Looking back ....... Part 2

Happy New Years Eve,

2014 is nearly over ....... the champagne is already chilling in the fridge!

Before the celebrations begin though, here's the second part of my favourite makes of 2014. Grab a cuppa and lets finish the year.

We start in July ..... and what a busy month that was!  We had the holiday in Vegas ..... what a trip! then I had a week in the UK with my crafty buddy, including a two day Clarity Retreat ..... again what a trip!
Still had time to play though .....

A pretty summery design for the Craft Stamper Challenge ...... Embossing Resist technique

And then my DT piece for the IndigoBlu challenge ...... Tag! You're It!

On to August ......... I was so excited to be a part of the IndigoBlu/ICE Resin Blog Hop

and of course, the new Christmas stamp designs had just been launched too ......

I love how this turned out ...... you may have seen it as my Guest Designer piece for the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge ........ another happy dance around the old craft room!!

In to September we go ...... one of my favourite Craft Stamper Challenges ..... Stamping on Tissue

Great for covering MDF pieces ........ and perfect for decorating candles

And of course ..... my Christmas cards were coming along nicely

Love the CAS look to this.

October ...... we had the trip to London to see the Poppies at the Tower (just amazing!) and the old craft room was as busy as ever ...... with birthday cards .....

Design Team work ....... Craft Stamper again, inspired by the Clarity Retreat

and of course my Tag for Tim's 12 tags of 2014

Nearly there ...... November
It was definitely a month of festive fun Blog challenges .......

And there was Loll's fabulous 12 Tags Event which I played along with (you know I love my tags, so it would have been rude not too!) 

I did the twelve ...... and had my favourites

Oops ..... I almost forgot, there was the festive ATC swap too!

Well, we've made it to December .........
The final tag of 2014 .......

Lots of Christmas cards .......

And a special project I've been asked to do for the last 3 years ........

Design something to hold clues for a Christmas Quest.  I think I'm safe in showing these ...... the lady who they were for should have completed the quest by now!

This year I went for tags in their own little pockets ........ all the same, but different  - you know what I mean!

Well .... that's it!  2014 in cards.  If you're still with me ..... well done, and thank you, I hope you've enjoyed it!

All that's left for me to do is raise that glass of bubbly, and wish you all a very Happy New Year ...... and if you're going out for the evening stay warm, stay safe and have a great time.

See you in 2015!

Cheerio until then .........

Linda

xx

Looking back ........Part 1

Happy Tuesday!

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas ...... were you on the naughty or nice list?  Did Santa bring you everything you wished for .... I do hope so!

I'll be glad to see the back of 2014 ...... don't get me wrong we had a fabulous Christmas Day, it's just since then it's been one thing after another!!! (hence the lack of blog posts!)

Both kids .... relationship problems (sigh!)  We had a frantic 24 hours getting Chris home from the UK!
Hubby's not been well .... I won't go into details but hopefully, finger's crossed, we've got things sorted ..... time will tell!
And little old me is full of the sniffles ...... again!!!  So, as you can imagine the old craft room is the last place I want to be right now.
I'm just ready to get things back to normal ...... I've had enough turkey to last me until next Christmas, I couldn't eat another mince pie or fancy chocolate if I tried (although the delicious Stollen will get eaten before 2015!) ..... and I'm fed up of looking at the Christmas tree!!! ..... Bah humbug!!!

But, enough of all that ...... as we're coming to the end of another year I thought I'd take a look back at some of my favourite makes from 2014.  So, grab a coffee, or something a little stronger if you're still in the festive spirit and join me ........

January ....... the start of another year of  Blog challenges  ....... Less is More

and IndigoBlu ...... (I love white on Kraft!)

February ...... fabulous new stamp designs from IndigoBlu

March ........... (my birthday month) and my first makes as part of the Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge DT (yeah!!)

April ...............

One of the projects from the IndigoBlu Retreat.

And my Tim Tag for the month ..... love making those cute little flowers using Tim's pinecone die!

Onto May .......

Another of my DT makes for the Craft Stamper TIMI challenge ....... using potatoes to make stamps!

