LBH 12 Days of Ornaments: Day #10

Welcome to Day #10 of the LBH 12 Days of Ornaments feature!
Cheryl McCarson here...I have the great privilege of sharing my ornament with you today!

This ornament will require quite a bit of patience,

but as you can see, the results are well worth it!

Rose Blossom Ornament

Designed by: Cheryl McCarson

Here are the supplies I used:

You will need:

5 sheets of your favorite color of felt

(You can also use paper or craft metal, but the

felt was very user friendly and beautiful!)

Coordinating paint and paint brush

Paper mache ornament - round works best (I used a 4" diameter ornament)

Sizzix Flower 3-D Die Cut - available for purchase or use at the LBH

Scissors that will cut felt.

..

Let the fun begin!

Begin by painting the ornament and set aside to dry.

The ornament will mostly be covered with Roses but it is

possible that the ornament will peek through.

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Now we will cut each sheet of felt into 20 pieces.

That is roughly 2-1/4" squares.

Turn up one end of the felt about 2-1/4",

then fold it again on itself

and repeat the whole length of the sheet.

When you are finished, all the lengths should be about the same.

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Cut along the folds.

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Then take each strip and fold in half and in half again to make a square.

Cut along the folds.

Repeat these steps until you have about 90 to 95 squares.

(Yes, that means you will end up with that many roses!)

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Run the felt through the cuttlebug using the Sizzix Flower 3-D Die Cut.

You will cut the small rose.

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This felt square has been die cut.

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To form your rose from the cut flower, begin at the outer edge of the swirl

and roll the felt onto itself. This is creating the rose from the inside out.

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Keep rolling, you can see it forming right before your eyes!

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When you get to the end, place a drop of hot glue

to attach the rose to the bottom.

If you would rather apply all the hot glue at once,

you can just set the rose aside.

The felt is easy to work with.

It will not unravel the rose you just made because it sticks to itself!

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If the Sizzix Flower 3-D Die Cut is not available to you,

you have another option.

Use a quilters pen that is disappearing ink and draw a swirl

on the felt square as cut in the previous instruction.
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Cut on the line you drew. The ink will disappear in about 48 hours.

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To form your rose from the cut swirl,

begin at the outer edge of the swirl and roll the felt onto itself.

This is creating the rose from the inside out.

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Keep rolling!

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Glue the bottom to the rose to keep it from unravelling. If you want to use the hot glue all at once, you can set the flower aside. The felt flower will not unravel because it sticks to itself!

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Your flowers will be pretty, no matter which you use!

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Begin hot gluing the roses to your ornament starting with 3 at the top.

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Keep on gluing, you're half way there!

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Wow, that was work, but they are beautiful! These would look fabulous on the tree or consider hanging a few of these lovely ornaments from your chandelier with some beautiful ribbons...
What a wonderful way to add a little design detail to your lighting this time of year!
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I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and will give this fabulous floral technique!

Now for my Question of the Day:
Do you have a special way of displaying the Christmas Cards that you receive during the Holidays?
Post your comments and share with us....You may be the lucky commenter that will win my Rose Blossom Ornament!

Merry Christmas!
Cheryl
The WINNER from Day #9 is....KAREN E.!!
Congratulations Karen! Please contact the LBH to claim your ornament!.

LBH 12 Days of Ornaments: Day #9

Welcome back to the Little Blue House 12 Days of Ornaments feature! Miss Tracy here to kick off  Day #9 of our feature and I have a wonderful Ornament to share with you!

I'm going to share with you my Transfer Technique using

Art Metal, Music Paper, some pretty paint & mists...and a domed paper mache ornament.

Embossed Metal Ornament

Designed by: Miss Tracy :)

Items needed to create this Ornament:

one Paper Mache Ornament

Art Metal - Any color, I used the silver side

(you can make two ornaments out of one 9x12 sheet)

4 1/2 x 4 1/2 piece of green art metal for Holly Leaves

Holly Branch Die - Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix

Sanding Block or Sand Paper

Music Paper

Glossy Accents

Helmar 450

Pewter Metallic Paint Dabber - Tim Holtz/Ranger

Cherry Metallic Mist - Maya Road

Embossing Folder & Big Shot or Cuttlebug

White Crepe Ribbon - Creative Impressions

Three Red Jewels

Tacky Tape Sheet or Roll

Scissors, Pen, Paper Towel

Miss Tracy's "How To":

Begin by applying your paint dabber to the edges of the ornament.

