A little holiday table fanciness!

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Inspired by the 12 tags", referring to the sets of 12 tags that Tim Holtz has made over past Christmasses or his 12 tags of 2012.  As I looked through his blog I was spoiled for choice but I finally decided on this tag.  I love how he used the Santa face on his ornament and that was my inspiration here.

I was looking around for ideas to decorate the holiday table (my family descend on me on Boxing Day) and I saw a youtube video on how to fold a cloth napkin into a cutlery pouch, which I thought was a great idea.  To be honest though, we're more of a paper napkin kind of family, so I put my thinking cap on and came up with this instead - a cardstock pouch to hold the cutlery and a paper napkin.  I cut the design on my Cricut but its a fairly simple job to cut them by hand, all you'd need is a corner-rounder for the top corners (and you needn't really do that if you don't want to!).  The scalloped pieces added to the top on the front were cut with fancy-edged scissors.

Here's the template I made, you'll get a better view of it if you click on it:

I used paper from Tim Holtz's Seasonal Stack for the main part of the pocket (as you see both sides of the card it's best to use double-sided cardstock for these).  The Santas were taken from various stamp sets (listed below), the ribbons were cut from the cover of the Dear Mr Claus collage kit and the bauble toppers were coloured with Tarnished Brass distress stain.

If I'm very vigilant I can hopefully get them back undestroyed at the end of the meal and use them again next year! :)

Supplies I used included:

InLinkz.com

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!

Believe!

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "House Rules".  I took the opportunity to use a lot of Tim Holtz vintage Christmas imagery for this piece.

My Christmas memories of a 60s childhood in the USA feature imagery perfectly matched by Tim Holtz's seasonal stamps and papers.  Some of my tree decorations are even in the original Shiny Brite boxes that feature in his designs!  Wishing to echo that style, I decided to create a vintage themed Christmas house to display here at home each holiday. 

I started by painting the house with A Dash of Red paint, which I darkened a little with Gathered Twigs distress ink.  I stamped snowflakes from the Winter Sketchbook set on the sides with gesso.  The triangular panel was cut from a piece of Dear Mr Claus paper and it acted as a base for the stamped ticket and the "Believe" lettering, which I had cut on the Cricut.  The Twinkle Tone Santa was taken directly from the Seasonal paper stack, with added Rock Candy stickles to highlight his beard and white fur.  The numbers were metallic numerals coloured with Tarnished Brass distress Stain and sanded in parts for extra texture.

The two Santas at the bottom were stamped then coloured with Promarkers.  I used distressed copper brads to add interest to the wooden frame, first using a craft pick to create a hole for each one.

The roof tiles were cut on the Cricut, from a sheet of Retro Grunge card stock, and edged with a white pen for a snowy effect.  The icicles on the front and sides were given a liberal application of Rock Candy stickles for extra sparkle!

I'm really happy with how this turned out, now I just need to make sure that I pack it away securely each year so that it will last a good few years!

Supplies I used included:

InLinkz.com

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!