And a ShowCASed entry for Less is More

June ......... sees the end of another great TT fortnight and a very nice family week away in the Cotswolds
I still found time to spend in the old craft room though .....

An altered trinket box for the Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.

One of my Guest Designer pieces for a Less is More Challenge ...... (love this stencil!)

And I couldn't leave out this ......

One of my DT makes for IndigoBlu.

Well, I think that's enough to be going on with ..... I've taken up enough of your time today.

Thanks for popping by ..... I'll be back tomorrow to share the second half of the year.  Hope to see you then.

Cheerio for now ......

Linda

xx

The wait is over ........

Ho! Ho! Ho! ........ the BIG day is finally here!  I do hope Santa's been, and brought you all everything you wished for and more.

Have a very Merry Christmas

and

a Happy New Year 

To all my fab friends and followers .....Thanks for visiting, and for all your lovely comments over the last year  ....... Looking forward to doing it all again in 2015!

Festive hugs, and best wishes

Linda

xx

The day before Christmas .......

Happy Christmas Eve!

Are you all excited?!!

Well, the shopping's all done, gifts are bought and wrapped, the festive cooking is well underway and I've ticked the last thing off the crafty 'To Do' list ....... my final tag of the year for Tim's 12 Tags of 2014 whoo hoo!!!  (a little bit earlier for once!)

I think December's tag has got to be my favourite ...... I love the new Prancing Deer die!

I won't go into all the details of how I created my tag ...... Tim has a fabulous, really easy to follow Step by Step guide over on his blog.  I pretty much followed it to the letter, just the odd change here and there ......

My background is a little different ..... I used the IndigoBlu Snowflake Lace for my wintry backdrop

I'm loving the Frosted Sheets too ...... they give such a nice effect when you emboss them.

The frosted look to the deer is so pretty when the light catches it.

 I added a few extra pieces of festive foliage to the bottom ......

And finished it off with the metal snowflake.

Tag number 12 all done and dusted!  I hope we're going to do it all again next year!

Right .... it's time for some lunch, then I've cranberry sauce to make,  Disney's Frozen to watch this afternoon with the little man, and THE book to read before bedtime ......

After we've put out the mince pie and nightcap for Santa, and the carrot for Rudolph of course.

Thanks for popping by ..... I know you all must be really busy.
Have a lovely day today ....... and Eat, Drink and be Merry over the festive season.  Enjoy time with family and friends and remember ..... the diet starts in January!!!

Cheeri Ho Ho Ho until next time .....

Linda

xx

We're nearly there ......

Happy Tuesday folks,

Are you all ready for the big day ....... no, well neither am I!  I've still got presents to wrap (and send off to Santa), my mahoosive food order should arrive shortly, courtesy of good old Mr Tesco (if there's anything missing it'll mean a trip to M&S this evening ......looking forward to that one!!)  and we're currently waiting in for our Christmas present to arrive ...... oh and I've the bird to collect too!!!

But all that can wait ..... well, it's the last Less is More challenge of the year and I'm not going to miss that.

This week's theme is ........

FAMILY

I'm still on with Christmas cards I'm afraid ..... but this is the last one, I hope!!

The Penny Black Snow Family is the perfect image for this challenge ...... stamped using Black Versafine and coloured with a mix of Copic markers and Spectrum Noir Pencils

I added a little winter backdrop, using those Clarity trees stamped along the edge of a hand cut mask, and stamped a nice festive sentiment.

To finish off I added the holly leaves, and a touch of sparkle with some fine crystal glitter.

As always there's a little something on the inside too ...

