Photo Memorial Ornament

This is by far the most precious gift that I gave this Christmas. I created this for my mother-in-law.  My father-in-law passed away several years ago. He is greatly missed by all who knew him.  When the gift is this special, it really is a treat to create. The more work involved, the more time I got to spend reflecting on what made this man such a special part of the lives he touched.

You may be wondering how I got his photo on the ornament. I have a beautiful portrait of my in-laws. I scanned it into Photoshop. Next I created a black and white, high contrast image.  I then worked to get just him isolated.

I brought that photo into my Silhouette Design Studio software and traced the image. I then worked to smooth out all the little dots and such to create a usable image. I cut the image from black vinyl and applied it to a glass ornament. I had already glittered the inside of the glass ornament before applying the vinyl pieces.

On the other side of the ornament I placed the "Little bit of Heaven" phrase that I also cut from vinyl. Applying the itty-bitty-tiny letters was a bit tricky. Even using transfer paper, many still needed to be placed individually.  To be sure that this will last a while, I sprayed it with a coat of decoupage sealing spray.

Ribbons helped to finish off the cap and dress up the ornament a bit.

To present this gift, I made a special box. I used a box shape available in the Silhouette online store by Samantha Walker. I modified it to make it large enough to fit the ornament with the bows attached.  I used an acetate sheet for the window, some Christmas paper cut with a lace border punch and more ribbons on top to dress up the box.

This was the one gift I was really excited to give this year. I think she liked it!

What I Have Been Up to & Chickaniddy Sneaks!

Hey all. A long time no talk! :)
You know what what I love about this blog? When I set up about a few years ago, I did in a way that would give scrapbookers a break when they needed it. I guess I needed a break from scrapbooking for a bit. The thing is my mind is always racing! I found cross stitching helped that so I jumped right into a project and was working on it from one to five hours a day. Yes, crazy huh? So, scrapbooking temporarily went to the side. I didn't quit, but merely took a break. I thought I would share with you my latest cross stitch creation!

So my question to you is, how do you incorporate cross stitch into scrapbooking? I have done backstitching many times. I am not sure how to do the X's onto to paper without ripping it?

The next great thing is there is a brand new company in town named Chickaniddy Crafts created by Heidi Sonboul. I have seen some of the great designs coming up and, wow, you are going to love them. To see ALL of the new sneaks coming up, please follow Chickaniddy Crafts on facebook here. Just like the page to follow it! Today I am posting two photos of the collection banners and a reveal date banner.

Are you excited? I am! I can't wait for the two collections to be revealed!

Anyways, I hope everyone is having a great day!!

Silent Night Canvas from a Digital Stamp

Would you believe this canvas was created using a digital stamp? It was!  Seriously!  The digital stamp that inspired me is Silent Night Digital Stamp from Arty Pants Digital Stamps and is available at The DigiChick. It just released today!!! So it's on sale right now!  Hurry to grab it for yourself!

The wonderful designer created these stamps in several sizes so they can easily be used for cards, scrapbooking or even to create wall art. She also provides layered versions of each stamp, so you can easily clip digital papers to them!

The canvas I used is a 9x12, it was already stretched on the wood base.  I mixed a few paints to get a blue color that I was happy with, then painted a few layers on the canvas.  While that was drying, I used the 8x10 version of the stamp. I brought it into Silhouette Studio and traced it to create cut lines.  I cut it from matte white Oracal vinyl (outdoor).  The stars are from 2 different Silhouette shapes available from Silhouette. Nativity (shape 52103) and Wise men still seek him (shape 35315). I cut the stars from gold vinyl.

I wanted the canvas to have a slight aged/primitive look to it. So I took some white ink and dabbed it around the edges to give it an aged effect.  I then layered the vinyl, the gold stars first then the white letters on top.

Now I've got a beautiful holiday wall art to help us stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas!