Boasting sentiments that will raise a smile and uplift you whenever you need a dose of cheer – every crafter has to give these a

What you need...

• Paint, metallic acrylic
  Water-soluble inks
  Gel pen, glitter
  Watercolour paper
  Tissue paper: white, blue
  Dies: circles, 4cm, 4.5cm, 5cm
  Tools: water spritzer, paintbrush, lightbox (optional)
  Beads

instructions

1. Watercolour Backgrounds - 1 Pour water-soluble ink onto a saucer and dip the tip of a paintbrush into it. Flick tiny spots of ink onto a sheet of dry watercolour paper. Add another shade of ink in the same way and allow it to soak in.
   
   2 Lightly spritz areas of the paper with water and shake ink onto the surface as before. This time the ink should spread and dilute a little. Leave to dry before repeating the process in different areas.
   
   3 Continue building up the layers of colour as desired. More layers, water and darker inks can create an almost solid background which is perfect for white lettering. Scattered colours with a lot of white space looks great with metallics.

2. Paper Discs - 1 Take two sheets of tissue paper in white and blue. Fold them carefully to a manageable size and die-cut several circles measuring 4cm, 4.5cm and 5cm.
   
   2 Arrange the discs in alternating colours and decreasing sizes to make an odd number of piles. Decrease the number of discs in each pile working out from the centre so the garlands will be different lengths.
   
   3 Take a long piece of cotton and thread a bead onto it. Take the loose end of the thread and pass through the eye of the needle so the bead sits at the centre of a loop. Pass the double thread through the centre of a small paper disc and then add another bead.
   
   4 Continue adding circles and beads to separate the shapes from each other. Add a final bead and pass the needle through this a second time to lock the garland in place. Fix the loose end of thread to the inside of a magnetic poster hanger with washi tape. Repeat to complete the trim.