Wednesday 21 December 2011

Hot Choc

Phew.... I think I'm nearly done!
The decs are up, the presents are wrapped and all that's left is the dreaded food shopping!
Merry Christmas to my brilliant teamies at Crafty Emma's and Totally Papercrafts - and also to my followers and those that take a little time to leave me a comment - I appreciate all your support.
Wishing you all health and happiness for 2012.

Here's a last minute gift I made for a friend.


This had me swearing - I can tell you, and several attempts ended up in the bin!
I started by making an insert, large enough for my mug and reindeer - using a nestie oval to cut a piece for the reindeer to sit in, and a nestie circle for the mug.
Then I made a shallow box around the insert, and stapled a piece of card to the back of the box, with a nestie oval handle.

The card box doesn't really support the weight of the mug, so I wrapped the whole thing in cellophane to make it easier to carry.



Challenges

Simon Says Stamp - Bingo.   My line is Ribbon/Twine, Punches/Die Cuts, Multifold.
My Mum's Craft Shop - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Christmas and my Top Tip is "buy 2 chocolate reindeer, one to put in the box and one to eat whilst you are trying to make it".   Ha Ha! Only kidding ladies :-)


zwani.com myspace graphic comments

Saturday 17 December 2011

Champagne Party

How cute are these little mice, with their champagne fountain?
Just perfect for the last challenge of the year over at CES, where our theme is

Party, Party, Party!

This challenge will run til January 6th.
 


I used a 6 x 6 Petal Point card as my base, with GCD Ella Blue DPs.
The Lili of the Valley image is coloured with Copics and sprinkled with Glamour Dust.
I kept the card pretty simple and just added a few gems, pearls, card candi and a sentiment from Crafwork Cards.


Don't forget to pop over to the main blog for details of the £10 prize to spend in Crafty Emma's store,
and check out the awesome work of my fab teamies.

Challenges -

Friday 16 December 2011

Party Time

Here we are at our last Totally Papercrafts Challenge of the year.
Our host is the fabulous Lols and she has chosen the theme

Time to Party

We would like to see anything with a party theme. 
The challenge is open til January 5th, so plenty of time for you to play along.

Our sponsor is Karen's Doodles, who will be giving away 3 digi images to the lucky winner.


I used this fun image from Karen's Doodles, coloured with Copics, some glamour dust on the soap suds and a little glossy accents on her mobile phone and cocktail.



Challenges
Ladybug Crafts Ink - Bingo (runs til Jan 2nd )  My line is Ribbon/Flowers/Punches, Die Cuts.
Stampalot - Bingo - My Line is Punches / Flowers / Pearls


Supplies
DP - GCD Love Tokens.      Xcut Puncheed Blooms.
Party ticket made on my comp and using McGills Ticket Punch.
Martha Stewarts Lace Doily Punch.  
XCut Botanical Leaves Punch.      Glamour Dust.  Glossy Accents. 
Pearls.  Craftwork Cards Sentiment.   Ribbon from my stash.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Christmas Stockings

It's suddenly got very busy here - and I am sinking under a pile of 'to do' lists!!
Hope all your Christmas plans are going well.

Today I am showing you some cute little gift stockings, that will hold  gift cards or cash :-)


These are really quick and easy to make and much better than putting cash in a boring envelope!! 
I used the great free template from Waltzing Mouse Stamps
 

I found a few sheets of these pretty, glittered DPs, in my box,  but I can't remember what make they are.
And, because you can't have TOO much sparkle at Christmas, I added some extra glamour dust :-)


The stocking top is tied closed with some pretty, organza ribbon.
To this I added a glittered tag, with a button snowflake and some silver bells.
 

Challenges
Moving Along With The Times - Last Minute Christmas
2 Sisters - Christmas
Paper Sundaes - Anything Christmas
Cupcake - Don't Look At The Light
Top Tip - A Gift

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Saturday 10 December 2011

We Three Snowmen

How are you all getting on with your Christmas cards - nearly done??
I have just a few more to make.
Here's a really quick and simple card that, I think, looks really effective.


