On Such a Winter's Day - Tina's Christmas Frame Ornaments.

Hello Crafty Friends!

I'm so excited - Tina is giving us all a reason to start.... CHRISTMAS CRAFTING!!!!!! Yay!!

Enough said!

Hello everyone. Winter is truly here and I am loving the cold, rainy days. I love Christmas crafting in winter and this month's papers are so perfect for that. I had planned to purchase this collection, so I am grateful to have them for this month's theme. I hope to bring you ideas for your Christmas crafting to inspire you all to get a head start on your festive projects (unlike past attempts, I plan to get a head start this year).

For my first project I have made framed Christmas tree ornaments.

I started with two of the Tim Holtz Idea - Ology - Baseboard Frames - Lace.

I inked all the top with Distress Ink - Faded Jeans, applying more to the edges and the inner circle.
Next I added Ranger Embossing Powder - Enamel Ware, ( I use this so much because I love the beautiful finish, but you can use a clear embossing powder and add a small amount of fine glitter before drying with your heat tool).

Next, I cut out two of the images from the paper collection and used my Wink Of Stella to highlight the snow on the tree branches and some of the children's clothing on the image on the right.

I glued the frames onto the images.

I added some imitation snow on one of the frames.

I glued half of an oval two piece plastic ornament on to the image and decorated it with ribbon and pearl string from my stash.

I attached silver jewelry bails to the back and added a thin silver chain on both frames.

Next I added flowers, some beautiful sapphire blue glass gems, other bits from my stash and a sentiment from the elements sheet.

For the second frame, I sprayed it with Sheer Shimmer - Craft Spray - Sparkle.

I don't think the photo captures how shimmery it is.

Next I added a poinsettia made with the Tim Holtz - Tattered Poinsettia - Die, and a sentiment from my stash.

To finish both ornaments I brushed the Mod Podge - Extreme Glitter on to the frame and sprinkled some of the Twinklets - Diamond Dust on. This will make sure when it is on my tree it will sparkle against the lights.

The ornaments are now ready to hang. (in December, but slightly earlier in my case).

I hope you enjoyed the first of my Christmas in July crafting projects.

Here is a list of the products for this month

Core Products

Authentique 12 x 12 - Papers - Solitude

Authentique 12 x 12 - Elements Sheet.

Chosen Products

DecoArt Dimensional Effects - Paintable Texture Paste.

Kaisercraft Die Set - Ornate Pack 1.

Tim Holtz Idea - Ology - Baseboard Frames - Lace.

Graphic 45 - Rose Bouquet - Bon Voyage and French Blue.

Ranger - Distress Glitter - Clear Rock Candy.

Tim Holtz - Idea - Ology - Adornments - Snowflakes.

All the products listed can be purchased HERE at a discounted price.

Thank You and Happy Crafting

Tina xxx

Christmas in July - Christmas Card 'Junk Journal'

Hi everyone and Happy Weekend!

Today I'd like to introduce Design Team Member Sarah who is making her debut on the blog *throws balloons and streamers in the air* by showing us how to make a Junk Journal out of Christmas cards. What a fabulous way to recycle those old cards and create, create, create.........

Christmas Card Journal with Sarah:

 1. Choose a selection of Christmas cards. These may be new, leftover and unused, or used ones you’ve received. Whether you use ones all the same size, or different is up to you.

2. Choose the card that you would like as a cover and lay it out flat. Lay ribbon or twine across the centre of the card and choose some sort of tape (such as deco or duct tape) to run down the spine of your journal. Adhere the tape over the ribbon and wrap to the inside so that you have a nice finished edge. You now have a reinforced spine and ribbon closure for your journal.

 If you don’t like the edge of your tape showing, adhere some ribbon along the edge like I have done.

3. Choose the cards you would like to use as pages and stack them inside one another. Once you have decided on the innermost card, lay it out flat and measure along the fold line of the card. Mark the centre of the line, as well as either side of this mark at 1 inch intervals.

4. Place this card back inside the rest and flatten them. Keep the cards together with bull-dog clips or large paper clips. Using a paper piercer (or similar) make a hole on each of the marks on the crease line of the innermost card, punching through all of the cards to the cover.

5. Select thin ribbon, twine, or strong thread to bind your journal together. Thread a needle and knot the end, leaving a long tail. Starting at the top of the book, thread the ribbon/twine/thread through the top hole, from the outside to the inside. This will leave the knot and tail on the outside of the book.

6. Weave in and out of the holes in a 'zigzag' pattern. Inside to outside hole 2, outside to inside hole 3 etc until you reach the bottom.

7. Once you've reached the bottom, do the same thing back to the top. Knot the end of your binding inside the journal before threading back out the top hole. Knot again here, leaving two tails hanging out the top hole (the start and end of your thread). Finish the binding how you choose - I've tied two bells to my journal but you might finish with a bow, or leave some twine hanging.

8. Now your journal is bound together. Remove the bull-dog/ paper clips and un-flatten your journal. Now get to decorating! Use washi tape, stickers, stamping, and anything else you can think of to cover up logos or sentiments. I've fussy cut and coloured some stamped images to cover the backs of some cards, while sticking three sides of scrap card stock down creates a nice pocket on the inside of some pages.

9. Finally, the edge of your journal may be uneven like mine. If you like a nice finished edge, use a craft knife, scissors or a guillotine to trim off the excess. And presto - your Christmas journal is complete and ready to use!

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Isn't this the most fabulous idea! I know I'll be giving it a try.
Thank you Sarah!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Aunty Vera :)

It's Christmas in July!

Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!
Happy 4th of July to all our American friends xx

We have a very exciting month planned in Aunty Vera Land.....we're celebrating Christmas in July!
That means lots of savings on the website, with our July Sale event being 20% off your entire purchase! But you need to enter the secret code when you go through checkout.......

We'll also be moving lots of goodies into our Christmas in July SUPER SPECIALS aisle....... check back often as we're adding more every day and when these goodies are gone...they're GONE!

And we'll be sharing some great Christmas craft here on the blog. You may laugh and think Christmas is still MONTHS away but time is flying by, so why not start your Christmas Card making nice and early and avoid that adrenaline-fueled rush of making all your cards on the 1st of December (not that I know anything about that .....haha).

Here's a card from Team Designer Leanne to get you started. Remember Bo Bunny's Elf Magic?
I SO loved that collection. Such fun designs. Wish I had added more of it to my Stash!

We'll also be having some fun giveaways both on our facebook page AND in our facebook group....the difference between the two? Like our PAGE to see the latest products and ideas from Aunty Vera Scrap and Craft. Join our GROUP to chat with other crafty friends, share your creations and stories, join in swaps and challenges and just have a whole lot of fun!

Hope to see you throughout the month!
Aunty Vera :)