Christmas Ornaments - Joyful Stars Blog Hop

Welcome to our monthly  

 Joyful Stars Blog Hop!!!!

We're excited to share our creativity with you using PRODUCTS from Close To My Heart!!  

Come on in and see what BEAUTIFUL projects my fellow consultants have creating using the AMAZING products from Close To My Heart!!

 This blog hop is easy to do…just click on the link at the end of the post to go to the next creation!!  If you get lost along the way, CLICK HERE to see the list of this month’s hoppers! 

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If you have arrived from Helen's blog you are right on track.   J

One of the best things of being a CTMH consultant, is the crafty friendships that are formed.  I am SO BLESSED to have gotten to know so many wonderful crafters, and because of this – we truly enjoy sharing artwork ideas together too!! 

My project today is one that I saw from other consultants.  I’m not sure who the original designer was/is, but I do know that I am SO THANKFUL they shared this amazing idea!!! THANK YOU!! J

Take a look at this picture to see ANOTHER WAY to use Close To My Heart’s Base & Bling handcrafted jewelry line!!  Check out ALL the items in this base & bling line by clicking here. 


These ornaments were FUN to create & the PERFECT little goodie to give to my team members that joined me at the recent CTMH consultant event in King of Prussia. CLICK HERE to learn more about this FUN consultant only event. J

As far as creating these ornaments, I used the Artiste Cricut collection that is exclusively available through Close To My Heart. 

I also used circle punches (1”, 1 1/2”) but you could cut the circles on the Cricut machine too.

I would HIGHLY suggest using the Explore Air Cricut machine for this project if you have it!  If not, the regular Circuit machine will do. J 

How do I know this? J I tried these cuts on both of my machines.

The reason I suggest using the Explore is because of all of the “EXTRAS” the Explore does on these cuts!!!

FIRST – the carbide blade cuts the shapes & holes PERFECTLY, no ragged edges or white core showing through! 

THEN, it also SCORES all those fan folds for you!!! WAHOO!!!   I didn't realize the Explore machine did the scoring (yes, I’m still learning) until it asked for me to insert my score tool.  It saved SO MUCH TIME by doing all of my scoring for me!! 
 

The shapes I cut are all found on the KEY G of the Artiste cartridge.

***PLEASE KEEP IN MIND****There are 6 different pinwheel flowers to choose from on the Artiste cartridge – so make sure to check out your other options before cutting the same shape I did on this key. J

Notice the orange shape on this key….this is the pinwheel flower.  So the finished piece at the #23 arrow?  You WILL NEED to cut TWO of these shapes (one for each side) to create your complete flower.  Set your dial at 1 1/4” to recreate the same size ornament I created.

If you choose to add the bow to the top (some ornaments had the bow, others didn't) set your dial size to 1/2" and then fold it together like your Artiste booklet shows you.

The glitter circle under the base & bling pendent was 1 1/2" and I also cut a 1 1/2" cardstock circle for the back of the ornament where I stamped the Dec 5th date with our new roller date stamp. J

I used our 1" circle punch to cut the circle from the Base & Bling Holiday style sheets.(retiring by Dec 31st!)  They are already adhesive backed, so I just stuck this circle inside the pendent & then used liquid glass to adhere everything together!!!

Here are the steps once you have everything cut….

1. I glued the 2 folded fan-like flower strips together.

2. I glued the cardstock circle to the back of the created pinwheel. After this was dry, I stamped the date on the back with the roller stamp.

3. I glued the glitter circle on the front side of the pinwheel.

4. I stuck the 1” circle sticker in the pendent & glued the glass cover on top of the sticker.

5. I glued the actual pendent on top of the glitter circle and left it dry for a LONG time - overnight if possible!! I made sure to apply the glue very heavy on this part!! It seemed to take more glue to have it stick well to the glitter paper.

6. To complete the ornament, I added a ribbon & ta-da....completed!!

Here is a look at my “trial run”….you have those when you create, right? I wanted to decide what was the best size to create for these base & bling pendants.  I really do like the other sizes too & may play around with those sizes later. 

I used the White Pines & Zoe paper packs.  White Pines will be leaving us at the end of this month, so make sure to get all the paper & accessories you need before it’s retired & gone!!

