Merry Christmas

Today I just want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and share some little tree decorations that I made as gifts for my family and friends.

These little decorations were inspired by Jennifer McGuire and are very easy to make using scraps and dies. They are little shakers, but that element doesn't show up too well on the photos.

My Christmas cactus was just coming into flower a couple of weeks ago when I was photographing them so I included it as a prop. The cactus is now in full flower and looking stunning. Sorry, I should have taken another photo of it, but things have been a bit busy recently.

You can see 5 in the photo but I ended up making two more as I used them for little presents to a couple of friends. I now have quite a large pile of round bits of card, which I must find a use for, as each decoration used 7 circle frames.

Wishing you a very happy holiday period. I will be back on December the 30th as I am taking part in a blog hop showcasing my favourite makes from 2022.

I am sharing this at:

Paper funday challenge 48 - Anything goes with optional twist Holiday Time

The holly and the Ivy Christmas Challenge 130 - Anything Christmas goes

A Place to Start - Anything goes

Make My Monday #190 - Gifts stamped or created

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We Love Stamping December Reminder

Today is the 18th so time for a reminder for the current challenge over at We Love Stamping. The challenge where you can showcase your stamps and your skill at using them.

This month our theme is:

** I Love **

I am still loving turnabout stamps

I think this is my all time favourite stamp, I have used it so many times. You can see it here and here. In fact I have also used this basic design before here. Anyway, I hope you don't think that's cheating, I think I am just proving how much I love this stamp.

I do love the way this stamp creates a perfect circle and it is also quite easy to get it lined up. Some of my other turnabout stamps don't get used much because of the difficulty lining them up. The background stamps are the worst I find.

I mounted the panel on some grey craft foam and also popped the balloon numbers up on foam so that they show up a little bit.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month the prize is a Gorjuss scrapbook kit and matching dies. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose one entry to join us as a guest designer for a future challenge.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is follow the prompt and ensure stamping is the main focus on your card. The challenge will close at noon on Wednesday the 28th December

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Nearly Christmas, I hope you all have a fabulous holiday

I am also sharing this at:

AAA Birthday #44 Embossing - My sentiment is heat embossed

Supplies:

Cardstock: Nina classic crest; Concord & 9th dove

Ink: Catherine Pooler wintergreen, ginger, apricot and sand castle

Stamps: Concord & 9th all season turnabout

Dies: Spellbinders hemstitch circles and rectangles; The Works balloon numbers

Other: Silver embossing powder; sequins

Simply Thanks

Today I have an embossed card to share. I used masking and ink blending followed by an application of perfect pearls to create this shiny panel before I embossed it.

The technique was showcased by Jennifer McGuire, but unfortunately I can't find the video to link it directly here.

It did go a bit wrong because I used so much perfect pearls powder that I completely covered the inking, which I think was blue! I decided it didn't matter as I really liked the bronze shine and so I went on to emboss my panel with this lovely paisley pattern. You have to love paisley. I found an old paisley stamp and decorated the insert and the envelop too.

The sun actually showed itself briefly as I was taking these pictures, so you can see the shine. Such a simple and yet effective technique.

Thanks to everyone that responded to my question about whether you listen to things while crafting. Several people said they were currently listening to Christmas music. That made me think about what my favourite Christmas song is and i am playing it as I write this. It is 2000 miles by The Pretenders. What's yours?

I am feeling good this evening as I have written all my Christmas cards and will put them in the post tomorrow morning when I am on my walk. It is going to be cold and frosty tomorrow though.

I am sharing this at:

Can you handle the pressure - with a twist of thanks

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

We Love Stamping December Challenge

Today is the first Sunday of the month so time for a new challenge over at We Love Stamping. The challenge where you can showcase your stamps and your skill at using them.

This month our theme is:

**  I Love  **

I love so many things but today it is turnabout stamps

I have quite a collection of Concord & 9th turnabout stamps and a few weeks ago when we were just heading into autumn I got them out and made a bunch of cards. Look out for the others, I hope they will come soon.

I can't believe how easy this was to make and yet it looks stunning. I hope you like it too.

I finished it off with a few sequins.

Don't forget there is always a prize to be won and this month the prize is a Gorjuss scrapbook kit and dies. Why don't you head over to the challenge blog to check it out? The prize winner is selected randomly and in addition the DT will choose one entry to join us as a guest designer for a future challenge.

I hope I have inspired you to join us this month, all you have to do is follow the prompt and ensure stamping is the main focus on your card. The challenge will close at noon (UK time) on Wednesday 28th December

I am looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

The other day I learnt that I am lucky enough to live in the third happiest place in the UK, how anyone knows is beyond me, but I have always known that I am very lucky to live in a beautiful place in a beautiful county. I have lived in the county of Suffolk all my life and am the only member of my family to have stayed here. It seems that lots of people are now discovering what a wonderful place it is and it is becoming a popular holiday spot.

Yesterday, while I was busy trying to finish making my Christmas cards, I listened to the first of this years  Reith lectures. It was on freedom of speech and was a really interesting listen, so I thought I would share it. Every year there is a series of 4 lectures usually given by the same person, but this year it will be 4 different people who each take up one of the themes from Franklin D Roosevelt's four freedoms speech. The lecture was given by the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I often listen to podcasts while crafting and would be interested to learn about what others listen to. Do let me know if you have a favourite.

Supplies:

Cardstock: White stamping card; Hunky Dory adorable scorable coated card

Ink: Catherine Pooler apricot, ginger, terracotta and over coffee

Stamps: Concord & 9th Harvest Wreath turnabout stamp set

Dies: Stitched rectangles

Other: Sequins

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it. 

November Card Chain Challenge Reveal

Today is 2nd of the month so time for the Card Chain Challenge big reveal. This month 29 card makers took part and I sent my card to Kath in Devon UK. 

I thought I would try using the colour options this month, but I don't think I was very successful as my orange is really more like a red and my chocolate is actually black and my silver spray is pretending to be slate! It is just what happened when I started to make the card. Things have a tendency to change.

I also used the theme options of silhouettes and friendship and the product option of stencil.

I have recently invested in some re inkers for my Catherine Pooler mini ink pads and when they arrived I decided that I really need to find ways to use them for more than just inking my pads. I have discovered that you can make fantastic blended background with them. Here I put a few drops of ink on my glass mat and spritzed it with a bit of water, then I painted it onto my watercolour card panel to create a wash of colour. I used 2 colours and blended them, they dried to this gorgeous smooth blend.

I used a petal stencil to add interest to the background and cut my silhouette flower from black paper, which I then sprayed with cosmic shimmer.

I am quite pleased with the finished card. I hope Kath liked it too.

I am due to receive a card from Dee  in Kenya, but sadly it hasn't arrived yet, but never mind it will be extra special when it does show up.

If you would like to take part in the next card chain challenge, you have until 6th to sign up here

Supplies:

Cardstock: 

Ink: Catherine Pooler re-inkers bellini and rockin red

Dies: Crafts Too (flower); Concord & 9th (sentiment); Lisa Horton (panel outline)

Stencils: Sweet Dixi petal burst

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today, I really appreciate it.