New tree

 

 I haven’t been in the craftroom for a few days as we have been busy preparing for Christmas. All the cards are written ready and stamped for posting. A few were sent out yesterday. We decided to buy a smaller tree for our lounge this year and we are so pleased we did. The larger tree is up in the conservatory so yesterday afternoon was spent decorating them both. We went for a rustic look for the smaller one as it has snow and pine cones on it,  some of the decorations are handmade and I am so pleased with how lovely my new cross stitch reindeer look on it. 

I am currently cross stitching a snowman for it. It is a bigger decoration and I only started it a few days ago.

Blustery Day

A blustery day always reminds me of my favourite bear, Winnie the Pooh, with him and Piglet bent over in the wind. It is my last Card-io card at the moment. I used a couple of Card-io stamp sets for this one and stamped in brown rather then black. The sentiment isn't Card-io but I liked the shape of it with the design. I added some Stickles and used a Toni punch with white glitter card as it needed something to finish it off.

A trip to an out of town M&S and Boots today for a few things. I think the Christmas decorations will be going up tomorrow to celebrate the end of lockdown and 1st December. I can't bring myself to put them up in November though I know several people have this year to cheer themselves up.  It will be nice to be able to go out for a meal from Wednesday onwards even though being in tier two we can't meet up with friends indoors.

Inkylicious meets Card-io

Once I have the Card-io stamps out I have to make more cards. I am not sure if I need them but if I don't then they will be ready for next year when hopefully I will be doing craft fairs again.

The cottage is an Inkylcious stamp which I stamped in white and then added some snow with a white glitter pen. I stamped the wreath in the same way as yesterday's card but this time in brown although it looks green on my laptop. I added some red liquid pearls just to lift the design.

Time to get all the inserts into my cards and see if I have enough. I need to get some more tags made this week plus hubby's card which always gets left until last. I have the image printed ready to colour.

 

Hats off

It thought it was time I had a play with my Card-io stamps again and decided to try one on red card for a change. I keep a diecut circle backed with post-its which I use to create a wreath by stamping around the diecut, then removing it and using different stamps around the circle. I used pearl pens to create the berries and snow.

A morning in the craftroom today and tomorrow I plan to get my Christmas cards written. Enjoy your weekend x

 

Relaxing

Today I have used a coloured LOTV art pad. I love their boy images and that dog looks very content doesn't he. The papers are First Edition almost Christmas. I added some ribbon from my stash, used a banner die from The Works, a pierced rectangle die from Lawn Fawn and a stitched ric rac die from MFT.  The tartan bow is from Craft Label.

Tree tags

I need to make several tags, not too large or elaborate, as I do prefer to use handmade tags on my presents if possible. I used products from Craft Label for my tags. The papers are First Edition North Star and Almost Christmas. I was lucky to find that the First Edition bunting dies were perfect to use upside down as trees. I especially love the middle one which looks just like a tree decorated with baubles.  

I used the adhesive glitter sheets from Dovecraft which is so easy to use especially as it sticks to itself whereas sometimes trying to stick glitter card to glitter card can be tricky. The pearl stars and glitter twine are also new from Craft Label. They have a clearance sale on their website at the moment so head over and check them out. Click on the link in my sidebar.

 

Oh dear

I have teamed the new First Edition North Star papers with another Hobby House topper. I added some Stickles and white pearl dots to the image. I used a hexagon die, Doohickey slim fir dies and a Joy snowflake die.  The sentiment is from Pink Gem.

A simple card but another flat one for posting.

Cute reindeer

I loved stitching these cute reindeer decorations. I bought the pattern two weeks ago from Catkin and Lillie on Etsy and stitched these in the evenings whilst watching TV. I sewed them on perforated paper added the ribbons loops and backed them with white felt.

 

Robins

Isn't this paper from the First Edition North Star pad lovely. I didn't want to add any other papers to cover it up. The image is from an old art sheet from LOTV but it is available as simply print called robin birdbox. I added some diecuts using Memory Box deer, Doohickey fence and an ivy swirl. The sentiment is LOTV. A nice flat card for posting.

 

Hanging around

My pile of Christmas cards is growing nicely. A fiend has been buying a few on Facebook so every time I think I am almost done she asks to buy one. I like to make a few more than I need as well. I sorted through some coloured toppers to make some cards and this little cutie from The Hobby House caught my eye. I diecut a doi ly circle using a Doohickey die to back the topper, used First Edition Almost Christmas papers, some punched holly leaves and pearls and an ornament border die.  When I went to photograph it I noticed that one pearl on the left hand holly leaves had gone awol. Good job I still has some of those left to replace it. No sign of the missing one anywhere!

