Ten-Minute Holiday Ornaments by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

  

It took me only 10 minutes to create this sparkly holiday ornament:

5 minutes – Die cut three Shimmer Sheetz holiday greens (2 holly sprigs in Emerald Gemstone, 1 pine sprig in Green Iridescent). Remember, you MUST use a metal adaptor plate or Sizzix Big Shot with Precision Base Plate to die cut Shimmer Sheetz).

4 minutes – Trim each holly sprig into two 3-leaf pieces (use 3 pieces for the ornament, set 4^th aside for a gift tag or another project). Attach holly and pine sprig just below the cap of a faux mercury glass ball using tiny slivers of Tombow Power Adhesive Tabs to hold the greenery in place. Use non-stick scissors to cut Power Tabs into slivers.

1 minute – Add a cluster of 3 ‘berries’ (Glitter Dots peel-off stickers).

Beginners: Don’t fret if it takes you more than 10 minutes. Everything takes longer when you’re just getting started. Experience brings confidence; confidence boosts skills. And don’t forget that crafting isn’t a competition or a race. I only mentioned how quickly the ornament came together for me so you can get a sense that it’s a simple project and embrace my mantra – Easy isn’t cheating!

DESIGN STRATEGIES

As always, there are lots of ways to customize this project:

Don’t want quite as much sparkle? Start with a matte finish ornament or tone down the Shimmer Sheetz by lightly sanding it prior to die cutting.

Want more dimensional berries? Make them out of air dry clay and paint them red.

Need something less traditional? Stick with the faux mercury glass ornament but use Gold and Silver Metallic or Fire Opal and Australian Gemstone Shimmer Sheetz instead of Emerald Metallic and Green Iridescent. Or switch to a royal purple ornament and go for Amethyst Gemstone and Purple Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz! (Who says that ‘Holiday Greenery’ has to be green?)

For durability, choose an acrylic ornament, as shown, rather than fragile, breakable glass. Safety reminder: Ornaments are not toys – be sure to keep them away from pets and small children.

Need some last-minute holiday cards? Instead of dimensional ornaments make flat ones that can be mailed in a standard envelope! (I’ll be showing a batch of these later this month…stay tuned.)

SUPPLIES

(Call or drop by The Queen’s Ink to get the Holiday Greens dies and other supplies needed for this project) 

• Tim Holtz ‘Holiday Greens’ Thinlits dies
• Shimmer Sheetz in Emerald Gemstone and Green Iridescent
• Die cutting machine with metal adaptor plate (Sizzix Big Shot with Precision Base Plate)
• Red/Gold Glitter Dots stickers (use largest size on the sheet)
• Tombow Power Adhesive Tabs
• Non-stick scissors (to cut Power Tabs into slivers)
• Faux mercury glass holiday ornament

Queens of Hearts Paper Dolls by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

In last week’s post I mentioned doing some shopping while I was at The Queen’s Ink for Kae Pea’s class. I used the stamps for today’s projects. Though it wasn’t my original intention to combine them, because they were out on my work table the stamps became great friends. They got together with my muse and announced that they wanted to be made into paper dolls!

I’ve provided a complete supply list so you can duplicate the dolls as shown, but I hope you’ll use the design strategies to create paper dolls that are uniquely your own.

DESIGN STRATEGIES

First and foremost, realistic proportions aren’t necessary.

Bodies can be rectangles or other simple shapes. I used the following for my four paper dolls:

1. Queen of Hearts rubber stamp

2. A plastic-coated Queen of Hearts playing card (1.75” x 2.25”) and a second card from the deck for the back side

3. A debossed and lightly sanded piece of Shimmer Sheetz with rounded corners to give the feel of a playing card (2.25” x 3”)

4. A stamped sentiment with a wonky frame

Stamp, fussy-cut and assemble the dolls as shown or as you prefer. Head and crown pieces were cut as a single shape; the polka dot skirt was stamped in two sections.

Because they are paper and rather fragile, display the dolls where they won’t get damaged or frame them in a shadow box (omitting the loop at the head).

Add a bit of spot color with markers or colored pencils. Alternatively, color as much as you want.

