Calorie FREE Christmas Treat

Ok - I  may have lied about the calorie free bit ! ;-)

This is a delicious, quick and easy treat that I saw on Pinterest and had to try.
Not only is it great for 'tearing and sharing', but it also fills the house with the wonderful aroma of cinnamon.

You simply cut a round, white loaf,  hedgehog style -  butter it, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake until warm.
Drizzle with icing and tuck in!
(Click on the Pinterest link to find the full recipe)

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Mayan Christmas Wishes

Winter Beau from Digi Stamp Boutique
Apple Digi paper from Pink Petticoat.

Meet me under the Mistletoe

Hello everyone... how are you all?
Did you have treacherous ice yesterday?

I had an early call from both my girls.
Someone skidded into the back of Maria's mini, as it was parked outside her house!! So she now has to have that repaired next week. She managed to get to work - but it sounds like most people were just sliding on their bums!!
Annabel slipped and fell - then spent 4 hours in a very busy A & E. Fortunately no broken bones, only bruised and swollen.
So, I hope you all kept safe.

Here's my very last Christmas card - for my hubby - 
nice and simple - just like him ;-)

I used a free mistletoe digi, that I found here
You can see better below how I layered it, coloured it with Copics, added some stickles glitter and used white gems for the berries.
I made the sentiment on my comp.

 

Right - now I am off to do some Christmas baking.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.   xxx

Challenges.
Charisma Cardz - Christmas Makes
Perfect Sentiments - Anything Christmas, with a Sentiment
Craft Us Crazy - Christmas/Winter and/or Favourite Embellie
Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes with a Holiday Sentiment
Digi Galore - Christmas Digi

Home for the Holidays

Now that these cards have made it to their destination, I can blog them. 
I made one for each of my girls, Maria and Annabel.
I am so excited that they are both going to be heading home for the holidays.

This is definitely my favourite card of the year - and really represents the more CAS style I have been doing of late.

I made the image up with a couple of digis from Digi Stamp Boutique - the car is from the 'we've moved' set and the tree is 'Xmas frame' tree. 

I wanted to keep everything nice and crisp and sharp, so instead of colouring the image I used digi papers from Pink Petticoat ( leaves and stripes).
I also made the sentiment on my comp.

I really wanted to add some glitter to the stars on the tree, but in the interest of CAS I stopped myself  :-)
 
Then to finish off, I tied some whispy string around the card and added a little star charm with  baker's twine.
I would have preferred a snowflake, but I didn't have any left.

Challenges
Digi Stamp Boutique -  December Challenge
Stamping Sensations -  Tree - mendous
Papercraft Star - Christmas Tree
Dream Valley - Christmas  
Creative Card Crew  - Star
Hooked on Craft - Christmas 

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Tree Day :-)

Ok - so with moving and all, we toyed with the idea this year of an artificial tree - 
for about 10 seconds. ;-)
I'm not ready to go there yet!
Instead, hubby kitted himself up in his best lumberjack attire, grabbed his chainsaw,  
and trudged off, into the deep snow,  to cut down this beauty.

This year we only had to cut a foot off the bottom to get it to fit into the house!!

And here's my mantelpiece. 
Pretty simple for me, but very pretty in the dark.
Say hello to Suzie - who insisted on being in the picture :-)

Have you got your decs up?
Please post some pics - I love looking at all the sparkle.

By the way - you know hubby got this tree at the local garden centre - right?  ;-)

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Festive Friends

I don't want to gloat, but most of my Christmas cards are now in the hands of the postie :-)
I just have a couple more to make - hopefully!!

Here's one that made it to my 'production line'.
I was on the look out for a 'family' style stamp and thought this cutie from Sugar Nellie was just perfect. 
It's coloured with Copics and sprinkled with my fabourite Glamour Dust.

 You can't really make it out on the main picture, but you can see below that there is a piece of fine net on the card base, 
just to add a little texture.
I had the devil of a job sticking everything onto it!!

