Baby it's cold outside ......

Happy Tuesday folks,

What a day!!!!  The wind is whistling, the rain is pouring ...... and it's freezing!!!  And by the sound of the weather forecast it ain't getting any better ..... not this week anyway!  All the ferries have been cancelled for the rest of the week ..... good job my cupboards are well stocked!
The answer is stay at home, stay toasty and warm and watch it all through the window.  The only problem is I do have to go out this evening.  We're hosting a party on Thursday and I need to get the food ..... no ferries mean no deliveries so hopefully I can get what I need!


Speaking of parties ..... Saturday night was a winter wonderland at the Poker Stars Christmas Party

The marquee was stunning!  Lots of twinkling lights and crystal chandeliers ......

The food was amazing, the champagne was flowing all evening so as you can imagine, my Sunday was a little late in starting ...... a bit of a bad head!  But we had a great night ..... Poker Stars certainly know how to party!  And like I've said, we'll be doing it all again on Thursday!!

The old craft room hasn't been open much lately,  I haven't had any time to play.  I was in there last night though, with my 'Santa's Little Helper' hat on ....... did you know that I'm friendly with the man in red?  Oh yes ..... I have the very important job of updating his LIST each year, you know the one I mean, the Naughty or Nice list.

Well it's all been done ...... ready for his visit at the weekend, to the Poker Stars Kids Party ....... what a busy man he is!

This was the little man with him last year ...... see he's got the List!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day, and stay warm!

Cheerio until next time ......

Linda

xx

PS  I've just realised that this is my 500th Blog Post ...... WOW! how did I miss that!!  

A BIG thank you to all my followers for reading each and every one one ...... I hope you enjoy visiting as much as I enjoy blogging!  Here's to the next 500!! xx

Be careful what you wish for ........

Happy weekend everyone!

And a BIG Hello and Welcome to my new followers .....thank you ladies for joining me it's so nice to have you along.

Me and my big mouth, be careful what you wish for and all that ........ well, after yesterday morning's post (I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!) we had the first snow on the island.  Oh Yes!, the white stuff has started falling up on the mountains

Brrrr ..... looks a bit chilly!

photos from 3FM Isle of Man

I believe the mountain road was actually closed for a while.  Thankfully it was all clear when we ventured up there last night.  We drove over to Ramsey for the evening, a spot of late night shopping then a lovely meal out.  There was still a little bit of snow on the mountains, you could just about see it because the moon was shining ...... very Christmassy!

Still in the festive spirit ..... I've got my Christmas card for this weeks Merry Monday Challenge

We have to use a bird somewhere on our design.  I went for the festive little robin ..... just the one

There are those Clarity trees again ........ a nice quick and easy winter forest, stamped in black Versafine ink along the edge of a paper mask

I sprinkled that chunky white embossing powder over the top to give the look of falling snow and added in a few tiny dots of fine crystal glitter to add a touch of sparkle

I stamped my sentiment on the bottom (Penny Black) and then added the cute little robin (also from Penny black) to the side

He's been coloured using a mix of  Copic Markers and Distress inks, and another sprinkling of glitter finishes off his Santa hat! ...... soooo cute!

One of his little pals sneaked onto the inside of the card to create another winter scene ......

Same old Clarity trees, but this time the words are from a Stampin Up! set, and the little guy's been coloured just as before ......

I think it's time I started sending out a few of these Christmas cards don't you ....... there's another job for next week!

Well, I'd better dash ..... we're off out again tonight.  It's time to eat, drink and be merry at the Poker Stars Christmas Party this evening.
The dress have been pressed, shoes bag etc., all picked out, jewellery sorted, now I just have my nails to do.
Hubby on the other hand, needs to sort out his suit, choose a shirt and tie, AND pop out and get some new shoes ......why do men always leave things to the last minute?!  I'm not venturing into town this afternoon ..... he's on his own there I'm afraid!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your weekend.  Stay warm!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas ......

Happy Friday folks,

It's 9am, it's the first Friday in December ...... and it's challenge time again! Ho! Ho! Ho!

It's the last Take It Make It Challenge for this year over on the Craft Stamper Blog, and we've got a nice simple theme for you this month .......

WHITE STAMPING  

That's it ..... just stamp in white!  It can be white ink, white paint or a white embossed image.  And as it's December your entry could have a winter or Christmas theme but it doesn't have to .... the choice is all yours.

I've gone for the festive look ....... still haven't got enough Christmas cards!!

I love white on Kraft card, and I think the touch of red adds a really nice festive feel.

I stamped my Christmas Trees (Clarity stamps) across the centre of my card using a White Adirondack ink and then embossed over the top using a white powder, to make the images really pop!

