Out with the old and in with the new .......

Happy New Year's Eve,

The last day of 2015 ..... it's not been a bad year, except for the weather!!  It's bucketing it down here and it's blowing a hoolie again ..... might need my winter coat over the little black dress this evening!

Let's finish what we started yesterday ,,,,, grab a cuppa and take a look at some of my favourite bits from the last six months (again, any links will take you to the original post if you fancy a read).

July ...... a bit of a busy month.  We had big birthdays, a wedding and an anniversary, another trip across to the UK, the Clarity retreat ..... no wonder this year seems to have flown by!!

Hubby was 50! ......

I made a  beautiful Keepsake Box for my nephew's wedding .....

and it was a special month over at Less is More too ....

On to August ...... when I joined the Clarity Design Team ..... whoo hoo!!

Busy with lots of other DT stuff too ..... Craft Stamper .....

(still love my pencils)

but I did find time to play along with some of my favourite Blog challenges ..... like Happy Little Stampers

We're into September now ..... 

Had fun with a canvas ......

A little bit of Clarity ......

And I was part of the Happy Little Stampers Blog Hop .... showcasing Kylie's first stamp release 

Oh .... and the little man started school .....

On to October ...... 

We had a fab challenge month on the Craft Stamper Blog ....... we had to decorate ATB's, a first for me (Artist Trading Blocks)

It was Paper Piecing over at Happy Little Stampers ......

And it was time to get festive with Clarity .....

Nearly at the end .... November .......

Christmas was on it's way and the lovely Loll hosted her 12 Tags of Christmas event.  I was a Guest Designer and I also played along each day ..... you know I love my tags!! 

 Day 3

Day 7  

I also joined the DT for a brand new challenge over at Happy Little Stampers ..... Mixed Media so some of the tags were entered into that too ......

 Day 11 

Day 12

It wasn't all Christmas though ..... I had some fun playing with Masterboards

for the challenge over at Craft Stamper  something I'd done previously with a workshop

Well .... we're almost done.  We've reached December ...... let the festivities begin!

The month started with a bit of Clarity .... and another tag!!

Lots of Christmas projects .....

An afternoon workshop making last minute cards ......

And another new DT position ...... the STAMPlorations CAS Challenge team

Phew!! ..... are you still with me. What a year ..... and it looks like 2016 is going to be a busy one!! 

Thanks for popping by today ....... and thank you for all your lovely comments and support over the past year.  Hopefully you've enjoyed your visits and I look forward to sharing time with you again next year.

All that's left is for me to wish you all a very Happy, Healthy New Year .... all the best for 2016!!!  If you're out celebrating tonight ... have fun and stay safe.

MWAH!!! 

XX

See you all in 2016 ...... Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

My year in review ...... part I

Happy Wednesday,

I hope you've had a good Christmas ..... and that the weather is being kind to you.
It's heartbreaking seeing all the flooding that's happening across in the UK.  It's hard to know what to say ...... mother nature can be cruel at times.

With 2015 coming to a close, I thought it would be nice to look back and see what went on here on the Craft Lane and share a few of my favourite makes from the year.  I'll try and keep it brief but you may want to grab yourself a cuppa before we start.

Let's go all the way back in January ......

It's always hard getting back into the swing of things, what with the usual Blog challenges to enter, DT stuff to do, birthday cards to make ........ and this year we saw the first ever Craft Stamper Take It Make It Blog Hop, along with a new look to the regular Craft Stamper Blog Challenge.

(any links in this post will take you to the original Blog posts if you fancy a read)

I made a cute little calendar ..... perfect for the beginning of the year.

Another of my favourites was this ..... a one layer card for Less is More

And I have to add in the journal that I decorated ........ I must confess I haven't got around to doing much inside it yet ..... who knows 2016 may be the year I really get started!

February ..... we have Valentine's of course, and I was joining in with Tim's 12 Tags again

I was Guest Designer on one of my favourite Blog Challenges ..... Merry Monday

And I got a new favourite craft product ........ Brushos

Onto March ...... my birthday month, my first trip of the year off the island, the Indigo Blu craft retreat and we moved house (again!!)

One of my favourite makes was a DT piece for the Craft Stamper Blog Challenge ....... still love these stamps!!

April ....... another busy month.  A little sad though ...... after nearly four years of working with Kay and Alfie I felt it was time for a change.  I made the tough decision to stand down from the IndigoBlu Design team.

We had more of those gorgeous Tim flowers too ....

