Before I start sharing new and exciting stuff from the OnStage Local event I attended over the weekend (check back later tomorrow for that!), here's the tutorial for the Delicate Ornaments that I promised.
Firstly, this was obviously not my first time doing this - the day I cut these particular ornaments out I also did a bunch of others I will be sharing over the next few weeks. That said, putting some of those other ornaments together before these particular ones I learned a thing or two, and there's possibly still a few thing I could do to improve it a little but for now this is my best way for doing it. Secondly, yes it is fiddly but it's clearly not so mind-numbingly frustrating that I will never do it again. It may not be for everyone but it is right up my alley!
So on with the tutorial! Firstly, some preparation:
I die-cut ten black ornaments and popped all the little bits out. If you are planning on keeping the bits, do this over a scrap of paper that you can then use to funnel the bits into a zip-lock bag or onto the open flap of an envelope so you can just tip it up and the bits will slide into the envelope when you are done. You will notice there are some little raggedy bits of cardstock from where the other bits were removed. I like to get rid of as much of this as I can, so...
I turn the ornament over a run a sanding block (sadly no longer available, but you might still have some, or a similar item you can use) across the back. It of course works much better if you hold the ornament down, but I needed my hands for holding the camera... so just imagine there's a couple of fingers on the left pressing down on the ornament.
Take away the sanding block and you can see a good deal of stuff has been removed.
Take away the ornament and ooooh pretty pattern!
Then rotate the ornament to rub the sanding block over the rest of the ornament. Remember - this is on the back!
After sanding all over the ornament is much tidier, but there are still a few little bits hanging on. We'll soon fix that up!
To get rid of the stragglers I run a small round file around inside all the little holes (these are also no longer available from Stampin' Up!, but as before you might still have them or something similar you can use).
Once the ornament is nice and tidy I punched ten Basic Black 1 3/4" circles and smothered them in Snail. You need to make sure it is well covered in adhesive as there are some very small bits that you will be putting in and they need something to stick to to stay put. Gently lay the die-cut over the circle to make sure you haven't missed any key areas before sticking it down completely. Then it's time to start sticking the coloured bits in!
From working on the other ornaments I found the best way to do this is to pop them out of the coloured ornament and stick them where you want them straight away. This minimises losing any of the little bits (though you may find some do pop out before you are ready for them, as you can see above I have a few of the Daffodil Delight pieces sitting over to the left waiting their turn) and makes things go a little faster as you are not spending time looking for particular shapes among the jigsaw pieces. For the really small ones that just won't move by simply pressing on them with fingers I use the small end of the tool from the Simply Scored board and they usually pop out pretty easily without having to press too hard. Oh and you'll need to put something behind that slit at the top so those bits have something to stick on to...
After working through all the colours you will end up with something like this:
This is where you sit back and admire your stunning work. I love just looking over these and seeing how the different position of colours changes and how the look of each ornament is subtlely different.
I thought rather than putting up an image of the ornaments after each colour was done - and making this post even longer than it already is - I would just include this:
Once I mounted these to my card fronts it looked something like this:
So there you go! I hope I have inspired some of you to give this a go. It did take me a couple of hours to do all ten ornaments, but that was also with stopping to take photos. I would probably easily spend more time making ten cards normally though it might take a little longer than making ten of the same card in normal production-line card making. I think for the stunning outcome it is worth it, but do understand it might be a little daunting to consider if it's the first time you've done anything like this! If you don't like the idea of putting all those pieces in to fill the whole ornament, you could try just doing the strip across the middle, or just the flowers. If you do have a go, I'd love to see yours so leave a comment and let me know where I can find yours to have a look at :)
