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 :-)

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

'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.