A look back at 2019 .......... Part 1

Happy Friday evening ........

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas, and that you're looking forward to the New Year.
As always, we had a house full.  Lots of happy faces around our dinner table ......... I wouldn't have it any other way!

Great food, even if I do say so myself!  A big Thank You to Lauren ..... we made a great team in the kitchen ....... with a little help from Jamie Oliver!

Fine wines ...... thanks to hubby for the perfect choices on that one.  And the best company anyone could wish for.
In fact, I've had too much good food, had a little too much of the bubbly stuff maybe, and I'm working my way nicely through the chocolates!  
Thank You to my amazing family, and friends, for another wonderful Walmsley Christmas!

Before the the New Year preparations get underway, it's time to have a quick look back at the last 12 months.  I'll try and keep things short but, you may want to grab a mince pie, pour yourself a cuppa (or something a little more festive maybe) and get yourself comfy!

Here are some of my favourite projects from 2019.
If you missed any of the original posts, or if you just fancy another look, then click on the links and they'll take you to the relevant posts.

Let's start all the way back in JANUARY .......

Always a busy month getting back into the swing of things.  It's a month full of birthday celebrations, there was Burn's night, and we also had a wedding this year.

There were Blog challenges ......... one of my favourites was using Washi Tape for the Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

I played along with the Twofer Card Challenge, where the theme was Birds ...... 

And I loved how this card turned out for the first Craft Stamper challenge of the year ...... you can't go wrong with a little bit of Brusho

January also saw the launch of a brand new Blog Challenge, and I was thrilled to be asked to join the Design team .......  the CAS Stencil Challenge.  A great way of using all those stencils but still keeping your cards CAS

On to FEBRUARY now ..... Valentine's Day, and we booked the family holiday.  We booked a boat on the Norfolk Broads again!

It was also Uniko's 7th Birthday, and their first new product launch of the year ...... new stamps and stencils ..... love this stencil design

we had pretty florals too.

More for the CAS Stencil challenge .....

and a little bit of Mixed Media for Craft Stamper ......

MARCH next  ..... Mother's Day and my birthday month!
Celebrated with friends and family ...... a beautiful meal out, and a trip to the theatre to see Les Miserables .... perfect!

Sweet Poppy were back on our TV screens .....

I was a Guest Designer on the Country View Crafts Blog Challenge

And one of my favourite new stamps was this cute little chappie ........

used for my DT inspiration piece for the Craft Stamper challenge.

I think I'll leave it there for now.
Thanks for popping by ....... enjoy the rest of your day and have a great weekend.
I'll be back with more from 2019 soon.

Cheerio until next time ......

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

Happy Christmas Eve ......

The shopping's finally done!
The cupboards are full, the presents are all wrapped, and the rest of the preparations for tomorrow are well underway.  All that's left is the table to set, and bake some cookies for Santa.  I'm only supervising on that one!

I just wanted to pop in to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  I hope Santa brings you everything you wish for ...... and more.

Make it a good one! 
 

 Love and hugs 

Christmas cards ...... done!

Happy Thursday ........

Well my Christmas cards are finally done ....... written and posted ....... phew! I don't think I've ever been this late.

The last ones were very clean and simple, but I love them ....... in fact I am going to make some more of these for next year.

It's one of the designs from the Holiday Card Series 2019 from the very talented Kristina Werner.  This one is Day 16 ...... an easy way to create a Christmas tree

I used watercolour card and my Altenew Watercolour Paints.

I made a template for my Christmas tree shape, and then used this as a guide to mask off the tree shape on the watercolour card with low tack masking tape.
Make sure the edges of the tape are stuck down properly so that the paint doesn't seep underneath, and you'll get a nice crisp edge.

I then used various shades of watercolour paints, brushed on in stripes, to colour the tree.

Once the paint was dry, I added some fine crystal glitter, a few sparkly gems here and there, and stamped a simple greeting underneath ...... done!

Here's a couple of different colour combinations ......

These were so simple to do, but very effective.  Thanks Kristina!

Well, that's about it for my Christmas makes ..... the craft room is now closed! 

It's time to head into the kitchen for all the last minute festive preparations ...... cranberry sauce, and make a start on the gravy tomorow I think.  Then it's cookies to bake ready for Santa and apparently we're making a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve.  Hmmm ...... we'll see how that turns out!!

