Happy Christmas

This is likely to be my last post before Christmas, time is precious at the minute as I'm sure it is for everyone else so please forgive me if I'm a bit slow with my blog visiting at the minute.

I hope you are all keeping safe and well in this lovely seasonal weather. I think we have missed most of the snow here, we haven't had any more since last Friday although it has barely got above zero and the nights have been bitter. Will it be a white Christmas? I do hope so.

Are your preparations going well. I think we are nearly sorted. We braved the supermarket today, which was fun, I don't think, so hopefully we can leave the shop madness to everyone else now and keep warm at home.

If you are feeling relaxed and full of turkey on Sunday 27th you might like to join in the fun of The Stampman's blog hop, which starts on Jill's blog. She has some lovely prizes to give away.


Well, I haven't got any craft to show you today, I'm still rushing to finish some pressies, but I will post them after the 25th when they have been received, so I'll finish by wishing all my lovely friends in Blogland and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Peaceful, Happy New Year. I hope Santa brings you all lots of new crafting goodies and you get some time to play with them.


HAPPY CHRISTMAS
and a
PEACEFUL NEW YEAR

Snow Day!

Like lots of you, I know, we have SNOW!!!! Hurray. I just hope it lasts and we can have a white Christmas, wouldn't that be wonderful.

I hope you've all had a good week and Christmas preparations are going well. It's been a busy one here. I had a wonderful afternoon at Freya's Nativity and a meal out last night which was lovely, especially watching the snow fall outside. It felt really special.

School has now finished so things should be a bit more relaxing from here on in, fingers crossed!

I found another Christmas card I'd had a go at after seeing the wonderful Sheena Douglas making them. That lady is a wonderful source of inspiration and so infectious with her enthusiasm.


These were Bow Window cards made by cutting out a window frame slightly bigger than the base card you are using and then sticking acetate to it leaving a strip of card at each end to attach to the card using wet glue.

Before attaching the window a scene is stamped on the card. I used some papermania stamps I had, but Sheena used houses which looked much better.


Finally the window was decorated with a swirl and a greeting. Having had some success with working out the bow window I shall have another go at these but use a better scene behind.

Before I go, I just have to say it's the end of an era today with the final Wake Up To Wogan this morning. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, but I was brought up listening as a child and all my adult life he has got me up in a morning and I'm going to miss him. That was some farewell he gave this morning, I have only just recovered. Happy Retirement Terry!

Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend. Keep warm.

Birds and Pearls

Brrr it's so cold isn't it and we've had no daylight here today, it's been dark, damp and foggy all day so apologies for the photos tonight, I've scanned one and photoed the other with flash to get the best results but nothing like taking them in daylight.

Before I get going with this post I must just say a huge thank you for your support, I was feeling really bad over that cake but I know I did the right thing. Family time is so precious at anytime but more so at Christmas.

Following my last post, I have been asked whether the clear embossing powder sticks to the mica powdered card from the original inking. I made the card such a long time ago I couldn't honestly answer 100% so I had another go last night and found out two things, yes the clear EP sticks but to get the best results with the mica powder you need to use watercolour paper. Not sure why this is but ordinary card just doesn't work. So here are step by step instructions.

1) Cut a piece of watercolour paper the required design size you want.

2) Liberally ink with versamark or similar.

3) Apply mica powders with a large brush until they cover the paper really well.

4) Ink a stamp with the versamark and stamp into the powder. This will remove it to show the stamped design (If you are really organised and have a piece of triple embossing to hand stamp the mica powdered stamp into this so as not to waste it). Otherwise clean the stamp each time before reinking & restamping into the powder

5) Sprinkle clear EP over the whole area and heat emboss from underneath to get a glossy finish.

Hope this helps.

Here is the piece I did last night and a piece of triple embossed chipboard I made after stamping the dragonfly card in the last post.


The Tag It On challenge theme this week is birds and this is what I came up with.


The tag was glimmer misted with various shades of pink. The Crafty Individuals stamp was inked in Brilliance pearlescent Ivy and Crimson and clear embossed. The little hearts were then decoupaged.

I realised after I'd finished it that the stamp is very swirly so I've added some pearls and am also entering it into the Allsorts challenge. Their theme is swirls and pearls this week. You have to be a speedy crafter at this time of year when time is so precious so hope this is ok.

