Christmas Card Club - "Christmas Flowers"

Good morning all.

"Christmas Flowers" has been set as the theme for our little Christmas Card Club this week by the lovely Rachel. One quick decoupage card from me this time as I have my Mum staying and didn't get myself organised before she came.

Decoupage from Joanna Sheen which has been in my stash for many a year! Dies from Wplus9 and Spellbinders.

If you'd like to see what the other girls made you'll find their links in my sidebar.

Christmas Card Club - "Christmas/Snowy Scene"

Good morning all.

What a gorgeous day we had yesterday, some more of the same would be very nice!

I can't believe two weeks have passed since our last Christmas Card Club outing...I'm sure someone pinched one of my weeks! Shaz has set us the theme of  "Christmas/Snowy Scene" this time, I've managed two cards.

My first is a Joanna Sheen decoupaged image...a real oldie from my stash! Dies from Spellbinders and Wplus9.

My second uses a recent purchase from the Works....cheap diecut decoupage, sadly in this case "you gets what you pay for"! Whilst the layers match up okay they've been cut to the left of the main image so the white border around the image isn't equal. Dies from Spellbinders.

If you'd like to see what the other girls have produced you'll find their links in my sidebar.

Christmas Card Club "Snowmen"

Good morning all.

Busy, busy, busy here....on the final leg as we're moving on Tuesday! (It's only taken us four months!). Going to be giving my kitchen a once over today and cleaning the oven ready for use. Getting excited now!!

Can't believe another fortnight has flown by though and it's time once more to share my little make for the Christmas Card Club. Lorraine has asked for "Snowmen"....one of my favourite themes :)

Image and sentiment stamps from Joanna Sheen...one of my all time favourites! Dies from Spellbinders and Wplus9. Still working with minimum supplies so I dived into the bit box to see what I had in the way of coloured card and since there were two pieces the same I made two cards....then I took another look to see what I could find...

and made two more! A third delve resulted in another two!!

So that's boosted my card tally somewhat...I don't usually make even two the same but needs must and it is cute...quick, easy and flat for posting...ticks all the boxes!! Will probably add some stickles later when I get up to the new craft room. I'll finally get to use my Christmas present which is still in it's box!

If you'd like to see what the other girls have produced you'll find the links in my sidebar.

To my blog candy winners...all parcels were posted first class on Wednesday afternoon. I hope you all enjoy your goodies finally!

Christmas Card Club "Cute"

Good morning all. Hope everyone is well and sending hugs to those who need them.

Still packing here, managed to finish most of the china yesterday and lots of it is unpacked, washed and put away in the new house. So one house is filling up nicely and the other has appeared again from under the piles of boxes and packing materials!

From under the chaos of packing boxes I have managed to get to my blog candy goodies...and with huge apologies to the ladies who won, I can now say your prizes have been packaged and are now ready to be taken to the post office.

Another two weeks have flown past and it's Sylvie's turn to host our Christmas Card Club challenge and she asked for "Cute". As is usual at the moment my card was a last minute one and this decoupage was the nearest thing I had to hand which vaguely resembled cute!

Another of my Joanna Sheen decoupage sheets used up...so like this snowman! Die from Wplus9.

You'll find a list of the other ladies in my sidebar if you'd like to see how they interpreted the challenge.

Christmas Card Club "Poinsettias or Christmas Angels"

Good morning all.

The new house is moving along slowly in the right direction and my craft room is ready to kit out, so guess how I'm going to be spending my week?

Feeling much better now and my blood pressure is remaining down without medication, just waiting for the cholesterol test results to see if there has been any change there...fingers crossed! Sadly the week wasn't all good news, my 93 year old Aunt died on Thursday...I did manage to get down to say my goodbyes on Wednesday which has to be one of the hardest and saddest things I've ever done. Don't know yet when the funeral is but I've been excused Jury duties this week in case it's on a weekday. I'm hoping all my cousins manage to get up as we've never all been under the same roof together and this is the only time it's likely to happen.

Any way it's Christmas Card Club time once again and Mary asked to see "Poinsettias or Christmas Angels".

Another of my Joanna Sheen decoupage sheets used with my Wplus9 die and a Spellbinders die. I have managed to add the decoupage layers this time! I hope you're not getting sick of seeing this design but it's a case of "if it's not broke don't fix it"!!

You'll find a list of the other girls in my sidebar if you'd like to see what they've created.

I'll be back later with my inspiration for the new Mixed Media challenge at STAMPlorations.

Christmas Card Club "Red Berries"

Good morning all.....and huge apologies for my prolonged absence!

I can't believe it's a month since I last blogged....it's been a fraught four weeks! The new house is still ongoing although it is now being pieced back together...the dining room is almost finished and the new kitchen will be fitted this week and we have new wardrobes being fitted as we speak. It's been a long haul to get this far but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end.

