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

Sweet Sixteen

Good morning all.

Well my little girl is 16 today, I can't believe it...don't know how it happened this quickly!! Unfortunately she's still a tomboy...no interest in clothes, make up, jewellery or hairstyles...so incredibly difficult to buy for...and make cards for!

This is the card I made her, fairly unfussy and not too girly!

The image is one I won recently from Lacy Sunshine, coloured with promarkers. Banner die from Joanna Sheen, all other dies from Spellbinders. Embossing folder from Die'sire, a freebie during Crafter's Companion's birthday week. The narrow silk ribbons are from Crafty Ribbons and tied using a fork. In retrospect I wish I'd used a green mat under the purple one but hey ho Lora won't notice!!

Love this new fancy square die set I bought recently, think it will be getting used a lot.

She's off to the pictures later with a friend (and her Dad) for her birthday treat so I should get a peaceful few hours.

Challenges entered:

CRAFT - inspired by Movie/TV/Song (Puff the Magic Dragon)

Crafty Ribbons - anything goes with ribbon

Digistamps4Joy - anything goes

Divas by Design - anything goes

Paper Shelter - special birthday

Created with Love - anything goes

Lacy Sunshine - celebration

Allsorts - anything but Christmas

Crafter's Companion - ribbon, thread or twine

Carol x

Crafting for all Seasons #67 "Anything Christmas but a Card" Part 2

Good morning all.

Our challenge at CFAS  is "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.

This is my second project.

Another gift bag, this time for my brother. The image is Frosty from Rick St Dennis which I've coloured with promarkers and highlighted with pearlescent chalks. Papers are from Papermania; embossing folder was a magazine freebie; flowers, button, ribbons and raffia from my stash. Snowflake from Asda and the bother charm came from a local garden centre. 

A close up of the quirky snowman. 

and finally a close up of the embellishment, the little white bow was tied on a fork...so cute!

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed. My third project will be showcased on Christmas Day.

Challenges entered:
Crafty Sentiments Design - Christmas
Creative Card Crew - holly or poinsettia
Holly Jolly - Christmas blog hop
Inky Chicks - Christmas
Passion for Promarkers - include a sentiment
Through the Craft Room Door - anything goes
All Crafts Challenge - anything but a card
Craft -Dee BowZ - anything goes with a bow
Crafting from the Heart - anything goes
Crafty Boots - Christmas

Carol x

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

Good morning all. Hope everyone is well or getting better.
Well only two weeks left, need to get my skates on and finish off some more scarves for my sisters and niece...apart from that I'm about organised except for the cleaning and decorations....oh heck better get my skates on turbo charge! Hubby and kids are going to be on recycled cards again this year as I hadn't made enough specials and I'm not going to send myself into a tizzy trying to get them made now...and they won't notice it's the same card as last year!!

Today it's time for a new challenge at CFAS and this time the theme is "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.

Using a pre-coloured image from Whoopsi Daisy sheet #380 which I've highlighted with some pearlescent chalk and stickles, I've made a gift bag for another of my sisters. Papers are from Papermania, embossing folder was a magazine freebie, snowflake die from Memory Box, glittered snowflake from Asda, ribbon and gem from my stash. The sister tag is from East of India.

Close up of the embossing.

Close up of the bow, the little white bow was made on a fork...the first time I've made one of these and I have to say they come out perfectly.

  and finally a close up of the image, my favourite snowman image as it's just so cute and happy.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the rest of the girls inspiration, you won't be disappointed. I'll be back tomorrow with another project.

Challenges entered:
Paper Crafting Journey - it's Christmas time
Crafty Ribbons - spots or stripes
CRAFT - Christmas
As you Like it - favourite digi and why (see above)
Winter Wonderland - embossing
Totally Papercrafts - anything Christmas but a card
Polka Doodles - make a gift/anything Christmas
Fairy Tale - box or wrapping
Word Play Saturday - snowman
CHNC - for someone special
CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes
All that Stickles - happy holidays
Whoopsi Daisy - non traditional Christmas colours/anything goes with WD image

Carol x

Christmas Crafting (with sketches) #103

Good morning all.

It's time for another challenge over at CCWS and we hope you're playing along with us this year and stocking up on those Christmas cards and projects. It's the turn of the Holiday Fairies to inspire you this week and Wilma Z has designed the sketch. We are being sponsored by Scrap it and Wrap it. 

You will have to pop over to the challenge blog to see the sketch for yourself, remember to check out the inspiration of the other DT members whilst you're there. 

Carol x

Knitting

Good morning all.
I woke up yesterday with a cricked right shoulder...gosh it's sore! Yesterday afternoon I settled down to make some finishers for some scarves I bought from Crafter's Companion a while ago only to discover some of the beads were missing! I have to say they were very helpful when I phoned and hopefully I'll be sent the missing bits fairly quickly. Did get some birthday cards made instead though.

Some knitting to share today....if you remember I bought loads of wool at the SECC in February this year to knit lots of scarves for Christmas presents. Well here's the first one...guess the rest will have to be saved for next Christmas!!

This one is a scarf necklace with a double twist knitted in Zip yarn. The colours are gorgeous and really sparkle although I can't get a decent photo. Now who do I give it to....or do I keep it for myself??? That is the question!

Challenges entered:

Anything but a Card Challenge - anything goes

Dream Valley Challenges - anything but a card

Scribble and Scrap  - anything goes

Through the Craft Room Door - anything goes

Carol x