Wendy Stamps

Decorative Holiday Plates

This summer, I had the opportunity to attend Convention in Salt Lake City and let me tell you, it was AMAZING!  I took several hundred photos of inspiring creations.  All of the sneak peeks, make and take projects and main stage demonstrations were incredible.  One such demonstration, presented by Carrie Cudney from Stampin’ Up!, featured projects for the kitchen.  She showed several clever ways to incorporate paper crafting in the kitchen – everything from customized recipe scrapbook albums and recipe boxes, to cupcake and smores kits!  One project that caught my eye was her Decorative Plates.  She purchased an inexpensive clear glass plate and made 12 circular embellishments that she put behind the plate – on for each month and holiday of the year!  When I returned home from Convention, I picked up a pile of these plates and a wrought iron decorative plate rack and have never looked back!  For Halloween, I used the Ghostly Greetings Double Sided Designer Series Papers to back the plate.  For Thanksgiving/Fall, I featured the Season of Friendship stamp set and Autumn Vine Double Sided Designer Series papers from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  Here is my creation for winter:  

For this set of plates (I did make two, but photographing them in my kitchen is near impossible!), I chose Baja Breeze cardstock for the circle.  I cut a snowflake from white chipboard using the Sizzix Big Shot and the Snowflake #2 Bigz Die.  Using a two-way glue pen, I applied Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the entire snowflake, making it nice and sparkly.  Then I found a two bowls to use as patterns – one to serve as the circle for the Baja Breeze background piece, and one a little smaller to create a mask for embossing the pattern and defining a circular area in the center of the plate.  I traced and cut the Baja Breeze piece out of 8 ½” X 11” cardstock, and the smaller piece out of regular copy paper.  I used the copy paper to cover the center of the Baja Breeze circle and stamped the berry image from the Kindred Spirits stamp set in versamark ink for an all over print.  I embossed this in Silver detail embossing powder.  Then I used the versamarker to create a rim on the outer edge of the Baja Breeze and an inner circle on the inside of the circle.  I embossed these in Silver detail embossing powder as well

  

To finish things off, I centered and attached the sparkling snowflake using mini glue dots to secure.  Then I added a clear rhinestone using another mini glue dot.  With each of these sets of plates, I have always run into the same dilemma… how to attach to embellishment to the back of the plate without make the adhesive obvious.  On the Halloween set, I tried Crystal Effects – it worked beautifully, but you could definitely see where it was applied once dry which took away from the overall design of the plate.  For the Thankful Fall set, I used mini glue dots, placed evenly around the outer edge of the cardstock circles.  These were also visible on the finished side, but I tried to make them look as much like a part of the design as possible.  For this set, I was at a loss!  These plates are intended for display only, so my options are more open versus someone wanting to serve food on the finished plates.  Because they are for display purposes only, the adhesive only needs to be strong enough to hold the embellishment to the glass.  Finally it occurred to me to try a mini glue dot on top of the rhinestone, hoping to camouflage the glue dot with the rhinestone.  It worked wonderfully!  I was very pleased with how it turned out!  So, if all of my future plates feature rhinestones, you’ll know why! 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Leave me a comment if you get a chance.  I have been on a sparkly snowflake kick for the last few days... must be I could sense the storm we had overnight!  Stay on the lookout for more of these sparkling beauties over the next few days as I have more to share.  And don’t forget to check out my website – www.skidamarinkers.stampinup.net - to take advantage of the Retired Stamp Set Sale and Free Shipping offer!

 

Happy Stamping!
Wendy

Seasonal Wreath

I came across this wreath made with recycled Christmas Cards in an issue of Good Housekeeping  and thought “Hey!  That would be fun to recreate with my stamping supplies!”.

