Simple Sparkle

I gotta tell ya - I'm feeling pretty smug today ;-)
After having a little panic yesterday about how behind I am with my Christmas cards, 
I came up with a design I am really happy with. 
I feel a production line coming on!

It needs a bit of tweaking - 
I think I will just stamp the sentiment right on the card - 
and if I squish the bow down a little, I might get away with 'normal' postage :-)

The tree was made really simply with nested pennant dies and then bejazzled with red and sparkly gems.
I admit the bow was an afterthought - but is so belongs on there ;-)
The trickiest bit of the whole thing for me, was stamping the sentiment. 
The text is in 2 lines on the stamp and it was fiddly to ink it up to get a clean message. 
If anyone knows of  a pretty 'Merry Christmas' stamp, I am on the look out for one.

Challenges.
One Stop Craft - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Winter Holiday and Ribbon.
I know there's only a small piece of ribbon on my card, but it really finishes off the look.
Oozak - Winter Vibes
Southern Girls - Christmas Projects
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - Anything Goes (Holiday)

Right - now I am off to have a trial run of making some chocolate, nut fudge.
Have a great weekend everyone. xxx

Don't it make my brown eyes blue?

At last, here I am with a card...
I got side-tracked drooling over Damian Lewis when I was catching up on Homeland.

Here's another card for the Christmas pile - I really must get a list done.
I've used the adorable Lucy from Digi Stamp Boutique, coloured with Copics, and lots of my favourite Glamour Dust.
 

Challenges.
Digi Stamp Boutique -  November Challenge
Sketch Saturday - Lizy's Sketch (I just rotated it)
Sweet Stampin' - All That Glitters
Polka Doodles - Bright Colours and Sparkle
My Mum's Craft Shop - Bold and Bright
ABC Christmas Challenge - V for Vibrant Colours

Supplies.
Lucy Digi from Digi Stamp Boutique, coloured with Copics and Glamour Dust.
Sorry, can't remember what the DPs are!!
Memory Box Twiggy Tree Die, with white gel pen and white gems.
6 x 6 Petal Point Card Blank and Sentiment from Craftwork Cards  
Ribbon from my stash. 

 
 

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November

Hello my little sparklers...
have you had a lovely fireworks weekend?
Hope you stay safe if you're lighting any tonight.
I will be back later with a card  - yes, an actual card! lol,
but for now, a bonfire treat.

Very grown-up Chocolate Gingerbread

Rubbish picture, I know - but it was taken in my dark kitchen last night, just after we sampled the gingerbread..  ;-)
I saved half the gingerbread and cut it into four generous pieces to freeze.
 It will be yummy as a pudding on a cold night, with custard or caramel.

 

Serendipity

No card to show you today peeps - we have been in flat pack hell!!
My furniture arrived on Wednesday and 6,532 screws, dowels, nuts and bolts later - it's all assembled.
And only 1 row!! :-)

This is our 3rd bedroom and is Annabel's room for when her and her b/f come to stay.
As you can see, it also has to double up as my craft room.
(Ignore the border, in it's previous life this room was a nursery. I will get round to taking it down, eventually).

I only have a small space to craft on, so I am going to have to keep it tidy...   yeah, good luck with that!
And, next time I am in Ikea, I am going to buy lots more of those white boxes to put all my papers etc in.
 

Can you see that grey smudge on the wall? (below)  
I tried to wipe it off, then realised it was a shadow from my light fitting - in the shape of a heart, 
perfectly positioned at the head of the bed.
Now - that HAS to be good karma - right?

Have a great weekend everyone.
There's lots of sport on this weekend, 
so that will keep hubby busy whilst I try out my new craft room :-)

***************************************************

'Tis the season to go shopping!

I have had one of those run around days today - 
where I have taken pictures of my card in just about every room in the house.
I've finally settled on these - the best of the bunch I'm afraid!

This was a quick make, using Lili of the Valley die cuts.
I used a shaped nestie to make a 'window' in my card and stuck one of the scenic die cuts to the inside piece.

The little shopper was cut from one of the die cuts and everything was sprinkled with Glamour Dust and Stickles.
IRL this is VERY sparkly. 
 

