It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...with Cookie Cutter Christmas Bunting!

Well it was certainly beginning to FEEL a lot like Christmas when I made my next project to share with you, it has certainly turned a bit chilly lately! 

I think the cold weather made me feel like an Eskimo which made me think - there's a stamp for that! 

So I dug out my Cookie Cutter Christmas photopolymer stamp set and Cookie Cutter Builder Punch.  I've been meaning to play with this set for AGES as I had an idea in my head that it would make really cute bunting...and it turns out I was right! 

I don't think I've made enough reindeer as I think there are only 5 so far on my Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine...but I made sure to give one of them a  Real Red nose so at least Rudolph is here! 

To make this bunting, I picked up a top tip from a fellow demonstrator - Stampin' Suse.  The Cookie Cutter Builder Punch has a lot of little extras either side of the main shape in the middle.  To avoid cutting these little pieces out every time and so it is easier to line up the image to punch out, I cut full length strips of Whisper White A4 Cardstock which each measured 1 3/4" wide - so that I could stamp four images vertically on each strip. Like this:

(Note, this is the bear that is also in the stamp set, only I realised after stamping the bears that I'm not sure how to attach the ears yet so I'm still working on it - I stamped the bottom bear in Fresh Fig, and the others in Crumb Cake but I may not have cleaned my stamp off properly before doing so - slapping my own wrists for this)

The gingerbread man is stamped using Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

Santa and the Eskimo are stamping in Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad, and coloured using Old Olive & Real Red Stampin' Write Markers, and 2017-2019 In Color Stampin' Write Markers - I used Powder Pink and Tranquil Tide.

The reindeer are stamped using Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad, and coloured using Blender Pens and Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Ink Refill and Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Ink Refill.

I used the 1/8" (3.2 mm) Circle Punch to punch holes in each hand/ear whilst they were all together (I tried doing this after I punched them out but it is much easier to do before as the punch holds and comes off the card better when it is still a solid piece)

I then fed the strips into the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch, after each one had been punched out I used Paper Snips to trim off the excess and carried on moving down.  The last one was a little trickier to line up as it only just fits depending how you space them out on your strip, it might have been easier if the last one was stamped upside down with a larger gap between it and the 3rd one so there is a bit more card left to hold on to.

Once they were all punched out and ready, you just need to decide what order to put them on and chose your string - I used Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine but you can use any of the other four colours available or the multi-coloured Baker's Twine, 1/8" (3.2mm) Ribbon, Linen Thread, Metallic Thread, or any other you like that you can fit through the little holes!!  The 1/4" Copper Trim might even work if you can get it through the holes and then you could pull it out and fluff it up between each one...goes to add some Copper Trim to next order to try that idea out! 

I had so much fun making this quick and easy bunting that I think I'll keep adding to it, it may even be long enough to go all the way around the lounge (or house ;) ) by Christmas!! 

If you'd like to try this out and make your own bunting for this year's Christmas decorations, why not get in touch to host your own Stampin' Session with me, where you can make this and more with friends!   

We have a great offer on for all host/hostesses who achieve sales of £250 between now and 31st October - not only will you receive your free 10% Stampin' Rewards to spend on wonderful stamp sets exclusively available to host/hostesses or any product in the current catalogues, you will also receive the fabulous NEW Merry Pattern's Stamp Set - which is ONLY available with an order of £250 - so grab all your friends together and get a Stampin' Session booked in today!

I look forward to crafting with you soon - next class is Sunday 8th October at 2pm.  There are a couple of places left if you want to join us, contact me through Facebook to secure your place.

Jenfie

x

It's a Merry Little Christmas in September!

Hello!! 

I've been so busy preparing and holding the first Christmas Card Create Class that took place on Sunday, that I've realised I've been neglecting my good old blog!! Sorry guys - let's kick off with the important things first:

First piece of important news to share is that it is now September and this means our new Autumn/Winter catalogue is now live - if you would like your very own hard copy to have a look through and see all the fantastic new products then get in touch with me through Facebook @Jenfielou.stampinup or via my website at Jenfielou.Stampinup.net now, or you can have a look at all the wonderful products on my online shop available 24/7! 

This leads me onto the second piece of important news - there is a new hostess code for September 2017 - for every order you place in September through my online shop please use the hostess code FYGDGEJM so that I can send you a litte extra thank you for your order!  As always, if your order is over £150, please do not use this code as you will receive your own rewards to choose and spend on free gifts yourself! 

Moving on to update you on the first Christmas Card Create Class.  This was a lovely little class with a couple of friends.  We each made two cards, there was a third intended but unfortunately we ran out of time for it, so I'll do a tutorial showing how to put it together very soon so that you can all have a go if you wish! 

As you can see above, I'd been busy playing with the Carols of Christmas stamp set and Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper which was the set used for the first card at the class -  this was CASE'd from the seasonal catalogue.  CASE is an abbreviation for the phrase Copy And Selectivley Edit, or Copy And Share Everything! 

Here is the image of the card in the catalogue:

followed by my CASE'd card:

On the inside I added a square of Whisper White Card and stamped the baubles in Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad, so that the were dangling from the top.  I finished off with the holly stamp in the bottom left corner, which I inked up using the Old Olive & Real Red Stampin' Write Markers to get the two colour image.  The markers are not normally available individually so to get these two extremely popular and useful colours for the Christmas season together is a fab deal!  Here's an example of the inside of the card (this photo is from a different card but is the same design, don't worry the card hasn't miraculously changed colour - your eyes are not playing tricks on you!)

The next card we made in the class was a variation of my present card shown below.  

For this card, I wrapped a piece of Silver 3/8" Metallic-Edge Ribbon around a piece of Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper and tied a bow, with a second piece of ribbon, which I attached with Mini Glue Dots.  

For my card, I added the Peace on Earth sentiment from the Carols of Christmas stamp set which I stamped first on to Basic Black Card using the Versamark Pad, covered with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess, then using my Heat Tool I gently heated the powder until it melted to create the foiled embossed effect.  I mounted this onto a piece of Whisper White Card cut out using the largest square from the Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies.  On the inside of the card, I stamped the "stars" down the side of the card in Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad. 

HOWEVER, I had wondered if we turned the card portrait, and used the Merry Little Labels Clear-Mount Bundle (or in wood mount - Bundle consists of Merry Little Labels Clear-Mount Stamp Set also available in wood mount, and Everyday Label Punch) it would look like a present with the gift tag which could hang from the bow!  

The ladies came up with some wonderful creative designs.  Here are the cards the ladies made, with their own selective edits! 

Of course we also decorated the insides:

Finally here is the third card I had hoped we would make, my little bauble card!  I will share details with you on how I made this card in a future blog so come back soon.  

The next card class is scheduled for Sunday 8th October 2017 and will feature the Quilted Christmas Suite from the new catalogue.  I will share some creations with this suite very soon, however if you want to book your place on the class now you can by going to the events page on my Facebook @Jenfielou.stampinup.

I'm looking forward to Stampin' with you soon :) 

Jenfie
x