Christmas Cards

 Brenda's Christmas card

 Ciara's Christmas Card

Cheryl's Christmas card

 Janet's Christmas card

Karen's Christmas card

 Lilian's Christmas card

Lynda's Christmas  card

Maria's Christmas card

Margaret's Christmas card

Michele's Christmas card

Pat's Christmas card

Sonia's Christmas cards

Sue's Christmas card

Val's Christmas card

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,

I decided that you should all have a week off from making challenge cards this week, although one or two of you did miss it.  So instead of having your challenge cards to show this week I have the pleasure of sharing some of  your amazing Christmas cards, some you have seen before others you haven't.  

Just like every challenge card line up, these cards are all just fabulous!

We are lucky enough to have a card from Ciara this week too, this is the card that Ciara made for her teacher, it's a fantastic card Ciara, I love the sparkly night sky you've created with Santa and his reindeers flying across it, I bet your teacher loved your card Ciara xxx

Brenda, oh my I love the combination of the Kraft card with the teal coloured glitter card, it works so well, it really does pay to experiment, the combination of dies you have used works perfectly too, this will brighten somebody's mantelpiece for sure, thank you for sharing xxx

Cheryl, your card looks 3D, it looks like the Snowflakes are floating, it looks like it could be a pretty acetate over the top of that pretty blue background, I am sure you will let us know when you pop in later, thanks for sharing xxx

Janet, such a cute Christmas card, that cute scarecrow style snowman is adorable and I love those gorgeous little birds creating the border around your card, thank you xxx

Margaret, such a pretty scene on this Christmas card, those cute robins sitting on that beautifully coloured wreath, you have created the perfect background for the topper too with those lovely scalloped circles, I hope you have enjoyed your first Christmas of making all of your Christmas cards, it's exhausting but so worth it, thank you xxx

Karen, I don't remember ever sharing this fantastic Wreath card that you have made, you have added such depth and dimension to the wreath by cutting the foliage in different shades, it has created such a realistic look too, I also think that the Poinsettia works so well as the decorative element, a fantastic card, thank you xxx

Val your card for Lynn & Paul is so beautiful, I love that little cat hiding under the umbrella, such a pretty image, I bet they loved it, so lovely to have that personal sentiment too xxx

Maria's card is the one that I received, it was my first Christmas card and I loved it, so cute, perfectly executed Decoupage of this adorable House Mouse scene,  just love all of the House Mouse images,cute and fun.  Thank you Maria, for such a lovely card xxx

Michele, this has to be one of your best 'pop-up' boxes, the papers you have used are stunning, you have embellished it perfectly too. Xxx

Lilian, your Serif Christmas card is amazing. one of the many things about my blog is seeing how you lovely friends inspire each other, you seeing Karen's Serif card the other day inspired you to sit and create this fabulous card, I look forward to seeing more of your Serif cards xxx

Pat, I love this card, I don't remember seeing it, that bauble is stunning, the colour theme of your card is stunning too xxx

Lynda, I love this card that you have made using Sue Wilson's latest Angel die and that fantastic background, you have made some truly fabulous Christmas cards this year Lynda, thank you for allowing me to share them xxx

Sonia, two fantastic cards from you, I had to include you in the list, I hope you don't mind, my Christmas card was amazing thank you, I hope you get your crafty mojo back soon , I think we all miss our weekly dose of Sonia's inspiration! Xxx

Sue, I loved what you did with the hexagon die, I remember sitting planning this with you, I was amazed at how it finally turned out. Thank you for sharing xxx

Ladies, week after week you amaze me, thank you all !!

Love and hugs to you all,

Sandra 

xxxxxx

Saturday Bits & Bob's

Good Morning Ladies,

Well I have a bit of a 'mixed bag' of a blog post today, but variety is the spice of life they say, so here goes!.....

