Blue Santa

Hello everybody!

I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy and Peaceful Christmas.

I cannot believe what a wonderful time I have had since I started my blog on August 5th. I would never have even contemplated this without the encouragement of my very dear friend Linda (Lindyloo)  - whose blog http://creativeharmony.blogspot.co.uk/  has been such an inspiration to me, and I really cannot thank her enough.

It is incredible how many friends I have made in such a short time, and how wonderfully helpful everybody is in Blogland!

This will be my last post now until after Christmas, but I'm sure I will be popping in if I get chance to see if any of you are posting!

Happy Christmas everybody! Love and hugs from Christine xx

Heartfelt Sympathy

Good morning dear friends.  I am posting this card with a heavy heart.  A very dear friend lost her husband a couple of days ago.  I know there is no good time to lose a loved one but there is much at Christmas to bring back the sad memories, eg hearing Christmas carols, writing Christmas cards to name  but two.  I know this from experience because I lost my darling dad on Christmas Day  and then my mum, who I can honestly say truly was my best friend, only a couple of weeks before Christmas a few years later. But I cannot conceive of  losing my soul mate, although I know there are some amongst you who have gone through this.

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Anyway, I couldn't really get my head round making a card so I stole the card I made the other day for John and just made a few changes, adding an appropriate verse. I used Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles, Marvellous Squares and Diamond Strips and Accents.  The striped organza ribbon was from my stash, the silk cala lily from Hobbycraft, and the grey pearls, which toned so beautifully, were from the candy I won from Patricia.

Well, I'm off to do my food shopping today and that's it - all ready. And if I forget anything well that's just too bad! We'll do without.

Have a good day everybody. Love and hugs from Christine x

Table Gift Box

Hello dear blog friends . Just a quick post today.  You know the old saying - so much to  do, so  little time to do it!  Actually, it's not that bad but I must admit to not having a great deal of time to craft this week.

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On Boxing Day morning we will be travelling north to spend a few days with my sister and her husband. I have made these little gift boxes for the lunch table and they will hold a couple of special Belgian chocolates. Yummy ! My sister's Christmas decor is silver and white and so I have made half the boxes silver with  white poinsettias and the other half white with silver poinsettias. I think there might be eight for lunch so I need to make another couple, but they are so simple to do. I have used Spellbinders Square Bracket Edge Box and the poinsettias are  Marianne Creatables. I added a a gem in the centre of each flower and then also applied a holograph peel off snowflake to each side of the lids.

I hope you all have a good day today. With love from Christine xx

Jewellers Bag

Hi friends. I know I said no more gift bags, but this is different!!! LOL!

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I bought my niece some jewellery for Christmas and had to pay extra for a presentation box . However, it was then inserted into this gift bag. It's very good quality so I decided I could use this instead of just wrapping up the box. 

There was a black frame around the edge and black cord handles, so I used  black glitter card and die cut two daisies from Spellbinders Jewel Flowers and Flourishes, although in the picture it looks like just one. The leaves are Spellbinders Foliage. I added little floral pearls from WOC, to the centres of the flowers,  and the other little black pearls in the upper corners are from my stash . Initially I was going to use black ribbon for the handles but decided to leave the black cord because it looked okay. You know what they say (whoever "they" are) - if it ain't broke don't fix it!! The flower on the tag is from the Square Bracket Edge Box die set.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for taking time to look in!

With love from Christine xx

Yet More Christmas Gift Bags!

This is the last time  you will see gift bags this year.

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 I have very little time for crafting this week. I have a busy - enjoyable - few days. First of all, thank you all for the good wishes for our wedding anniversary. We had a lovely day. After a great meal ( it was all a surprise because we had no idea where we were going) we decided to come back to our house for coffee. As predicted it turned into a very long lunch, but we all really enjoyed the day.

Today was another lunch party, although just for me this time. I met up with 12 other guys from the company where I worked before I retired. I had changed my speciality from midwifery to Occupational Health and I was in charge of the health and wellbeing of the employees at a large food manufacturing company. ( A little clue - think coffee, cheese and chocolate!) We were all managers in different departments there before retiring and now meet up for lunch every three months. This time it coincided with Christmas which was lovely. I always feel a little spoiled because I am the only female.

On Wednesday I am having my hair done so I will be all posh in case I bump into Santa when he arrives next week!  And then I am meeting up for lunch with the nurses who used to work with me. These four gift bags are for these ladies. I chose to make them all in green Christmas cardstock from the First Editions pad Stocking Fillers, although obviously they are all different.

As you will see the first one has yellow glittery poinsettias and a yellow ribbon bow. The second one has lots of glittery gold snowflakes with a red, green and gold ribbon bow. The gems to decorate the poinsettias and snowflakes are from my stash. The poinsettias are Marianne Creatables, the small flourishes are also Marianne dies and the large ones are Spellbinders Jewel Flowers and Flourishes. The snowflakes are Spellbinders Create-a-Flake Four.

