Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  Thanks for popping by, hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to 2014 :)

We had a lovely Christmas although it was over far too quickly as usual :(  We shared some time with family and friends and even managed to open our presents from Amy while she watched all the way from Thailand...The marvels of technology!

I had every intention of spending lots of time crafting over the holidays but other things seemed to be more important so it was yesterday that I made this little card for my Godson who's celebrated his 8th birthday on Friday.  It's just a simple card using a topper from Lili of the Valley and some gingham and blue card.  I cut 'Steven' from silver mirror card using my Cricut Create and added a sentiment and some card candi. 

I edged the insert with some gingham card and then cut out some bones using a punch, I thought it tied in nicely with the image of the little dog on the front and kept it suitable for a boy :)

Have you made any New Year Resolutions?  I am just hoping to continue my keeping fit routine, so it's back to my Pilates this evening.  I am also going to look after my nails as I had some fabulous polishes as a Christmas present, I have made a good start by not biting them since Christmas day (not sure how long this one will last!) here's hoping in a few weeks I will have nails to be proud of!   Then of course I will continue with my crafting and blogging :) .....This one's easy!!! 

Looking forward to your comments and wishing you a 'crafty' 2014.

Dawn xxx

Matchbox Gift

It's the weekend!!! :)  Hope you have all had a good week and managed to achieve all that you set out to accomplish this week.  I have had a busy but quite productive week and enjoyed a fabulous day on Wednesday, Christmas Crafting along with 10 friends.  We meet quite regularly for a couple of hours most months throughout the year but in December we have a day where we get together and spend the whole day doing something creative for Christmas.  This year we made Christmas crackers using the Tonic Christmas cracker die, the left over papers and card were made into gift tags. There was also a jewelry based Christmas decoration to make which involved wire bending and some very pretty beads.  Everyone contributed to the lunch which was wonderful and was topped off with delicious homemade Banoffee Pie, Millionaires shortbread and a fabulous fruit cake.

The little box I made below was a small gift of appreciation to Joanne who hosts the get together each time and keeps us supplied with teas and coffees.  I used my new Sizzix matchbox die to create the box and I decorated it with a Spellbinders Poinsettia flower and leaf.  I popped some tissue paper and a few chocolates inside the box.  I am really pleased with my new die, I've always loved little matchboxes and now I can make my own in any colour I like and fill them with little gifts or trinkets :)

This was one of my crackers.... 

...and my 'attempt' at the decoration (think I need to stick to paper crafts)

Well folks, it's getting late and I have a day of demos tomorrow at Samuel Taylors, I know...another day of craftiness, it's a hard life! :)

Thanks for taking a look at my blog and look forward to any comments you are kind enough to leave.

Hugs

Dawn x

A Quick Card for Sweet Friend

Hi, and thanks for popping by.  Well here we are already in December....Where has this year gone?  It only seems 5 minutes since it was last Christmas.  I hope you are all a lot more organised than I am with your Christmas preparations, I have so many cards to make and I haven't bought one present yet!   I guess I better get a move on :)  

The card I have made today is just a quick simple card.  I have used the subscription gift stamps from Craft Stamper Magazine.  I have been meaning to subscribe to this magazine for years as I buy it every month anyway.  It's my favourite magazine.  I saw the subscription gift was a set of JOFY stamps which I have had on my want list for ages so took the plunge and subscribed for a year, can't wait for my first copy to drop through the letter box :)  I have also used a new stamp that I bought from the Unity Stamp Company called Vintage Postcard.  I think it is going to be a really useful stamp and the quality is amazing.  I coloured the stamped flowers with my coloured pencils and added some white gel pen highlights,  The sentiments are from a selection of my stamps, they fit perfectly into the address space on the postcard.  I have added a couple of wooden buttons and a little metal flower embellishment.  I mounted the postcard onto a sparkly background paper and then onto a small card blank.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

Hugs

Dawn x

The BIG 50! and a Christmas card

What an amazing few days I have just had!  It was my 50th birthday on Monday 18th November and on Saturday evening, to celebrate we had a family meal at a local Indian restaurant.  It was lovely to see my two brothers, Darrin and Micah with their families, my parents and Kevin's bother and his wife and son, Kevin's Uncle Malcolm and Auntie June. The meal was delicious and the company fantastic!  