First up today are some Gift Boxes I have been playing with, I started with a 6 inch wide piece of red/green card from my scrap box, I then used the 'We R Memory Keepers' 'Pillow Box' Board to create the pillow boxes that you can see above, now I am going to be completely honest with you here, I have had this board a few years and I am not really that impressed with it, (pictured below)

You cut your card to 6 inches wide and it can be between 4 & 12 inches long, you then place it in indicated place punch and score, then over and repeat. Pop it in opening on the end and punch out finger lift tab, burnish your folds trim the excess off flap and glue together. 

The main problem I found is where you score the curves for the pillow box ends on both sides, it isn't a deep enough score so the food is a bit naff, in my opinion , because it is curved precisely you can't burnish the creases like you can a straight edge, you therefore end up with the ends looking a little untidy.  I'm maybe it's just me, I have watched tutorials etc though and they do same as I do, never mind, hopefully the decorations cover up the imperfections, but given the choice over again I wouldn't bother, it was about £12 on offer when I bought it, the idea is good, quick and simple. 

I decided to use so of my pre-cut embellishments, (I went crazy cutting pat's Poinsettia's the other day)!  I thought that the Poinsettia's worked well with the colour of my boxes, the Red box has a lovely Fir and Sowflake die cut in green, topped with a pretty Poinsettia, I added some Mirror Gold leaves for a little touch of luxury.

The green box decorations started with me tying some Gold glitter ribbon around the box, I then added a couple of Sue Wilson's Pine Twig die's cut in Gold, with a lovely Poinsettia placed in the centre.  

I think that these are a great idea for when you are giving a Gift Card or Cash as a gift, as it looks a lot more exciting than an envelope! 

I hope you like them xx

Next up today I am excited to share with you my baby Sister Emily's first crafting venture , she has loved fragranced candles for years and this summer she decided that she would like to have a go at making them herself.  So she started collecting jars, searched out good quality wax that burns correctly to make the most of the added fragrances.  She has sold loads to colleagues and she has had fantastic feed back, she has sent me a couple of photos of the candles in production in my Mum's kitchen and also a couple of the finished product.  I am amazed at how incredibly professional they look, the name 'Mable & Florence' comes from Emily's Guinea Pigs, which is very cute. Emily's partner Matt helped design, print be hand cut those fab labels too, he did a great job! I am going to take my Cuttlebug over next week and maybe get them a couple of basic die sets for Christmas, so they can die cut the labels. 

I feel very proud that my sister is joining me in crafting, at least someone in the family will Understand how passionate I get about all things craft related! 

Thank you for sharing your photos Emily xxxx

Last but not least we have Lynda's craft purchases for this past week, I didn't get the email in time to add the buys onto yesterday's post so I will add them today, 

I have to say I can't blame you for wanting that Heartfelt Creations, 'Warmest Wishes' Background stamp, I absolutely love it, I used my 'stamping Frame' when stamping it as I needed a couple of goes to get the best coverage, but being red rubber it stamps really well anyway, you will love this stamp Lynda, I think I will buy my own as I can see that I will use it a lot.  The Stampers Anonymous stamp set looks great too, I particularly like that 'Hessian/Burlao' background stamp, it has such great texture, the flowers look fab too, I look forward to seeing what you create. 

The second photo has the Making Cards magazine that has the free Altenew Die and 

Stamp set included, I have been looking at it, but not put it in the trolley so far! 

I think I can see the Sizzix Thinlets Foliage die set in the back of the photo, this is a lovely set that's on my wish list, then last up the Woodware Christmas Tree stamps , another stamp set I have seen used loads on Pinterest, I think Pat has it too, they make great background stamps as well.  

Thank you so much Lynda for sharing your buys with us, I will share your cards tomorrow. Xxx

I would love to see a photos of your Christmas trees too ladies, if you get the chance.

Have a lovely weekend,

Love and hugs

Sandra

Xxxxxx

Karen's Digitally Designed card Margaret's Craft Shopping and cards.....

