What's this? Christmas cards already ........

Happy Sunday ......

Welcome to July! 

I hope you're enjoying your weekend.  Is the sun still shining where you are?

It's a little overcast where we are today, and a little on the breezy side but, it is still warm.  

Not sure what next week's forecast is, we're on the move again tomorrow so hopefully the nice weather will last just a little bit longer.

 

July certainly crept up on us, it's hard to believe we're already halfway through 2023.   We're going to be counting down to Christmas before we know it ..... there, I've said the C word!!

Speaking of Christmas, the craft world is already starting to see new festive releases, one of which is from the fabulous Sweet Poppy Stencils.  

Did you see Lucy on TV this week?   She was showcasing the first of this year's Christmas stencils and stamps from Sweet Poppy and, it seems like they were as popular as always, so you must be starting to think about your festive makes after all.

It's not always easy to make Christmas cards when the sun is shining and it's hot! hot! hot! outside but, I did get chance to spend a little time in the craft room before we came away on holiday using a few of the new designs.

This is JOY, one of the festive words stencils .......

I used the stencil with the Pearlescent White paste onto black cardstock, and then used glitter gel pens to add some colour 

I also added a touch of sparkle to each of the letters using a glue pen and fine crystal glitter. before stamping and heat embossing the rest of the sentiment underneath. 

A few gold and silver ink splatters on the background, and I finished off with a tiny sprinkling of Chunky White Embossing powder here and there, heat set from underneath the card so as not to blow it all away.

Here's a different look using the same stencil only this time, I moved the stencil slightly before inking each of the letters.

 

I used a little masking tape around each letter before using my Distress Inks to add the colour

My idea was to make the letters into baubles so, I added the look of a hanging chain to each one using a Stardust Gel Pen

I then stencilled the poinsettias again onto a snippet of white cardstock and fussy cut them, attaching them with a foam pad to give a little extra dimension

I blended Distress ink around the edges of the card keeping the colour from the centre and going darker at the edges.  I then splattered a little bit of water over the ink, let it sit for a few seconds before mopping up the excess with a paper towel, giving this pretty splattered look to the background ...... a sort of snowy effect.  An old technique that I never get tired of using!

One of the stamps from the new release is this pretty Festive Candle, used here with another of the new stencils ...... Holly Aperture Circle

I stamped and heat embossed the candle in gold, and then coloured it using Festive Berries Distress Re-Inker for the candle and Sweet Poppy Brush Markers for the foliage

I then used the stencil to add detail to the background ...... simply Distress Ink applied using a stencil brush, being careful around my stamped image

A little touch of glitter for added sparkle and my sentiment stamped in the centre. 

And then, to finish off I stamped and embossed the foliage again onto a snippet of card, added a touch of pearlescent paint to the flower and then fussy cut it, and attached it to the card using a foam pad to add dimension 

No time for colouring and fussy cutting, the Festive Candle makes beautiful CAS designs too ....

Stamped and heat embossed in gold.  Just a touch of colour added using pearlescent paints

and a simple sentiment stamped and a few splatters of ink to finish ...... simple but so pretty!

Well, that's just a few Christmas card ideas for you,  I'm sure that when my festive mojo really kicks in, there'll be more! 

We're still away in the motorhome ...... we're on day 16.  

We've spent the last week in the Norfolk Broads ...... very different from being here on a boat, but still fun.

We've been staying on a lovely campsite near Ludham Bridge, one of our mooring spots when we're here on a boat. 

Hubby has been working this week but we still found time to get out and about.

We've walked into Ludham village one afternoon to restock the van with supplies.  Found a lovely pub not far from the campsite .........  The Dog.  Great food and a lovely beer garden (sorry no pictures!)

We went the other way and walked into Horning one day,  another of our favourite spots.  

The boatyards looked busy in the afternoon ......

But things always calm down a little in the evenings ......

One of our favourite restaurants is in Horning ....... The Bure River Cottage.  It's a fish restaurant, just fish!  No veggie or vegan options, and definitely no meat, just fish!!

We love it there.  The menu changes daily,  and it's really hard to choose what to have, everything is always so good!

We've actually been twice on this trip (well, we are on holiday!) and had two beautiful meals.   We were there last night and we both had Baked Cromer Crab with a green salad ....... yum!

before

and after

This was followed by Pan Fried Wild Halibut, herb and butter sauce with brown shrimp and samphire Deeelicious!!!

We have had a lovely week here but, it's time to pack everything away and move on tomorrow.  We're not going far though, we've still got a couple of days left in the Norfolk Broads. 

We do need to re-stock supplies (again!) before we go anywhere so, it's off to the supermarket in the morning.  Then our next stop is Thurne, at what's known as a Certified Location (CL) campsite called Red House.  It's another new site for us, just a handful of pitches but it looks like it's right by the water so we're looking forward to checking it out. 

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

Time for us to enjoy our last evening in Ludham

Cheerio until next time .......