Clean and Simple ....

.... Challenge - FTL119.  I really like the sketch layout provided for this challenge - here it is:

I did consider making a birthday card, or a card for some other occasion, but I've got so many Christmas cards that still need to be made, that it just had to be a Christmas Card.  I spent a while browsing through my stamp album and came across this poinsettia square that I've not used for ages!!  So, why not?  I stamped it in Versamark and used Cosmic Shimmer embossing powder - Lapis Black Aurora (wonderful name) which has a subtle green shimmer once it's been heated.  I added some colour to the image with Distress inks - keeping to very traditional colours.  I found a lovely little metal buckle in my stash and used some pretty gingham ribbon (which matches the green leaves perfectly).  Finally I added the sentiment.  Really pleased with this card.

Stamps:  Magenta - Poinsettia Square (not sure if that's the proper name); Stampin' Up! - Contempo Christmas
Inks:  Distress - Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed
Accessories:  Ribbon - Papermania; Embossing Powder - Cosmic Shimmer Lapis Black Aurora; Metal buckle from stash

I'm going to be holding two card making sessions this evening - one at the Cubs meeting and one at my Scout group.  At this time of the year, it's traditional for the children to make cards either for their parents or, if they're doing that at school, for other family members.  I've come up with a fairly simple design for the Cubs - a Christmas Tree which they are going to decorate.  As the Scouts are a bit older, I tend to give them a couple of designs and let them play!!  The children are so creative - and each year they come up with some fabulous designs.

That's all for now - see you tomorrow.

Proud mum ....

... that's me today!!  Kathryn was in her school's Christmas Show.  This year the story was The Wizard of Oz.  All the children take part and it's such a fun event.  The hall was beautifully decorated - each class does a panel on the wall - and lots of parents attended today.  There's another show tomorrow - for the rest of the parents.

Wall display - by the children

What a fabulous holly wreath!

Kathryn and some of her friends were in a girl group called "Jungle Babes", as this part of Dorothy's journey on the Yellow Brick Road took place in the "Celebrity Jungle" - yes, I know, it's not part of the story that I know either.  But it means the children get to sing and dance - and have fun!!  So here's a picture of Kathryn - it's not a great photo (the lighting in the hall was awful), but this is my "proud mum" moment - so there!!

Kathryn - one of the Jungle Babes!!

Jonathan took a lot more photos - and his are much better than mine.  The little ones (reception, Years 1 & 2) all looked so tiny - I remember some of them as babies in the playground when we first moved to the village!!  It was a lovely way to spend Thursday afternoon.

And I've been busy in my craftroom this evening working on some Christmas cards, but you'll have to pop back tomorrow to see them. 

Finally, we've had a thaw here - it's been warm, well not so cold really.  But warm enough to melt the ice patches on the school playground and the bits on the pavements.  It seems a bit strange not to have snow or ice around!! 

Rain!! ...

... it's obviously warming up quite a bit here.  This morning there was no frost on the cars and we've got rain!!  Actually it's dull, grey and wet - very miserable.  So a perfect excuse to stay indoors and craft.  Well, that would be nice, but in reality it's stay indoors and do housework :)  In all fairness, I do need to catch up a bit.  See you later.

Butterfly blues, Nutcracker Prince ....

... these are the cards that I've come up with for two quite different challenges.  The first is for Mona's CR84FN challenge where the requiement to use pink, blue and tan, and the second is for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge to make a circular card/tag.

I love these colours - so pretty!!

I've never made a circular card before!!

So for CR84FN6 I've made a simple thank you card.  My Aunt and Uncle have been very supportive to me and Mum during Mum's recent house move, so I thought it was time to send them a card to show them I appreciate all their help.  I couldn't decide whether to make it really clean and simple, or go all out for a vintage/shabby chic sort of card.  In the end it's a bit of a mix.   It's very sparkly in real-life, but it doesn't show up well on a photo!

Stamps:  Personal Impression - Butterfly Panel One
Accessories:  Ribbon - Stampin' Up!; Roses - free with a magazine;  Greeting - Craftwork Cards;  Cuttlebug folder Dots and spots

I'm quite pleased how this card for the Waltzingmouse Sketch challenge turned out.  It's very vintage with traditional colours.  I used various Spellbinder circular dies to cut out the shapes, and used my favourite Nutcracker Prince for the topper. 