Karen's card for Neighbours 

Two of Margaret's Christmas cards

Good Friday Morning Ladies,

Well here we are again at the beginning of another weekend, boy this week has whizzed by, panic is about to set in, after another full day shopping we still don't seem to have made much of a dent in the list, I find it really hard when you read a list and it says "Surprise" or in Sophie's case "Really Cool surprises" !  Do you think a tangerine and a walnut would be a surprise???? We always had a tangerine and a walnut in our Christmas stocking, I have no idea why to be honest.  In those days though you only ever got tangerines at Christmas time, so they were much more of a treat, their fragrance still reminds me of Christmas today, do you all have any funny Christmas traditions ??

Now onto today's cards,

Karen has digitally designed her Neighbour's Christmas cards using the Serif Craft design software on her PC, I have both first and second editions of Serif but I am absolutely lost when it comes to using it, oh my I wish I could come up with designs like you have Karen.  Karen used a Free Graphics Kit called ,"Tis the Season" to create her card, the kits come packed full of design papers, embellishments, frames and alphabets for you to use as you would when designing an actual card, this way there is no paper wastage, if you don't like it you can delete and start over!  I love all of the elements you have used, particularly that cute Snowman with all the birds perched on his twig arms!  The Sentiment is genius too, your neighbours must have been very impressed Karen, thank you for sharing xxx

Margaret's cards are both fantadtkc, I can totally vouch for the first one as it is sat on my Dresser in my dining room, alongside all of my handmade cards, I love the Nativity scene, it reminds us all of what this season is all about, the die set is fantastic Margaret, it has die cut so well, your new Gemini made easy work of all that die cutting too!
Your second card is really pretty, using that pretty double layered doilly die (which isn't obviously Christmas, making it really versatile), topped with a Cute little gold foiled Christmas tree, the matching good foiled sentiment finishing the card off.
Now onto Margaret's new dies.......
Those 'Apple Blossom' dies are all so pretty, the flower ones especially, getting you all set up for those Spring cards, that Front door die will be really useful too, for New Home and of course for decorating with that Wreath die you have bought too, the Pretty Quick' Winter Scene die set is fantastic too, I saw a lot of cards on
Pinterest with this style die cuts or stamped images, so there is lots of inspiration out there.  Thank you so much for sharing your fabulius cards and shopping with us today Margaret xxx

Mostly decorating the house and hopefully some crafting time today for me, the girls have their last day today, they finish at lunchtime, it was quite funny listening to them describing the 'Christmas Lunch' last night, they were shocked that they only got 1 Brussel Sprout, sausage without bacon (most unimpressed), they said the turkey looked like plastic and they had a slice of wrinkly wet ham !   I am not sure what they expected for £2.30 though.
I am not sure whether Lucy will make it through the morning bless her, she is absolutely full of cold/flu symptoms, but she wants to go to give out gifts to her friends, I wonder if we will get a phone call??!

Maria, it's lovely to have you home, I see you got straight back into your walks, with extra entertainment thrown in, poor chap sounds like he was terrified of those dogs, owners should always have their dogs under control in public places, they can't assume that everyone is fine with dogs, Sophie and Lucy were absolutely terrified when they were younger, we needed up avoiding public parks for that reason.x

Brenda, I am so sorry that you came home to such sad news, it seems even worse this time of year.  I can just picture the mess you and Ciara made making her Christmas hat, I bet it looked amazing, I can just picture her big beaming smile as she proudly shows it off, it makes the mess so much more worth while.
I am glad to read that you and John have a little break to look forward to, well until the new year anyway!  My sister's school is Essex doesn't finish until next Wednesday, I haven't heard of them finishing that late before.
Enjoy your rest (or use the time to nip to Ikea) xx
 I am hoping that they might deliver those trolleys, I will look it up, although Sue told me that she uses an Ikea Anglepoise lamp and one of their Daylight bulbs to craft with, my Craft lamp is on its last legs and I dont really think it was worth the £50 odd pounds Paul paid for it so if I can get one there for a third of the cost I would be happy, plus if they don't deliver I will have to pop to Milton Keynes and have a coffee with Maria !!

