How to make a twirling Christmas card

Would you like to see how to make a Christmas card with a swirling snowflake? It's really easy.

Here is what you'll need (click on the links to find it)

- a square cream card

- a pack of collectables (they will go a long way)

- 2 pieces of patterned paper: wishlist and remember

- a piece of red cardstock

- glitter ribbon

- a buckle: find a great variety here

- a holly charm

Most of these will be enough for several cards.

Ready?

1.)

Cut a piece of patterned paper (white with leaves) so it is just a tiny bit smaller than the card and die cut a hole in the middle of both. I laid the paper on top of the card and did them both at the same time so the holes would match. 

Cut a ring from the red cardstock with the hole being the same size.

Cut a circle one size larger from the second piece of paper (blue).

2.)

Emboss the front of the card and glue the red ring on top of the hole. Don't worry of the embossing folder won't reach the edge, it looks pretty like that too.

3.)

Pick out 2 matching pieces from the collectables pack. Glue them together with a piece of cotton thread (doubled up) in-between. If you can't find matching pieces, glue a piece of cardstock behind a single one instead.

Sticky tape it into the hole like this: 

Double back to secure the tread a little better. The thread should be nice and tight.

Now cover it with the piece of paper that has the hole in it.

4.)

Outline the position of the hole on the inside of the card...

 ... and glue the blue circle on top. This way it peeks through the hole when the card is closed. Add a sentiment from the collectables pack.

5.)

 On the front, add some twigs from the collectables pack and string a buckle on 25cm of glitter ribbon. Glue the buckle down with strong glue or a glue dot.

 Starting from the outside edge of the card glue down the ribbon and let the excess loop like a bow. 

Add a little holly charm and you are done! 

Before you put the card in an envelope,"wind up" the snowflake and when the person opens the card up it will twirl!

♥♥♥

If you have never been to one of my classes, here are a few points:

♥ Beginners are always welcome. Nothing I teach is beyond you.

♥ You bring your own papers and control your material cost. In general you'll only need basic materials for a class. Papers, ribbon, brads...that sort of thing. I don't sell anything apart from cardstock, but I'm happy to give advise where to buy cheapest or do a combined order when I see a great deal.

♥ Feel free to change things or skip steps. It's your layout and I want you to like it.

♥ Almost any project can be made to suit boys too.

♥ Class projects are normally not very busy or full of embellishments. That is because we create most of them from scratch or do a certain technique. If you like to add more embellishments, feel free to bring them along.

♥ Older children are welcome with a parent.

♥ Classes are fun and there is lots of chatting, a cuppa and laughs. Come along if you're tired of scrapping alone!

♥ Find more class info in the top right corner of this blog and leave a comment if you'd like to come!

Scrapbooking Memories blog hop - Lazy days of summer

My first ever blog hop! And it's with Scrapbooking Memories, of all people and magazines! If you have joined me from Kim's blog, all is well; if not, go back to hers here. To the start from the beginning click here.

We are all doing different things, but there is a common thread, have you guessed it yet? My hint is: lazy
And here is my project:

  It's my husband's brothers, living the good life in Vanuatu. As you can see, they're working extremely hard... 

 ...about as hard as a pair of sloths in a tree...

I found this chipboard frame at Kaisercraft, it's a little bigger than 12x12". I painted it, crackled it, sanded it, misted it... the poor thing has seen 100 years of wear and tear in one afternoon.

The paper is all from the gorgeous new Tropicana collection, nice and beachy with a touch of vintage.

A lot of the embellishments, like the net, the beach sign and the charms came from the my2angels beach kit (click on the word to find it)

Would you like to know how to make this bottle cap embellishment? Click here to go to my bottle cap magnets tutorial, they are fun and easy and make great gifts for teachers and friends.

Thanks for dropping by! Please leave me a comment, have a guess at the theme, follow me and be a good little bunny and hop along to Sarah's blog here. Her post will be up Thursday morning.

Cheers, Geli 

Christmas layouts

Here are two upcoming Christmas layouts for my classes next week. The first one is a peek of my Kaisercraft class on Monday:

(This is not the whole page)

Even though I went for the Christmas look this one can be changed to suit any theme.

