Happy New Year!

This being the final day of 2011

I would like to thank everyone who has taken time over the year to visit my wee blog

and especially those who leave me comments too.

I love to read what you think.

Here's wishing you all the very best for a crafty 2012.

As this is my last post of the year I thought I'd share with you my five favourite cards from this year.

Surprisingly most of them are Christmas ones.

Here goes;



So that's me for 2011.

I hope you liked my choice of cards.

It only remains for me to say.....

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne* ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my jo (or my dear), for auld lang syne, we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !
and surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pu’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d i' the burn,
frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
and gie's a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!

Hick!

On your Wedding Day

I would like to wish my cousin

Jonathan and his partner Becky

all the very best on their Wedding day today.

Guess what,

I've finally done a WOW card!

Unfortunately we will not make the Wedding dance as it is at the other end of the country.

We took the decision not to go to the evening dance 

after looking at the weather the last couple of years at this time.

And it's been one of the mildest December on record....ain't that just typical!

When it comes to my own cards to send

I always seem to be Mrs Lastminute.com

so in true form this was put together very quickly yesterday to get in the post.

Will I ever learn?!  (Were would be the fun in that!)

I have used;

Spellbinder grand nestabilities Scalloped squares,

Labels 15,

Shapeabilities Ironworks Motif

and Shapeabilites fancy tags.

The bling was from stash.

Cuttlebug spots embossing folder.

I was going to play about and add a ribbon but my little helper was chomping at the bit to get to the Post Office so I had to step away from the card and get it sent.

I am so bad!



Wedding wall hanging

This is another gift for a friend who got married recently.

I wanted to give her a wee reminder of the day to hang at home.

I have used;

Acetate heart mini book by Papermania.

Spellbinder nestabilities classic round and classic round scalloped.

Swirl stamps by Tim Holtz.

Bling, embellishments and ribbon from stash.

I really enjoy making these wall hangers as gifts,

my mum got one last Christmas and I've also done one for my pal Karen too.

I actually love the challenge of working with acetate,

you've got to think about what will be seen from both sides and cover accordingly....

great fun!

More tomorrow.



"A handbag!"

The title is to be said in a posh voice, LOL.

Sorry it was the first thing that came to mind

....no I haven't had a drink

....maybe I just need one!

Here is another handbag charm I made for a Christmas gift.

This charm was for my sons Matron who does all his washing, ironing and mending at school, amongst other things.

I have used my favourite colour combo as she is in a house full of boys.

A very brave lady.

The charms and beads were purchased on line or bought at my local store Papercraft's Boutique in Elgin.

I hope your Christmas break is going well.

Back to some orders for me today but it has made a change to be cracking on with birthday cards.

My mojo was a bit slow on the uptake but it seems to be working which is the main thing.

Time to go and put on the tea now so I will sign off and catch you all again tomorrow.



Happy Boxing day

Did you all have a super Christmas?

I did.

Just got my camera out to share a few Christmas gifts with you and guess what?

Duh!

I haven't taken photos....and I was so sure I had.

I was in such a rush to wrap as soon as something was finished, LOL.

Having been topped up on turkey dinner baps I've just popped on to show you another wee felt decoration.

I should really crack on with 1/2 dozen card ordered this week

but just can't seem to get into the groove!

Come on mojo where are you?

Possibly layered in festive brandy sauce!

Anyway here's my little Rudolph's;

These wee felt kits can be purchased at

Papercrafts Boutique in Elgin and are so cute.

I really should make myself some too.

Every year I like to have one new or homemade ornament for my tree.

It is amazing how quick you soon build up a collection.

Enough waffle from me I'm off to find Jamie Oliver's recipe for turkey leftover pie, wish me look.

Ho, ho, ho Merry Christmas

To all my blogging buddies I would like to wish you all a

MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Santa came here early this year,

all presents are opened and my kids have disappeared off playing.

And chillaxe!

Santa's wrapping was top notch this year as it took a fair while for them to open their gifts...tee hee!

Got to love good wrap and lots of sellotape.

I thought I'd just catch up on here before going and popping in the turkey for dinner.

We're having an early lunch this year as my husband is working over the festive season and is on nights later today.

At least he is home for dinner and pressie opening.

I did very well this year getting a Kindle and lots of other lovely gifts,

my favourite sweeties, Brandy, Sarah Millican DVD and Jamie Oliver's latest book to name a few. 