Challenges.
Lili's Little Fairies - A Christmas Card for the Girls
Crafty Ribbons - Christmas
The Crafty Pad - Christmas Is Coming
Stamp & Create - Winter Wonderland


Supplies.
Lili of the Valley die cuts, Snowy Town and Christmas Kids
Glamour Dust.   Ribbon from my stash.
Sentiment from Craftwork Cards.     Cheery Lynn Designs, Lamp Post.

Sweet Sunday

I was gutted to leave my big range cooker behind when we moved and I moan about it constantly,
but I have to admit, the cooker in this house is doing a pretty good job, so far.

Yesterday it made the most scrumptious slow cooked pork, with crispy crackling
and a caramel, walnut tart :-) 

I panicked a little, when I saw the recipe needed me to make a caramel sauce. I have never made one before and I was thinking about all those pans, piling up on the Great British Bake Off, as the contestants tried several times to master it.
I needn't have worried though -  it was perfect -   beginners luck ;-)

The tart is yummy, rich and caramelly (is that a word?) but definitely for those with a sweet tooth. 
I've added the recipe below, but if you want to try the complete version it's in November's Good Food Mag. I just cheated and bought my pastry case ;-)

 

Snow Day

Did you all get a dusting of the white stuff this morning?
Here's the view out of my bedroom window at 7am this morning!!  
Smashing! A day of cooking and crafting, with the TV on :-)
I have a lovely pork, crackling joint, slow-roasting in the oven and a caramel walnut tart, cooling on the worktop and..... a card ;-)

Something a little different for me.
A while ago I picked up these A6 card blanks (10.5 x 14.8).
They always seemed a bit too skimpy, but after forcing myself to use one, I found that they are perfect for these smaller stamps.

 I tried a new technique for shading on my Gorjuss girl - little dots in darker Copics. 
It's something to work on.

I think I had snow on the brain when I did the white gel pen dots around her. These were fun to do - you can't see where they are, but gradually, as the gel dries, they start to appear.

Challenges.
Fussy and Fancy - Anything Goes
Stampin' for the Weekend - Anything Goes
Allsorts - In Stitches (hoorah! I finally found my sewing machine and got it set up and running. I also added a little faux stitching round the sentiment).

Supplies.
Stamp - Gorjuss Girl
DP - Prima, Rosarian.  Dew Drops.   Ribbon.
Dies - Spellbinders Edgeability + Pennant  Memory Box, Buckle.

Bears need people...people need bears!

Typical!
I bought some cute, new Elf digis at the weekend, just as the printer decided to cough and splutter.
Some nice Kodak doctor is sending me a new head for it though - so after a transplant, it may yet survive.

I did need to make a start on my Christmas cards though.
It is only 61 days til Santa. Eek!!

I stamped and paper pieced my Me To You bear, adding some colouring and shading on the DP.
This card is best viewed from about 10 paces back - then you don't notice all my mistakes!! 
You're searching for them now, aren't you? :-)

 Challenges.
I followed the sketch at Christmas Challenges. I did move my image to the side though  (don't worry girls, just delete me if this isn't ok). There is also an added twist this week, to use flags/banners. I put my sentiment on a little die cut banner.
ABC Christmas - Up to You. 
Cupcake Craft - Pieced Off! 
St. Luke's Charity - Simple Christmas 
  
Supplies.
Stamp - Me Tou You, Winter Wonderland, coloured with Copics.
DP - Memory Box, Mistletoe.  Embossed Dots Folder.
Spellbinders Pennant Die.  Ribbon from my stash.   Sentiment, Craftwork Cards.   
 

Too Cute To Spook

I have finally found the secret to keeping dh out from under my feet, so that I can craft and bake all day.
James Bond movies... all 22 of them, all 'on demand' on Sky Anytime. 
Right now I am singing along to Goldfinger... da da da!

So, back to crafting, and here is my 2nd Halloween card, using the Tiddly Inks couple (scroll down if you want to see the first one).

 As you can see, I stuck with the same layout, just changed the colours.
This card is for my dd Maria, who is going to her party as a peacock (weird!). I know she has bought a blue/green dress, so I tried to reflect this in my colouring, and I had some fun with the red hair.