I probably won't have anything to post tomorrow unless I manage to craft in the evening.

So I hope you all have a great day and manage to do everything on your no doubt long "To Do" list!

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Ruby Wedding - Mine!

Well, when we tied the knot on December 16th 1972 I could never have imagined celebrating 40 years together! When you are so young it is difficult to think that far ahead! But here we are!

Here is the card I have made for John. I couldn't decide between Resplendent Rectangles or Diamond Strips and Accents  so I used them both - and being greedy I also snuck in a couple of little bits from Marvellous Squares too.

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I find these front steppers extremely difficult to photograph because they come out  looking totally out of proportion. The side view, which shows the inside, makes a better picture. The little swans are the centre part from a Nellie Snellen hearts die set. I know this is more burgundy than red but I liked it better for a man. And I even added a bow, though it's very small and very narrow ribbon! The fold back parts of the Diamond Strips and Accents are much darker in real life, in fact there is very little difference between that and the burgundy card stock. Who said the camera never lies?

Well we are off out to lunch with some friends. Whenever we lunch with this particular couple it generally lasts until about 7 o'clock! LOL!

Hope you all have a great day! Love and hugs from Christine x

40th Birthday High Heeled Sandal

Hello Everybody, well what a difference in the weather yesterday! From being frozen solid for a few days it was back to being washed away! And the winds were incredible. I really don't like wind!!! It is so destructive.

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Well as you can see I have moved away from Christmas and made an easel card for a 40th birthday. The stiletto sandal is decoupaged and I added tiny pearls to the butterflies bodies. The edges of the paper doily have been glued and glittered. I actually got this, together with a lemon and a lilac one,  from the Ribbon Box and I think it has come up pretty well. I have made this for my sister to give to her daughter-in-law. Actually I will make one  more than she can choose which one she would like and I'll have one of the others and one also for my nephew. The yellow daisy card I showed a couple of weeks ago is for the same person. I usually allow them the choice and then I take what's left. Still, since I will have made them all I guess I should like them all too so it won't matter which I send.

Take care and have a good day.

love from Christine xx

Christmas Gift Bags

Hello friends. Today I'll show you a couple of the gift bags I have made.

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The card stock is from First Edition Stocking Fillers. I used Grand Labels 11 because it is the only large one I have, but I'd like to get a different shape at some stage.The green glitter poinsettias are Marianne Creatables, the two smaller flourishes are also Marianne dies but the largest is Spellbinders Jewel Flowers and Flourishes. The snowflakes are all Spellbinders Create-a-Flake Four and the pink and cream rose is from Hobby House. I kind of flattened it so that it fitted the centre of the huge snowflake!The ribbons and gems are from my stash. I have now shortened the green ribbon because it didn't look right. Sometimes you don't notice until you see the picture. As you can tell from the silver tissue paper the gifts are already inside.

I hope you all have a good day. Christine xx

Another Door Plaque

Good morning friends - on a very cold and frosty morning too! The temperature didn't rise above -2 yesterday and even that was for only a short time. Me no likey this cold weather!! Sorry I have been missing for a few days but I have now done all my Christmas shopping, wrapped most of the presents, put up the tree and added the lights. Today I will actually dress the tree so I might not have anything to post again tomorrow because this is quite a task!!

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Well as you can see I have made another door plaque, this time for Charlotte's little brother Sébastien. I hadn't planned to but John said, and he was absolutely right, that Séb would be very hurt if he didn't have his own special door plaque too.

Well you know how awkward it is to make things for men and boys. However, I know his room is painted a very similar shade of blue so I painted the Joanna Sheen MDF plaque with Match Pots emulsion. Last time I was there he had these Lightning McQueen race cars everywhere.  Knowing little boys that could have changed but I thought race cars was a safe bet so I managed to download these images from the internet. I cut the finishing flags from some scraps I found in the bits box. And the coup de grâce was the racing wheels. Initially I just downloaded some pictures but I needed to add a bit of dimension. This is where the 99P Shop came in! I bought quite a large car and broke the wheels off - bingo!!! The name was made up of American Crafts Thickers chipboard alphabet stickers which I have had for years, and have now found a use for them at last.

Well, that's all from me today. Keep warm everybody! Love and hugs from Christine xx

Door Plaque

Hi, I'm writing this ready for posting in the morning and the sun is shining really brightly - but it's bitterly cold. What the weather will be like as you  read this is anybody's guess!