Whoop, whoop!

Enough about me and I can now share with you some more wee Christmas cards and gifts;

I have used;

Spellbinder die labels 14

Stamps by Waltzing Mouse greetings and gingham.

Sizzix Gingerbread man.

Fiskars edger punch.

The rest from my stash.

I love gingerbread at this time of year,

there is definitely something Christmassie about it.

To carry on the theme how about a couple of Christmas decorations?

I saw these little cuties on Pinterest, it's a fab site.

I just had to have a go,

instantly thinking my good crafting buddies Karen and Gayle would likie.

I also made up some Gingerbread men

but I also investing in new Snowflake cutters and embossers and loved these more....

they were a hit with my kids so a few friends got a bag too.

Nomm, nomm!

That's all from me for today,

have a fantastic Christmas day,

eat, drink and be merry.

Feet up and enjoy some family time.

One more sleep!

Are you excited?

My kids are nearly reaching the ceiling with anticipation.

Still got my reindeer food to make ready to put out tonight, a family ritual at this time of year,

together with an extremely large glass of brandy...

Santa's favourite,

with a mince pie and carrot.

I thought I'd share a couple of Christmas cards with you today;

This card went to my boss at PI Jan.

This one to Kate at Papercrafts Boutique in Elgin.

For the cards I have used;

Green, red and white card stock.

Stamps by Waltzing Mouse.

Spellbinder Nestabilities Heirloom ornament 2011.

Cuttlebug embossing folders.

Fiskars and Martha Stewart edger punches.

Glitter by MS.

Seam binding from stash.

Distress inks Red brick and Peeled paint.

I'm loving these new stamps by Claire over at Waltzing Mouse stamps.

I'm beginning to wish I'd opened and played with them a wee bit earlier than the week before Christmas.

Would it be wrong to start early for next year?

Today I shall mostly be doing some last minute wrapping and baking.

I'd also like to wish my best mate "Gill" a

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 

It's in the bag!

Today it is my turn again on It's a Creative World.

I thought I would continue showing you a few of this years homemade Christmas gifts.

More handbag charms today and these are what I came up with for my wee boy's teachers;

I got the charms from a well know auction site and the beads from my local craft shop in Elgin "Papercrafts Boutique". 

I started with the apple charm, ruler and book and then added beads around them. 

I love handbag charms and really should get around to making myself one,

I always have something else needing finished.

Is that just me?

Short and sweet posting today as I am now to make more gingerbread,

my last batch has gone already!

 I really should also get my marzipan on my Christmas cake.

More from me tomorrow.

Happy crafting!





It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

So that's my Christmas cake made, what will it taste like?

It smells just fine but the truth will be in the tasting,

not much time left to lace in brandy
so I shall just have to have a glass whilst eating my cake and Wensleydale cheese, nomm. 

Gingerbread is also made ready for the kids to decorate,
I think they'll eat more than decorate especially the mini smarties!

Just a few more card orders and a couple more presents to make and wrap
and I think I'll be nearly there.

About time too!

Just food shopping left to do, my favourite job at this time of year, NOT!

You'd think the Supermarkets were shutting for a week and not just a couple of days
and I always forget some vital ingredients even with a list.....

is it just me?

I thought I'd show you what I put in those wee boxes in a recent post.

I'm hoping in sharing this
that the lovely ladies who run my son's beaver troupe have already opened their gifts,
so not to spoil their surprise.

I wanted just to give them a wee something handmade for Christmas and made up some handbag charms.

The names on them are their "Beaver names"

which I'm really bad at using as I know them better by their real names.

We're off to Panto later....

oh no we're not!

Oh yes we are!

We normally go in between Christmas and New Year

this will be the first time before Christmas.

Mmmm will it feel any different?

Nearly time!

Yesterday I spent the day at the Hopeman Christmas crop and great fun was had by all.

What a giggle and I managed to craft....maybe because it was a longer day!

We also had some lovely food, lots of nomm nomm's to munch on.  Delish.

Why not pop on over to Jo's blog and have a read at what we got up to?

I got caught up on a few Christmas cards, yes I know better late than not, LOL.

I'm so bad when it comes to my own cards.

I think it's the "bus man's holiday syndrome!"

On to today

I've been making teachers gifts for my youngest

more of that later in the week

but as I had my wire and buttons out I thought I'd have a wee go at something that caught my eye on

Pinterest.