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

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
Stamps: Festive Snippets (Penny Black - T for Transparent set)
Inks & Paints: Versafine Clair - Nocturne ink for the sentiment; Watercolour Paints (Altenew)
Other: Fine Crystal Glitter; Small Gem Stones; Low Tack Masking tape

The Christmas cards are nearly done ......

Happy Wednesday .......

This time next week it'll be Christmas Day!! Are you getting excited yet?  I wonder what Santa will bring ...... fingers crossed I'm on the nice list!

I'm finally coming to the end of my Christmas cards ..... they're all made, they just need writing and popping in the post.  Then I think the craft room door is closing until after Christmas.

I hand delivered a few cards last weekend whilst we were away.  It's always nice to catch up with friends and family, but at this time of year it's extra special.

The family Christmas card for this year was my take on a beautiful design I spotted during Simon Says Stamp's STAMPtember event ....... done by Debby Hughes for the Reverse Confetti collaboration

For my version I used an Altenew stamp set (Leaf Canopy) along with the SSS Merry Christmas sentiment ......

I stamped the leaves onto watercolour card, and heat embossed in gold.

I used watercolour paint to colour the leaves ......

and once it was dry I added some sparkly clear embossing paste through a stencil to give a snowy finish

A few splatters of gold ink onto the background, my sentiment in the middle,

and I finished off with some gold thread

and a little bit of Distress Ink around the edges ...... another batch done!

I also did a few smaller versions too .....

We did have a lovely weekend away ..... even though the weather wasn't very good.
The sun did shine though, just as I was placing a wreath on my mum's grave.  The rain stopped as we parked the car outside the cemetery and just as I got to mum's grave the sun came out.  It was just like she was smiling down on me.

We had an early Christmas dinner with my in-laws ..... my first roast turkey and sprouts of the season ...... and no-one had to cook because we went out!
We celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday with another fab meal ..... no turkey on that one, we had fish and pretty spectacular it was too ....... there had to be photos!
First they brought the cold layer ...... miso salmon, king prawns, octopus, and king scallops, with homemade breads and sauces

and then the hot top layer ...... Lobster, king prawn and cherry tomato risotto, with deep fried squid and a lobster to top it all off ...... YUM!!!!

It was amazing ....... accompanied by a rather nice bottle of Chablis  ..... Happy Birthday Liz!
I also caught up with my best friend for a curry at our favourite indian restaurant.  Sorry no photos of that one ..... too busy chatting and eating! 

Oh well, I'd better get on with writing those Christmas cards, then it's off into town. 
There's not much more to do now, just the food shopping but that's not until the weekend. 
I've a few last minute stocking fillers to pick up, and one of my favourite jobs to do ...... wrapping all the presents ..... I do love this time of year!

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

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
Stamps: Leaf Canopy (Altenew); Merry Christmas (SSS);
Inks: Versamark ink; Delicata Golden Glitz (splatters); 
Others: Cascade Green  Watercolour paint (Danial Smith); Gold embossing powder (WOW!); Moonstone Glimmer Paste (Nuvo); Falling Snow stencil (SugarPea Designs)

The Perfectly CAS Challenge .........

Happy Saturday evening ......

I hope you're having a good weekend.

It's time to launch the last Perfectly CAS (using one third or less) Challenge of the year .........

As you can see the theme for this challenge is ..... Celebrate.  Something we're all doing a little of that at the moment I think.

I'm still making Christmas cards ...... well not right now I'm not because we're away for the weekend, but I shall be back in the craft room on Monday morning.
Thankfully there's only a few more to do,   and I must admit CAS is the way to go when making cards on the last minute!

This little guy is one of the designs from Stamping Bella, called One Sip Too Many Gnome ..... remind you of anyone?!   I just couldn't resist him ..... he goes so well with the sentiment!

I simply stamped him onto white card, coloured him using ZIG Markers and then used the matching die to cut out the image

I cut the beautiful bow again and layered it over the top using foam pads to add some dimension.

I gave the bow the Wink of Stella treatment, and added a touch of sparkle to the gnome's Santa hat .... awwww, he looks so peaceful!

Check out more CAS designs using the one third rule, from the rest of the Design Team and I look forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Happy stamping!

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

We're actually out celebrating this evening, with my big brother and his wife.  It's Liz's birthday tomorrow so I might just end up having one sip too many!

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

Products used:
Stamps: One Sip Too Many Gnome (Stamping Bella); Sentiment (Magenta)
Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocturne;
Others: One Sip Too Many Matching Die (Stamping Bella); ZIG Clean Colour Brush Markers; Clear Wink of Stella pen; Fine Crystal Glitter