My Favourite Five (sorry Six) Cards of 2014

It is now time to share my favourite five cards of the year and link up to Debby who is hosting this blog event.  As always it has been so difficult to choose just five from the year, like my Christmas cards I got it down to six and just cannot choose one to lose so I am sticking with six!!

Made for a friend's birthday, as soon as I saw this new release from Penny Black I just had to have it, the sentiment that came with the stamp is just perfect and makes me giggle.

 Our anniversary - using a Sizzix thinlet die that I have hardly used since buying it, I must rectify that in 2015!!

 Wedding card for my cousin, this is my favourite Lili of the Valley stamp

 For my Mum's birthday, using a Penny Black slapstick stamp

And her Mother's Day card, again using Penny Black

 And using the same stamp as above but this time a Valentine's card for Mr P

Thank you to all the lovely people who have taken the time to visit my blog over the last year, I read all the comments and it means a lot to me that people take the time out of their day to stop by and say hello.  Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy 2015 xxxx

Me on Monday

Whoops Mr Blogger didn't seem to want this post to go live yesterday, hopefully I've fixed it and it will go live now!!

The weekend was a busy one, a simple road trip from Sussex to Middlesex, just under 120 minutes said the sat nag.  Four and a half hours later after sitting in nose to tail traffic on the M25 we arrived at our destination, 90 minutes late for our meal.  Thankfully the pub was fairly quiet so we didn't lose our table.  Sunday was then spent quietly recovering from having sat so long in the car.

So today finds me getting ready for the New Year - a small gathering at my parent's flat, so today I am quiz researching, apparently I am in charge of entertainment.  I'm also in charge of mince pies so this has taken a big chunk of today.

This is the last Me on Monday of the year, so I will go and give Sian a wave over at From High in the Sky - Happy New Year everyone!!!

More Christmas Cards

Here are some of the special Christmas cards that I made for my parents and for some blog friends that I haven't had the chance to share yet.

This lovely digi-image from DigiStamp Boutique was just perfect for my monkey friends from the Mum's Monkey blog with a sentiment from Lili of the Valley.

A new to me stamp by Stampendous and I only got it inky once for my Dad's card. It is a lovely image and I will definitely be using this again in 2015 as it is perfect for so many of the male species in our family!!

 And my Mum's card - she loves robins so I used a Papermania stamp which was coloured with Promarkers and I cut the shaped card using Spellbinder label dies.

All I Want for Christmas is You!!!

The theme for this month's challenge over at Penny Black and More at Allsorts is Special Occasions which can include Christmas.

I am sharing the special card that I made for Mr P.  I used a Lili of the Valley stamp and cut a heart aperture using a Sizzix Framelit Die.

 The outside sentiment was by Crafty Impressions and the inside sentiment was printed on the PC.

The snowflakes were punched from glitter cardstock using two Martha Stewart punches.

I coloured the image with Promarkers and then added glitter accents with Wink of Stella (clear) - sadly the camera doesn't pick up just how twinkly the card is.  The blue heart gemstones are from Poundland.

The snowflake paper is from Craft Creations (their own brand).  I am pleased to report that Mr P loved his card!!

Favourite Five Christmas Cards of 2014

I am joining in with Debby's Favourite Five Christmas Cards - except I am sharing six LOL!!  I got it down to ten, then managed to get it to five and then I remembered a card that I had made at the weekend and hadn't blogged yet.

This first three were done for different 52 cards challenges -

The next two were done for Beat the Christmas Rush -

 And finally this one hasn't been blogged yet and I made it for my sister and brother in law using a new Penny Black stamp.  It is a lovely stamp but there is a lot of colouring in so if I want to use it again next year I need to remember to stamp a load early so that I have time to get them coloured.  I highlighted the berries in the wreath with red liquid pearls and the whole card absolutely glistens as it is covered in Wink of Stella - sadly the camera doesn't pick up just how twinkly it is!!

On New Years Eve I will share my favourite five cards of the year.

Me on Monday

Oh gosh another week has flown by and even more tumbleweed is blowing round this little old blog!!  It isn't because I have nothing to show, I have loads but finding the time to sit down and photograph & write about Christmas cards I have made just doesn't seem right when presents still need wrapping, two more cards left to make (I haven't forgotten you Mr P but you know I like to make you a special card xxx) and a bare tree is screaming out for decorations!!

Well it is the last Monday before Christmas so time to wave at Sian over at From High in the Sky and share my weekend goings on.

It was a weekend full of present wrapping, Strictly Final and Apprentice Final watching, pantomime going (oh yes we did!!!!), Christmas present delivering and finally getting the tree up but too tired to put any deccies on kind of weekend!!

Today was the last Avon delivery of the year and then we took my parents to visit family graves and leave flowers for Christmas.  On the way home we stopped at a lovely pub and enjoyed a really nice meal.

And what is left of the day will consist of making a list (and checking it twice!!) for all those outstanding jobs that need to be done by Christmas Eve.  Also Mr Sainsbury's is supposed to be calling here tomorrow so I need to let him know what else to put in my trolley. 

And just to show you that some craftiness has happened here - it is my sister's wedding anniversary today so here is the card that I made for them, using a Penny Black stamp.

