Saturday, November 26, 2011

St. Nick

Happy Saturday Morning!  Whew.  This has been a busy holiday weekend, and I'm glad that I had a chance to sit in my craft room and create.  But, when I tell you this was a labor of love, I mean it.  Wendy, from Our Creative Corner, has a wonderfully delightful challenge for you this week.  
Here is her inspirational photo:


Wendy, uses this long weekend, to decorate her house.  And she wants to see a Christmas tree of sorts used on your paper crafting project.  Sounds pretty simple, huh?  As one of my design teammates says, 'it's the simplest that can be the hardest'.  And boy is she ever right!  So, when I saw this photo, I knew exactly what I wanted to use.  A starting point of sorts.  My resin christmas tree.  How pretty, huh?  So, at first I altered a box, to create a Christmas box.  Oh my.  That did not come together as I had envisioned it would in my mind.  Ok, so, I tried to alter a hinged lid tin, you know, to hold christmas tags.  I couldn't get that to come together either!  Was I trying too hard?  Or simply limiting myself to this resin tree.  So, after going through two different Christmas themed lines of pattern paper, and countless hours.  I came up with this simple (not really) coaster hanger.  


I used one of those cardboard coasters that measures 4" x 4".  I used an 6" x 6" pattern paper pack.  Since the object is small in scale, I felt that the patterns on your typical 12" x 12" pattern paper would be too huge.  I wanted a pattern 'small'.   I did a little stamping, too!  I inked the 'Merry Christmas' stamp in pear pizzazz, old olive, and always artichoke classic inks.  I wanted the image to look old, worn.  So, I figured the variations in color would seem weathered.  I also used my blank stamp and old paper ink pad to give all the pattern papers a dirtied-look.  And front and (almost) center is that resin Christmas tree.  I'm a fan of texture and visual interest, so there are a few different things.  The buttons are hand-sewn on.  The text paper is both distressed and punched using a lace border.  I also stamped a holiday sentiment on it.    The fabric rolled flower helps 'join' that otherwise empty corner.  I die-cut the star out of textured white paper and distressed the edges.  I punched three different flower shapes out of the same 6" x 6" pattern paper pack, to keep the scale of pattern consistent.  I have it all together with a metal brad.  And then I topped the brad off with a faux half-pearl.   The 'Season's Greeting' tag was printed @ 70% scale.  I added a scrap piece of crochet trim to help soften the paper seam.  I used my crop-a-dile to punch the hanger holes.  I strung some pretty polka dot ribbon thru and knotted it at the back.  
This little pretty can either hang on a door or your tree.  Let's see what beautiful work of art you create with our challenge: use a Christmas tree on your project.  For some added inspiration, and to get those creative juices flowing, hop on over to the Our Creative Corner blog, and see what these super talented ladies have created!  You won't be disappointed!

5 comments:

Vicki Burdick said...

This is awesome Sharon, I love the resin tree and the paper you used! I was surprised to read it is a 4x4 coaster, it looks bigger in the picture, so much detail! Love that you pushed through and finally made this it is amazing!!!

DIANA L. said...

You did a great job on this card.You were very successful in giving it the vintage look and I just love the tree.
DIANA L.
http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/2

Marjie Kemper said...

Oh, Sharon, I love your hanging coaster! All of that stamping and texture from the buttons and ribbons are calling to me, along with the gorgeous Santa image. Thanks for pointing out the size of the pattern... I have to remember to pull my smaller prints for such work. This is totally gorgeous!

Tui Nathan said...

this is just gorgeous Sharron ... I love that you have created a hanging ornament, cos it is definite home decor in every senese ... I love the the tree and your detailing is fabulous!!!

Anne Marie Hile said...

A labor of love that was VERY well worth the effort, my friend! This is stunning! SO much beautiful detail and I have to agree with Vicki...it looks so much larger then it's 4x4 size. This would be a wonderful holiday keepsake to share with someone special. Absolutely gorgeous, Sharon! Hope your weekend was fun! Big hugs! :)