At our house, we must have a living tree, and we chose a Norfolk Island Pine this year. Problem is, you can’t hang much on a Norfolk pine, so our ornaments ended up in some unusual places.
But it made me think about the idea that we should have ornaments in our lives during the rest of the year too. Why not?
This is the time when we all start thinking about resolutions and things we want to bring about in the brand new year ahead. The most powerful fuel for our resolutions, or “intentions” as we call them around here, is the “attention” we give to them.
We do manifest what we put our attention on, so a daily reminder of our hopeful intentions can’t help but bring them to fruition more quickly. It’s just an ordinary bit of magic. That thinking reminded me of a project we created for last Spring’s Santa Fe Retreat - as a part of our Creativity Chain. It works very well in this context too.
It’s a beautiful ornament that can be hung anywhere, and it is a great way to remind ourselves and others of the good things we want to manifest.
Clear Embossing Ink and Powder
Removable tape, vellum tape
Tools: 1/16" hole punch, bone folder, straight edge, heat tool, spray bottle
One Sheet Sheer Heaven
Alphabet Stamps (we used our own Red Letter Alphabet in Classic Serif style)
Silk Dyes or other water soluble dyes (we used Silk Colors by Jacquard from Dharma Trading)
Template/Guide (open this link and print out the template)
A piece of clear acetate or transparency, or a laminator, or a sheet protector (this won't be part of the prioject - it is just to protect against ink transferring to the Sheer Heaven when scoring)
Fishing Swivels Size 10 or larger (Walmart or a fishing store)
20g Wire and jewelry pliers, wire cutters, beads and embellishments
Step 1.
Leaving the dyes and hardware for later, gather the rest of your tools and supplies on a clean work surface.
Print out the template and either laminate it, put it in a sheet protector, or tape it to the back of a transparency. When you lay the Sheer Heaven on the template for scoring, the ink from the print will otherwise transfer to the Sheer Heaven and not come off.
Step 2.
Cut a piece of Sheer Heaven 4" x 5". You can get two of these spinners from a single sheet.
Lay the Sheer Heaven on the template, right side down, and tape it in place with the removable tape.
Using your bone folder and ruler, score along each of the lines. Scoring Sheer Heaven takes 3 passes or so. It’s made to be indestructible, and considers scoring an assault!
When you are finishing scoring, your piece should look like this. Do not make the folds yet.
