Christmas decorations

Ive spent most of today faffing around with the xmas decorations. I cant find half of them so am leaving the rest for jim to find when he comes home. theyve gotta be up in the loft somewhere but i hate going up there as its such a mess and i cant find anything !!

This is the earliest i have ever ever been in putting up the decs but guess i was bored today - its not even december yet so im way ahead ! At least now i can settle down and write the cards and start to wrap up the pressies.

Anyway heres a few shots of what ive done so far today. its a work in progress as still got all the wee berry lights to go around swags and to finish the tree.

Its still snowing

Well for a few days now its been snowing and snowing and snowing. There is no thaw in sight and the roads up my way havent been gritted - no surprises there then !

I have decided that the car is not coming out of the garage now as i do not want to run the risk of getting stuck somewhere

Here is a couple of the snow at home - the first shows it coming down at night with the moon just over the birds tree and the second showing lucky marching his way to the back door - the pic gives him sparkly eyes

New craft projects to follow soon but right now im in the middle of putting ornaments and candles etc away and bringing out the christmassy ones - usually a weeks process till its the exact way i want it - will post pics when done !

Hope everyone is safe and sound and tucked up in the warmth.

BLOG CHALLENGE ENTRY

The House Mouse card below is what i am entering into the Fairy Fun Friday challenge #40 "buttons and bows "and For Fun Challenges "anything goes".

This has been created on an 8x8 creamy coloured card stock with colour co-ordinating DCWV backing papers. The HM image has been coloured using copic markers and then glittered and glazed on the cake icing for effect. Ribbon, buttons and gems from my crafty stash, flexi bend peels off from pinflair and the flower and leaf from wild orchid crafts.

I think this is such a lovely cutesy mouse image to suit anyone.

A new fairy in the house

Today the postie delivered a gorgeous new fairy to me .

She is the guardian of the doormice - this is so me as - she is a fairy (obviously), shes in my kinda colours, she is with a stargazer lily - my fav flower - and shes looking after the doormice - we have a wee mousey family living in the garage that Jim likes to feed and the cats like to try and catch !

She was beautifully created by my friend Linda who handcarves them from wood, draws the imagery then paints. She is a very talented artist and ive commissioned her to make a few more for me (for myself and for pressies) as i love her work

what do you think?

If you are interested in seeing more of Lindas work or wish her to do a commission for you then please get in touch with me and i will pass your details onto her.

Thank you Linda as my fairy is gorg and she has pride of place on the fireplace - just waiting for her sister to arrive !

Make a wish - but be careful what you wish for ...

Yesterday i was working on the Whiff of Joy magical genie images stamps - i cant remember what the exact stamp plates were called but they were the shop stamp exclusives from several months ago.

here goes for what i came up with

This first gold/lime green one is what i am entering in the Whiff Of Joy blog challenge #92 Taras Sketch

TODAY ..... AT THE MOVIES !

Today ive had a very slow day - tidied up from yesterdays mess and instead of finishing more unfinished projects i decided to start some new ones instead - i know i should be finishing the other stuff but there was clearly reasons for me not finishing them in the first place - maybe i just wasnt in the mood, didnt like what i did or was not inspired - anyway this afternoon i went to the movies - what do you think.

All the elements in all the cards have been coloured with copics / promarkers.

This one i used a spellbinders die to create the scallop edge for the inlay.

This one i have used masking tape, distress inks and ultra thick embossing crystals to create the stunning background - the photo doesnt do it justice. The walk of fame stars are also under in ultra thick.

This one looks very flat but it is anything from as all the elements are raised using pinflair and are at various depths.

Now this one also has a masking tape,distressed, embossed background - this one perhaps show it slightly better - love this technique as it creates a distressed leather background although with this ive added glitter to the emboss powder

For tomorrow - mmm wonder what i will create - feel a bit of genie in a bottle coming on.

My long awaited ... Glitter Station !

Now then im sure most "crafting " folk will remember when Nancy and Stephanie were teasing us about their glitter station - well today i put the finishing touches to mine - what do you think?

