Stack those Yo-yos

Close To My Heart have three beautiful trees on the cover of the Holidays from the Heart shopping guide. You may have seen them. And admired them. If you haven’t seen them yet here is another peek. 

Aren’t they just gorgeous? Naturally all of us in the CTMH family have been waiting for the opportunity to get hold of the paper, put our Cricut machines to good use and make them. So many of us in Australia are now Cricut owners and love it! (Message me if you would like to know the best way to get yours. )Some of us have completed the project and while not as stunning (because they seem to be so even and well spaced!) as those in the photo we have done a pretty good job recreating these trees.

Cut and score

Fold and join

It begins with cutting 22 pieces of paper! You need at least 2 strips to score and fold then stick end to end forming a circle once folded.

By squashing these flat and adhering a circle top and bottom with your trusty hot glue gun you end up with a yo-yo or rosette – a popular embellishment in the paper craft world.  By making these in gradually increasing widths (cricut dial sizes set from 1 inch to 2 1/2 inches you can then stack from large to small making a nice tower. It actually even feels a bit like  pine cone when done! If you want a more frilly look for the larger sizes you would cut 3 strips to push into your yo-yo.

I have a couple of tips for you if you dare to give it a go.

Lots of yoyos all glued to a circle top and bottom

You will need 4 sheets of double sided Sparkle and Shine papers to get enough pieces to create at least 11 rosettes.

• Scoring can be done with a ruler, stylus or bone folder and a mat if you do not have a fancy scoring board.
• You can adhere all these with liquid gloss but you need time for this to firm up.
• You are best to use a HOT GLUE Gun. For speed and ease, it really is the best option. Use a scrap piece of cardboard under your work to spare your table any damage from hot glue. If you have acrylic nails you may like to protect them from damage too.
• Be careful – hot glue burns, as does the tip of the gun. Have your  spare glues sticks nice and handy ready to refill – you will need quite a few for this project.
• When gluing pieces end to end be careful not to burn yourself with hot glue when you press pieces together – the glue will come through the holes in the pattern,
• When making the very top rosette, before gluing the second securing circle, pierce a hole through it and insert a toothpick that will then be fixed in place with the final gluing. You need this to act as a stand to whatever you top your tree with. It can be broken off shorter if need be.
• When layering each rosette one on top of the other you may find at times it will need a little leveling depending on how even your original rosette has been glued – use hot glue like mortar – adding more to the die that needs leveling up. Keep checking the way it is standing – you do not want to end up with the leaning Tower of Pisa! Have it nicely balanced on a vertical center all the way up. If you are really worried about this pierce all binding circles and slide the whole lot over a bamboo skewer as you build it up n layers. You are using this to keep it straight – The tree is quite sold when done so the skewer is not needed for stability. I did mine without a skewer and I am quite happy with the result. Hand made is not meant to be perfect anyway right?
• Allow 2 hours for all of the above then you can do the decorating,
• I used tag shapes for the tree topper – but you could also use a star or a snowflake. Tie a pretty bow, add some round shaped beads or buttons – I found 3 unique buttons in my stash.

Following the example from the flyer, I decorated my tree with snowflakes. I decided to try Mod Podge and I needed to bling it up so a shaker of fine glitter did the trick. A generous helping of Mod Podge painted on the snowflakes, sprinkled with glitter and allowed to dry.

Sparkly snowflakes

Juniper ones added a nice touch

I have used baking paper underneath this part of the work for several reasons. First the snowflakes were easy to move around and second, once finished I could pour excess glitter back into the jar as it slides nicely off the baking paper. Finally clean up is easy – scrunch up the paper and bin it. Be sure to wash the brush you used to spread Mod Podge around with really well.  Sard soap is good for cleaning brushes. Mod Podge is readily available in craft stores. I used the Matt finish one.

Once again the best way to glue these on was with hot glue. If you end up with ‘hot glue strings’ don’t worry – many of us do – it is normal! These can be pulled away or melted away with a heat gun.

And there you have it – the lovely tree ready for the Christmas Table! Mine is just sitting on a nice teelight candle holder.

My Completed table tree. If you are local and would like to make one pre-order your Sparkle and Shine paper ready for next workshop.