    

I wanted to pull some colors from my holiday decorations for this project so it would coordinate with what I’ve put together so far.  This year, I’m all about silver and blue – whether a light blue or a turquoise shade – with white and LOTS of sparkle!  I decided to use Whisper White, Brushed Silver and Baja Breeze cardstocks as the base for the leaves.  Here is the finished wreath:

I wanted to pull all the colors together so I chose to emboss an all-over pattern in silver on each one before die cutting the leaves.  I started with the Brushed Silver and used theBella’s Border wheel to create an all-over pattern.  I repeated this to create a total of three 8 ½” X 11” sheets with the pattern.  I cut the sheets down into 2” X 3” pieces to run through the Big Shot with the Leaves #2 die.  My original plan was to use the wheel on the other two colors of cardstock, but then I decided the different colors might get lost and it may look too busy if I used the same pattern for the entire projects.  So, I decided to switch things up and use the Brocade Basics stamp set for the Whisper White leaves (better to use it now before it retires, right?!?!) and the Polka Dot background stamp on the Baja Breeze cardstock.

Once I had everything embossed, it was time to die cut all of the leaves.  This project used a LOT of leaves – I should have counted! – and it would have been quite a chore to cut them out with scissors or to punch out that many.  The Sizzix Big Shot made quick work of the leaves and I was done in no time!  I put them through with 4 – 6 sheets at a time and soon had a large pile to work with.  I followed the directions on the Good Housekeeping website and hot glued toothpicks to the backs of the leaves.  I pushed all of the tooth picked leaves into a 10" Styrofoam wreath form, trying to fill in all of the bare areas.  The toothpicks in my wreath are securely in place, though you may want to add a dab of Tombow multi-purpose adhesive to the tip of each toothpick before pushing it into the styrofoam for added security.  At the last minute, I decided that this wreath needed a feathered friend, so I used the Bird w/ Leaves and Flower die to cut out a Lavender Lace bird and some brushed silver branches.  I sponged the edges of the bird with Lavender Lace classic ink to add dimension and to help define the edge so the eye could see where the bird ends and the wreath begins.  Then I added some silver embossing to the bird using a berry branch from the Kindred Spirits stamp set.  I attached the bird and branches to a leaf in the wreath.  I have not determined if I will hang it using an invisible method as in the photo, or if I will use some purple-wired wide organdy ribbon I have to make a hanger that shows.

 

I hope you enjoyed this project – feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this, or any of the other projects featured on this blog.  I also  love to get feedback, so leave a comment if you have a chance!  I have been working on several other projects I can’t wait to share with you.  Until then, be sure to check out Stampin’ Up!’s list of retiring stamp sets that are on sale and pick up those sets on your wish list before they are gone!  From now until December 23, 2008, you can also take advantage of free shipping with any order over $70!

Happy Stamping…

Wendy

Autumn Decor

Fall is one of my favorite times of year.  The vibrant colors changing all around me, the cool, crisp air, the golden light that only an autumn sun can provide… these are the elements that fuel my desire to create at this time of year.

 

It is no secret that I have been having a lot of fun with the Sizzix Big Shot for Stampin’ Up!– especially the Pennant Bigz XL Die.  Here is another felt banner I created for the mantle above my fireplace.

 

I used Heat and Bond to adhere the scalloped circles and letters to the pennants.  To add some more dimension, I used a simple straight stitch on my sewing machine to run a quick seam around the outer edge of the scalloped circle.  I used the Leaves #2 die to cut felt leaves from felt.  I sandwiched leaves on the ends of ribbon ties for a fun accent.  I am very pleased with the finished banner.  I have been surprised because it seems that I like each banner I’ve created even more than the one before!

 

Here are some decorative candle belly bands I created to wrap around a large candle jar.  I love these plain glass candle holders because I can easily change the belly band around the outside to coordinate with each holiday and season!

   

For the belly bands, I cut strips of Chocolate Chip Cardstock and ran them through the paper crimper.  I attached these to the outside of the candle holder using sticky strip.  Next, I wrapped a strip of striped fabric around the belly band, securing with sticky strip.  Finally, I used Tombow Multi-Purpose adhesive to adhere felt leaves cut from the Leaves #2 die.

 

Here are two other candle examples I made for our guest bathroom.  ***Be sure to monitor these candles and never leave them burning unattended!***

 

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I can pack away all of my Fall Décor and start pulling out the Christmas/Winter décor… another favorite of mine!

 

Please contact me for more information about these projects and please leave your feedback!

 

Happy Stamping!
Wendy