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Nutcracker Prince, Holiday Labels No 14, Compliments of the Season

Papers:  Anita's Christmas Red Papers

Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Distress - Pine Needles

Spellbinders: Circular dies - plain, scalloped and inverted scalloped

Accessories:  buttons and sticky ribbon

That's all for this evening.  I finally got some housework done today - saintly smile!!  So tomorrow I can do a bit more crafting - seems only fair to me!!

OLW32 - ages ...

... I'm going to admit it right up front.  The challenge that Jennifer of Styles Ink has set for this week's OLW card is to make an "age" card, so I've cheated a bit.  I made a card on Monday for my niece - she's going to be 10 in a couple of weeks.  It's a simple one-layer card, with minimal embellishment - so it fits the rules and I'm going to submit for the challenge.  And because I'm sooo behind on my challenges!!  Actually I'm quite pleased with it - so here it is:

I will also try to make a new "age" card later this week.  I hope to post some cards again soon - but life has got so busy here.  Be safe.

The sun's shining ....

... and it's a beautiful day!!!  It's one of those fantastic cold, crisp and bright winter's days - absolutely fabulous!!  And even better as I'm nice and warm in my house and have been busy in my craft room this morning.  I suddenly realised that the deadlines for a couple of challenges are fast approaching.  This week The Play Date Cafe has a super challenge using just two colours - red and white (with a brilliant inspiration sheet), while the Flutter by Wednesday's challenge is an open challenge - so anything goes as long as it features a butterfly, angel or fairy.

So for the Flutter by Wednesday challenge I decided to make a birthday card.  My neice, Georgia, is 10 years old on 17th December and in the past I've tended to make character cards.  But I thought that a butterfly is such a pretty image that it'd make a nice card for her.   I've kept it really clean and simple, but i think it's really pretty. So this is what I've come up with.

Stamps:  Anita's - Happy Birthday; Stampin' Up! - Butterfly Prints
Inks: Memento - Grape Jelly, Lilac Posies
Pens: Marvy le Plume - Pine Green, Leaf Green, Jade Green, Magenta, Iris Purple, Scarlet; Promarker - Magenta
Accessories:  Crystal glitter; peel off numbers

I'm really pleased with my card for the Play Date challenge.  Once again I've kept it really clean and simple, possibly the cleanest and simplest I've ever done!!!  I'm really enjoying this style of card, so much so that I've not really done any other style for a while.  Anyway, for this challenge I've gone back to my favourite stamps - Waltzingmouse - great designs here.  I've combined two sets that I totally love - Nutcracker Sweet and Frame It (which is so, so useful!).  And here's my card.

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Nutcracker Sweet, Frame-It
Inks:  Memento - Lady Bug
Accessories: Glitter

That's all for today.  I've got lots to do which I've been putting off for far too long.  Back again tomorrow.

OLW31 - Back to the beginning ...

...  that's the challenge that Susan Raihala of Simplicity gave to us this week.  She wanted us to go back to the product and/or technique that got us hooked into stamping. 

Now I've been crafting, in various guises, for many years.  At school it was embroidery and sewing.  Later I started on cross-stitch pictures - and I still have several pictures (some started, some not) in my sewing box.  And I've always made note books, book marks, and small cards.  Then about 7 or 8 years ago a friend sent me a handmade Christmas card.  It was really pretty - she had used some lovely peeloffs.  Then I found a magazine (can't remember which one) and it showed heat embossing.  And that was it!!  Totally hooked. 

I didn't have much space at the time, so I started off in a small way - a few stamps and just gold and silver embossing powders - but it was magic to watch the powder melt and form beautiful shining images on the cards.  They looked so luxurious!!  So the challenge to go back to what got me started was great.  I've had a super evening in my craft room and made six cards - all very clean and simple - but all featuring embossing.  I've come on a bit since I first started, and I mix techniques now that I wouldn't have dreamt of when I started.  So here they are:

Bubble Tree - Martha Stewart Glitter

Christmas Trees - Martha Stewart Glitter

Christmas Greenery - Distress Inks

Winter Birds

Teeny Trees - Memento Inks

Christmas Trees - Distress Inks - Sakura Glaze with glitter

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Frame It, Teeny Trees; Inkadinkadoo - Winter Birds; Woodware - Christmas Bubble Tree, Christmas Trees, Christmas Greenery; Stampin' Up! - Contempo Christmas
Inks: Memento - Rich Cocoa, Cottage Ivy
Embossing Powders:  Stampendous - Detail Silver, Detail Gold, Detail White, Kaleidoscope;  Heat It Up! - Tinsel Green
Accessories:  Anita's - gems; Martha Stewart - Glitter Pens; All cards from my stash

I've also got another follower - and this one is very special - my son, Benjamin, has decided to follow me.  Hi Ben - welcome aboard - and see what I get up to!!