I also sprinkled some Glamour Dust on her dress and a little on her 'eyeshadow' - the camera hasn't really picked it up, but it's sparkly IRL.

 

Tip for Top Tip Tuesday.
I'm finding it difficult to find some thin black paper, for layering  (I use black a lot!) so I have resorted to running  my black Copic around the edge of my DP. This creates the illusion of a black layer and of course you can make it as thick or as thin as you like, or use a colour to match your scheme.
You're gonna tell me you've all been doing this for ages, aren't you? ;-)
 
Challenges.
2 Sisters - Anything Goes
Allsorts - Too cute To Spook
Stampin' for the Weekend - Something Spooky (I know this is more cute than spooky, so if you feel it doesn't fit the challenge ladies, I will delete it, just let me know)
Top Tip Tuesday - Things with Wings (The crow cut from my DP)
Polka Doodles - Halloween

Supplies.
Tiddly Inks Digi Couple, coloured with Copics and Glamour Dust.
Little Claire's Silhouette Cats.
DP - Basic Grey, Max and Whiskers and Memory Box
Black Gems, Ribbon, Spellbinders Nestie Die.

When black cats prowl...

Is it getting chilly where you are?  I am sat here, in my boots, leggings, 2 cardis and a scarf!! 
The kitchen temperature thingy is reading 16C - time to blast the heating on me thinks.

I have just 2 Halloween cards to make this year, and here is the first one... for my dd Annabel and her b/f.

I know that my girls' have a big Halloween party planned, but I have no idea what Annabel is going as - she usually decides the night before and wants a costume making lickety split!

I do know that Maria is going as a peacock (weird!) - so I will be trying out my blues/greens on this image next.

Oh, and the 2 kittys I added are for Annabel's fur monsters - Benga and Nero.

Can you spot todays deliberate mistake?
I added some glitter to the bottom of her dress and sprinkled silver instead of my fav. Glamour Dust.
Definitely a *bleep* moment - it looked awful - so I went over it with an orange Copic to try and blend it in...   all I can say is - it's better than it was!

Challenges.
Tiddly Inks - Fall
Digi Galore - Goth (hope 'cute' goth is ok)
Cupcake Craft - Autumn
Papertake Weekly - All creatures great and small. 
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
Divas by Design -  Anything Goes
Without Words - Things that go Bump. (Thanks to Squirrel for the heads up on this this challenge, where the focus of your card should be the image and they like you to have fun with colour.)

Supplies.
Digi Image from Tiddly Inks, coloured with Copics.
DPs - Memory Box, Blackbird.   Fancy Pants, It's the little things.
Prima, Printery.
Cats - Little Claire's, Silhouette Cats.
Ribbon,  Gems,  Spellbinders Dies.

Happy Birthday 2U

Don't laugh... it's taken me 6 hours to make this card. 
6 HOURS!!!!
I could have been de-greasing the cooker, or mowing the lawn, or tackling the ironing mountain!!
My vision of a squirrel in an aeroplane (don't ask!) ended up in the bin - twice.
Then, I learnt my lesson and went in search of a nice sketch, which was kindly provided by Natalie of Creative Inspirations.

I used stars, instead of  flowers and I couldn't quite squeeze them in next to each other, but I'm sure you can still make out the original sketch.

Can you believe, when I'd finished the card and went to stand it up, I realised I had tied the string all the way round it (not just on the top layer) Duh!! I had to cut it off and start again.

Challenges.
Creative Inspirations - Natalie's Sketch
Stamptacular - It's Your Birthday
ABC Challenge -  Y is for Y Chromosome (male themed)
Crafty Sentiments - Happy Birthday
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes (optional extra 'celebrate' theme) . They also have a fabulous Blog Hop, with some amazing prizes, to celebrate being 5 !! Congrats ladies  xxx

Supplies
DP - My Mind's Eye 'Ooh La La'         
Stamp from Molly Blooms was a magazine freebie - coloured with Copics and popped up on foam pads.
Birthday tag from Craftwork Cards.    String.
Circle and Postmark stamps from Whimsy Stamps.