I stamped the sentiment straight onto my base card.
The image comes from a sheet of DP in the First Edition, Festive Treats pack.  I cut out the snowmen and used a round ended embossing tool to give them a little shape. 
Then I stuck them onto the card with foam pads (the paper is already glittered, so there's no need to add any)  and that's it... one quick card!


You can find this First Edition DP at Crafty Emma's

Challenges
2 Sisters - Christmas
One Stop Craft - Traditional Christmas Colours
Samuel Taylors - Anything Goes

Christmas Kisses

Morning everyone, time for another challenge at the CES Challenge Blog,
but first there is an update from Emma and some new pics of her totally gorgeous princess. Pop over and check them out here.

Our lovely host this week is Carrie
and she has chosen the theme

Traditional Christmas

I went for the traditional christmas colours of red and green, with this sweet Mistletoe Kisses image.


The image is a pre-coloured die cut, so all I had to do was add a little glamour dust and stickles pearls.
I used a 6 x 6 On the Edge card blank,with red gems on the petal points.
The DP is Dovecraft Back to Basics and the snowflakes were die cut, and sprinkled with more glamour dust.


So, if you still have some Christmas cards to make, why not make one of them traditonal and enter our challenge.
You could win yourself a $10 voucher to spend at Crafty Emma's (excl p and p).



Challenges -
My Mum's Craft Shop - Traditional Christmas
ABC Christmas - Y is for Yippee!! Anything Christmas
Crafty Ribbons -Taditional Colours for Christmas
Cute Card Thursday -  Anything Goes

Friday 9 December 2011

I Wanna Be A Rockstar

Over at Totally Papercrafts this week we are taking a break from all things festive ;-)
Our host is the lovely Vicky and we want to see

ANYTHING  BUT CHRISTMAS


This 'Let Me Entertain You' Teddy Bo is great for 'guy' cards and I kept this one pretty simple.
I cropped the image and coloured it with Copics. I added a Tim Holtz ticket, a sentiment and a little die cut button, that I covered with glossy accents.

This card is definitely lacking something, isn't it? I just can't decide what! My head is so full of christmas stuff I struggled to make anything that wasn't covered in glitter, bows or snowflakes!!


This week our sponsor is Meljen and the winner will receive 4 digi images of their choice.


Supplies.
Teddy Bo Digi Image / DP Websters Pages / Tim Holtz Ticket/
Craftwork Cards Sentiment / Die Cut Button.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

White Christmas

I had such a scare yesterday morning when I reversed down the drive and didn't realise our whole cul-de-sac was covered in black ice. Don't you just get that awful sinking feeling, when you feel the car sliding and you can't do anything. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best  (probably not top of the list of skid control ideas, said my hubby!!)
Somehow I managed to miss the neighbours car, the lampost and not end up in the bushes!! 
So I am staying put today, with the heating whacked up!!


This project didn't start out as a card - my idea was to make a little wall hanging for my kitchen. I cut the letters and attached them vertically, to a strip of silver ribbon. It just didn't look right though - so off they came and I was pleased to discover that they just fit onto a 6 x 6 card base.

I found some silver reindeer stickers in my christmas stash, so I stuck them to white card, added a touch of glitter and cut them out.

The snowflakes are die cut and I made the little ticket on my comp.
I finished by adding some adhesive pearls and hung a snowflake charm from some organza ribbon.


Just want to say thank you to everyone who has visited me in the past few days and taken the time to leave me a comment. As much as my friends love my cards, they don't really 'get' my crafting obsession!! :-) I know you lot do - and I appreciate all your kind words and encouragement more than you will know.
Hoping to get round to you all today :-))



Challenges.
Simon Says Stamp - Christmas Photomontage Inspiration.
Crafting for all Seasons - White on White.
Ladybug Crafts - Snowflakes & Sparkle
Papertake - Anything goes with the option of adding something dangly!
Crafty Sentiments - Snowflakes

Monday 5 December 2011

We three trees!

Every year I place my christmas lights carefully into boxes, and when I get them out again, they are completely tangled up!! How does that happen??

