Favourite Five Creations 2013

Good morning all. 

What a cold wet horrible day it was yesterday, I hope it perks up a bit today. We're off round to our neighbours this afternoon for drinks and nibbles then we'll be in for the rest of the night.

The lovely Debby has set another challenge to pick your five favourite creations of 2013, this is going to be difficult!!

Warning this is very long and photo heavy, grab a cup of tea (or something stronger) and make yourself comfortable!!

Here are my five favourite cards from my general crafting:

Happy Birthday

Crafting for all Seasons #55 Make it Girly

Crafting for all Seasons #52 "Think Pink"

Crafting for all Seasons #46 Dies and Punches

Whoopsi Daisy For a Child

Here are my favourite layouts from 2013:

 Ready2Go                       Meeting the Locals                     Brian

A snapshot of eldest's Mongol Rally adventure.

          

Oh what a beautiful day

Memories of a fabulous day in July at my nephew's wedding.

One Moment

A glimpse into our few days in Venice to celebrate our Silver Wedding.

Each Day is Brighter         You are my Sunshine            Live Laugh Love

These three layouts have to be my all time favourites of the kids.

    

As 2013 was a year of milestones in our family my favourites wouldn't be complete without showing the special cards.

New Beginnings

My Aunt's 90th Birthday in January, this card was made for my Mum to give her.

Crafting for all Seasons #50 No Stamps Allowed

My Mum's 80th birthday in April.

Congratulations

2nd Nephew's Engagement in April.

Crafting for all Seasons #54 One for the Guys

Younger son's 21st in June.

Happy Wedding

1st Nephew's Wedding in July.

No Rest for the Wicked

Niece's engagement in July.

Silver Wedding

Our Silver Wedding Anniversary in September.

Gosh that was a task and a half....if you're still with me well done, you deserve a medal!!

Many thanks for your company, friendship, support and comments this year and for bearing with me when I was an absentee blogger. I'd like to wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year and here's to lots of crafting for us all in 2014. I'm looking forward to being inspired by everyone's fabulous makes.

Carol x

Christmas Crafting (with sketches) Bloghop Winners

Many thanks to all who took part, we hope you enjoyed hopping around our blogs as much as we enjoyed hopping around yours.
Here is a list of all the winners.   Carol --> Hetty .. Christina --> .... .. Desiree --> Thea .. Diana --> Channah .. Eemili --> Sandra .. Janneke --> Wilma . Jacqueline --> Fabiola . Jolanda --> Aartje . Maritha --> Anita . Renata --> Margreet . Samantha --> ... . Wilma --> Peggy  . Please contact the DT-member in front of your name by going to her blog and emailing her personally.
Congratulations Hetty, please leave your details in a comment on this post (comments are moderated so won't be published) and I'll get your prize in the post asap.
Carol x

Away in a Manger

Good morning all.

A quick Christmas card I realised I hadn't yet blogged.

Kraft cardstock base and a cute decoupage from Cuddly Buddly......et voila!

Challenges entered:

Catch the Bug - fav Christmas song (Away in a Manger)

CHNC - starting over

CHNC Extra - anything goes

Craftyhands Challenge - seasons greetings

Winter Wonderland - fashion (not the height of but I'm sure it rocked in it's day!!)

Aud Sentiments - Christmas

Southern Girls - Christmas wishes

Little Red Wagon - Christmas

Carol x

Favourite Five Christmas Creations

Good morning all.

I hope you've all survived the festivities intact and were suitably spoilt!

My hubby sure knows how to spoil a girl....he bought me a tool kit....no not a crafting tool kit, one full of spanners and wrenches and such like. It did also contain a voucher for the local jewellery/gift shop though, so I can go choose something for myself in the New Year :)

I didn't get around to joining in Debby's challenge last year so when I saw everyone posting this year thought I'd better shake a leg and do it before I forgot. So here are my favourite five:

The links should take you to the original posts.

First Christmas

Guest Design Spot

Christmas Crafting (with sketches) #98

Crafting for all Seasons #48 Anything but a Card

Crafting for all Seasons #67 "Anything Christmas but a Card" Midway Reminder

Gosh it was difficult to pick only five!

Thanks to Debby for doing a linkup for this, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's favourite fives.

Carol x

Crafting for all Seasons #67 "Anything Christmas but a Card" Midway Reminder

Good morning and a very Merry Christmas to you all. I hope Santa has been good and everyone enjoys their day whatever you're up to.

