'Twas the Night before Christmas ........

Love and Best Wishes

Linda

xx

On the 23rd day of December ........

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Well that's it for travelling in 2013.  We're finally home from our last trip of the year and for the first time in a while the whole family is together for Christmas, and looking forward to the big day.

As of today the old craft room is officially closed, just until the end of the week.  I had one last job to do before hitting the shops for that final bit of Christmas shopping ......... two cards for gift vouchers

Well ..... what do you buy teenagers these days ........ especially boys!!!   And seeing as I was running out of time, I took the easy option.  I've made the cards though.

I used one of my all time favourite Christmas stamps ....... Santa Collage

 and the sentiment is from Stampendous (I think!)
Seeing as they're for boys I kept the design quite simple ...... and not a touch of glitter or ribbon in sight!

Well that's it ..... all the shopping is finally done, just the bird to pick up tomorrow.  It's time to relax, get the mulled wine going and spend the evening with Mr Buble I think. 


It looks like the festive preparations are all getting too much for a little someone in our house ....

Thanks for popping by today.  I hope your festive plans are all coming together, and just incase I don't have chance to blog again ........ I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Lots of love and Festive Wishes

Linda

xx

On the 22nd day of December...........

in the words of Julie Andrews ....... here are a few of my favourite things.
It's the IndigoBlu Blog Challenge ....... and a decision has to be made

Hi everyone,

Yes I know ..... I'm a day late, the IndigoBlu Challenge starts on the 21st of the month.   My DT piece was there, and I was thinking about it (thinking oh dear (or words to that effect!) I have no internet, the slightest touch of a hangover, and I haven't scheduled my blog post - **?*!)

Here's why ...... I had a fabulous busy day on Friday over at IndigoBlu HQ

Some of the other DT were there and we spent the day in the workshop with Kay just playing, finishing off projects, some of us were even making Christmas pressies.  There was a bit of shopping in there too of course.

Then in the evening it was the Christmas party - Ho! Ho! Ho! and all that!   We all had a great time, good food, nice wine, and great company. Thanks again Kay and Alfie ..... you're the BEST!

But .... on to the important stuff.   Before we go into this month's challenge,  thank you to everyone that took part last month, we had some fabulous entries again.   And, Congratulations to our last winner of 2013 .......

Number 7      Mariette van Leeuwen

Well done Mariette, enjoy your prize.

Now on to this month's challenge.  You're going to have to think about this one, and like me you may not be able to make that final decision ............ we want you to 

Use your FAVOURITE  IndigoBlu stamp of the year

Ooooh ...... there's so many to choose from.  Will it be one of the fantastic florals, beautiful backgrounds or fabulous flourishes.  Could it be a pretty butterfly, one of the lovely ladies or simply a heartfelt sentiment.  The choice is up to you.
And the prize for the last challenge of the year is the best one yet.  Take a quick look at what's up for grabs over on the Blog Challenge

I really couldn't decide which one stamp to go for, so in the end I used a few .........  you may want to grab a cuppa, there's quite a few pictures coming up.

 

I think my favourite, favourite (most used) stamp of the year has got to be the Vintage Flourish - I love it!! (I think I've mentioned that just a few times over the last few months)

It's such a beautiful design, and so versatile.  I've used it with the Flitter Glu and one of my favourite flakes, Winter Dawn, to decorate my frame, after it had been painted using the IndigoBlu English Cottage Acrylic Paints.

I also used the flourish on the inside of the frame too.

Another of my favourite stamps has got to be the stunning ladies face collage from the Mr Darcy stamp set

How beautiful is she?  Here she's be encased in a pretty bezel, and then covered with Glossy Accents.

Back to the flourish though ....... great as a focal point.  

One of my favourite sentiments (from the B.F.F. set)

I had to include Jane, and one of the latest Dinky stamps - Flutterby

And the pretty florals from the Clockworks set ........

And another lovely sentiment, this time from Live Laugh Love.  Told you I had a few favourites.

