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

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

Autumnal birthday card

You will only have to open the door to your house and step outside to see where the inspiration for the colours on this card came from. Isn't nature wonderful?

Although the last few days have been a bit grey and grim, this morning I've woken to a crisp white frost and a blue sky.

This card is made for a birthday using rich Autumnal colours and it gave me a chance to use 'the leaf' from my newly purchased 'Autumn Days' stamp set (Stampin' Up).

A birthday card for my Auntie

Falling leaves in vibrant colours on co-ordinating card stock.......

.......and a punchy sentiment in a deep cherry red.

Have a good day everyone and thanks for stopping by.

Crochet Hearts, a birthday gift set and a crochet catch up.

When I started my little crochet adventure back in April, never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would be making a birthday present for a friend that involved crochet. OK what I've done is very simple but I think very effective and should encourage all you novice crocheters (like me) out there to have a go.

Ooooooh what are these......?

My very good friend is celebrating her 'girlie' birthday this week. She is a lover of all things 'hearty' and has an excellent eye for detail, creating lots of interesting little corners in her house. Anyway the 'hearty' thing was my starting point.


So where do you go when as a crochet novice you need a bit of handholding and advice? Off to lovely Lucy of course, where there was a lovely teeny tiny heart tutorial which was just perfect for my needs.

The hearts were so straightforward to make and I had purchased a white box frame for them to nestle into.

But then of course I had to make the card and think of a suitable wrapping. Here's what I came up with.

A tote'ish bag made from good old reliable wallpaper lining to house the frame, using hearts as my theme and working with the same colours as the crochet hearts.  Shall we have a closer look......?

A carefully placed sentiment and hearts randomly stamped onto a strip of white card which were then cut into squares and mounted onto card. I wanted a faded heart look, so I stamped some of the ink off before stamping onto the white card.



This might give you a better idea....



The ribbon was simply tied around the handle and the handles were made from red card and attached with eyelets.

Although this was for a birthday, what a great Christmas present it would make wouldn't it?

And talking of all things crochet, just in case you were wondering...............

........my crochet blanket is coming along nicely. I left off it for a few weeks as sewing projects took over but I'm determined to get it finished in time for Christmas. I'm aiming for a 10 squares by 12 rows blanket and I'm on row 10 now, I should make it shouldn't I?

Enjoy your day and thank you for stopping by x