Finally, Blogger has the image upload link working again - so better late than never - OLW31.   Thanks Susan, this was a really fun challenge.

Driving me nuts ...

...  Blogger that is!!  I've been so busy making cards for the OLW31 challenge and I've got six - yes really - to show you.  But the image loader on Blogger is playing up and is not actually available at the moment.  Darn!!  Oh well, I'll as much ready as possible and aim to load it later.

OLW30 Winner ....

.... yes, that's me!!  I'm so thrilled and excited that Jennifer of Styles Ink has selected my card as one of five winners on last week's OLW challenge.  I've never won a prize before!!  This was the card that won

There were lots of beautiful cards made - such a talented group!!  Pop over and have a look. 

So here's a big THANK YOU to Jennifer and her son!!

Hello ...

...  I've just seen that I have a new Follower; so I'd like to say Hi to Kristi and welcome you to my blog.  I'm so glad you've joined me - great to have you here!

It's Christmas in our house ....

... and that's official!!!  The first Saturday in December has become the day on which we put up our Christmas trees.  Ever since the children were tiny and they wanted the trees up, we decided that we'd do it - so today's the day.

We started off by visiting Chester to see the Big Wheel that has been put up.  But unfortunately the weather was really miserable.  I don't mean snow.  I mean dull, grey and rain - and, of course, cold.  So we didn't actually go on the Wheel today - we're going to save that for a better day.  But we did some Christmas shopping.  And then went for a most excellent lunch at 1539 - which is the restaurant attached to Chester Racecourse.  It was superb!!!  All the better because I didn't have to prepare it or wash up!  Seriously, a really lovely meal.

Then we came home - and put up our trees.  We have two - one in the Snug and one on the upstairs landing.  Both are really beautiful.  We don't do clean and simple trees, or ones that have a theme.  We go for lots of tinsel, lights, baubles and kids bits.  They are such fun.  So here they are:

Our Big Tree - in the Snug - it's about 7 feet tall - and it's totally wonderful!!!

The Big Tree - in the dark showing how the lights sparkle

Our smaller tree on the landing - I've realised there's a bit of a theme here - silver, white, pink - pretty!

I love to sit in the Snug in the evening with the lights off and watch the Christmas tree lights as they sparkle.  It's so pretty and so relaxing.  A great way to unwind.  So I'm going to be the first to wish everyone Season's Greetings!!

And that's all for this evening.  I'll be back tomorrow with some more cards - I still have plenty to make.  I also have to come up with a couple of simple designs for our Cub Scouts (aged 8 - 10) to make for their parents, as well as some for the Scouts (aged 10½ - 14) to make.  See you tomorrow.

Treat boxes ....

... or goodie bags - those were the instructions for the challenge set at Creative Card Crew - they want to see all those little boxes and bags into which we store surprises!! 

So I made some for fun - and to try out a template for a box that I got from Waltzingmouse Stamps.  This is a really simple rubber band box - but has so many uses!  I printed the template onto the back of my card and then printed the paper on the other side.  The papers were designed by Glenda Waterworth and come from her double CD set - Season's Greetings.  I have a hard time selecting my favourite design, but the holly leaves are close to the top!!  As these are Christmas Treat Boxes I added a little bling by using Martha Stewart Glitters.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse Stamps - Around Christmastime; Template - Rubber band box
Papers: Artylicious - Season's Greetings
Glitter: Martha Stewart - Garnet, Onyx
Inks:  Brilliance - Pearlescent Ivy, Rocket Red, Graphite Black
Embossing Powder:  Stampendous - Detail Clear

I think I may put these under the tree for some special young people!!