Thank you as always for stopping by and I hope you are all wrapping up well and keeping warm.

Christmas Is Coming.......

I hope you've all had a great weekend and your Christmas preparations are well under way.

We've spent the weekend putting up our Christmas Tree, No, it hasn't taken the whole weekend, we did go shopping and other things as well, and it's looking beautiful. I always think the house looks so cheerful with all the twinkly lights during these dark December days.

I've also managed to get some stuffing made and other bits and pieces in the freezer so I think we're getting there.

Only Christmas cards to write, pressies to wrap, crafty presents to finish, cakes to decorate........ ahhhhhh!!!!! It'll all get done, I'm sure.

I was feeling ok until a lady phoned tonight to ask me to make and decorate a three tiered Wedding cake for the 27th December, yes two weeks today!!!!! I never usually turn down requests but I had to for this one, I don't think it would be physically possible, but that doesn't make me feel any better. If she'd only asked a month ago it would have been no problem. I feel awful now!!

I've managed to get a bit of crafting done, finishing special Christmas cards based on the moon tag I did last week. Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments, I felt slightly overwhelmed! Anyway, I will show you them once they've been delivered so in the meantime I thought I'd share a non Christmassy card with you I did a few weeks ago.


This idea was demoed by someone on a Create and Craft show I saw but it was so long ago I can't remember who it was, so apologies for that.

The background was done with moonglow mica powder applied after the card was given a coating of veramark and then a swirl stamp was inked with versamark and pressed into the powder all round the edge removing it to show the stamp. Clear EP was heated all over to seal it and give it a glossy finish.


The dragonfly and flowers were Inkadinkadoo Mindscapes and were stamped in versamark on acetate and white embossed and then cut out.

Liquid Pearls were added as a finishing touch.

I enjoyed playing with this technique and shall definitely try it again with different colours.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you all have a great week. Don't work too hard!!

Tags Galore

I've been desperate to catch up on some tags all week and this morning have managed to do two, Wow! that's good for me. Only problem is they are both late for what they are intended for, still I'll post them anyway.

The first one is for last weeks Tag It On challenge which was Blue Moon. Sorry it's late Frankie!


I masked the moon and dabbed baby blue eyes blue gold and wisteria purple blue (don't they have fantastic names) starburst stains all over the tag and let it dry. The Crafty Individuals trees were stamped in brilliance blue and embossed with holographic powder and a colourbox dark blue and clear EP to give a bit of depth.


I then worked darker ink over the top of the tag and shaded the moon and hand drew some clouds with pencil. Lastly I went over the top of the tag with Frosted Forget Me Nots Starbust stain to get the glimmer back. For some reason this stain has lost it's blue but it's great for applying glimmer when you don't want any colour.

The second tag is a take on Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas. If you haven't seen them yet, have a look, he's doing some amazing stuff again this year.


I think this was Tag 7 which was all about masking. I've used my own Santa stamp which is one I've had for ages and not really used. It's been rediscovered again this year though. He was stamped in Graphite black Brilliance and clear embossed. The swirls were then stamped with white acrylic paint and left to dry thoroughly. Peeled paint Distress ink was applied and a red pigment ink (unfortunately I don't have a red DI yet!!) and then the white swirls were buffed to remove the ink from them.

I added a gold embossed greeting but it looked terrible so I added some more swirls and gold embossed those to disguise it. I think looking at the whole thing I should have stamped the image at the top and put the greeting at the bottom. What do you think?

Well it's not a patch on Tim's who had stickles and music on his as well but at least I've managed to have a go.

I hope your week is going well so far.

Thank you as always for your wonderful comments, I can't tell you how much I enjoy reading them, they are so much appreciated.

Feeling Very Honoured

Yes...I am very honoured today to be the guest designer on Tuesday Taggers after winning the Handbags and Gladrags challenge a few weeks ago.

This is the card I made for them which had to include a Christmas Tree.


This is where the peel off got used from the last card. I sprayed Key Lime, Starfish and gold glimmer mists all over it and let the card dry thoroughly. Crimson brilliance ink was then gently rubbed over just to highlight the design a bit more before the peel off was removed. I coloured some of the baubles with a gold gel pen and added stickles and some gems. The BP was Dovecraft again I think.


