The countdown ....

.... is on.  Cards all made, 2/3 of them written and posted, almost all gifts bought, none yet wrapped - no probs!!

It's our final challenge for 2011 on PaperPlay today, and the theme is, you'll never guess - Christmas!!!  Thank heavens, 'cos I've made nothing but Christmas cards for the last fortnight.  Here's my finished design:

As usual, it's pretty simple, due to having to mass produce.  I wish I had had time to stitch some red stitching - it would have been sooooo pretty, but I would have had to start the darn things in August to achieve that.  Here's a shot of a bunch all done (tried more but I kept knocking them over like a house of cards!):

The paper is a gorgeous BG "Nordic Holiday" one, I adore the colours - so rich and festive - and the stamp is also from the same line.  Cute.  I added a lot of stickles to the roofs of the houses and to the paper to make it even more festive.  Here's a close-up of a house:

I'm entering this into quite a few challenges, all with Christmassy themes.  They are: ABC Challenge, Crafts and Me, Creative Card Crew, Papertake Weekly, Paper Sundaes, Totally Gorjuss, and Stampin' for the Weekend.
Thanks for looking!

Ever left everything ....

.... until the last minute? That's me this Christmas - I still haven't started the Christmas shopping, the house is a tip, the days are definitely ticking away faster than they should be!! Eeek!!

On the plus side, my card from a few posts ago here has been picked as one of the Top 3 on CES Challenges (yayy - a blinkie!!).

I had time between batches of Christmas cards to do a commission. One of my colleagues asked me to do a graduation card, I hmmed and hawed because I didn't think I would have time, but then she told me the name of the graduate - and she was such a lovely child when she was at our school a million years ago that I had to say yes. So I was in the craftroom most of the weekend between Christmas cards and this:

I used the sketch from this week's Sketch Saturday, and I'm also entering it into quite a few challenges that it fits, namely: The Crafty Pad ("Give it a Punch"), Charisma Cardz ("Spots"), Cute Card Thursday ("It's just a number"), Crafts and Me ("Pearls and Swirls"), Simon Says Stamp ("Anything Goes") - and, this might be a bit cheeky, Mo's Digital Challenge ("Great Outdoors" - it does say the topic is broad - Mo's DT - can we say this girl has just ran outside waving her degree and throwing her mortarboard in the air? If not, I completely understand!).

I used this lovely image from Mo - that robe was hard to colour in black, really it's ended up faded grey but I hadn't time to go over it again. I decided to match it with black/cream papers and add a few touches of bling to make it nice and celebratory. Here's a close-up of the image:

Recipe:

Papers: Cosmo Cricket "Circa 1934"

Image: Mo Manning "Grad Girl"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Fiskars "Threading Water" punch, Hero Arts Smooth Gems, Prima swirl, needle + thread

After I finished, we went into town to meet friends for a coffee, Grafton Street looked gorgeous all lit up and festive in the dark. Here's a pic I found on the internet - not a great shot but you get the idea:

Thanks for looking!

Still. Haven't. Made ....

.... that bloomin' nephew's card, even though I said I would! That's because Christmas is galloping nearer every day, and this week's PaperPlay Challenge is upon us too. Our challenge is "Tags and Wrapping", and our sponsor is Simon Says Stamp

My teamies have made some absolutely stunning gift sets - it really wouldn't matter what was inside 'cos the wrapping is so beautiful.  Pop over and have a look!

I've just finished knitting a scarf as a Christmas gift for my son's teacher, it turned out really nicely and I decided to package it nicely too.  So here's how it turned out:

We've had yuck weather the past few days, it's currently lashing rain with accompanying howling gale, so the pics are atrocious.  Sorry!!  This does look very festive in real life, lovely BG red papers, with kraft bag and black cardstock, accessorised with starry red ribbon and sparkly snowflakes.

I forgot to take a pic of the scarf itself, and now that it's safely tied into the packaging, I'm not going to risk taking it out again.  You can see a peep of it through that round acetate window, though.

Thanks for looking - now, I've got a teenage nephew card to do (deja vu, anyone?!!).

Only one more ....

.... man card to do now I've finished this one.  Phew!  We were out last night at a friend's surprise 40th party - I made his card in a rush in the afternoon, photographed in horrid light before tucking it in my bag, went out, had a great night, came home - and d'oh, realised the card was still in my bag!!  Oh well, at least that meant I got to re-take the pics in daylight (albeit winter daylight)!  Here's what I made:

Update 3rd Dec: This card was picked as a Top 3 on CES Challenges  - thank you!

