Fall Wreath Details and Helpful Hints

Hello!  I hope you have had a great week!  I had a fun week babysitting a cute little guy, so not much stamping this week.  I was busy playing trains, ball, busy beads, reading books, and just plain ol' spoiling -- heehee!  And, I loved every minute of it! 

I wanted to give you a few details about the Fall Wreath I made last week.  Some of you were wondering the exact measurements I used for the rosettes.  To be honest, I did not have a plan in mind when I began this project.  (smile)  But, I knew I needed rosettes of different sizes. 

So, the first step is to separate your Designer Series Paper into two sets of 6 sheets, one piece of each pattern in each set.  Next, cut your six pieces of Designer Series Paper into 5 1/2" strips.  This will give you twelve 5 1/2 x 12" pieces and six "leftover" pieces that measures 1 x 12" for a smaller rosette.  Use the Designer Rosette Bigz XL and the Big Shot to cut and score your 5 1/2 x 12" pieces of Designer Series Paper.  Lay the leftover 1 x 12" pieces in the center of the die and run through the Big Shot to score them.

I started out with three large rosettes that were the anchors of the wreath.  These rosettes were glued in at the 12:00, 5:00, and 7:00 positions on the wreath form.  Each of these large rosettes were made with two strips of the same pattern Designer Series Paper each measuring 2 1/2" by 12".  I simply cut two pieces at 2 1/2" and set aside the remaining pieces to use later on.  I joined these 2 strips together to make a 2 1/2 x 23 1/2" strip (with about 1/2" overlap), then joined the ends together to make a circle.  (It looks like a lamp shade at this point!)

I used the new Silicone Craft Sheet and a hot glue gun to make the rosettes.  Simply put a "blob" of hot glue on the silicone sheet then smash center of the rosette into the hot glue.  Hold until set, then peel away from silicone sheet.  Apply more hot glue to the center back, then apply circle punch out of card stock on top of the hot glue.  This piece of card stock helps hold the shape of the rosette and also gives you a flat surface to glue the rosette to the wreath form.

Here are the other measurements for the remaining rosettes on the first level:
3:00 and 6:00 rosettes were made with two strips cut at 2" wide (makes 4" rosettes)
1:00 and 11:00 rosettes were made with two strips cut at 1 3/4" wide (makes 3 1/2" rosettes)
9:00 rosette was made with two strips cut at 1 1/2" wide (makes 3" rosette)

Once you have these rosettes glued to the wreath form, make smaller rosettes with remaining Designer Series Paper to glue on top of the larger rosettes.  My smaller rosettes ranged in size from 2" (use a 1" strip) to 3" (use a 1 1/2" strip).  I attached buttons and brads to the smaller rosettes to cover up the centers.  (I cut off the legs of the brads first, then hot glued them to the center.)

The Autumn Accents die is perfect to cut out leaves in coordinating colors of card stock.  Simply run them through the Big Shot with different embossing folders, then hot glue into the spaces in between rosettes. 

I hope this helps!  Please let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them!  Thanks, and have a great weekend.