I seized my moment yesterday, and when hubby was full of Tiramisu, I persuaded him that we need 3 Christmas trees :-) To be fair, he doesn't take much persuading.
And here they are - completely impossible to photograph - they are much prettier IRL :-)

Tree No. 1, for the living room, is a stunning 7 1/2ft Nordman Fir. The branches have drooped already, so I can't really hang anything on the lower ones,  but we love it just the same. :-)


Tree No 2, for the kitchen is a 6ft artificial one. It's the first time I've used all red on a tree, even the lights are little red berries, and it looks stunning. (It's not as garish as the photo suggests)


Tree No 3, for the dining room, is a 6ft real tree. Not sure what type, but it's one of those we used to have when I was a kid - really spiky and you only have to look at it funny, for 1000 needles to drop on the floor!


I've shown you mine... now let's see yours :-)
xxx

Sunday 4 December 2011

Tiramisu - love it or hate it?

It's one of those desserts that divides opinion. We love it though - in fact, it's my hubby's all time favourite! 
So, over the years I have tried countless recipes, that just never seem quite right. This one is a winner though and not only is it going into our 'hall of fame', but it will take pride of place on our Christmas Day dessert table. (You all have one of those, right?)


I am sharing the recipe with you - gotta spread the joy :-) but it's not mine, it's from Nigella Christmas.
I admit, I didn't leave my dessert unfinished, overnight - who has the patience for that - I made it up completely and left it to set, in the fridge, for just a few hours.

If you want to, you can even make it ahead of time, wrap it in cling film and store it for up to 4 days, in the fridge. I challenge anyone to do that though, and not try just a little sliver!! :-)




Shared with Sassy Cheryls Show Me Thursday

Saturday 3 December 2011

... sleeps till Santa

 Brrrrr... it's cold here today, so no battling with the Christmas shoppers for me. A day in front of the fire with the telly on, is a much better idea :-)

Our lovely host at CES this week is Donna, and the theme she has chosen is

Bear Necessities

so we would like to see a bear somewhere on your card/project.

I made a little countdown calendar that can keep me up to date on how fast those days are slipping away!!!
 

I used a 6 x 6 petal edge card as my base and covered it with Prima, North Country papers.
I die cut some rectangles and  numbers and attached them by punching holes through the card and tying them on with Divine Twine. This allows you to just flip the numbers over.

My bear is from Lili of the Valley, coloured with Copics and sprinkled with Glamour Dust.


 I blinged the background paper up, by adding some Christmas gems.


Here's a pic of the little strip of card that I attach inside, to the front and back of the base card. This just stops it from splaying open, but allows you to fold the card flat, to fit in an envelope.



Now grab yourself a coffee and head over to the main blog to check out the amazing work of my teamies.
And, if you fancy playing along this week, you could win a £10 voucher (excl. p & p)  to spend at Crafty Emma's.

Challenges
Stamptacular - Anything Christmas
Diva's by Design - Anything Goes
Simon Says - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - It's just a Number

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Friday 2 December 2011

Snow kitties!

Well, here we are in December already - hope all your Christmas preparations are going well.
At Totally Papercrafts the lovely Cathy is our host and she has chosen the theme

Let it Snow!

I would love to get some snow for christmas, so this is one of my favouite challenges. I hope you find time to play along.


My daughter and her b/f have just started to let their kittens out on their own. One of them ran around the garden to investigate everything and the other put his little paws out of the door, and then ran back inside. He's not quite ready for the big wide, world yet!!
So I thought this LOTV image would be perfect for their Christmas card.
It's pre-coloured, so all I did was add a sprinkling of glamour dust.



Our sponsor this week is the amazingly talented Mandi, who you probably know from her Less Is More Challenge, but she is also a Stampin' Up Demonstrator.


Challenges
Paper Sundaes - Winter Wonderland
Sassy Cheryl's - Winter
Simon Says - Anything Goes
Bling It On - Christmas
St Luke's Charity - Let It Snow

Supplies.
LOTV Die Cut, Christmas Cuties with glamour dust 
DP - Prima, North Country.   Marianne Die Snowflakes
Pearl brad, snowflake charm, silver bells and gems. Silver ribbon.