And now that I've finished that challenge - I really better get on with the ironing.  I think the pile is now about 3 feet high!!  Have I mentioned that I hate ironing?  I think I may have.  Oh well, it's no good I really will have to get it done - if only so that I've got some ironed tops!!  It's such a shame that such mundane things drag us away from crafting :))) 

After that I have to prepare for Scouts this evening.  I'm not sure how many will come tonight - it's still very cold here, although not too much snow.  We'll see - we've a fun evening in store.  See you tomorrow.

Busy, busy, busy ...

... but not with crafting, sadly!!  I've been catching up with all the household admin, tidying, cleaning, etc.  Still have a bit to do though.

So I thought I'd go back to a card I made before I started this blog.  Last year my Mum celebrated her 70th birthday, so I had to make her a really special card.  Now she absolutely loves her garden and flowers, particularly the very spectacular agapanthus.  It's a stunning flower so that was the basis for her card.  I kept it reasonably simple.  I stamped the single agapanthus randomly on the background, and added some modern swirls in silver embossing.  The main image was stamped and cut out using my nesties and layered.
It was a large card - almost A4 in size.

 That's all for now - I'm off for a well earned coffee!!  See you all tomorrow.

So Christmassy ...

.... here at the moment.  There's not too much snow left on the roads (which is good), but there's still a reasonable amount on gardens and in the playing fields.  But the skies are heavy with snow clouds, so I expect more snow tonight.  I know that we're so lucky - we haven't got it too bad here - just enough to make it feel Christmassy.

The plus side is that I'm in the mood for Christmas cards.  I decided to work on challenges from Clean & Simple Stamping, and also from Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge.  Both sketches use a square card as the base - which is nice as I like square cards.

 

For the Clean & Simple Challenge I went for a nice simple Santa stamp from Waltzingmouse Stamps - Around Christmastime.  There are so many wonderful stamps in this set - all quite graphic and they make super toppers.  I embossed the image with detail silver and then coloured it with Memento ink, crystal glitter and white flock.  I cut the shape out using my circular nesties. 

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Around Christmastime

Inks:  Memento - Lady Bug

Pens: Sakura Stardust Golden Star

Accessories:  Anita's Stickers: Winter Berries; Anita's Christmas Black Papers

Spellbinders: Circles

My card for this week's Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge used the wonderful Fesitive Foliage set.  Claire has designed some wonderful stamps for this set, and her Design Team and lots of other card makers have used the set to make some of the most wonderful cards - both vintage and clean and simple.  It's really versatile.  The main topper image was embossed with Cosmic Shimmer Steel Blue Aurora - and it doesn't really show up too well on the photo, but it matches the card base perfectly.  Both have a wonderful shimmer!!

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Around Christmastime, Festive Foliage

Embossing Powder:  Cosmic Shimmer - Steel Blue Aurora; Stampendous - Detail Silver

Card: from stash

For some reason my signature has returned!!!  I think maybe Blogger has been playing games again!

That's all for this evening.  I'll be back again tomorrow.   

Powercut ...

... we had a very specific one last night.  At about 8.30pm I was settling down at my PC to catch up with reading various blogs, when Jonathan and I became aware that the lights were flickering quite a lot.  Now, it's not unusual for this to happen here - the electricity supply is a bit suspect quite often.  But last night we suddenly lost power.  Okay, we thought, the village has gone down.  But when we looked out of our window, we discovered the power outage was confined to the street light in front of our house, our neighbour's house and ours!!  That's a really specific power cut.  We called the power company and they sent an engineer out to check out the local sub-station (poor guy - it was really cold last night).  Power was restored at just after 11.30pm!!  We were woken up by our alarm going off!!!  So much for catching up last night.

So this morning I had to go round and adjust all the electronic clocks in the house.  Just weird!!!  So no cards were made yesterday, but I still have a few left to show you from those that I made for the School Fair last week.



Image - Pink Petticoat; Greeting - from a small set that I've had for ages; I added some sparkle with Stickles



Stampin' Up! - image - this is from the hostess set I got from my last party - I really like this set, sadly I missed the top of the card when I scanned it - the dotted border goes all the way round!!

Another Pink Petticoat image - coloured on the computer.

This is a sweet stamp - just right for tomboys!!

Now I'm off to play in my craft room and make a few more Christmas cards.  Should be back later tonight - powercuts permitting :))

My signature seems to have disappeared!!  I'll get that sorted out as soon as I can