On the twelfth day of December ....... could this be my final Christmas card for 2018?

Happy Wednesday to you ......

Only 12 days until Christmas ...... ooohh it's getting closer!

And guess what ....... I think I've made it at last ....... my final Christmas card for 2018! I hope it is anyway.

I can relax a little now ....... all my cards are done, written and posted, and I even have a couple of spares. 

I'm linking this one up to the CAS Christmas Challenge ..... they want to see Stars

I stamped the branch (PaperArtsy ELB10) using Distress Oxide inks off the edge of a piece of white card, and added some glitter to give a frosty look

The stars have been die cut from glitter card and they're so sparkly in real life

I attached them onto the card, under the branch, and then used a Stardust Gel Pen to draw in the lines to make them look as though they are hanging from the tree

The sentiment is from Penny Black, and has been stamped using my favourite gold ink ..... Delicata Golden Glitz

And I finished with a sprinkling of Chunky White Embossing Powder to add some falling snow.

And that's it ..... all done! 
I've even managed to do the last of the Christmas shopping, and it's all wrapped, well nearly all of it.  I ran out of wrapping paper yesterday ..... I knew I would!
At least I can go for our weekend away and not have to worry about shopping though.  It's going to be a weekend just for us ...... I can't wait!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off to finish tidying the craft room, then I need to pack. 
Hubby and I are off tomorrow for a nice long weekend in our favourite place in the Cotswolds ...... Bourton on the Water. 
We've never been in the winter before ...... we have sat here in the sunshine though, many times!

(photo from Google)

I'm looking forward to seeing the Christmas tree, apparently they put it in the middle of the river ..... how pretty is that!

(photo from Google)

Hopefully the weather won't be too bad ....... it would be nice to see it like this though

(photo from Google)

Cheerio until next time ......

On the eleventh day of December ....... a new product release from Uniko

Happy Tuesday .......

It's only 14 days until Christmas!!  Are you all ready for the big day?  Are your cards done? Is your Christmas list for Santa ready to post?  Are you still looking for things to put on there? (Are you on the naughty, or the nice list?) Have you still got gifts to buy?    Well ..... I have a nice little treat for you ........ there's a  BRAND NEW RELEASE from Uniko today.
We've got three fabulous new stamps sets ...... the stunning new Pure Florals Peony 

How gorgeous is this and, there's a great collection of words on there too.

There's the new Wonderful Day ..... 

A cute little floral set, featuring outline and solid stamps to create pretty, modern floral designs, along with more fabulous sentiments

And last but not least ...... Snowflake Serenade. 

Perfect if  like me, you still have Christmas cards to make but,  also great for other winter celebrations.

There's two new stencil designs too ....... In the Forest

and Let It Snow 

All of the new stamps and stencils will be available to purchase on the Uniko website from 9pm (GMT) this evening.  Which are your favourites?

As with all the Uniko new releases we're having our traditional Design Team New Release Day Blog Hop, hopefully giving you some inspiration using the brand new designs. 

As I've said, I'm still making Christmas cards.  Although there's not many names left on the list now, thank goodness.
Here's a quick and easy design using the new In the Forest stencil 

I've created a simple winter scene, inking through part of the stencil with a green Distress Ink, and then added in a little bit of a landscape, using a simple mask cut from a piece of copier paper, placed in and around the trees, and then Distress Ink brushed along the edge

I added some glitter along the tops of the hills for a touch of sparkle, and used some chunky white embossing powder here and there to give a snowy look

A little detail added to one of the trees using some glitter glue ..... and a sentiment stamped across the bottom

The stencils are also great for doing those last minute gift tags ....... I need a whole load of those too!

White paste through the snowflake stencil and then sprinkled with glitter .... perfect!

A simple sentiment is all that's needed on the bottom

Add a little sparkle around the trees to highlight a tone on tone design .....

And again a simple sentiment ......

I love this new holly and snowflake flourish from Snowflake Serenade

I've stamped and heat embossed the image in gold, and then added a touch of colour to the holly leaves using a ZIG marker and a waterbrush.

A touch of gold shimmer and some red glitter glue berries .....

One of the sentiments stamped in silver ......

and a few extra snowflakes here and there ..... finishing everything off with a splattering of gold and silver ink.

If you're all Christmas'd out don't worry there's something for you in the new release.  What about the gorgeous new Pure Florals Peony ..... this is going to be a favourite I think!

Here I've used the large bloom, just stamped in gold ink all over my white card.  I could have heat embossed the flowers and added colour but, I think the gold on the white looks so elegant.

A touch of black in the centre from the sentiment

And a few sparkly sequins to finish off.

I do hope you love this new release as much as we do. 
Don't forget it'll be available this evening 9pm (GMT) on the Uniko website.  In the meantime why not hop on through the Blog Hop to see what the rest of the Design Team have been up to

Bev

Carol

Izzy

Jane

Julie

Linda (that's me)

Lindsey

Sarah G

Sarah P

Happy hopping!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.

I'm going to try and tidy my craft room I think ..... I can't actually see my desk at the moment and the floor well, the less said about that the better!!

Cheerio until next time .......

  

On the eighth day of December .......

Happy weekend .....

I hope you've had a good week.
Things are starting to get a little crazy here with all the festive preparations.  Town was so busy yesterday ..... I was glad I went in early.
I've posted all the Christmas cards though (I'm sure there'll be someone I've forgotten).  I bought my wrapping paper (I bet I haven't got enough!).  I've also got the table presents sorted, and I've got just two more presents left to buy. I haven't been this organised, so early, for a long time!

