Christmas Card Club Catch Up

Good morning all.
Yesterday was wicked...weatherwise but I  did get visitors which was nice. Also some good news, I'm to be a Great Aunt twice next year...my youngest sister will be a Nannie 3 x over and the rest of us are nowhere near!

Eldest may be returning home next week...they're in Sydney at the moment and he doesn't like it! Just as well his bedroom is ready for him!!

I've been very tardy with my Christmas Card Club posts this year...many apologies girls but I think I may have caught up finally!

3rd April...my own choice of "Stencil"

21st August, Maureen asked for "Lots of Layers"

Made this for my daughter, the little fella is decoupaged too.

4th September - Rachel gave us "A Winter Scene"

It's difficult to see the reindeer pulling the sleigh below the sentiment on this...but it's there!

18th September - Kate asked for "Woolie Hats and Gloves"

Errm I didn't quite make the remit for this one but you would need to wear them if you went out in the snow!

2nd October - Mrs A wanted "Festive Birds"

Not your average festive bird admittedly but this was going down under with my eldest so thought it appropriate! Not sure whether it's the hat or the sun causing the pinkness...

27th November - Mary set us "Mixed Media and Trees"

The middle tree is die cut from a piece of waste "Faux Pearl", this is for my younger son and his partner.

11th December and Rita gave us the theme of "Snow Scene"

The embossing does show up better on the white card.

I made four similar cards for my brother and three sisters, used up lots of backing papers from Papermania too. I've had a paper buying amnesty for two years now and still haven't made a dent in my supplies :(

Thank you ladies for your friendship throughout the year and I look forward to Christmas crafting with you again next year.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas however you may be spending it.

Golden Oldie

Good morning all.

Finally made it to join Erika with a golden oldie...it's been a whole year since I last joined in 😟

I've gone really golden oldie this time, so old it could probably be classed as an antique! 

Voila, I give you my first ever piece of craft work (or the first to survive)!

Okay ladies don't all laugh at once 😣

My Nana taught me to knit before I started school but we didn't do any in school until 2nd year in infants where we had a real tartar of a teacher! If she hadn't liked an older sibling you were automatically tarred with the same stick...safe to say her and my brother had never seen eye to eye :( 

Under her watchful eye I couldn't knit to save myself, so Friday afternoon saw me sent home with a ball of wool and needles and told to bring it back knitted. My Aunt had the dubious task that evening of babysitting the five of us (as if that wasn't enough for her), she also got to oversee the knitting. After several attempts I think the ball of wool gave up the ghost and these scraps came from Mum's knitting bag. We finally had a piece long enough to fold over when I discovered a mistake at the beginning...Aunty Agnes had that cast off and sewn up before you could say "Jack Robinson"...no one will notice that with the flap over! I think the crocheted strap was a later addition as I didn't learn to crochet until I was 7 or 8.

My knitting skills did improve after this and I always had the best dressed dolls, this was the first outfit I ever knitted under the watchful eye of my Great Aunt who also taught me to crochet.

I still have the pattern..if memory serves me right it was from The Peoples Friend!

I found lots of old treasures when moving stuff from one loft to the other earlier this year. Sadly my daughter was never into dolls so my box of girly stuff never got to see the light of day...maybe I'll get a granddaughter someday!

Little Boxes, Little Boxes...

Good morning all....

....bet you're all singing now - just be glad you can't hear my tone deaf version at this end!

Did someone mention Christmas?? Actually I'm about ready - pressies are all wrapped and under the tree; most of the cleaning is done and the nice people from Tesco are delivering my food shopping later. Just need a card for hubby and don't tell but I might do my recycling trick again...he'll never notice!

Needed some boxes for little gifts of Molton Brown travel size bottles, so went to my go to tutorial and made these last night. These are made with 12x12 papers from Tilda and the finished size is about 41/2" square by a little over 2" high..

Each box is two-tone...the papers are double sided and I've used opposite sides for the bases and lids. These are very sturdy boxes and can be made with any size of square paper...I tend to use the thicker scrap booking papers (partly because I have loads of them lol), just make sure you use a bone folder to get the creases neat.

I'll be round to catch up with you all again very soon :)

Stencil Sunday #77

Good evening all.