Here is the results;

A wee button tree for my Christmas tree.

I'm quite liking this idea and it has now been placed on my larger tree.

I'm off now to go and do a bit of Christmas baking....better get my quality control buds ready!



Sugar Bowl 74

As I've mentioned in previous posts I've had my crafting head together with my "Santa's little helper hat" on and have therefore been spending very little time with my computer.

I hope to get back into the thread after Christmas but always have a wee dip at this time of year.

After the frantic crafting run up, LOL.

Anyway the reason for my post today.....

It's Sugar time, arh honey, honey!

Today it is the last challenge before Christmas and it has fallen to the lovely Maria.

Here is my take on her sketch

and the theme....

not to use pre-designed papers

or put another way

creating your own background using plain card stock.

I have used;

Snow Cosy from Sugar Nellie stamps I love this snowman.

Kraft and red card stock with teal and red whitewash core'dinations.

Embossing folders cuttlebug snowflakes.

EK Success plaid punch and Spellbinder Boarderabilities classic grand lace. 

Sentiment stamp Kirsty Wiseman (PI) Many greetings and Hero arts Dots background.

The snowman was coloured with my Prisma pencils.

Stitched by hand!

Ribbon from Howden's Inverness.

And Maria's sketch;

Oh me I think I'm hooked on colouring in with Kraft....what have I started!

The prize;

Up for grabs this time is your choice of 4 Sugar Nellie stamps going up to 6 with more than 100 entries.

And to finish as always you've got to be in it to win it so why not take a break from all that frantic Christmas preparations.....and good luck.

Happy crafting. x



Beavering away!

I am still here, honest.

My cards are now written and I am confessing my sins....

Mr M & S supplied my cards this year.  :0

I know I'm bad, bad, bad!

Having made Christmas cards since the middle of the year I just have no desire to keep doing so, instead concentrating on making a few handmade gifts for a change and enjoying crafting with the kids.

Still got the Christmas decorations to put up and the cake to make but I'll get there.

If I don't have a deadline to make

I'm sure I slow down the making process

and I'm not a fast crafter anyway.

So I'm going to sign off for now and crack on.

I hope your preparations are going better than mine.

Happy crafting!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

At the moment Santa's little helper is beavering away making up some Christmas gifts which of course can't be shown just yet or it will spoil the surprise.

For the smaller items I have made

I shall be not be wrapping them up,

after taking inspiration from Martha Stewart 

I have created these;

The stamp is again from Waltzing mouse, ribbon, Kraft card and bell from stash.

Oh my I think I have a "thing" for Kraft just now.

Is it just me?

I'm off to go and write and maybe make a few more Christmas cards,

enjoy your day.



TAG you're it!

Today I just have a quick post before going and doing some rapping!

Or should I really say wrapping.

Santa's little helper I am, I am.

I thought I'd get some wrapping out of the way just in case little eyes decide to peak.

I really should be doing cards but I have lost my carding mojo just now. 

I'm always the same at this time of year really struggling to make and write all my Christmas cards.

I do get there I just think it's the sheer scale before starting...I've even been known to buy a few!

When you've been making Christmas cards since July the novelty sort of wears off come December, LOL.

Today as it says in the title I have a couple of sets of tags that I've made.

The first are using the new Waltzing Mouse Stamps and my Spellbinder nestabilities Square and Scalloped squares.

Nice and simple yet effective.

Love this new range of stamps from Waltzing Mouse giving a real vintage feel to Christmas.

The second are using stamps from Paper Artsy and my round and scalloped Spellbinder nestabilities;

The combination of craft and red seems to be really big this season and this Artsy stamp is just perfect.

Mind you I can see why, I love them.

Well that's all from me folks I'm off to find my Santa hat and get in the festive spirit...bar humbug!



Get the glitter out IT'S Christmas

Today I had the joy of my wee boys Nativity show in school and what a joy!

One little boy in particular had my crying with laughter...why?

Well they were singing a song about not being cross to be counted in Bethlehem,
picture the scene,

all the kids dresses in blankets lining up to be counted...

this little lad,
 half the size of all the others shouting at the top of his voice,

"I'm not CROSS!"

LOL

He looked it and he was so cute. 
Put it another way I'd hate to see him cross.

My wee one was a Roman soldier and had to march around smartly in his uniform including his Roman hat and count the people.

Gone are the days when the nativity was Mary and Joseph,  a few shepherd's, angels, 3 kings and a few well placed animals. 