  

The sentiment (Penny Black) went underneath using the same technique ..... stamp first and then emboss using a white powder

I added a touch of fine crystal glitter to the trees (wouldn't be Christmas without a bit of sparkle!) and then sprinkled a touch of Chunky White Embossing powder across the top to give the look of falling snow

You can see I've inked around the edges using Tea Dye and Vintage  Photo Distress inks to add some shading, and then finished off with a touch of Aged Mahogany just to warm everything up a little.

I added a festive red satin ribbon, and a matching bow gives the finishing touch.

Inside I added another of those gorgeous trees and a nice Christmas greeting ......

Well, that's another Christmas card all ready to send out!

As always we have a fab sponsor for the challenge ....... this month it's Rubber Dance Art Stamps

And the prize is .......

Fancy getting your hands on that then ...... well, you've got to be in it to win it!  Go on why not give it a go ...... who knows,  you could be our next winner!  Good luck!

Happy Stamping everyone!

Thanks for popping by ....... enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend. 

I've got a busy day ....... busy weekend come to think of it!  I'm off out for coffee this afternoon, a bit of late night Christmas shopping this evening finished off with dinner out ..... we're trying a nice little french bistro in the north of the island.  

Then tomorrow night ....... it's the Poker Stars Christmas Party.... Ho! Ho! Ho!  Sunday may be a quiet day I think!!

Cheerio until next time .....

Linda

xx

Time to Celebrate .......

Happy Thursday!

Well, the tree in the lounge is finally up ...... it only took me about 5 hours last night (and 3 glasses of red)!!!!! And nothing got broken ...... even the lights worked!

It was nearly 2am by the time I'd finished ...... it looked ok then and surprisingly enough it didn't look bad this morning.

All the new baubles are on ..... the little angel looks gorgeous ......

There was a new bauble for Alex too .....

And of course all the old favourites went on there ......

Even Santa's boots .....

Things are beginning to look quite festive now ...... apart from the pile of empty boxes in the hallway that need to go back up in the loft!  Another job for hubby when he gets home!

It's celebrations all the way this week over at Less is More ...... it's their 200th Challenge!  Whoo hoo!! Congratulations ladies ....... you all do a cracking job of coming up with fun themes and amazing inspiration pieces, week after week ...... here's to the next 200!!

No prizes for guessing the theme this week ........ that's right, it's

CELEBRATIONS!

I'm sticking with the Christmas theme for my entry ...... a great excuse for celebrating

This little chap seems to be doing just that!

A CAS design, which is great for doing batches of cards ....... with the added touch of some festive sparkle

I added the sentiment ..... both stamps by the way are from Penny Black ......... and finished off with a little decoration to the inside (another fab stamp from Penny Black).

.

Well that's me done in the craft room for today .......... back to the Christmas decorations I think.

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

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx 

A little bit of Clarity

Happy Wednesday folks,

And Happy December to you ..... it's the first chance I've had to blog this week!  Not sure what I've been doing exactly, I haven't spent any time in the old craft room I know that! but ..... hey ho, half way through the week already!!

How are your preparations going for the big day?  Only 3 weeks to go until Christmas Eve (eeek!!) And apparently (thanks to hubby) ....... we're getting well and truly into the festive spirit by throwing a Christmas party at ours ....... NEXT THURSDAY!!!!!!  As if I haven't enough to plan! I'll keep you posted on how that's going!

Remember a while back, a couple of my crafty friends and I got together and we spent the day playing with Gelli plates ...... well, here's one of the results from then

It's my version of one of Barbara Gray's cards that she did on the telly a couple of months ago.  I actually watched her create this in the flesh so to speak, at the Clarity Open Day back in September ..... in fact this card was the reason I bought the large Gelli Plate (didn't really use the small one that I already had in my stash but I needed the big one!) and the mega mount  and the stamps and the masks etc., etc.!!! That lady has a lot to answer for!!!  Only joking ..... I love her to bits!

The branch and the birds (both from Clarity Stamp) were stamped first, then the birds were masked off and the backgrounds were created on the Gelli Plate using Distress inks and a scrunched up piece of copier paper ..... love the effect

The masks were removed and a touch of colour was added to the little birds using Spectrum Noir Pencils ..... sooo cute!  The sentiment is from the Scribbly Birds set by Dina Wakley

I had a little piece of the background card left over ....... you know how I don't like to waste anything, so I used it up inside the card

Well, that was a nice change from all the Christmas stuff!  Don't worry ..... it'll all be back later in the week ..... I still have cards to make!

I'm hoping to make a start on the decorations tonight ..... because the tree still isn't up!!!!
The plan is, to get dinner out of the way, the Christmas boxes down from the loft (haven't mentioned that to hubby yet!) then it's just me and Mr Buble for the evening (I wish!)  

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy your Wednesday.

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx