Shimmery White Nativity

Good Day!

I have always admired Nativity scenes.  Many I've seen are done so beautifully in ceramics or varnished woods.  I myself have a little ceramic set painted brown passed down to us from my husbands Grandmother.  It has a few chips but I treasure it dearly and put it on display each Christmas far out of reach of little exploring fingers. I happened across an exquisite Quilled  Paper Nativity scene and it got my imagination going - I wanted to try recreate something similar but in the paper medium I love; punch art (of sorts LOL).

The finished measurements on the Manger are approximately 5" high x 6" wide.  The palm trees are 4" high and the tallest of the figures is close to 3".  I've created a detailed picture tutorial along with templates to recreate each item you see pictured here - 14 pieces in all!  Each finished item is extremely sturdy and will hold up to being unpacked and repacked year after year guaranteeing many years of enjoyment!

I really love designing and creating theses little labors of love!  I plan on placing a small tealight into the Manger so my Nativity glows in the evening - now to decide where I should put it so those little exploring fingers can't reach it!

If you are interested in purchasing your own copy of the template and tutorial, please visit my Tutorial Store tab at the top of the page.  And I always love to hear your comments and feedback, so please let me know what you think!

Have a wonderful weekend!  My desk is littered with projects to write posts on - so hopefully I can get caught up on those during the next week!  Until then...
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Fireside Tealight Holder

Hello!

I hope you had a great long weekend!  I spent a lot of mine wrapped up in a blanket by the fire trying to get rid of a nasty head cold.  I'm still not 100% but as the saying goes, "The show must go on!" LOL.  

Speaking of fireplaces, today I'm sharing the 3rd of 4 creations I made for U Stamp with Dawn, Knockout Punches.  I love the way this little fireplace scene turned out!  I really should post a video of it with the tealight turned on - it actually looks like the fire is flickering!  As I've mentioned before this round focuses on Stampin' Up! punches (every last one in the catalogues in fact!) so if you love punch art as much as I do or would like to give it a try with a little guidance just head over to www.ustampwithdawn.blogspot.com.  There are only a few days left in this session and then we get busy designing for the next, due to go live at the end of this month!

Until then I have lots of Holiday projects to share with you, so keep checking back or leave your email under the "Follow by Email" tab and all updates will be sent directly to your inbox!  Have a great day!

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Silent Night

Happy Friday!

As mentioned yesterday I have a quick video to share with you today talking about how I cut decorative edges and create matting using Framelits.  The card pictured above uses the same technique - I hope you find it helpful!

Supplies:

Stamp set: Warmth & Wonder (Hostess set in Holiday catalogue)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive, Baked Brown Sugar
Ink: Midnight Muse, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Sof Suede, Craft Whisper White
Accessories: Floral Frames Framelits, Northern Flurry embossing folder, 3/4" Circle punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponges, white gel pen, Tombow liquid adhesive

To create the image:

From Whisper White cardstock cut the second largest Floral Framelit.  Punch a 3/4" circle from a post it note and place in the sky area; tear a post it and place it along the ground line area.  Tear another post it and begin sponging Midnight Muse in the sky area; move the post it randomly across the sky to achieve the look of clouds.  Fill in some of the white space with Smoky Slate ink.  Remove all the masks.  Move the mask for the ground line further down the cardstock and randomly sponge snowbanks with Smoky Slate ink.

Place and stamp the trees with a Stamp-a-ma-jig using Basic Gray ink.  Slightly offset the tree images again with the Stamp-a-ma-jig and stamp with White Craft ink; this technique is called "ghosting" and makes the trees appear to have snow on them.  Stamp the deer using Soft Suede ink.  Using White Craft ink stamp a few snowflakes randomly in the sky.  Using a white gel pen add stars to the cloud/sky area.

To create the card base:

Follow the steps outlined in the video below to cut the card base and matting.  Emboss the Baked Brown Sugar card base using the Northern Flurry embossing folder.  Once the card is assembled add a few more stars to the card base concentrating around the embossed snowflakes.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  I'll be working Holiday projects - how about you?

Until next time...
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Christmas Angel Ornaments

Hello!

I'm back today with another project I designed for U Stamp with Dawn & Friends - Knock Out Punches.  I am in love with how these little angels turned out!  It's nice to have a vision for something and it turn out just as you imagined it!  I'm definitely feeling like I'm in my element with this round of projects - for me punch art is where its at!

These angels are super quick to make too - I made these 4 in less than 20 minutes!  And the best part is you can match them to fit your decor; imagine how  fabulous they would look done in Silver or Champagne Glimmer paper! If you are interested in the tutorial for these angels visit www.ustampwithdawn.blogspot.com to be redirected to the Knock Out Punches site.