I used the sketch from this week's Sketch Saturday, and I'm also entering this into Basic Grey Challenges ("Lost and Found" - reuse something found around the house - I've used the corrugated packaging cardboard and the burgundy string which was from a clothes label) and CES Challenges ("Special Milestone Birthdays").

As I was tight for time on this, it's a variation of the 60th card I did a few weeks back. Used the delicious BG Oxford paper again - soooo good for male cards, and yes, more rosettes - I love making them so much.  Here's a side-shot of the rosettes and dimension of the card:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Oxford"

Sentiment: Computer generated

Other: Doodlebug brads, needle + thread, corrugated cardboard, string from stash, BG "Bittersweet" buttons

Now just have to do a belated birthday card for another nephew that has been put on the long finger again and again - those poor guys always get left 'till last, and then it's full steam ahead on the Christmas cards and whatever else Christmassy I get around to!

Thanks for looking!

That mention ....

.... of churning out cards on my last post had the immediate effect of making me screech to a complete creative halt.  I mustn't use such dynamic verbs in future!!

I had a commissioned deadline to meet this morning, so having huffed and puffed about it all week, I got down to it yesterday afternoon and made a card.  It's for a friend's relative, Auntie Bina, who is 90 today.  I haven't met her but she sounds like a fun and fiesty lady, so I decided to avoid any little old lady pastel shades and go for vivid colours.  Here's the end result:

Recipe:

Papers: October Afternoon "Modern Homemaker"

Image: Pure Innocence "Hello Cupcake"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks

Other: Diamond Stickles, ribbon from stash, glossy accents, needle + thread

I used the sketch from this week's Stamp with Fun, and I'm also entering this into Moving Along with the Times ("Ribbons and Bows"), Dutch Dare (recipe - I've got image, papers, layers and ribbon), ABC Challenge ("Dazzle") and Crafty Cardmakers ("Recycle" - my red ribbons and bow were kept from Christmas crackers).

I finally ordered my Christmas card stuff, and it arrived during the week.  I'm slightly freaked out by the lateness, so my design is quite simple (even though I wish I could add stitching, just don't have time).  Have a few other birthday cards to make and then the production line begins.

Thanks for looking!

Churning out ....

.... the male cards!!  November is a month for male birthdays in my family, nothing like adding that pressure to that of the upcoming Christmas season!!  My husband is first, then his nephew, then a two-week gap before some more.  Gah!!!  Anyway, here's what I made for my husband this year:

I'm entering this into the following challenges: Basic Grey Challenges ("Anything Goes" - second time this week!), CES Challenges ("Entertain Us - Song or Film" - of course, mine is "The Italian Job"!), Totally Papercrafts ("Stitch It"), The Shabby Tea Room ("Homespun Fall" - a gorgeous inspiration pic that I've taken the colours from) and Our Creative Corner ("Masculine - using non-traditional colours").

Another pinwheel (or are they called rosettes?) - anyway, I love making them.  They are the perfect way to use those strips that are cut off the edge of a piece of 6" x 6" paper to make the background layer for my cards, those strips I can never bear to throw away.  I have oodles of them and at last can put them to some use!!!

I've been teasing my husband because he's getting to that stage where he's doing that stretchy arm thing when he's reading - needs to get the eyes tested, etc., and he is in complete denial.  When he looked at this card, he said "There's only one "L" in Paul", to which I replied "There's only one "L" plus an exclamation mark on your card - you need to get your eyes tested!".  Hee hee, got 'im!!!

I had to make the Mini bit three times - I had decided to try out the cracked glass technique, used about half a pot of e.p. building up the thickness I wanted, cracked OK, then my son came to see what I was doing and asked was the Mini supposed to look like it had crashed!  Oh dear, not quite the look I was going for.  The second one I forgot to distress the edges before putting one layer of e.p. on and it looked bland.  This is the third!

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Wander"

Stamp: "Mini" by Blade Rubber Stamps

Sentiment: Computer Generated

Other: Distress Inks, ribbon from stash, Doodlebug brads, needle + thread

Now on to nephew's card - eek!  He's turning 20 so no longer a teenager, but that doesn't make it any easier!!

Thanks for looking!

