The BIG Day is here!! .....

Well the big day is finally here ....... and Santa has been!
The turkey is in the oven, the table is ready and the bubbly is chilling .... it's time to relax and enjoy the day.  I'm  looking forward to spending the day with family and friends.

I wish all my blog buddies, followers and friends a very Merry Christmas.  Have a lovely day, and I hope Santa brought you everything you wished for  .... and more!

Love n hugs 

Not long now .......

Happy Thursday ......

Only four more sleeps until the big day ..... that's come around fast!!!  We're getting there with all the preparations ..... slowly, but the list is getting shorter.

One family who have had a very special delivery this Christmas is the Russ family.  Baby Winter Rainbow came into the world yesterday ...... and she's an adorable addition to the STAMPlorations family.  Huge Congratulations to Shery and the family ...... Kat has a baby sister, the best Christmas present ever!!

Speaking of STAMPlorations, it's time for my last challenge piece of 2017 ........ for the STAMPlorations CAS Card challenge

The theme is Anything Goes ..... anything CAS that is.  There's also the optional colour twist, and for December that colour is ......... GOLD

Another of the STAMPlorations Typografia stamps ...... Most Wonderful Time.  If you're anything like me you'll be singing along now ....... sorry!

I've stamped using Versamark ink, and then heat embossed in gold ..... simple

I've then die cut the phrase using one of the CUTplorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Nesting Rectangle Dies

And attached it to the front of my card using foam pads

To finish off I added a couple of holly leaves punched from glitter card and coloured using my Copic Markers ...... as I didn't have any green glitter card I had to use white instead.  The Copic Markers do a great job of adding colour to the glitter without taking any of the sparkle away.

So that's it ..... all my Design Team inspiration pieces for 2017 are all done! 
It's been another fabulous year ..... thank you to everyone for your support.  Here's to another year of challenge fun in 2018.

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off out for a little bit of late night shopping to get the last of the stocking fillers.

Have a lovely Christmas and New Year.

Cheerio until next time ....

The last workshop of the year ......

Happy Wednesday .......

Well my laptop seems to be holding out ....... hmmm ..... I probably shouldn't have said that but, fingers crossed it's doing its job!

I thought I'd share some pictures from last Sunday's workshop ...... the last one of the year.  If you remember I had to reschedule it due to the snowy weather.

There were a few snowflakes on Sunday ....... not the white stuff this time though, these were the MDF kind ........

A pretty MDF snowflake tree from Anna Marie Designs.
It seems such a long time since I decorated these, I think is was back in September/October time.  The gold, silver and white one is for me

And the frosty blue, white and silver one is to add to Lauren's Christmas decorations .....

They were simply painted with acrylic paints and then lots of different glitters added over the top

I love the texture from the crushed ice, and the pretty iridescent sparkle from the crystal glitters

Texture paste, crackle paint and more glitter were used on the base of the tree 

Everyone started out with the same tree, and by the end of the afternoon we had a beautiful forest of delicious sparkle.  Here are the finished results all together ......

Don't they look pretty.  It's a shame I couldn't capture the sparkle on camera very well

Top row .........

Middle row ...... love how everyone used colour

Bottom row ...... I do like the green ones

Here's a closer look at a few of them ......

lots of glitter ...... and cute little reindeer

even a little bit of Manx in there too .....

Well ..... that's another year of great workshops over.  I'd better start planning for 2018!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day. 
I'm off up to Ramsey this morning.  A little bit of last minute Christmas shopping, and then I'm meeting the girls for a festive coffee ..... Ho! Ho! Ho!

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

The last TAG of the year ........

Happy Tuesday ........

It's been a bit touch and go as to whether I would make this blog post today.  My laptop decided that the festive season was just too much ....... it couldn't do anymore, so ...... it switched itself off last Monday afternoon, whilst I was a the checkout stage on two websites might I add, and wouldn't turn back on again!  Nothing at all ..... completely dead!  To make matters worse I hadn't backed anything up for weeks!!! Just what I needed ..... not!!