Today I've got a midway reminder of our challenge at CFAS, the theme being "Anything Christmas but a Card". We're  looking forward to seeing all your makes. As this is a special one month long challenge we have three sponsors - Whoopsi Daisy, Robyn's Fetish and Rick St Dennis who all gave the DT images to work with.

Another bag from me this time for my niece. Using Chester da snowman and Bella da snowlady from Robyn's Fetish which I've coloured with promarkers before fussy cutting and highlighting with pearlescent chalk and stickles. Paper is from Papermania, embossing folder from Cuttlebug, icicle, village and sign dies all from Marianne Design, rosette and snowflake dies from Memory box, border punch from Martha Stewart, gemstone, buttons (painted white) and cord from my stash.

 Close up of the rosette and sentiment which was computer generated.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed. 

Challenges entered:

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

2 Creative Chicks - Christmas/winter

A Little Bit Crafty - Christmas cheer

Die Cut Divas - let's celebrate

Ladybug Crafts - Christmas/winter

Seema Crafts - Christmas
Sparkles Monthly - anything but a card
Marianne's Design Divas - anything goes
Pile it On - p is for pearl, punch and paint

Carol x

Merry Christmas

Good morning all. Hoping this finds you well.

My iron levels have taken a nose dive so I've been given iron tablets for three months....that would explain why I'd no energy and was eating for three!!

 I managed to get the rum butter and Bailey's truffles made yesterday and hubby did some mince pies so we're not desperate for anything else. I was so tired yesterday though that when making the truffles I got all the dry ingredients mixed, added the melted butter and thought this isn't all going to bind together...chucked in a large glass of baileys...thought it needs another!! Then checked the recipe to make sure I hadn't misread the quantity of butter and realised I'd forgotten the condensed milk!! So my truffles are decidedly alcoholic lol.

Just waiting for Tesco to deliver this morning, then I need to clean out eldest's room so my Mum can sleep there and gut the kitchen/dining room ready for Wednesday. Hopefully I'll get the turkey and the gammon cooked today too, so they're out of the way. Tomorrow will be spent delivering presents and picking up Mum. 

The craft room is now closed although I still need to re-envelope hubby and the kids cards! I do have a scheduled post for Christmas Day but other than that I probably won't post again until the New Year.

A big thank you to all of my followers for the support and lovely comments you give, it makes it all worthwhile. I hope you all enjoy the festivities however you celebrate and wish each and everyone of you a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

I'll leave you with some photos of my decorations.....many of which are still in the loft as I hadn't the energy to put any more up!

The tree

Sideboard with my new nativity scene

Fire place

and the hall table

Carol x

Shamballa Bracelet

Good morning all.

My first attempt at jewellery making!! A present for one of my sisters.

I bought a couple of kits from Beader's Companion when they had a huge stock clearance so they could merge with CC...I've got lots of materials left to make some more!!

This little box made using 6x6 papers was the perfect size to use as a gift box.

Carol x

Sweet Dreams

Good morning all.

We're getting there!! Still waiting for one parcel to be delivered, I'm a bit annoyed as I ordered in November and wasn't expecting a delay but hey ho someone may have to wait for their pressie if it doesn't arrive before we do the deliveries. The hoover filter is on it's way first class so hopefully it will arrive today or Monday...in time to be used!

Another quick birthday card to share today.

Topper, paper and sentiment all from Kraftyhands. Dies from Spellbinders. Ribbon and pearls from my stash.

Challenges entered:

Alphabet Challenge - W for whatever you wish

Brown Sugar - anything goes

Crafts 4 Eternity - anything goes

Polka Doodles - anything goes

Crafts-Too Challenge You - natural world, twist winged things

Craftitude - anything goes/Christmas sparkle

Carol x

Happy Birthday

Good morning all.

A simple birthday card to share today....I'd like to say no cards were harmed in the making of this one but I'd be lying - I scrapped four before using a different stamp and creating this one!!

Stamp from La Blanche, stamped in Memento ink and coloured with promarkers. Sentiment stamp from Wild Rose Studios.

Challenges entered:

4Krafty Girlz - anything goes

Artistic Stampers - anything goes

Emergency Crafters - anything but Christmas

Creative Corner - clean and simple

Sister Act card challenge - anything goes

STAMPlorations - stamps and silhouettes

Stempelsonne - anything goes

Stamping for the Weekend - anything goes

Crafts 4 Eternity - anything goes

Carol x

Beaded Scarves

Good afternoon all.