Let that dry for a second and then take a piece of thin paper (I used copy paper) and lay over one section of the domed ornament and rub the outline of that section with your finger. This will give you an outline for your template. Cut it out with your scissors.

Trace your template onto the silver side of your sheet of art metal.

For this ornament, you will need six pieces. Cut out each piece.

Now for the music paper...The transfer technique is much easier when using thinner paper. So I took a sheet of Music Paper and made a copy of it. The copy will be perfect for this technique...added benefit is that you can make as many copies as you want and never have to use the original paper.

Trace your template again six times and cut out the pieces.

Next, you will apply some Glossy Accents to the Silver Side of your ornament pieces. Rub over the metal with your finger...and then adhere the music paper pieces onto the metal.

Repeat this for all six pieces...

Set them aside to dry. You can speed up the process by applying a little heat with your heat gun.

Once dry, choose an embossing folder and lay the ornament pieces in the folder (music side up) and run through your Big Shot or Cuttlebug. Emboss all six pieces.

Once embossed, apply your sanding block or sand paper over the embossed design. Keep sanding through the layers of paper until the silver metal is exposed. This is a very dusty process...wipe off pieces during the sanding process with a paper towel.

When complete, it will look something like this....

When all pieces are sanded and buffed with a paper towel, you can apply your tacky tape to the back sides of the ornament pieces. I chose to use a tacky tape sheet and used my template to trace out the pieces. If you only have a tacky tape roll, apply tape to the edges of the back of each piece.

Remove red film and adhere to each section of your paper mache ornament.

 Center each piece within its section.

Now if you like, you could leave the ornament as is and apply Glossy Accents with your finger all over the ornament...I wanted to make my ornament a bit more colorful. If you do too, then hold off on the Glossy Accents and grab your Maya Mist.

Spritz your ornament with your Mist. I used Cherry Metallic on mine.

Grab your paper towel and wipe over the ornament to soften the look.

This way you will still see the music paper through the color.

When the mist is completely dry, take your sander and sand back over the embossed design. This will expose more of the silver metal.

After you sand the ornament, buff it with a paper towel.

Then apply your Glossy Accents to the entire ornament using your finger.

While the Glossy Accents is drying, you can create your Holly Leaves. Die cut your green art metal using the Tim Holtz Alterartions Die (Holly Branch) and then emboss the metal using an embossing folder.

I used the Swiss Dot folder. Place in your folder with the Green side of the metal facing up. Run through your Big Shot or Cuttlebug and sand leaves to expose the silver dots.

Adhere your metal holly leaves to the ornament using Helmar 450. I only applied the glue at the top of the leaf so that way I could shape them a bit and bring them to life. I also embellished my ornament with a Crepe ribbon bow like so...

For the final touch, add 3 red jewels to your ornament using your Glossy Accents.

I absolutely LOVE the finished ornament! A beautiful work of embossed art!

I encourage you to try out these new techniques...and come by the LBH to see this ornament in person.

 It reflects nicely with the lights on the Christmas Tree!

Would you like to WIN this OrNaMenT?!?!?

All you have to do is post a comment here on the blog and you will be entered into a chance to WIN!

Here's your Christmas Question of the Day!

I'm curious...How many Christmas Trees do you put up in your house and are any of them a special theme or decorated with specific ornaments??

As for me, I put up two trees (but would love to put up more)! I have one tree in my Great Room adorned with beautiful Snowflake Ornaments and Angels created from Old Ceiling Tiles...I also have some beautiful crystal and hand made metal ornaments on this tree. My topper is a Majestic Angel nestled among beautiful ribbons and clusters of Apple & Cranberry Sprigs. I have these sprigs here and there all over the tree and even have a few birds nest nestled with in the branches with little eggs and red birds.  I love the mix of the natural elements, vintage-look pieces, and the glimmer of the crystal with the clear lights that cover the tree.  As much as I love this tree...I love my tree in the Family Room even more! It is adorned with all of the ornaments that my kiddos have made through the years. There are even some on this tree that I made as a child with my Grandmother. I love the memories that each ornament conjers up and the stories we share as the kids and I decorate the tree! I treasure each little piece of macaroni, puzzle pieces, hand-print reindeer, and many, many others!!

