Today's guest designer is Catherine Oakley.
Hello, my name is Catherine Oakley and I live in Colorado. I have been paper crafting for six years and love how I am able to preserve my memories as art. I have dabbled in altered projects and also enjoy producing mini-albums. As for my style, I tend to think it is fairly simple but then again, I love a little embellishing here and there too. Really I think my style is just “me”…whatever suits my fancy at the time I sit down to create is what I produce. First and foremost I am a wife and mom which is often what inspires my layouts.
Since the holidays are quickly approaching, I created a wall hanging with Making Memories' Mistletoe collection.
Cut a ring of heavy chipboard using a craft knife. My base measures 8 ¼” at the outside edge. I used the back of a paper pack to create my ring – it’s a heavy enough weight to support the paper and embellishments. I then smoothed the edges using my Making Memories sanding block.
Cover both the front and back of the chipboard ring with paint to match your project. One coat was sufficient to cover. You just want to make sure that if any of the ring peeks through your wreath, it blends in. Allow to dry thoroughly.
Using a hole punch, punch a hole in your wreath form and insert your hanger ribbon.
Create accordion folded circles (what I call yo yos). To do this, cut strips of patterned paper and cardstock ½” to 1 ½” wide by 12” long. You will need several strips to create enough Yo-Yo’s to cover your chipboard ring. For my version I used 18 strips in varying widths. The Making Memories embellishment paper was the perfect weight for this project as it isn’t quite as heavy as the cardstock, accordion folds much easier than the cardstock and holds its shape very well.
Accordion fold each strip of paper and then attach the ends to each other forming a ring.
Punch a 1” circle from the same paper and using a hot glue gun, flatten the accordion folded ring and attach it to the 1” circle to create your Yo-Yo. Repeat this process until you’ve created sufficient Yo-Yo’s to cover your wreath. Attach your base layer of Yo-Yo’s to your wreath ring using the hot glue gun.
Ink the edges of the remaining Yo-Yo’s before attaching them to the wreath. Do the same with the Mistletoe chipboard elements prior to attaching them. This helps to give your project a more dimensional, not to mention finished look.
Continue attaching the remaining Yo-Yo’s to the wreath and top the center of each Yo-Yo with a Mistletoe chipboard element. Tie a bow in your hanging ribbon and display.
Materials Used:
Mistletoe collection: Making Memories
Bazzill cardstock
Heavy chipboard
Paint
Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal
Embroidery floss
Glue gun
