Simon Says - Holiday Cheer

Hi Everyone...welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Thank you for joining us for last week's challenge and we hope you can join us this week too because

As it's the first challenge of the month, the Design Team are showcasing a particular company or brand and this month we are all using products from Tim Holtz. You don't need to use Tim's products to join in the challenge but if you have them, as most of us do, we would love to see how you use them.

We are also welcoming the lovely and very talented Natasha Vacca aka Natasha's Colorful Creations as our Designer In The Spotlight and if you haven't visited her blog before, pop over, you will be in for a real treat.

The theme for this week is...

HOLIDAY CHEER

I decided to continue with my annual tradition of making holiday shaker ornaments as gifts for family and friends. I created the frames using Nesting Circle Frame Dies and used Tim Holtz/Sizzix Twig and Stump, Christmas Cutouts, Framed Tags and Yuletide Colorize Thinlits and greenery from Holiday Brushstrokes and Modern Festive Thinlits to decorate the ornaments.

I began by die-cutting all the bits and pieces required for my ornaments and laid them out in piles, for me, this is the most time effective way of making multiples and also makes assembly easier.

I taped 2 circle dies together to create the ornament frame and die-cut 7 times for each ornament from Distress Watercolor card and once from Distress Holiday Woodgrain Cardstock. I die-cut an acetate circle using the larger of the two dies and fixed behind the first frame. I fixed the remaining 6 frames in place using Distress Collage Medium, added the tag topper die-cut from Simon Says Lipstick Red cardstock using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Framed Tag Thinlits and die-cut another of the larger circles from the Distress Holiday Woodgrain Cardstock which will be backer for the ornament.

It is time consuming die-cutting so many frames but in my opinion, it 's worthwhile, makes for a sturdier ornament and because there is no foam tape involved, less fiddly or messy.

I stamped the sentiment from Simon Says Holiday Ornaments on the ornament backer, inked with the Lumberjack Plaid Distress Mini Ink Pad that came with the December Card Kit and added gold puffy stickers from my stash for the year.

I added a selection of White Snowflake/Red, Silver and Green sequins from my stash, decorated the inside of ornament backer with snowflakes die-cut using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Twig and Stump Thinlits and fixed the backer in place with Distress Collage Medium.

Now it's time to decorate the front. I die-cut a panel from Simon Says Lipstick Red cardstock using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Christmas CutOuts Thinlits and fixed to the bottom of the circle to create a snowglobe look. I added the tree die-cut from card coloured with Fresh Balsam and Tree Lot Distress Mica Stains and splattered with White Gesso. The snowman was die-cut from Simon Says Black Cardstock, Distress Watercolor card, Red Lipstick, Mint, Orange Peel, Burnt Orange and Dark Chocolate cardstocks.

I added the Holiday Brushstrokes and Modern Festive Greenery die-cut from the Fresh Balsam/Tree Lot Distress Mica Stain card, the words from Christmas CutOuts die-cut from Distress Holiday Woodgrain, Mint and Red Lipstick cardstock and the snowflakes from the Twig and Stump Thinlits.

I added the bow from Yuletide Colorize, the baubles from Twig and Stump and added shimmer using Tonic Studios Aqua Shimmer Pen and a coating of Ranger Glossy Accents. To finish I added red twine so that the recipient can hang the ornament on their tree, if they wish.

I had great fun making these ornaments and am thinking I should have made one for myself.

You can find all the products I used over at Simon Says Stamp, just click on the links below

Why don't you pop over to the Monday Challenge Blog and check out the amazing creations from my very talented Design Team mates and as always you have until Monday 8am Ohio time...1pm UK time...2pm CET to join in with the chance to win a $25 voucher to spend online at Simon Says Stamp

You can also follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram

and if you use Instagram...

please add #sssmchallenge to your entry uploads so we can see them on there too

I look forward to seeing what you create this week...

Have Fun and Happy Crafting

Hugs Kath xxx