Stampin' Up! Pretty Pines - SBTD 12/2017

Hello and welcome to the last Stampers by the Dozen blog hop for 2017!  If this is your first stop on the hop, welcome and thanks for joining us.  If you have hopped over from Judi, thanks for hopping along with us!

Our theme this month is 'from the heart' - a card or project that celebrates love.

I have to admit I struggled this month, mainly through a lack of time and it being a particular time of year has not helped at all!

However, on Wednesday morning I had a flash of inspiration after speaking to my best friend Lesley.  We have been friends for over 30 years and even though we now live almost 200 miles apart we remain firm friends.

Lesley and her husband are having the most amazing house built - it should have been ready by now but its not :(  They have sold their family home of 36 years and moved into rented accommodation for a few months until the new house is ready.

Whilst chatting Lesley mentioned that all her Christmas decorations had been put into storage by mistake and they were not able to access them.  So, I decided to rustle up a little something just for her ...

I bought a heart shaped wicker wreath several weeks ago thinking I would do something with it at some point.  

I found some wire in my crafty stash and wrapped it around the wreath threading on some beads as I went before adding some 'snow'.  I also removed the scratty white ribbon!

I decided I would keep it simple and use some die cuts and, shock, horror; no stamping!

I wrapped a string of battery operated lights around the wreath - these can be picked up easily at this time of the year.

I had some pieces left over from a recent craft session so I only needed to cut a few extra pieces with the Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies.

I used several pine cones in silver metal foil and a pile of pine needles in Pool Party.  The base of the pine cones was also cut with Pool Party.

Top Tip
To assemble my clusters I used a Silicone Craft Sheet and Mini Glue dots so that I could arrange my pieces first.

I added the first pine cone with a glue dot and the second with a Stampin' Dimensional.

Once I had all my pieces assembled I was able to lift them (carefully) and stick them onto the wreath.

I added a ribbon loop so that the wreath can be hung.

I also added some die cut mistletoe, decorated with lots of jewels for some Christmas sparkle!

Here is the finished wreath.

I had to wait to take the next photo until evening - how pretty does it look with the lights on?

Isn't it amazing what the addition of a few simple embellishments can make?
 
We will be travelling up to Leeds to meet up with Lesley just before Christmas - I am not willing to risk posting this so I will take it with me then.

Thanks for looking at my blog today and joining our last hop for 2017 - don't forget to leave a comment below and on other blogs as you hop around!  We will be back in the New Year with some more inspiration.

Next on the hop is Tricia who I'm sure has something fabulous to share with you too.

Details of the products I used for this project can be found at the end of this post.

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a crafty 2018!

Susan xx

If you get lost along the way, here is a list of all participants.  We are only 11 hoppers this month, Vicki will be joining us again in January.

Rachel Pine                  

Karie Beglau                  

Judi Anderson                  

Susan Simpson        you are here!       

Tricia Butts  

Lyndsay LaRae Carara                  

Courtenay Heuston 

Tashana Lundy

Carly Middleton                     

Sharleen Luciano             

Anastasia Radloff  

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