 

Snow Ho Ho

Yes its another snowman. I was very lucky that Janet from Pink Gem asked the former DT if any of use would like to use any of her new images. I used the gnome the other day, which a friend promptly bought after I posted it on Facebook. This one is a digi kit which comes with more layers which you can decoupage. I love to use them just as toppers, this one is called Snow Ho Ho.  I added lots of sparkle with a clear sparkle pen.

The papers are some old Wild Rose Frosted Lace ones. I added some diecut tress using glitter card, a sentiment which comes with the digi and some pearl stars from Craft Label.

Reindeer gift

I love purple and I love kraft but I'm not sure I have ever used them together before but I am glad I tried it. This was the second of my older images I decided to colour. This one is from LOTV, Reindeer Gift, coloured with Copics.  I used a Lawn Fawn pierced rectangle die and some LOTV papers from last year. They do sell some similar digi ones now. I added soem burlap, lace from crafty Ribbons, a LOTV sentiment coloured with frayed burlap distress ink and some wooden snowflakes.

Now I am going to admit to making a rare mistake with the background as I thought I would add some snow using a lilac 3d pearl effects bottle from Dovecraft. However the dots came out bigger than I liked so I scraped them all off.  This of course left some marks so I started by colouring the backgrouns using a pale aqua pen and then blending it out with a blender pen, I then added some tiny white dots with a gel pen, used a white sparkle pen and then some tiny pearls.  So it looks lovely and sparkly in real life and I don't suppose the recipient will ever know of my mistake. Luckily with crafting most mistakes can be rectified or covered up.

 

More snowmen

I thought I would change the theme of my blog as I have had the same one for ages. I remember when I used to change the header regularly to suit the time of year but I haven't done that for a long time now. People used to have falling flowers or snow but I think a lot of people just keep their headers the same nowadays.  I tried a few different looks as you can preview them. Some of them just show a little bit of the post then you have to click more to read it. I know some people have their blogs like that but I find it annoying having to keep clicking to see the whole posts.  I will see what I think about this one. Do let me have your thoughts.

 I decided to have a look through my box of stamped and printed images and colour a couple of them otherwise they will never get used. This is an old Little Claire stamp. Whatever happened to Little Claire? They just disappeared one day, such a shame. I coloured them with Copics and decided to keep with a limited colour palette. I used a Lawn Fawn stitched circle die and trimmed off the bottom, adding some black soot distress ink around the edges and pearl dots using a Viva pearl pen. The fence die is a Doohickey one diecut in white and coloured with the same DI.  The trees are a Joy die and the snowflakes a Tonic punch.  The paper is the lovely First Edition almost Christmas new from Craft Label.

 

Cookie Gnome

There are a lot of gnomes around again this year and Janet at Pink Gem has some really cute new digis and coloured toppers.  I have used one of the coloured kits which also come with decoupage elements so you can make a card just using the kit. I like to use the main image as a topper though and have used the new First Edition North Star papers again.  

I diecut some trees from the adhesive glitter card from Craft Label and added pearl stars, twine and a tartan bow from my Craft Label DT pack.  I normally attach the twine in straight lines but as I laid it on the card when creating my design I liked the way it fell into curves so glued it into place that way for a change. 

Up early this morning as Graham is going to paint the shower room walls today. We had our bathroom converted into a shower room last May and the walls could really do with a fresh coat of paint. Luckily the ceilings and gloss paint are fine so he only has to do the walls. I think I will be spending some time making some more cards today as well as keeping him supplied with plenty of cups of tea.

 

Still making Christmas cards

I counted up my cards and I still have a few more I need to make. I also like to make a few spare just in case. I have been using the lovely new First Edition North Star papers along with the adhesive glitter card from Craft Label. The topper is an old one from The Hobby House. I love these designs. The snowflake banner is a die from The Works, sentiment from Pink Gem.

 

Time to get some housework and ironing done this morning. Need to pop to the post office and collect a prescription this afternoon so no time for cardmaking. I do have one to share tomorrow though and I am also busy cross stitching some decorations which I will show you soon.

 

White on white snowman

I haven't made a white on white card for ages, nor have I used my embossing folders for a long time. So time to remedy that.  I used an old embossing folder for the background, then diecut some mountains and hills using MFT dies. I added some diecut trees, the coloured image from Sassy Chery; and a ribbon from Crafty Ribbons.