What i got up to today

Heres what i got up to today - more unfinished projects now completed ! im getting through them as not many left now - well maybe thats a lie as theres still boxes full of things in partial completion - maybe before xmas ill get there.

First pic is of a box drawer advent calendar - made 2 but they are both the same - and now filled with chocolates and candles ready for giving at the weekend - wow the weekend crikey doesnt time fly !

Next are a couple of jewellery projects id been working on but just not completed fully - and now i have. They arent for giving or selling as made them just for moi !

The first is made from the gemstone fluorite and the second from keshi pearls.

Finishing unfinished projects

Todays been a mixed bag of crafting projects - i have so many things on the go in various stages of assembly etc that today i decided to finish some of them.

Life has been constantly chasing tail my tail to make this , make make, that do , this do that for people for months now and today ive had nothing to do for anyone - im hoping i have a few more days like this so bearing that in mind i decided to finish some of the things i started oh so long ago - things that I WANT TO DO !

It felt good to complete them. Tomorrow i will hopefully finish some more .

This is a mountboard meerkat hanging ornament painted with eco friendly acrylic paints using the vaseline relief technique, as taught by Sheena Douglass, then stamped with meerkat images. Its going to be part of my sisters xmas present from the cats.

This is a scrapbook page of one of our cats - little Gypsy. It was for a scrabook course i was to run last month but it fell through so i didnt get around to finishing the page - till today !

A Scrapbook page of our Majorcan holiday.

How we spent our 10th wedding anniversary this year in Majorca

Some wee baby blue tits feeding in the garden on fat suet balls and a scruffy teeny weeny one having a bath on our pebble pool !

I was inspired to finish this page off when i was using Sheena Douglass A little bit sketchy new range of stamps that had a wee blue tit in it. how cute.

now then i wonder what i will finish tomorrow !

Todays the day .....

Sheena will be on Create and Craft today at 9 and again at 12 with her new sketchy range of stamps.

If you have been following since day ones sneeky peek, today you will find some of the other remainder cards that i have created from the new range .

so have a browse through, sit back and get the dvd onto record to catch what Sheena will be showing us all today.

This one was stamped out in black ink, the accetate was covered in alcohol inks and smudged together then attached over the top of the image and sentiment.

This one was stamped and embossed and coloured in copics, certain areas were enhanced with glossy accents. The card was covered in distress inks and part of the matting and layering backing is accetate which has been covered in alcohol inks. Martha Stewart punches coming into play too.

This one was stamped and embossed and again coloured in copics, enhanced with glossy accents and glitters.

This was stamped embossed and coloured in copics. the image itself is encapsulated inside some spellbinders dies and a half circle bubble with glitter as a shaker .

This one was stamped and embossed then coloured in copics. The crocuses were stamped onto acetate and coloured with alcohol inks and attached onto the stream image

This is one of my favs - stamped and embossed in sparkle wow powder - simple yet effective.

Stamped and coloured in copics, the pine tree branch stamped with 2 distress inks and embossed in clear. The background card has the fern leaves stamped and embossed in clear to make them stand out.

Stamped and coloured using distress inks

Stamped and coloured in distress inks.

This one was stamped and coloured in bright copics.

Sheena Douglass - sneeky peek day 4

Welcome to the weekend folk - today is sneeky peek day 4 then tomorrow .... the release of the new stamp range on create and craft 9am and 12 noon - dont forget to watch.

If you want to email the show send your email to studio@createandcraft.tv

Hope you will join me in wishing Sheena a safe journey to the studio and the best of luck for the shows.

Now then back to the sneeky peek view for today ...

This one is from the floral stamp plate where i have used the crocus stamp and coloured them in copics. very simple design yet effective - hope you like it

Remember to check out the other blogs to see what Sheena herself has shown for today and Lin and Vicky

Now then - roll on tomorrow - get your DVDs set to record !

Sheena Douglass - sneeky peek day 3

Good morning everyone - its Friday yipee !

Today is sneeky peek day 3 - hope you like it.

The little blue tit is such a gorgeous image and the extra fir tree add ons are so useful - distress inks and copics used to create this lovely wee birdy.

