Tilda with Cracker on a Scandinavian Woven Heart Basket

Happy December!! I hope that all of you are well and at least partially settled into the holiday season which is right upon us all!!! First off I would like to express my sincere thanks to Helena for featuring my blog on on Saturday, November 28. I am indeed so honored and so appreciative for all of the kind words. Thank you, Helena!!!

This month at Magnolia-licious the very talented Cheryl decided that, rather than a sketch, that all of the DT members would do a SHAPED card, meaning something rather than the ordinary square or rectangle...I hope that's what she meant..lol So the very first thing I thought about were the Scandinavian woven heart baskets since our beloved Maggies are from Sweden.

Affectionately known in Sweden as "Jhärtkorgar", the traditional whimsical Scandinavian Woven Heart Baskets were woven out of paper. The Danish fairytale writer – Hans Christian Andersen - created the very first woven heart in the mid 1800s. This original woven heart still exists today, exhibited in its home country for all to see; reminding us of the power of love. The tradition of making woven hearts was very much a Scandinavian secret. Families in Scandinavia would sit down and weave these lovely paper hearts in the days leading up to Christmas. The woven hearts would then be hung on their Christmas trees, with some bearing gifts of candies or cookies inside them to surprise their children.

And knowing that I only make 6X6 cards because often I use a presentation box, I had to formulate a heart that would be 6X6 (on its side), would fit in the box, and would have equal sized slats for me to weave...Not an easy task for a non-mathematical brain like me!!! Anyway, I used Bazzill for the base and two DPs from the New Magnolia Christmas Collection -- Lingonberry and Wrapped Plaid. On the front of the card/basket/ornament is the most darling Tilda with Christmas Cracker who has just arrived at Magnolia-licious and is waiting on you there!!! She was stamped twice on Cryogen White, colored with Copics and a touch of Spica, cut out and propped up on dimensional tape. I used a bit of Diamond Glaze on the ornament and Spica gold and silver on the cracker. I added a couple of leaves and a Prima poinsettia with a snowman dangle, a Hunter green organza bow and ribbon and finally distressed all edges of the heart with white acrylic paint. The back of the card is the jotting place to which I just added some snowflake and snowman buttons to repeat from the front.

Here are the front and back views of the heart basket and the presentation box:




All of the details on the box are actually buttons with the shanks removed...I also added a tiny bit of FlowerSoft, some Diamond Stickles on the snowflakes, and Liquid Applique on the trees (a last minute thought which you will note below).


This may give you a better idea of what the set looks like with the heart basket filled with peppermint sticks...of course any kind of little gift could be placed inside.


You can find all of the details for this December project over on the Magnolia-licious Highlites site so I hope you will join us.

Thank you so much for coming by to see me today and I hope you will let me know what you think of my SHAPED project. I don't know how many of the DT have their SHAPED cards up yet, but I do know that the quintessentially creative Claudia is posting her beauty today so be sure to hop over there and have a peek, too!!! And check back at the Magnolia-licious Highlites site over the coming days to see other examples. Please come back often and until we meet again, BIG Maggie hugs for you!!!