The staff and kids did a great job.

I remember only one Nativity vividly from school when I was Mary,
 two things stick in my mind,
disliking the boy that was Joseph
and having to stand up and sing "Away in a Manger" on my own.

Scarred for life!

My mum also tells me I was an angel at about three and just sat picking my nose the whole time.  LOL.  She was mortified.

Needless to say this came back to haunt me

when my eldest was in his Nativity in nursery at the same age,

he too picked his nose throughout the whole performance.

I think they call it "karma!"

Come to mention it there was one of the little girls having a good route around today.

Kids don't you just love them!

Anyway back to my post and if your name is Gill and you are my buddy stop here and don't read any further as I would hate to spoil the surprise.

If you are not we will carry on.

Here is another kit that I have made with the kids,

this is a fabulous one as it works very much like paint by numbers but glitter.

It is so much faster to work with so kids don't get board easily 

plus you get the added bonus of being glittered and have a lovely seasonal glittery table too.

LOL.

This is the pack we used;

And the results;

We then mat and layered them onto a 6" card.

The kids had great fun and we all sparkled after!

Three simple cards done and dusted.

Next job on the list......

Biker Christmas

My mum or "Biker Gran"

as my kids call her asked me recently to make a biker Christmas card

for the guys at her local Harley shop.

Here it is;

I decided to go a bit festive but keep it simple and masculine.

I have used;

Harley Davidson papers and stamp (embossed) by EK Success Ltd.

Spellbinder dies Snowflake pendant 2010 and Fancy tags 3.

Bling from Artoz.

I didn't want to cover the Harley paper in the background and just layered the centre.

The last card I made for these guys was all bikes and chains so I wanted to do something totally different....I hope my mum likes it?!



365 Calendar

Oh my I'm late again but I'm actually amazed I've made it through the whole of the year.

I can't believe that's a whole 12 months done and dusted...

well nearly

I've just got to fill in December first, here it is;

I'm afraid the quality of the picture really isn't the best

the weather here yesterday when I took it was very dark and snowy,

not the best of conditions.

I have used;

Distress inks Vintage photo, Evergreen bough, Crushed olive, Pine needles and Iced spruce.

The greens are layered on my tree and the background is Iced spruce and Vintage photo.

I have also used stamps to create texture  Dot Pattern by Hero arts and SU, Swirls by Anita's and Fanciful flourishes from Simply Homemade magazine.

The labels are Shapeabilities Holiday tags and Nestabilities Heirloom ornament 2011 by Spellbinder dies.

Foam sentiment stickers by Thickers which I have covered with Martha Stewart "Peridot" fine glitter to match. 

String from stash.

I think I am having a thing for Kraft just now, 

I have stamped on it too but my camera has not picked it up.

Don't you just love this cold winter weather....an ideal time to wrap up warm, stay in and craft!

Here is my November all done and dusted too;

You will need to look back to November the 8th for more details on that one.

For more calendars why not pop on over to Kate's blog,

scroll back to the beginning of the month and you'll find everyone elses there. 

I can't believe how different they all are even if the same theme pops up.

Thanks Kate for this great monthly challenge this year,

I have had a ball!

Today it is also my turn to post over on

It's a Creative World

why not pop over and say hi,

there are lots of different lovely crafty ladies sharing ideas and tips.

Some great ideas for Christmas gifts.

Catch you soon I'm off now to do my favourite job in the whole wide world....

the ironing!

Boo.

Martha scores again!

Remember I mentioned that I had a great crafting time last week with my youngest and my pals two,

this is another of the items that we made.

I asked each of the kids to pick a house and this is what they came up with;

The church.

The pink house.

And the blue one.

This pack is a great project to do with kids.

My youngest at 7 needed a wee bit of help putting it together but not much.

The village has now been split as above the two houses have been re homed at my pals,

we still have another 2 in the pack to make up to go with the church.

 Glitter was added to the roofs but I think got more on ourselves, LOL.

If you can't sparkle at Christmas then when can you?!

You could carry on decorating these wee homes by adding more crafty loveliness if you wish.

Endless hours of fun on a wet cold winters day!

Candy time!

Now today I have two types of candy for you....a good crafting pal of mine,

Elaine

has some fabulous crafty candy up for grabs,

just look at these lush papers;

How yummy are they?

Best be quick and pop on over to her blog as it closes tomorrow.

