Whoops.....

......... I seem to have dropped off the blogging radar about two weeks before everyone else. Just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and to say thank you for such a lovely bloggy year. Your comments, your stories, your makes, thanks for sharing them all with me.

So whatever you're up to at the moment....... be it.....

.......switching on lights........

........ having fabulous friends for dinner.......

.....making angels.........

.....hanging bunting.......

.......decorating cakes.....

God....please don't look too close, I'm sure it will taste OK. Thanks Delia.

 

 

 

....watching buds burst into blossom.......

......gorgeous aren't they........?

My friend informs me it's Japanese quince

 ....waiting for Santa.....

 

 ....or taking it all in your stride....

Harry 'The Leopard' as he was recently christened

.......have fun and I'll see you all very soon.

Happy Christmas everyone x

Handmade Monday - Christmas Cards

I'm afraid this week was definitely a case of killing two birds with one stone.  I've been very busy with my shops just lately which is FANTASTIC but it has left me with little time to 'playsew', so apologies for the lack of all things 'sewy' recently and today is no different. I had lots of cards to make and Handmade Monday to prepare for. So I'm just going to share a few pictures with you of some of the designs I've made so far....

From quite traditional.......

to a little more clean and simple.....

I love this rustic creamy card stock!

Can you see the sponged edges? I used a cherry red

My 'corner rounder' punch is my most used punch!

........and probably my own personal favourite....just because I had so much fun, masking and sponging.....

Pretty little Poinsettas stamped in a cherry red on a sponged cherry red background

.......stamping and scoring......

Can you see the score lines?

.......and embossing!

Shiny, shiny Christmas!

After a few weeks of a total lack of festive feeling I am now fully in the throes of festiveness.


Even my younger son who hasn't crafted for yonks suddenly got a creative urge over the weekend, I think it's infectious at Christmas isn't it? I love it when this happens, just to see how happy he was snipping and sticking.

Tree is up!

Anyway must press on, although I've got a visit to Wendy's blog first to see what those other Handmade Monday ladies have been up to.  If you fancy a visit to my Folksy or Etsy shops there are still some things left :)

Thank you for coming to say hello and welcome to some new followers, nearly 100, how exciting!

Masculine Birthday Cards

An almost totally festive free post today, instead, more masculine cards to share with you made to celebrate a milestone birthday. The first one uses an idea I saw on Vicky's blog using the amazing Autumn Days stamp set - how versatile is this set, how clever is this lady?

Using the sponging technique again, I built up the layers to form the ground then stamped the shrubbery by stamping off some of the ink first onto paper before stamping directly onto the card to create a misty morning effect. Lets have a closer look....

Lots of these little fellas about at the moment

Faded shrubbery

..... and another card where I got the idea from this sketch from the wonderful Clean and Simple site.

Masculine cards needs a bit of tearing...

Happy birthday to my BiL

 

We went out to buy our Christmas tree today so I'll be up in the loft scurrying around to find the decorations later.

 

A satisfying .........ahhhhh

...then........ on with the Christmas music, wine in hand to decorate the tree and sing Christmas Carols around it with my family.....POP!!!!!   Reality check!!!!   Wrestle with the lights, curse profusely when I can't get them to work, try to stop the cats from climbing the tree, smile sweetly when those members of my family have 'helped' by putting a few decorations on the tree and then found something else that they urgently need to do, then sweep up all of the needles that have fallen off my needlefast tree in the process of me decorating it :) 

Hope you have a great weekend x

What's on your workdesk Wednesday.....?

Piles! Yes piles of stuff that's whats on my workdesk today,(or my dining table as it is better known) and I'm so pleased to have finally got around to joining in with this wonderful little linky party! Why not pop over to Stamping Ground to see what it's all about.

Piles of festive bunting flags.......

Piles of front covers for kindle covers.............

Piles of fabric waiting for their turn.................

Piles of offcuts.................

and a 'very nearly disaster'....

Can you see the nice big crack? Weep, weep....

As you know my machine is quite an old lady and has none of these drop feet modern day mechanisms (oh but how I would love to have them). We had been managing quite nicely until disaster struck, a careless moment when winding a bobbin and "Oh bother!" Cracked but not broken......yet! Now the sensible part of me would just get a replacement one but the naughty side of me thinks it would be a good time to look into getting a new one. I've always been a Singer girl, but I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any recommendations......?