Embellish with Glitter Dots peel-offs and/or flat-backed faceted gems. Reminder: Be sure to use the right adhesive for whatever surfaces you’re attaching. For example, gems are non-porous and require glue formulated for adhering non-porous surfaces to a porous surface like cardstock.

For 2-sided dolls finish the back so it looks good, too. Add a second playing card and an extra gem, or use cardstock to hide the places where the head, arms, legs, and skirt are glued in place.

Don’t forget to sign and date your paper dolls.

MORE OPTIONS

Add ribbon or cord to make a hanging loop for paper doll ornaments as shown.

Glue the doll into an art journal or incorporate it into a collage.

Showcase the doll on the front of a greeting card or tuck one inside a card; they are low relief and easy to mail.

Want to make a ‘material girl’? Stamp head, arms and legs onto fabric, leave a seam allowance when cutting out the pieces; sew and stuff the doll parts!

If you’re active on social media be sure to share this blog post with your friends.

If you create paper dolls because of this post, please leave a comment on the blog to tell us about them!

SUPPLIES

(Stamps, Glitter Dots and Shimmer Sheetz are available at The Queen’s Ink as of the date of this blog post. Call to check availability if you’re reading this at a future date.)

Stamps:

RubberMoon – 

Doll parts

I was going to take over the world

Stampstracts tri-dots, bubblesndots, and starstract

Other stamps –

Queen of hearts (Pink Ink)

Eat Out (Stampers Anonymous)

Other supplies:

Glitter Dots peel-offs #7018 in Gold/Silver and Red/Gold (Elizabeth Craft Designs)

Ink pad in any dark color of choice (shown: Raisin brown)

Off-white flannel finish cardstock or other cardstock of choice

Contrasting cardstock for ‘Eat Out’ banner (shown: Bright red)

Shimmer Sheetz (Elizabeth Craft Designs) in Fire Opal Gemstone

Sanding block (optional)

Card Suits embossing folder (Kaisercraft)

Corner rounder punch (optional)

Marker(s) in color(s) of choice (shown: Bright red)

Adhesives formulated for paper and gems (porous and non-porous surfaces)

Flat-back heart-shaped faceted gems

Fine cord or ribbon

Fine point scissors 

Stampstracts: A Day with Kae Pea by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

From the moment I arrived at The Queen’s Ink on October 15 I knew it was going to be a special day. The sun was streaming into the classroom, the students were choosing their spots at the long tables, and Kae Pea, owner of RubberMoon Art Stamps, was surveying the scene with a big grin on her face, greeting each of us with a quiet word or two, ready to start the day-long workshop!

We’d gathered from far and near – Both Washingtons (Seattle and DC), New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland – with one thing in mind: A day with Kae Pea, a day to experiment with the new Stampstracts, to play and learn, stamp and paint. And that’s exactly what we did! It alternated between demo time and time at our tables, with some shopping time (of course…).

Kae Pea is a gifted teacher, a fabulous balance of low-key style and high energy. She told us the story of Stampstracts – small images she designed thinking they’d be perfect for abstract art (and that, they are) but almost immediately began to see as components for building animals, plants, scenes and more. As an example, she showed how to turn long triangles and circles with radiating lines into an owl!

Each of us got a present (a zippered case with three cling-mounted stamps to take home). Each table had a complete set of 32 Stampstracts images to share and there were more at the demo table. We worked in black and white for a while to get a sense of how the stamps could be combined, and then, after a second demo, started stamping and painting on a 3” x 5” Stampbord, saving the 6” x 6” Stampboard (cradled) and 6” x 6” Gessobord for later in the day.

It got very quiet as we worked, but every now and then there were excited exclamations – ‘Look at this!” someone would say, when they saw how another person had created a Ferris wheel, a bird, a winter scene, a snail… And the owls, each one unique.

I had to leave after lunch. We’ll post photos from the rest of the day as soon as we receive them from a student who was there until the end of the class. Meanwhile, here are more photos of students at work and of Kae Pea’s samples, followed by a gallery of 25 photos showing the students’ morning projects.

 

Here are photos of the morning projects from each student, so many ideas our heads were spinning.

But first, I want to take a moment to thank Kae Pea for an amazing day, Patti Euler for making the event possible, and Terry Quinn who kept things running smoothly ‘out front’.