Anyhow to cut a long story short it was the power cable.  Could have been worse.
So ..... we're back up and running (yeah!) for the moment anyway, and I'm playing catch up with everything! 

It's time for a little reminder about this month's TAGplorations Challenge

The theme is  ..... All About Christmas with the optional twist of ..... Glitter
Who doesn't like a touch of sparkle at this time of year!

Here's a real quick and easy design for you ......

A simple Kraft tag, die cut using the CUTplorations Nesting Dies Tags #1  and then the greeting has also been die cut using the CUTplorations Merry Christmas phrase

The Merry Christmas was die cut from red glitter card and also from the Kraft tag.  The glitter card was then inlaid into the tag.

To finish off I added a touch of white ink around the edges, and sprinkled on some chunky white embossing powder to give a snowy look

I love this stuff on Christmas projects ...... sprinkle the embossing powder onto your tags and cards and then heat gently from underneath so that you don't blow the powder away. Perfect falling snow every time!

As it's Christmas, there's some special prizes for this month's challenge

• Leave a comment on the December TAGplorations challenge post AND on all the designer's blogs for a chance to win a $15 Gift Certificate to spend in the STAMPlorations store
• Play along with the challenge and 1 player, randomly drawn from all the entries will win a $20 Gift Certificate
• and also 1 player randomly drawn from all the entries will win their choice of 1 set of Tag Dies from the store

Happy stamping!

Well, that's it ..... the last tag of the year.  I just need to put it on the last of my Christmas gifts.
All the presents are bought and wrapped, the cupboards are well stocked but ....... I'm still making Christmas cards!!!  The last ones need to be in the post tomorrow ........ it's going to be a long night!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day and just in case you don't visit again before the big day, have a wonderful Christmas ..... see you for more tags in the New Year!

Cheerio until next time ......

The last ATC of the year ........

Happy Sunday evening .....

I hope you've had a nice weekend ..... although it's probably been a white one for some of you. 
We had quite a bit of snow here on Friday ...... this was what we woke up to .... so pretty 

And it gradually got worse as the day went on ......

Schools were closed for the day. Flights and ferries were delayed.  There were no cabs, no buses running and all the shops closed early .... but all that didn't matter ........ it was SNOWING!!!!

It did stop snowing for a while ........ Meet Frosty,  Alex's snow day friend

The only downside was I had to cancel the Christmas workshop yesterday.  It wasn't a good idea for everyone to travel with the weather conditions as they were.  It's all been re-arranged and fingers crossed, it will go ahead next weekend.
The snow has nearly all gone here now .... sigh.  It would have been nice to have a white Christmas

Anyhow ...... it's the 10th of December (only two weeks to go before the big day ..... eeek!) and it's time to launch the last of the Happy Little Stampers Challenges for this year ..... the ATC challenge

The theme is Christmas ....... and oh look! ..... it's a snowy one

I do love white on Kraft card. 
I've stamped and heat embossed some small snowflakes onto the background

Added in a few dots with a white gel pen and brush around the edges with Picket Fence Distress ink

A simple strip of white card, cut to create a snowy hillside, then heat embossed with the greeting using Liquid Platinum powder.  A touch of glitter adds a little sparkle.

To finish off I die cut a pretty snowflake from glitter card and a piece of white, layered the two together to add dimension and then attached it onto my ATC ...... all done!

The last ATC of the year!

Thank You to everyone that has played along with all of this years Happy Little Stampers challenges ..... your support means a lot.
Have a very Merry Christmas ..... and a Happy and Healthy New Year.  And we'll see you all in 2018 for more challenge fun!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day. And if you've got snow, stay safe and warm.
We were out and about today, and it was a little on the chilly side!  We went for a lovely Sunday lunch with the whole family ....... it's always nice when someone else does the cooking, and there's no washing up to do!  And this evening hubby and I are staying cosy and warm in front of the TV.  It's movie time and a little Christmas spirit I think ...... Cheers! 

Cheerio until next time .....