Happy Thanksgiving

We have just returned from a long weekend at the ranch visiting my folks. It was sure nice to go home for a bit and even nicer yet to be of assistance. This year Jillian and I helped Mom (aka Nana) decorate the big tree for our first Christmas at the ranch in their home.

This year instead of giving my mom handmade Christmas cards, I showed her how to make make iris folded cards. We made enough for her hand delivered cards on Friday. I have pics but not ready for posting yet. That will be the next entry.

Have a great week!

Blue Christmas Trees

How many blue Christmas trees have you seen? I love the elegent look of these cards. I tried various bling and accents. Gonna have a hard time choosing which I like best!

More Christmas Tree Cards

Just look what happens when you keep the same style, but change the paper. Everything seems to change. I used the same technique as described earlier in my Green Christmas Tree Post. This time I used my corner punch for the mat and used coordinating paper for the large mat. The light colored tree is made from Heidi Grace papers that are shimmery and have some sparkle. I added red rhinestones to finish off the project. Then I came across my favorite Christmas paper from last year by Daisy D's and had to try my hand at it again. The bold paisleys really change the look of it. I used my Gelly Roll Stardust pens to add some glitter to the paper. I did not have rhinestones, so I bought red pearls to put on the tree. They look sharp too!

Iris Folded Cards

Oh man, I forgot how fun and easy iris folding is. I used my Cricut to cut out a Christmas ornament and then used a generic iris fold pattern from Circle of Crafters website (get pattern here). I used my corner adorner punch for snazzy matting. And one large bling for some sparkle. I love the way they turned out. I may have to make a few more. I made up about 6 kits for the local craft show this weekend. We'll see if anyone else likes them as much as I do.

See the Perfect Bow?

Here's two samples from one of my tea bag folding kits. I used my fork to tie a perfect little bow. I'm just so proud of myself! Thanks for looking.

Ribbon + Fork = Perfect Bow

Pam shared this trick with me some time back. I didn't believe it could be so easy to tie a bow until I finally tried it. She found it online somewhere one time, but neither of us could find it again. I like to give credit to scraplifting when I can, but if not, let me just say "this is not my original idea". The fork, ribbon and pictures are mine.

I've tied lots of bows, but not many as uniformly as I can with this technique. The fork makes a small bow, but I've modified the technique using a wide tooth comb or anything with equal space tongs. Folks may laugh when they see a fork and a comb in my scrapping tool kit, but once they try this... they stop laughing.

Have fun!



Thanks Pam for posting this YouTube demo

Green Christmas Tree Cards

Yep, I'm at it again. Christmas is just around the corner and I've been making cards. I just love these tea bag folded Christmas trees.