MORE LETTERS TO SANTA

Hi Everyone

Woo hoo . .. earlier tonight as promised!!

Gosh there seem to be a lot of letters going to Santa from my blog this year!!  LOL!!

Loving this little stamp.  I bought it alongside the one I used to do my letter to Santa card here.

There are more in the range I think but I am trying to be strong and not look .. .. but I do like them.  So easy to either colour or paper piece as the sections are not too fiddly to cut out (with the exception of the holly berries).

I also paper pieced the little postage stamp on the letter .. .. and when I look at it now I can actually see a little head on it!!!  Spooky!!!

Anyway, here we go:

This used:

Image:  Marianne Creatables "EC0140" Eline's Post Box
Sentiment:  LOTV
Backing Papers:  Dovecraft "Noel"
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Pinking Shears
Button Twine
Dimension Pads
Glamour Dust

I actually stamped my image onto some stiff card and then paper pieced onto that and cut around it all once dry.  Quite like the look of Mr Owl done like that!

I hope you have all had a good day.  I need to disappear.  It is my turn to get dinner on the table and I still need to do a bit of work.

No rest for the wicked!!!  LOL!!!

Love

MORE MULTI PRINTING

Hi Everyone

Back to my old bad habits of posting late!!!  Sorry :-(

It has been a day of wedding work today but come this evening I just had to have a little play.

Ever since I did the double printing with my Pink Petticoat papers I have wanted to go one stage further and instead of double printing .. ..have a go at triple printing.  

So here we are:

This used:

Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat using
For backing paper:
Twas the Night Script (printed in Lilac Bloom)
Large Nordic Snowflakes (printed in Winter Pansy)
Dotty Random Snowflakes (printed in Raspberry Coulis)
For sentiment backing:
Pinstripe (printed in Raspberry Coulis)
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat "Traditional Christmas Sentiments"
Cuttlebug Snowflake Die
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Clear Embossing Powder
Metallic Cord, Button and Gem

Tee hee!!  Well that's three patterns printed on the same piece of card.  Wonder if I will ever manage any more than that.

Well that is me for today .. .. very, very late.

Catch you again tomorrow (hopefully earlier).

Love

SUNDAY SNIPPETS

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a good weekend.

I have only just had chance for a little play with my snippets .. .. a little late for me but the world seems to have taken over a little this weekend.

Thankfully hubby has managed to find a bit of footie he recorded earlier to keep him busy whilst I shuffled my snippets and made this little creation for taking over to Pixie's Crafty Snippet Challenge.

As always I am super lazy and don't list any of my ingredients on a Sunday but if you have any questions then feel free to ask away.

Lots to get done before I sit down and catch up with last night's X-Factor and tonight's results that's for sure .. .. starting with a haircut for hubby!!

Enjoy what is left of today and I'll catch you again soon.

Love

ROYAL MAIL

Hi Everyone

Nice and early tonight from me .. .. as we have visitors landing very soon (some might say to share a Chinese Meal but others will say for a crafty session LOL!!!).

I am so pleased that everyone enjoyed my bit of Friday Fun yesterday.  It proved to me that I am not the only one who likes mundane but enjoyable little games and so much so that I have decided to work on a Christmas Quiz for all you fellow Penny Black addicts.  Just how many stamps you will have to name we will have to wait and see .. .. but you will have the Christmas holidays to play along with and there will be a prize for the first person to get all the names correct and a second prize drawn at random.

A lovely little thing for me to work on in my spare time LOL!!!

Anyway, here is the share I couldn't finish last night.  Simply because I couldn't find the set with the little sentiments on .. .. and where were they?

Exactly where they should be and exactly where I had looked .. . THREE TIMES!!

So here we go:

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "3766J" Royal Mail (as correctly guessed by lots of you)
Sentiments:  Marianne Design "Eline's Owls "EC0142"
Backing Papers:  Pink Petticoat "Snow Flurry" and "Pinstripes"
Hobbycraft Punch:  Snowflake
ProMarkers and Chalk
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Diamond Stickles
Ribbon from my stash box

So who was the lucky winner of my prize below

It was the lovely Debs who came back with the correct answer in record time .. .. all I have to do now is bundle it up nicely and wait for Debs to do something wonderful with it .. .. as I know she will.

