Winter Wall Hanging

I made this for the CricutFANatics blog.   It's been snowy and chilly here so this will be a fun reminder that just because it is cold outside doesn't mean we can't stay warm and cozy inside.

I started with a simple canvas that I purchased from the dollar store.  Guess what it cost me?  Ha, ha!  I painted it with Gesso so that it would be a solid white and if I wanted to add paint over it, it would be a good foundation for it.  I later decided not to paint it.

I then chose my image to put in the back ground.  I chose winter trees from the Holiday Cakes cartridge.  I wanted a simple design that I could repeat in different values of green.

I was more concerned with the tips of the trees being whole at the top of the image, so I allowed the stems to hang over the edge.  I later trimmed them off.    I then used Ultra Podge to glue them down.  I used a good, juicy layer on the canvas, but only one level of tree at a time.  If you cover the whole canvas at one time, it may not remain sticky enough to secure the papers down well.  You can use mod podge, deco page... any of those type of things work well.  I did not wait for it to try on the bottom before I covered the images with a layer to seal them.  

The rest was simple.  I cut out the house from Pop-Up Neighborhood, and the snowmen and saying from Winter Woodland.  I cut out pieces of lace and tucked them under the windows for drapes.  (That is why they look puffy!)  I fashioned a fancy metal embellishment with red bling to make the upper "attic" window.   I added shiny white twin around the brown "facia".  I used slick (sort of like stickles, but without glitter) to make snow.  I then added glitter.  The slick has been kicking around for a long time and needs to be used!

The snowmen were embellished with buttons and pearls.  I added teenie, tiny little pearls all over the picture to mimic snow.  I just found these at CTMH.  Wow, are they tiny and a really good price!  The flower and brown roofs were sent through the Sizzix using different Cuttle bug folders.  All of the edges of the house were distressed with walnut ink.  I added stickles to the words to give them sheen, without added bulk and to soften the colors.  I added one of the papers along the outer edges to cover the staples, then fancy ribbon over that to make the edges look nice.

Dominoes!

This is my first time altering dominoes.  It was a lot of fun.  These were made for a swap that I am in.  It is supposed to be a vintage Christmas ornament theme.  I'm not quite sure if I hit the mark or not, but I do like how they turned out.  The deer is on the front and the tree is on the back of the dominoes.  I wasn't sure if I was to do both sides or not, so I did, just in case! 

I cut the tree out from Winter Woodland.  I figured since it was a Cricut message board swap that I should try to use a Cricut cut!  I really enjoyed putting on the alcohol inks and blending them.  Awesome how fun that is!  I used a Tim Holtz script stamp with Archival Ink.  The word Christmas was a stamp I stamped onto white paper and then dipped in alcohol ink.

I did not enjoy trying to get a jump ring through the domino though!  Wow was that tough!  I am open to learn how to do that better!  I added some bling and charms.   I used glossy accents to seal it all.

So, what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You Moms!

These are the cards I made to go with the embellishment boxes for my moms.  I used Jasmine and Winter Woodland for the fonts.  The labels are from Accent Essentials.  The shoes are from Forever Young.  I used the the butterfly cuttlebug folder on the cream layer.

 If you make this picture bigger with both cards on it you can really see the stickles on the purple card.

 And here are the sets together:

I am looking forward to giving my moms these little gifts.  I am very grateful for all that they do.

Thanks for stopping by!

My First Paper Bag Album and Video!

Oh my goodness!  I finally got the video uploaded!  It took forever from our very slow server!  It is my first paper bag mini album.  I tried a gatefold album.  A bit ambitious for my first try, but it seemed to turn out okay for a newbie!  As for the video, there has got to be a better way to upload the video than what I did!  I am pretty proud of myself for my first try at both the album and video.  This was made for a very sweet lady who just retired from work.  I sure hope she likes it!