Thanks so much for stopping by….hopefully this wasn’t too long of a post!!  I wanted to make sure I included all the details in case you wanted to create some of these ornaments on your own! J 

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Now it’s time to Hop on over to my fellow sister consultant and check out my friend & teammate Stephanie's blog and see what beautiful, crafty item she has to share with us! J 

Happy Hopping and we’ll see you on the 9th next month, when the Joyful Stars team members will be sharing more artwork using Close To My Heart products!    

Blessings to you for BEAUTIFUL day!!!

Krista Hershberger J

Fabric Flowers with Close To My Heart!

So, do you remember back  a couple of posts ago when we talked about creating flowers with Close To My Heart’s NEW fabric?

(CLICK HERE if you’d like to see this post)

Well, NOW is the TIME! J

I know there are MANY ways to use Fabric/Textiles, and I would LOVE to hear how YOU use your fabric in your crafting endeavors! J

(feel free to leave a comment below, as to how YOU use fabric)

Here are the flowers I talked about in the earlier post…

I saw these rolled flowers on my teammates Blog - Helen Gullet, and LOVED them and went to create them right away!  She had referenced Lindsey’s youtube video (see at end of post) in creating these.  (CLICK HERE to see what Helen created with these flowers )

So a BIG thanks to those of you who create Video tutorials!  I enjoy videos, and I hope someday I will be able to create some of my own! J

It really was QUITE easy to create these flowers…and our CTMH fabric worked GREAT!!! 

I used the goldrush print from the pack of Sarita textiles.

• First, I got a piece of felt (I had laying around).  I cut it into a 6” square. 
• Next, I ripped/cut fabric into strips that were 1” wide and as long as I wanted. J
• Then, I got my hot glue gun, made a dot of glue in the middle of my 6” square and attached the end of one strip of material.
• Next, once the glue was dry, I started twisting the fabric and started to create a circle! 

 I LOVED the tip Lindsey shared about using an unsharpened pencil instead of your finger, to help hot glue stick to fabric.

The rest is quite simple…just continue to use your hot glue until your flower gets as big as you’d like it!  (the video below will show you wonderful examples of how this is done)

I wanted to make my flower “moveable” J - so I sewed on some Baker’s Twine to the felt back so that I could TIE it to the Colonial White Décor Frame, instead of attaching it permanently. J

Yay!  I love when I think of (simple) things like this! J

There are MANY other things to create with Fabric…

Here is another type of flower made with the fabric.  I believe they are called Yo-Yo flowers. 

For the largest flower, I used a 6 1/4” circle of fabric, basted the edges of this large circle, and then pulled my thread to gather it together and create a smaller circle.  The circle then became 3”.  I added our Rosette Ribbon and an embellishment from our TEAL Base & Bling asst to finish it off. 

You can also use fabric, just like you would Paper! J

Use it like you would a RIBBON….

Create your OWN pleated border!

(Click here for Complete details on this card)

How about creating one of our NEW Base & Bling wearable items!!

 

Here is a sample of our Base & Bling headband that was SO EASY to create!!!

• Cut 4 fabric circles - all the same size. 
• Fold the circles in half, and then in half again. 
• Put the points of the four folded circles together.
• Adhere to the headband base.
• Add other embellishments as you like! J

I hope this post was IMFORMATIVE, and that this has encouraged YOU to try some fabric creations on your own!!  J

I thought I’d attach the video, so you can see how Lindsey explains it…I didn’t do exactly what she said, but she had some great tips.

Have FUN creating items with Close To My Heart’s WONDERFUL fabrics! J 

Blessings to each YOU,

Krista J

***If  you are excited about the project above, and are in need of some supplies to help you in your creating, feel free to head over to my website to get some of these FABULOUS Close To My Heart products! J 

There are TWO great specials taking place during

the month of September!

When you place a $50 CTMH order during the month of September, 

you will receive 4 stamp sets…


for ONLY $15!!

(plus shipping & tax)

Take a look at the stamp sets!!

Receive the

September Stamp of the Month (SOTM)

for ONLY $5

I LOVE this stamp set…click HERE to see artwork using this set!

AND

Receive this TRIPLE stamp set collection

“You Are Happy”

that we have in honor of National Stamping Month

for ONLY $10 !

 

Regular retail price of these 4 stamp sets would be have a retail value of $65.85!!!

Wahoo!  I LOVE double specials!