More carolsingers

Another of the cute carolsinging mice cards made for Making Cards magazine. The papers and pyramage are all part of a Paper Creator digi kit. The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons and I simply added some pearls.

Challenges

Creative Inpsirations Winter/Christmas 

Simon Says anything goes

 Noor! Design UK anything goes

We are going out for breakfast this morning and checking out the sales in Norwich. This evening some friends are coming round for a meal, DVD and board games. Enjoy your New year's Eve.

New sewing projects

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, we did. What a mix of weather though. We were so lucky that Boxing Day and Thursday were sunny but cold as we had planned trips to the coast both days. Wednesday and Friday were awful with pouring rain all day.  Not too much on TV over Christmas but my top picks were Call The Midwife, Victoria and Little Women. It was a wonderful dramatisation of one of my favourite stories. 

We both had lots of DVDs, both films and box sets and lots of jigsaws too. One of the box sets was Downton Abbey, all 52 episodes. I remember that when it started we were on holiday and as I don't like watching a series when I have missed the start we never saw it. Everyone says how good it is so on Thursday we started watching and we were hooked straight away.

I haven't been in the craft room for over a week but I did cut out some material as I want to make some pincushions and needle cases and these are the first couple I made. I used a hexagon die. It took me a little bit of fiddling to work out which bits to sew together to complete the pincushion, which look exactly the same underneath. The needle case has a smaller white felt double hexagon inside.  I have my first hospital shop in February so I will be making some more of these before then.

Lynsey and her daughter are coming for lunch today and exchange presents as her daughter and husband were ill just before Christmas when we were meant to meet up.

Coffee and a good book

I made this for a friend whose Birthday was a couple of days ago. Always a challenge to know what to make as doesn't like cute images. However she does love going out for coffee and enjoys a good book. We share the same taste in book mostly so we are always swapping books, mostly thrillers and mysteries.

I recently bought some wooden embellishments from The Works and the idea for the card came from the coffee one. The papers are Bo Bunny Weekend market.  it my not be clear but the strip of paper is rows of books. I crimped some kraft card to represent the cardboard holders you get with some takeaway cups, added some cream burlap and string and a sentiment I found in my stash.

I would like to enter the anything goes challenge at Simon Says.

Honey

Another plaque Mum asked me to make for another friend who loves her little dog Honey. Honey goes everywhere with her and is a comfort to some of the residents in the home where both my Mum and her friend volunteer.

Apologies for the slightly wonky photo. I coloured the wooden dog with DI. The paw print ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons. I used a bone die from a Marianne scottie dog set, burlap, string, bark heart and added a bone and love my dog charms.

Christmas present

I found this gift bag amongst my wrapping papers and it was just the right size for Lynsey's Chrismas present. I didn't wan to leave it as it was though so I coloured up one of the newer LOTV stamps with Copics. I added some fun lock to her hat. The stitched square die I used is a new one from the Works. Incredible value, 8 dies for £6! I backed it with some Studiolight Scandinavian paper and made a matching tag.  The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons.

The image in more detail.

Challenges

ABC Christmas Y for yummy 

Creative Inspirations Winter/Christmas 

Simon Says party time 

Noor! Design UK anything goes

Cheers!

Happy Boxing Day. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day, we did. I have two more of the cards I made for Papercraft Essentials magazine. If you saw the first post with these cards you will know I was given the champagne glass die, coloured glitters and gold glitter card and asked to make 5 cards for just £10 using the minimal of other items from my stash.  So for this one I added some sentiment ribbon from Crafty Ribbons.

The sentiment stamp is from LOTV and I simply cut the glitter card into banners. To achieve the pearlised glitter effect on the glass diecut I mixed a little of all the glitters together and sprinkled them over the diecut which I had covered with Stick It.

Challenges

Simon Says party time

We are taking my Mum out for lunch today in Cromer and then going to see the afternoon Christmas show on the Pier before taking her home. The show has excellent reviews and when we have been in the past it has always been good.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all have a lovely day x

Christmas Eve carol singers

A simple Christmas card to share today, one of a set of four made for Making Cards magazine.  I used a Paper Creator digi kit which includes the image and papers. I used a Tonic die for the card blank, Lawn Fawn stitched circle on the image and added a MFT scalloped circle frame around the image.  The snowflakes were punched with a MS punch.

Challenges

Creative Inspirations Winter/Christmas 

Simon Says party time

I love Christmas Eve especially the evening, snuggling up at home with all the festive lights watching the TV. However before that we are going to see my Mum this afternoon and bring her back to the nearby Premier Inn for a couple of nights. We will be having a meal there with her before heading home.