They are priceless to me!

One day I plan to put a small tree up in the Scrap Shack to display all of the LBH 12 Days of Ornaments feature. Think how gorgeous it will be as I add the hand-made ornaments year after year after year!!

I look forward to reading your comments!

May your Day be Merry & Bright!

Miss Tracy :)

The WINNER from Day #7 is Lynette Chiles!
Congratulations Lynette!

Please contact the LBH to claim your ornament.

LBH 12 Days of Ornaments: Day 8

Can you believe there are only four more days of ornaments? 

 It's been so much fun to share these with all of you!

This is  Susan again and I will be sharing a new technique on today's ornament using

Ultra Light Paper Clay, Mod Podge and beautiful napkins.

Christmas Cardinal Ornament

Designed by: Susan Tidwell

Here are the supplies that I used:

 (all available at the LBH of course...we even have these beautiful napkins for you )

4" circle paper mache ornament

ivory or white craft paint and paintbrush

Mod Podge and paintbrush

1 pretty napkin with a design sized to fit ornament

 (most napkins have four similar or identical designs - two will be needed for each ornament)

approx. 4" square of coordinating patterned paper for back (I used Authentique music paper)

Viva Decor Ultra Light Air-Dry Clay

approx. 12" double-ruffled stretch ecru crochet lace (Maya Road)

approx. 12" red or green crepe ribbon (Creative Impressions)

Optional:

red and green inks for edges

red, black and Diamond or gold Stickles

Glossy Accents

additional supplies not shown: scissors, sander, Helmar's 450 glue

Let's get started!

First you will paint the front and sides of the ornament with ivory or white paint. (The back does not need to be painted as it will be covered with paper.)

 Most printed napkins are either 2-ply or 3-ply. Carefully separate the plain layers from the top printed layer.  Roughly tear out two identical designs so the napkin covers the ornament. (I used a cocktail napkin - we have these available in the store if you want to use this particular design.)

Apply Mod Podge to painted side of ornament and place napkin on top, smoothing from the center out to the edges.  The napkin should be larger than the ornament with the excess hanging off sides.

Take a small piece of the paper clay and pinch in hands for a minute to soften. 

Add small bits of the clay to the design you want to highlight, directly over the napkin. If the clay starts to dry out, slightly moisten your fingertip with a bit of water and continue molding. Do not add too much - keep within the design's lines. In the photo above you can see the outer edge of the bird peeking outside the clay.

In this photo you can see the difference between the bird's body and the wing.  I did not add clay to the tail as that hangs over the edge of the ornament and will be trimmed later.

Here is another shot from the side showing the dimension you are building up.

Using a second identical napkin design, lay over the ornament, matching designs.

Apply more Mod Podge over the first napkin and clay.

Smooth out top napkin layer over the ornament, gently "stippling" with the paintbrush and/or using your fingers to fit around the raised areas.  Let dry.

Turn ornament over and trim excess napkin around the edge.

Sand edges for a smooth, finished look. 

Ink edges with green ink if desired.

 Trace back of ornament on backside of desired patterned paper, cut out and decoupage on ornament with Mod Podge.  When dry, sand edges if desired and ink with colored ink of choice.

Using Helmar's 450 glue, adhere double-ruffled crocheted lace around edge of ornament, starting and ending at the top where the hanger is.  Tie a pretty bow at the base of the hanger to cover the ends of lace.

If desired, embellish design with Stickles (red for berries, black for eye and Diamond for leaves) and Glossy Accents (beak).Your Cardinal Ornament is now ready to sing from the branches of your Christmas tree! Enjoy! The pictures hardly do these justice...it's difficult to see the dimension on camera...Stop by the Little Blue House to see just  how gorgeous these Christmas Cardinals really are!

 

As you can see, I made two of these pretties, one for the LBH tree and one for the lucky commenter on today's blog post.   Please share with us your favorite Christmas cookie!  Mine are "Candy Cane Cookies" - my Mom made them every Christmas and they were so popular among our classmates that my brothers and I were always elected to bring them for our school parties. I continued the tradition with my own children and they are now starting to add them to their own holiday baking!

Happy Holidays!
Susan

The WINNER from Day #7 is.....
CATHY GRIGSBY!
Congratulations Cathy! Please contact the LBH to claim your ornament!