Birthday rosette .....

... I've had a really fun morning playing in my craft room.  And here's one of the cards I made (you'll have to wait to see the other).  I've made this card for my sister-in-law.  She will be celebrating one of those special birthdays - her 40th - early in January.  The current Ribbon Reel - RR18 challenge has a super inspiration photo - of a party!  The instructions are to use white, cream, grey (silver) and black, and a ribbon or lace.  They would also like us to use a New Year theme - I missed that bit!!! Still never mind - the colours make for a very elegant birthday card!!

I made a mat of black gloss card, a sheet of Dawn Bibby designer paper and some cream lace ribbon, which I attached to a square cream card.  Next I used my nesties to cut out a couple of different shapes - a lotus pendant in holographic silver card and a star circle in coordinating black designer paper.  I stamped one of my favourite large doilies onto cream vellum and heat embossed with silver powder, then I spent a while cutting it out!!  I stamped the birthday greeting onto white card, cut it out and added a touch of colour while still in the die.  I added some silver ribbon to the back of the rosette and attached it all to the card.  A special birthday card for a very special lady.  And while not quite meeting the requirements for the RR challenge, I'm still submitting it.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Dainty Doilies Large, Eat Cake
Inks:  Versamark; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress - Black Soot
Spellbinders:  Lotus Pendant (S4-269), Star Circles (S4-335) #4, Big Scalloped Circles Lg (S4-249) #2
Accessories:  Dawn Bibby swirl paper (black and white); Ribbon, lace, silver embossing powder and card from stash

And now it's time to get some lunch for Kathryn and me.  Then I plan to spend the afternoon doing my least favourite job - IRONING!!!  Ugh!  Still, I'll be doing it in front of the TV, so it won't be all bad.  And there's a definite plus - I'll be warm.  It's not very nice here today - more cold wet weather.

My next post will be on New Year's day with the return of CR84FN - so do drop by then.  Before I go, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all

A Happy, Healthy and Creative New Year!!

Enjoy!!

See you soon.

Thanks a latte .....

....  what a day!!!  Cold, wet, windy and generally dull.  Fortunately, inside it's warm and cosy, and my craft room has been a fun place to play.  Some of what I've made I can't share with you just yet, but I had another go at the CAS-ual Fridays - CFC33 and Market Street Stamps - Block Party challenge and this one I can share!

I like playing with digi-images and the coffee mug (well for me it's got to be coffee) mug is a fun image.  I made a copy of the original mug and flipped it, offset it and then printed the image.  I used one of my lovely new nesties to cut out the shape and inked all over with Distress Antique Linen.  I coloured a couple of the other mug images with Promarkers, cut out the little hearts and layered them onto the image.  I added a bit of sparkle to the steam.  Finally I mounted the image onto a mat of kraft card.  Before attaching the image, I stamped a line of steam coils along the bottom edge and wrapped some string around the card.  Then, using the smallest nestie, I cut out a sentiment label - perfectly coordinated to the image!

Stamps:  Market Street Stamps - Digi-image Coffee Mug; Impression Obsession - Smell the Coffee
Inks:  Memento - Rich Cocoa; Stampin' Up - Crumb Cake; Distress - Antique Linen
Spellbinders:  Labels Twenty-three (S4-347) # 1 and # 6
Promarkers:  Cornflower, China Blue, Mango, Bright Orange, Warm Grey 2
Accessories:  Card, string and glitter from stash

That's all for today.  We're going to have a family session this evening watching some Dr Who (Jonathan's Christmas present) and later on catching the last part of Great Expectations.  I hope to be back again tomorrow with another card to share.  See you then.  Keep safe.

My favourite five Christmas cards 2011 .....

...  Debby from A Scrapjourney is having a bloghop and has asked us to select our five favourite Christmas Cards for 2011. 

Now, it's a good thing I went back to read Debby's post again, because initially I'd picked out my five favourite cards - completely missing the Christmas bit!!!  However, as I was putting in the links, I realised my mistake, so here are my Five Favourite Christmas cards for 2011.

My first card is a combination of two of my favourite things - snowflakes on a Christmas card and the colour purple.  Oh yes, there's bling too!  Full details are here.

