Christmas letter {C}

Di W's {C} page

There are so many options for the letter {C}, but I have chosen "cards" as it is how I started crafting!

I have used a single page layout for this letter. Each of my pages are 51/2 x 51/2". I started out with 6x6 cover boards but have made the book double hinged, so the pages are slightly smaller to accomodate this.

I cut a piece of black card 21cm x 12cm and folded it in half to make a card shape. With my Xyron personal cutter I cut the letters out of blue matt card to spell out the word "cards". I also cut out the shadow of C in cream card. I chose a blue snowflake backing paper and cut out a 10 1/2cm square, which I cut in half diagonally.

I stuck one half of the paper onto the card and added the letters diagonally along the line of the join. In the top right hand corner I used peel off words for the greeting. On a cream piece of paper I printed my journalling and cut the paper slightly smaller than the card before inserting it with double sided tape. I printed and cut out some photos of Christmas cards I had made previously and matted them onto a scrap of the backing paper, cutting close to the outlines. I arranged these as a gallery on the opposite page of the insert.
I stuck the other half of the backing paper to the top right hand corner of the page and punched the holes for the rings to go through. I mounted the card onto the page, sightly off center to the left and added peel off Christmas greetings around the edges.


Di O's {C} page

For my {C} page I have chosen Carols and Candles. The page opens out and contains two small gusset pockets to hold little 4 page carol books and a metal tab pulls up a further area for journalling or photos.

{B} = Bits and Bobs Box

By Di O

For our {B} inspiration I have made a useful desktop Bits and Bobs Box. On the slide show I have used A4 card throughout for the templates but of couse, if you use 12" x 12" you should be able to cut the larger templates from one sheet.

Try to use fairly thick card for strength and I have covered the box using a thick paper i.e. Basic Grey.

I have drawn the templates individually for accuracy but any slight imperfections can be covered when you decorate the box.

The finished Bits and Bobs Box looks like this:

Christmas Letter {B}

Caroline's {B} Page:

On to letter 'B' and I have decided to go with BAUBLES!

I printed off a photo that I took Christmas 2006 of my tree and some of the decorations. I am quite 'into' scuffing and scratching of photos at the moment so I did that with this one as you can see in the slide show!

In this part of my A-Z Christmas Journal I am using Blonde Moments Festive Feast papers. For the next step I took a 6x6 piece of Cranberry Sauce and made a circle frame. Cut out and keep the centre too. Scuff around the edges - you can do this because it is white core paper and you can take the coloured layer off to give an aged look.

Layer together, however you like, onto your chosen backing card. In my case I used Herbal Green Prism cardstock and matt gold A4 card cut down to the size of my album which is 10" x 7.5". Remember, as this is a Christmas journal, glitz, glamour, gold and sparkle can be used in abundance.....don't hesitate to use up those gold and silver bits of card and paper that you wouldn't otherwise use!

I then hauled my sewing machine out and did straight stitch around the circle and green card. Don't worry if your sewing is not straight - go round again and have a double line - deliberately make it wonky so that it looks as though you meant it! If you haven't tried sewing onto paper - give it a go. Great fun and so easy! Just remember to keep one needle for fabric and a separate one for paper.

I then triple embossed using utee embossing powders. Layer it up three times to get a glossy effect and then quickly stamp onto it to achieve a textured effect. You must cover your stamp with embossing ink first though so that it doesn't stick to the hot, flexible embossing.

I then used a glitter letter 'b' from L'il Davis Tinseltown Chipboard Alphabet (love these funky letters) and stamped the rest of the word 'bauble' straight onto the gold cardstock.

Set green eyelets into the top of the page and thread gold ribbon through, tying at the back. Attach to the baubles and stick down using foam pads.

Done!!

Di's {B} Page:

For my B page I used Bell, Baubles and Beads and created a 3 tier layered page effect.

I used 3 sheets of Basic Grey folded and cut to 3 different widths. The paper is cut at an angle on the reverse of each sheet to create pockets. The cut pieces are used at the bottom to create further pockets and finally the base piece has a single side opening pocket.

I then made 7 tags to go into the pockets, a photograph on one side whilst the other side can be used for journalling and I have used both machine and hand stitching to attach the photos to the tags. Further photos and vellum quotes have been added to the fronts of the layered pages.

Letter {A} - Altered Bottle

{A} is for Altered Bottle - really easy and makes a wonderful present. Use to store crafty bits for yourself or fill with something scrummy to give as a gift. Looks great on your desk too!

I used an empty Prima Flowers bottle. These bottles are just too nice to throw away when empty, so re-use them and make them look nice at the same time. Take off the labels that are on the bottle and top.

Cover with glue. I used a good old glue stick. Cover with Mulberry paper. This is great - it is fine enough to mould easily and also strong enough to withstand you messing around with it. I had a 12x12 piece of white mulberry paper which I tore in half and then used one half to tear into smaller pieces. The torn effect is nice and with smaller pieces you can get around the bottle without too many creases.

When you glue it all on and ensure the edges are glued properly, you can't really tell where each piece start and ends - kinda merges together. Fab paper to use!

Stamp on your design. Just roll the bottle over the stamp to get the full design. Or stamp onto the torn pieces of paper and then apply to the bottle for a more abstract look! If you prefer not to stamp you can use rub-ons, stickers, draw, paint, etc.

I then did the bottle top. Make a hole in the top - I used my eyelet setter. For the red design I used a silver button to place on the top, which had a shank on it. This shank sits through the hole in the bottle top and then if you attach a flat button the other side, threaded through with wire then the silver button will stay in-situ. For the pink bottle I used a pink Bazzill Bosher and a Bazzill Polka Dot brad, poked through the hole.

Get some ribbon or fibres, tie around the neck and attach charms, beads, embellishments of your choice.

Fill the bottle with little crafty bits to keep on your desk, fill with something nice to give as a gift. Create a message to someone special - how about Valentines Day. Write a mesage on a piece of paper, roll it up, put into bottle and then give it to your sweetheart! Something a little different. So easy to do and yet looks fab! I am keeping mine on my desk........I might fill it with sweeties to nibble on when I feeling a bit peckish...........hehe.....

If you fancy giving this a go, let us have pics and we can put onto this Blog or onto the Bubbly Funk Gallery - share your ideas..........and have fun!


Kaz
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