Paper Sweeties December Release - The Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 6

Welcome to Day SIX of the Twelve Days of Christmas Designer's Blog Hop for Paper Sweeties!  Have you been following along with all of the GORGEOUS projects posted so far by the Sweeties Teamies?  Wow - lots of wonderful ideas for holiday crafting my friends!!!!  If you missed any of the posts here is the link list:

Day 1:  December 2nd:  Debbie Marcinkiewicz – Paper Sweeties

Day 2:  December 3rd:  Maria Patrick

Day 3: December 4th:  Nancy Penir

Day 4:  December 5th:  Kathy Schweinfurth

Day 5:  December 6th:  Mackie Robertson

Day 6:  December 7th:  Jill Norwood (You Are Here)

Day 7:  December 8th:  Michelle Bala

Day 8:  December 9th:  Michele Henderson

Day 9:  December 10th:  Larissa Heskett

Day 10:  December 11th:  Jeri Thomas

Day 11:  December 12th:  Angel Johns

Day 12:  December 13th:  Mynnette Kitchen

Each of the posts so far have been amazing!  I have been working right up to the last minute to prep my items for today so let's get started!!!!
First up are projects using the Merry and Bright Stamps and Sweet Cuts:

I absolutely adore these sets and had a hard time putting them down once I got started....here are my projects:

First a sweet little Christmas card:

I just love the shape of this sweet tree!  And Debbie thought of everything you might need to decorate the tree!  I love the little pot that you can stamp to stand the tree in and I used it here on this card!  So adorable!

Next up some Christmas Tree tags:

 These tags were so easy to put together!  I just die cut the tree 4 times.  Twice from a glittery white cardstock and twice from the mint patterned paper.  Then I layered them and glued together adding a hand cut tree stump. NOTE: Their is a stamp and die for a tree stump but I did not use it on these tags.  I added two die cut stars back to back at the top with pop dots for some dimension and then a little glitter glue for sparkle.  You could add sentiments to these if you wanted but I kept them simple and sweet!

This next project is so fun and versatile!  Tiny CHRISTMAS TREES!!!!  Think name cards for your Christmas table....or to add to a Christmas scene in your home...or on your window sill by your sink just for fun...

It is hard to see in this photo but these are dimensional trees I made by scoring 3 (cream tree) or 4 (green tree) die cuts down their centers and then gluing them together to form a three-D tree.  The "Merry and Bright" tree die is not perfectly symmetrical so I added glitter glue and loose glitter to the edges of the tree so you can not see the portions that are slightly offset.  If you decide to make these I feel that it works best with 3 die cuts instead of 4. The offset areas are much smaller on the cream tree which was made with 3 die cuts only.

To create the tree stand I used a small wood spool (mine are from Maya Road) and added crocheted trim with some hot glue.  I also added Diamond Stickles and loose glitter to the top and bottom edge of the spool.  I used an extra long toothpick to create the tree stump and hot glued the end into the spool stand.  At the top of the tree I used a pin and a rusty jingle bell to create a topper.  You could also use the star that comes in this set for your topper.  I just liked the contrast of the bell and it allows me to add a sentiment to the top if I wish on a little flag.

Here is what it looks like with a name added for your Christmas Dining Table...a tiny tree place card:

I just think these would be adorable at each place setting for Christmas Dinner this year don't you?!  And it only took me a few minutes to make each one!  To add the names for my sample trees in the photo above I used the names that come with the  "Emma" and "Sophie"  dolls stamp sets at Paper Sweeties but it would be very easy to hand stamp names with the Paper Sweeties Alphabet stamp sets (linked below).

Here is a photo with me holding the tree so you can see the dimension a little bit better:

Ok....I have just one last project to share using the Merry and Bright Stamps and Dies:

I made a large rosette ornament or bag decoration!  I love rosettes and their beautiful dimension!  They are simple to make and every time I add one to a gift bag the recipient goes crazy!  They just make people smile!  Since I already had a couple of tags made I thought I would also make a rosette to add to a white gift bag I have on hand.  Now I am all ready to give a gift to someone special! And this rosette comes with a thread hanger so that if the recipient wants they can add it to their tree as an ornament.  I have also seen them used as tree toppers by adding a clothespin to the back.  Just clip it right to the top branch of your tree!

Here is a detail shot just for fun:

Okay are you still with me?  I am moving on to the other new stamp and die set that was released this month called "Sugar and Spice":

Do you love Gingerbread men as much as I do?  They are a favorite of mine for sure!  As soon as I saw this set in my design team package I knew that I wanted to make Christmas Ornaments with it!  A sweet Gingerbread Boy and Girl!  And here they are:

I used wool felt in a light beige shade for my gingerbread ornament bases.  I sewed the bases together 3/4 of the way and then added some quilt batting to the insides before sewing them closed.  I then used some fabric scraps, buttons, felt die cuts from the sweet cuts set etc. to embellish my ornaments.

Here is a close up of the girl ginger:

 She has a die cut felt bow with a rusty jingle bell, googly eyes, a sewn mouth and nose in red thread, a fabric scrap scarf and red buttons. The cream felt "frosting" zig-zags were made by cutting pieces from the die cut border in the Sugar and Spice Sweet Cuts set. A gingerbread cabochon adds a sweet baby ginger to her arms! And to finish her off I sprayed her lightly with glue spray and dusted her with clear glitter for some sparkle!  Adorable right?!

Next...our handsome Gingerbread Man!  He is also sporting googly eyes and a red thread sewn mouth and nose for his face.  He has a handsome plaid scarf made from a fabric scrap and some green buttons along with a walking stick "candy cane" that I had in my stash of Christmas Crafty Goodies!  At his back you can see the red thread hanger that I added.  I sewed a thread hanger in place on both of these sweet ginger ornaments so they can be hung on the recipients tree!  I love how these turned out!  They do take a bit of time to make but I did most of the sewing while watching a couple of Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel so it went by pretty fast!

Well that is it for me today!  I was hoping to add one more gingerbread man project but I am down with a horrible cold that my son brought home on Wednesday.  It is Saturday evening as I am typing this post and it  needs to go live on Sunday night so I decided to post what I have done for now in case I can't finish it.  

 The lovely news for all of you is that there is lots more inspiration to come!  Tomorrow for Day 7 you get to go visit the wonderfully talented
  Michelle Bala 

I am having so much fun checking out each new post in the morning with my cup of coffee or tea!  And speaking of Coffee and Tea don't forget to start creating for the:

 Paper Sweeties is sponsoring once again and is giving away a couple of prizes including a $25.00 gift certificate and a flash prize of the lovely "Homemade with Love" stamps and sweet cuts!  Join in the fun December 11 - 18th!  More info can be found here:   http://coffeelovingcardmakers.com/

I am also linking this post to the "Visions of Sugar Plums" - Christmas/Winter Challenge #2  at my lovely friend Lori Hairston's blog over at ChouxChoux Paper Art!  Lori shares such wonderful creativity all year long and then does an incredible 3 day Christmas Blog Hop each year with her friends to share tons of Christmas and Holiday Inspiration!  There are lovely sponsors and prizes too!  I hope you will go and check out the hop and her challenge and her lovely blog full of fun ideas.  She is also on YouTube! 


Thanks for looking at my Paper Sweeties projects for this lovely Twelve Days of Christmas Blog Hop!  I wish you all the joy and fun of creating lots of fun crafty projects this December!  Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you all!
Hugs!!!!
Jill