Tree Decorations !

Well I wanted Autumn and it appears to be here; be careful what you wish for ! The warm ( well hot actually ! ) weather we were experiencing last week seems to have slipped away and been replaced with more average temperatures for the time of year, but it is still lovely and sunny, so no complaints ! Why do we always talk about the weather here in England; such a bad habit !!!!
Anyway, now to the point of the post now you have had a weather report !

I did some little tree/parcel decorations yesterday in my class so thought you may like to see what I have been creating with the lovely " Pines and Poinsettias " stamp set.which is new this season . I have combined it with images from 'Winter Post " and "Welcome Christmas " and there is hint of the new "Delicate Doilies ".

The stamps are very traditional and thats exactly what I like at Christmas ! Iv'e made them look a little bit vintage by inking around the edges and by choosing riding hood red, old olive and crumb cake as my main colours ( these are softer than other SU inks so great for this option ).

I have a die that makes pleated rosettes and it's great but very limiting so I had a go at a bit of hand pleating and use my SU eyelet border punch to give a nice edge. You may recognise the papers, now retired but so nice for Christmas ! To make this rosette cut a strip of paper 30cm x 4cm and punch along the long edge first, then start to pleat using the bone folder to help crisp the edges, you need to end with one pleat folding upwards and the pleat at the other end folding downwards and this will give you two edges to attach a strong adhesive to . When this is dry cut two circles of paper and then manhandle the pleated paper into a rosette !!!! You will need to be firm with it at this point as it will have a mind of it's own ! Add a small amount of strong liquid adhesive to the centre of the rosette on the back and add a circle on top to, hold down for a minute and then turn over and repeat the process on the other side. Then pick the whole thing up and pinch the two circles between finger and thumb for another minute, it should now be firm and secure ready for you to embellish ! I added my ribbon between the two rosettes but you can also hang from the back.

I like to make tags for parcels but they are also useful for card toppers and are nice as tree decorations.

I have used the delicate holly design from " Pines and Poinsettias " to stamp a back ground on this large snowflake; it is so pretty and has lots of uses. I am going to be making some cards based on wreaths for my next project and I know this set will get a lot of use. 

I am still quite new to Stamping " Up but was anyone else bowled over by the genius of  the "Stampin' Scrub " and "Stampin' Mist " when they first used it ? I cannot believe that I fiddled around for years with baby wipes to clean my stamps !!! If you are a keen stamper then it is a must ; for more details please contact me on my e-mail address via the link on my profile above.

Thank you for your visit !

Hugs Jane x