Sunflowers & Dragonflies

Three French Hens Celebrate Christmas During Blogstravaganza

Look at these French Hens celebrating, will you.  I wouldn’t have thought to pair these images with the Drunken Pearls background from the September 2004 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter, but as I played around with images, I thought this would make a cool sky.  Interested in the 12 Days of Christmas images from Odd Bird Planet?  You can see them all here.

Pat has a lot of interesting techniques in her newsletter and will be posting Christmas cards every day this month with some of her favourites.  Want to be linked up to Pat’s Blogstravaganza post of the day?  Simply join in, and tell Pat about it, and she will link you up.

Someone is all tuckered out after watching me in the studio all morning.

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9 Ladies Dancing to Celebrate Blogstravaganza

Pat is busy this month with her Technique Junkie Blogstravaganza.  Today she has a clear ornament tutorial posted for you.  This week I am jumping on board with the Blogstravaganza.  Do you have time to join in too?

To join in, simply create a Christmas card using a technique from the Technique Junkie Newsletter.  There are so many techniques to choose from.  Today I picked a more recent one (Aug ’07) and made a Z-fold card. I wanted to make this a special card for a dear friend, so I added elegance to the inside by matting the sentiment and adding two crisp white cuttlebug backgrounds to help balance the white space for writing.

Dancing, in celebration of Blogstravaganza, are nine adorable ladies from Odd Bird Planet.

The 12 Days of Christmas series of stamps are a hoot.  You should see the Maids of Milking.  Wait, you will see that very soon.  Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by, and not giving up on me.  I’ll be posting regularly again.

Want to receive updates when I post?  Subscribe today.

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Tutorial Tuesday: Christmas Ornaments

This week I’ll show you how easy it is to create Christmas ornaments using supplies you already have on hand.  This ornament uses a punch.  Don’t have a snowflake punch?  Substitute with any other punch you have.

This ornament is decorated with embossing and a snowflake punch.

Supplies:

• Mulberry paper
• Styrofoam balls
• Decorative push pins
• Embossing powder
• Heat Gun
• VersaMark
• Snowflake punch (substitute with another image if you do not have a snowflake)
• Stamp(s)
• Decorative ribbon

Wrap mulberry paper around styrofoam ball and secure seam with a small piece of tape.

Opp’s a little blurry.  Sorry.  Cut edges of paper as shown.  This will create darts for a flawless look.

Overlap edges of mulberry paper, creating darts where the lines have been cut.  Do not worry if the surface is not even because it will be covered up by the embellishments.

Stamp VersaMark onto cardstock and sprinkle with embossing powder.

Heat emboss.

With a circle punch, punch out embossed images.

Place a push pin into the centre of the embossed image and cover the entire surface of the styrofoam ball.

Punch snowflakes.

Cover entire surface with snowflakes.  Use push pins to adhere snowflakes to styrofoam ball.

Hmm, my favourite cardstock is Cool Caribbean, and I have left over snowflakes, I think I’ll add them to my embossed image decoration too.  I have four full packages of Cool Caribbean left by the way.

To create a holder for your ornament, tie decorative ribbon as shown above.  Secure end with a knot and trim excess ribbon as close to the knot as possible without loosening the knot.  Place a push pin in the centre of the knot and adhere to the top of the styrofoam ball.

There you have it folks.

Do you have any Christmas tutorial requests?

My Christmas tree is up–is yours?

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Even More Ornaments on a Budget

Beads are the rage today, so why not add them to your ornaments.  Strips of ribbon can be found at a dollar store.

Take off the top of the ornament.  Glue red and green tissue paper onto an ornament using modge podge or gel medium.

Cut a small strip of beaded ribbon and adhere to the top of the ornament with glue dots.

Another variation is to wrap cord tassells around the top of the ornament.

What can you create with dollar store products?

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How To Create An Outstanding Blog

Hi folks!  Did you have a nice weekend?  I worked and got DT assignments completed which is always a big accomplishment.  Before I head into work for 3-11 today, I decided to surf the net a bit.  Here are some interesting links I would like to share with you.

(Really) Stunning Desktop Wallpapers

How to Blog Like a Pro

10 Easy Steps To Increase Traffic To Your Blog

Creating Compelling Blog Post Titles

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