Merry Christmas everyone !

Dear all,

Much as I have tried to maintain my blog these last couple of weeks, it just hasn't happened and so I have decided to take a break over the festive season and return in the New Year. Time has been a rare commodity and the list of things I've been making reads a bit like the list in the Twelve days of Christmas lol !

I do love December , with all the preparations, excitement and birthday mania in our house but I don't seem to have enough hours in the day. Don't tell anyone but I have 5, yes FIVE new stamp sets that I haven't even mounted yet !! Hopefully this will be remedied soon, can't wait to show you some exciting new goodies !

I do have something to show you today. Last week was my crafty friend Angie's birthday and this is the card I made for her..........

and I gave her a SU pressie too !

Glad you liked it Angie !

Just leaves me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I will be back in the New Year with some exciting new 'toys'.

Relax and enjoy ! xxx

I haven't left the country !

Hello all,

No I haven't disappeared from the face of the universe , just had so much going on.

Sadly we had the funeral for Hubby's Nan who would have celebrated her 100th birthday today !

On a happier note it was Isabel's birthday at the weekend and we had a lovely time. We did a cupcake decorating course and these are my efforts.............

Note all colour co ordinated lol !

Despite the rest of the group being adults, Isabel did really well and this is what she created..............

We were instructed on 4 of the designs but then we were allowed to create 2 'freestyle' ones........

Aren't Isabel's designs amazing ? Put mine to shame !

Of course her card had a cupcake theme too !!

Colours are Pink Pirouette and Pool Party. Patterned paper isn't from SU but everything else is.

Love the ruffled ribbon.

Promise it won't be so long til next time x

Special Gifts

Evening all,

Well December is here and the countdown has well and truly begun !

I think I have mentioned before that December is a very special (and busy !) month for us as both the girls have their birthdays. So amidst all the Christmas chaos I have birthday parties to organise and cakes to buy ! And then there is all the extra presents and special cards to make. Still I wouldn't have it any other way and the arrival of our 'special Christmas presents' has certainly made the festive season even more magical.

I have made a scrapbook page about our special gifts..............

Baubles are from Contempo Christmas and the letters for 'gifts' are from the chipboard alphabets.Vanilla taffeta ribbon wraps up the present.

Love this sentiment and have added a Tiny Tag for each of them.

We go from Isabel's birthday cards to Christmas cards, which come down on Boxing Day, ready for Sophie's birthday the following day. Hectic and VERY expensive but definitely a wonderful time of year !

Busy, busy ,busy

Evening all,

Where are all the days disappearing to ? Definite sign of getting old when you here yourself saying you haven't got enough hours in the day lol !

I have been making some money wallets ( up to about 50 now) for people at work and even though I love Christmas I will be glad when I can just 'play' without working my way down the 'to-do' list.

Glad I haven't got to put the money in them all too !!!!!

In search of something to show you I have got some male cards I made with my Wednesday ladies a few weeks ago and I'm hoping I haven't shown you before ..................

Colours are Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Soft Suede.These a la carte stamps are excellent value for someone like me who only makes male cards when I have to lol !And because wallets seem to be the order of the day I have made a mens wallet too !

First Edition

Evening all,

Sorry it's been so long, got a lot going on at the moment. Some of it good and some not so good but I know the days are flying by way too quickly !

I have been making lots of cards for orders including FIVE 40th birthday cards for the same person and now I've got to make one from me too ! In my haste to finish these orders I forgot to take any photos but I have got something to show you.

At the Stampin' Up stand at the NEC there were some beautiful curled paper wreaths. I'm not sure which of the talented ladies made them to give credit but they were definitely stunning and attracted loads of attention.

Anyway I decided to make a smaller one myself to try the technique. I used the First Edition papers as these are such good value.

Aren't those Antique brads luxurious ? 3 on one project ? I know but I was brave and just about managed it lol !