Me With my Parents

Some of the beautiful flowers and balloons I received 

On Sunday afternoon, my best friend Valerie, had planned a surprise treat for me, I had no idea what was happening or where I was going!   Val picked me up at 2.30pm and drove me to a local Hotel, The Stirk House, it's a very old and pretty hotel.  I  was taken to  a room with a burning log fire and was greeted by two more of my friends, Mandy and Lisa, we were all there for afternoon tea, it was heavenly! :) I could certainly become a lady that lunches, Lol

Afternoon Tea

Monday was my actual birthday, I received so many lovely cards and presents but the best surprise of all was the amazing video that Amy had arranged all the way from Thailand!  As you can imagine I cried! :)  There was also a bouquet of flowers delivered from Amy which happened to arrive just seconds after I had seen the video :) 

Flowers from Amy

Today is a day to craft :)  I am looking forward to spending some time in my craft room with my stash!  It's been such a hectic time so a little crafting therapy is definitely in order. Here is a little Christmas card I made on Thursday, it's quite a simple one using my Marianne design Mittens die and a border embossing folder that I got free on a magazine, sorry not sure which one it was.  I just added a bit of glitter on the cuffs and stamped a small 'Happy Christmas' sentiment.

                                                 

Well that's all for now folks, off to make some lunch and then craft, craft, craft :)

Hugs

Dawn x

I Know!....I should be making Christmas cards :)

Hi all, hope you are well on this Wednesday afternoon.  I have had a busy day cleaning up as Kevin has just completed decorating the small bedroom that I use as a dressing room, it's amazing how working on one room turns the whole house upside down!  I am just so pleased it's finished and we can now move the furniture back this evening and get the curtains back up.

This card has been made using a Sherri Baldy digital image which I was slightly unsure of when I first came across them but they are delightful to colour in and I fancied playing with my Copic pens so here we are :)  I used spellbinder Gold Labels four and I punched out a tag shape for the sentiment. The tag is decorated with ribbon strips that I stamped onto some coordinating paper and cut them out.  The paper range I have used is Kaisercraft - The Lake House.  I have added some paper roses and gems to complete the card.

Thanks for popping by.

Dawn x

A Wonderful Time!

Hi there, hope you are all well on this bright frosty Sunday afternoon.  I wrapped up warm this morning and took Maisie for a walk, it was beautiful seeing the frosty pavement sparkling, just like my craft desk when I have had the glitter out :)  

The card I am showing today has been made using one of the House Mouse stamps.  I have stamped the image onto watercolour card and then coloured with Distress Markers. I've added glitter to the hat and then inked the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  The paper I have used is a Christmas collection from many moons ago, not sure what it's called but it is quite textured.  I have used some acrylic snowflakes and a sentiment to complete the card.

Well off to do a little more crafting but first I am going to sort out my dies as they are in a real mess!  I do have the magnetic sheets to store them on but have been naughty and not put them back in their sets and now they are all mixed up.  Hope you have a great day and thanks for popping by and taking the time to comment.

Hugs
Dawn x

Christmas Tree Blueprint

Good afternoon folks :)

I have manged to complete my second Christmas card this year! Hurray :)  I have had a bit of time crafting today and have used the Christmas tree blueprint set that I bought last week.  I have used watercolour paper and Distress markers to colour the stamped image and then cut them out with the matching die set.  The paper I have chosen is from the Farm House Paper Company, the range is Norland  I have die cut the smallest of the Spellbinders Heirloom 2011 dies in gold card to use as embellishments. The sentiment on the mini postcard is a die from Cheery Lynn.  

I have a feeling that Christmas is going to get here before I have enough cards made, never mind there's always next year :)   

Until next time....

Dawn x