The day isn't going according to plan....hubby in his wisdom "helped" out yesterday by dismantling the hoover and cleaning it all, leaving the filter to dry under the radiator in the kitchen. Meanwhile younger son brought the dog into the kitchen for the evening and she decided the filter looked good enough to eat. Hence I spent an hour and £20 trying to source a new filter this afternoon and don't have a hoover to use until it arrives! Grrrrrrrrr!!

I eventually got some of my beaded scarves made last week to give as Christmas pressies. They proved fairly simple to make thankfully, with the right tools and a set of instructions!

Seen here being reluctantly modelled by my daughter.

All of the scarves came from Crafter's Companion when they had their birthday week sale on. We have a bead shop in town where I bought my tool kit and they have monthly beading classes so I may go in the New Year to learn some tricks of the trade....could be heading down another slippery slope here lol.

Carol x

First Christmas

Good morning all. Hope you're all well.

Had a lovely visit home yesterday including lunch out with my Mum, niece and two of my sisters followed by a visit to my third sister and two nephews. All cards and pressies delivered so that's cleared a little space. Hubby shampooed the carpets whilst I was out so I need to finish gutting the kids bedrooms today.

Sharing a Christmas card today made for our neighbours who had a second daughter in October. I'd made a special card for the elder one's first Christmas so thought I'd better make them both the same. Hopefully my last Christmas card this year!

Kraft base, red layer punched with a Martha Stewart snowflake PATP, gingham paper from a Holly Hobbie magazine freebie. Topper from LOTV highlighted with stickles. Ivy corner die from Joanna Sheen, all other dies from Spellbinders. Ribbons, pearls, lace and sentiment tag from my stash. Small snowflakes are punch waste. Snowflake sentiment computer generated.

Challenges entered:

Baffies Kreativladen - last minute Christmas

Crafty Creations - anything goes

Creative Belli - Christmas

Divas by Design - anything goes

Fan-Tastic Tuesday - punches and dies

LEJ Designs - anything goes

Papertake Weekly - Christmas

The Shabby Tea Room - red and white or gingerbread

Unstampabelles - Christmas

Winter Wonderland - ribbons and pearls

Die Cut Divas - let's celebrate

Carol x

Christmas Crafting (with sketches) #104 Blog Hop

Good morning all.
Well no sign of the cleaning fairy so far so I had to make a start myself yesterday. I'm off down home today to start delivering cards and pressies and hopefully make some space in my bedroom so I can get in and clean!

It's time for another challenge over at CCWS and if you've played along with us this year you'll have a good stock of Christmas cards and projects by now. This week both the Snow Angels and the Holiday Fairies are taking part and we're having a Blog Hop.

Sadly this will be my last challenge as a design team member as I've taken the decision to step down to concentrate on weddings and other projects for the time being. I will miss all my teamies though...they've been such a great bunch of girls to work with :)

You should have arrived at my blog from CCWS if not pop back now so you don't miss any of the instructions.

Here is my project made with the sketch Janneke designed.

My third sister bag! Image is from Wild Rose Studios, coloured with promarkers and highlighted with stickles around the edges. Papers are all Papermania; square and bauble dies are from Spellbinders; corner ivy and starburst dies are from Joanna Sheen; embossing folder from Cuttlebug; ribbons, lace, poinsettia and sentiment from my stash. Sister tag from East of India.

and a close up of the embellishment. 

We've no sponsors this challenge, instead each DT member will pick a winner from those entering the challenge who've also completed the blog hop and send a Christmas related prize to that person. The blog hop will close at 8pm (European Time) on Saturday December 28th and winners will be announced at CCWS on Monday the 30th December at 12 noon (European Time).

My prize will be the set of Layering Flowers from Alota Rubber Stamps which I used for my last DT project along with some bits and bobs :)

From here you need to go to Wilma's blog.....Happy Hopping!

You will have to pop over to the challenge blog to see the sketch for yourself and you'll find full details of the hop in case you get lost.

Challenges entered:
All that Stickles - happy holidays
Speedy Fox and Friends - use 3 DP's
Totally Gorjuss - special Christmas
Brown Sugar - Christmas
Craftitude - anything goes/Christmas sparkle
Crafts 4 Eternity - Christmas chaos
Cut it Up - Christmas
Fairy tale Challenge - box or wrapping
All Crafts Challenge - anything but a card
Victorine Originals - red and green + embossing

Carol x

Turquoise

Good morning all.

A few jobs ticked off the list yesterday but no cleaning done!! Perhaps the fairies will pop in when I'm not looking....I can live in hope. Dr's appointment this morning then I must get to it!!