Back soon x

Good for the Homework

Evening all,

What a dark, dreary day today so I apologise in advance for the light in the photo. At my Wednesday class this morning we were very Christmassy and made some bunting and a couple of cards- I even took along some mince pies ( not home made but the 'exceedingly' good variety lol ! )

Also wanted to show you how Stampin Up recently helped out with Sophie's homework. She had to do a project on a bird, so guess what we decided ? Yes it had to be an owl lol !

Look how many products she used on the cover - although the Woodgrain background stamp would have been very useful !!

Short and sweet today but got a card or seven to make...........

Beau Chateau

Evening all,

Friday again, where do the weeks go ? Only 44 days til Christmas !!!

Today I feel very flattered because the lovely Jules has featured one of my creations on her blog. It was a small gift I took for her to recent training so pop over to Jules' blog and have a look !

To keep everything co-ordinated (obsessed I know lol!) I have some Beau Chateau cards to show you ............

Cockerel is cut from the paper and have used Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, with gorgeous Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon and pearls to decorate.If you don't like the bird then cut out the flowers lol !Lots going on on this one ! I used the mat pack to prick a pattern and this time the embossing is using the Manhattan Flower folder. Love the First edition papers and the Victoria crochet trim.

I love this pack of papers so expect to see it again soon !

Melon Mambo Mania

Evening all,

I had a fab day on Saturday at the NEC with Stampin Up ! Thank you to Bekka, Karen and Zoe for making the day fun and a big hello to all the lovely ladies (and a few gentlemen ) we chatted to. There were some fantastic samples on display and they generated a lot of interest.

Despite a busy weekend I have got a couple of cards to show you. The first one uses a stamp from the Crazy for Cupcakes set.

Colours are Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate chip and Crumb Cake. Love that dotty ribbon!
While I had the Melon Mambo out I decided to make a few little thank yous to send out with my orders using the First Edition papers..........

This beautiful flower is from Everything Eleanor and the leaf is from French Foliage. I definitely need some more time to play ! Remember the old video recorders that worked on 'long play' so you could fit double the time? That's what I need - definite sign of getting old lol !

Back soon x

Vintage Vogue

Evening all,

Busy, busy , busy again this week but it's all good !

Todays cards are using Vintage Vogue, a beautiful set that has been sitting neglected on my shelf lately. I also used some of the sadly missed Springtime Vintage papers ( I did collect a little hoard before they retired lol ).

Thought this flower pot would be ideal as a get well pressie, perhaps for someone in hospital when real flowers are not allowed ?

I love making 3d flowers and I think this worked well with the Fun Flowers die

Colours are Soft Suede, Very Vanilla and Pretty in Pink

Nice to use an old favourite for a change !

We don't really make a big fuss of Halloween in our house but I must show you a card Isabel made...........

and the pumpkin that she grew from seed in the garden............He's looking like he needs some wrinkle cream but it was 'the morning after the night before' lol and I think you get the general idea. Carving by Hubby- about as creative as he gets !

Christmas is a coming !

Evening all, have you had a good weekend ?

Guess what I've been doing today ? Wrapping Christmas presents !!! I did a Christmas 'shop til you drop' yesterday and so decided to start wrapping what I've got so far. It is after all only 56 more sleeps lol !

I have started doing classes on Wednesday mornings and this week we used the Holly Berry Bouquet papers. I must confess I was a big fan of last years Jolly Holidays papers and wasn't too sure I would like the Holly Berry Bouquet papers - but I do ! That is the beauty of Stampin Up products, once you play with them or see what other people have made you love even the items you weren't sure you liked ! Let's show you what we made ..............

Yes, that is sewing you see there ! And all done by hand ! ( I would be dangerous with a sewing machine ) I used the Mat Pack to pierce all the holes and it was easy enough even for me. Obviously without the sewing it is a very quick card, perfect for mass producing and using up scraps of paper.

Love the robin on this floral patterned paper

Isn't that tree sooo effective ? We also made a wallet for vouchers/cash, sentiment is from Contempo Christmas

Oh and one of my favourite Top Note die boxes had to be done too lol ! Hope you like and if you live locally and would like to join my classes please get in touch x

Flirtacious Eleanor

Evening all,

I am watching Wolves on telly but they are now losing 4 -1 to Man City so I thought I'd talk to you instead. If it stays less than 6 does that mean they've done better than Man Utd lol ?

