ESAD 2015 Holiday Catalogue Blog Hop

Welcome to another ESAD blog hop. Whether you are starting with me or have just been looking at all of the great creations from Jessica Williams - it's great to have you stop by.

Well....it's that time again. Stampin' Up! has released their 2015 Holidays Catalogue. Part of me always loves this time - who doesn't love looking at new products and dreaming up all of the great things that you could create? The other part of me goes into a mild panic thinking about all of the things I need to do before Christmas!

With that in mind, the theme of my projects for this blog hop is "Doing Double Duty". I wanted to make 2 projects in 2 ways (one Christmassy and one non Christmassy) using the same products. I always love to think that products that I have bought are not just limited to one time of year.

 

My first project is a gift bag.

 

The second is a card with an acetate aperture.

For the gift bag I have used the Winter Wonderland Designer Series Paper (DSP) and vellum stack. I cut one piece in half so that I had 2 pieces each measuring 12" x 6". I simply used one side of the paper for this Christmas version........

......... and used the other side for this version that could be used for any occasion.

Gold foil sheets punched out with the Festive Flower Builder Punch make a great embellishment to attach to a clothespin to secure the bag. A dab of Dazzling Details finishes off the centres.

I used the Gift Bag Punch Board to make each bag using the ‘large’ mark. Assembly is as per the instructions on the board. The tags were made with different widths of whisper white and black cardstock and vellum from the Winter Wonderland vellum stack and punched with the Banner Triple punch. For the sentiment, I used a black marker to pick out the part of the stamp that I needed. This sentiment is from the Embellished Ornaments stamp set. "With loving wishes" is perfect for any occasion.

 

For the flower I used the Festive Flower Builder Punch and a 7 x 30.5 cm piece gold foil sheet cut and punched as below. I found that if you follow the diagram below you have very little wastage.

 

 

Making the flowers is easy. Score each petal with a stylus and ruler and gently crease on the tip. This gives a much better look than just folding.

To assemble the flower place glue on one circle and place 4 of the large petals at 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock. Add more glue in the centre and place the remaining 4 large petals in between each of the bottom petals. Place glue on the other circle and adhere the 4 medium petals in the same way as the large petals, adding the joined petals on top, filling in the spaces. Add the 2 crosses in the middle. Allow each section to dry, then adhere the smaller section on top of the larger section. You can use glue or foam dots depending on the height you want. Leaves can be added by punching out 3 large petals and adhering to the back of the base. Once your glue is totally dry you can pinch your leaves a little more if you want more dimension. You can also bend each petal up a little.

Try to look at your dies in a different light. As soon as I saw the small round bauble in the Delicate Ornaments thinlits set I thought that it looked like an upside down balloon. Because the markings on the bauble are not actually Christmas motifs it can easily be used for birthdays or other occasions as well.

 

I also think it works well as a acetate aperture card.

 

And in the theme of "Doing Double Duty", turn the bauble upside down and make it into a balloon.

The DSP is actually the other side of the bauble strips that I used to decorate the bauble card. I used the balloon basket from the Celebrate Today set to add detail. You could alternately add a bow and string and make it into a party balloon.

 

To make the card cut a panel for the front and adhere it with 2 small dots of repositionable tape in the position where it will be. Open up your card and position the die in place and die cut through the 2 layers. I found that the outside shape was cut but the under bauble needed to be run through by itself to get all of the fine detail cut out. These die cuts can be used for another project. Cut another bauble from a contrasting or metallic cardstock to use on this card.

 

Separate the 2 layers. Stamp and emboss at this stage if desired. To the back of the top layer adhere a piece of acetate. Trim off any overhang. Apply Crystal Effects to the back of the die cut and place on top of the acetate. It should fit neatly into the space. Weigh down with a stamping block until it is dry. Add strips of DSP on each side of the aperture on the card base then mount the top layer onto the card front, lining up the cut out shape outlines.

 

Now I'm thinking about how I can use all of my other Christmas themed stamp sets and dies for other occasions. I'll also have to look closer at my dies to see what else I can use for acetate aperture cards. So many ideas ... so little time!

 

Thanks for stopping by. Make sure you complete the hop by continuing on to see each person. Next you can pop on over to see the lovely creations made by Barbara Williams.

 

 

BLOG HOP PARTICIPANTS:

1. Libby Dyson

2. Paula Reid

3. Keryn Campbell

4. Carly Middleton

5. Rachael Lewsley

6. Narelle Fasulo

7. Emily Campbell

8. Emma Palonek

9. Jo Weedon

10. Rebecca Scurr

11. Andrea Buckland

12. Rochelle Blok

13. Kathryn Ruddick

14. Monique Fielder

15. Bernie Collins

16. Liv Ingle

17. Sally Williams

18. Ria Kaire

19. Delys Cram
20. Jessica Williams

21. Lou Kitzelman - You are here!

22. Barbara Williams

23. Kelly Kent

24.  Jenny Hayward