Christmas Card With Spirelli Ornaments

Christmas is just over a month away and I am behind on making my Christmas cards!  Here is a beautiful card that takes less time than you may think.  I find Spirelli, the technique of wrapping the thread around the scalloped circles, relaxing.  I love watching as the geometric forms take shape. It kind of reminds me of Spirograph.

When I make the ornaments, I don't count the notches. I like having a variety.  Just remember that the fewer notches you skip, the larger the center aperture.

If  you're new to Spirelli, here's a video explaining how to do it as well as instructions for completing this card.  Even if you're not new to Spirelli, you might find a useful tip for keeping your thread from unraveling. ;)

Materials Used:

• Nestabilities Scalloped Circles Lg Etched Dies*
• Nestabilities Scalloped Circles Sm Dies*
• Journey Thread Gold*
• Mirror Gold Cardstock*
• Rich Coral Cardstock*
• Beach Ball Cardstock*
• Kiwi Slice Cardstock*
• Black Licorice True Color Fusion Ink Pad*
• Journey Sequins Holiday Elements*
• White Liner*
• Journey Foam Squares Medium*
• Journey Craft Glue*
• Joy Craft Bow Maker
• Christmas paper
• Gold Jewel Dazzles
• Gold Thread
• Silver Thread
• Iridescent Blending Filament

* denotes an affiliate link. I may be paid a small commission if you purchase items using these links - see my disclosure for details.

Christmas Ornament Card With String Art

A couple weeks ago, I went into a card making frenzy, mainly because my cousin talked me into attempting to sell my cards at a bazaar.  That turned out to be a total bust.  It was the first year for the bazaar and we had a grand total of about 50 people who showed up.  On the bright side, I’m that much closer to having all my Christmas cards done!  Here is one design I came up with that goes together fairly quickly.

Not wanting to make a whole bunch of identical cards, I came of with several variations so I wouldn’t get bored.  Here’s another one.

I didn’t have a suitable banner die, so I improvised.  I made the banner using the same Nestabilities Labels 2 die that I used for the ornament background.  After making the first cut, I repositioned the die and ran it through again.  The shading is done with Tea Dye distress ink.

I made the ornament with a Cuttlebug  ornament die and cut the centers out using different shaped Nestabilities dies (oval and scalloped oval shown here).  The Cuttlebug die has been discontinued, but I think the Nestabilities Heirloom Ornament would work.

I used a Nestabilities scalloped oval die to cut the shapes for the string art, and centered them under the ornament cut-out.  If you use a round opening, you can also use the Nestabilities pinked circles for the string art.  Here’s one I made using the Blossom die for the opening and the pinked circle for the string art.

Spirelli Birthday Cards

Spellbinders scalloped oval and circle die templates are perfect for Spirelli.  Here are a couple cards I made recently using the Oval templates.  I cut one large and one small oval and stacked them.

I gave this card to my mom for her birthday.  The butterfly is from the Mix ‘ems Butterflies pack from Paper Wishes.  I used a gold butterfly and shaeded the wing insets with a blue Copic marker.

Spring String!

Four cards today.  Some Spring string art cards (aka Spirelli) I made.  I printed these on cardstock using this pattern then cut them out and chalked them to give them extra color. 

 

 

They really aren’t as bad to cut out as you may think.  I cut the leaves out using scalloped scissors.

Friends

I have loads of scraps and loads of die-cuts.  So when I sat down to make this card, I grabbed a box of die cuts and told myself I had to use something from the box and that I couldn’t use anything but scraps for the background.  I had no idea how it would turn out.

When I got done, I liked it so much that I sent it to a dear friend with whom I have been exchanging cards and ideas for several years now.  She truly is one of the flowers in my friendship garden!

Spirelli Christmas Ornament

Last night, when I was playing with Kaleidoscope Kreator, it occurred to me that the quilter’s star template would be perfect for spirelli.  I found a photo with the colors I wanted and created a 20 point quilter’s star.  I also created a couple 10 point stars so I could turn the whole thing into a Christmas ornament. 

Here’s how it turned out:

I edged the stars with gold Perfect Pearls.  The tassel is hand-made from the gold and lavender thread I used for the spirelli.

A Turkey Of A Card

I’ve been playing with Spirelli lately.  The other night I cut out several shapes and decided to chalk them before adding the thread.  most of them I did in pretty pastels, but I chose to do this one in fall colors instead.  After finishing it, it occurred to me that it just might work as tail feathers for a turkey.  I was hoping I had some clip art I could use for the turkey’s head and body, but I ended up making my own.  Here’s how it turned out.

Everything on this card is hand cut, including the spirelli shape.  I didn’t make a pattern for the turkey, but the spirelli is from a pattern I made quite some time ago.  You can download it here: http://www.handcraftedgreetings.com/pdf/StringArt1.pdf