Well done Debs.

Lots of my favourite ribbons, cords and charms .. .. with a lovely sprinkling of hearts to be seen.

Well my lovely visitors have just landed so I need to run .. .. but thank you to everyone for playing along with me.  I am glad you had fun and I will work on the Christmas special .. .. but I can't promise it will be so easy next time LOL!!!

Love

A BIT OF FRIDAY FUN

Hi Everyone

Well I am late, late, late tonight after being so good these last few nights.  :-(

But I can't finish my card because I can't find what I need for the final touches .. .. .. mainly because it has been such a hectic week on the production front and my crafty stash is in need of a good old tidy up!!!

So rather than not post at all I thought we could have a little fun.

Here is a tiny portion of my card.

Can anyone guess the Penny Black image from what I have posted?

I have always thought this would make for a fabby craft quiz .. .. and it could even be my specialist subject on Mastermind .. .. name that Penny Black Stamp LOL!!!  

I feel I would do quite well on that round ... ... ..  but would let myself down badly on the general knowledge that followed!!  I have only ever been interested in making things!!

So any takers?

I will send a selection of ribbons and embellishment bits to the first person who guesses correctly (but I will need the "actual" name of the stamp .. .. not just a description of what it might be).

Feel free to guess until my next post goes up tomorrow and I won't release any comments until then.

The stamp is still on sale ... I have just checked.

The only clue .. .. it is a wood mounted stamp.

Have fun!!

Love

DUCK - NOEL

Hi Everyone

Gosh I am doing well in posting a little earlier these last couple of days  .. .. hope these aren't going to be famous last words and I end up being later than ever tomorrow!!  LOL!!

A long thin creation from me today . .. but only because this gorgeous stamp won't fit on my normal 144 x 144 square card bases without masking off the images and stamping each letter individually.   Mmmm.... might have to try that sometime!!!

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2985L" Duck-Noel
Backing Paper:  Dovecraft "Back to Basics Christmas" Vintage
My Trust Sewing Machine
ProMarkers
Glamour Dust
Metallic Cord and Little Bells from my Stash Box

Not too much I can say about my make other than that I love those ducks, and thankfully I enjoy matting and layering LOL!!

Well, short and sweet from me today which is a good thing as I have a mountain of things to be getting on with.  I even resorted to setting up a table in our bedroom today and had a mammoth cuttlebug cutting session in there as there wasn't room to organise everything anywhere else!  Who knows what we will find under the bed covers tonight but clearly I need a craft table as big as a King Size bed (and then a craft room big enough to ft it in!!).  I wonder if Santa ever brings that kind of thing?!?!?!?  I feel certain I have been good enough if he does.  LOL!!

Hope you like my little share of the day and are not getting too fed up with seeing Christmas cards day after day!!

I am looking forward to hearing everyone's stories of their visits to the NEC and to seeing pictures of their crafty spends.  Sadly no visiting for me this time round, but I hope all of you lucky people that are able to attend have a good time.

Catch you again tomorrow.

Love

PLAYING WITH AN IDEA

Hi Everyone

Hope you have enjoyed your Wednesday.  Mine has flown by at super fast speed .. .. .. again!!!

But thankfully I am a little earlier posting today as by the time last night was finished with we ended up in bed far too late for anyone's good. In fact it was early morning .. .. and when the alarm goes off at 6.00am that isn't a good thing!!

So today I was determined to be earlier (which might just get me a team point from my lovely hubby LOL!!).

My card today uses a die cut that a little crafty friend of mine kindly cut for me quite a while ago.  I wasn't too sure whether I would use them or not but said my "thank you's" and carefully kept them stored away because "you never know when something might come in".

I will be seeing this little crafty friend on Saturday evening and when we are together we always have a crafty play and I thought she might like this idea (which is much more sparkly and impressive in real life).

This used:

Sentiment:  Elzybells   .. ..  sadly no longer trading :-(  
Backing Papers:  Papermania "A Silent Night"  (more leftovers from two years ago)
Marianne Creatables Design Die:  "LR0182" Bell and Bauble
Art Institute:  Pee Wee Glitter
Crafty Notions:  Double Sided Adhesive Sheet
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Little bit of holly from the ribbon lady at my local market

So the fun part .. .. which is what my little friend will enjoy doing best .. .. is cutting a piece of the double sided adhesive sheet to be just sightly larger than the bauble.  Peel off one of the layers of the protective paper and stick the die cut bauble on to the super sticky adhesive sheet.

