Good Monday morning. I had lots of fun this weekend making a Christmas tree and wreath project using the Concord & 9th Take a Bough die set. I regularly browse the new section at Ellen Hutson to see all the newest items (especially dies) being added to the store. The minute I saw the Take a Bough set and samples on the Concord & 9th banner at the top of Ellen’s homepage I knew I had to have it. The tiny poinsettias and sentiment on the wreath card were made using the Impression Obsession Spring Wreath and Sending Love.
I watched the Concord & 9th tree video tutorial on You Tube to get the instructions and see the tree put together. Here is what you will need to make the tree:
– 12 each of the 3 sized branches, 2 each of the 3 sized snowflake and two stars.
– wooden skewer 1/8” in diameter (size in diameter is very important)
– a base for the tree ( I used a 2 inch flower pot and Styrofoam}
– adhesive runner
The first thing I did was apply Gathered Twigs ink directly on the wooden skewer with the ink pad. Once I had the skewer was well covered with ink I ran a dry baby wipe up and down it to blend the ink and set it aside to dry. I spray painted my flower pot with gold Krylon paint and set it aside. The gold doesn’t show up well in the picture. I cut a piece of Styrofoam and hot glued it to the inside of the flower pot when it had dried. I cut all of the branches, snowflakes and stars and assembled according to the instructions on the video. If you are like me seeing the project put together is worth a thousand words.
Here’s a closer view of the tree top so you can see the skewer, stars and branches. I want to make two more trees of smaller sizes to make a trio. I'm not sure exactly how I will decorate the trees but when I do I will post pictures on my blog.
The wreath was fun to make using the tree branches. I cut three sets of branches and a 1 1/4” circle wreath base using Nesting Circles. I cut the smallest branch sections in half and cut about 1” off the ends of the larger branches. I attached the branches around the wreath base using glossy accents. Check out my step by step picture and video wreath tutorial over at Splitcoaststampers if you would like to see how I assemble my evergreen wreath.
I created the tiny poinsettias using the flowers from the Spring Wreath set. I cut two red and one green flower for each poinsettia and one tiny green flower for each. I formed the flowers using my stylus and molding pad, assembled them with glossy accents and attached them to the wreath using glossy accents. The Sending Love sentiment was stamped using Festive Berries Distress Ink and the red layer was crimped and attached to the card base using ATG adhesive. I have used this simple layout for wreath cards for several years. I like that there is lots of white for the background that allows the wreath to pop. The colorful crimped layer adds a simple design element with a bit of dimension that adds interest without taking away from the wreath.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing two of the many ways you can use the Take a Bough set. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy your holiday.
Card size 5.50” x 4.25
Love it! You do great work!
I know a lot of us in the crafting blogs have gotten away from commenting as it takes a lot of time and we’re relying more on the social media side to leave our likes and comments, but I just had to pop in here and tell you how adorable I think your card and tree are. I love the instructions you gave and I want that concord die set now. I’d love to make a whole bunch of these and send them to my special peeps as a set.
Kittie,
Again, you’ve amazed me…. I love the wreath. I’m so hoping to be able to make one this year that looks 1/100th as good as yours….lol. Loved your tree too… You can do anything, I know it…. Thank you for sharing your wonderful creativity….
Good Afternoon, Kittie. WOW! you did it again. amazing and so inspiring to get to work. I love the tree and card. I watched the video as well. I am a visual learner an it is true that pictures are worth a thousand words. I value all you tutorials. Beautifully done….have a good day….hugs
The wreath card is awesome. I love it. Pinned the tree and card to my Kitty board.
Beautiful wreath card! And really, I need to use my crimper! Every time I see one of your cards with crimping, I have that same thought. This time I’m going to CASE your layout and make it happen. Thanks for all your inspiration and step by step explanations.
Love, love, loving the tree. Decorations? Maybe dimensional snow on the tips with or without chunky glitter.
I love this tree and the wreath. Great idea. I like that the video is funny and fast and demonstrates the technique so well.