Ikebana Attempt

Flower arranging has never been a strength of mine - but I almost always have some flowers in the house. I had some left over orchid stems from a larger arrangement that were still beautiful so I tried a new arrangement.

I do believe the secret to flower arranging is having the right container! We purchase this one years ago at a craft show. It is a beauty.

©2016 Marji Roy, Ashbee Design

I have been busy with my paper design again. This week has been heart inspirations. These can be used for either Valentine's Day or wedding centerpieces. I showed my Scandinavian routes with these straight-forward heart designs.

First a wreath.....

Then some trees........

Then combine the two!

The cutting files are available here and

 the tutorials are posted here and here.

©2016 Marji Roy, Ashbee Design

Adding a Touch of Spring

With over a foot of snow still on the ground and piles close to 5feet high everywhere, it doesn't look much like spring is approaching outside. But I know it is and I decided to bring some spring indoors. In other years I have harvested moss and used that but there is no green showing anywhere so instead I made a garden on the dining table.

I started by using my Silhouette to make a collapsable picket fence out of card stock.

To that I added flowers I picked up at the grocery store. I had thought of using daisies but being St. Patricks week, they were all green. Instead I bought this springtime bundle.

I made a brilliant yellow version as well!

The cutting file for the picket fence is available from my 3dcuts website here.

A complete tutorial for making the fence is here.

The fence is designed to collapse so storing during the off season is easy.

Happy spring everyone.

©2015 Marji Roy. Ashbee Design, 3DCuts.com

Valentine Spiral Tree Tablescape

Have you thought about your next centerpiece for your table? After the holidays I like to do a winter scape but I have jumped ahead to Valentine's Day this year so others can see my idea and make it themselves.  I had a fun time learning the spiral tool in Illustrator and design a pattern for a  spiral heart which I then replicated into a Spiral Heart Tree.

And then I made a forest full in different sizes.....

These come from a pattern I designed for use on a cutting machine like a Silhouette or Cameo. The file is available here on 3dcuts.com. As I was cutting them out I noticed that the scraps were a terrific shape as well. I saved them and made these 3-d heart ornaments, too.

I like how the spiral design reflects some of the other artwork in my dining area. I have an unintentional theme going on here. There are spirals in the woodcut by Lynita Shimizu, spirals in the sculpture by my husband, David Roy, and spirals in the candelabra made by my grandfather, Conrad Carlson.

Still loving working in paper!

This cutting file is available along with others over at my 3dcuts.com store in SVG, PDF, and DXF formats. I also have a complete tutorial to help you in making these trees here.

©2015 Ashbee Design, Marji Roy, 3dcuts.com

DIY Centerpiece • Birch and Paper

Time for a winter centerpiece. So often our seasonal decor gets wrapped up in holiday themes. I like to do some creating without a holiday in mind. This tablescape is my approach to a winter theme without the influence of holidays, only nature.

You can see I have incorporated several of my recurring themes here - trees, birch, paper, denim.  The trees are made from plain white index card stock using the Silhouette pattern I created for Ledge Village.  The pattern is available for download here.  I made four cuttings for each tree, in five different sizes to create my table forest. Each was then attached to a birch sliced base.  

And the five of them were arranged on top of my scrap jeans table runner and combined with white candles in clear glass containers. The forest takes on a different aura when seen in candlelight. 

What I hadn't planned for but was pleased to discover is how well the trees work with the art on the dining area wall. The trees reflect the patterns in the woodcut - My Happy Place- and Then It Snowed by Lynita Shimizu.

I also experimented with a tree arrangement on the console table.

TreeScape Base Tutorial

The assembly instructions for these trees are located here on my Ashbee Design Silhouette Tutorial blog.  Start with those and use the steps for creating the 3D tree for free-standing applications. Once your trees are glued together make the bases.

The trees tend to blow over if not attached to a weighted base.  I cut some slices off a birch log.

Into each I drilled a small hole...

Pounded in a small finish nail and clipped the head.

 I then slide the nail up through the center of the 4 paper trees.