On a side note: I received a lot of wonderful feedback on the Splitcoaststampers Northern Lights tutorial I share yesterday - THANK YOU! One question that came up quite a few times was how I created the Framelit edge and matting on the cardbase.  The process is actually quite simple, but a little hard to put into words so I thought I would do a quick video on it.  I hope to film it today and post it tomorrow (depending on how quiet I can get my kids LOL).  If you subscribe to my videos on You Tube (Melissa Banbury) you will be notified as soon as I upload it.

Until then have a wonderful day!
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Northern Lights - For Splitcoaststampers

Welcome to mid week!

Today I'm over the top excited for my little blog!!  Close to a year ago I submitted some of my Northern Light artwork to Splitcoaststampers; a fabulous resource of tutorials and samples for paper crafters.  Shortly thereafter I received notification that my work had been approved and I was scheduled to do a tutorial on my technique for their site!  Well, today is the day!  I'm honored for my tutorial to be among so many other wonderful and informative projects and techniques.  If you've never been to the site, click HERE to see what your missing out on - you'll be there for hours browsing through all the resources and photo galleries of talented artists who have submitted their work!

The card pictured in this post is the one featured within the tutorial.  If you follow the link above a full list of supplies used on this card will be listed under the heading 'Northern Lights'.  I also made a video showcasing this card as well.  If you've watched my first video on the technique you won't find any new surprises within this one - other than the fact that I feel slightly more comfortable talking to myself while filming! LOL

And if you haven't been to my blog before WELCOME!  Please feel free to grab a coffee and take a look around.  I've done quite a few cards now with this technique; you can see the entire collection by clicking HERE.

I should also note before I sign off today that I've just set up shop over at Etsy; a site that sells any and every handcrafted item you can think of.  For now I've listed all my Tutorials that I currently have for sale here on the blog but I will be adding handmade cards and completed projects soon, so keep watching.  If you'd like to visit the shop, visit https://www.etsy.com/shop/PorchSwingCreations

Have a wonderful day!
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Gingerbread House Candy & Gift Holder

Hello!

It would seem I'm in a gift holder making kinda mood - I have another little gift box to share with you today! I created this Gingerbread House suite for the Knockout Punches Round over at U Stamp with Dawn & Friends.  How does it open you ask?  Simply by lifting one of the sides of the roof!  This would be great to give holding small treats to a neighbor or co-worker - and when the treats are gone it makes a cute stand alone decoration for the Holidays!

I tried to add as much whimsy as possible by focusing on the little details; the scalloped roof, gingerbread trim accents, cobblestone pathway, and even a "puff" of smoke from the chimney!  I've even taken all the guess work out of building it for you - when you download the PDF file I've included a template to simply trace and cut out!  It's so easy you could make an entire village of houses!

If your interested in downloading this file or any of the others offered (trust me the projects posted thus far are FABULOUS!) then just head over to www.ustampwithdawn.blogspot.com to sign up for just $14.99

I'll be back tomorrow with some exciting news that I've been waiting to share with you for almost a year! Until then have a most wonderful day!
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Hot Chocolate Gift Holder

Good Monday Morning!

I hope you've had a wonderful weekend and have gotten over your Halloween sugar rush!  It was the first year my boys went Trick or Treating and they were over the top excited to have received so much loot!

The moment Halloween is over my mind turns to coming up with designs for the Holidays.  I'm not a fan of the cold weather so this little project suits me to a T!  This little mug full of hot chocolate with a dollop of whip cream and a peppermint stick opens to reveal an a box suitable to hide a little gift for someone special! And, as I promised to give away a little Blog Candy in my Spookier Halloween in Owlville post, I thought this might jump start someone else's Holiday designing too.

So, without further ado, the winner of this tutorial is....Sue McNeill, who's comment was: "It has to be the Bride of Frankenstein...never saw one before!  You are simply amazing and I hope the blog candy is one of these cards!  I hope you can make use of this little gift holder tutorial Sue!  I'll be emailing your COMPLIMENTARY tutorial to you shortly!

The Hot Chocolate Gift Holder tutorial comes complete with a full list of Stampin' Up! supplies along with a detailed step by step photo PDF tutorial.  The finished measurements of the mug are 4" x 4" (the box opening is roughly 3" x 3").  If you would like to purchase your own copy of this tutorial, please visit my Tutorial Store.

I hope this has "warmed" you up to the idea of beginning your Holiday projects.  Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing a few more designs and tutorials to help you with your Holiday gift giving and decor.  My mind always spins with ideas at this time of the year - lets hope I can accomplish them all to share with you!  Pop back in here tomorrow as I'll be sharing the first project I designed for U Stamp with Dawn & Friends, Knockout Punches.

Until next time...
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