Christmas Decorations

I have been off work for the last few days with a sinus infection and asthma, so not much energy for doing strenuous things.  While it was worse I didn't even feel like crafting, just lots of time in bed flicking through Facebook and Pinterest.  Well good news is I am improving and my creativity has come back in small windows, so I had the chance to make a couple of the projects I pinned.

The first is this lovely wreath which is quite large and a little fiddly, but only until you get the hang of the cones.  I followed the instructions from Amanda at Scrimping Mommy. Her video is very clear and easy to follow, and I just love her accent and giggle!  I totally love how this turned out and it really is quite sturdy despite it only being done with the thinner specialty DSP.  I probably would be a bit more careful about placement of the cones so that I had an even number on the inside ring but think I "hid" the double black together by making it a feature at the bottom!  

My next project was these cute little ornaments, they are simply stunning and look really complicated but in truth are quite simple.  I followed this video from Carrie Rhodes, and used the Merry Music Specialty DSP which was easy to work with and just stunning as a final project.  I finished mine off with some rhinestones, silvery doily on which I mounted a basic black circle and snowflake cut with silver glimmer paper. 

I wanted it to be all symmetrical so planned the layout of my strips with each "side" using 4 dark strips for the main cross pieces and 4 of the lighter pieces.  Be mindful of which you want to show up on the finished star. I found that my second side I folded in the opposite direction (once you watch the video it will make more sense) as you turn it over on the finished ornament, so it was necessary to do this to ensure all the cross bars the same looking from the front.  Just have a play around and see how you go.

I had a little bit of time after dinner and it occurred to me that a "wooden" ornament could be lovely too. So I grabbed a piece of my Wood Textures DSP Stack and got to work. I chose one of the mid-tone shades, and again was careful about how I layered out the pieces so that most of the dark shades were at the front.  When thinking about how to finish off this one I decided ot play around with the Foil Snowflakes, flipping one over and using the Ivory Blends pen all over and highlighting parts of the ornament with the Bronze Blends pen.  I was so pleased with this look, in real life it really does give it a laser wood cut look.  I added some Pearls coloured with the Bronze Blends pen to the tips of the ornament, and a larger one (now retired) in the centre.  The Jute Twine from the Holiday Catalogue finishes off this more rustic look.  

Happy Stamping
Monique