 
This second one is a classic clean and simple design.  Nordic Christmas designs have been everywhere this winter and I think are just perfect.  Details here.

For my third card, I picked one that looks rich and opulent!  Shades of red and gold - just lovely.  Again you can find full details of the card here.

My fourth card was made for CR84FN43 - I just love this image of Santa and the rich, festive colours of the card - details here.

And my fifth card is a set of cards - all basically the same clean, simple design, but with variation in colours and greetings.  Although there are four cards here - it really is only one design!!  Details here.

Most of my cards feature Waltzingmouse stamps somewhere in their design - and I've realised that all these cards feature WMS images!  Thank you Claire.

Debby will be picking her favourite cards on 30th December, so you still have time to link up your own favourite cards.  Oh yes, Debby has a prize too! 

Thanks for stopping by - I've enjoyed picking out my own favourites - I hope you like them too.  I'll be back later!

I really should read the instructions ....

...  thanks to everyone who stopped by over the holidays and left such lovely messages - all very much appreciated.  We got home this afternoon - and it's so nice to be in our place.  I've done a bit of unpacking and went to get some food.  I also managed to get a new printer at ASDA - it's great to have a working printers.  Later Jonathan and I sat down to watch Dr Who (I missed it on Christmas day as I was playing games) and Merlin.  Both shows were excellent!

Then I decided to grab a bit of time in my craft room to make a card.  Now last week I made a Christmas card for Kathryn using the CAS-ual Friday - CFC33 challenge.  And I saw on their site that they were having a joint challenge with Market Street Stamps and that they had a free digi image to use.  I downloaded the image - a sweet mug of hot coffee - and decided to use it today.  But silly me, I really should have checked the requirements better!!!  While I've certainly used the image, I failed to use kraft and twine!  Doh!  Still, I'm quite pleased with the card and while I can't submit it to the Market Street Blog challenge, I thought I'd share the card with you anyway.

Stamps:  Market Street Stamps - Digi image of Coffee mug; Waltzingmouse - Frame-It, Join Us
Inks:  Memento - Cottage Ivy, Lady Bug; Distress - Festive Berries
Promarkers:  Lush Green, Grass, Poppy, Cool Grey 2
Spellbinders:  Wonky Rectangles (S4-306) #5
Accessories:  Card from stash

Fortunately, this is a digi image, so I can print it out again and this time have a go at the proper challenge!!! 

I do hope that you all had a super time over the holidays.  We have a busy week ahead of us before Jonathan heads back to the States and Ben goes back to Hastings.  Before I go, I noticed that I've a new follower - I'd like to say Hello and Welcome to Kym - so pleased you joined me.   That's all for now.  I'm going to try and get some time to play in my craft room tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be back then! 

Merry Christmas ....

... hello to anyone wandering around cyberspace today!!!  I hope you're all having a wonderful day.  This is to share with you the last of this year's Christmas cards - the ones for my family.  

To make Jonathan's card I've used the colour challenge from The Play Date Cafe - PDCC112 and the sketch was Waltzingmouse - WMSC78. 

I randomly stamped some snowflakes onto the card base in lime.  I used my star nesties to cut out two stars - one dark green and the other kraft.  I got the idea to layer the stars like this from my blog buddy, Pauline.    I put the kraft one through my Cuttlebug embossing some more snowflakes which I inked.  I cut out a the medium sized nested heart and added colour to it while still in the die.  Finally I added a simple, but heartfelt sentiment, and a gem.  For my darling husband today.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Compliements of the Season, Seasons of Love - Tags
Inks:  Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Pear Tart; Distress - Festive Berries
Spellbinders:  Nested Hearts (S4-296) #2, Stars (S4-092) #5
Accessories:  Clear embossing powder; Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder and Stampin' Up! - Crumb Cake card

The next card is Ben's and again I've used a couple of challenges - for the colours I've used the current For Your Inspiration - FYI#20 photo with those amazing shades of blue, purple and white, and the sketch is from Clean & Simple - FTL171 which I've turned on around!