There is a reason though ..... hubby and I are having a few days away next weekend, and I'm trying to have everything done before we go.  That way I can enjoy our time away, and not have to rush around when we get back.

It's all about the presents this weekend ..... it's time to get them all wrapped!
I love this part.  Buying them all can be a bit of a nightmare ....... have I got the right size?  Will they like the colour? ...... better get a gift receipt  but,  making all the boxes look pretty, and stacking them under the tree is so much fun.
So one of the things to do today is surround my self with rolls of pretty papers, lots of shiny ribbons and beautiful bows.  And I'd better not forget the tags!
Not sure who's going to get this jolly pair ......

I came across these two already stamped in my box of UFO's (Un-Finished Objects!)  I think they were leftover from making Christmas cards once upon a time and I thought they would make great tags.
I cut them down to size and then ran them through my Big Shot using the Softly Falling Embossing Folder from Stampin Up!

I added a touch of colour using ZIG markers .....

And a little bit of sparkle with some fine crystal glitter.

The sentiments have been stamped on the bottom using a gold ink .......

This month's challenge from Country View Crafts has a festive theme ..... it's all about Christmas, so I thought I'd play along as I think these fit the bill nicely.

We're off to the Christmas Market later, not looking for anything in particular, we'll just see what catches our eye.   Then we've got the little man staying over tonight.  I'm going to wait until he's in bed then it's time to grab the tape and scissors and wrap those presents.

Thanks for popping by ....... have a lovely weekend.

Cheerio until next time .....

On the seventh day of December .......... it's the Craft Stamper Challenge

Happy Friday folks ......

How's your week been? Only two more Friday's before Christmas .... just saying!

It's the first Friday in December though, and that means there's a new Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge .... the last one of 2018!!
We've had a great year on the challenge ..... lots of fabulous entries each month,  and a whole load of amazing winners.  Take It Make It fans ....... you're a very talented bunch! Thank you all for your support.

As the festive season is just around the corner, I had to make my inspiration piece a Christmas card ...... plus I still have some more to send!

I must say, I'm really liking stamping onto coloured cardstock at the moment and I love this shade of blue from Stampin Up! ..... it's called Blueberry Bushel
I started by stamping my sentiment in the centre (from Simon Says Stamp) and heat embossing with WOW's  Platinum Embossing Powder (another current favourite!)

I then stamped the snowflakes around the edges using both sets of Tim Holtz's Swirly Snowflakes ...... the large ones (CMS319) and the Mini ones (CMS320)
First I used a navy ink for the small snowflakes, then a silver ink for the medium sized ones.  You can see I stamped over the edges of some of the snowflakes to create the look of layers.

The largest snowflake was then stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in white

A little sprinkle of Chunky White Embossing powder over the top, and heated from underneath gives the finishing touch.

And just because I don't like to waste cardstock ...... how about a quick gift tag to match!

As with all the Craft Stamper challenges we have an amazing prize for the winner this month .... I wouldn't mind getting my hands on this little lot!

And don't forget the DT will also be choosing a Design Winner too.  You could have your winning project published in the Craft Stamper magazine ...... wouldn't that be a great start to the New Year.
You have to be in it to win it though, and there's just a few things to remember .......

• You can enter up to three projects into the challenge
• Each one must have it's own blog post
• Only ONE project on your blog post please ..... a set of something counts as more than one!
• Link your post to the Craft Stamper Blog Challenge
• And don't forget .... please include some actual rubber stamping on your project. NO DIGIs!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend.
Ours is definitely a festive one ....... a Christmas market tomorrow in Douglas, might just have a cheeky glass of mulled wine.  Then a trip over to see Claire, my favourite jewellery maker on the island ..... hopefully 'Santa' (aka darling hubby) will be getting me something nice and shiny!
And then on Sunday I'm getting together with all my crafty ladies and we're having a Christmas lunch out .... which reminds me, my Secret Santa needs wrapping!

Happy stamping!

Cheerio until next time ......

On the sixth day of December .......

Happy Thursday ......

This week is flying by ..... and surprisingly, I've managed to blog everyday in December so far .... whoo hoo!! 
We're only six days in I know ..... can I keep it up all month? ....... I doubt that very much.   Lets see how far I get shall we.

Today I'm playing along with this month's CAS Mix Up Challenge .....

 
and yes, I'm still making Christmas cards!

The theme this month is Emboss Resist ...... one of my favourite techniques and I've teamed it up here with Brushos

I started out by stamping the snowflakes onto white cardstock.  I used a blue ink and a silver and heat embossed both with a clear powder, so that the colours wouldn't run when I spritzed with water later

The larger snowflakes were stamped using Versamark and then heat embossed in white. 
I added the sentiment onto the bottom and heat embossed that in silver.

Now for the fun bit ....... I sprinkled Cobalt Blue and Turquoise Brushos onto the card, keeping the powder just at the top edge

I spritzed the powders with water, again just at the top edge and let the water move the colour down the card to give a sort of ombre effect. I did repeat this a couple of times until I was happy with the colour.
Because the snowflakes had been heat embossed they resisted the colour from the Brusho and the raised lines help to pool the ink and give this fabulous shaded look
I love how Brusho powders are made up of so many different colours ..... each time you use them the results are always different.  Look how the shades of lilac and purple have come out on this .... love it!!

I added a little sprinkle of Chunky White Embossing Powder, and a touch of glitter for a little festive sparkle.

Well I think I've covered everything .....
Emboss Resist ....... check!
Stamping ....... check!
And one other ...... Brushos .... .check!

That's another card I can cross off the list ..... still a few more to go.

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time .....