journal tree

ok, going back to our Luv2Stamp group meeting, and my Christmas presentation (maybe for the last time, we'll see) this turned out to be one of my favorite projects, and was another really fast and easy one (feel free to share it with all your friends and family). I used ten sheets of Stampin' Up! cardstock, in kraft (2), real red (4), old olive (2) and certainly celery (2). I cut the cardstock in half, so it was 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", then laid it on the Pennant die so it would be cut from the point of the scallop edge (the "top" of the tree), just to the score line (this allowed the tree to stand flat, and also happened to be nearly a perfect fit for the cut cardstock). These are meant to be half sheets, not folded, so where you'd normally have a fold, it's the long cut side (8 1/2"). Once they were all cut (20 half sheets total), I bound them together in the Bind It All, then started to embellish. I did very little decorating, I added a few pictures (yes, my dogs);

a few decorations (filigree brads and rhinestone brad centers);

but mostly, I thought this would be a nice journal of Christmas memories;

so I spent some time thinking back to some of my most memorable Christmases and writing down those thoughts. I thought this would be a nice decoration that could be folded flat for storage from year to year, but then set out with other decorations, and the writing itself added to the decoration of the tree. Using a silver or gold pen really makes it shine, and memories added yearly make it a very special tree. Over the years, you could build a forest!