A Stitched Christmas!

Hello!  Although I am no longer a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I will continue to use my stash of Stampin' Up! tools and products for my projects - along with a variety of other products.  I am not affiliated with any product brand, and will therefore not be "pushing" any products, simply letting you know what products or tools I have used in my projects.  As always the objective will continue to be creative expression - whether using retired or new products!

Today I am sharing a few Christmas sewing themed projects I worked on this week - including a few sample treat holders for a quilters' Christmas tea.  For these projects I used a variety of Stampin' Up! products, including one die set that will be included in the November Online Exclusives release, as well as two Lawn Fawn treat holder dies - the Goodie Bag die and the Tote Bag die.  The finished "Goodie Bag" measures 4" tall x 3" wide x 1 1/4" deep; and the finished "Tote Bag" measures 3 1/2" tall (including the handles) x 3 1/2" wide x 1 1/2" deep.

To complete the projects I used the following Stampin' Up! products:

• Stitched Stocking dies (detailed and base stocking dies, as well as additional "quilt" dies, holly leaves and berries dies, and small tree dies);
• Pretty Poinsettia dies (flowers, flower centers, and leaf dies);
• Stylish Shapes dies (square dies);
• Winter Adventures dies (the small snowflake die);
• retired All Dressed Up dies (button dies);
• retired Stitched Greenery die (to add some "quilted" detail to a matting Stylish Shapes square die cut);
• retired Stitched Rectangles dies (one of the rectangle dies used to cut a base for Stitched Stocking quilt die cuts); 
• from next month's Online Exclusives Stitched Blooms dies I used the spool, thread, and needle dies - the needles were die cut from black cardstock that had been covered with silver foil tape;
• various patterns from the retiring A Stitched Season Designer Series Paper;
• patterned papers from the retired Heartwarming Hugs, Season Of Green & Gold, Festive Farmhouse, Boughs Of Holly, and One Horse Open Sleigh Designer Series Papers;
• Granny Apple Green and Lemon Lime Twist patterned paper from a retired Brights 6" x 6" DSP Assortment;
• for the bow on one of the stockings on the first project, and for the bow on one of the "Tote Bag" treat holders I used the retired Black & Very Vanilla 3/8" Large Check Ribbon;
• for the bow on the Night Of Navy "Goodie Bag" treat holder I used the retired Real Red Mini Ruffled 3/8" Ribbon;
• Poppy Parade and Garden Green dots from the retired Dear Dots;
• white and Mossy Meadow dots from the Natural Matte Dots; and
• to the centers of each of the Pretty Poinsettia flowers on the first project I added one of the Gold Adhesive-Backed Dots.

I also used the following SU cardstock:

• Old Olive;
• Mossy Meadow;
• Real Red;
• Basic Black;
• Night Of Navy;
• Poppy Parade;
• Granny Apple Green;
• Garden Green;
• Very Vanilla; and
• Basic White.

For all die cutting I used my Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine.  For shading the Pretty Poinsettia cardstock die cuts on the first project I used finger Sponge Daubers to apply Classic Stampin' inks to the cardstock die cuts - the Real Red cardstock flowers were shaded with Real Red and Cherry Cobbler inks; and the Old Olive leaf die cuts were shaded with Mossy Meadow ink.

For the main adhesive I used Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Glue - this is a water based fast acting and fairly strong adhesive that I have found to work very well for my projects - with the added benefit that it does indeed dry clear!

On with the projects!

For the first project I began with a thrift store wood frame, glass removed, and with inside back dimensions of 5" x 10 1/8".  I used the Festive Farmhouse patterned paper to cover a medium weight carboard panel trimmed to fit the frame.  Before securing the back panel into the frame I added the layered strips of Basic Black cardstock and Mossy Meadow patterned DSP.  To secure the three stockings to the back panel I added four stacked strips of thin chipboard to the back of each stocking - adding enough height behind the stockings to bring them up even with the edges of the frame.  For adding the "quilted" squares to the boot of the stockings I found that what worked best for me - after a little trial and error! - was to first cut the detail stocking die cut from cardstock and then glue on pieces of DSP that had been die cut using the small square Stitched Stocking die - applying the glue to the sections on the cardstock stocking die cut rather than to the back of the die cut DSP squares.  After adhering all six of the squares I then placed the stocking die cut back into the die and ran it through the Cut & Emboss Machine, which provided a clean edge around the toe, heel, and bottom of the stocking.  I used my scissors to cut away the excess DSP from the top edge of the two top DSP squares - this was done quite easily as the bottom edge of the large "quilt block" on the top of the cardstock stocking die cut could be folded back.  Over the "quilt block" on the top of the cardstock stocking die cut I added an additional die cut "quilt block".  After gluing the "quilted" stocking die cut to the base cardstock die cut (which forms the outer edge of the stocking) I then added the top stocking cuff die cut.  The ink shaded Pretty Poinsettia die cuts were glued directly to the edges of the frame.  

A few years ago I purchased at a local paper crafting shop a set of three We R Memory Keepers Layer Guides, which are transparent 12" rulers with catch-lip edges that slide into place against an edge and enable you to cut layering borders between 1/16" and 1" wide (the three rulers include ten measurements) using a sharp-bladed craft knife.  I find these tools to be very handy - and made use of them to cut several layering panels for my "quilt block" treat holders!

To attach the die cut spools I used trimmed pieces of foam tape behind the spools, using tiny dabs of glue to secure the needle die cuts.  The 5/8" black with white polka dots gross grain ribbon knotted on the Granny Apple Green cardstock "Goodie Bag" treat holder, and the 5/8" black & white check ribbon for the bow on the Basic Black cardstock "Tote Bag" treat holder with Granny Apple Green, Garden Green, and Poppy Parade cardstock "quilt block" were both from my ribbon stash.  

For each of the treat holders you need two of the treat holder die cuts - I found that assembly was made easier by burnishing the scored fold lines with a bone folder (burnishing the scored fold lines helps to ensure crisp foles).  To add a little sparkle to the Basic Black cardstock "Tote Bag" treat holder with the Cherry Cobbler/Mossy Meadow/Basic Black cardstock "quilt block" I used my Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush to add splatters to the front, back and sides of the assembled treat holder before I added the matted "quilt block" to the front panel.

Thank you for visiting my blog!  I had a lot of fun working on my "stitched Christmas" projects this week!  Of course it is always fun to do a little mixing and matching - whether it is of different products from one company, a variety of products from a variety of companies, or current and retired products! The old can be new again with the right outlook!

Have fun creating!

Laurel