 

It's launch day

 Today is launch day for the new James and Jenny digis at LOTV. As well as the stamps there are coloured simply prints which is what I have used for my card today. These simply prints are so beautifully coloured and as I had limited time to make this for today I opted for a coloured image rather than colouring one.

Image - James looking up

Papers - Maja coffe in the arbour

Die - Go Kreate frilly #10

Burlap butterfly - Papermania

Lace - Crafty Ribbons

Other - cheesecloth, pearlised enamel dots

Jenny floral border

Here I am with a first sneak peek of the new James and Jenny bear digis launching on Friday at LOTV. So many people love James, myself included so it is lovely to have some new images to play with. I also have the simply prints which are beautifully coloured and I can't wait to use those too.

Image - LOTV Jenny floral border

Medium - Copics

Papers - MFT

Dies - Crafts too butterflies, Sue Wilson sweetheart blooms, Hunkydory Moonstone fabulous florals

Punch - Martha Stewart fern

Other - doily and pearls

This morning I am off to deliver four of my decorated heart boxes which a lady bought on Facebook and then after lunch we are off to visit my Mum so no time for crafting today.

 

Christmas tree tags

As part of my new Craft Label stash I received these lovely glitter buttons and tartan bows. I knew immediately that I would make some tags with them. I used a tag punch from Hobbycraft, stuck the buttons and bows on using glue dots and used some of the Christmas twine from my new Craft Label stash.

Not much else to say about them really. I need to get some more tags made plus finish my Christmas cards. I must also make some cards using the new LOTV bears.

We have a new mattress coming this morning so we had to be up early as the time slot is 7-1. We have to strip the bed and get the old mattress into a bag they gave us so they can dispose of it.

Happy Reindeer

I used a coloured simply print digi called Happy Reindeer from LOTV for my card. The papers are some older First Edition ones Twelve Days of Christmas. I used a corner rounder punch and a MFT stitched rounded corner die.  The snowflakes were made using a stitched Memory Box die and I added some diecut tress using the same paper pad.  I felt it just needed some snow so used a Viva pearl pen.

Snowy and new stash

I had Penny Black Snowy sitting on my desk ready to use and after seeing a card Debby made using him I decided that I would paper piece his hat and scarf like Debby. Unfortunately I don't have the matching die like Debby so I had to fussy cut mine which was a bit more challenging than usual as they are joined so I had to cut his face out of the middle. I coloured the rest of him with Copics and used a Nuvo glitter pen on his hat bobble for a change.

The papers are the new Almost Christmas from Craft Label (see yesterday's post). I love the colour range in this pack. The pearl stars and glitter poinsettia are also new embellishments from their Simply Creative range.  I added some diecut foliage using Sue Wilson and Crafter's Companion dies.

I have posts scheduled for the next three days as I am stepping up the Christmas production.

New goodies

 

I have bought very little craft stuff this year so it was lovely to get a parcel with all these goodies in it. This is my DT pack from Craft Label, the new name for Trimcraft. They have a new website where you can buy all their products plus many more. I am looking forward to using these. 

How are you all doing in the lockdown if you are in England?  We are doing ok, though we are missing being able to go out for an occasional breakfast or lunch. We have just bought a new laptop which we are in the process of setting up, always a joy isn’t it. Our current laptop has started slowing up and as we have had it for a few years thought we would treat ourselves to a new one. Thankfully we don’t have to set it all up at once as we can still use the old one. I am going to do some housekeeping on it today so that we only transfer the files we need.

I have some more Christmas cards made and will share one with you tomorrow. I also have the next launch from LOTV to start using. They have decided not to launch any more Christmas images but some gorgeous any occasion ones which are adorable. Think Novembear! 

 

Winter

I had this idea in my head for a while as I wanted to make a Christmas card for some friends who don't like cute cards and don't like Christmas since their daughter died suddenly almost 3 years ago aged 40. She loved Christmas so for them it has become a sad time of the year.

They like deer so I chose this old Tim Holtz deer die which I diecut twice to create a shadow effect.  I used some old Dovecraft papers and then looked through my various Christmas bits and pieces to create a layered effect. The sentiment was diecut using a pack of Tim Holtz dies.

I was fortunate to have a hair appointment on Monday for a cut and colour so at least I got that done before lockdown comes again on Thursday. I got my last 3 Christmas presents whilst we were in the city. Our line dancing classes have finished of course and our teacher has said she won't start up again before January even if lockdown ends in December.  I should have no excuse for not getting the rest of my Christmas cards made now that we can't go out from tomorrow except for essentials like food and exercise.  Thankfully we can go and see my Mum still as we are in a support bubble.