Half term this week and yesterday the girls and I went Christmas shopping, have you realised it's only 60 days away ! I like to get my shopping done nice and early but do feel its the same old gifts in the shops each year, they just change the packaging !

Todays card features some of the new Flirtacious paper. I don't have the matching Delicate Doilies stamp set but decided to use a stamp from my new Everything Eleanor set instead.

I think Eleanor does 'flirty' quite well lol !Colours are Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant and Melon Mambo. Isn't the new scalloped spotty ribbon gorgeous ? Hope you like ?

Off to watch the end of the match, the score is now 5-2 !!

Beau Chateau Scrapbooking

Hi all,happy weekend !

I've had quite a peaceful day today as Isabel also went to the Wolves match too. She's not as interested as Sophie and normally prefers shopping or crafting with me ,but they had a spare ticket today so she was quite excited to go along for a change - she even wore Sophie's old football shirt, even though it says Sophie on the back lol ! Bless her !!

After being 2 nil down they scored twice in the last few minutes to scrape a draw and as they have lost the last 5 consecutive games perhaps she was a lucky mascot !

So what have I got to show you today ? Some scrapbook pages made using the new Beau Chateau papers. These pages are gorgeous, some are soft and feminine but they are also muted blues and browns suitable for the boys.

Colours are Pink Pirouette , Marina Mist and Soft Suede. Love the new Victoria crochet trim too !

Texture added with the Square Lattice embossing folder. And the two pages together ................

I have used French Foliage to stamp the leaves and used the rock and roll techniqueIf you would like me to show you how to do this or demonstrate any of the other fab products please get in touch.

Now off to sit down together and watch Saturday night telly x

Sewing and Swaps

Hello all, how are we ?

I promised you sewing and so I will show you the Suffolk puffs that Gemma taught us to make on Saturday using the new Flirtacious fabric............

I think I need a little more practice to make my gathers more even, but if I can do it, anyone can as I am definitely a beginner at sewing lol ! Check out Gemma's blog because she showed us a fantastic Christmas tree - but I know my limitations !

On to the swaps, firstly I must thank Kate who very kindly posted a photo of my swap when she read I'd forgotten to take any piccies. Bless you Kate. So this is my French Foliage swap which I also did in a blue colourway too

and on to the gorgeous swaps I received in return...........

Aren't there some fantastic ideas? Thank you girls for swapping with me and I hope I haven't missed anyone's off.

Must go, got to go to Parent's Evening tonight.......should be interesting lol !

Training Day

Morning all,

Sorry I have been missing this week, I have been busy but also had an annoying 'lurgy' which meant I lost my voice and was coughing and spluttering all the time, even during the night ! It hasn't gone completely but it's loads better and last night I did get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Might have been to do with my early start yesterday as I made the journey 'Up North' to Julies training day in Leeds.

It is always fun to share a day crafting but we also heard some inspiring suggestions and saw some fantastic demonstrations, so thank you to Jules and all the other ladies !

Let me show you the cards we made using the new Pennant Parade stamp set and punch and also the new In Colours






and my personal favourite ......................



How cute is that tree and so dimensional ?

We also used the fantastic First Edition papers as a background and I especially selected a piece about evergreens and juniper berries as my background- how obsessive is that lol?

Hubby and the girls came up to Leeds too and they went to the cinema and also managed to discover Krispy Kreme doughnuts- so much so that they bought a box of 12 !!! Their excuse was there were so many flavours to choose from they just couldn't decide .............

I suppose they do have a point lol !

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the swaps I made and the gift for Jules but perhaps they will pop up on one of the other girls blogs - mine are the French Foliage ones.

Back next time to show you the fantastic swaps I received and the sewing (yes sewing ! ) I did after a fab demo from Gemma x