You can see I've used just about everything on my frame .....well, I did say I couldn't make my mind up.  There's old book pages, sheet music, paper flowers.  There's a touch of lace in there, ribbon, resin embellishments and the brand new Altered Egos.  More is definitely more on this project!

What's your favourite IndigoBlu stamp (or stamps)?  Why not give the challenge a go, and get your hands on that mahoosive final prize of the year.  Good luck everyone.  Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.  See you in 2014!

Cheerio for now.

LindyLou

xx

On the 19th day of December .......

3 French Hens  (hmmmm...... not quite the same ring to it!)

Happy Thursday!

A bit of an early start today ....... lots to do.  The last of my Christmas cards have been posted, gifts too, now I just have blog posts to schedule, a little craft project to finish, the mountain of ironing to conquer and the packing to do ....... all before 3 this afternoon - no problem!!!   Once all that's done I can board a plane to the UK and relax, well at least for a couple of days anyway.

I've managed to squeeze in a card for this week's LIM challenge........ I have the perfect stamp set for this week's theme so it would of been a shame not to .......  

It's One Layer Week (always a favourite), and the theme is ......

The 12 Days of Christmas

Here's mine ...... (sorry about the picture quality ...... I was taking this at stupid o'clock so the lighting wasn't great.  I needed to write the card and get it in the post first thing - final Christmas card done!!)

I've used the Penny Black clear stamp set - 12 Days of Christmas.  This is a really fun set of stamps and can be used all year round.  The individual images are not necessarily festive, it's only when you use the words, which are from the classic Christmas song, and the images together that makes them perfect for this time of year.

I stamped the little french guys and coloured them using Distress Markers.  I had to add a touch of glitter too ....

I scored a few lines across the bottom of the card, for a bit more interest and added a little Christmas sentiment, and ta da!!  last Christmas card of 2013 DONE!! (I hope ........ I don't think I've forgotten anyone but you never know)

Oh well, I'd better get a move on.  Thanks for popping by.  I am hoping to blog over the weekend but it all depends how the Christmas party goes tomorrow I suppose ....... I may be feeling a little delicate if a certain person has their way (hic!!)

Enjoy your Thursday.  If you're still busy with the festive plans I hope they're going well.  If you're one of those that have everything done and are sat with your feet up ....... then I'm soooo jealous.  I have it all to do when I get back on Sunday evening (hmmmmm ....... Gift Vouchers and smellies from the airport Duty Free are looking like a good option).

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx

On the 18th day of December ...........

sparkly baubles and tags

Happy Wednesday!

A little late in the afternoon but I made it. It's time for a coffee, a mince pie and a chat with my blog friends.

It's been a bit of a busy day, making last minute Christmas cards, finishing a project ready for the weekend, sorting out all my stuff from yesterdays workshop and trying to get the house tidy.  We're getting there slowly ..... it's a good job I can multi-task!

Yesterday's workshop was fab!!  I had a ball and I think everyone else enjoyed themselves too ....... some ladies asked when I was doing the next one so I must have been ok!

We had fun using IndigoBlu Flitter Glu and Flakes to decorate Christmas baubles and last minute gift tags.  Here are my inspiration pieces to get the ladies started ......

Once they'd all had a few practice runs with the flitter glu and flakes they were away.

It was all very festive, with the tree and decorations, and it was their Christmas party too so we were all in the Christmas spirit - literally! (the non-alcoholic kind of course!). 
If you pop over to the IndigoBlu DT Blog today you'll find a few more pictures from the afternoon and some of the gorgeous end results.
I'd like to say a big Thank You to Maggie and Sue for inviting me over, and for all their help and hard work during the day. It was brilliant, even if I did need a red wine (or two) when I got home!

Well, there's no rest for the wicked today.  Back to the old craft room it is ...... I can see light at the end of the tunnel though, just as well really as I'm away tomorrow afternoon. 
This time Thursday I'll be on my way to the airport.  We're off to another Christmas party on Friday evening and I still have Secret Santa presents to wrap, and suitcases to pack!

Thanks for popping by today.  Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday.

Cheerio for now

Linda

xx