Stamp of the Month, December

Where have I been again? LOL! Well... filling orders, answering emails and phonecalls, and most obviously not blogging. This bronchitis is continuing to get the best of me and therefore by the time 9:00p rolls around I just can't work any longer and head to bed. Are any of you allergic to your Christmas tree? I am wondering if our tree this year may be the culprit for my cold just not getting any better. It appears to start getting better and then wham, back full force.

I decided that today had to be the day I shared how it is that I created the flowers for our stamp of the month project, no matter what! I am then heading to bed for some much needed rest. I am so sorry it is taking me so long to post the instructions this month. I wanted you to also know that Memory Box shipped our notecards on Friday so that we can get all the orders out post-haste tomorrow. My count of the Dill notecards was waaaay off and this month's kit has been so popular that we totally missed the boat on it. We count our inventory constantly, so how could it be so off?!? LOL! This is just one of the many things that continues to mystify me :D

These flowers all started when I fell in love with the Create-a-Cut. The manufacturers of this nifty and no longer to be found cutter shared with me how it is that they made these. I can not take credit for this idea at all. One of the girls was incredibly skilled at making these and it was while working with them that I discovered the fun of making these. Being that the cutter has pretty much disappeared I had to come up with a different way of making them, so that I could share these with you, and thus the move back to the old-fashioned decorative edged scissors. So pull those babies out and start putting them to good use once again.

For the flowers on this month's project I used zig-zag scissors. Experiment with different scissors for different types of flowers. Scalloped scissors make great roses, deckled scissors can make beautiful carnations. These are so simple to make! It doesn't matter if you cut straight or have that crooked cut going on. In fact experiment with those crooked cuts to see what type of flower you can create. I have made some that are different heights in the center and longer around the edges. Think of a real flower and then see if you can figure out a way to replicate it.

Begin by cutting a 1/2" strip of paper that is 8 1/2" in length. This will be enough paper for a number of flowers. Then using a detailed pair of regular scissors you will cut your "petals" in to this paper strip. This is where variation can occur as well. For these flowers, I wanted them to have more of an appearance of a poinsettia, so I cut the design shown below. As you can see the shape is somewhat rounded with little "slivers" in between each rounded shape. Each one of the zigs (or zags Ü) is 1/4" in width.

Insert the paper in to the slotted tool. This little gadget is essential in making nice tight flowers in my opinion.

As you can see I cut my long strip back in to manageable lengths. Most of my flowers for this card only use three or five of the little "zig-zags" to complete each piece. Lay down a tiny strip of glue - for mine I used my Making Memories ribbon glue - it comes out in a very small thread and thus is simple to use and manage. I'm certain that most any white glue will work though. You could apply it with a toothpick if need be. Do not apply glue to the spot that is next to the slotted tool. If you do you will end up gluing your flower to the tool. Start the glue application about 3/8" away from the end that is inserted in to the slotted tool.

At this point you will then roll your paper around the tip of the slotted tool. In this case I rolled it tightly towards myself. Once I have it rolled in to place I hold it for approximately 30 seconds until the glue begins to adhere. I then pull the flower off the end of the slotted tool and lay it down to dry for a few minutes while I work on the next flowers.

Once the base is dried cut it shorter. Envision the flower below with about 1/2 of the tight rolled base snipped off. This allows me to bring the flower closer to my paper when adhering it. Do not cut too much off though or you will end up with just a bunch of paper snippets. Yep, done that - in fact I still do sometimes when I cut too agressively in quest of that tight short flower - LOL!

Next "roll" each petal back using your finger nail to form a floral shape. To determine how many flowers I need for my completed project I just sprinkle them around where I think they belong. For this month's card I made six flowers - (2) five-petal or five zig-zag flowers and (4) three-petal flowers (those shown above). Typically I like to use odd numbers, but in this case six seemed to look the best.

Next cut out the leaves. Each leaf varies in length from 3/8" to 5/8". I freehand cut the shapes as shown below and then use a small embossing stylus to add detail to the leaf back. Hopefully you can see the simple line I drew in the leaf shape below.

Next I shape and position my leaves. I began with only five leaves as shown, but as I worked on my project I decided it needed a few more and ended up using a total of eight leaves for the final project.

I use two different methods to adhere the flowers and leaves - Diamond Glaze/Crystal Effects and glue dots. I have found that the Diamond Glaze/Crystal Effects holds a lot better, but it takes some time to dry and therefore you need to leave your project sit untouched until the glue is dry. When in a hurry I use glue dots, but they simply don't hold as well.

As the final touch I then cut out the entire bouquet and used dimensionals to pop the bouquet off the cardfront. The shadowing this creates adds realism to the whole project.

OK - so now you know how to make paper flowers. I would LOVE to see what you all come up with so please leave me links or send me notes to share your versions.

I bet you want to know what colors I used to color as well, don't you Ü I colored the entire image so that if you look down closely at it the project appears complete right through to the base.

This month I started with Prismacolor pencils. I laid down the colors Poppy Red, Chartreuse, Sand and Goldenrod on the berries.

Next I added in the darker hues - Scarlet Red and Crimson Red, Limepeel and Dark Green, more Sand and a little more Goldenrod. I then used my Copic Glitter pens in Red and Gold to add that final pizazz.

Once again my photo editting leaves a lot to be desired - I have completely washed out the colors. I think I might ask Santa for a white balance filter for my camera, as well as a gadget to adjust the colors on my monitor. These two little items would make editting photos SO much more accurate (I hope. I'm guessing that if I actually had time to learn more about my camera that this would be something I could do with it as well though - LOL!). If any of you know of good ones I would love to have your opinions on this. (My camera is a Nikon D80.)

Just a quick update - all the sale orders are out (unless you were one of the few unfortunate souls who encountered our miscount of inventory and ordered an item that we were off by one or two.) The good news is those orders will hopefully be going out this week being that our inventory is supposed to be restocked shortly. Our suppliers have done a remarkable job of filling the holes that were created by our sale. A huge thank you to all of them!!!

The girls who create the Dew Drops have been sick with the flu too, but they are hoping to get our new order out to us on Monday or Tuesday, which means we should have them by week's end. I'll check back in with them so that I can update those of you who have already placed your preorders. It is so fun to see how many of you love the "unusual" little items we find. Many of you have sent emails, cards, and special things my way sharing your appreciation with me. I thank you SO MUCH for your kind words of encouragement, support and appreciation and the incredibly thoughtful items that have been passed my way. I am behind in my acknowledgements and feel awful about it - it is high on my priority list though. Please know that you are SO appreciated - I'm losing my mind being that my body is not cooperating.

I guess while I'm whining about my uncooperative body I might as well fill you all in on the week ahead. This week is going to be another tough week to get things accomplished. I head to the foot specialist for a "fitting" this week. I'm really excited about that actually - LOL! They will be making a special "orthotic" (I think that is what it is called) to help my right foot. Then I head to the hip surgeon for yet another consultation - I'm not certain I'm so excited about that - LOL, but there is a huge part in me that knows I need to do this and therefore I am convincing myself to be hopeful. It appears we may have a "fight" on our hands with our insurance company. They will pay for the arthroscopy (a scope to look into the hip socket), but then will not pay for the reshaping of the femoral head and hip socket. At this time they believe this will help alleviate the problem of my leg collapsing under me. What's up with the insurance company anyways?!? They would pay for a hip replacement, but my doctor's believe that I really don't need a hip replacement yet. I am very happy for this, but... If any of you have word's of wisdom we might use I would love to hear them! OK - enough with the whining.

I hope to be back soon with Michelle's kit and an Inchie Challenge. Word is out that you love what the girls have created. They are genius aren't they! I have more of Karen's to share with you and she will get some information up on her site as well.

Karen and Scott lost their computer of six months this past weekend just as Scott was about to make the new images and an Inchie post go live. They are hoping to update their website by next weekend, but as with all things computer oriented one just never knows. Moral of the story - back-up, back-up, back-up to an off-site location. Yikes, computers can be our nemisis.

Have a wonderful week and don't let the stresses of the season make your lives to crazy!

Comments

[Carolyn King]

Gorgeous---great job explaining this so even i understand. Hope you feel better!
Just found your blog and store and will be adding both to my site!!!

[Rose Ann]

This is so gorgeous! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial!! I hope you're feeling better soon!!

[Heather Mitchell]

Ellen - hope you feel better soon! We also are fighting w/ our insurance right now... over in vitro fertilization. We called prior to starting the process, and they told us everything would be covered 100%, and we just had to send in the claims... $6300 later, they don't want to pay anything b/c we were "supposed to get pre-certified." Why didn't they tell us that in the FIRST place?!?! My hubby threatened to get a lawyer (since they have all the calls recorded, I'm pretty sure they would rule in our favor)! Just what I need when I'm trying to have a baby is MORE STRESS! :-) God is in control, though, and I know He will provide the way for those bills to be paid, and hopefully give us a baby (or twins, which I'm praying for) in the process! :-)
Get Well Soon!

[Heather Mitchell]

Ellen - hope you feel better soon! We also are fighting w/ our insurance right now... over in vitro fertilization. We called prior to starting the process, and they told us everything would be covered 100%, and we just had to send in the claims... $6300 later, they don't want to pay anything b/c we were "supposed to get pre-certified." Why didn't they tell us that in the FIRST place?!?! My hubby threatened to get a lawyer (since they have all the calls recorded, I'm pretty sure they would rule in our favor)! Just what I need when I'm trying to have a baby is MORE STRESS! :-) God is in control, though, and I know He will provide the way for those bills to be paid, and hopefully give us a baby (or twins, which I'm praying for) in the process! :-)
Get Well Soon!

[Beth]

So sorry to hear that you are ill! Some people are allergic to Christmas trees BUT the current "cold" that is all over the southeastern part of the country is lasting several weeks! It may have worked its way across the country! I absolutely love this project with the 3-D flowers. As always, you are an awesome designer and your creativity is so clever. I have a rotary trimmer by Marvy Uchida called a Paper Trimming Buddy that I can change the blades to make different cuts such as scallop, deckle etc. I plan on giving this a try to see how it does with these flowers. Take care!

[Linda Collins]

Beautiful tutorial thank you so much for sharing it with us. Could you please tell us where to find the slot tool you used to roll the flowers? As to the insurance company ask what their appeal process is and fight fight fight. Move up the food chain. Get the doctor to appeal the denial. The insurance companies job is to deny, deny deny. They don't want to pay for anything. good luck.
Linda

[Carla]

I spent 20 years being sick at Christmas because my husband loved the tradition of cutting our own tree. Four years ago I spent an entire night sleeping with my cheek on the sill of an open window because I couldn't breathe otherwise. I bought a beautiful artificial tree the next day, and haven't been sick at Christmas since. Try it--it's wonderful if it works for you.

[Janine]

Thanks for sharing. I love this project. Take care!!

[Amy G.]

Great tutorial! that is just fabulous!!
As for the tree I am totally allergic, and have been all of my life. My mom couldn't figure out why I was always sick every Christmas. It wasn't until my Grandparents, who had an artificial tree, moved to a smaller place and gave us the artificial one that we finally figured out why I was always so sick at Christmas. Darn tree. Since then I haven't been sick like that at Christmas. I hope you feel better, and get the rest that you obviously need.
Take care, and go invest in an artificial tree.
Amy

[Kostvig]

Ellen I got so behind from the holidays and came to check your blog and have youbeen typing up a storm since Thanksgiving, Such a lovely card and the flowers what a great touch.Meeting everyone you work with,Well I feel like I met them) you are so lucky to be surrounded by such great people. It almost makes me wish I could live in Seattle.

[Louise]

So sorry to hear you are not feeling well, Ellen. My husband used to get sick every Christmas. I can't tell you how many Christmas parties I went to by myself. Eventually we found out that he was allergic to live Christmas trees and after we got an artificial tree he hasn't been sick at Christmas again. What happens with a live Christmas tree is the sap on the tree collects pollen and when the tree is brought into a warm house the sap gets warmed up and the pollen is released. We did go to an allergist to get this diagnosed, but I have heard the same thing from many others. Hope this helps.

[Donna]

That should have been "tiny spores" not mites.

[Donna]

Christmas trees are known to worsen asthma, sarcoidosis (lung disease) bronchitis, and many other lung problems. They carry tiny mites which can really be a problem. My sister and her two children get horrible asthma/bronchitis symptoms within 24 hours of being in a home with a real Christmas tree. We all went artificial several years ago. Home Depot has some very, very real looking trees. Don't risk your health.

[kathynruss]

I realized about 10 years ago that I was allergic to real trees when I cried, coughed and sneezed the whole time after we put up the tree. After that, the day after Christmas we went and bought a really nice artificial tree half off. When I saw my allergist for more tests, he told me to stay away from evergreens and I told him I was way ahead of him! My tree looks real, but I can breathe when it is up. Unless I'm really careful not to touch my face or eyes, I have to decorate the tree wearing latex gloves because of the tree sap that has built up on them over the years. If I touch my eyes, the tears start, so I'm careful.
Your project is soooo cute. Love the little paper flowers. Hmmm, where is my quilling tool?

[Deb-doodles]

Ellen,

Yes, I know when we have a real tree my allergies seem to bother me more (even though the tests do not show positive on the allergy tests). We are remodeling an enclosed front porch that has a door that can be closed, and added venting to that area which can be closed off. So we will try one more time with a real tree, in another area of the house. If that does not make a difference, it will need to be an artificial one from now on!

Hope your week goes well with the foot and hip appointments!

Deb

[Kathy D]

Oh, Ellen, hope you feel better soon!! Yes, I am allergic to Christmas trees...finally caved last year and bought artificial, it was great to not feel bad. I read an article this past week that the cut evergreen tree throws out enough mold spores (which aid in its decomposition) to choke up anyone mildly allergic. Good luck with your appointments!