A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Sunday, 7 November 2021

Mini Retreat Ornaments

My friends, Loll (Stamping with Loll) and Christine (It's a Card Day's Night), and I got together at Christine's house for a mini crafting retreat.  We decided to work on making wooden ornaments and offer them at my annual fundraising Christmas card sale (for Southlands Therapeutic Riding Society) at the end of the month.  It will be an experiment to see if my customers are interested in more than cards and shortbread cookies.

I used two types of blank wood ornaments - very smooth flat ones that are only about 1/8" thick and rustic rounds of real logs that are 3/8" thick.  All of them are about 2 3/4" in diameter.  I also used up lots of small scraps of glitter and shimmer cs as I had to choose smaller dies for decorating the ornaments.

I'm including photos of 5 of the ones I made.  First up, one of the thin smooth ones:


I coated this one with gold acrylic paint and then a layer of crackle paste.  When dry and crackled, I added a die cut wreath and sentiment, cutting each one three times and stacking them for more strength and dimension.  I used shimmer cs and Gina K Connect Glue.  And embellished with red pearl gemstones for the berries.

Two more also on the thinner wood ornaments:


These two use beautiful dp by Craft Consortium (a gift from Loll).   The ornaments are covered with circles of the dp and then the die cuts placed on top - again cut and layered three times, using glitter cs this time.  For the "peace" die cut, I layered a green one slightly out of alignment behind the white one to tie in with the olive branch.

And I'm finishing off with two that use the thicker slices of an actual log:


These ones were inspired by this video by Vicky Papaioannou.  I randomly and roughly painted some gesso on parts of the wood slice before layering with the die cuts.  I went with poinsettias and greenery as I loved Vicky's one that used a poinsettia.

If you'd like to see the ones made by Loll and Christine, please go to these links (we're all posting on the same day):

Loll - Mini Retreat Ornaments

Christine - Craft Retreat Making Christmas Ornaments

Since I used up a bunch of scraps of shimmer and glitter cs to make the die cuts, I'm also entering these in:

Pixie's Snippets Playground's challenge

And because I used the wood ornaments and wood slices that have never been used and have sat in my craft room for about 3 years, I'm also entering these in:

NBUS "Never Before Used Schtuff"

It was so great to spend an extended period of time with friends, crafting together.  We've missed it so much during Covid! 









Dies:

Sizzix wreath die, Penny Black joy die, Impression Obsession peace dove, MFT merry Christmas circle, Impression Obsession reindeer, Dee's Distinctively small poinsettias, TH greenery, Spellbinders poinsettia, Tattered Lace merry and noel, unknown entwined circles

20 comments:

  1. Beautiful ornaments Susan! It was such fun spending time with you and Christine. Can't wait until we meet up again!! xx

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  2. We should do this again, it was so much fun :)
    I think my favourite are the poinsettia on the sliced wood. I'm hoping to get a few more of these done.

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  3. Wow, you have been productive! Love this idea and your beautiful designs. I honestly can't say I have a favorite since they are all fantastic!

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  4. So beautiful Susan and I think these will be very popular at your sale. x

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  5. As I told Lolly, I'm so green with envy that you guys got together, but also very happy for you. It must have been wonderful to have three days together after two years! I love all of your thick and thin wooden ornament designs, Susan! I especially love how that crackled one turned out! Hugs, Darnell p.s. Thank you for sharing with everyone at NBUS!

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  6. Great idea, they all look amazing!

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  7. OMG...All your ornaments are sooooo beautiful and creative, Susan. I think your ornaments are going to be a real hit at your sale and for such a good cause:-) It sounds like you had the most wonderful time with Lolly and Christine:-) I thought of you and so appreciate sharing your beautiful ornaments. Love and Hugs...Nancy

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  8. These are all absolutely BEAUTIFUL Susan, and how fun to get together with friends to make all the beauties! Good luck with your sale this year and I hope every last one of them sells!! Hugs. :0)

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  9. Susan I think the idea of selling these darling ornaments is genius! All of them should sell immediately! They are gorgeous!
    What a great time you must have had!
    Bravo!
    =]

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  10. Wow! I believe you will sell out very quickly, Susan! That crackle is awesome and thanks for the inspiration with the wood slices as I have quite a few of them. Sounds like a fun time together!

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  11. Wow - fantastic ornaments using up your snippets.
    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  12. I know you had a great time getting together and spending crafty time. And for such a good cause. These will be a hit as they are so pretty. They will be nice on the tree or on a gift package. I don't have a favorite, I would buy them all.

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  13. Lovely ornaments. Looks like that retreat was super fun - crafting with friends is the best. Great ideas!!!

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  14. Susan, these look amazing. Wonderfully designed, great texture with the cracking paste and the most unique and amazing ornaments. I am sure they will all sell really well and what fun to catch up with Christine and Loll to craft x.

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  15. Your ornaments are so beautiful, Susan, and what fun to make them with friends for a fundraiser.

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  16. Wonderful ornaments Susan - I adore them all and can't choose a favourite - although the poinsettia ones possibly just squeak into the lead. So glad you had a great time with Loll and Christine - what fun it must have been after so long.

    Hugs

    Di xx

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  17. All 5 ornaments are fabulous, Susan! It's a wonderful idea to sell these gorgeous ornaments and I'm sure they'll sell quickly. I love all of them, but I especially love the crackled background and the poinsettia's backgrounds. So unique and creative! I'm glad to hear that you had so much fun with Loll and Christine!
    Hideko xx

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  18. I had to come see your ornaments, Susan. First of all, your retreat sounds so wonderful and fun! It was long awaited and I know it was worth it. Your ornaments turned out amazing! You each did such a great job with a nice variety. Who could resist them? Good luck with the fundraiser.

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  19. Your small retreat sounded fun and productive. These ornaments are all beautiful. They will be a hit at your fundraiser.
    I may have some Memory Box DT Christmas cards that I can donate to it, if you want them(?).

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  20. What a wonderful reason for tag making Susan - I'm sure you three had a lovely time creating together! Each of these wooden ornaments is so pretty and all so different from one another! xx

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