Holiday project tutorial and a freebie

Hello lovely friends,
Today's post starts with a bit of a personal story. I have just returned from a holiday in the Netherlands. We had set up a home exchange with a family there well over a year ago, and despite everything, decided to go ahead with it, and yes we had a great time, but it was so, so hot, something we who live in Scotland, are not used to. So while there, sweating in about 34 degrees centigrate, and feeling too hot to go on many outings, I decided to design a new Christmas collection for my Etsy shop, full of snowy pictures and wintry elements. Can't say it made me feel much cooler, but at least it distracted my mind for a while :o) So today I am sharing a couple of projects I made with it since we are back home again (and in quarantine, as per government regulations), and yes, there is a freebie too to go along with it.

 This is the first project. A little folder made from two C6 envelopes that I slid together, by sticking the pointy flap of one into the opening of the other. I then covered the outside with one of the papers in the collection, that I had cut to size and stitched around all the edges.

 Next I made a little booklet by folding some coffee dyed papers, and used another of the printable papers as the cover, again cutting it to size so it would fit inbetween the two envelopes. I also glued a piece of ribbon that would serve as the closure on each end.

 Here you can see the front of the booklet, I sewed it into the envelope folder with my sewing machine which was easy enough as there are only 4 folded pages in total and it makes for a neat finish.

 I left the inside pages blank for writing or notes, but decorated the inside of the cover with my new favourite stencils (by Tim Holtz).

 As per usual for Tim's layering stencils, you can get them singly in a large size, or in a set of three in the small size. I love how you can layer them over each other using different tones of inks. (I used Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, and Ground Espresso Oxide ink here).

 For the back cover I even combined it with one of Tim's architectural stamps, but it got a bit busy I think...

 After the booklet was sewn in it was time to cover the insides of the folder. I cut the papers and glued them down in such a way to make sure the pockets of the original envelopes stayed in tact, in order to be able to insert journaling cards and tags.

 Here you can see some of them.

Finally I cut a strip of paper to glue around the spine of the folder, and hide the sewing. I embossed it with one of my embossing folders and highlighted the raised bits with Treasure Gold. I also added some embellishments, a little tag from the freebies, and a little resin element made with a Prima mold that I painted and sprayed to kind of match the rest of the project.

 The second project was another little folder into which you could insert a gift card, it's even simpler. I just cut a strip of one of the papers, about 8" high and 4" wide and folded it in three as you can see below. I rounded the corners at the top. The flap closes by tucking it under the circle, only half of which is glued down. Hope the picture shows what I mean. I glued it onto some coffee dyed card for strength, and then decorated with bits and pieces from the collection

 I used one of the elements as a belly band, and tucked two of the journaling cards underneath, but you could obviously also tuck in a gift card, or do both.

 Well, that's it for now, apart from the freebie of course, which you can get in high resolution for printing by sending me a quick email to my yahoo account, just click HERE

Well, there you have it, I know it's early for Christmas and I promise there will be an Autumn freebie (and collection soon), but hey, some of us like to start early on our Christmas projects, or indeed may just need some distraction from the heat.

Thanks for your visit like always, and happy crafting!

xxxxx