Happy Hanukkah

I found this card amongst a few I haven't blogged yet so thought I would add it for today. It is one I made for Papercraft Inspirations magazine. The image is from Mo Manning and has been coloured with Copics. I used various MFT dies, stitched basic border, tiny tag and fringed scalloped border. The small banners were made with a Fiskars punch.

I hope you are all organised for the big day. I am pleased to say we are.

Get well hedgie

We are up early this morning to get the last Christmas food shop done at Tesco and to collect our turkey breast from the butcher. This is the last of three cards made for Papercrafter magazine using the cute LOTV hedgie trio stamps.  Coloured with Copics and diecut using a Lawn Fawn stitched circle die. I added some printed burlap from The Range, papers are MFT. I used an icicle die upside down for the grass and added some diecut flowers using a Joy die set. The sentiment is from Stamposaurues diecut with a MFT wonky stitched rectangle die.

Sewing plaque

I have made a few of these sewing plaques and they are very popular. My Mum asked me to make one for a friend she meets most Friday morning. Her friend is a very keen sewer so I hope she likes her present. The ribbon from Crafty Ribbons was the perfect sentiment. The patchwork paper is from a LOTV pad. I used a mannequin diecut  I cut some time ago from a friend's Tim Holtz die and used it as a template for the spotted dress.  I added some wooden embellishments, winding baker's twine around the spool. Searching through my buttons I found the cute bows, heart and flower.

Potters Resort

A rather different post from me today. I haven't had much time for crafting so I thought I would share some photos of our one night break at Potters Resort.  Graham took this selfie of us when we arrived.  The decorations were lovely, staff and guests looking very festive. We met our friends there who arrived just as the mulled wine and mince pies were being served. Potters have a hotel as part of the main building and bungalows in the grounds. We paid extra to stay in a hotel room. They have deluxe and penthouse suites but we stayed in one of the premier rooms, which are their standard rooms. they are huge.

We enjoyed a festive quiz and playing card bingo in the afternoon. After dressing for the evening we met up again and headed into the dining room for a delicious evening meal with as much wine as you care to drink. Then it was off to the theatre for the fantastic Christmas show. This is a shot of the theatre we took in the afternoon whilst it was empty.

There is a disco in another room after the show and singers in the bar with a small dance floor. They serve a midnight feast which was pasta bolognaise and salad. After dancing we all felt a bit peckish so we enjoyed a small plate of food then it was time to head off to bed just before 1.

In the morning we packed and after a cooked breakfast we took part in a general knowledge quiz and we won. The great thing about this resort is you can get there when you like on the first day and stay as long as you like provided you have checked out of your room on time.  There are lots of activities to enjoy and a walk along the clifftops takes you down to a lovely beach. We have been for a long beach walk previously but it was too cold for that.

I hope you have enjoyed my post today, back tomorrow with something crafty.

Believe

I recently got a gorgeous sheet of precoloured digital unicorn images and sentiments from Whimsy and here is the first card I have made with them. The paper is MFT and I used some lovely silver glitter mesh from The Works. Beware if you buy this as the glitter goes everywhere but is worth it as it is so pretty. I used DI Victorian velvet and my distressing tool. The lace is from Crafty Ribbons, unicorn charm from Ebay, flowers from Wild Orchid and heart pins from The Hobby House. I also used some sliver glitter paint on the flowers and unicorn's mane.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK anything goes

Whimsy anything Whimsy goes

A trip to the dentist for Graham today followed by a trip to Hobbycraft. I wonder if they have any bargains?

Birthday Hedgie

The second of three cards made for Paper Creator magazine using the cute LOTV hedgie trio of stamps. I used my favourite Go Kreate frilly squares 10 die with the lovely MFT papers, MFT stitched scalloped circle frame die. The balloon die is from the MFT Adorable Elephant set.  Coloured with Copics and with ribbon from Crafty Ribbons and white pearl hearts.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK anything goes

I said yesterday I was really looking forward to something. Well we had another trip to Potters Resort on the coast where we stayed overnight in the hotel. We went with friends and the reason we went was to see their spectacular Christmas show. We love a night's break st potters as you can enjoy all the facilities, sports and activities. They have fun quizzes which we love. You get a 5 course evening meal and free wine and the entertainment is first class. As this scheduled I can't tell you how we got on but will do that another day maybe.

