A box of Poinsettias....

...for my last make of this month using the new Sue Wilson Christmas Dies.

These pop up boxes are pretty simple to make but make an impressive show.

To make the box I took an A4 piece of card and scored at 7cm,14cm, 21cm and 28cm and then cut as shown in photo below.

Then I cut myself some panels slightly smaller than the side panels of my box and using the Elegant Poinsettia die and some Distress Ink (mowed lawn and barn door) I created the decorative panels for my box

Once these were done I matted them  onto some gold card and then glued them in place onto the flaps and sides. Once they were in place i glued the box together. Next I cut a couple of small strips of card approximately 2cm x 9cm and scored each one 1cm from each end. These I then glued inside the box as shown.

Then I simply stamped and gold embossed the Elegant Poinsettia multiple times, cut them out, coloured with distress inks, layered them up and put a little gem in the centre. Once the flowers were made I stuck each one onto a thin strip of acetate and then arranged and glued them into place.

Finished it off by adding a couple of flowers and a stamped greeting to the front flap.

Donna xx

A little shabby chic Christmas

.....for this weeks Creative Expression make using the new Sue Wilson Christmas stamps and dies with a dusky pink, green and copper colour scheme.

To create the background I dragged a mixture of Penny Copper and Aurora Sparkle Texture paste over a Moroccan mask by That Special Touch.....

For the flower I stamped the Elegant Poinsettia several times and embossed with a gold embossing powder, then using the classic poinsettia die I cut them out.  I then coloured each layer with a mixture of Worn Lipstick and Peeled Paint Distress Ink, before gluing together to create my flower....

I then layered up my backing sheet onto a piece of green card and wrapped a piece of crinkled organza ribbon around the bottom before gluing in place on a card blank. Then I tied a bow and placed it over the ribbon before gluing the poinsettia in place on top of the bow. To finish off I added some pearl swirls, which I coloured with a Promarker to match the card, and a stamped sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Donna xx

White and Sparkly...

....for this weeks simple but classic (I hope!!) Christmas card for Creative Expressions. Yet again it's featuring one of Sue Wilson's lovely Christmas dies, this time it's the turn of the Mosaic Poinsettia  and Classic Poinsettia dies.

So to start off I cut myself a square of white card (approx 6") and covered it with a sheet of double sided adhesive. Then I cut several of the Mosaic Poinsettia's which I then stuck onto the sticky surface of the square of card........it's a good idea to play around with your arrangement before removing the protective covering of the double sided adhesive sheet.

Now to add the sparkle......now I have to say I HATE loose glitter, bloomin' stuff gets everywhere but at Christmas you just have to have a bit of sparkle!! So I tipped a pot of Diamond Sprinkles over the top of my square, and pressed down well all over it paying particular attention to all the little areas inside the flowers. Then I just tipped off the excess and gave it a final burnish.

To create the flower I cut a couple of large layers and a couple of smaller layers (one plain and one patterned), then glued them together with some Cosmic Shimmer glue. Now for the centre you could use one of Creative Expressions lovely Dazzlers but I have to admit I like to make my own beady centres my putting a good dollop of 3d glue gel/silicone in the centre and then dropping on some seed beads (in this case white pearl) which I gently push into the glue and to form a pretty beaded dome. Once all the glue was dry I lightly rubbed some gold gilding wax onto the edges of the petals and also lightly over the flowers stuck to the backing sheet. 

To construct the completed card I simply layered up with white and gold card and then added a stamped sentiment.

Donna xx

Another Christmas Card......

....made with Sue Wilson's Snowflake Bauble stamp and the corresponding Vintage Bauble die....

....this was actually a pretty quick and simple make, although it looks quite fancy! 

I started off by stamping the bauble three times with embossing ink onto some blue card and heat embossing with Silver Cosmic Shimmer Detail Embossing Powder. Then I cut them out using the outer die frame from the Vintage Bauble die set........these are really easy to line up and give such a neat finish. 

Whilst I had my die cutting machine out I cut four of the corner/hanger bits out of some scraps of silver card, once I'd cut them I trimmed the longer arm back a little to make them definite corner pieces.

So now for the panels behind the baubles. Size is going to depend on the size of your finished card but to give you an idea, this is a 7" card and these panels are about 5" x 1 1/4". So anyway I stamped the bauble several times onto the panel with Faded Jeans Distress Ink.....tip the stamp on its side and rotate each time so you don't just keep repeating the same look. Now I when I use distress inks and I want a slightly faded look I like to lightly blend over the top of the freshly stamped images with a bit of cut 'n' dry foam and because the ink is still wet you get this lovely slightly blurred/faded look. Repeat this on all three panels.

So that's about it, all the fancy bits are done and all that is left is a bit of matting and layering and a bit of gluing......see.....told you it was simple and quick :)

See you next Tuesday for some more of Sue Wilson's great new dies and stamps.......poinsettias next week......

Donna xx