Why not plan to get one of these done for your table? Plan ahead by pre-ordering your paper, having it pre-cut and coming to a workshop to get it done! Contact me for more details or check my workshop schedule over at  my Facebook Page. (Workshops are in the Sunraysia Region)

The Display Tray is Awesome

I am thoroughly enjoying my Close To My Heart products and I earned the Designed Decor Display Tray with host credits while ordering. I have been waiting for just the right time to play and make it up and finally have done so. I would love to know what you think!

There are so many possibilities if we take the concept of popping a photo on top, and others way down in the 4 x 3 inch trays. I have seen some lovely designs by other consultants and the same idea is used. Use 3D tape to add dimension, position a ‘hero’ photo across sections of the tray. Many samples also have banners – i decided mine was busy enough without them.

I will do my best to describe how I achieved this finished product!

Disply Tray featuring Ever After WOTG, Glitter Paper and Host Only stamp set ‘The Party Is On’.

I first selected some photos from the hundreds i have from this Big Bash. Then trimmed them to fit the 2.5 x 3.5 so they would fit in the spaces, all bar the primary photo which I trimmed to 4×4, and one photo is 4×4 with the fourth inch in the next tray. (the center photo). I then sorted out background papers and cut 3×4 mats from an assortment of my leftovers, focussing on the black and white print. I chose the Dark grey from the Black and grey Glitter paper and used the Artiste Cricut cartridge to cut the shapes of the 50, the scallop frame for the main photo and the base for the roses. I also cut some 3×4 mats in the same paper, including one inside the scallop frame to save paper. To get the frame the right size I simply created a 4×4 square in cricut craft room, positioned it over the scallop and enlarged to scallop frame until i was satisfied the photo would fit nicely.

Noe it was time to stamp. I could not quite decide what to use so i stamped all three of the titles from the ‘The Party Is On’ (exclusive and available only to gathering hosts) on white card stock. I used the daubers to colour the edges off and then played with the layout now I had my pieces. I had already cut and made the black rose and the purple leaf and they were sitting in my little collection of embellishments.

Here are some close ups of these elements.

Shapes made using glitter paper and the Art Philosophy Cartridge,

I loved this stamp set and since I had had a BIG BASH I had to take advantage of the host rewards program and get it.

I also added a little black shimmer trim and some of the lovely bling from CTMH to finish it off. If I had the red shimmer trim i could have been tempted to put that where the black is – maybe i will when it arrives. I am very pleased with how it came together. There are some essential adhesives at work here. Glue dots have been used to put each piece in place as they are removable so if fancy takes me to change the display I can. I used 3d foam tape, Double up in places so there are very few flat sections – this piece is all about dynamic dimension, just as the party was!

If you would like to make a tray just like this one the one thing you will need to do is host a gathering to get hold of the ‘The Party is On’ stamp set. That bit is easy – we can do one online if I do not live anywhere near you! Just drop me an email or comment below and I will get in touch. The other items you can shop for online right now and go ahead and choose other stamps to compliment your project.

Shopping list:

Workshops on the go – For Always scrapbooking kit G1055 (Or grab the paper pack and the ever always assortment)

Designed Decor display try Z1750

3D foam tape Z1151 and Memory Book Glue Dots 1772

Cricut Collection – Art Philosophy Z1686

Glitter Paper black-Grey assortment Z1829

Exclusive Inks Black Z2105

Black Shimmer trim  and assorted gems

Host Only exclusive Stamp Set The Party Is On – viewable page 4 of the Product Launch Guide

How awesome would it be to get some of this free, and some half price? Did you know if you were to shop for just some of these products and your order reaches 475 you also qualify for Stamp of the month? More bonus! 

Host a gathering and you will be able to aim to achieve all these goodies! Imagine 50% off your cricut Art Philosophy Collection 🙂 We can organise an online or an in person gathering to suit whatever your passion is. Drop me a line nenifofer@gmail.com and i will contact you as soon as possible.

While I am talking savings, have you given thought to being a CTMH Consultant yourself? Be your own host, share your shop online with your friends and reap the rewards of 22% discount AND all the hosting rewards on your orders. Email me now to find out more or visit my site to learn more about it. nenifoofer@gmail.com.au

One final thing – if you would like to see this project up close and personal take a look at my events calendar at facebook and come join in a Play Day in my area! Click on the events link. I would love to have you come along!

Cheers Jen