I made my own backing paper from a couple of my favourite Waltzingmouse stamps which I think are just perfect for teenage boys!  I attached some lovely silver ribbon over the centre to cover the join!  I layered the finished paper onto some dark blue mirri card.  Next I used Versamark to stamp the lovely Be Good Santa image and embossed it with detail silver, then I cut it out with my nesties.  I added some purple ink to the edge of the image and over the words, then I coloured Santa's hat with shades of blue and purple, adding some coarse glitter.  Finally I glittered the brim of Santa's hat and added flock for his beard.  Oh yes, the bell was coloured with a Sakura Stardust pen.  Just right for Ben!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Off Beat Backgrounds, Free Spirit - Boy, Around Christmastime
Inks:  Versamark; Kaleidacolor - Blue Breeze; Distress - Seedless Preserves
Spellbinders:  Pinking Circles Sm (S4-172) #5
Accessories:  Silver embossing powder, flock, glitter, mirri card, ribbon and Sakura Stardust pen

And last, but by no means least, is the card I made for my daughter Kathryn.  For inspiration I've used the colour challenge from Colour Q - cQc116 (which are really similar to PDCC, but that's not really surprising as they are very Christmassy colours) and the current CAS-ual Fridays - CFC33 challenge.

One of the cards I made earlier this week featured gingerbread kids and Kathryn loved it.  So I decided to use the Gingerbread Girl as the feature on her card (I've just realised that I did last year too)!!  I started off by making some mats in Lucky Limeade, Cherry Cobbler and Kraft.  To keep the colour of the Cherry Cobber, I stamped the Gingerbread girl directly onto white card, clear embossed the image and then coloured it with kraft.  Next I stamped some of the lovely Nordic Winter borders onto white card, cut them out and attached them to the kraft mat.  I added some twine between the borders.  I Finished off by mounting the Gingerbread girl onto a lime mat and attaching her to the card.  A clean and simple card for my darling daughter!

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Nordic Winter, Oven Fresh Gingerbread Joy
Inks:  Stampin' Up! - Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade, Kraft; Versamark; Marvy le Plume pen - Leaf Green (Glorious Green)
Spellbinders:  Labels Fourteen (S4-290) #3
Accessories:  Clear embossing powder, twine, Stampin' Up! card

That's all for today.  Enjoy the rest of the holiday period.  I'll be back with some more cards on 28th December!

Only two more sleeps ....

... it's amazing, it doesn't matter how old your children are - they still can't resist counting down the nights to Christmas!!!  And I'm a big kid too!  So you can count me in on that.

I finally got all my Christmas wrapping finished last night - it was a lovely evening.  I had the tree next to me with all the lights sparkling and I watched some super TV - finishing on the programme about the Military Wives.  I do hope their song is No 1 this Christmas.

This is my last live post over the Christmas period - although I have a couple scheduled to share with you on Christmas Day and Boxing Day - if you're browsing!!  So I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of our lovely Christmas Tree - decorated by Kathryn and Jonathan.  And I bet we're the only tree in the UK to have a Weeping Angel on top of our tree!!

As I said in an earlier post - our tree is stuffed with tinsel, lights, baubles and love!!

Now, for those of you who don't know - a Weeping Angel is one of the Dr Who monsters!!!  So why do we have one on our tree?  Kathryn made it!!  And that's good enough for me. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has visited me since I started on this adventure.  I've made lots of friends in Blogland and I appreciate and value all of you.  So I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year.

Hugs - and see you soon!

What a fab day .....

...  it's been a brilliant day today.  First of all, I woke this morning to find that I've been picked as one of the Colour Courtier for cQc115 - my niece's birthday card:

Thank you ladies - that's a brilliant way to start the day.  Incidentially, Georgia was delighted with both the card and her birthday present.  So a good result all round.

Kathryn and I went to Mold for some girlie time together.  Kathryn needed to have her hair trimmed, but I hadn't booked anything, so we went in to see if we could get an appointment anywhere.  Luck was on our side and Kathryn has now got a lovely new style.  It's still long, but she's got a few layers and now has a side fringe - she looks fabulous!  After lunch we both had our nails done.  A real treat for me - I've now got lovely red nails!!  And best of all, they're going to last as they're gel!!  Kathryn has gone for three colours - pale green, pale blue and soft lilac - it sounds strange, but looks gorgeous.  My little girl is getting to be quite a young lady!!

