Decorate your Christmas tree with Stampin' Up clay ornaments!

This year, my daughter and I challenged ourselves to decorate our Christmas tree entirely with Stampin' Up crafting products! And I have to say it has been as easy as pie (well, easier actually!) We made designer paper baubles yesterday and today I'm going to show you some pretty snowflake decorations. Come and see:

These rustic medallions are made with Simply Pressed Clay, stamped with the snowflake from Stampin' Up's Trendy Trims stamp set.

Fancy making some yourself? They don't take long! Here's what you'll need.

I pressed out the clay with the heel of my hand and stamped the snowflake in the middle. TIP: I've tried this before with wood mount stamps with great results but when using photopolymer, tapping the stamp into versamark before imprinting the clay gives a cleaner image.

I pressed a circle framelit round the snowflake. This doesn't cut the circle out but it leaves a perfect imprint to trim round with sharp paper snips. It's easiest to do this when the clay is dry (I left it for about half an hour while I had a cup of tea and a revivifying chocolate brownie!)

Once the circle was cut out, I punched a hole in the top of the medallion and threaded it with cotton.

And that's how to make cute snowflake clay decorations for the tree!

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS PROJECT NOW!
(Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!) 

White Simply Pressed Clay £6.25

Circles Collection Framelits Die £22.95

Trendy Trims Photopolymer Stamp Set £8.95

1/8" Circle Handheld Punch £8.25

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

In our house, whenever anyone annoys us, we say: "Hisses at you!" which relieves our feelings rather nicely! Yesterday I said this to my youngest son who, despite the house rule that says No Crockery In Your Bedroom, had no fewer than three cereal bowls in his room. He came over and pecked my cheek. "No hisses," he said. "Only kisses!"

Christmas is coming and there's still plenty of excitement going on here this week. The Artisan Design Team will be getting together for the last blog hop of the year tomorrow - don't miss that! And then on Friday, it will be my last blog post before Christmas and I'll be revealing our Stampin' Up tree in all its glory!

Thank you for keeping me company in the run up to Christmas. See you tomorrow!

Christmas gift wrap ideas - Stampin' Up Artisan blog hop

It's my favourite day of the week - Artisan blog hop day! This is when the whole team gets together to show projects we've made with products we've been sent by Stampin' Up. I'm always so inspired by my talented teamies and I know you will be too, so grab a cup of coffee, hold on to your ears and let's hop all over the world together!

IT'S A CHRISTMAS WRAP!
I was so excited to see that Stampin'  Up had introduced wrapping paper into the autumn/winter catalogue - and love that it coordinates with DSP and stamps. With a new puppy in our busy household, I've had to be a bit organised with my Christmas planning so I've already wrapped some gifts. When I'd finished, I picked up the off cuts of wrapping paper and before you know it, this had happened:

Cards made with scraps? Well why not?! This one uses the leafy design - and you can see there is a slight crumply look. You could screw the paper up more to intensify that crumpliness if you like!

Here's one made with the striped design, using the same layout but a different orientation. The white, kraft and red colour combination always reminds me of spicy, warming gingerbread! Mmmmn!

The paper is so beautiful it needs little embellishment. I topped mine with ribbon and glimmer paper banners and a little snowflake embellishment made with the Trendy Trims stamp set, a snowflake sequin, a punched heart and some circle punches.

I based my cards on this fab sketch...

 ... which I found on the new-to-me SU-per challenge site, based in the wonderful Netherlands.

These cards coordinate perfectly with the presents I wrapped.

That gorgeous Cherry Cobbler linen ribbon is so easy to fold into elegant gift toppers - and can I also just say that Fast Fuse adhesive is the best thing to happen to gift wrapping EVER!

Gifts under the tree always look inviting but a present topped with a large sparkly bow really ups the excitement factor! This Gift Bow Bigz die will cut several bows at once and you can use it on a variety of materials including fabric, vinyl, or even leather!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my gift wrap projects today. Are you ready to see what fabulousness Allison Okamitsu has made to inspire you? Just click the button below:

BUY THE SUPPLIES TO MAKE THIS PROJECT NOW!
(Click on any item to be transported to my online shop!) 

Festive Designer Kraft Paper Rolls £8.95	Trendy Trims Photopolymer Stamp Set £8.95	Cherry Cobbler 1" Sheer Linen Ribbon £7.25	Frosted Sequins £4.50
Red Glimmer Paper £4.50	Gift Bow Bigz L Die £28.95	1-1/4" Circle Punch £14.25	1" Circle Punch £11.50

My shop is open 24/7 so you can buy Stampin' Up products from me any time, day or night.

If you have any queries, or prefer to speak to me, I'm happy to help.

You can contact me by email or phone on 01280 820593.

I would love to stay and chat but I've reminded myself about gingerbread now and can feel a spot of baking coming on...

There'll be more crafting fun here tomorrow, and you're welcome to join me then!