A birthday card to share today...I needed a few for December and this was quick and easy.

Love these vintage toppers from Kraftyhands. Paper and sentiment are also from Kraftyhands. Dies are from Spellbinders...told you you'd see a lot of them lol. A cute little double bow with a button attached finish the card off.

Challenges entered:

Crafty Girls Challenge - anything goes

Penny's Paper Crafty - feminine with a sentiment

Emergency Crafter's - anything but Christmas

Kraftyhands - anything goes

Pumpkin Spice - ribbon or bows

Craft-Dee Bowz - anything goes with a handmade bow

Love to Create - anything goes

My Craft Creations - anything goes

Hobby Cutz - all tied up

Carol x

Joy

Good morning all.

Decorations all up now just have to clean the rest of the house and do some baking...I do hate housework!!

A quick Christmas card to share today, made for my nephew and his wife and very reminiscent of their wedding invites which I made earlier this year.

The Spellbinders Heirloom stamps were a magazine freebie, stamped in DI embossing ink and heat embossed with EP. Silver peel offs and cord used to finish off the card.

Challenges entered:

WOW Embossing Powder - family inspired project

One Crazy Stamper - winter or holiday

Artistic Stampers - anything goes

Inky Impressions - Christmas ornaments

Fan-Tastic Tuesday - add some sparkle

Ladybugs Crafts Ink TLT - keep it simple

Sweet Stamps - simple Christmas

Sweet Stampin - last minute Christmas

CAS on Sunday - Christmas

CHNC - whatever's urgent

Carol x

Christmas Card Club "Get your Skates on"

Good morning all.

I managed to get most of the decorations up yesterday but what is with men?? I asked for everything to be got out of the loft...1st shift I got about 6 boxes each containing one item....2nd shift several hours later was a box and a bag...3rd shift was just hard work and I'm sure we still don't have everything yet! Nobody will listen to me and sort the loft so all the Christmas stuff stays together so we have this problem every year....sigh!

Sharing a second card as a Guest Designer at The Joanna Sheen Challenge blog. The month long challenge is to "Make it Sparkle". Fabulous goodies can be found on the wobbly shelves at Joanna's online shop

It's also time for our next challenge over at the Christmas Card Club, it was Sue's turn to choose the theme this time and she's asked us to "Get your skates on ...it'll soon be Christmas!".  Here is my card made to cover both:

Using a gorgeous snowy Thomas Kinkade image from Joanna Sheen printed onto artists canvas, simply matted and layered. Ribbon, brad and sentiment from my stash; snowflake die from Spellbinders. Lots of glamour dust and stickles to add some sparkle.

I really must get my CD's out more often...the cards are so quick and easy to make....it's choosing the image to use that takes forever lol!

You'll find the rest of the girls listed on my sidebar if you'd like to pop over and see their creations.

Challenges entered:

CHNC Extra - anything goes

Happy Campers - Christmas

Moving along with the Times - winter wonderland

Creative Moments - winter wonderland

Scrapper's Delight - Christmas

Sisterhood of Crafters - Christmas sparkle

Party Time Tuesdays - winter wonderland

CHNC - whatever is urgent

Carol x

Boxes galore

Good morning all. I hope everyone is well.

I'm hopefully going to get my decorations up today, I did some of the cleaning yesterday to make way for them. The rest of the house will be gutted during the week ready for my Mum arriving for Christmas. I eventually got the presents made for my sisters this week so everything is now wrapped and ready to deliver, thank goodness.

Sharing the boxes I made for my sisters and niece today.

Papers are all from Papermania, each box takes two 12 inch square sheets and the finished size is about four and a half inches square. Ribbons and embellishments are all from my Christmas stash box. Most of the ribbons are recycled from previous years Christmas cakes, the sentiments are several years old and the embellishments on the last box are all at least a year old and recycled.

These were all filled with Molton Brown travel size toiletries.

You can find the tutorial to make the boxes here.

Challenges entered:

CRAFT - inspired by movie/tv/song (Little Boxes)

Rhedd and Rosies Challenge - use old stash

Holly Jolly Christmas - Christmas plus blog hop (2nd entry)

LEJ Designs - festive fun

Top Tip Tuesday - snowflakes

Top Tip - when making boxes don't forget to cut the base slightly smaller than the lid so that they fit together easily.

My Craft Creations - anything goes

Parade your Crafts - Christmas projects

Unstampabelles - Christmas

Crafts and Me - anything goes

Crafty Ribbons - anything goes

Carol x