft die

30036 Stitched Circle Layers

Twas the Night Shadowbox by Anne Thompson

I found a lovely new plastic-wrapped shadowbox on the white elephant table at a holiday fair this past weekend and decided to use it for my post today incorporating lots of patterned papers and die cuts.  I wanted to use the Twas the Night washi tape to set the theme and came up with this Christmas Eve scene.

Patterned Papers

• Cranberry Gingham
• Licorice Distressed Dots
• Gray Stripe from Dashing Stripes and Dots
• Red/Black Plaid from Dashing Holiday

Washi Tape

• Twas the Night Wide Washi Tape WT501

Dies

• Pine Tree Hill 94295
• Snowy Cabin Circle 94332
• Sparkling Snowflake Trio 94287
• Scalloped Stocking 94327

My shadowbox measures 8 X 8 so I cut a piece of the Cranberry Gingham that size and used Scor-Tape to attach it to the cardboard backing that came with the shadowbox.  Then I took some heavy white cardstock and cut the Pine Tree Hill several times.  I used dimensional foam tape to attach the trees to the bottom edge of the backing, staggering them, cutting them apart, and stacking them for a forest effect.

I cut the Snowy Cabin Circle from more of the white cardstock.  I also cut it from Licorice Distressed Dots paper and from gray striped paper.  I also cut a small piece of black paper to go behind the windows once I punched them out.  You can see in this next photo how I put the cabin pieces together on the gingham backing and added the three white cardstock snowflakes.

I put some of the Twas the Night washi tape on a piece of white cardstock and cut it with the Scalloped Stocking die.  I added a cuff and toe cut from the red/black plaid paper.  I placed that on the left with two stacked layers of foam tape, tucking the toe just a bit behind the trees.

Here's the piece before popping it in the shadowbox behind the glass.

Now that I have placed this piece inside the frame under the glass I can see how much more room I have for adding other embellishments. 

I'm hoping to find a small silhouette of Santa and the reindeer-driven sleigh to place in the sky above the cabin.  I'm pretty sure I have a tiny sleeping mouse to tuck into the lower righthand corner.  (One of my tabletop Christmas trees just has mice on it.)  Because I doubled the foam tape behind the stocking I can add a candy cane and maybe a small toy, and I think I will stack some little gift-wrapped presents on the bottom ledge.  Guess I'll have to put this by the fireplace with Santa's cookies and milk on Christmas Eve!

Happy Crafting!

 

 

3-D Valentines...Circle Frames, Hearts, and Flowers by Anne Thompson

3-D Valentines for gift tags/home decor/ornaments...

These were so much fun to put together!

I started with some papier mache-ish circle and heart ornament forms that I purchased ages ago at a local craft store.  The circles are about 3 3/4" in diameter and a little less than 1/2" thick, and they already have the gold cord attached for hanging them up.  The first thing I did was to color the edges and overlap a bit onto the front and back of each shape using a red Memento marker.  That way none of the kraft paper showed once I added the decorative papers and die cuts.

Let's look at these two first, inspired by this month's pink and red challenge.

I used the same dies for each of these:

• the 3.7" circle die from (fall 2017) WRAPPED CIRCLES 30114
• PINPOINT HEART CIRCLE FRAME 94106
  

For the one on the left, I covered both the front and the back of the circle form with white cardstock Wrapped Circles.  It was important to use Scor-Tape to attach the papers to the cardboard form.  On the front I used the Pinpoint Heart Circle Frame cut from a nice red cardstock, attaching it with glue dots under each of the hearts.  I then added tiny pink roses between each of the hearts and popped up the central heart from the die cuts with three more tiny roses on it.  I added a pink bow and another rose at the top, on the edge near the gold cord loop.  

For the one on the right, I used a shimmery pink cardstock for the Wrapped Circles on the front and the back.   I added the red cardstock Pinpoint Heart Circle Frame, popped up the center heart, and added tiny red pearls at the ends of the vine spirals.  I tucked some red stamens and three tiny red roses under the center heart and  popped on two larger roses.  I then finished it with a large pink satin bow next to the gold loop at the top.

For the one on the left, I cut Wrapped Circles from red/white dot paper.  I added the SCROLLWORK HEART CIRCLE FRAME 94114 cut from white cardstock.  A cluster of flowers in the center, some small white pearls  on the frame, and a white satin bow finish this one.

For the one on the right, I cut Wrapped Circles from red cardstock for the front and back of the form.  I then cut the BRIGHT HEARTS 94120 from white cardstock before cutting it again with the Wrapped Circles die and then placed it on top of the red circle.  I used a few red pearls to emphasize the hearts and a larger one in the center before adding a few red stamens and a red/white polka dot bow at the top. 

This heart-shaped one was a little different.  I didn't have a heart die that was exactly the right size or shape, so I traced the cardboard heart on the back of the red dot paper.  I cut it out a little bit smaller than what I traced to make it fit, one for the front and one for the back.  What did work really well with this shape was the center section of the NEIGHBORHOOD HEART FRAME 94102.  I cut it from white cardstock and added a cluster of white flowers, some red and white stamens, and a white satin bow on top of the gate.  Because I'd already used a bow, I decided to attach pearls around the outer edge, graduating them from largest to smallest on each side of the gold loop.

No forms to work with?  Die cut (or punch) circles or heart shapes from cardstock and layer them up to make a thick base.  Or use cardboard from cereal boxes or packing boxes or fun foam.  You can always cover the edges with narrow ribbon or cording. 

Valentines Day is coming soon!  Now if I can just stop eating the candy I've already purchased to go with these ... 