Me on Monday

Today I am here waving a feather duster and blowing not only the dust off of this blog but also the lounge/dining room.  Once I have done the big clean downstairs I can then put all my cards up and the decorations.

 The weekend was one of Strictly semi-final watching, parent visiting for afternoon tea with a favourite aunt and uncle, being got out of bed early on a Saturday morning for a surprise delivery of Christmas flowers from dear friends and finally getting my finger out and writing all of the Christmas cards ready for posting today.

Right well this is just a quick whizz through, the dreaded housework will not do itself - I will try to get back later in the week with some crafty stuff but you know how it is at this time of year!!  If you would like to give Sian a wave today and find out about Me on Monday then pop over to From High in the Sky

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday #287

Just a quick fly in to say hello Wednesday and show off the craft explosion that was our dining room table at the weekend (good job we didn't need to use it).

I was making gift boxes to house the little crop presents for our last crop of the year.  It was quick and easy as I had the WRMK gift box punch board.  You can see the boxes are half constructed and I also made tags using a new set of stamps from Stampin' Up which have a matching punch.  I love using the SU markers to colour in my stamps so it was super easy to make a gift tag that co-ordinated nicely with the papers.

I'm now off to say hello to Julia at Stamping Ground and see what the other WOYWWers have been up to!!

Me on Monday

Hello Monday!!!!  And this Monday feels extra special because it is also the 1st of the month - I don't know why but I get a little bit excited about Mondays that are on the 1st but hey you knew I was weird anyway didn't you????? 

The weekend was full of more Christmas making, I still have a shortfall in my cards and I also needed to make lots of little boxes for my crop gifts.  But the weekend was broken up nicely by a trip to the ballet on Saturday evening with my Mum - this has become a pre-Christmas tradition in recent years and this year we supported a local youth ballet company and their production of Coppelia - it was beautiful, I last saw this ballet when I was 16 and had forgotten how lovely the music was. 

So this 1st of the month Monday finds me opening up the first window in this -

 

Mr P always gets me a choccy advent calendar each year and as it is now December I am officially allowed to play Christmas music LOL!!  So this Monday finds me giving this CD its first play - my dreams have come true and Marillion have finally released a Christmas album - now I can torture my family and friends all year round ROFL!!!!!!!!!!

Of course there is plenty of boring stuff too like ironing, laundry and doing a Monday roast (when Mr P works on a Sunday the roast always gets deferred to the Monday).

If you would like to join in Me on Monday then go and give Sian a wave over at From High in the Sky

Puppy Love

I'm sneaking in quite late this month with my entry for Scrapology's November challenge 'H is for Hearts'.  As soon as I saw the sketch I knew exactly what photograph I was going to use for it.

 I am still on a mission to use up all my half used Sarah's Cards kits so used one that was based on Crate Paper 'Restoration' range.

 

The photo is of my god-daughter's lovely dog Pixie as a puppy, how could you not fall in love with that adorable little face xxxxx

I cut the hearts with a framelit die and layered a patterned heart over the top of a base of Bazzill cardstock.  I used handstitching to hold all the hearts down.  

 I cut the main title out of funky foam using Tim Holtz 12" sizzlet alphabet die 'Wanted'.  The glitter subtitle is Papermania alphabet stickers.

A sprinkle of gold tone sequins from my stash completed the layout.

Thank you Scrapology for a lovely sketch and challenge to follow x

Have a Bbbrrilliant Christmas

This month's challenge at Penny Black Saturday Challenge is All Wrapped Up.

I made these cards for my fundraiser earlier this month, using this cute snowman stamp from Penny Black T for transparent set 'Jolly Friends'. 

The sentiment is from the Little Doo Lally Pip collection by Lindsay Mason (Crafty Impressions).

 The papers are mainly free magazine ones apart from the two pink ones which are from Craft Creations.

 The snowflakes are mainly diecut with a Cuttlebug die or a Woodware punch using glitter cardstock

 I coloured the images with Promarkers and added some glossy accents to the mistletoe berries to make them nice and shiny.

I am also entering these cards into Sue's Beat the Christmas Rush and Penny Black and More at Allsorts 'Anything Goes' challenge.  They were certainly popular at the fundraiser as I sold them all!!

WOYWW #286

It is Wednesday so it is time to hook up with Julia at Stamping Ground and share what is on my work surfaces.

At the weekend I dusted off the sewing machine to make some tissue pack covers following the lovely tutorial that Fiona at Staring at the Sea did back in the summer.  Even though my sewing machine skills aren't the greatest they were very easy to make - thank you Fiona for such a clear and easy to follow tutorial.  My ironing board was put up to provide an extra work surface to work from -

I made four to start with and have already ordered fabric to make some more for a Pass it Forward thingy that I am in.  I will definitely be making these for the fundraisers that I have planned for next year.

Today there is no crafting going on,  not on the dining room table or the laptray as I am busy in the kitchen making these for small Christmas gifts.

The baby Dundee cakes are made using this recipe, they freeze really well and will be ready for me to start gifting in December.

If you want to join in with WOYWW you can find out how to right here on Julia's blog