Ornament

 Hello friends! Today I am sharing a beautiful ornament that my friend Annette made for me as my Christmas card. It is absolutely stunning! I received permission to share this with you as I didn't want to just post it without her allowing it.

I met Annette a few years ago through another friend of mine. First, she asked if she could have the latest Stampin' Up! catalogue from me. Of course, I was happy to give a catalogue to her. Then my friend asked if Annette could come to my classes. I have to say I was very nervous to have her attend my classes. She used to teach card classes I believe at a scrapbook store that doesn't exist any more. I knew that she created amazing cards so I was feeling a little intimidated. That was completely unnecessary. She is a lovely person and as you can see from this beautiful ornament, is an incredible card maker. We have very different styles and have a mutual respect for each others creations.

Annette said that she was inspired by something similar that Jennifer McGuire created. As we often do as card makers, she changed up Jennifer's design and made it her own. She even made a special matching box to store this in so it will be safely stored away so I can bring it out again year after year. Here is a picture of the front of the ornament:

And the back of the ornament:

And the lovely box that I will be able to store it in:

I am not comfortable placing this ornament on my tree this year. This is the first year since Bailey moved in that I have successfully had a Christmas tree up. I tried last year by putting up my little tree but before I could put a single ornament on it, she had knocked it over and was chewing on it. We had to put Bailey on kitty valium this year because her anxiety was getting too out of hand. I decided to try putting up the little tree and she has been leaving it alone. I even put some ornaments on it! She went over to it and checked it out the first day I put it up but since then, she is leaving it alone. Maybe next year I will be able to put up the regular tree!! So back to my beautiful hand made ornament from Annette, I don't want to take a chance that Bailey will decide it is a toy so it will be hanging on the wall unit safe and sound.

I decided to try to make a similar ornament using Stampin' Up! products. Here is what I came up with:

This is the back of my ornament:

I started with a piece of Basic White Thick cardstock. I used the larger label die from the Seasonal Labels Dies set to cut the top of the ornament. I placed only the edge of the cardstock in the die so that the top edge was cut and the remaining piece of cardstock was over top of the die as it went through the die cutting machine. I repeated this with the opposite end of the cardstock so that both ends looked the same. I scored the cardstock so that I could fold it up on itself to create the ornament shape.

On the front piece of the ornament, I used a die from the Tasteful Labels Die set to cut the window in the ornament. I then stamped my sentiment from the Frosted Gingerbread stamp set below the window. I used Versamark ink to stamp it and then added silver embossing powder from the Metallics set. I heated this with my heat tool to melt the embossing powder. 

I used the same large label die from the Seasonal Labels Dies set to cut out a piece of Pearlescent Specialty Paper. I added ink to this paper using my Blending Brushes. I tried to use similar colours as Annette used but of course they are not exactly the same. I used Just Jade and Misty Moonlight to create my background.

I then attached 2 of the larger "little" trees from the Christmas Trees Dies set directly to the coloured background piece. I secured the trunks of the trees by attaching a strip of Basic White cardstock along the bottom of the inside of the ornament.

I attached 3 of the smaller "little" trees from the same die set to the front panel of the ornament. I attached them to the window opening and secured their trunks by attaching another strip of Basic White cardstock along the bottom edge on the inside of the ornament.

I added some Tear n Tape to the top edge of the ornament and stuck the top edges together. I then punched a small hole in the top using my Take Your Pick Tool. I tied a piece of silver trim through the hole to create a loop to hang the ornament. The trim is from the Simply Elegant Trim package.

I wanted to add some silver stars to my ornament but I didn't have any current silver foil paper. I decided to make my own. I used my Versamark ink pad and pressed it onto a piece of Basic White cardstock. I added silver embossing powder and heated it to melt. I repeated this once more right on top of the first layer. I then used the small stars die from the Christmas Trees Die set and cut out the small stars. I added them randomly to the ornament using glue dots.

I stamped my second sentiment onto a piece of Basic White cardstock using Versamark ink. I added silver Embossing powder and heated it to melt it. I then attached this piece of cardstock to the back of my ornament.

My design is very different from the one that Annette made. She used other dies and foil and cardstock that I did not have. I am quite pleased with how mine turned out though.

What I used for my ornament:

Basic White Thick Cardstock

Pearlescent Specialty Paper

Basic White Cardstock

Frosted Gingerbread Stamp

Whimsical Trees Stamp

Misty Moonlight Classic Stampin' Pad

Just Jade Classic Stampin' Pad

Blending Brushes

Versamark Pad

Metallics Embossing Powder

Seasonal Labels Dies

Tasteful Labels Dies

Heat Tool

Simply Elegant Trim

Christmas Trees Dies (No longer available)

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed both of these ornaments. Did it inspire you to give something like this a try? If you do, share a photo with me!

Stay well and keep creating!

Terry