To top this I've had a few health problems, mainly side effects of the medication I was on. I'm now off everything for two weeks and hopefully my blood pressure and cholesterol will still be at acceptable levels when I'm tested in two weeks time.

I finally made it into the craft room last night and managed a very quick card as today is Christmas Card Club day....I still haven't made one for my own challenge two weeks ago but I'll catch up someday! Apologies girls as I still haven't commented on your cards but promise I'll get there. Mrs A has asked to see "Red Berries" this time, here is my offering:

Another of my general cards made...Joanna Sheen decoupage (although I'll admit the layers haven't yet been added), dies from Spellbinders and Wplus9 and some more of that Kanban card I'm trying to work my way through. Apologies for the poor quality photo but my camera took poorly whilst we were in New Zealand and I've only just got around to getting it picked up to be repaired, so using my old camera for now.

You'll find a list of the other girls on my sidebar if you'd like to see their take on the challenge.

Now I need to grovel.....huge, huge apologies to my candy winners for not getting your prizes out to you. I have everything ready to pack up to post but just haven't managed to do so yet. I'm hoping over the next few days my energy levels will return somewhat to normal and I may be able to function for a whole day instead of intermittently! Hoping to do some blog hopping soon too to catch up with you all...it's been too long and I need a crafty fix!

Christmas Card Club "2 or more patterned papers"

Good morning all.

Yesterday was spent sanding paint work in my new craft room, this morning I ache in places I didn't know existed!! I think we're ready to decorate it now though, just need to wash it down today to get rid of the dust. This is how it looks at the moment:

....and this is the view from the  window, there was actually a deer standing on the grassy patch in the distance when I took this yesterday.

Today it's time for another Christmas Card Club outing and this week GranMargaret asked for "2 or more patterned papers". I've cheated slightly and counted my decoupage as one of the papers, hope no one minds!

Please excuse the photo...my camera developed a fault when we were away so I had to use my phone for this! Decoupage from Joanna Sheen; dies from Spellbinders and Wplus9. Sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

Candy winners...your prizes will hopefully be posted on Tuesday when I get up to the High Street again, sorry for the delay.

Rudolph Day 2

Good morning all.

We've finally been cleared to fly so will arrive home on Sunday, thank goodness common sense eventually prevailed!

Yesterday was Rudolph Day so I'm going to join Maureen in sharing a Christmas card.

Another decoupage sheet from Joanna Sheen, die cut with a Spellbinders die and mounted onto a die from Wplus9. Sentiment from Clearly Besotted.

Challenges entered:

Rudolph Day 1

Good morning all.

We should have arrived in Gore for an overnight stay after our boat trip in Milford Sound  this morning. Update...Milford was very very wet, averaging about 8-10 inches of rain a day over the last few days! We got drenched...on the upside the warterfalls were fantastic but we couldn't see much else because of the cloud cover. 

Meanwhile we've got the first Rudolph Day of the year to celebrate, here's my card.

Another of the Joanna Sheen decoupage sheets...this one had matching background paper and as the sentiment was cut off the image I used one of the matching tags and a sentiment from Clearly Besotted. Dies from Wplus9 and Spellbinders.

Christmas Card Club "Sleigh"

Good morning all.

Headed to Milford Sound today for an overnight stay and a boat trip tomorrow morning before all the day trippers arrive.

Maureen has set the 2nd challenge of the year for our little Christmas Card Club and asked to see a "Sleigh", here is my card:

Decoupage from Joanna Sheen cut with a Spellbinders die. Fancy mat die from Wplus9 and card from Kanban.

I have a pile of these vintage Christmas decoupage sheets from Joanna Sheen which are sized to fit A5 cards or larger which I have used for family in the past...I've decided they had to be put to good use this year along with the Kanban cardstock so I've been cutting them down to fit this Wplus9 die...I cut out all the pieces and layered them up with reusable tape before die cutting so all the layers were the correct size. Also managed to use up half a sheet of Kanban card on this one too so making headway...but there is some way to go yet before the box empties!!

You'll find links for all the girls in my sidebar if you'd like to see what they've been up to.

Christmas Card Club "Anything Goes"

Good morning all.

My baby is 18 years old today...I can't believe they're all grown up now! Some of the family are coming around for lunch so I'd best get my skates on and get organised. If I don't see you all later I'll catch up tomorrow.

Our final challenge for the year at the Christmas Card Club...EEEK! Zoe has given us an "Anything Goes" to end the year.

