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Wednesday 9 November 2011

Santa Claus Lane - Simon Says Stamp DT Card & A Twirly Thingy Tutorial!

Good morning peeps,
Yesterday my plans of spending the whole day playing in my craft room went to pot as hubby now has another week off work & idiot here went & bashed & bruised her bad shoulder on a door & then forgot what I was doing & pulled my cars handbrake on with my bad arm instead of reaching over & doing it with my right hand, I won't tell you what I said but the air was blue both times lol.

Today is new challenge day at
& this week our challenge is 
The possibilities are endless with this lovely piccy, just perfect for Remembrance Day, thinking of you, use the colours, poppies etc.
I did intend using a Poppy stamp but Poppies make me feel sad as they always make me miss seeing my dad all dressed up & proud in his uniform, buttons all polished up ready for the Remembrance Day Parade through the town.

Anyway back from memory lane lol, I decided to make a Christmas card instead & challenge myself to use the colours as I don't usually use the traditional reds & greens for Christmas cards and to be honest I'm not sure I will again lol.
Ingredients -
Medium - Copics
Sentiment - Inkadinkado
Sparkle - gold & diamond stickles
Pearls - Melissa Frances
Twirly thingy - homemade using MS Microbeads, scroll down for tutorial

As always our lovely Heidi is sponsoring our challenge with a whopping $50 in store spending spree.
Don't forget to keep an eye on the store blog for new products, tutorials & fabby giveaways


 I'm not entering any challenges this time as I just don't have time :(


I've had loads of requests to share a tutorial of how I make my "Twirly stems" so I hope this helps
Ingredients -
Florists wires (not the really thin ones) from garden centres / florists or other floral suppliers
Tray or scrap paper
Thin stick / pen / plastic straw
Oasis (optional)
I begin by wrapping one end of my wire around the stick (I've used an Orchid plant support stick), and gradually turn the stick while holding the wire to coil it around the stick
 Once you are near to the end of your wire straighten out the end of the wire as this "stem" is used to glue the twirly on the card, and then slide off the stick
 The shorter & wider "Twirly stem" I coiled by wrapping around a quickie glue pen to show the sizes vary depending on the thickness of the the stick/pen/straw etc you are using to wrap the wire around so use whichever suits you
 Once the wire has been "twirled" I pop the glitter or micro beads in the tray ready to use & either give the twirly a really good spray of adhesive or "dunk" the twirly in the glue, remove and let any excess run off back into the bottle. I've used Colall glue mainly because I'm able to show you properly what I mean as it's easy to see through the bottle, & I tend to squeeze the bottle to make the glue rise and cover my twirly properly. If you use this Colall glue you need to work fast with it as it's fast drying.
 I find the Stick & Stay spray easiest & quickest to use, luckily I am well stocked up on this at the moment as I have 2 new cans left over from my DT packs from when I designed for Crafters Companion.
After any excess glue has dripped off or you have sprayed the twirly thoroughly with adhesive, roll it around in the microbeads / glitter keeping hold of it by the stem & making sure it is all covered.
Now pop your twirly stems either in oasis or out of the way somewhere to allow the glue to dry thoroughly and you're done.
In the picture below the 2 twirly stems on the left are from Magnolia Sweden & were part of my prize for winning TOMIC, and the tall thin twirly I have covered with glitter and the other 2 with micro beads to show the difference.
As you can see there are different heights and widths, it's totally up to you to choose the size you want them just adjust the space between each coil when shaping the wire, there is no right or wrong way of making them just have fun and I hope this helps & it all makes sense!
I'm done peeps, it's miserable weather so I'm going to have a lazy day and catch up with some blogging and try and decide what I'm going to do for a large order of party invitations.
Thanks for stopping by


55 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing...
    Hugs.
    Evie

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  2. Woww a beautiful card and what a great idea to make these stems! Love it, I'm certainly gonna give it a try!
    Hugs Kristel

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  3. A brilliant card, lovely colouring. Thank you for the excellent tutorial :o)
    Jackie xx

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  4. Hello Mandy,
    What a gorgeous Christmas card and thanks for that brilliant tut on making those twirly things too, I must try that. I have got your snowflakes and will be posting them off to you as soon as I'm over this horrid cold and can get out to the PO.
    Your new blog header is gorgeous by the way. Hugs Teresa xx

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  5. BRILLIANT card, and GREAT tutorial - I was one of those who wanted to know how you do it, so I'm now off to give it a try.

