Spinning around

Today I am creating a spinner card with the Merry Moose die set from Sizzix, designed by Tim Holtz.

Your materials;

The merry moose set 

A die set for cutting the hole 

A blank card 

Coloured paper for the moose and other decoration 

Black light weight card 

Strong thread

You need to start my cutting the hole in your card. You need enough space for your shape to spin but also still have enough card left to make a frame. With the moose I found this older die set was just right. Before you cut read below ......

Before cutting the hole select the paper for the card face. Cut this the right size for the front then cut both the sheet and card at the same time. DO NOT glue/stick the facing paper to the card at this time.

Next it is time to cut the moose. You need two complete moose which are mirror images. The paper I used was only single sided so for second moose I turn it over first.

This gives you two moose. You will also need on moose from the black card. Note: you only need the main moose body in the card and not the extra antlers.

Now glue the two moose ... one if which glue to the black card moose.

Now add your thread in. Put it as  central as you can.

I used a little tape to hold the thread. Then add lots of  glue before placing the second moose on top.

Now you should gave one moose with a central thread. 

At this point think about decoration on your front frame. 

Place the moose in the hole. Tape the thread in place. Try to keep the tape as tight as you can without distorting the card.

My method is to tape the thread then fold the thread down over the first piece of tape and add more tape. 

Finally add your front frame plus any additional decoration... added items need to be placed so the moose can still spin.

Last part - add a background.  

Before posting spin it a little one way so when opened the moose will spin.

Enjoy !!

Felted Ornaments

Creating felt ornaments needs a couple of minutes of thought. What will be your base shape and can your decorations fit an top? Also you need to cut the base shape twice for each ornament.

Next pull together your thread,  I like to use embroidery floss as the thickness works with the felt.

Each of your decoration elements need to be attached. For most shapes I would blanket stitch round them. This is strong and can clean up the outline.

For leaves you can also use a running stitch down the centre to give an extra dimension.  Additionally beads and surface embroidery can be added.

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Finally you need to stitch the front and back together.  Again a blanket stitch will give a firm hold. Keep to an even spacing.  For odd shapes like these stars I recommend adding stuffing as you go. Will make it easier to fill. 

When stuffing do not over stuff. You are not looking for the item to be hard.

Once finished add a hanger to the top. The simplest method is a loop of thread in a matching colour. 

Materials used:

Sizzix bigz die large Star

Selection of  Movers and Shakers from Tim Holtz range at Sizzx

Felt, threads,buttons and toy stuffing 

It's begining to look like...

So pleased on the first day of December I have all my planned stitched tree ornaments finished. These are all gifts which will get posted to friends and family.

Snowflakes falling.. All around

How to recreate my Snowflakes card. 

Materials used are shown at the end. I am using a twister pop up die set. There are a number of videos on YouTube which show how to create the mechanism in detail.

The card starts by creating the pop up mechanism. From the Karen Burniston die set. Using a card that is smaller than your final card the twist is cut in. 

Here I have a 5.25 inch card so my insert card is 5x8.

Attach the arm extensions and ensure the mechanism works.

Now glue into the final card.

The inner card needs decoration.. using papers from Tim Holtz Noel 8x8 paper pad I aimed to use just one sheet. To help me I added some glitter tape to the edges. Before sticking the patterned paper down added a touch of walnut stain distress ink to the edges.

Now back to the mechanism.... the final pieces I cut from acetate. Either using old packaging or as here some snow dotted acetate sheets. You will need to push this through the big shot a few times. I find it helps to add scrap card to the top of the sandwich to add pressure. I still find a need to snip with scissors too. 

The two cut sections now need to be folded and glued. I use glue notes. But you need to end up with a "W".

Your W of acetate can now be added to the arms. As the arms can be seen I now use double sided tape. Remember  that you only add tape to half of each arm.

Then attach the acetate. 

I like to fold down the card pressing well and just check again that the pop up is working ok.

Now to add the snowflakes. These are cut from white glitter sheet using Tim Holtz latest snowflake dies . I always cut glitter card from the back as seems to cut the best. Fir this card I cut out every die. You need a few....

Next some festive text from the Holiday Words Script set. This time I cut Seasons Wishes and Merry & Bright.

Now to arrange them on the acetate.  The snowflakes are added with glue dots while the text I use white glue. The snowflakes can hang off the edge of the acetate BUT check the placement before adding glue to ensure when closed flakes do not stick out side the main card and allow the card to close.

Finally I use items from the Noel chips set and Noel ephemera to add to the background. I like finding an element I can use to write on tooo.

Now for the front of the card. Using off cuts I created the patterned background before decorating with seasonal tags from Tim toooo. Sorry not sure if these are available now as had them in stash for a while.

The final card. Went for simple here as inside is busy.

Materials list : 

A few photos show most items.

Noel paper pad

Noel quote chips

Noel ephemera pack

Seasonal tags

Walnut distress ink

Sizzix snowflakes 661599

Sizzix holiday words Script 660058

Snow acetate 

White glitter card

Blank 5.5 inch card

Create card

Glue dots, tape runner and white glue

Season string/twine

Karen burniston twist pop up die 1009

Adventure Card

Created this card using a selection of Tim Holtz products while trying to not do Halloween with the newest TH sets. Can I recreate ?

Started with a circle template. This was cut from some old packaging. Remember to keep the centre as we use it next.

Next I used some Wild Honey distress oxide to create the sun. Try to keep some area towards the centre clear of colour to make a highlight.

Next place a circle over the sun (this is the cut out for the original template) and using Salty Ocean and Faded Jeans to create the background. Generally I kept the Salty Ocean round the sun and the Faded Jeans around the edge.

Used the cobwebs from Tangled Webs ( cms 346) to create the links across  the top.

Added in the boy from Theories(329) stamp set, placed so it looks like he is standing on the web.

To finish the stamping I used the branches from Mr Bones (cms 346) create a series of tangled branches.

Oohh and added a saying from Theories set. This means all the stamping is done.

 Adding some water drops on the Oxide to give some interest to the background. Placed the circle template down to stop water hitting the sun.

 

Now a fine liner  was used to extend the cobwebs to join the other images and make them feel linked. 

Here are the two side by side. The original used different blues.