Deer in love

Well thank you to everyone who took the time to leave such interesting comments on my post yesterday.  There is a lot of agreement that it is a shame that blogging isn't as popular as it was but I am so encouraged that so many of you do love blogging and want to continue.  Many of you also feel it is a shame that challenges have declined. I am now on just 2 DTs, LOTV and Pink Gem and am very happy that way. I also removed the blog ranking numbers a while ago. Blogging isn’t a popularity contest after all is it. Your comments have helped me to feel more motivated about blogging too especially when I had people comment who don't normally comment and I am now following them.  

I hadn't realised that some of my visitors like a lady called Christine don't have a blog but love to visit. Christine said she doesn't comment as she reads the comments and feels she would be saying the same thing and I wouldn't want to read it.  Well if you are reading this then I would love you to comment as I always take the time to read and truly appreciate every comment. So I am back today with a card to share.

I always seem to leave Graham's card to be the last Christmas card I make. He really liked a card I made recently using these new MFT deer dies but without the little hearts. I started thinking about the layout for his card and had the idea of using lots of dies and embossing folders.  The hearts look really sweet on the antlers but what a fiddle as they are so tiny.

Paper - Making Cards freebie

MFT dies - stitched mountain range, rolling hills, deer love, layered snowflakes

Trees - Marianne, Elizabeth craft 5 part pine, Frantic Stamper tall pine trees

I used various embossing folders on the trees for added texture.

Challenges

The Cutie Pie stars and/or snowflakes 

Creative Inspirations Winter/Christmas 

Simon Says stitch it 

Noor! Design UK anything goes

Really looking forward to something today which I shall tell you more about tomorrow.

The changing face of blogging

A contemplative post today on the changes I have noticed this year in blogging.  There have been gradual changes over the years but this year I have found more and more people giving up their blogs. Some because they no long make cards but others seem to be turning more to social media especially Facebook and Instagram.

Everything has its place and I use Facebook every day. In fact my blog is networked to it so my posts appear on there each morning. I looked at Instagram but didn't really understand it and the thought of starting to follow people and getting them to follow me just doesn't interest me.  I do like Pinterest and pin all my makes on there.

One of my blogging friends recently posted on Facebook about whether she should give up her blog as she no longer has as much time for crafting as she used to. The overwhelming response was don't give it up, you will regret it. I am pleased to say she is keeping it.

Over the years the number of people commenting has declined too. I appreciate the time it takes to read and comment on posts and I am always grateful for everyone who does that and amazed that some people comment on every post. I am truly grateful for your support.  Some people who used to comment seldom do nowadays. I know how much quicker it is to simply like a post on Facebook.

The number of visitors far exceeds the number of comments. Indeed my post on 12th December about my updated craft room was viewed by 354 people yet I only had 25 comments. I know that some people like my Mum look at my blog every day but as she doesn't have a Google account she doesn't comment. 

The number of challenges has declined too and nowadays I am very selective about which challenges I enter, entering far less than I used to.  I figure if I don't enter any and others do the same then they will all stop and that would be a shame.

So will I continue blogging? Yes I will as I enjoy it and I hope that those who read it enjoy it too. I love being part of the blogging community and have met some of my blogging friends at shows. It is always a pleasure to meet somebody I only know online.  It is also a record for me of how far I have come since I started cardmaking 11 years ago.  I would also miss visiting and commenting on your blogs which I do as much as I can.

Will I continue to post daily? Maybe not but then again I may. I don't want to feel under pressure to post every day but if I have something to share then I will post. I always schedule my posts so they are not as chatty as some people's blogs, which I love to read, but I do include a few personal snippets.

If you have read through to the end, thank you, and if you would like to leave me a comment with your thoughts I would really appreciate it.

Who wants Christmas pudding?

This is the card I made for my Mum. I wanted to make another double Z fold card and I knew she would like the cute LOTV image. My Mum is rather partial to Christmas pudding as is Graham. I don't mind it but would never choose it in a restaurant and rarely eat any at home either. 

This is the sweet image in more detail, coloured with Copics of course. The papers re Dovecraft Jolly Happy Christmas.  I used a Woodware holly punch and red pearls, sentiment ribbon from Crafty Ribbons, self adhesive snowflake trim I found in my stash, Joy holly and leaf dies, MFT pierced rectangle dies and flowers from Hobbycraft.

Challenges

ABC Christmas Y is for yummy

Crafty Calendar It's Christmas 

Creative Inspirations Winter/Christmas

Off into Norwich again today as Graham is having a haircut and I have a few more presents to buy for him. Just need to wrap them and that is us all sorted apart from the fresh food shop.