Lynda, Lynda, Lynda, fancy having to do the 'walk of shame' off of the bus, I bet you and Terry had a giggle about it, it just goes to show that you aren't using them often enough, your story did make me smile xx

I hope you all have a lovely day ladies,

(sorry Michele, if you read all of this you were probably late for work) !! 😉

Love and hugs
Sandra
Xxxxxx

A beautiful Birthday Card from Brenda

Tierney's  18th Birthday Card

The lid of Tierney's card's box

Good Morning Ladies,

A break from Christmas cards today, I can honestly say that the pleasure of opening your beautiful handmade Christmas cards far outweighs the stress of getting every card in that post box.  I finished mine yesterday, the biggest stress was finding envelopes to fit my cards, so major note for next year, stick to standard card sizes!

I don't like being restricted by size though I design my cards from the front backwards, the card base being made to fit the card, I also like to make everyone's Christmas cards unique, I hope you all get the same buzz as you open your envelopes as I have bad opening yours.

Now onto Brenda's beautiful 18th Birthday Card for her Granddaughter Tierney.

Brenda that die you have used as the front of your card, it looks like one of the Crafter's Companion 'Create a Card' dies, but I think it could also think it could also be a 'tattered lace' die, I await your confirmation Brenda!!  It looks as though you have created a  card with a 'fold back' front, making that beautiful topper stand out even more, highlighting every bit of its detail.  The box you made us equally as beautiful, especially with the added detail of the butterfly's being a different colour, I am sure that Tierney absolutely loved this gorgeous card Brenda, thank you so much for sharing it with us xxx

I would love to show you all a picture of my dining room table as it was yesterday, you couldn't see it for card making tools and 100's of envelopes of different sizes and styles, most of them the wrong size for any card I made, but I am too embarrassed to be honest, we ate our dinner around the coffee table last night, as I didn't want to just dump everything back into my craft room as usually do, I want to sort it all out and tidy everything ready to start a fresh, I really do believe that a lovely, tidy, uncluttered work space makes it so much easier to come up with fresh ideas.

I have asked Santa for the 'Raskog' trolley from Ikea for Christmas, 

I think it would be a fantastic addition to my craft room, having a permanent storage place for all of my 'everyday'  craft tools, the other more important bonus will be that I can wheel it through to the dining table for our weekly craft sessions rather than struggling to and fro with each pot of tools individually, I know some of our ladies have them and say they are brilliant, you can add little baskets etc for extra storage.
I do hope I'm not on the "naughty list'' banana

Anyway, I must dash (if only) tihi ! We are going to Swindon for a major shopping trip today, our eldest daughter Becca is coming along too, she wants to go to the outlet centre too, I have a feeling it will be a very long and expensive trip!

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and Huggles,

Sandra
xxxxxxx

Some of Pat's festive delights !

Good Morning Ladies,

Today's Seasonal Selection of cards have been designed and created by our Pat, three absolutely amazing cards,  the first card is a beautiful snowy scene, Pat has added colour to the street lamps which adds the perfect touch of colour to The card, such a Wintry delight Pat .

The second card has been made using Creative Expressions Snowflake Background die, die cut in white with a red base card behind, the sentiment in the middle finishes this pretty card.

The third and final card for today is a fun and cheerful Christmas card, it would bring a smile to anyone's face, look at those cute expressions, I love the blue snowy paper you have used Pat.

Thank you so much for sending me your Cards to share with our friends xxx

Sue, Pat and I had a lovely day yesterday, we may not have all been together for a week or two but we always just pick up conversation where we left off, we were very productive too, Pat was busy die cutting bits for more Christmas cards, I finished some inserts for mine, Sue was making Christmas Baubles to send to her family in Canada, it's a yearly tradition, she was quilling away like a mad thing today, I can't wait to see the finished product Sue, I didn't get to see what you were making.

My dining room looks like there has been a craft explosion, but I'll have to deal with that tomorrow.