I'm pedalling very hard to try and keep up with everything at the minute. Those dreaded Christmas cards have been finished at last. The problem was I didn't like what I'd done and didn't know how to rectify them. A bit of ribbon and a greeting sorted the problem.

My JYC has been started but I still want to have a go at Tim's tags and those gorgeous roses that Brenda has shown in a brilliant tutorial today. You can see them here.

Then there's housework, Christmas preparations and all the other usual jobs to be done. I really don't know how you hardworking Bloggers find time to do everything AND go to work!!

Happy Crafting and thank you for stopping by.

Christmas Prepartions

I've just found out there are only 2 more weekends before Christmas, not 3 as I'd been thinking!!!!!! Panic time.

I am feeling slightly better though as I made my Christmas cake yesterday so that's one "to do" ticked off the list.

Please forgive the short post again today. I have a box full of photos and bits and pieces for my JYC but as yet nothing has been made into pages, I think I'm a bit behind already!!!! Guess what I shall be doing for the rest of the afternoon.


I was playing with peel offs yesterday, yes I know, not at all fashionable but I was trying different things with them and the left over bits looked just as good so this is the card I made with them, cutting round the edge and then matting and layering the design. The BP was from the Artylicious CD and Dovecraft, I think. I have a bag full of Christmas papers that are no longer in their original wrapping. Various size gems were stuck on the tree just to liven it up a bit.


I hope you are all having a great weekend and your Christmas preparations are going well.

Thanks for stopping by.

Did You Miss Me?

Hello, I'm Back!!!!

We've just spent the week at Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest, our regular rest week before the chaos of Christmas and it was great. We went with some friends and their children and are now thoroughly prune like from spending hours swimming and riding the flumes, watching fireworks in the pouring rain and shouting ourselves hoarse at a very silly but brilliant pantomime.

It's lovely to leave all the routine behind for awhile and just chill out. We communed with lots of nature so as I've no crafting to show you today I thought I'd share a photo of the birds I took yesterday.


I was banned from all thoughts of crafting so I've got lots and lots to catch up with now, including my December scrapbook, Sir Tim's tags, challenges and those Christmas cards I've still not done!!!!! So bear with me while I catch up with all your wonderful blogs too. I will get there eventually.

It's lovely to go away but so nice to get home again too.

Gothic Swirls

Hello from a very wet and dismal Yorkshire today. Will this rain ever stop!!!

I hope your weekend is going well and the weather is brighter in your corner of Blogland.

This week's Tag It On Challenge is to use an arch shaped tag and include something Gothic, swirls and scrolls. You are really challenging us now Frankie.


I Googled Gothic architectural images and came up with some beautiful drawings of buildings which I printed off. I cut out the front of a Cathedral and colour tinted it with watered down Dusty concord distress ink and stuck it onto my tag.

The swirls are from Creative Expressions and were stamped with the same ink and the edges darkened. The chipboard swirl was coloured again with Dusty Concord and clear embossed.

I must just thank all my lovely blogging friends for the wonderful comments you leave. I really get a thrill reading them and your support and encouragement is fantastic.

I have a very busy week coming up so may be a bit quiet, please forgive me and I will catch up with you all when I can.

Thank you for stopping by.

A Christmas Carol

The Allsorts challenge this week is a Christmas Carol or song and you wouldn't believe what a struggle this card has been. I'm still not happy with the end result but I've run out of time. Even the photo is wonky. Oh dear, must be one of those days.

The stamp is one I've had for ages and I like to glitter the roofs. I used a Sakura glue pen this time and after it had dried the glitter just rubbed off so back to the trusty wet glue and a fine nib. My hand shakes that much when I'm trying to do fine lines I find it really hard to control so it's not as good as I would have liked.

The rest of the image was coloured with watercolour pencils.

The backing sheet music was printed of the computer and coloured with distress inks. I've got to thank my Hubby for that idea!!

The green backing is from the Graphicus Christmas CD.

Short and sweet today. I've bored you enough this week with my ramblings.

I hope your week has gone well and wish you a lovely weekend. Apparently there could be snow!!

Thanks for stopping by.