Remember to go check out the other blogs to see what Sheena, Vicky and Lin have created.

Sheena Douglass - sneeky peek day 2

Good morning everyone.

now then heres my day 2 sneeky peek - hope you like it

This one was made using the fern leaves and sentiment new stamp plate - i love how simple this one was to make.

Stamped the 4 leaves in clear versamark - 2 large and 2 small onto cappuccino cardstock then embossed in sheena WOW platinum powder and cut out leaving a teeny weeny border edge around each.

Ingredients

6x6 craftwork cards fancy shaped card and covered it in a co-ordinating coloured backing paper.

Cut out scalloped circle spellbinder die in silver mirror board and matted and layered onto shimmery cappuccino cardstock that matched the card that i used to stamp onto.

Assembled the leaves in a scattered format and attached the matted / layered sentiment - using the ever faithful pinflair - wouldnt leave home without it !

I have placed several wee leaves onto the back of the card also

Thats it - simple yet effective.

Dont forget to check out the blogs to see what Sheena, Vicky and Lin have created too.

Check back again tomorrow for sneeky peek no 3

Sheena Douglass - sneeky peek of new stamp range

I have been beavering away getting inky,glittery and generally messy - nowt new there then - but most importantly getting creative !!

Been working on the new stamp ranges from Sheena Douglass - these will be shown as sneeky peeks one by one each day from today till sunday in the lead up to the launch on create and craft.

now for the sneeky reveal .....

Apologies for the shadow of me that gets in the way but no matter what way i tried to take the photo there was either a stupid flash glare or a shadow of moi !

Now then this card was made using :

Church & sentiment stamps from one of Sheenas new sketchy stamp plate range

Craftwork cards 8x8 white scalloped card

Crafters companion fancy papers (from i believe the enveloper paper packs)

Brown grograin ribbon

Brown/gold cardstock, gold mirror board and neenah card

Pinflair flexi bend peel offs

The church image was stamped out in versafine black ink (not embossed) then coloured using copic markers and part of the image glazed in glossy accents.

This is a lovely image that could be used for wedding, sympathy, christening or general religious cards as the image would suit those circumstances perfectly.

Hope you likey - now then keep checking back daily to see some more sneeky peeks before Sheena's live c&c shows on sunday 9am and 12 noon - also check out the blogs (under my website/blog list) for other sneeky peeks from the woman herself - Sheena Douglass and the other team members Vicky and Linda.

Now then back to cupcake eating !!

Debbi Moore - Venetian exclusive sneeky peek !

For the past couple of days i have been working on samples for Debbi's new Venetian range - this is advertised in Debbi's first new magazine called Inspirations - its launching at the NEC today so why not pick up your copy. It comes with free venetian papers etc and a Free CD !

Oh and i have my own spread on page 13 - go check it out.

Now back to the samples - ive been busy beavering away on the venetian samples and the cd is due to launch on create and craft very very soon - so keep an eye on the schedule.

Heres a group pic of all the samples - i loved working on this cd and just wanted to keep going and going and going but ran out of time !

This is a male masquerade a5 card with a fold over corner and a small fancy fold card with a bubble front shaker.

This one is a large fancy shape lovely gold venetian lady

This one is made from pinks and reds incorporating papers, frames, shaped decoupage and a mask. Ive added some feathers for effect.

Here are 3 projects - the lady in red easel calendar card, a pink lady covered in glitter and a fancy shaped lush brown and silver card.

Next ive created a bubble hanging ornament

This one is an anniversary card for a special couple using some of the toppers

Another fancy fold anniversary card - i like how my candle blends in well with the card colours !

Here ive used one of the frames and using the snapshot tool ive extracted and enlarged one of the masks to create an adult sized mask. Decorated it and added a stretchy string to hold it on your face. Great for fancy dress at New Year or Mardi Gras.

This is a gorgeous shade of turquoise - large fancy shaped shaker card - some feathers added for effect .

Dont forget to keep your eyes peeled on c&c tv schedule for the launch of this gorg cd - this one has to be one of debbi's best yet in my opinion. loving it.