Well .... that's it ....... the final Christmas card for 2014!  I'll apologise now if I've missed anyone.
Does that mean I can pack all my festive stash away ..... well, maybe not just yet. I still have my tag to do for Tim's 12 Tags of 2014.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.  We're waiting for delivery men to arrive ..... a rather large TV is on it's way, and I'm told it should be here sometime before lunch.
Hubby went out at the weekend 'looking' at new TVs.  Two hours later we left the store having ordered a 65inch, curved screen, 4K/3D monster!! (our Christmas present!) That's not all ..... there's a new sound system, a fancy new cabinet and, a new Blu Ray player on their way too ..... apparently we needed this because it up-scales all our current Blu Ray discs to 4K (whatever that is!!).  Boys and their toys eh ...... no perfume or jewellery under the tree for me then!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

End the year with a bit of Glitz & Glamour

Happy Sunday before Christmas!

It's the shortest day of the year too ...... winter has officially arrived!

The 21st of the month also means that there's a brand new challenge over at IndigoBlu.  It's the final one of 2014 and we're seeing out the year with a bit of ......

GLITZ & GLAMOUR

As always there's a fab prize for the winner ......... your choice of IndigoBlu stamps, and the chance to be a Guest Designer spot on a future challenge (oooohhh!),  and there's a Top 3 (chosen by the DT) who also get the chance to have their work on a future challenge inspiration post.  Fancy giving it a go ..... well you have until 8pm on January 20th to get your entries in ....... who knows,  you could be our next winner!

You'll find fabulous inspiration pieces from more of the DT, over on the Challenge Blog.  Here's a little something from me to get you started......

Gold and Silver ...... on black ...... always glamorous!

Some of you may have seen this before ...... so I won't go into too much detail on how I made it.  If you haven't ........ then you can find all the details here.

Those beautiful baubles are from the IndigoBlu 2014 Christmas release ........ 'Connor's Crown Jewels' and have simply been stamped using Flitter Glu and then Sheffield Steel (silver) and Chariot of Fire (gold) Flake added over the top ...... simple!
The snowflake border was done in exactly the same way, and I added a touch of bling to finish off.

Now it's your turn ......... have fun and Good Luck!

Thank you to everyone that's entered the IndigoBlu challenges over the last year ..... I hope you've had as much fun as the rest of the Design Team and I have had.

Have a lovely Christmas and Happy IndigoBlu New Year!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Cheerio until next time

LindyLou

xx

One week to go ........

Happy Wednesday!

This time next week we'll all be preparing for the arrival of the man in red ...... yes,  mince pies will be at the ready along with whatever tipple you choose to leave for the big guy!

I decided to brave the shops again this morning (not the best idea I've had this week - busy or what!!) At least I got a few more bits and pieces crossed off the list, and finally my Christmas cards have been posted ..... yeah!!!

One that didn't actually make it into the hands of the Royal Mail is this little guy .......

It's this week's entry for the challenge over at Less is More.

We've got a One Layer Week again (they soon come around!)  and the theme is .....

SNOW

Now, I would love a white Christmas, but somehow I don't think that's what we'll get.  We've had a little bit fall on the mountains but it hasn't lasted very long ........ I'll keep dreaming though!

On to the card ....... I stamped my little mouse (Penny Black's Xmouse Ornament!) onto a white cardblank ..... I used a grey ink instead of black as I wanted a softer look to the image.

I then made a mask for the mouse and covered the little guy up.  I cut a deckle edge rectangle, using a Spellbinders Nestabilities die, from a piece of copier paper and used the outside part as a mask.

With both masks in place, I coloured the panel using various shades of blue Distress inks ..... Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky and a touch of Chipped Sapphire.

I then spritzed over the top with some clean water, let it sit for a few seconds and them mopped up the excess leaving the mottled background .....

Once the ink was dry, and with the masks still in place, I stamped some snowflakes onto the background, using Versamark ink and then embossed with a white powder.

I removed my masks, and coloured the little guy using Spectrum Noir pencils ......

You can see I've added a touch of glitter to his snowflake, and I finished off by adding a greeting to the bottom (Tim Holtz's Mini Handwritten Holidays)

For the inside ........ more snowflakes and more Distress inks

Well that's one for the box for next year I suppose ..... unless there's someone I've forgotten!

Thanks for popping by ...... my next job is one of my favourites ...... start wrapping the Christmas presents.  I need to get stuff put away before certain people get home from work!

Enjoy the rest of your day!  

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx