holiday

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DIY POM POM GARLAND

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I love pom poms. And I’ve wanted a pom pom garland for my Christmas tree for the longest time, but the cost of those beautiful handmade garlands always stopped me in my tracks; a single 6’ garland can run $35 +/- and upwards. My tree is 7.5’ . . . based on the size, I would need somewhere between 30 and 36’ of garland to wrap around it . . . You do the math . . . Seriously, I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much on a garland, alone, for my tree.

Part of my plan, of course, involves some weebles (a.k.a. grandbabies); I really REALLY wanted my tree to be entirely child friendly—no wild shrieking “DON’T TOUCH!!!” out of the adults. And no worries about broken glass from fragile collectible ornaments and possible boo-boos.

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I hit the craft store and purchased a 1 pound skein of yarn (Caron brand, white). Pulled out my pom pom makers, and got BUSY! If you’ve never made your own pom poms, I gotta say, they’re easy, fun, and a great way to decompress/alleviate stress! AND, you can watch your favorite TV shows while you’re pumpin’ out the poms! I wasn’t able to edit and share this before the holiday, BUT, I now have a quick video tutorial for those of you who have not yet been introduced to the ways of pom pom makers—you’ll be ahead of the game for next year’s tree, OR, there are lots of other things you can make with pom poms . . . (I’m collecting ideas HERE on Pinterest).

I used very nearly the entire pound of yarn to make two 12’ and two 6’ garlands for my tree.

LINK: How-to video for the little paper house ornaments featuring dies I designed is HERE.

LINK: How-to video for the little paper house ornaments featuring dies I designed is HERE.

I’m so happy with how it turned out!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and I wish you an amazing 2020!

My joy. ❤️

My joy. ❤️

SUPPLIES:

The 12 Tags of Christmas 2019

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This set of tags was inspired by the holiday song, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”—from the claymation movie I’ve watched every Christmas season since I was a weeble! After I got done with these I had to laugh because they TOTALLY remind me of PEZ candy dispensers! (chuckle)

I didn’t actually film the making of them at the time I made the set, but later on, I did. I didn’t have time to do a voiceover so it’s high speed, set to music.

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Santa and the gang will make sure your gifts are delivered to the right recipient, and rather cutely, I might add. (wink)

I don’t think I can actually give this set away to anybody—I’m going to need all the tags I make . . . LOL!

Thanks for stopping by and hope your holiday season is allowing you some creative/crafty time amongst all the hustle and bustle!

Be sure to check out the Ellen Hutson 12 Tags of Christmas series and challenges HERE!

SNOW DAYS WITH STRIPES

Why is it I always have too many irons in too many fires? Launching an online holiday class almost simultaneously with a new release is nuts— I’m still trying to catch my breath . . . The above is one of several samples I made for the November release but I got completely overwhelmed . . .

Alrighty, on to the project I’ve posted today! I love using these smaller dies, like the Skinny Stripes, for DIY Stencils—makes me supremely happy!

I tested out a bunch of different tools for getting multiple ink colors stenciled within this tight pattern, with the least amount of fuss/work (y’all have no idea; I was like a woman possessed) and, after many fails, it was actually my Sponge Daubers for the win! YASSSSSS!!! •fist pump•

Glossy Accents over the diamond shapes makes them look like epoxy dots! LOVE THAT!!!

Crystal Clear Plastic for the pop-up platforms are almost invisible. Cool. Video for how to assemble the Pop-Up Mittens Die Set is HERE; just scroll down the page a bit until you see the video player.

Hope you’re having a good week!

How did it get to be Tuesday already????? Note to self: Get a clone.

HOLIDAY COLLAGE

In the world of art, this probably wouldn’t be classified as “collage”, but it’s MY kinda collage—simple and crisp, with dimension. Mmmmm mmm good!

I just LOVE the imagery and lettering of the sentiments in Merry Days by The Stamp Market!

I slapped a poll the other day up on my Instagram Stories, asking folks to choose which of two color schemes (yes, only two) appealed to them. I was surprised at the outcome…

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Do you know which won? •cheeky grin•

I kinda blended the two a bit on this card—I actually made a small stack and one of the other designs is going to be featured in a video tutorial over on the Ellen Hutson YouTube channel next Monday (Hello, Monday Playlist). That one turned out so SO sweet I was monkey clappin’ all around—actually, the whole stack I made turned out sweet! YAY! I’ll share the others soon.

Anyhoo, it’s hard to tell, but all the images above are all coated with that glorious NUVO Shimmer Pen, minus the holly berries; those have clear NUVO Drops on them—that stuff is BOMB! Totally held its shape and loft—the berries look so glossy and juicy! LOL!

Hope you’re having a great week!

Cheers!

MODERN CHRISTMAS WOODGRAIN EFFECT

I’ve been so busy working on some illustrations for future releases… trying to get ahead, which always seems/feels impossible. I’m so far behind, I can see my arse up ahead. Do you feel like that? Running… Always running…

So, just popping in to quickly share this sample I made a while back with a set that is retiring, called Modern Christmas. I just love this set because it’s a two-step! (The coordinating dies have already sold out, just FYI)

The faux woodgrain effect was achieved by stamping the detail tree (grey ink), in two rows, tightly together and rotating on the 2nd row, nestling it into the first row. The wreath was die cut first from white card stock, and then I stamped the solid tree repeatedly over the top (green ink), rotating and overlapping the image to get a really fun look!

That’s all I got for today before head back down to the salt mines. ;)

Have a great day—and weekend!