Challenges
One Stop Craft - Christmas Friends
Winter Wonderland - Red & Blue
PaperPlay - Christmas is Coming
Moving Along With the Times - Clean & Simple
Charisma Cardz - Christmas
**NEW**   Christmas at Sweet Stamping - Anything Goes

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Christmas Cones

I lurve 'things' !!
Pretty, little things, that don't cost the earth.
So when I come across a 'thing', I do this little OMG clappy dance :-)
See my silver stand and glass dome - that was a 'thing'.
Isn't it gorgeous? 
Look at the little, silver stag head on the top. 
I am on the lookout for some tiny silver baubles to fill  the dome.

But... I'm really here to show you my Christmas Topiary Trees.
I made these at the weekend, after seeing them all over blogland.
You can make them in anything to match your decor and they are very easy to do.

I used some 12 x 12 christmas paper, rolled into a cone shape. 
You can use anything really, as you're going to cover it, but make sure it's quite sturdy. (mine crumpled a bit at the bottom with the glue I used).

With dabs of tacky glue,  just wind round whatever  material you like to cover the cone.
I used some whispy, hemp string, some silver tinsel and some white wool.
The white wool cone is really gorgeous IRL, as it's sprinkled all over with glamour dust.

Google 'christmas cone trees' for some really amazing designs.

Challenges
Tuesday Alchemy - Anything but a card
Top Tip Tuesday -  Christmas
Sassy Cheryl's Show Me Thursday
Ladybug Crafts -Sparklicious
CRAFT - Christmas

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Mademoiselle Noel

How is your Christmas card pile coming along?
I think I am almost done - just a few family cards to make.
I got the shock of my life buying stamps yesterday -
  90p a card - eek!!
Will have to have a major re-think next year.

Here's a girly card for my niece.
(Sorry about the rubbish photo - IRL there is lots of sparkle on her fur trim)

When I saw how simple this was, I went a little giddy with the liquid pearls :-)
I've also just realised that my mademoiselle noel is floating in mid air!!
I will add a little shading, under her feet, before she goes in the post.
 

Challenges.
Oozak - Anything Goes + Red
Penny Black & More - It's your choice
Penny Black Saturday - Glitter & Sparkle
Stamptacular - Christmas Photo Inspiration (I went with the red/white theme)
CASology - Sparkle
Top Tip Tuesday - Christmas


Supplies.
Stamp - Penny Black, Mademoiselle Noel coloured with Copics.
Corner stamp - I think it's from Lili of the Valley!
Let it snow stamp - From the Penny Black Christmas Critters set.
Red gem, liquid pearls, glamour dust

Rockin' Robin

I'm a little giddy today :-)
Not only have I made my most difficult card of the season,
but I have also managed to sneak up a Christmas tree. 
Eek! 
It's sooo pwetty!! (I'll try and take some snaps tomorrow).

So - onto my card.
This was a tough one. 
My mum & dad like a more traditional image and style, 
but I also wanted to keep it as CAS as possible.

I love this robin image from Sue Rundle-Hughes at Crafts and Me, but I found it really tricky to colour. There is some shading on the house and wall etc, but the camera hasn't picked it up. 
I wish I hadn't added the brown to the trees, and the liquid pearls 'snow' is a bit messy, 
but the sparkle is gorgeous. 
Trust me ;-)
 

Challenges
Moving Along with the Times - Use 3 elements beginning with the same letter. I used the 3 in their example - Ribbon, Red, Robin.
The Paper Shelter - Christmas is Coming
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations - Traditional Christmas Colours
Divas by Design - Glitter and Sparkle
One Stitch at a Time - Fabric, Ribbon or Lace

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On a cold and frosty morning

How are you all on this cold and frosty morning?
Hope it's not too wet where you are - we seem to be escaping the worst of it.

I know a black and white Christmas card isn't for everyone, but I kind of like the way this one turned out.
I think I will make a few of these.

This adorable snowman is a digi stamp from Heather Ellis.
I coloured him with Copics, adding a couple of black gems as 'presents' and popped him up on foam pads
 

For the background I used my Memory Box landscape die, with  a liberal sprinkling of glamour dust to the edges and liquid pearls for the 'snow'.
As usual, IRL this is lovely and sparkly, but my camera skills can't really capture it.