All I want for Christmas

All I want for Christmas is for Coronavirus to go away and life to get back to normal. I think that is going to be a while though so in the meantime we just have to stay safe.

I was sorting through my coloured diecut images from The Hobby House and found his sweet Sugar Nellie one. The papers are some old Kaisercraft ones called Dear Santa. They come with some diecut borders and shapes so I decided to make a card using just those. I did add some pearl dots sing a Viva pearl pen but hat was all.

Well it's November now and I still have several Christmas cards to make so best get on with some today.

 

And here is the wizard

I don't celebrate Halloween or have anyone to send Halloween cards to but these images are so cute they make great Birthday cards.

As promised here is the wizard. Another simply print from LOTV. As these are already coloured they do make for quicker cards. I used black soot distress ink around the image and again added some waste stars from yesterday's card. The sentiments are again from the LOTV Halloween and magical sentiments set.

Happy Halloween if you celebrate it.

 

Cute little witch

A bit later than usual with my post today. I made two cards yesterday morning but didn't have time to schedule them as we went to visit my Mum in the afternoon. We set her up with Netflix as there is so little to watch on mainstream TV. Mum reads my blog so hope you are getting on ok with Netflix Mum.

I used one of the new LOTV simply prints for my card. The papers are First Edition Wanderlust. I added a little black soot distress ink around he edges of the image. I decided it was time some older dies got used so out came the star border and the Memory Box precious star dies.  I added some of the waste stars around the girl. The sentiment is from the new Halloween and magical set from LOTV.

Back tomorrow with a wizard.

Mr Snowman

I haven't been in the craftroom for a few days. At the weekend we both felt a bit poorly, nothing specific, just really lethargic, no energy and occasional pains. Thankfully on Monday we felt back to normal and decided to go into the city for the day and do some Christmas shopping. We have gor most of it done now as we don't want to be shopping nearer Christmas when it will be much busier. We had a lovely day as it wasn't too crowded. Bill's were doing special price lunches so we enjoyed a leisurely lunch before doing a bit more shopping.

The weather was really miserable yesterday and the light was very poor for taking photographs.  I did manage to improve it slightly with Photoshop. I used two of the new kraft and white digi papers from LOTV and an old favourite rubber stamp Mr Snowman. He is now available as a digi stamp. Coloure with Copics, sentiment is LOTV and I added some diecut trees and a Whimsy fence and some sparkle on the snow and baubles with a clear sparkle pen.

You will know how much I love snowmen so when I saw some snowmen masks on Ebay I had to buy us one each. We will be wearing those a bit nearer to Christmas.

Stay safe x

Penguin and present

I got back in the craft room and had a play with some of the new digi papers and a cute penguin digi. The papers, glitter papers and image are all one layer making a nice flat card for posting. I coloured the penguin with Copics and added some Stckles for snow and on his hat. The sentiment is from LOTV and I added some diecut trees and punched snowflakes from glitter card.

My stock of Christmas cards is coming along well but still more to make. Hope yours are coming along well too.

More from the holiday

A few more from our holiday. A glorious sunny day in Falmouth 

 A visit to the Cornish seal sanctuary where they do marvellous work rescuing abandoned and injured seals. Most are returned to the wild and if that is not possible eg one of the seals is blind, then they are given a home there.

One of many lovely long beach walks.  Now we are home, refreshed and ready to face the Winter.

 

 

Returning home from holiday

 

Well having cancelled so much this year we wondered if we would be cancelling our October holiday which we had rescheduled from June. Thankfully we did get away and had a lovely relaxing time in Cornwall, which has very low cases of Covid. If it had been high we wouldn’t have gone.The picture is the lounge of the cottage where we have stayed the last couple of years. It is always spotless and so comfortable. 

We didn’t visit some of our favourite places like St Ives as it has very narrow streets and tiny shops so social distancing would be challenging. We had some lovely days out though and we were impressed with people following the guidelines.

We ate out at lunchtimes and always felt very safe. We got back to the cottage late afternoons and we were happy to stay in, relax, have easy prepare meals, do a jigsaw, read and watch Netflix or Amazon on the large screen smart TV.

This was Trebah Gardens.

We had an overnight stop at Premier inns both ways as it is a long journey from ours. Today we are on our way home. More pics tomorrow.