Keeping Warm

This was my high/low thermometer in the greenhouse at about 1pm today.

and a picture of the garden at the same time .....

As you may know we are having an early cold snap in the UK!

Pretty isn't it?

Hubby has been feeling a bit 'fragile' & feeling the cold so yesterday out came my Grandmothers trusty Jones hand sewing machine that I inherited & I whipped up this heat bag for him.

He's been using one of the 'normal' ones but complained that he needed a 'hands free' version

So I set to work & came up with this ........

I managed to prise it away from him to photograph! :-)

Keeping the 'core' warm really helps :-)

I've made it adjustable so that it can be worn by lot's of different sized people.

Close up of the fastening

Hope everyone is keeping warm & safe ..........

Can now reveal .................

...... Daughter's birthday card.

It's not actually her birthday until Tuesday but her Dad & I visited this weekend (she lives about 70 miles away) & she got her card & pressie so that we could have the fun of seeing her open them :-)

I used the free visage stamp from Craft Stamper magazine.

My Martha Stewart butterfly punch - layered & stickles round the edge.

Love the colours of the blooms :-)

Button embellishments - the background is a Martha Stewart punch.

And the birthday stamp was inked round with distress ink & mounted on a scalloped background again punched out.

Finished with the striped ribbon in coordinating colours.

And a matching diamond folded card

For a bit of a change a diamond folded card.

Using the same elements as the matching box.

Except that I replaced the trees with snowflakes which I inked using platinum ink for a bit of contrast & depth.


I'd like to enter this for the Cute Card Thursday challenge 40 - revisiting challenge 123 Texting crazy.


and A Spoonful of Sugar Anything Goes challenge 131


and Fussy and Fancy's Christmas without Red & Green challenge


and Totally Papercraft's Untraditional Christmas - no red or green

Another of 'those' choc boxes!

Just goes to show how versatile these choc boxes are :-)

Just vary the paper's to non traditional colours &  you get a completely different look! :-)

Add a few die cuts & a sentiment & a bit of sparkley ric rac

Just love making these!

Good job as I have quite a few to make :-)


I'd like to enter this for the Top Tip Tuesday Layer upon Layer challenge.


and the Simon Says Stamp challenge - Let it Snow

Angel Xmas card

This is another Xmas card

I did make my daughter's birthday card today but I can't reveal until later - don't want to spoil the surprise!

The background is stamped onto the card.

the angel was stamped out in silver ink & then cut out, outlined with stickles & mounted on sticky fixers.

I used silver craft wire (from a set of different coloured wires that I've had for ages!) to make the halo. I wound the wire round a pen to get the round shape & then twisted the ends together & popped it behind the head.

I was going for the simple but striking look :-)

Mind you it took quite a while to produce this 'simple' card!! :-)

Amazing Win!

Woohoo!!

I've just found out that I've won the Copic Candy over on Charmed Crafts Crafty Goings On.

I'm such a lucky girl! :-)

Can't quite believe it yet ....

I've only ever had single copics so I'm thrilled to have a set :-)

Thanks to Karen & Graphics Direct for such fantastic blog candy! 

Karen has a lovely online shop full of gorgeous goodies - do go visit 

Charmed Cards & Crafts

Mojo Monday Sketch 165

This is the card I made from the sketch over on Mojo Monday blog

I used my copics to colour

and different coloured stickles to highlight the snow.

Frosted lace for the roofs, icicle for the trees & diamond in other places.

I'd also like to enter this for Stamping for the Weekend's Winter challenge

and Creative Inspirations challenge blog Christmassy/Winter

Another seasonal box

Here is another of the seasonal boxes I've made using seasonal paper & die cut Xmas trees & stamped sentiments.

This shows the bottom of the box which I've inked using Distress inks to pick up the texture of the card that I've used.

We Three

/;

Over at Daring Cardmakers this week the challenge is We three - three of anything

so these Xmas cards that I've made fit the bill! ...................

The trees are stamped with a stamp that I made myself .............. out of cardboard! & are stenciled by again a handmade stencil for the 'branches'

I've stamped straight onto the card - very simple, no mounting & the sentiments are also stamped straight onto the card.

I used gold metalic paint for the tree shapes & copic's for one of the branches & stazon green ink for the branches on the other through the stencil.