Challenges.
Addicted to CAS - Snow Stamptacular - Winter Bliss
Allsorts - Bring on the Bling
Polka Doodles - Any Die Will Do
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Winter

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Warm Winter Mittens

What exactly is the etiquette for mittens?
Is it thumbs in, thumbs out, or one of each!   :-)
Fortunately, I had enough mittens to try out each style.

As I sat in front of the TV last night making them, I had 3 finished before I realised they were all right handed ones!!!
Duh!!

I used the cute, free digi stamp from Birds cards, as a template on scraps of felt,
and embroidery thread for the stitches.
I know it's not very neat but, hey, it all adds to the handmade look :-) 

Challenges.
Less is More - Hardware (a little red brad)
Totally Papercrafts - All Stitched Up
Crafty Calendar - Wrap Up Warm For Winter (Optional String/Fibres/Twine)
Stamping Sensations - Traditional Christmas
Sassy Studios - Felt or Fabric

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Sweet Wishes

Top secret!
Someone, who may or may not be my best friend,
may or may not have just got their dream job!  
Eek! I am so excited for them, I may have made them a congrats card :-)

I chose this ridiculously cute Pure Innocence girl.
My image programme (PSP) and my printer have had a major fall out and refuse to talk to each other. So this girl was printed out much larger than I asked for - but I guess the printer was right, she looks fab this size.

Even the paper pad I wanted to use conspired against me - with annoying holes where it had been hung up for sale. I used it anyway, and threaded my ribbon through the hole.

Challenges.
PaperPlay - Paper Piecing
Totally Gorjuss - Plain & Simple
Dream Valley - Anything Goes
One Stitch at a Time - Use a Digi

Supplies.
Digi Stamp - Pure Innocence
DP - Echo Park, Note to Self
Congrats Stamp - Wild Rose Studio
Ribbon from my stash

Reindeer Kisses

Here's another card that made the production line this week.
Isn't that little reindeer adorable?
There's something about red gingham that just screams Christmas :-)
Silly me only bought one packet of them though (duh!) 
so I could only make 5 of these.

When I went back to them a couple of days later, all the lace was dropping off.
Now, I remember why I started to use stitching on my cards - rubbish DS tape.
Just a quick line of white stitching down each side and they were sorted.

Challenges.
Craft Us Crazy - Favourite Colour and/or Holiday Theme
Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Crafty Sentiments - Christmas
My Mum's Craft Shop - Winter Wonderland
Oozak - Winter Vibes (Entry No. 2)

Starry, starry night

You see - when I try and go all 'artsy' that's when I come unstuck.
What's in my head, never really comes out quite right on paper!!
So, I'm not sure about this card - it's not really me, is it?

IRL this card is nice and sparkly. 
There's a layer of glamour dust along the edges and some glitter gems added to the DP.
I stamped the sentiment straight on the ribbon - which is a first for me - and something I'm going to experiment with :-)

Challenges.

Crafty Sentiments - Christmas
Divas by Design - Anything Goes
My Mum's Craft Shop -  Winter Wonderland

Supplies
Memory Box Landscape Die.
DP - Prima, North Country.
Sentiment Stamp - Penny Black Christmas Critters
Ribbon and pearl brad from my stash.

Have your elf a merry little Christmas

I got the dreaded 'reds' out today.
It doesn't matter how careful I am with them, I still find they bleed a little, 
but they are so much fun to use. 
I felt like a kid again - trying to keep in the lines :-)

I think I got so used to not having my DPs, when they were boxed away, that I've forgotten how to use them.
I tried this card with just about every Christmas paper I have, and nothing seemed to look right. 
My brain is stuck in CAS mode!!!

This is one of my new, cute Elf images from Make it Crafty... just perfect for 'boy' cards.
I can't wait to use the others - watch this space :-)

Challenges.
Cute Card Thursday - Sketch
C.R.A.F.T. - Inspired by a Film - this has to be Elf
Winter Wonderland - One for the Boys. Must have an image of a boy/man. Hope this boy elf is OK :-)
Paper Shelter - Fairies and Elves
Creative Inspirations - Reds for Remembrance
Sweet Stampin' -  Anything Goes

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 :-)

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'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.