It's Christmas Day ........

Has he been?

Merry Christmas ........

Happy Christmas Eve ........

The shopping's done, the presents are wrapped, and we're off to the panto this evening ....... oh yes we are!!  It's Christmas!!!!!! 

Before the festivities begin though, I thought I'd share with you a little project that I made recently. 

Over the last few years I've been asked to make some very special cards for Christmas for an old work colleague of hubby's.  'The Christmas Quest' has been a regular event, in fact, I think it was the 20th one this year.  

They always seem lots of fun, and it's always a pleasure making the cards. 

Here's a quick look at this years ........

Christmas trees done using a triangle aperture stencil from Sweet Poppy Stencils, and Distress Oxide inks in festive reds and greens .....

I dotted White Enamel Accents over the top to give a snowy look.

A pretty festive wreath ......

Heat embossed in gold onto black cardstock,  and then coloured using metallic paints

Lots of paint splatter onto the background too.

Next, you have to have twinkling fairy lights at Christmas ........

Die cut from glitter cardstock using an old Penny Black die and layered with silver mirri card ..... very festive!

And last up, a little robin .....

This little guy is one of my favourites from Penny black.

Stamped onto white cardstock, and coloured with markers and Distress inks. 

A little simple masking, Distress inks and a bit more stamping to create a winter background, and then finished off with some die cut foliage and a sprinkling of glitter.

All the letters and numbers were die cut using the Spellbinders Be Bold Alphabet dies.

Well, that's it from me, thanks for popping by. 

I'm off now to check my lists .... twice!  Catch up with any last minute jobs, and then get ready for this evening.  

We're out for a early meal with Lauren and Alex, and then we're off to see Aladdin ...... oh yes we are! 

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

xx

I'm usually a more traditional girl but ...........

Happy Monday .........

 

Have you had a nice weekend? 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Just seven more sleeps to go until the big day ...... Ho! Ho! Ho!  Things are about to get a little crazy around here!   

The last of my Christmas cards are done (phew!).  One of the jobs on the list for today was to get them in the post so, it's now fingers crossed that they all get there in time!  I can't believe I'm so late!!

Now, you know me, I'm quite the traditional girl when it comes to Christmas cards ......... snowmen, snowflakes, baubles,  and Christmas trees (lots of trees!!).  

Pretty poinsettias, a Christmas wreath, and I do love my festive reds and greens.  So, when I saw the theme for the final challenge this year, over at the Color Hues Challenge Blog, I thought I'd give it a try.

What do you think? ........ I kinda like it

Pink and Silver ...... definitely not my go to Christmas colours but, it works.

The embossing folder I used is the pretty 3D Holiday Floral Swag from Spellbinders ...... I love it!!

I simply ran it through the Big Shot, using white cardstock, then blended Distress Inks over the design (Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry),

fading out the colour where my sentiment was to go.

I heat embossed the sentiment in silver and added a few dots of white Enamel Accents

To finish off, and give the card a more snowy look, I splattered with a little bit of white paint

Here's another version of the same card but, just a little bit different .......

This time it was Spun Sugar Distress and Worn Lipstick, going a little more red instead of pink

and I changed the sentiment ever so slightly ........ 

I think I prefer the sentiment this way.

Anyhow, Pink and Silver is now definitely on my festive combo list!

And, as it's the first time I've used this embossing folder I'm also hooking up to Darnell's NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff!) Challenge

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

I'm off to put my feet up for five minutes with a cuppa and a festive mince pie ...... yum!

And, just in case I don't get chance to blog again before the big day ............  

Have a Wonderful Christmas!

Cheerio until next time ......

It's that time of year again .......

Happy Thursday ........

How are you?  Full of the festive spirit yet?  

We're getting there.  This bug is still hanging on by a thread but, it will not beat me!!

Lists have been made (lots of lists!)  The shopping has started (note to self ..... I need to buy wrapping paper). 

I think I've eaten my body weight in mince pies (the diet starts in January ..... again!). I've tried the odd Christmas cocktail (or two ...... hic!) And,  I'm still making Christmas cards!

I guess he had to come out at some point now didn't he ...... my favourite little snowman.  I'm not even sure he's still available to buy.  He's an old wooden stamp from Inkadinkadoo, and every year I have to use him on at least one card ....... he always makes me smile 😊

I stamped the snowman onto a piece of white cardstock.  Masked around the edges to create a frame, and then slowly blended shades of blue Distress Inks inside to create my night sky

Once I was happy with the colour, I splattered the ink with a little bit of clean water and let it sit for a few seconds.

I mopped up the excess with a paper towel and then added a few dots of white Enamel Accents here and there, sprinkled with a touch of fine crystal glitter, to give it a snowy look

The snowman was coloured using brush markers ..... he's so cute!