On to May .....  I was Guest Designer on the Country View Crafts Blog Challenge, a couple of trips across to the UK for more crafty fun including Port Sunlight (craft show), and of course we had the start of the TT Races

More new favourite things ..... Spectrum Noir pencils and this gorgeous Penny Black stamp ....

And a little bit of home decor .....

Let's finish today with June ..... half way through the year.
I joined an new Design Team .... Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge.
We had hubby's  work Summer Party and we saw the end of another fabulous TT fortnight ...... Oh! and of course the family trip to Bourton in the Cotswolds ....

We're doing it all again in 2016 ..... can't wait!

June saw the first appearance on here for the Crazy Birds .....

And we wanted Texture over on the Craft Stamper Blog Challenge ......

Well I think that's enough for today don't you!  Congratulations if you've stuck with me ..... I think you deserve another cuppa now!

I'll be back tomorrow with another whistle stop journey through the second half of the year .... more crafty makes, birthday celebrations and another new Design Team!

Thanks for popping by ....... enjoy the rest of your day. It's take away and TV for us this evening ..... I'm fed up of cooking!!!
The wind is blowing a hoolie, the rain is on its way so it's time to batten down the hatches I think. Stay safe, warm and dry wherever you are.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx 

'Twas the night before Christmas .........

Happy Christmas Eve ......

Only one more sleep before the big guy in the red suit pops by.  We've already started tracking him, thanks to NORAD ..... as you can imagine the little man is getting quite excited!

Today has gone surprisingly smooth .... cranberry sauce made, mince pies done, went to the wine store and got everything we wanted (and a few extras .... hic!!) and the house is all ready for the big day.  Just got the table to set later, and the veg to prepare then I can put my feet up and really get into the Christmas spirit.

As I mentioned yesterday I have one more festive project to share with you ....... I can show you now because I know it's all been done!!

These were commissioned for a friend ..... and if you've been with me over the last few years you'll know I do this every year.  Her hubby sends her on a special, secret, Christmas Quest ..... how cool is that!  I make the cards so that he can put clues inside to send her places so that she can complete the Quest.

This year he wanted a bit of an Art theme to them hence the picture frames ....... this one was my favourite .....

love the sparkly snowflake!

Although I do like this one .....

more sparkle .....

Each card was the same, but different if you know what I mean ..... different frames, different colours .... love the clear embossing on this one (and look ...... it's those Clarity trees again)

I like the crackle background on this design ..... as well as the distressed look to the frame

And of course we had to have the BIG guy in there somewhere didn't we ......

Well that's it  ....... Christmas cards etc., done for another year.  The festive box is well and truly empty.

So .... before all the merriment gets underway I'd just like to say Thank You for all your good wishes and support throughout 2015, and for all your lovely comments ..... I really do appreciate you taking the time to visit.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas ...... hope Santa brings you everything you've wished for, and more ...... and lots of love and best wishes for 2016 ...... mwah!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

xx

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

It's the 23rd of December .....

and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Happy Wednesday evening,

Well the shopping's all done ..... it only took two trips to M&S, one to the butchers, and Mr Tesco kindly delivered the rest this morning! Only the wine to collect now.
The presents are all bought, wrapped and under the tree, and tomorrow's list of jobs is just cranberry sauce to make and a few mince pies ...... time to relax!!!

Here's the final Christmas card to come out of the old craft room ........ a special one for a very special little person ........  it's Alex's Christmas card

Inspired by an article in the December issue of Craft Stamper Magazine ....... based on the cute little die cut template from Cardmaking Paradise.

I love this little reindeer ..... and my crafty buddy Jill kindly cut a whole bunch of them for me.  Alex and I made cards for all his school pals (forgot to take pictures though!!!) and I had this one left so what better way to use him than make a card for the little man.

I coloured the reindeer using Distress Inks and splattered him with a little water

Gave his antlers the glitter treatment ....... and of course added the red nose

The background was so simple to do ..... I can't take the credit for it, it was something I came across on Pinterest I think, and I have to apologise because I don't know who it was posted by originally ..... sorry!! But what a clever idea ........ use masking tape to create the triangular trees.

A strip across the bottom, two more to create the triangle then I used Distress Inks to colour the tree.
You can see I altered the sizes slightly, and also decorated each tree using glitter glue or a stardust gel pen .... so simple but ever so effective don't you think! (Definitely an idea I'll be using again for next year!)

A simple greeting on the bottom finishes it all off (from the Happy Little Stampers Mixed Christmas Sentiments)

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your evening.
I'll be back tomorrow with the last of this year's festive projects.

Cheerio until then .....

Linda

xx