Had a lovely afternoon ....

.... in my craftroom, making a commissioned card.  I really enjoyed myself - even though I'd left it until almost the last moment.  Had a moment of panic when I started questioning the age of the birthday boy - I knew it was 60, but I started arguing with myself and trying to work it out logically - so ended up having to text to check for sure!!!  And of course, it is 60!!  This card is also my DT entry for PaperPlay this week - our challenge is called "Button Up".  Here's what I made:

I used the sketch from this week's Mojo Monday.  I'm also entering this into Basic Grey Challenges ("Anything Goes") and Simon Says Stamp ("Buttons").  I made the pinwheels - fun but fiddly, especially when took on a life of their own when I was trying to fix them to the backing circles!  I made a star and the numbers and crackle accented them - here are some close-ups:

Recipe:

Papers: Basic Grey "Oxford"

Sentiment: Computer generated

Other: Doodlebug brads, BG Bittersweet buttons, handmade pinwheels, star, numbers

Thanks for looking!

Happy Hallowe'en ....

.... everybody!
It's so lovely to be on holidays - a week of rest and relaxation after a very busy September and October.  It was a quick run-up to Hallowe'en this year, we only put up decorations yesterday.  My daughter didn't trick or treat this year for the first time (at 17!!) - even last year, she and her friends dressed up and went around after all the little ones had finished.  Tonight, she went off to a friend's house for an evening of watching scary movies instead.

So J and I carved the pumpkins - here they are just finished:

 

And here they are lit up - mine is Beetlejuice on the left and J did Devil Flanders:

I really like our fireplace this year - we painted the chimney-breast black earlier in the year and it just hadn't occurred to me until now just how good it would look at Hallowe'en!!

And my son's costume this year - hmmmm - all I can say is it was cheap!!  He got this old copy paper box about a month ago, spent some time defacing it, and declared himself all set for trick or treating.  He calls this extravaganza "box-head"!! 

Tomorrow, I might get to my craftroom - I have a commission for the end of the week and husband's birthday coming up too, so no excuses.

Thanks for looking!

Ahem ....

.... well, hello there - I've crawled out from that rock I've been hiding under for the past month!!  Work has been very busy, add that to all the kids' extra curriculars starting up again, husband working nights, and sundry other bits and pieces, and I haven't even had time to open the door of my craftroom, never mind make anything.
I always find it very hard to get back into the swing of things after such a long hiatus, I never like what I first make, and this time is no exception.  It's my entry for this week's PaperPlay, which is called "Use Black".  Nice challenge, one of my favourite colours and I used it in a card for a neighbour boy's birthday.  Last minute - the kick I needed!!  But no time to colour images or anything like that - just a quick shaped card with stuff on it!  Here's what I made:

We're back to the winter lighting again, I promise it is somewhat more vibrant in real life than it looks on the screen!!

I'd like to think I'm back on track now - especially since the spectre of Christmas cards is looming!! I haven't had time even to browse for materials and ideas, I would normally have ordered and received all by now.  Hope to get a chance to bloghop too - how I've missed that!

Thanks for looking!

Trying to catch up on ....

.... some sleep this week.  We were so tired after the weekend away - all those late nights and early mornings took their toll!!  And it was a very busy week in school too, which didn't help.  We had an unannounced visit from an inspector on Thursday - cue behind the scenes panic and mayhem - but all was well!

Went to a 40th birthday party today, luckily the birthday girl has small children, so the party wasn't a late-nighter - we came home at 9pm.  Here's the card I made for her:

I used the lovely sketch from this month's CLP Challenge and I'm also entering this into Colour Create ("Pink, Brown, Cream, White"), Cute Card Thursday ("Anything Goes") and Stampin for the Weekend ("Tickled Pink").

I used this sweet stamp from Lili of the Valley, first time to ink it up.  The gorgeous die-cut doily was done with a friend's die at a crop a while back - I cut several in the one colour - why didn't I think to do some other colour too?!!  Here's a close-up of the image:

Recipe:

Papers: MME "Stella Rose - Hazel" and Crate Paper "Emma's Shoppe"

Image: Lily of the Valley "Milly Just for You"

Colouring Medium: Distress Inks
Other: Diamond Stickles, BG Pearls, needle + thread

Thanks for looking!

Off gallivanting again ....

.... we're just back from Italy - we were away for four days at a friend's wedding, and it was the most gob-stoppingly amazing weekend.  The location was a flippin' castle in Tuscany, if you please!!!  It was a small wedding, about 30 adults (plus assorted toddlers and babies) - nobody with older kids wanted to bring them!

We were staying in Cetona, the hill-top village that belonged to the castle.  We had a gorgeous room, with air con - that made me so happy.  I don't do heat very well, being a very pale-skinned Irish person, my comfort level usually peaks at about 25^oC and above that I go into a decline.  It was 33^oC at the hottest part of the day all weekend, but somehow it was OK - bit of a breeze, lots of shady areas, and the delightful air-con at night.  Happy me!!!  I'm going to overload you with pics now - have managed to cut hundreds down to eight!!

Here's a view from one of the streets up to "La Rocca", the castle/villa bit:

It was such a magnificent place, we were laughing about how unworthy we all felt to be there - it would have been no surprise if George Clooney or somebody of that ilk had come walking across the grass and told us to get off his land!!!  Here are the beautiful gardens looking up towards the castle:

The pool in another area of the garden:

The food was divine, both at the wedding and in the village for other meals.  We ate and ate and ate all weekend.   Table all set for dinner - bit dark as it was dusk but you get the idea. 

Here's where we stayed, just off the main piazza, lovely shady terrazza - and then a view of the old castle beside our place (that's me on the left with the whitest legs in the universe!).

Another view of the street heading from our place up to the town hall and thence the castle:

And here's our hire car - of course it had to be a Fiat 500!

We are lucky to have other friends who live about half way between Cetona, where the wedding was, and the airport in Rome, so we called in to see them on Sunday - had more lovely food, a refreshing dip in the pool and sit in the shade, and then we came home.

I came back with several impressive mozzy bites, no sunburn (hurrah!), and a feeling of wanting to be fed at least once every hour or so!!! Ho hum - back to reality!!!

Thanks for looking!!

Sort of the same ....

.... made another card with just words in the middle.  It's a Golden Wedding Anniversary card, and it's also my DT entry for this week's PaperPlay.  Our sponsor this week is Inky Impressions and the challenge is called "Use 2 or more Stamped Images".  Some of the DT girls have done magnificent things with masked and merging.  I just used four stamps from the one set!!  Here's what I made:

Only when I looked at the photos did I realise what a truly disgustingly bad knot I'd tied in the ribbon, but I'd already handed it over so no way to redo.  The stamps are a Papertrey Ink set that my lovely friend Anne brought me from a trip to Cinncinati recently.  I've used two sizes of sunflower, stamped on patterned paper, and then stamped two sizes of centres, cut them out, liberally covered in gold stickles and popped up for dimension.  Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

Papers: Pink Paislee "Queen Bee"

Stamps: Papertrey Ink "Simple Sunflower" set

Ink: Distress Inks

Other: Gold stickles, metallic rub on stuff, Doodlebug brads, ribbon from stash, needle+thread

Thanks for looking!

A whiter shade ....

.... of white.  We had to go back to school today, sob sob weep wail!  Had completely forgotten what 7am looks like (answer: not very nice!), having not seen such an disgustingly early hour in two whole months! 

My daughter went back to school on Tuesday, looking very smart in her new senior jumper.  Son and I were waving her off at the front door, and he turned to me, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, and said "they grow up so fast!".  OK, grandad!!!

I had a few crafting buddies over on Monday for a last hurrah, and I made an all-white card.  A first for me, was almost going to cave and add coloured stitching, but I stayed strong and this is what I ended up with:

It was so hard to photograph, the sun was out today and the white kept sort of disappearing into itself, so I ended up taking pics in a shady corner!!  This card would work for this week's PaperPlay Challenge, which is "Make your own Flowers", but it's not my team's turn.  So I am entering My Time to Craft ("In Full Bloom"), Moving Along with the Times ("Handmade Flowers"), Creative Card Crew ("Anything Goes") , Totally Gorjuss ("As you Like it") and Charisma Cardz ("Anything Goes").

I made handmade rolled roses for my card - distressing along the edges before I rolled them which looks much nicer, I think.  I stickled them for added interest.  Here's a closer look:

Recipe:

No patterned papers, no image, no ink!

Other: Nestabilities Lacy circles, MS branch punch, diamond stickles, doily, pins, ribbon from stash, needle + thread.

Thanks for looking!