Jonathan had a good day out too - he managed to get in a photo shoot.  He'll be posting them onto Flickr in the next week or so.  Meanwhile, Ben, being a teenage boy, finally got up in the afternoon and had a good time playing on his laptop!!

I finally managed to get into my craft room this evening to make the last few cards for this year's Christmas Collection.  They aren't for any particular challenge, I just had fun playing with my stash.  Mixing ready made toppers with my stamps, and I've gone from CAS to story card!  Here they are:

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Big Bloom - Poinsettia, Compliments of the Season
Inks:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Red glitter

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Twas the Night Before Christmas; Stampin' Up! - Serene Snowflakes
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress - Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans
Accessories:  Houses from Kanban Cards; Flower Soft - Polar White; Cosmic Shimmer - Silver

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Frame-It, Compliments of the Season, Santa's Coming to Town;  Stampin' Up! - Serene Snowflakes
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Lady Bug
Accessories:  Card from stash

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Nordic Winter:  Stampin' Up! - Serene Snowflakes
Inks:  Distress - Tumbled Glass, Mustard Seed, Dusty Concord
Accessories:  Kanban topper

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - 2011 Holiday Oranments; Stampin' Up! - Serene Snowflakes
Inks:  Distress - Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord
Accessories:  Kanban Topper; Scrap from yesterday's card

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Festive Foliage
Inks: Memento - Cottage Ivy, Lady Bug
Spellbinders:  Lattice Rectangles (S4-319) # 3
Accessories:  Kanban topper; Holly leaves from my stash

Sorry this is so late - but as you can see, it's been a busy day - but such a fun day!  That's all for now.

Starry snowflake and a tag ....

... we've been busy since my last post.  Yesterday evening Jonathan and I went to our Camera Club Christmas dinner.  It was really good fun - great to catch up with friends, particularly for Jonathan as he's not seen them since the end of October.  We had a super meal and the chairman, Chris, arranged for us all to do a quiz - one round per course.  The first round was to name all the gifts in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" - we had to put them in the correct order, and not one team got it completely right!!  The second round was on movies - he gave us a year and brief description - mostly easy, but one real toughie.  The last round was to name the No 1 records for certain years in the UK.  This time we were simply given the year.  And that was really tough.  Having said all that - our table won!  No prizes, just the fun of taking part :)

This morning, we all headed into Chester early to do some shopping for Christmas.  We got most of what we wanted, but didn't stop long as it was starting to get busy!!  Once home I finished off the shopping on the Internet - Amazon is fab!!

This afternoon we put the finishing touches to our Christmas tree.  Jonathan put it up yesterday, but jet lag caught up with him and we decided to leave the decorating until today.  Jonathan and Kathryn had a ball - our tree is has lots of lights, tinsel and baubles - it's a joy to behold!!!




 And I managed to get into my craft room and complete my card for the Waltzingmouse Christmas Card Challenge - WMSCCC07.  For this challenge Lynn wants us to use a star somewhere in the design.  This week's Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge - WMSC78 features a star - brilliant!  This is the last challenge for the year, but runs on until 6th January.



Jeanne, my blog buddy, made a gorgeous tag for the WMSC78 challenge and she used the shape in the sketch.  I thought this was brilliant and had a go myself - thanks Jeanne.  I printed several stars in various sizes, attached them to some cardboard, cut them out and then painted them all with white acrylic paint.  I made my own backing paper by putting the stars randomly onto some white card and spritzing with silver cosmic shimmer spray.  I dried the sheet and stars, rearranged them and spritzed again this time with pink and then did it all again with purple.  I cut  a piece of the paper and mounted it onto purple satin card.  I used my nestie to cut out a purple doily which I placed behind my shimmery star.  On top of the star I attached a pink and purple snowflake.  Finally, I added a Christmas sentiment which I embossed with clear powder. 

