Christmas Flora

Christmas Flora

Hi There!

It's nearly here..... that most

wonderful time of the year, as

the song goes.

Thought we'd take a look at

some Christmas images from

the natural world.........

So to start off on our quest

for Christmas Flora, here is

Jane Castle:

"For my project this week I've chosen 'Holly & Ivy' 

as I love cutting these from the garden and 

decorating the house over the Christmas holidays. 

This time I've decided to move away from 

the traditional greens and use various blue hues 

with some added sparkle.

To begin with I coloured some white card 

with Distress inks, stains and PA Infusions.

This was then stamped and heat embossed

 for my ivy leaves and also die cut for my 

holly borders.

Next I stencilled the top left-hand corner 

and the bottom right-hand corner of my card blank 

using Iced Spruce and an Imagination Crafts stencil.

Grunge paste was then applied through my

 Tim Holtz stencil.

 I masked off areas around the word Christmas

 so as not to end up with any unwanted splodges! 

( so easily done)

The stencil was removed, cleaned and replaced 

to add Merry above as I found it easier 

to centralise the longer word first.

The Grunge paste was then covered in 

glitter whilst still wet.

The holly border was trimmed to size,

 dots of Liquid Pearls in Pewter were added

 for the holly berries and finally the ivy leaves 

were shaped and stuck in place.

Then looking at the stencils I'd used I thought

 of other ways of using everything previously 

prepared for the card. 

I cut some large white card tags and 

came up with the following:

This had the addition of a couple of 

self adhesive gems.

This one had Ranger Perfect Pearls brushed

 onto the stars and I used another die from

 the same set.

The holly border was trimmed using the 

corners rather than the long sides.

And finally on this one I applied the 

grunge paste through the other stencil

 creating a completely different effect.

I could have done many more variations 

and all of these could easily be adapted 

for cards.

So for just under £25 for the 2 stencils, 

the die set and the mini stamp I could

 make all of this years christmas cards and 

tags without getting much more out on 

my bench ---- that's got to be good value!

I have now decided to make several 

batches of the large tags in different 

colours, place 4 different ones in a cellophane 

bag and give them to my Mum's care home 

to sell at their Christmas Fete."

Items Used 

Imagination Crafts Stencil

Tim Holtz stencil collection

Find-It Media Dies

PA Grunge Paste

Jofy Mini stamps

Ranger Liquid Pearls

Ranger Perfect Pearls

Distress Inks

Distress Stains

PA Infusions

Self Adhesive Gems

Glitter

You have certainly started

us off on the right track

Jane.  Thank you for a

lovely idea too - those sets

should sell very well at

the Christmas Fete

'Till Tomorrow

Mickie xx