Happy Crafting!

Merry, Light and Bright…Tisdale Snowflake Collage, Starlight Snowflake Collage and Piccolo Snowflakes by Jean Okimoto

 

The Tisdale Snowflake Collage and Starlight Snowflake Collage dies are perfect for super-fast projects on this eve of Christmas eve.  Simple vellum candle sleeves take just a few minutes and add another reason to have these beautiful contemporary dies in your personal Memory Box Collection.    Hello, Jean Okimoto here tonight with a quick project for your dining table, mantle or windowsill.  

Cut a sheet of white vellum sized to fit around big and little battery-operated candles with a ½" overlap.  Diecut the large piece three times with the Tisdale Snowflake Collage placed slightly diagonally.  Cut the three  uncut areas with the Starlight Snowflake Collage.  Wrap the vellum around the candle.

Oops...you'll probably notice that the curvature of the candle pushes the center portion of one of the large Tisdale snowflakes out like little spikes.  Attach Scor-Tape behind a scrap of white vellum and cut the smallest Piccolo Snowflake three times.   Carefully attach these self-adhesive Piccolo snowflakes over the center of the defiant Tisdale snowflake points to secure the little pieces.  They're the center top and bottom snowflakes in the picture above.  The delicate Piccolo snowflake not only controls the little pokies - it also adds a bit of dimension to the collage.

Cut the small strips of vellum with the Starlight Snowflake Collage.  Wrap the vellum around the candles.

That's it...done!

Thanks very much for stopping by on this busy weekend.  Be sure to visit Impress during the holidays to complete your collection of Memory Box and Poppystamps dies and stamps.  They're making room for our January Release too - so it's a good time to shop for some of the current designs on your wishlist before they go away!

Please join us again for Penny's Christmas Eve project tomorrow.

Merry, Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating on Monday!

 

 

 

 

Supplies

 

99883 Starlight Snowflake Collage craft die

99827 Tisdale Snowflake Collage

99850 Piccolo Snowflakes

2017 Holiday Look Book

Looking for a bit of just-in-time inspiration?  Here's our 2017 Holiday Look Book of designs for ornaments, gifts, sewing and cards.  Enjoy!

 

NEW Feathered Friends and Swooping Leaves and Branches Deep Edge Dies by Jean Okimoto

Meet the new Feathered Friends Deep Edge Dies.  They're from our  Winter 2017 Release - and  great for Christmas ornaments, placecards, gift tags -  and cards throughout the year.  They pair nicely with the new Swooping Leaves and Branches Deep Edge Dies too! 

Hello, Jean Okimoto here, with one of many cards I'll be making with these sweet birds.  Deep Edge dies are designed to cut through multiple layers at once to save time.  They're great for cutting some of the challenging materials we love - heavy felt, vinyl, fabric, wood veneer and handmade papers like these beautiful silkscreened and embossed prints from Shizen Design.

Want a way to select the perfect section of printed paper for your projects? Diecut the shape from a contrasting piece of  cardstock - save the negative.  Slide it over the paper until you find the perfect mix of colors and patterns for your diecut.  Place the die into the negative to position it and diecut the paper.  I cut several birds from similar areas of this red and coral fan-shaped print for future cards.

Here are some suggestions from Laura.  Layer deep edge dies like your other metal dies using the same die cutting "sandwich" if you are cutting only one layer at a time. When cutting multiple layers at once - include a metal adapter plate in the sandwich  - and cut into the metal plate for precise cuts.  This will eventually warp your metal plate, but the upside is that you will save yourself tons of time cutting out all your projects.

Cut the wings and top layers of the birds from patterned and embossed papers.  Cut gold mirror cardstock with largest hooks from the Ornament Caps and Hooks set.  

Cut the beaks, eyes and cheeks from orange, black and peach felt attached to adhesive label paper or sticker sheets.  The backing stabilizes the felt and keeps adhesives from soaking through.  

Attach the patterned papers and felt to a  bird background - use foam dots near the center of the wing.

Attach the hook behind the decorated bird.  Attach the second bird background behind it to create a nice finished back view.

Attach Scor-tape behind lightweight wood veneer and diecut the branch.  Cut the leaves from textured paper.

Stamp the greeting - from the Merry Christmas Sentiments Clear Stamp Set - on a  top-folded 5.5" square white card with Distress Oxides Candied Apple. Heat-set the ink.  I love the Ultra-Smooth White Cardstock from Impress - it's perfect for stamping and diecutting their collection of Memory Box and Poppystamps dies. 

Attach the bird to the card with foam dots - don't attach the ornament hook to the card.  Attach the branch - securing the end of the hook under it.  Add the leaves and red gem stickers.

The Feathered Friends set contains 12 dies and Swooping Branches and Leaves has 4 dies.  Slip them onto curtain rings to keep them organized and ready for your next project.  Curtain rings are a strange thing to find in a papercrafting store - but Impress sells them to keep die sets organized...and together!

Want a chance to win your own deep edge die set?  Leave a comment on all of the designer posts from November 13th thru Friday November 17th.  Three winners will be chosen at random from all of the comments to win the deep edge die set of their choice.  The more posts you comment on between these dates,  the more chances you have to win! (Limit one comment per person per day). Good Luck!

Thanks for stopping by.  Join us again tomorrow for Donna's great project, and another chance to win a deep edge set of your choice!

 

 

 Supplies

 

30102 Feathered Friends craft die

30107 Swooping Branches & Leaves craft die

CL5212 Merry Christmas Sentiments clear stamp set

99213 Ornament Caps and Hooks