ESAD Goodbye Mini Catalogue Blog Hop

Welcome to the ESAD Goodbye Mini Catalogue Blog Hop!

I'm not sure if you have joined me directly, or if you have just popped in from Kelly's Blog, but I'm glad you're here...

It's been a long time since I have joined in a blog hop with the wonderful girls from ESAD, but I knew I had the perfect project to share, & it was going to be the perfect timing, so I just had to join these clever girls, & I cant wait to see their final goodbyes.

When we first got the Holiday Mini Catalogue, I instantly fell in love with the Poinsettia Suite on page 15, but when I found the Red Velvet Paper Pack on page 63, I felt it was a match made in heaven. The girls who come to my card classes all know how much I love it, its been included in most classes, swaps, gifts & items that I made to sell at fairs. I'm addicted, & only just realised I should get a second set of dies so I can cut out 2 sets at once!

Each year my team does a Secret Santa. We need to hand make something, & this year I made this

I had this idea for a while, & was trying to find a wreath base to use, but only started making it at the craft fair a few weeks ago. 

If you have ever seen me "working" at a craft fair, you will know I generally have a pretty big mess in front of me, & I will usually be chatting or crafting non stop. This time I came prepared with the new cut & Emboss Machine, my Poinsettia Dies, & several packs of the Red Velvet Paper.

From memory, this photo below had only used 1/2 a sheet of the paper, so you can only imagine how many flowers I had cut out & put together over the 2 days.

I loved the paper so much, I didn't want to waste any of it, so I even cut out some of the smaller flowers with missing petals, & glued them together to make a full flower!

Once I was ready to actually make my wreath, I still hadn't found a base, so I decided I could make one. I used 3 of the backing sheets that were protecting the Red velvet Paper & started by taking one of them & drawing a large circle (round plates work wonderfully for this) then inside the large circle, a smaller circle (my bread plate were the perfect size) then using quite tough scissors, I cut it out to form a large ring. I then used that ring as a template & made 2 more, so they were almost perfect copies of each other. I then used Tombo Glue to join them together, & then I wrapped it all in some old twine that has been hanging around my home for years. After I had finished, I realized I could have used some of the really cool & natural looking ribbons we have available at the moment.

I already had heaps of flowers ready to go, & heaps of the white berries, but I knew it would need more than that, so I sat down one night & cut out LOTS of foliage from the Beautiful Boughs Dies (page 57 in the annual catalogue) I cut out the leaves in Mossy Meadow cardstock, the pinecone bases in Soft Suede, & the detailed pinecones in Crumb Cake. 

I left the leaves as they were, but after joining the pinecones together, I did sponge the edges with Soft Suede. Then I was ready to layer it all together. 

Once I started, I realized it needed something more. I decided the Snowflake Spendor Ribbon was it... it added just a little bit of shimmer & sparkle, & was perfect.   

If you had any broken links, below is a full list list of all the participants, & whilst I am on the bottom of the list,  please pop on over to check out Nicole's blog  next. 

1.     Nicole Wilson

2.      Denise Buetler

3.      Cheryl Algie

4.      Narelle Fasulo

5.      Lou Kitzelman

6.      Libby Dyson

7.      Melissa Gifford

8.      Leonie Schroder

9.      Sue Vine

10.   Monique Fielder

11.   Shannon Kissane

12.   Maree McIntosh

13.   Kelly Kent

14.   Odette Kermode - You are here