    Many thanks

    Judi xx

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  6. Wonderful card Mandy and thank you so much for the tutorial. I will have to give this a try. Hope you are having a beautiful week.

    Hugs
    Shannin

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  7. great tut hun...thanks for that x

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  8. Hi Mandy
    gorgeous card and great tutorial
    Michaela xx

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  9. A gorgeous card. I love the twirly things!
    Nikki x

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  10. Amazing card and an equally amazing tutorial....thanks so much for sharing..love it!!!

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  11. Mandy I'm totally trying this, awesome tutorial, love the micro beads ones and I have a stash of them that I can finally put to use!

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  12. Lovely card Mandy and what a fab tut! Hugs Rebekah xx

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  13. oh youve used these traditional colors beautifully and brilliantly. Your card is adorable! And thanks for that FAB Florist Wire tutorial

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  14. Hi Mandy,
    Loving the colours on your christmas card,its great and a lovely tutorial for the swirly things, hope your shoulder is not too painful and is getting better with rest, I think hubby needs to give you some TLC, take care
    hugs
    Heather & Bronwyn x x

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  15. Hi, Thanks for shazring this idea its amazing:) Sandra H

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  16. Hey Mandy, such a beautiful card, I keep returning to gaze at it! Thank you for the tutorial.

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  17. So sorry to hear about your poor shoulder, hope it feels better soon. I love your card, very festive x

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  18. oh love your twirly thingies and must have a go very inspirational and fabulous on your always gorgeous creation
    Hugs Kate xx
    ps hope your okay :)

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  19. Great tutorial Mandy...now I know what I do wrong...I was twirling the wire around the stick...not twirling the stick...that will be so much easier..oh! the things we learn..thank you for that...and love the idea gluing and sticking beads and glitter on them..very pretty.
    Your card is gorgeous...love the Santa and fabulous colours....and the swirl....lol


    Luv CHRISSYxx

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  20. Gorgeous card Mandy :-) I love the traditional christmas colours and hope you do use them again !! Santa is very cute and the sparkly twirl is fab :-) thanks fort the tut,, I will have to have a go at these ,,, off to the florist >>>>> :-)

    sorry about your Dad xx sending a hug xx

    luv
    Lols x x x

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  21. Gorgeous card Mandy and thanks for the fab tut.
    Kathleen x

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  22. A gorgeous card Mandy! Thanks for the tutorial, I'll give it a try one of these days!
    hugs, Marlies

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  23. Its a gorgeous card Mandy and I'm lovin your twirly things!
    Clairexx

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  24. My goodness Mandy, you'll get a full day playing yet! Hope you shoulder isnt too bad now. Love your card and the photo is beautiful. Terrific tutorial, what a great idea. Lee xx

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  25. What a great card! Thanks for the tutorial, looks really fun to do! Hugs, Hanneke

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  26. That's one gorgeous card Mandy and your tutorial is awesome. Thanks for sharing your talent and for sure I'll be trying that. "Hugs"

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  27. Fabulous card Mandy, I just love the vintage feel to this card and great tutorial..hugs

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  28. Hi Mandy gorgeous card I love the Santa Claus and the tutorial is fabulous I will have to give it a try! I hope you don't mind but I have shared a link on my blog linking to the tutorial. Posh Cat Crafts Too Its a tutorial blog I created to blog about my favourite tutorials.
    Hugs
    Tamara

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  29. Adorable, gorgeous card Mandy and love the twirly tutorial.
    luv
    Debby

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  30. Personally mandy I think you should make more traditional christmas cards as this one is absolutely glorious, love it. Thanks for the fabby tutorial, will have to give it a go when I have all the messy stash out!! Thanks for sharing, hugs heidi x
    ps I have a wee Squiggles Candy on my blog at the moment if you are interested.