And the second one is my attempt at mixed media, which we will play with in my home classes next week:

I wanted to create the look of an old fresco with cracks and paint peeling:

It starts out as a plain sheet of white cardstock!

And a little glitter never goes astray at Christmas...

PS: Please note that Friday classes are on hold from the 7th of Dec. till after the school holidays. Normal classes are on Tuesdays (10am) and Thursdays (6pm)

I am yours

The new Tropicana collection from Kaisercraft is lush. Its vibrant reds and soft teal with cream and a dash of vintage are perfect for tropical holiday photos without sliding into kitsch. If you see it in real life you will love it. 

I have the perfect photos of my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's wedding on Vanuatu.

The red background frame is Tropicana Summer  (I tore the centre out and rolled the edges over) and the cream in the middle is Hibiscus. The teal frame behind the photo is from Breeze, and the rest are from the Tropicana collectables. I glued some pink ric rac just under the rolled edge and a red star flower with a locket charm in the corner to balance the large red hibiscus in the opposite corner. 

The Tropicana collectables make a quick and fuss free embellishment cluster.

The filigree border under the photo gives the layout a bit of class (plus a few white star flowers, they are so very versatile). 

And do you remember the cabochons? If you still don't know how to make your own glass pebbles, go to my post here. It's so easy and looks absolutely fabulous.

 I hope I have inspired you to try out the new Tropicana collection. 

If you have no tropical photos, check out my next blog post coming soon where I used a plain beach photo (not a hibiscus or swaying palm tree in sight)

U & I canvas

As requested, we'll be making a canvas in my home class next week. This makes a great Christmas gift, too. 

It looks a bit like a shadow box when you look at it from the side:

If you prefer it busy, there is lots of space left for more embellishments.

 

You can find the camera charm here and the car charm (above the word "happiness") here at my2angels. Tracy is the one who shared the fantastic canvas idea with me. Check out her blog here for many more great ideas.

So if you would like to make a canvas with me next week (Tue, Thu night, Fri) please feel free to contact me.

Merry Christmas to all

The "Just Believe" collection from Kaisercraft is my favourite this Christmas. I just love the soft blue and rich red.  Find the range here at my2angels with the Christmas papers.

I made this layout with it:

The new mini gardenias make a pretty garland. There are gardenias in olive, brown (more cream than brown) and red, plus some black star flowers (sprayed with gold glimmer mist):

On the ends of the garland are a bell charm and a

Christmas stocking charm

And just a tiny bit of stitching with the Sew Easy tool and the star head.

Geli

PS: I scraplifted myself to make a non-Christmas version. We'll make this in class at Kaisercraft on Monday, Dec 3:

Christmas cards sneak peek

Next weekend (Dec 1 and 2) I am doing my annual Christmas card day. Actually, I had to spread it out over 2 days since so many of my friends wanted to come along. Thanks! If you are booked in and you haven't seen the cards in real life yet, here are some sneak peeks:

Tumbling elf card:

Super cute, interactive card. The elf actually spins and tumbled across town. 

Deer card: 

A 3D card that can be mailed flat. It reminds me of an old fashioned theatre.

Spinning heart card:

 Fun and simple card with a wow factor. The heart spins when you open the card.

Christmas tree card: 

 A black and cream card with very cool folding. This will keep all your friends guessing how you did it!

Sparkly tree card:

All in white and light green, this card really shines.

Street lantern card:

Something for those who like an old fashioned Christmas.

I'm sure we will all have a great day making these.

Geli

I'm on the Scrapbooking Memories blog!

Check it out, scrapperinos! I feel so famous :)

http://www.scrapbookingmemories.com.au/2012/11/20/5-min-chat-with-geli-duncan/

My cheer star

 Hannah has been doing cheerleading all year and has learned amazing flips and things that make my heart stop. Here is what we're doing in my home class next week:

 It's got a shaker box star:

They are easy to make and a lot of fun to fiddle with. 

I used the same principle on my friend's birthday card:

This page has lots of different stars and can suit boys too.

Cheers, Geli