For the third card - well it is We three challenge :-) I used gold brilliance ink which gives a more uniform stamping.

I used stickles to highlight one edge & coloured the stars with the gold ink to match, and decided not to stencil the branches this time.

Anniversary card

This is the card for hubby for our Wedding anniversary tomorrow. I've kept it quite simple as he doesn't really like overly fancy cards!

I coloured the cute download image with my copics - sorry can't remember which download this is from as I'd already got it printed out when I lost all my downloads when my computer was stolen.....

The image is mounted on nestie scalloped circles

Love the sentiment too.

Cute image isn't it! Just love the way she's looking at him :-)

A Challenge card

This is the sketch for this weeks challenge over on the Allsorts challenge blog

As I wanted to join in the challenge over at Dotties World which is Anything goes - Red I have combined the 2 challenges & used red mainly on my card.

I coloured the cute image with my copics & mounted it on the scalloped circle cut with my nesties & used my gel roller pen to do the faux stitching round the edge.

I added white buttons

and die cut snowflakes along with the merry christmas sentiment matted again in red card & raised on sticky fixers

and added the ribbon bow & pearls to finish ...............


I'd also like to enter this for the PB at Allsorts challenge - thanks Brenda for the heads up :-)

I've finally done it!

Made my first Xmas card of the year!

Most of my Xmas cards are quick to make as I have a lot to make & send out.

I'd like to enter this in the Quick & cute challenge over on the mytimetocraftchallenge blog

Just love this Santa image - it really doesn't need a lot of anything & lends itself to simple treatment :-)

Well blogger won't let me post any more images this evening ......

So - this is it for now folks ................

Clarification

Hope this photo clarifies what I was talking about with the choc's 

There are two squares of delicious choc's per box

And ............yummy they are!

It's a wonder any make it to the pressie stage with a choc'a'holic like me!!

Chocolate box

Hmmm - did I fool you into thinking that this was it!

I found this box of gorgeous chocs - yes they are, well I had to test them! *giggle*

The packet contained 2 sections ......

which I made into a Xmas box of special chocs......

Firstly I made the box & lid............

so that it was a snug fit so that the choc's didn't rattle around

Then I decorated the box lid...........

I used die cut snowflakes & tree which were enhanced with stickles & my Sizzix   

embossing folder snowman, again enhanced with stickles.

The sentiment was stamped, cut out & mounted with sticky fixers, as was the snowman.

I finished with the cheerful red spotted ribbon - in keeping with the Spots & Stripes theme.

I'd like to enter this for the Allsorts challenge blog challenge, which this week is Spots & Stripes.


and the Dotties World Anything goes Xmas challenge


and Top Tip Tuesday Anything goes challenge 

Birthday card

It's my friends birthday on Friday - here is her card

I used my friend stamp & my Martha Stewart butterfly punch. there is a butterfly on the stamp & I popped the punched butterfly on top.

Some stripey ribbon & co-ordinating blooms......

And a punched scalloped circle with the circular happy birthday sentiment mounted on sticky fixers to raise it slightly ...................

Love these Papermania papers that I bought on a recent crafty shopping expedition with my mate Maddy .............

Must get this in the post! ............ 

Another New Home card

For a girlie this time

A crafting friend Carole over at Camcraft Creations reminded me that my nesties could be used slightly differently - there are so many different techniques for everything that the brain sometimes has overload & forgets........

They are embossed straight onto the card rather than cutting & embossing as I've got into a rut doing lately :-)

I stamped the cottage straight onto the card & coloured it with my copics. 

I used ribbons & blooms & matted the card so that it has the contrasting boarder round it.

The blooms had purple jeweled centers which I covered in gold stickles which toned in better.

Crafty Cardmakers challenge No 32

The challenge at Crafty Cardmakers is to use a freebie

So I used the freebie visage image that came with Craft Stamper Magazine.

I inked it using timber brown stazon ink.

The bottom edge was cut using my new Tim Holtz die & I used my Martha Stewart edge punches for the strips above, finished off with the strip of heart lace. The with love sentiment I matted using my circle & circle scallop punches & added silver stickles to the edge.

Using the timber brown ink again I stamped the motif  straight onto the background paper & added the blooms over the top.

The butterfly is a Martha Steward punch & I again edged it with silver stickles & popped little dots of silver stickles into the holes at the bottom for added 'bling' when the card is closed.