Simply Score Tool Give-a-way ~ October 14, 2011

Hi everyone! Today I have a rather long post today, but bear with me because you'll want to read it all the way to the end! Today, I'm sharing with you the wreath I made out of lollies. I just finished my wreath this morning and I took some pictures as I was assembling it so that I could post a tutorial for you. Now, I'm sure there are several different way to make these wreaths, but this is what I felt worked best for me.

If you have any questions please feel free to email me at pebbles4@ptd.net or if you would like to sign up for my Stampin' Up! newsletters send me an email and I will add you to my list.

Be sure to read all the way to the bottom of my post and see how you can win a Stampin' Up! Simply Score tool that I will be giving away to one lucky winner!

*You can click on any of my photos below to make them larger*

This is a picture of my wreath once it was completed. I made this wreath out of paper lollies and sometimes they are referred to as paper medallions and Rosettes.

To begin you will want to cut your card stock or designer series paper. You can use 8 1/2" x 11" card stock, but you will want to cut it along the longer side. In my photo I cut my (designer series paper) dsp at 1 1/2" x 12". You really don't want to make your paper any more than 1 3/4" wider because it will be too wide and you won't be able to form the lollies. If you want to make bigger lollies you can cut 2 of the 1 3/4" x 12" pieces and then adhere them together, but I sort of feel as though using 1 piece of dsp is enough. You will begin by scoring your dsp or cardstock every 1/4" and my picture below shows what it should look like after you are finished with your scoring.

After you have your paper scored you can go ahead and fold it accordion style along the score lines. When I say accordion style, I mean fold one flap forward and the next flap you will fold back and continue this to the end of your paper. My photo below shows what your paper should look like up to this point.

Next, you will want to form a circle with your paper and place some adhesive along the last V shaped fold and make sure that you put it onto of the first V fold and connect your paper end to end to form a circle. I just used my snail adhesive for this. In the photo below I'm trying to show you how your ends should overlap. And then simply fold your paper outward so that it forms your lollie. It won't stay in place until you glue it.

Gluing your lollie- The easiest way I have found to keep the lollies together is to punch out a circle (here I used my 1 1/4" circle punch) and using a glue gun, glue the punched circle onto the back side of your lollie. You'll need to be quick with this because the glue tends to work fast. You'll want to try and get the circle in the center of the lollie, but it doesn't have to be perfect because you won't see it once your wreath is assembled.

Now you should have a finished lolllie. You can finish it off however you'd like. You can use buttons, small punched circles; I've seen small scalloped circles, flowers, all types of cute embellishments.

I spent one evening while the kids were in bed making several lollies. I found that sticking with one or two packs of dsp was best. Then you can use some plain cardstock using the colors found in the dsp you choose. Remember to check the back sides of the paper and you can use that pattern as well. Almost always the back side of the paper will match. Here is a photo of some of the other lollies I made. Some have a smaller lollie in the center, some just have a punched circle with a piece of dp inside, and some have a button tied with Stampin' Up! twine, but I guess you get the idea LOL.

I was sort of stumped on this next step until someone had given me this tip. To create the base of my wreath I used the thin cardboard found inside the pack of Stampin' Up! dsp- and what a great way to recycle too! Personally for me, I cut out 2 of these and you'll see why below.

I needed something to use as my guide for my circle. I looked around the house and I found a larger pot that I have and I placed it onto my cardboard and I traced it. Then I looked around for something just a little bit smaller and I found a lid to a tupperware dish and then I placed that in the center of my circle and I traced around it. This photo shows what you should have at this point. Now you probably could use a dinner plate and a salad plate for your guides, but that didn't work for me because my plates have scalloped edges.

Next, I cut out the center and outer edges of my cardboard so that my wreath form is what I would have left. You could go to the craft store and buy wreath forms, but they are expensive.

On the left side of my photo you can see the other lollies I made earlier. My next step was to start arranging my lollies around my wreath. I used 10 larger lollies and 5 small ones, but you can use as many as you like and any size you wanted. It's just a matter of placing them the way you like them.

And here is my wreath once I have everything placed where I would like them to be. 

Remember above I mentioned that I used 2 of the cut out wreath bases? And here's why. I kept the lollies on the one base and so that I could keep the wreath they way I wanted it. Then I only moved 1 lollie at a time and using my glue gun and I glued them where I wanted them to be. This is the fun part because now you get to see all of your hard work come together.

Okay, now here is where my second wreath base is very helpful. This is a photo of the back side of my wreath and I just felt that the one wreath base wasn't sturdy enough so I went ahead and glued my second base (shown on the very left side of my photo) right on top of my first base. I did this using my glue gun and I glued it in sections. What I mean is that I placed the wreath base onto of the back side of my wreath and then I lifted it up just enough to squeeze some glue in-between. Then I would let that dry and lift up the wreath base again and squeeze some more glue in-between both of the wreath bases. I did this all the way around until the bases were glued together. I guess you could just use a sturdier base, but I liked having the second base to work from when I was arranging my lollies.

And here is a photo of the backside of my wreath.

My wreath is almost complete, but then I decided that I needed to have something to hang it with. The twine that I used worked out perfectly, but next time I think I would make the twine I cut a little longer. I used my glue gun to glue on the back side a small piece of twine. When you are doing this you will want to make sure your twine is at the top part of your wreath.

After I glued on my twine I decided to finish it off so that it would look a little nicer and I glued a small piece of the cardboard I had left over and I covered up the glue from adhering the twine.

And finally, I finished off a few of my lollies that didn't have centers on them and I added my ribbon. You could add a sentiment too if you'd like, but I decided not too. This is a picture of my wreath hanging on my wall.

Here is a photo of my wreath on my front door. Sorry that it's not a better photo. It was raining outside so I didn't want to go out to take my picture, but my wreath looks really nice from the outside.

The next few photos are some close up pictures of my wreath.

And again, my finished lollie wreath-

Stampin' Up! Simply Score board-  Take the chore out of scoring! The Simply Scored Scoring Tool’s base fits paper or card stock up to 12" x 12" and features score tracks every 1/8". Features two easy-to-read rulers (with inch markings down to 1/8") along top and left side for perfect scoring. (One standard left-to-right ruler and one zero center ruler.) Includes three markers and stylus. Bottom of base has nonmarking and nonskid feet to secure it on your work area. Base measures Approximately 15-1/8" x 13-1/4" x 1". $29.95

 Now, I'd like you to be able to make a wreath of your very own! 

So I am giving away one Stampin' Up! simply score tool to one lucky winner! 

And what's the catch you ask because isn't there always a catch?  Well, yes the only catch is that I will be waiting until I reach 200 followers to pick a winner.  You do not have to be a follower to win, but it would be nice especially since hubby thinks that no one cares about my blog and no one reads it, so lets prove him wrong and tell your friends to enter too!  Anyone who enters and is signed up for my Stampin' Up! newsletters will get their names entered twice.

All you need to do is to leave a comment for me on this post and please be sure that I have a way to contact you like your email or blog address (in case you win).  Once I reach 200 followers I will wait one week and then I will have one of my children pick a winner.  I will post the winner in a blog post and I and contact you via email.  Your simply score tool will be delivered directly from Stamin' Up! so I will need the winner's address and contact information for shipping purposes. 

As per my demonstrator rules, I am not allowed to ship Stampin' Up! items outside of the US.  Please do not enter if you live outside of the US, I'm sorry.  If the winner happens to live outside of the US I will have my children pick another winner.  Once I contact the winner you will have 3 days to repsond, if I do not get a reply with in 3 days I will have one of my children pick another winner.

Remember if you would like to sign up for my newsletter just sent me an email at pebbles4@ptd.net

Well, that's about if for now.  Good luck to you all and thanks for visiting my blog!

Recipe for today's project-
Stamps: None

Card Stock:  Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Really Rust, DSP Autumn Traditions, DSP Autumn Spice 

Ink: None

Supplies: Simply Score Tool, Buttons, 3/4", 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Twine, Ribbon, Glue Gun, Scissors

Technique: Paper folding, Scoring

Contact me today if you would like to place an order or to be added onto my mailing list!

My Stampin' Up! Website- http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/lalatty/

To place your Stampin' Up! order- http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/default.aspx

My email address- pebbles4@ptd.net