Oh Christmas Tree and hand made tree ornaments

I wasn’t going to bother putting up a Christmas tree in the lounge this year, as the ones I have are monsters at 7.5 foot and upwards in the loft, and after my hubby having two joint replacements I didn’t want him lugging even the smallest of the monsters down.  So, when an email landed in my inbox from Balsam Hill asking if I would like to review one of their trees  I was thrilled, especially as I got a smaller tree (easier to put away once Santa is a fond memory).  I had seen their adverts on the telly and had already been drooling over the selection of trees on their website, and man those trees are the bizz!

Mine arrived the next day so I set to work all by myself I’ll have you know – no need for an extra pair of hands.  Excuse the old towel on the carpet, the box was a bit dusty.

Oh man was I impressed, a bag to pop the tree in once Xmas is done, and even gloves for me tender mits when straightening out the branches

LOVE LOVE LOVE this tree, so realistic, nice strong branches that hold heavy ornaments without drooping…..  Just divine!  Honestly I can’t rave about it highly enough.

So, I popped it on the coffee table to decorate it and decided to leave it right there.  No need to move any furniture around this year

All tarted up with lots of handmade ornaments, mostly made from goose and duck eggs.

And here’s some of the ornaments I have made over the years

This one is a goose egg and topped and tailed with halved duck egg, then coated in oodles of glitter.  The picture is actually a silk print.  Trimmed with swarovski crystal chain, flowersoft and Wild Orchid Crafts open roses.

This is a goose egg, the picture is a waterslide transfer.  Again trimmed with swarovski crystal chain and WOC roses.

An umbrella from a goose egg (scallops were cut before decorating).  Also a little duck egg, I have loads of these on the tree, some with this stripy spiral look, others that look like Christmas puddings.

This goose egg I left fairly plain to show off the cut work (done with a little Dremel Drill and tiny little cutting discs).

And last I tarted up a pack of these cheap snowflakes using Wild Orchid Crafts flowers and leaves in purples and greens.  Love how these look on the tree.

Apologies for the photo-heavy post, but I am so thrilled with the tree I just had to share.  Thank you Balsam Hill for giving me the opportunity to review this awesome tree!

A friendship hop for a special lady

Today the Whimsy DT members are hosting a  friendship hop in honour of a special member of the Whimsy Stamps family, Simonne Clay. Simonne has been a fixture here at Whimsy for many years and we all just wanted to show our appreciation for all that she does for each of us and for sharing her amazing talent as an illustrator.  She’s also my “go-to”girlie, I am always getting hop posting times and details wrong and our Simonne keeps me on the straight and narrow.

So, for this special lady I decided to make a card featuring one of her fab-u-las stamp sets.  OMW I really do love this
Chalkboards 2 stamp set

A close-up of the gorgeous sentiment

And a closer look at the flower  and die cut details.  The flowers I used are 40mm Trellis Rose, 25mm wild rose, cherry blossoms, chrysanthemum, open roses 20mm and 15mm.  Isn’t that background wall cut out die-cut just the bizz??  I dabbed it with a bit of white gesso before gluing in place, then popping the flowers on top.   I chopped up bits of 4mm white pearl string trim and glued in place in-between the flowers.  Love the look it gives.

I finished off with a butterfly and corner from the 10 mixed metal embellishments pack after dabbing with a bit of white gesso and job done.

Here’s the links to the Whimsy DT members that are taking part in the hop

Whimsy Blog
Alanna Moses
Debbie Eastman
Ellie Stover
Amy Kolling
Iris Wiechmann
Danni Bindel
Heather Pulvirenti
Jen Carter
Louise Roache
Shannah Bartle
Shelby Thomas
Becky Carafa
Bev Rochester (that’s me!)
Deb Routledge
Crissy Armstrong
Denise Lynn

hugs

Noel

Long time no post!  This is such a busy time of the year, isn’t it?.  I really don’t know what happened to the first half of December, I blinked and it was done. 
Anyway, one of the things that has kept me busy is that I decided to make some ornaments for the tree, and whilst out shopping for bits and bobs I picked up a Noel ornament from The Range for under £5.  It looked a bit bleurgh so I decided to tart it up.  I freaking love how it turned out.

I am in a purple period just now, I am purpling ev-ree-thing lol.  Here’s some close ups.  First I pulled the peg off the back of the snowflake, painted and glittered they glued on a couple of bells

Delish flowers and berries (links at the end of the post).  I painted the reindeer then over-stamped with a text stamp and Walnut Stain ink then edged with WS ink and gold glitter

I tied the bells with waxed cord (love this stuff).  Leaves are from a Tim Holtz Thinlits die set

 

I decided to leave the ornament the greyish colour it was so the white would pop.  I made snow using Liquitex modelling paste which I mixed with white gesso to thin the consistency a bit.  Once dry I coated with white tacky glue then went crazy with glamour dust, crushed glass (Twinklets) and Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels.

Did I say I loved how this turned out???  That’s what I love about Wild Orchid Crafts, the colour selections in the flowers are just sublime!

Goodies used from Wild Orchid Crafts:
Wooden snowflakes with peg
50 miniature gold decorative bells
6 Wooden die-cut reindeers
20 mixed purple.lilac mulberry tea roses 40mm
50 mixed colour mulberry tea roses 1” (25mm)
Single colour open roses  20mm, 15mm and 10mm

 

I’ll be back around this time tomorrow with a card.

Whimsy December release hop

Welcome to Day 2 of our ...
December Rubber Stamp and Die Release

Over the next 3 days we will reveal 10 *BRAND NEW* red rubber stamps/stamp sets and 4 *BRAND NEW* die/die sets. They will be available to buy from the Whimsy Stamps store and from selected Whimsy Stamps retailers on Wednesday.

Today we are excited to show you the brand new Mi Ran and Wee stamps being released this month.  For a full reveal of these stamps, hop on over to the Whimsy blog.

For my project today I have inked up Cuddly Ride by Sylvia Zet.   Just too stinkin’ cute!

I used copic markers to colour and also pencils where I needed more depth (but mainly markers were used)

Hair: E55, E53, E51, E50
Skin: E13, E11, E00, E000, R20
Clothes/Shoes: YG63, 61, G20, RV95, 93, 91
Snail: E87, 83, 81, BV20, E43, E51, E50, W3, W1, W0

Seam binding and flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts: Chrysanthemum. carnation, small gardenia, open roses white bead berry spray, clear rhinestone flourishes.

The paper is fairly old Bo Bunny Christmas paper.  Of course, I decide NOW that I love it when I only have a sheet left …. typical!

And now for the good stuff!

PRIZE ALERT ... We have hidden a fabulous prize of a $15 GIFT CERTIFICATE at one of the stops on today’s hop! We will draw the lucky winner from the comments left on today’s design team posts (listed below), so be sure to visit everyone and leave a comment at every stop to be entered into the draw.

Bev Rochester (that’s me)
Linda Levoir (GDT)
Shelby Thomas
Danni Bindel
Iris Wiechmann

Happy hopping.

Whimsy Stamps Cyber Sale

Whimsy Stamps are having a cyber sale today only, so go and fill ya boots!  Hurry!!!