This time next week it will be all over...best get my butt into gear and get ready! Had planned to get so much done yesterday but I had an allergic reaction to the contrast agent they injected me with when I went for a routine MRI scan on Friday and it knocked me for seven...just what I needed...NOT!

My turn once more to inspire you to use your stencils over at STAMPlorations. This is our final Stencil Sunday post of this year, we'll be back mid January after a well-earned rest.

I have an upcycled jam jar to share...a very simple transformation!

I painted the outside with some leftover chalky paint, which was a bit messy so I used gesso for the second coat. Once dry I sprayed each side and the lid through the Snowflakes all Over stencil with DecoArt Media Misters. To finish I added some ribbon and beads around the neck and a few gems...et voila.

Could be used to hold sweet treats, flowers, herbs etc...I've added a battery operated night light to mine to make a festive ornament.

Our Mixed Media challenge runs until the end of the month, remember it's anything goes except a card.

Stencil Blog Hop - Day Two

Good afternoon all.

Day two of our week long Stencil Hop over at STAMPlorations...we'd love you to join us! There will be lots of prizes and plenty of inspiration from all the teams.

I've used the Merry Tree stencil today, simply inked up with DI and embossed to define it, then matted and layered. Sentiment is from Holiday Artsy stamp set and star is from my stash.

Stencil Blog Hop - Day One

Good afternoon all.

Throat is feeling much better today...think the champers a friend and I quaffed yesterday when out for Christmas lunch made a great lubricant!

We're having a week long Stencil Hop over at STAMPlorations starting today...we'd love you to join us! There will be lots of prizes and plenty of inspiration from all the teams.

Today's project is a card made using a piece of leftover background from my tutorial last week which used the Snowflakes all Over stencil. Simply matted and layered with dies from WPlus9 and Spellbinders, then I added a snowflake and a label for the sentiment from Holiday Artsy.

Christmas Card Club - "Snowscene"

Good afternoon all.
The kids have kindly passed on some of their bugs and I woke feeling like I've swallowed a cup of razors, just what I need before Christmas...not!

What lovely weather we've had this last few days...we had a stunning sunset yesterday. On Friday the sale went through for our old house...poor bloke was camped out on the drive for several hours whilst the monies were sorted as he was in the middle of a chain, so glad we were the top!

Gary and his friends are travelling across Australia from Perth to Sydney at the moment, following the coast road. They've just crossed the Nullarbor Plains and have arrived in Ceduna...not sure whether they're sticking to the coast or heading inland from here, don't think they know themselves!

I've been very neglectful of the Christmas Card Club of late...and my stash of cards is wearisome as a result. However I have managed to make one for today when Rita asked for a "Snowscene". This is our last challenge of the year and next year I must try harder! I have got some catch up makes made but need to sort out the photos.

Made with a freebie from a magazine I bought last week which included the embossing folder, stamps and dies. I added some stickles to finish it off.

Yesterday's sunset!

Must get my cards written this afternoon so I can get them in the post....plus start making any extras I need!

Snowflake Tag - Tutorial

Good evening all.

Sorry I'm still being such an awful blogger, I just can't seem to get in my stride at the minute!

The two kids and I enjoyed our time in Vienna...it was exceedingly chilly but very sunny weather and we had a great time wandering around the city visiting the Christmas Markets, going to the zoo and seeing the Natural History Museum.

My turn to produce a tutorial over at STAMPlorations today and since it will soon be Christmas (just thought I'd remind you all) I've produced a tag.

I hope you like the tutorial and find it inspirational.

Stencil Sunday #75 + December Mixed Media Challenge

Good evening all. 

Hopefully blogger is behaving and scheduled this as asked. Meanwhile I'm hopefully enjoying the Christmas markets in Vienna with my youngest two...eldest left for Australia on Thursday on his latest adventure! It's going to be a funny Christmas without him :(

First Sunday in December which heralds our final mixed media challenge of the year over at Stencil Sunday, we hope you can join us.

A Christmas tag from me this time using the Snowflakes all Over stencil.....firstly I sprayed through the stencil with various blue DI sprays, once dry I then reapplied the stencil and embossed it. The tags were cut with the Luggage Tags Nesting Dies and the larger one was also embossed with the snowflakes stencil. The sentiment from the Holiday Artsy stampset was stamped and heat embossed onto a label and attached with brads. Various twines and fibres from my stash finish things off.

Anything mixed media goes except a card, you have until the end of the month to link up.