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  31. oh wow this is one brilliant card hun just love love that santa and your detail is stunning great tutorial too hugs cherylxxx

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  32. Hi Wow This is so gorgeous the papers with this santa are so perfect together !! Always an inspiration ! What cool memories of him polishing his buttons !! I just adore your tutorial so I am going to make some after I do my housework lol Thankyou so much !! Kitty ;0)

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  33. Gorgeous card Mandy, love those traditional papers - I do wish I can could do them - sigh!!!!!!
    Your image, detail and and sweet image. I love those bitty things and thought about having a go but will probably never see them again for ever!!! hugs
    Heather xx

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  34. Hi Mandy,
    thanks for the tip, I'm certainly going to try it !
    Lovely card you've made !
    Hugs
    Margo

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  35. Gorgeous card Mandy, thanks for the tute, very interesting.xx

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  36. Lovely card and a brilliant tutorial Mandy, how come you have managed to load pictures and I can't, here I am ready to go and blogger won't let me! Take care Hugs Jo x

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  37. Hi hun
    aww totally adorable card, awesome colouring as always, beautiful embelies, luv the twirly things, sue,x

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  38. Oh Mandy, stunning card!!! and thanks for the tut!!!

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  39. Hi Mandy , the card looks lovely ; great use of the photo-inspiration. And I love what you did with the wire and micro-beads.... Thanks for the tip ! Christa.

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  40. How beautiful, Mandy! I love the 'Santa Claus Lane' stamp and the touches of gold glitter are beautiful!

    *mwah*
    Steph
    Simon Says Stamp!

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  41. oh my gosh! those twirly things are just gorgeous! thanks for the tutorial. Will try that sometime soon :)

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  42. Wow Mandy your Santa card is Gorge!!! Thanks sweetheart for the tute on the twirly thingies~~Gone give it a go!!!
    Biggg Hugz

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  43. A beautiful card - gorgeous colours! Thankyou for the twirly thing tutorial :-) They look fab! Love 'n' hugs, Mel xx

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  44. Lovely card Mandy. These colored twirly thingys look fab.

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  45. love your santa and your twirlies! K xx

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  46. Fab tutorial hunny, love those twirly things of yours,hope your feeling better, sorry I've not written that e-mail yet will try tomorrow lol,

    love your card hun, fab images and colouring, hope Ian's Knees better too, hugs Liz xx

    ps what's this about invites! how many!! lol xx

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  47. Beautiful Mandy, I noticed the swirl in the last post, I would have never thought of that! It is so beautiful mixed in with the flowers and thanks for sharing how to do it!
    Crafty Hugs,
    Pendra

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  48. Hi Mandy, thanks for this tutorial, will definitely have a go at making these twirly thingies!! Hugs, Frea

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  49. your glitter twirly things are really cool mandy!! xx

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  50. Your Christmas Card is lovely... The papers are Beautiful... and I love the home made Twirly thing.... WOW... Beautiful!!!...
    Thank you so much for the Tutorial!!!... What a great Idea!!! :o)

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  51. Wow Mandy will be using this tut they look gorgeous and so does your card.
    Chris x

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  52. OMG!! FAbulous idea! Thanks for the tutorial!
    ~Lacey
    www.stampandcreate.com
    PS I have a weekly candy on my store's blog if you would like to enter...
    http://stampandcreateblog.blogspot.com/

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  53. Another great tutorial - thanks for sharing! x

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Thanks so much for hopping over to visit & taking the time to leave a comment
Mandy xx

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