Do you have it yet?? I sure do and I sit here expecting yet another round of snow in the next 24 hours…sighhhh.   Until I can get outside and start digging in the garden I thought I’d share one of my favorite layouts from CHA09. I used Perfect Harmony which was recently featured in Creating Keepsakes “Latest and Greatest”  (pg 36).  Check it out at your LSS. 

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My Mom taught me how to make these for our Christmas tree one year when I must have been around 8-10 yo or so. I remember dipping them in paraffin wax and sprinkling glitter on them. (hhhmmmm…maybe that’s were my long history of glitter hording came from!? LOL)

The wax was for keeping the star rigid and allowing you to store them without getting crushed.  Though if you ever made them you know that they always had wax flaking off of them the next year and smashed points away. The Daisy Bucket ribbon has a bit more strength than paper does and the fact that it is already starched cotton, and not paper, will mean they will hold up much longer than the traditional ones. Keep them dry and in a a crush proof container and they should last decades.

Get out some of your Daisy Bucket Ribbon Elements and enjoy an afternoon of crafting with your kids. Create some memories they will look back on when they pull out the old German Paper Stars later as adults.

Check out a great tutorial here http://www.highhopes.com/3dstar.html  *Tip- You will need to cut your Daisy Bucket ribbon about 12-14″ long (go a few inches longer the first time or if crafting with kids. the extra length is helpful when learning the paper weaving techniques here), then follow along in the tutorial.

Sweet little paper mache house covered in Merry Wishes paper. Glitz it up with some vintage Mica flake “snow” and Delta Snow-tex medium piled on the roof top.

More glitz and snow, try glittering basic silver jingle bells to match Merry Wishes paper! paint on craft glue with a sponge brush and plunge in the glitter jar!

When painting these stockings with gel glue I realized the paper could be manipulated to give it a fabric like texture. add ribbon curls and german paper stars (watch for the tutorial here!)

a decoupaged wooden bird house perched on top a candle stick.

Who doesn’t love flowers??!! I really enjoy creating my own to coordinate with the papers I am working with. If you have some great flower punches GREAT! If you don’t, just get out your scissors and pinking shears (or deckle edge or scallop paper shapers!) and make some yourself!

Here, I just freehand cut the blue felt into a very basic blossom shape. Don’t worry about it being symmetrical. Flowers aren’t, and yours don’t have to be either! Cut circles using pinked edges for flower centers and layer with buttons embellished with Daisy Bucket Rub-ons. 

The paper flowers were made by simply cutting circles from scraps of {DBD} paper using deckle, scallop or pinking scissors. (Tip* If you don’t feel like you can cut a circle, use a circle punch and trim away the edges. or just use a round object to make yourself a cardstock template). To make the individual petals, use your straight edge scissors and cut slivered “pie wedge” shapes from the circle, leaving you with individual petals.  Make leaves by cutting an elongated teardrop shape from felt or paper using pinking shears.

 Layer all elements together and stitch on a custom button!

(STAMP TRICK**** The flourishes on this page were created using the Wind Swirl (#5186) stamp. Stamp on CS using a monochromatic ink color and then cut out using an exato blade leaving a 1/4″ border around the stamped image)

 It happens…everything old is new again. I have a friend that jokes she’s bringin’ back fibers. She does rock the stuff though. However, I am talking about PUNCHES!!  I cannot lie. I was a paper punch hoarder.  I had quite a collection, but to eBay they went! Well, all but about 75 or so . <blush> It’s hard to kick a habit!

I am here to declare punches ARE BACK! well maybe not ALL punches. I am pretty sure the paper doll punches left in stashes are few and far between now though!

Check out your LSS and you will find loads of new border that can custom create wonderful diecut edges to your Daisy Bucket papers! You don’t have to settle for one diecut edge anymore! You can swap out the edges anytime you like. Oh, but you say…”I like the diecut to go all the way AROUND the paper, not just along one edge”.  Well, that too can be remedied!

You Tube is a wonderful thing! check out this great video I came across the other day. I have been punching away at my {DBD} scraps all night coming up with new combinations!! Also, check out the close up below. I experimented with different punches and not all line up like the one in the tutorial, but you can still make great looking finished corners!

Link: Corner Tutorial

when lining up the corners it sometimes helps to flip your punch over and line it up through the die window.

To create this ring of bling, Click on the photo to check out a tutoroial using the {DBD} Roundabout stamp

Have you tried any of the Daisy Bucket Designs Paper Ribbon Elements yet?? I just got my hands on some of the new Shimmer Ribbon and loved the finish on these new ribbons!

In the coming months I will try and share a new technique each month for using these very unique ribbons. We call them “paper ribbons” but they are infact made from a process of unwoven cotton threads that are starched. This imparts a “best of both worlds” opportunity here. They are strong like woven ribbon if you want to tie it in a knot, but will not bleed inks like most fabric does. They will also hold a curl or an emboss.

Recently I discovered that I could run this ribbon through a paper crimper, and because it is starched, it will hold the crimp!  Next, I tried it in a QK Goosebumps embossing folder and here were the results I got. 

A *crisp*  emboss that could be easily highlighted in ink! Try it out for yourself!

Back to the LO!

I got a box full of goodies and the first thing I went for were the rub-ons. I had to see what they were like. (You know we’ve all had bad ones and they make you wanna pull your hair out!) I knew Daisy Bucket had been looking for a LONG time for a source of GOOD rub-ons… but I was totally blown away! They are FABULOUS! You guys will love the feel of them!

The are really tacky on the back so you don’t have to worry about slippage as you are burnishing them on. You also don’t have to rub very hard to get them to transfer, so no worries about leaving marks on the paper/photos from the burnishing process.  I tried them on several surfaces and layered, and was happy with the results all the way around. Check out the close-ups below;

adhere well to photos...

buttons, brads, and other slick surface embellishments...

...layer without color bleeding through

....and of course paper!

just because!

I can’t wait to try this out on a project! (stay tuned!) Follow along below;

Ink & stamp using first color

Ink & stamp second color rotating stamp one dot to the left

voila! ...just add some bling!