Hedgie wishes

I was delighted to accept a commission for Paper Creator magazine using this cute LOTV hedgie trio of stamps. Coloured with Copics and using various MFT goodies, papers, pierced banner, wonky stitched rectangle and banner dies and Lawn Fawn stitched circle dies.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK anything goes

Champagne

I have five cards published in the latest Papercraft Essentials magazine. I had to create the cards for £10 using a champagne glass die, gold glitter card and a pack of different coloured glitters. Quite a challenge but here are two of the cards I came up with.  For this one I added som doodling, a stamped sentiment from Stamposaurus and wooden hearts.

I used DI wild honey for this one and randomly added some mini glue dots and gold glitter.

Busy day today, shopping, meeting Mum for breakfast, facial and massage then food shopping. Looking forward to the interviews on The Apprentice tonight.

Craftroom update (lots of photos)

As promised yesterday here are some photos of my updated craftroom now it has all been sorted. I just have my stamps to sort, they are all neatly filed but I think there are some I will never use again so time to sell them. So this is my lovely new unit which I am already finding so much better to use with everything having its own shelf. No more moving things to get to the things underneath.

This is my beautiful box I bought in America in February.  The light wasn't very good but it is even lovelier in real life.

This shows how narrow my room is as it is the smallest bedroom. I love the light and being able to see what is going on outside. It is plenty big enough for my needs with a place for everything.

My purpose built shelves with all my punches nicely to hand.  The magnetic files on the left hold all my dies and my stamps are stored in files with punched pockets in the bookcase underneath.  The coloured drawers mainly hold paper and card.

At the end of one of my shelves are some of my precious little things. 

My main desk with my magazine and DT work hung up. Yes it is always tidy as I like to put everything away after a project.

My Copic bag which sits underneath my desk, personalised with a Gorjuss Girl luggage label.  I keep the Copics in square mesh baskets which means I can get out the colours I need each time. It saves a lot of space on my desk as I used to have them all on my desk n a wooden unit.

My other desk with my Sizzix and trimmer which are easy to move when I use the laptop here.

Lastly one of three partitioned boxes holding all my ribbons.

I hope you have enjoyed your tour of my room. I always love to see where people craft.  I have updated my craftroom page making it easier to refer back to.

Surprise!

Well we never got any snow yesterday apart from a few flakes. It just poured with rain and was very dark with a bit of sleet thrown in too. Thankfully it was a mainly dry evening. We have a nice easy challenge for the LOTV Facebook challenge this month, anything LOTV goes. I used one of the new simply prints for my inspiration card. These coloured toppers are great for quicker cards. The papers are Basic Grey and Tilda. I am trying to use up bits and pieces of older pads.  The lace is from Crafty Ribbons, flowers from he Hobby House, cotton ribbon and charm from my stash and I used a MFT stitched scalloped border die.

Challenges

As you like it favourite animal (mine has always been bears. I have taken several to charity shops over the years but still have several around the house. My favourite bear is Winnie the Pooh, just love those stories.)

I have been very busy sorting out my stash as I transferred it to the new boxes in my new storage unit. I will be sharing pics of my updated craft room tomorrow so do stop by.

Snowmen fall from heaven

The last of three cards made for Making Cards using Whimsy stamps. Not much colouring required on these snowmen but they are fab snowmen aren't they. The papers are MFT, star burlap from The Range. stars from Hobbycraft.  I also used a stitched scalloped border die from MFT.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK anything goes 

Creative Inspirations Winter/Christmas

Another busy day today. Meeting my Mum in Norwich for breakfast at Bella Italia then showing her the lights and decorations. She wants to buy a new vacuum cleaner which we will take home for her and get to hers next time we are over there on Christmas Eve. Then we are going to some friends for their outside light switch on and some food. Change of plan since I scheduled this post as heavy snow forecast so meeting Mum on Wednesday instead.

Head over heels

Our last challenge of the year today at A Gem of a Challenge is anything Christmas. This challenge lasts until early January and the DT won't be commenting on entries this time.  I used one of the new snowmen images coloured with Copics. The papers are a mix. ribbon from Crafty Ribbons.  I used an old favourite tree die I haven't used for a while from Doohickey.

Challenges

Crafty Calendar It's Christmas 

Creative Inspirations Winter/Christmas 

Di's Digis Winter holidays

Hat Shop

This is a lovely Stampendous stamp I bought reduced ages ago and it looks great inked in different colours and no l=colouring needed. I used DI Peacock Feathers and a MFT wonky stitched oval die. The papers are from various packs, lace from Crafty Ribbons. The flowers were punched with a MS cosmos punch and roses added to the centres.