I needed a card for a swap with the theme of "Wreathed in Smiles" and when I came across this decoupage sheet from Joanna Sheen I thought it fitted the bill perfectly. I decided to make a stepper card using my die from Cheery Lynn Designs. Fancy rectangular die from Spellbinders, embossing folders from Cuttlebug and gems from my stash.

You'll find the links for the other girls on my side bar if you'd like to see what they've made. Many thanks to all the girls for the great themes they've provided and their friendship throughout the year....here's to getting our 2016 Christmas cards made in a timely fashion too!

Challenges entered:

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

CHNC -anything Christmas goes

Winter Wonderland - snow people

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - previous challenge July snowman

Holly Jolly Christmas - anything goes

HLS Christmas Challenge December "Stars"

Good evening all. It's blowing an absolute hoolie outside tonight, glad I'm inside! All ready for the Christmas tree in the morning then hubby can shampoo the rest of the sitting room carpet. Christmas cards all written and overseas ones posted...I must have forgotten something very important - I can't be this organised!!!

Another month has passed and it's time once again for a new Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers. The theme this month is:

This challenge is sponsored by



Winner will receive this stamp set



Here is my card:

I love the script stamp from the Thinking of You set, it's perfect for any type of card....I've stamped it twice here and heat embossed with silver EP. The greeting from Mixed Christmas Sentiments is also heat embossed. The star die is a Signature Die from Joanna Sheen. Mat dies are from Spellbinders. Gem from my stash.

Do pop over to the challenge blog to see the inspiration from the rest of the team, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. 

Challenges entered:

Addicted to Stamps & More - holiday

Christmas Cards all Year Round - keep it simple

Creative Corner - sparkle and shine

That's Crafty - season's greetings

Creative Knockouts - tis the season

Christmas at Sweet Stampin - stars

Holly Jolly Christmas - embossing (I used heat)

Sweet Stamps - anything goes

Sparkles Christmas - die cuts

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

Christmas Card Club "Holly and Ivy"

Good morning all.

I went round all day yesterday thinking it was Sunday, so I guess today is a bonus! The weather forecast for today is appalling...we're off out shortly to take the kids to see the house we're buying so we should see it at it's worst! I think the rest of the day will be spent in the craft room.

Two weeks have fairly flown by  and it's Christmas Card Club time once again. Today Asha set us the theme of "Holly and Ivy".

Topper from Wild Rose Studio; paper from Papermania; ivy die from Joanna Sheen; snowflake, bow and button from my stash. Card and paper all came from my bit box.

If you'd like to see how the other girls interpreted the theme you'll find the list in my sidebar.

Challenges entered:

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - anything goes

Jingle Belles - holiday leftovers

DLArt - Christmas

Paper Shelter - Christmas card

Country View Crafts - blue

CHNC - use diecuts or punches

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it...

Good morning all.

 I started this tag on Friday night and all I had to do today was colour the image and stick it all together...well I finally managed!

The tag was one of my distress paint smooshing ones from last week. Postie had finally arrived Friday (after slapping on a Customs charge) with a parcel of Radiant Gels from ColourArte and I was keen to test them out...stencils from Memory Box. Love the shimmery finish you get. Snow people from Joanna Sheen, coloured with promarkers. Landscape die from Lawn Fawn. Snowflake dies from Spellbinders. Sentiment from Woodware. Gems, stickles and fibres from my stash.

Challenges entered:

Loll's 12 Tags of Christmas

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas

Allsorts - anything but a card

Crafty Calendar - sparkle, bling and embellish

Sweet Stampin' - wrap up warm

Alphabet Challenge - T for tis the season

Brown Sugar - no patterned paper

Really Reasonable Ribbon - tag you're it

That's Crafty - tag you're it

Craft Stamper - take it make it November

Christmas Card Club "Let it Snow"

Good morning all.

After spending Friday doing chores (including the basket of ironing) yesterday was spent crafting. I managed to finish some projects which had been sitting around since before my holidays and do some DT work.

Another two weeks have passed so it must be time for us girls to share our Christmas Card Club makes. the lovely Christine set the theme this time with "Let it Snow".

The bauble die is from Joanna Sheen's Signature Dies and was newly purchased just before my holidays. The embossing folder is from Spellbinders - this is an oblong folder but I positioned it to leave a top edge to match the sides and allowed the bottom to emboss over the edge. Sentiment is from Woodware Stamps. Finished with some black twine and a few gemstones. Another flat one for posting!

If you'd like to see the other girl's take on the challenge you'll find their names on my sidebar.

Challenges entered:

ABC Christmas - off the edge

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

The Glory of Christmas - feature a creature

Sparkles Forum Christmas - ribbon, lace or twine

The Crafty Calendar - Christmas in July

My Time to Craft - Christmas in July

Creative Corner - Christmas in July

Fussy and Fancy - things with wings

Crafter's Cafe - Christmas in July

Whimsy Stamps - Christmas in July

Christmas Card Club "Christmas Scene"

Good afternoon all.

Running late today after partying yesterday...my brother in law had a 50th birthday cum housewarming party, James Bond themed with a casino at night. A hog roast to eat, a menu of cocktails, some great fancy dress costumes made it a recipe for a good time...the boys definitely enjoyed themselves! Eldest ended up the biggest winner of the evening at the casino with £420,000, this was after been bankrupt five times though!!

Anyway another two weeks have flown past and it's time once again for us Christmas Card Club girls to strut our stuff and this time Kate has given us a theme of "Christmas Scene". I de-camped to the craft room this afternoon and my mind went blank...I hunted through all my Christmas stuff and nothing appealed. Then I had a eureka moment and thought of Thomas Kinkade...the rest as they say is history!

Using Joanna Sheen's Thomas Kinkade CD I printed off four images, which were then die cut using my new favourite die from Wplus9 and matted direct to the card base. Sentiment is from Clearly Besotted, stamped with versamark and heat embossed with white detail EP. Cards were finished with a little stickles. A very easy way to add four cards to the Christmas box all perfect for posting.

Challenges entered:

ABC Christmas - k is for keep it simple

The Christmas Challenge - snowman/woman

Christmas Card Challenge - colours/anything goes

CHNC Extra - anything Christmas goes

Tiger Take Two!

Good morning all.

As promised here is hubby's birthday card from yesterday. He used to have a thing about tigers and even made himself a Readicut rug with a tiger's head on it before I met him.

Unintentionally it is very similar to the oldie I showed yesterday! I recently bought a tiger stencil with the aim to use it for his card but after two failed attempts I gave up and resorted to a CD image...luckily I chose a different image from the one on yesterday's card! Image is from Joanna Sheen's Jayne Netley Mayhew CD and I've printed onto ice blue decoupage paper then matted and layered onto orange and black card. I do love the images on this CD.

Background has been embossed with the distress folder from Crafter's Companion then inked with DI. The inks used match the original colour scheme and as this part of the card was already made I couldn't add any more ink to it...and at this point I really couldn't be bothered to start again!!

Happy birthday sentiment is from Lawn Fawn, gemstone from my stash.

Challenges entered:

Simply Papercraft - anything goes

Sister Act Card Challenge - anything goes

Seize the Birthday - anything goes

Time Out - grunge with twist embossing

Inspiration Destination - anything goes

Penny's Paper-Crafty - anything goes

Cardz 4 Guyz - world wildlife

City Crafter Challenge - inky-ness

Creative Card Crew - embossing wet or dry

Party Time Tuesdays - anything goes

Not Just Cards - anything goes

Oh La La Creations - pre-coloured image

We Love to Create - anything creative/mixed media goes

World Traveler

Good morning all.

It was a lovely springlike day here yesterday after all the frost we've been having. I spent the afternoon at a charity event one of my neighbours was hosting...the children were all enjoying being outdoors. I bought some books to fold and won a nice raffle prize bundle too...including an RNLI note pad which is ripe for transforming!

Sharing a card today which I made for eldest after he passed his motorbike test in preparation for his trip around Iceland later this year.

Stamps from Crafty Impressions Explore set apart from "congratulations" which is from Joanna Sheen. Paper is from Carte Bella. Bike has been stamped onto kraft card and fussy cut then mounted with foam pads.

Challenges entered:

Your Scrapbook Place - anything goes (twist masculine card)

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper - anything goes with patterned paper

Brown Sugar - anything goes

Colour My Heart - colour dare

Sister Act Card Challenge - anything goes

Winter Jornalling

Good morning all.

Many thanks to all who have visited over the weekend and left such lovely comments, I do appreciate them all.

A quiet day yesterday...more washing and some much needed ironing!

Sharing one of the projects I managed to do on Saturday. One of my goals this year was to do some journalling...here is one of my first attempts.

I started by gluing some torn book pages and backing paper to the pages. Pages were then roughly gessoed then I've stencilled with embossing paste using a snowflake stencil from Joanna Sheen and a snowflower one from Sweet Stamps. I used glitter bead gel with a stencil from Clarity stamps which didn't work as planned....but what the heck! Punch waste snowflakes were used across the pages.

Pages were then washed with aquatints with a darker ink being used over the embossing paste. Stamps from Clearly Besotted, Personal Impressions, Paper Smooches, Premium Craft Brands and Stamping All Day were stamped with Memento ink.

Winter was computer generated and printed onto tissue paper. Snowflakes were leftovers from a previous project and were lying in my bit box.

Challenges entered:

Unruly Paperarts - inspire your heart with art day