Secondly the next type of candy we also love....

CHOCOLATE!

Yep, suddenly in December my youngest boy gets up a whole hour earlier...why?

For his advent treat of course.

This year as my oldest boy is away I decided rather than send him a chocolate calendar,

which would be munched by the 3rd,

I have sent him mini parcels one for each day.

Now when my youngest saw this....he was keen to play along too...more chocolate!

So I have wrapped him mini packs of sweets and each night I hide the next days leaving him a clue as to where to find it.

It doesn't have to be much but at least we are reading and problem solving

....although I freely admit at 6 a.m. I am not the best of help!

My eldest didn't want a calendar....

guess he's reaching that age where he is growing up but still quite fancied the treats,

which is how the whole idea came about.

I did however manage to find the smallest traditional advent calendars (the size of a credit card)

which I also snuck in his parcel....

"Wow mum that's got to be the smallest!"

Do we really grow out of these traditions?

I also got a Christmas gift through the post....you know who you are...THANK YOU!

A Martha Stewart Advent Calendar...

WOW

...it is so cool.

My youngest and I set to work on the 30th glue in hand, what fun we had.

This is how it arrives in it's packaging but boy it is so much better in real life.



Now my wee man helped all the way making up the house,

adding the windows and door,

but once it came to filling he just looked me straight in the eyes and said

"I'm going to leave you now mum...to fill it with lots of yumminess...

I don't want to spoil the surprise."

Before he left he reminded me that the treat inside....as you can see there is lots of room...must be able to fit through the door on the right.

Now I hadn't been shopping to fill this particular house so

I had to find what I've acquired over the last few weeks shopping.

The little teddies looked so lost I thought blow it and added two presents one for each of my kids.

Now these will be accessed by removing the base which I have just taped lightly in place.

Once filled it was time to put on the lid.

I have filled the roof with chocolate coins, lindt Christmas balls and other Christmassie treats adding two treats in the dates when my big boy comes home so they can share!! 

(Lets hope nicely!)

Then it was time to add the roof and chimney.



How fab is that!

Now you could add glitter and snow but we have left it simple.

It is big too taking up half of my coffee table.

It is easy to construct with good instructions and at least a whole afternoons entertainment with a young one.

We both had great fun making it

but I hope the getting up an hour earlier all of December soon wears off, LOL.

Do you have any traditions that you love to keep in the run up to Christmas?



Sugar Bowl time again no. 73

Hi folks it's that time again!

Whoop, whoop it's the 1st of December....not long now before

"YOU KNOW WHO" arrives,

have you been naughty or nice?

Yesterday I had fun with my youngest making up a Martha Stewart Calendar for him to open....

he insisted on leaving when it was time to fill it as he wanted a surprise!

We also do a treasure hunt in this house but more about that another day.

Back to the Sugar bowl and today it is the lovely

Cathy's sketch with the challenge

"Out of the Ordinary!"

Ooooh!

I had to think about this one.

And that hurt!

What is meant by this is to try something you wouldn't normal do.

Or as I like to think "stepping out of your box or comfort zone."

Here is my attempt;

I have used;

Sugar Nellie stamp Rosie.

Gingham Paper by MM kids collection Sam.  Craft and white from my stash.

Spellbinder Nestabilities dies Classic round and Lacey circles,

plus Shapeabilites Holiday tags.

Cuttlebug embossing die spots.

Sentiment stamp by Walzingmouse stamps from their new Complements of the Season range.

Red lace and white seam binding from my local craft shop Papercrafts Boutique, Elgin.

White liquid pearl.

Image is coloured with my Prisma pencils and stitched on my machine.

The sketch is;

I loved this challenge,

mind you I did have to dust off my pencils

as I haven't really used them since getting my copic pens.

My "out of the ordinary" was using my pencils on craft paper

bet you hadn't guessed that one!

I have looked on in admiration at all the cards with pencil on craft and thought this was the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

I think I might be hooked and have to do it again very soon, LOL.

This is my first attempt too!

I say that only because I was shocked and happy with the results first time,

those who know me will know I tend to be a faffer! 

(And will keep going till I get it right!)

On to the prize......

it is your choice of 4 Sugar Nellie stamps.....

going up to 6 if the entries top the 100 mark.

So as I always say at this point...

you've got to be in it to win it...

why not give it a go? 

I look forwards to seeing what you come up with.

Happy crafting!