Trim round the bauble (but miss out the little eyelet at the top) and then sprinkle on some pee wee glitter and press it down firmly onto the adhesive.  Tip off the excess and then peel off the second layer from the adhesive sheet on the back of the bauble and stick to your card front.  

I am well chuffed with the finished look and am looking forward to the weekend when we will no-doubt have baubles in a rainbow of colours!!

If you have an abundance of patience you might even use multiple colours of glitter on the same bauble .. .. but I didn't have time for that .. .. and after accidentally mixing my embossing powders the other day I probably can't be trusted anyway.

Note to self:  Don't play with glitter like this before going to the dentist in a couple of weeks.  All the glitter on my face (which doesn't seem to want to go away) isn't a good look LOL!!!

OK time to get the evening meal on its way.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Love

THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST

Hi Everyone

I hope today has been a good day for you.

For me it was the day that the Ghost of Christmas Past made an appearance .. .. or should I say "Christmases Past".  

What form did this ghost take?

Well the same form it takes every year .. .. as the box of Christmas papers that seems to increase in size year on year.  We all know what it is like.  You see a lovely new paper stack with gorgeous papers .. .. but we never seem to use them all and put them away after Christmas ready for next year!!  

My box also contains digital papers I have printed out but not used, which makes using them on my blog very interesting as I have to remember where I have printed them from.  That's a good test for the old memory that's for sure!!!

So it may be that over the coming weeks some paper stacks may be making an appearance that now have antique value!

But tonight's papers for my share of the day are only one year old .. .. just a little baby!!!  LOL!!!

This used:

Image:  Cuddly Buddly "Santa Sitting"

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Candy Buzz"

Backing Papers:  Dovecraft "Noel"

Marianne Creatables Die:  Christmas Stars

Josy Rose:  Nail Heads

Flower Soft:  Polar White

Nestabilities:  Standard and Scalloped Circles

ProMarkers

Hobbycraft Punch:  Small Snowflake

Glamour Dust

Metallic Cord from my Stash Box

So how big is your ghost of Christmases Past?  Or is it just me that hangs on to everything?!?!?  LOL!!

The jury is still out on the Flowersoft.  Not sure if it is a good look or not!

Catch you again tomorrow .. .. hopefully a little earlier.

Love

MY VERY FIRST MEMORY BOX DIE

Hi Everyone

I hope Monday has been kind to you.

Tonight I am going to share with you a card I have made today using my very first Memory Box die .. .. .. and surprise, surprise .. .. it wasn't one of the lovely hearts!!  (But only because I can't decide which one I like the best LOL!!).

Here we go:

This used:

Backing Paper:  Pink Petticoat "Snow Flurries" (can you tell I am loving the new Christmas downloads)

Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat "Heartfelt Christmas Sentiments"

Memory Box Die:  Modern Landscape Border
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
Button Twine
Hobby Craft Punch:  Snowflake
Glamour Dust

So there we go.  My very first Memory Box Die put into action.

I think I may have chosen the wrong colour background to my snow flurries.  I was tempted to use blue at first .. .. but then blue skies and snow didn't seem right. But having said that you don't get snowflakes bigger than a house either!!!  LOL!!!

Never mind.  I can always do a different colour sky next time.  There are 38 different colours I can play with until I find the right one LOL!!!

Have a lovely evening everyone. Enjoy your fireworks if you are having a bonfire party .. .. and stay safe!!

Love

SUNDAY SNIPPETS AND SKETCH SATURDAY

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had a good Sunday so far .. .. they seem to fly by so much more quickly than they did when I was a kid all those many moons ago!!!!

Of course Sunday is always a good excuse to use up some sheets of card that I have already cut into and share with Pixies Crafty Snippet Challenge and this week I also made use of the lovely sketch over at Sketch Saturday (I am hoping that they won't mind that I sat on my circle to squash it into an oval LOL!!!!)

