Feeling hot hot hot!! ........

Happy Wednesday .....

What another glorious day its been ..... the sun just keeps on shining! I'm loving it!
No BBQ tonight though ..... hubby is out on a business thing, schmoozing with a client.  Which translates to ...... a fancy meal, a few drinks and the football probably!  So I thought I'd take the opportunity to catch up with you guys.

Did anyone see Lucy on the TV this afternoon ..... Sweet Poppy Stencils were back on our screens with the start of their new festive designs.  It's been hard to think of Christmas with the temperatures soaring ..... my craft room has been a little on the warm side!
I did get a few samples for the show done though.  Luckily I made a start before we went away so all that was needed was to finish them off and get them in the post! ..... Ho! Ho! Ho!

There was brand new Christmas stencil designs, some with matching Buddy Dies and a fabulous set of nesting tag dies.  They all went down really well ..... lots of sell outs, so we're not the only ones thinking of Christmas!

Here's a quick look at what I did with some of them ..... first up, the pretty Bubble Wreath

This is gorgeous, a great size, perfect for CAS designs.  Use your inks with it, or the pastes.  Add glitters like I've done above, or use gem stones or sequins to embellish.

I kept my design really simple.  I found a piece of cardstock in my bit box, that I'd smooshed and splattered with gold and silver metallic inks, to use as my background

I then used the stencil with the glossy white paste and sprinkled fine glitters over the top whilst the paste was still wet ......

I die cut out the centre of the wreath, stamped my sentiment onto the circle and then used foam pads and a circle of gold mirri card to mount it back into place

The wreath is great for making matching tags too ..... you don't have to use the full image all the time

If you don't like the multi coloured look then just go with the one ......

Classic gold on black with a touch of festive red ......

I also used a few dots of Liquid Pearls here and there to add a bit more colour.

The Starry Night Tree is another gorgeous new design ..... quite contemporary I think

I've used the metallic inks again to create the background ...... simply splattered them over a piece of white card

Glossy White paste through the stencil, and glitter again over the top .... so quick and easy

A simple sentiment and a few dots of glitter glue .....

and a matching tag ......

Next up is the pretty Large Bauble, which has a lovely set of matching nesting dies ......

I used both the stencil, with inks and paste and glitter ......

And the set of dies, to cut out the large bauble and the bow .....

A festive sentiment and a little bit of Distress Ink around the edges and you have another beautiful Christmas design

Again .... if you like the more traditional colours, stick with the red and gold ..... and just because it's a large bauble doesn't mean you have to make large cards ...... this one is only 7 x 5 inches

Finally ...... we have the Christmas Cracker, which also has matching dies.  This is such a fun design.

I masked off the actual cracker and just did the stars first onto the background using gold paste

I then stenciled the cracker onto a separate piece of card using the white paste and glitters, and used the dies to cut out both pieces

These were then attached to my card front leaving a small gap in the middle so that I could add my greeting .....

I think this would make a fabulous festive party invite .... don't you?

Have you started your Christmas cards yet? If not I hope I've given you some ideas.

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your evening.
It looks like we're in for another beautiful sunset tonight .......... this was from the other evening. 
I can get used to this

Time for a cheeky glass of wine I think and some catch up TV ..... I've earned it!

Cheerio until next time ......