Fill out the crown of the tree by bending the matching branches in opposite directions.

Make a grouping and experiment with arrangements.

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© 2014 Marji Roy, Ashbee Design

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DIY Valentine Centerpiece • 2014

It is a little early for me to have a Valentine centerpiece on the table but this one required a little DIY time. I figured you would need a little advance notice if wanted to try a similar idea yourself.  I am sure it is no surprise to my regular followers that I combined a little Swedish inspiration with paper and my Silhouette to create these luminaries for my red and white table scape.

I combined the handcrafted paper luminaries (use only LED tea lights!) with white candles. My daughter and son-in-law gave me a supply of washi tape with colors for all seasons for Christmas. I used the red to accent the white pillar candles. The red and white hearts bring to mind the Swedish hearts used so often in their folk design. And yes, it does also remind me of the Queen of Hearts!

I have made the cutting files for these Valentine luminaries available at the Silhouette online store but have also posted a complete assembly tutorial on my other blog as well.

• 3D Valentine Luminaire - Tall here.
• 3D Valentine Luminaire - Medium here.
• 3D Valentine Luminaire - Small here.
• 3D Valentine Luminaire Tutorial here.

I also have uploaded the cutting files for the Valentine Trees I made last year. These were one of the first projects I completed on the Silhouette.

• 3D Valentine Tree - Open Hearts  here.
• 3D Valentine Tree - Solid Hearts here.

I just did a little back file exploring looking at projects from Valentine's Day past.  Here are a few reminders.

2013 - Twig Valentine Hearts

2012  - Duck Tape and Wood Bead Valentine Door Decor

2012 - Quick and East Centerpiece

Happy crafting everyone!

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© 2014 Marji Roy, Ashbee Design

Sharing this post at some of these link parties. They are worth checking out for other ideas.

Motivate Me Monday, Mop It Up Monday, Metamorphis Monday, Today's Creative Blog, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Not Just a House Wife, The Inspiration Board, Romancing on a Dime, DIY Dreamer, Whatever Goes Wednesday, House of Hepworths, Craftberry Bush, Jennifer Rizzo, One Artsy Mama, Craftionary, Flaunt in Friday, Tater Tots and Jello, Show and Tell Saturday, DIY Showoff, I Gotta Try That, The Girl Creative

Red and White Christmas Tablescape • Reindeer and Sleigh

I designed a contemporarily styled reindeer Silhouette cutting pattern. When I designed it, I pictured it in my mind made in all white and paired with a sleigh full of gifts. Because all white items don't show particularly well on the Silhouette store, I first crafted the grouping in more traditional colors. I still knew it would be stunning in all white, and that's what I wanted for my table. I finally had enough time to assemble another set, and this morning I photographed it to share with you.

I think my 4 1/2 year old grandson will love it! I do.

It is the first Christmas decorating for me this year.  I hope to do a little something every day or two, and then be all set to start baking cookies and put up the tree when the kids and their families arrive the weekend before Christmas.

For those that are interested in a more traditional paper choice, here is the photo of the other set.

If you are interested in making your own, I have a complete tutorial on my other blog. In fact there a three separate tutorials and three separate cutting files.

• The tutorial for the sleigh is here. Cutting file for the sleigh is here.
• The tutorial for the reindeer is here. Cutting file is here.
• The tutorial for the presents is here. Cutting file is here .

Have fun crafting. It is part of the joy of the season.

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© 2013 Marji Roy, Ashbee Design

Sharing this post at some of these link parties. They are worth checking out for other ideas.

Motivate Me Monday, Mop It Up Monday, Alderberry Hill, Metamorphis Monday, Tuesday Treasures,Today's Creative Blog, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Not Just a House Wife, The Inspiration Board, Romancing on a Dime, DIY Dreamer, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Transformation Thursday, House of Hepworths, Craftberry Bush, Jennifer Rizzo, One Artsy Mama, Craftionary, Flaunt in Friday, Tater Tots and Jello, Show and Tell Saturday, DIY Showoff, I Gotta Try That, Kathe With an E, The Girl Creative