Oooooh and I must show you this.....

I just love 'little houses'

It called to me on Saturday and I finally found myself standing in front of this dear little house again yesterday but this time it came home with me.

Imagine the wafts of cinammon floating over to you.....

While I've got your attention I recently saw on Sophies blog that she's running a 'Love is......' link up. I joined in with an entry as follows 'Love is..... when your OH takes your goodies into work and comes home with loads of orders.....'  Yes he actually did! What a poppet! Why not investiagte further by clicking on the link to her blog?

I must admit to feeling slightly panicked at the moment but I've given myself a good talking to and am about to start Christmas shopping, making a concerted effort to shop locally. Hope you're better organised than I am.

Advent tree- Tutorial

I'll never forget the look of sheer disappointment on my eldest son's face last year when I told him that "No, I wasn't joking, I hadn't bought him an Advent calendar." I had purposefully not done so for fear of patronising a fast maturing young man - How wrong could I have been?!

You forget that Christmas and the family things you do are so important to your children, almost ritualistic. Needless to say I hotfooted it to the nearest Tescos and came home proudly displaying my purchases, but the moment had gone.

It's going to be different this year! I made an Advent tree!

I scouted around my garden for a suitable candidate to donate it's branches and was amazed to find buds on, I think, (after researching), a Quince bush. The horticulturally minded amongst you may be able to offer advice on this one. But anyway I'm hoping they start to open up in the lead up to Christmas.

Remember the technique from yesterday? Well I used it to make these cute little bags to put on my tree. Lots of sewing around edges......

Can you see the other pieces of paper waiting patiently in the background?

......choosing colour schemes

and attaching handles.

Handles have been attached with a brad on each side

Careful to attach the handle to one side only to make room for your treats

I used my Big Shot and a Stampin' up Sizzlit die to punch out the numbers

 and glued them into place.

I filled the bags with little treats.......

and hung them on the tree.

After reading in a Christmas makey something or other, I rather like the idea of adding a little note to each day, personal to the boys reflecting on the year just passed, just something to make them smile, think or raise an eyebrow :)

Just in case you were wondering the gorgeous papers came from Stampin' Up, my favourite, in fact my only supplier of all things paper crafty. You can purchase them here.
I must apologise for the poor light in the photos today. I've waited for better, but sadly I don't think it's going to happen.

Before I pop off, I'd like to say a very warm welcome to a few new followers. It's lovely to have you along and I look forward to visiting your blogs soon :)

I wasn't feeling the remotest bit Christmassy but this make is definitely getting me in the mood. Why not have a go, I'd love to see your results.

Handmade Monday - Brown Paper Packages tied up with....

.......ribbon actually.

Last week I was packaging up a bundle of my goodies for a lovely customer when 'eeekkk!' I realised I had run out of my usual packing materials. I think my brain went into overdrive and I scanned around my work area for suitable alternatives, none to be seen, until I spotted my roll of brown wrapping paper.

PING! Light bulb moment. I wonder what would happen if I tried to sew with paper......?

I hastily cut out two rectangles of brown paper, threaded my machine up with black thread and machined two rows around three sides of the rectangle, using uneven stitching, to form a very simple bag.

I trimmed the edges with pinking scissors as a finishing touch. The happy reception this simple little bag got set my mind thinking and so today's Handmade Monday is a 'gift bag' using this technique.

So...... machine two rows around three sides of two rectangular pieces of brown paper, cut to your required size and then trim with pinking scissors...

Don't forget to leave the opening!

Punch two holes in the top.

Thread through a  ribbon.

Tie and  add a colourful gift tag.

You could of course stamp an image onto the bag......

Apologies for poor photos today

.......and experiment with sizes.

Place card envelopes for the Christmas table?

It's a cheap and cheerful way of wrapping and doesn't involve sellotape, which I loathe using.

Of course you don't have to stop with brown paper. If you come back tomorrow I'll show you what else I've been up to using this technique.

But, while your waiting why not visit Wendy and the Handmade Monday team to see what they can tempt you with. This week she's asking how your Christmas preparations are going. My kindle covers have been selling like hotcakes, so I need to replenish stocks but as regards my personal preparations ooooh, best avoid answering that one I think.

A warm welcome to a few new followers I've enjoyed visiting your lovely blogs.
Have a lovely day all x