And I finished off with a heat embossed sentiment and a touch more 'snow'

Speaking of snow, I've loved seeing all the pictures on Facebook of the snow across in the UK at the moment.  We might have even been in some of it had we gone on our trip ........ brrrrr!

If you're snowed in at the moment, stay safe and warm.

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

Cheerio until next time ........

It's the 1st of December!!!! .......

Happy Friday .....

And welcome to December.  Let the countdown begin!

I've written, and posted my first lot of Christmas cards.  The first door on the advent calendar is open .... well it's Alex's advent calendar really but, we all got a little bit giddy this morning!  And one of the tasks for this afternoon is to hang a festive wreath on the front door.  I love this time of year ..... can you tell!

I've got another Christmas card for you today, and guess what? It's another tree ........ there's definitely a theme going on with my cards this year.

This was done using a cute little die from Simon Says Stamp called Corbel Tree Collage.  Not sure how long it's been in my die folder but I think this is the first time I've used it to make a card ....... isn't it pretty!

I used to the die to cut the design into a piece of white cardstock, then cut it again from green and red glitter foam from Spellbinders (I'm loving this stuff, and the good thing is the glitter doesn't shed)

I then inlaid the glitter pieces into the white card.  It was a little bit fiddly but I just took my time.  I love how it's given a raised effect, very touchy feely.  And just look at that sparkle!

A festive sentiment stamped underneath, and of course I had to splatter a little bit of gold ink here and there!

As it's the first time I've used this pretty little die I'm linking up to December's NBUS Challenge

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

It's time for a coffee I think,  now where did I put the Christmas mugs?

Cheerio until next time .....

Simply Less is More ........

Happy Thursday ........

Well, here we are on the last day of November. Just a little over three weeks until Christmas ..... Ho! Ho! Ho!

 

We would have been heading for the Cotswolds today if our little festive trip had gone according to plan, and we might have even had some snow on our travels.  I believe there's a little bit of it about in the UK at the moment.  Thankfully there's none here (yet!).  The sun is shining but it is very cold!❄

We did make the right decision to cancel the trip though.  This flippin' cold bug has been brutal, and it's still hanging on.  We are slowly beginning to feel a little better though, so it's not all bad!

Today I'm playing along with the Simply Less is More Blog challenge ..... it's the last one for 2023!

The theme is 'D' is for ..... Deck The Halls (since we didn't go away, there's been quite a bit of that here recently!)

Very clean and simple (CAS), and really quick and easy once all the die cutting had been done.

I got the idea from Spellbinders, and the lovely Yana Smakula's blog.  At the time, I didn't have the actual die that she used but, I did have the Spellbinders Be Bold Alphabet die set which is the same font, just a little bit smaller.

I die cut all the letters from festive coloured cardstock and glitter foam sheets (Spellbinders) and then mixed and matched them to create my tree shape

A die cut star on the top, a simple stamped sentiment underneath, and a few gold ink splatters give the finishing touches.

Decorating for Christmas always starts with the tree/trees in our house.  The first one went up a few weeks ago .......... I know, it was a little early but, we were supposed to be going away and I didn't want it all to do when we got back!

I love it when these come out of the box! .......

 And because we didn't go away, I had a date with Mr Buble, and this happened over the weekend ........

It took ages to get finished but ......... it's done!

I think I'd better get writing some of those Christmas cards now.

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

Stay cosy and warm.

Cheerio until next time ....... 

Red and gold for Color Hues ......

Happy Wednesday .........

I hope you're enjoying your week.

We should have been going across to the UK today, starting our trip around some lovely Christmas Markets but, this cold I've got had other plans ........ yes, I'm still sneezing for England!  So, we've decided to cancel the trip (sigh!)

Hubby started with the same thing over the weekend and we've both been really bad ..... this thing is brutal!  I am starting to feel a little better today but hubby is about 24hours behind me so he's still quite bad.  We thought that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to set off in the van, so, we moved the ferry to early next year (we still haven't been on the new boat yet!!!) and cancelled all the campsite bookings.  We're disappointed but, it was the right decision.  There's always next year! 

So, today I'm playing along with the latest Color Hues Challenge.

Challenge #76 is all about Red and Metallic Gold ...... one of my favourite colour combinations, especially for Christmas cards (yes, I'm still making mine)

I used the pretty stamp set ....... Slimline Poinsettias from the Big & Bold range by the Colarado Craft Company.  

I stamped one of the images onto red cardstock and heat embossed with WOW's Metallic Gold Embossing Powder

  

I added a few gold ink splatters around the edges ......

and finished off with a sentiment and a little gold thread tied around the bottom ..... very festive!

Another one for the Christmas box!

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

Lauren is currently putting up her Christmas tree so the dining room is beginning to look festive (sorry if it's still too early for some you!) 

And of course because we haven't gone away, maybe by the end of this week I'll have the tree in the lounge done.

Cheerio until next time ........