So here is my share for today:

As always on a Sunday I am lazy on my blog and don't list my ingredients .. . but if you have any questions then just ask away and I will try to answer.

My snippets this week are super fresh (unlike some I could mention).  You will recognise them from the card I posted on Friday evening .. .. they didn't even get chance to be stored away.  I just scooped them up from the corner of my overcrowded desk and this is what I ended up with.

Here is the lovely sketch from Sketch Saturday if you fancy playing along:

So that is me for today.

Loads more Christmas cards are needed so you are going to have to have another week of those I'm afraid .. .. .. if not a whole month!!! Eeeekkkk!!!!

Enjoy your evening everyone and I will catch you again tomorrow.

Love

CAROLING DUCK!

Hi Everyone

I hope you have been having a good weekend.  

This Saturday has certainly been a lot calmer than last Saturday when I was up to my neck getting ready for the wedding fayre.

So the Christmas card makes continue and this month the Penny Black Saturday Challenge is looking for "Cute Christmas".   Well most of my Penny Black stamps are "cute" .. .. but this one gets centre stage today!

Love the papers too which I saw this morning on my lovely buddy's blog Doreen.  I fell in love with the snowflake paper (can't think why) .. .. but when I did the download and saw the papers alongside the snowflakes I was totally sold on the paper that looks like a piece of knitting!!!  Love, love, love it and it is in two colourways too!!  Double bonus .. .. thanks Doreen xx  I might even love that more than the snowflakes!!

Anyway, here is my "cute Christmas make":

This used:

Image:  Penny Black  "2988H" Caroling Duck!

Sentiment:  Penny Black "3024F" Xmas Spirit

Backing Paper "Cuddly Buddly" Silent Night

ProMarkers

Metallic Cord

Diamond Stickles

Self Adhesive Pearls

and that is it!

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my double printing cards from my last two post .. .. I bet you are pleased I gave you a break from it tonight!

Catch you again tomorrow with my snippet make .. .. lots of Christmas snippets hanging around the craft pod!!!  :-)

Love

YOU JUST KNEW IT DIDN'T YOU

Hi Everyone

Well you just knew what was coming today didn't you?

You could have put money on it .. .. more of the old double printing look that I played with yesterday.

I promise to give you a break from it tomorrow - but for today here is my next session of printer fun:

This used:

Pink Petticoat Papers:
Twas the Night Script
Scandi Chic Snowflake
Pinstripes
Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat Traditional Christmas Sentiments
Sizzix On the Edge Die "Snow Flurries"
Josy Rose:  Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbons, Cord, Charm and Brad from my stash box

So could this be the latest I have ever posted?  Very probably .. .. but better late than never!!

I'll catch you again tomorrow.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Love

LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Hi Everyone

Here at last .. .. lots to do in the House of Hearts which meant I missed out on making a Christmas creation yesterday .. .. but I was determined to get one made today .. .. if only to put into action a light bulb moment I had around 4.00am this morning LOL!!!  How sad!!!

The daft thing is that it is such a basic idea that I don't know why it hasn't dawned on me before .. .. and to add to my torture I had to work all day before I got chance to play.

As most of you will know most of the papers I use are digital ones .. .. simply because I love to know that I can have as many sheets of any design as I want.  But why not put the same piece of card through the printer twice printing one design over another?!?!?!?

So here is my first play with the idea .. .

First I printed a piece of linen card using Pink Petticoat Twas the Night Script in Wild Willow then I overprinted this with Pink Petticoat Scandi Chic Snowflake in Soft Truffle .. .. yay!!  Well pleased with the result!!

The Scandi Chic Snowflake paper is part of a new special offer Christmas download and the Snow Flurry band on my card is also  part of the new collection. 

I did the same double printing technique for the sentiment too.

Apart from the above I also used:

Martha Stewart Punch:  Traditional Scallop

Nestabilities Die:  Not sure what shape it is though LOL!!!

Wooden Snowflake embossed with "Heat It Up" Embossing Powder "Silver Pearl"

Diamond Stickles

Metallic Cord
Matt Silver Card

Pearl/Silver Embellishment and Self Adhesive Pearls

I know these colours are not traditional Christmas colours but I love them!!!

So I am well pleased with my experimental make and I just know I will be taking this idea further.

Catch you again tomorrow.

Love