I did sit and write most if my Christmas cards last night, my only frustration is that as all my cards a totally handmade they aren't standard sizes so trying to find matching envelopes is a nightmare, so your card may well arrive in a 'jiffy bag'

Have a lovely day ladies,

Love and hugs

Sandra

xxxxxx

Some of Michele's Christmas cards

Good Morning Ladies,

Today I am delighted to be able to share some of Michele's Christmas cards with you,
I really like that Snowflake background paper Michele, it works so well with that adorable Snowman, such detail in that topper too, like that sweet little Robin sat upon the fence and the cute expression on the Snowman's face.
The Reindeer on the first card has a comical look to me, I think it would work well with a funny caption, I love how you have used it too Michele, I wonder if you could colour the Reindeer's hat and  scarf, if you could imagine colouring them with the recipient football team colours, as I think this Reindeer would be perfect for a male card.
Thank you so much Michele for allowing me to share your Christmas cards with everyone xxx

I would love to share all of your cards ladies, so please remember to photograph them and send them in .

Hoping to see Sue & Pat today, although it sounded like Pat has a jam packed social calendar this week, I'm not sure whether this will be our last session before Christmas, although I am hoping that we will get chance to squeeze in a Christmas lunch before next Friday.  Oh ladies there is nothing I would love more than to be sat at a huge table with all of you lovely ladies, heaven ! xxx

Actually with that last comment in mind I WILL be organising a get together for all of us next year, so please email me with times and dates that work for you and where you can all manage to travel to. I know that many of you are looking forward to this as much as I am so I want to get on to organising it as soon as possible.

Right I must go and get organised for some crafting with my friends,

Have a lovely day Ladies,

Love and hugs

Sandra
Xxxxxx

Pretty Poinsettia

Good Monday Morning Ladies,

As you have all worked so hard at making challenge Cards every week, I thought that you had all learnt a week off, plus I know a lot of you are getting busier with preparations for Christmas, I still have cards to complete and send out and I know that a few of you have too.   

I would however love to share some of the Christmas cards that you have all been making, so please send some of those in, I could show them on Sunday instead of challenge Cards if you like.

I made the above card yesterday and I have to say that I think it's my favourite one so far, I like the simplicity of it, although it was very time consuming edging all of those petals and leaves with a metallic gold pen, but I love the effect it gave.  

I used Creative Expressions Poinsettia Frame Embossing folder, The 'Seasons Greetings' is an Elizabeth Designs die, (I love it)! The Poinsettia's are the original Spellbinders ones, I have had them years, I used Centura Pearl and Gold mirror card with a little green added in for the leaves.  

I hope you like it as much as I do.

We managed to get our Christmas Tree yesterday, we used to have an artificial tree but as it was due for retirement I persuaded Paul to let me have a real tree, we go to a lovely old fella in the next village, his trees are usually freshly cut so they last for ages even though they aren't rooted.  He was worrying because he could only get Nordman this year and they are £1 a foot more expensive, but at £6 a foot I don't think anyone could complain.  It warms my heart a little knowing the money is going to him rather than a big company, our local Garden Centre  (Burford) charges double that and more, some friends of yours bought from there and paid £80, by Christmas Eve that had more bare twigs than anything else, but we have been in at beginning of December and there are stacks of trees piled high, they aren't going to be quite so fresh by this weekend, bit of a rip off really.    I think that we may go back to an artificial tree if the price continues to increase though, our last tree did us ten years and is still used in the girls room with all off the decorations that they have made from preschool onwards, some of Matt's are a good 20 years old, so cute though, so their tree is full of nostalgia.  

I will say though that after talking with Paul about how good both our cats are with the tree, saying how lucky we are, it suddenly dawned on me that we have Harley this year, (Matt's Border Collie Puppy), he is like a thunder bolt tearing through the house, so I think I may leave the fragile baubles in the box! 

I look forward to seeing and sharing some of your Christmas cards.

Have a fantastic week,

Love and Hugs to all,

Sandra 

Xxxxxxx