Challenges

Noor! Design UK anything goes

Traditional colours

Traditional red and green for my card today. How are you doing with your Christmas cards? I just have two special ones left to make. I still have new stamps to use so they will have to be used for next year's cards now. I was so pleased I just kept the Christmas cards going and haven't ended up still needing to make more. I can make some if I please and they will be ready for next year.

Sentiment - Inkylicious

Papers - old LOTV

Dies - Memory box stitched holly, Marianne poinsettia, Joanna Sheen star border

Ribbon - Crafty Ribbons

Challenges

Stamping Sensations Winter trees and flowers 

Crafty Calendar It's Christmas 

Creative Inspirations Winter/Christmas

We are going into Norwich today as I am having a haircut and colour. Have a few things to buy and will be enjoying nice lunch out too.

Snowmen fall from heaven

Today's card is another of the three cards I made for Making Cards magazine using Whimsy digi stamps and sentiments. The papers are MFT as are the Winter tree dies. Coloured with Copics of course. I love mixing spots and stripes and red and blue is one of my fave colour combos especially for snowmen.

I have my last craft stall tonight at a school's shopping evening. The first time I have done one of these so I hope it goes well. My last shop for this year at the hospital last Friday went really well. The school is a local one so not far to travel and if I don't sell much well never mind. There is a choir coming so should be a nice Christmasssy evening.

Deer deer deer

Another Card-io card today. I do love making these, creating a wreath using some of the foliage stamps. I used a MFT stencil for the hill adding a touch of colour with small ink pads and a dry baby wipe. Stamped the trees and deer and added some silver glitter acrylic paint and red liquid pearl dots for berries.

Challenges

Penny Black and more at Allsorts clean and simple

Stamping Sensations Winter trees and flowers

Bluebirds

My Mum asked me to make a card for her friend who loves to watch the birds in her garden so this topper from Little Claire was just what I needed. The pretty papers are Bo Bunny Secret Garden. I made the layered flowers with Nellie Snellen dies and added some enamel dots.  The sentiment is LOTV.

We stayed at a Premier Inn at Lowestoft last night as 10 of us went to a 60's concert there. It is only about a 50 minute drive but it makes a nice break going for a meal before the show and staying overnight.  We shall be off for breakfast this morning before heading home. We want to get a Christmas tree and need to do some food shopping too.

Changing storage

Whew what a tiring day yesterday.  This is my new storage unit which came in lots of boxes with lots of polystyrene amongst the wooden panels. Very well packaged and hubby was most impressed with the build quality and how easy it was to put together. So this is the storage unit it replaced and this one has now moved into the space in the spare room which previously held a chest of drawers.

As you can see there is a lot of wasted space and there are boxes on top of boxes which is annoying. Every time I want to use the box on the bottom right I move the stamping platform to the left, then I want that box and move it back again.

This is the new unit assembled without the shelves. Look at the floor behind Graham! The beauty of these units is they are purpose built for crafting and it comes with enough shelves to fit 4 litre really useful boxes all the way up each side.  As I already had some boxes which I hoped would fit I bought it without the boxes and without doors as my room is narrow and doors would just be annoying to open all the time. I need quick access to things.

So this is a work in progress. I need to buy some more boxes and sort out some of the things which are stored on the other side of the room but I am so pleased by how much space there is in it. I didn't think my coloured box drawers would fit but they do perfectly. As you can place the shelves where you like we were able to fit my stamping platform into a narrow space on the right.  Once it is finished I will take some more photos.  I am so pleased with it and can really recommend Storage 4 Crafts for quality and service.

Do you want to build a snowman?

This is the first of three cards I made for Making Cards magazine last month. There are three snowmen and sentiments on the digital sheet and when I saw them on Facebook I just had to buy them. The papers are MFT as are the Winter tree and scalloped basic edge dies.  I was asked to make cards suitable for men so not too much embellishing, just some twine and a snowflake charm. 

Challenges

Simon Says anything goes

Diecut tags

As this scheduled post is published I shall be on my way to the hospital shop for the last time this year. I am hoping for good sales as December was my best month there last year. I wanted to try something different with some Christmas tags this year as I like the idea of two layers with the di cut out of the top layer. This of course then gave me some diecuts to use as well. I used an old tag die, Spellbinders I think, MFT layered snowflakes, Dovecraft reindeer and Craft emotions trees.  I added some white wink of Stella to the trees and white gel spots on the kraft deer.  I would like to enter these into the anything goes challenge at Simon Says.