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Around Christmastime, Compliments of the Season
Inks:  Versafine - Black Onyx; Distress - Seedless Preserve; Stampin' Up! - Melon Mambo
Spellbinders:  Lotus Pendant (S4-269)
Accessories:  Cosmic Shimmer Sprays - Silver, Purple Violet, Candy Pink; White acrylic paint; Card from stash

I also made a lovely Christmas tag.  Claire has a super competition on her blog the Christmas Tag Competition with a fabulous prize.  The winner will get FOUR stamp sets of their choice and I'm keeping everything crossed :)  I've left it late to make my entry - the competition closes tonight - but better late!!  I stamped the beautifully ornate Labels 18 stamp and embossed it with silver, cut it out with the coordinating nestie and coloured it with distress inks.  I cut out another shape to make the back of the tag, again I added colour with distress inks, some lines to write my message on and some decoration.  I used the really sweet "nice list" stamp - inspiration from Claire.  I used another of the circular sentiments to decorate the front of the tag, I cut out the shape first coloured it with the distress inks and then stamped the sentiment.  Finally I ran some ribbon through the eyelets.  Simple and elegant, and I think it's for Jonathan's present!




Stamps:  Very Vintage Labels No 18, Candy Jar Christmas
Inks:  Distress - Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans; Versamark
Spellbinders;  Labels Eighteen (S4-310) #5, Eyelet Circles (S4-304) # 2
Accessories:  Papermania Turquoise Ribbons, silver embossing powder, card from stash

I'm so pleased that I managed to find time to make the card and tag.  I've completed all twelve of the Christmas Card Challenges that Lynn set for us - but next year I'm going to make the cards each month instead of rushing to do them all at the end!!

That's all for today.  It's been a long day and I'm feeling really tired.  I think this evening is going to be a lazy one - coffee and some TV.  Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow - see you then.

Acetate challenge ....

... here are a few more cards for this year's Christmas collection - only about another 8 cards to make - and I think I'm going to make them CAS!!  However, these are for the September Waltzingmouse Christmas Card Challenge - WMSCCC09.  I think Lynn must have a bit of an evil streak - she said that we must use some element that has acetate in the design!! Ugh!!

I spent ages trying to decided how to include acetate in my design.  I thought about using an acetate wrap, but couldn't get it to work!!  Finally, I realised that I had the perfect set of stamps to use with acetate.  In the last release of stamps were some wonderful candy jar fillers - so I used that set.  I stamped three jars onto plain white card and stamped different filling in each jar, then coloured them in.  Using my nesties I cut out mats to coordinate with the candy jars.  The labels on each jar have been coloured with Promarkers and then frosted!!  For the acetate element on each card, I made a clear jar lid.  I used a number of different WMS to create the backgrounds on each card, finishing each card off with a simple sentiment stamped in black and heat embossed with clear powder. 

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Compliments of the Season, Candy Jar Christmas Fillers, Half Baked Gingerbread Joy, Oven Fresh Gingerbread Joy, Seasons of Love - Tags; Stampin' Up! - Serene Snowflakes
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Mustard Seed, Festive Berries, Shabby Shutters, Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick; Stampin' Up! - Crumb Cake
Spellbinders: Labels 18 (S4-310) #4, Lacey Circles (S4-293) #3; Classic Inverted Scalloped Circles (cut this out ages ago and I can't remember whether it's the large or small set)
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, acetate, glitter and card from stash

Below are close-up photos of two of the toppers.  The pink one has been frosted with Martha Stewart coarse glitter and the yellow one with Glamour Dust.  I think the one with the coarse glitter has a much better finish - thoughts?

I'm linking these cards up to the Jingle Belles site too - the current challenge there is simple entitled "Wrapping it up!" - the girls are taking a break this month and would love to see what we make to finish off our Christmas collection.  They'll be back with new prompts for us in the New Year.

According to Royal Mail, today is the last day to post cards first class to guarantee delivery before Christmas.  I hope that's right because as always I've left mine to the last minute!!!  Darn!  I really must get more organised.  Now, I'm off to finish writing my cards and then get them in the post.  There are few in the village that I deliver by hand - giving me a couple of extra days to make the last cards :))  See you tomorrow.