Going AWOL and early Christmas

Am off to the last craft retreat this year and we are celebrating Christmas with some of the most fabby people I know. Arrive today craft and get the place Christmassy, Saturday stay in our Jim Jams all day and craft, chat and giggle - maybe sing a long to christmas music then hit the mulled wine! Sunday craft till 1 then have Christmas dinner, secret santa, crackers and fun before heading back home by 6.

Hopefully I will have lots to show when I get back. Hope your weekend is as good as I know mine to be :0)

Happy Christmas! Janet

and so they are wrapped

Here is the first Christmas gift I have wrapped this year. Most of my pressies will get this treatment that is of course if they will fit in a bag lol. I just bought some paper bags from ebay so i could decorate and stamp on them to my hearts content after all the pleasure is all in the giving and in this case the presentation! Stamp is by Stampers anonymous, ribbon and buttons from stash, flowers craft work cards and tag is by K and Co.
Hope your day has been great x Janet

Another pressie

This used to be a tin which had parmesan cheese in it! Yuk how smelly I can hear you gasp! But honestly after a few rounds in the dishwasher it doesnt smell at all! a fab size for this and perfect with a red plastic lid!

Ive used k&Co papers to decorate. Yummy stamp is from stampin up and the candy cane and holly are from a sissix die.

Filled with yummy chocs and ready for wrapping. Will show you that tomorrow.
Now I borrowed this idea from Suzanne who kindly said I could use it to make something - so here it is! Thanks for sharing and inspiring me x
Right am off to the land of nod before my head hits the keyboard - team meeting day tomorrow with 2 lots of training in it - think my head will hurt by 5pm???
Have fab day whatever you are doing x Janet

Tuesday Taggers - Celebration of light

This week we are celebrating light with the coming of Advent it is a really exciting time in the Christian calendar and for all those lovers of Christmas but many people of other faiths celebrate at this time of year the beauty of light as the nights are so long and dark. I decided to make aLuminaria and found a tutorial on splitcoast stampers that was just right. I have made mine Christmassy but it could just as easily be an all year round design.



This week we are sponsored by the craft barn who sell this cute little cat stamp from High hopes - he is called Meowy Christmas and is a gorgeous litle thing. Ive also used another high hopes stamp and placed them on opposite sides of the luminaria. The papers Ive used are from last years basic grey wassail collection. The apertures cut with my scalloped oval nesties - swirly vellum, buttons and poinsettas from stash.

Of course it would be far too dangerous to use a real tealight in this so i have a battery operated one inside - but it looks like candlelight.
This is part of a craft pressie so i cannot say any more. It was fun to do and I like the effect.
So If you like little Meowy cat hop on over to The Craft Barn and search under Christmas :0) Pop on over to Tuesday Taggers to see the beauties my fellow teamies have produced too x
I hope this has schedules fine as Im at work and hope you have a great day x
Janet

The matchbox advent calendar

This is what I made last year for my niece and nephew. Its a wooden sleigh which has been decorated with Blonde Moments papers (painted first - I used emulsion) and filled with different sized boxes with chocs in. Sorry pic is so small I pinched it from my docraft gallery!


So I wanted the advent calendar to match.

I began by painting the inside drawers of the matchboxes. Then stuck them together in stacks.

I then covered them with paper. The top and bottom are mountboard covered with the paper too.

Ive cut pictures from the blonde moments papers to add to the sides. Used Vellum stickers - by Brenda Pinnock to add a little interest. Then punched holes in the drawers and added ribbon knotted to give a little handle.

Shock horror another use of peels offs for the numbers! Then a chipboard tree triple embossed and stamped with a BM tree stamp and swished with silver pearl pigment powder for the top.

I hope they like it!
Now this next bit i can take no credit for. My craft buddy Averil made 2 last year for her own children whilst we were at the craft retreat at Malham. Her idea - as the drawers are small - was to put inside a little clue or instruction for each child which over the 24 days would lead to the house being trimmed up for Christmas. How cool is that? No reward except the pleasure of decorating your home for the excitement ahead. I really liked this idea so asked SIL if she would be up for it before I made the advent calendar and I think she is keen as she bought the matchboxes! So I have some tiny envelopes from Kanban that she can pop a message inside for them.


Bless my nephew said - so tactfully the other day when I said I was making an advent calendar for them - "Auntie Janet - you might be a little disappointed when I tell you this but Gran always buys me a lego advent calendar but we can have 2 you know" How sweet. I reaasurred him I knew about Grans calendar but this would be very different.
So that along with the santa easel card was my crafting on Tuesday at Embsay. Im back again on Saturday this time making a banner for friend. So watch this space x
HAGD Janet

Colour create red, green and white

Heres another Kanban quickie which is perfect for the colour create challenge this week. Papers by K&Co, Image Kanban cut out with nesties, ribbon from stash, ticket stamp from Magnolia x

My first Easel card

A really simple card for the Winter Wonderland theme this week of St Nicholas. Ive used this image before as I stamped some at the local shop a month or so back. I think hes a stamps happen stamp. Coloured with promarkers, Polar white flower soft on his hat and Ive just realised I had meant to glitter his beard a bit so I will have to do that when Ive finished. Edges smudged with distress ink then simple matting and layering with green mirri card. The believe stamp is by Stampers anonymous embossed in gold then the brad I think is a papermania one.
I was quite pleased with the result although it is such a simple card.
Hope you are avoiding floods where you are x
Janet