Workshops finished for 2016 .......

Happy Tuesday evening to you .......

OK ........ I know that Christmas comes around at this time every year, and each year I say I'm going to be more organised, do the shopping early, get my cards made, written, and posted by the first week in December then I can relax and enjoy the festive season.  Well ..... it's not happening!!!  The relaxing bit and enjoying myself is going OK ...... it's the rest I'm struggling with.
I'm still shopping like its going out of fashion, making Christmas cards, never mind writing the darn things and getting them in the post, and wrapping the presents well, I need to get the gift wrap sorted before I can even start on that one!!!

I'm not beginning to panic just yet though ...... I've a couple of DT commitments to fulfill this week then ..... it'll be time to jingle all the way to Christmas Day.

We had a fab weekend ...... the whole family got together on Sunday which was nice, to celebrate Lauren's recent good news ..... more about some other time, things are moving rather quickly!
And of course Saturday was my last workshop of the year .... and what a great day we had.  Busy ..... but lots of fun.

The project was a festive MDF Wreath ........ here's mine

It's quite large ..... approx 16 inches (40 cms) across, and it was so much fun to decorate.  The ladies had a great time and at the end of the day each one was different.

The MDF was painted and given the crackle treatment ..... love this effect!

And then I gave it frosty look by applying glue to the edges using my fingers, and then sprinkled over the top with the Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy Glitter

Then came the 'flower arranging'.  I die cut the flowers from water colour cardstock using the Tim Holtz Tattered Poinsettia die and then coloured them using Distress Inks ......

Some of them I did red ..... using Fired Brick, direct to paper from the ink pad, with a little bit of Aged Mahogany brushed around the edges .....

and the rest I just inked around the edges with Vintage Photo.

I stamped all of the poinsettias with the IndigoBlu Sheet Music stamp ...... some with Vintage Sepia Versafine ink and the rest with a very old Onyx Black

I added a few sprinkles of Chunky white embossing powder and some cute little mini pine cones, or mini jingle bells to the centers and then filled in between with berries and pine cones .....

die cut foliage and mesh ribbons ......

and finished off with a nice rustic, hessian bow

Like I said the ladies had a great time .... we had a full house with a bit of a Christmas party in the middle ..... buffet lunch and a glass of bubbly (non alcoholic of course!)

It didn't take long to clear the buffet table ......

Then it was back to work ...... and by the end of the afternoon we had some beautiful wreaths ...... take a look at a few of the finished  ones ..... a lovely warm, rich look from Sue T .....

Carol went for a non traditional colour combination with stunning results .....

Back to the more traditional style from Sarah and Sue B .....

And a pretty frosty version from Lauren ......

I even managed a group photo .......  minus one!  11 lovely ladies with 11 very beautiful festive wreaths (it was a shame Lauren had to leave early to go to work!)

I'd just like to say a big Thank You to all the ladies for their support throughout the year ....... you're all amazing, and it's been a pleasure hosting the workshops.  I'm already looking forward to more fun weekends in 2017.

Thanks for popping by  ........ enjoy the rest of Tuesday (what's left of it!)
I'm off out shopping again in the morning ...... and a sneaky coffee with Lauren (it's been a few days since my last Gingerbread Latte so I think I deserve one!)
Then I'm off out for lunch ..... one of my craft crew has a birthday tomorrow so we're getting together to celebrate ...... a busy day again!!

Cheerio until next time .....