Some handmade Christmas Cards

Well I know it's a bit late in the day to be making Christmas cards now but I thought I would share a few quick cards that I made fro a friend. They actually asked for 40 cards (Which I did somehow manage to make on time) for their work colleges. When I asked what they were looking for they just said " I will leave it in your capable hands" and that was it! I think it's often harder when you don't have a brief to work to. I worry that my taste is not necessarily shared with anybody else. I did contemplate working with the Hunkdory Christmas ranges but decided to use up some other stuff instead. I had to make these cards quickly and easily and so here is what I came up with:

They were all made from either Fizzy Moon or Helz Cuppleditch decoupage pads. and finished with the ever faithful self adhesive gems.

A Sweet Tree Christmas!

What do you buy for somebody who has it all and really needs nothing? I find myself sticking to the same old safe Christmas presents year after year and now its getting a little boring. I find my in-laws really hard to buy for. Their gorgeous little cottage is stuffed to the brim with decorative pieces that they have gathered up over the years, they have enough smellies to clean the whole of the British army and they have more clothes than they know what to do with. Does this sound familiar? 

I was walking past an old fashioned sweet shop in our neighbouring little market town when inspiration struck! It doesn't happen very often so I was quick to act on the idea. In the window was a cute little tree made from sweets and they were charging £30 for it! I immediately thought " I could make one of those for a fraction of the price" and when I got home, I set about researching how they are made. Google really is a marvellous tool! Here is what I came up with:

The base is made from a silver bucket which I bought from Ikea in the summer for around £1. I knew it would come in handy!! I stuck the silver ribbon covered stick in the centre of the bucket in plaster of paris and left it overnight to set. Meanwhile for the top part, I used oasis that I had left over from some floral arrangements which I cut to a rough circle and covered in a couple of layers of silver foil. Other people had suggested a polystyrene ball but I didn't have one to hand and couldn't have afforded to wait for one to be delivered so I improvised.  Next I chopped some cocktail sticks in half and stuck each piece of liquorice into the foil covered ball with the half cocktail stick. It took just over 4 bags of liquorice and a couple of hours to complete whilst I was watching telly! I just added some clear cellophane over the top, some purple tissue paper to hide the plaster of paris and some Christmas ribbon to complete. I reckon the whole thing cost me less than £10 to make and I must say, I found it quite easy and therapeutic to do. I just hope the in-laws like it  :-)

Get Sewing For Christmas

Are you sorted for Christmas? I say this every year but it's approaching so fast. I have 101 million things on my "to do" list and as the special day gets closer I simply get more stressed trying to complete every single one of them!

With only a few more weeks of shopping time to go, the dreaded postal deadline is fast approaching and we are already experiencing delivery delays with items that have been sent out. So bare this in mind if you are ordering items to be delivered. The last thing you want is an upset little face on Christmas morning when Santa hasn't brought the most important present of all!!

We have just taken delivery of some excellent sewing kits for children. They really are the bees knees. They range from small little taster kits which are ideal for stocking fillers to slightly more detailed cushion and doll kits which take just a fraction more patience to complete. These kits are great as they contain everything you need (Apart from glue in some cases) and are suitable for little darlings from the ages of 6 years and upwards. Prices start at just £2.50....

Glad to be back!

Well it's been a strange, stressful few months to say the least! Sadly my Mum took a turn for the worst and lost her battle with Cancer on 1st August. It was just under 11 weeks from the day she was taken into hospital for an emergency operation to the day that she passed away. She was no age either at a mere 48! To say that everything has been a bit of a whirlwind would be a complete understatement. I feel that I have been hit by an unexpected tsunami and that the after effects have left unbelievable devastation. In time it will ease (never clear) but it will take a lot longer than anticipated! I won't pretend that it's not difficult some days to even get out of bed, but I have others to think of including a growing bump that's due for delivery sometime in March 2013 :-) One out one in as they say!

Yesterday I went to a fantastic networking meeting just for ladies. I think it was the much needed "Kick up the bum" for me. I came away feeling full of ideas and inspiration and very determined. Ladies and gentlemen, my Mojo has finally landed and  I am SO glad to be back!!!!!! 

Well it's certainly been a funny few weeks. I have hardly been at home at all and feel like I am living my life in a bit of a blur at the moment. My mother was taken ill and rushed into hospital over 3 weeks ago. She is still there at the moment and so I am travelling every day to visit her and will be for the foreseeable future. The hospital is about an hours drive from us but needless to say that the visits are top priority at the moment and everything else is getting slotted in and around the visits.

It has been really hard trying to fit in family, the business and the housework. On the odd occasion when it all gets too much, I just have to have a de-stress day and have to take some time out, away from it all. I guess that's just my way of coping. Today was one of those days.

Today I spent some much needed time with my little girl. As I am very impulsive, we had the car packed and had set off within 30 minutes. I think that has got to be a record for us! We headed into North Wales with no specific destination in mind and ended up at the quiet end of Rhyl. We managed to find a nice little spot near to the beach where we devoured our picnic and then later spent a little time on the beach. It was quite windy but the sun took the coolness away. I managed to play with my new camera purchase. I am not in any way a photographer nor pretend to be but I had some good fun experimenting. What do you think?

Kaisercraft - These Days Birthday Card

I haven't done any crafting for the last couple of weeks and so last night whilst my other half nipped to the gym, I had the perfect excuse to make a card and so I dug out my Kaisercraft paper pad which I have been dying to use for ages. I just love their papers and find that they work really well together which helps as I must admit that I am not the best with colour. I also had a pack of Kasiercraft co-ordinating collectables which are fabulous packs of die cut shapes that include flowers, tags, sentiments and other really handy pieces. For a change, this made for a really quick handmade birthday card as there was no use of ProMarkers! Having said that, I just received a delivery of some of the colours that I was missing in my collection so I am sure that they will make an appearance over the bank holiday weekend. Well it would be rude not to wouldn't it?!

All of the card making supplies are available in my shop.

The papers are from the Kaisercraft These Days 6.5" x 6.5" paper pad. 

The flowers, arm chair and tags are from the Kaisercraft These Days Collectables.

The 6mm diamante gems are available here.

The sentiment stamp is from LOTV. 

Have a great bank holiday weekend. I hope the weather is nice to everyone x 

Let's Go Shopping

When I spotted this challenge on the I love ProMarkers Blogg I laughed to myself. This image from Lili of the Valley reminds me so much of my sister-in-law. She is one serious shopaholic! Whenever she comes to visit us she never arrives empty handed and the gifts that she brings are always beautifully wrapped and  presented. I think my daughter is following in the same footsteps. She loves window shopping and doesn't need any encouragement to get in a changing room just to try something on and look at herself in the mirror. She certainly doesn't get that off me!

This card was made from Ivory Linen cardstock.

The background papers are from First Eddition

The image is from Lili Of The Valley and has been coloured with ProMarkers

The Dragonfly is available in different colours from here.

The embellishments, ribbon and lace are all from my stash.

I would love to enter this card into the following challenges:

I Love ProMarker - Lets go shopping

Passion For ProMarker - Pink, Pearls and Lace

Love to Create challenge blogg - Anything Goes