Christmas 2023 - January

[pugmom]

Great idea to recycle Christmas cards like that!!!!!
Your cluster is terrific.

[pamcook]

How lovely Kathryn!
It would be beautiful on a gift bag.

[pamcook]

Here’s another I made using some pieces I didn’t see myself using for scrapbooking. Same basic piece as the other one I made.
Doily for the base. I normally fold one in half but for some reason, I only had this half of one left. It’s very easy to use mists to make the doily any color you want (I buy them in the baking section of Hobby Lobby in white).
I choose an icon for the top piece. Usually an animal or flower.
Next I choose three medium size pieces and group them in a piece of ribbon or lace, or a strip of paper or any combination. Once I’m happy with how it looks and the size I’m going for, I’ll put the animal or flower on top. Tuck in some messy thread and or a word sticker and then look to see if it needs more (like the snowflakes). Enamel dots, rhinestones, or splatters always look good.

I realize you all could sort this out without my instructions but thought it could be helpful. Typically, I sort my embellishments I hope to use into small, medium, and large. That works no matter what I’m working with. Work from the bottom to the top. And be mindful to use some contrast - and realize some parts of your pieces will be covered by the layers. Use organic shapes with your squares and rectangles. Okay, I’ll stop!

I hope that’s helpful.

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[pugmom]

So, there IS a method to your madness?????!!!!!!
Thanks for the explanation. I found it quite interesting and very helpful. Love the cluster.

[jmp1022]

Love this Kathryn

[katymjo]

Thankyou, Pam, for sharing your method of building your clusters. There are still a lot of Christmas cards waiting to be recycled!

[pamcook]

You’re so welcome! I do hope it was helpful.

These are made from bits on my desk. The largest is about 2 1/2 x 3”. I might find room for some of the in my JYC album or possibly on a scrapbook page. There are enough bits to make coordinating clusters.

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[Monica]

I did one! It's for the front of another album I'm doing, and was pretty much the same as the sample album, but at least I did one, right?

[pamcook]

Yay! I love it!
It makes me so happy that folks are giving this a go. I hang on to so many stickers and die cuts that make little sense to me in their own and then in clusters, I’m able to use them.

If anyone is interested, MK and Janet are doing an online class starting soon. Link - https://someassemblagerequired.com/shop ... tid=Zxz2cZ

[pbp908]

I've pulled out a ton of things to use for this but then my mind goes blank and I'm left just staring at it all. Making Valentine's right now but I'm still gonna give it a try.

Dang I hate these creative blocks, blanks, dams, clogs - whatever you want to call them.

[Keitha]

Great challenge Pam, hoping to find time to give it a go. It's certainly a great way to use up random and leftover embellishment bits that don't work on their own. I see you mentioned MK and Janet's class; thought I'd mention that MK has done several embellishment cluster series on her YT channel over the years which are free to watch - assuming they're still there. With being away, it's been almost a month since I've watched anything crafty.

[pamcook]

Yes, I’ve seen them. I enjoy MK and Janet’s teaching style and am happy to support them with my $.