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This is for my great niece. I am giving her money for Christmas, but obviously she needs to have a few little things to open  from me, so this is one of them. I got the MDF plaque from Joanna Sheen and painted it with purple emulsion from a match pot -Charlottes favourite colour! Patricia will no doubt recognise my roses and I hope she thinks they are okay! I didn't have any toning card  for the roses so I used white and coloured it with an ink pad and then a little stickles for a bit of sparkle. They turned out okay I think.  I used the Rose Creations die. I die cut two Marianne Creatables large butterflies, one in silver and one from the same card that I had coloured for the roses and layered them. The small butterfly is also a Marianne die.  The leaves are Spellbinders Foliage and the border across the centre is Parisian Accents. I added some pearls to the butterflies and a length of  satin ribbon to hang the plaque, and that's it. I used my Cuttlebug and Olivia alphabet dies to form the name. This is the first time it's seen day light since I got my Grand Calibur!! I think Spellbinders missed an opportunity to be able to use thick dies in the GC. I would like to get rid of my Bug but still have some dies that are quite nice - even though I had forgotten about them!!!

I've just realised that this shape is very similar to Labels 11 ( with an extra point on top and base) and so looks a bit like the gift bag I made, but I can assure you this is definitely an MDF plaque! LOL!

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Love and hugs from Christine x

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Good morning everybody. Well this is the very last Christmas card I will be showing. I was asked yesterday to make a card for a little girl.

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It was needed quickly and was to go in the post so for speed I used an LOTV die cut topper, Millie Winter Window, and kept it quite flat. The little girl loves cats and purple (sounds like my great niece!) so this die cut fitted the bill perfectly. I'm sure I've probably got some purple Christmas backing papers but I couldn't actually lay my hands on them - so very plain I'm afraid. I diecut it with Labels 16. The Snowflake Corner is Memory Box, the snowflake is Spellbinders Create-A-Flake 4 & the sentiment is Little Claire Designs Christmas Sentiments matted  onto a Spellbinders Lacey Circle. I just added a few lilac gems.

I've no doubt I will be doing something else Christmas-y, but that's it for the cards. Thank goodness!

I hope you all have a good day. Love and hugs from Christine.

The Reason For The Season

Hi Blog Friends. Sometimes I think in all the hustle and bustle at this time of the year, and all the razzamatazz of presents and decorations etc, the true meaning of Christmas is forgotten. Maybe we need to step back and take a minute to reflect.

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Some of my Christmas cards were quite simple, like this one. I computer generated the sentiment then used different colour ways, different dies and different shaped cards to make them all slightly different . A little cheating maybe but when you make so many you  do what you have to do to speed up the process.

We haven't had any more snow today but still have yesterdays lying on the ground and the roads are treacherous. No gritting on our country roads I'm afraid.

So keep warm everybody and have a good day. Christine xx

Seaside Snowman

Hi! Another Christmas card. This is for a friend of  mine who lives  near the coast at Eastbourne so I think she will find it amusing. I have just  realised that I have omitted to colour the robin on the snowman's hat! Just as well I saw it now before I sent it!

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The Beach Hut stamp and the Christmas Sentiments stamp are both from Little Claire Designs,  coloured with promarkers and  matted onto gold mirri.  The sentiment is stamped in gold ink, although it doesn't look it in the picture. Maybe it is the light reflecting off the mirri.  The design paper and ribbon are both Papermania's Home For Christmas. I've kept it very flat because it is going in the post and I don't want to have to pay even more, especially when there are so many. It never seems quite right when there is no dimension to the card but needs must, I'm afraid.

Well, a very quick post today.  Hope you all have a good day.

Love from Christine xx

I am entering this card into Fab 'n Funky Challenge - Not Traditional Christmas:  HERE
 Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - Non Traditional Colours : HERE

Peace And Love At Christmas

Hello dear blog friends. I have been absent for a few days because I wanted to concentrate on finishing my Christmas cards. I am now feeling very smug because I have made 85 (including those I did last month) and no two identical. They all written and stamped ready to pop into the mailbox when John goes down to the village, apart from a handful that need letters included.  I now have only a few special ones to make.

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This is one I have just made this morning. The stamp of the house is from an American company, Petulama, which is one  of the very first ones I bought 11 or so years ago. I heat embossed with detail silver powder and used a purple promarker to add just a hint of colour. I then used glossy accents and diamond dust on the roof and trees and matted on silver mirri and lavender cardstock. I used a Cuttlebug folder to emboss the dotty half of the background and various snowflake stamps at the other side. The snowflakes are Spellbinders Create-a-Flake Four and the greeting is Little Claire Designs Christmas Sentiments.

So that's another one off my remaining list. I'm going great guns here!

Well that's it for now. I'd better get some baking done because all the tins of cakes and biscuits are pretty empty. John is very patient but he does like his little treats!! Hope to see you again tomorrow with another offering. By the way, I may not have added anything to my own blog  over the last few days but I have been visiting whenever I took a break so I have been keeping up to date with all your lovely creations.

Love and hugs from Christine. xx

I am entering this in the Ladybug Crafts Challenge - Christmas and/or Winter: HERE

Toboggan Ride

Good morning friends. I thought I'd introduce a little humour into my card today.

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My picture is quite lopsided I'm afraid - and no, I wasn't drunk when I took it. Maybe I was just following the slopes!

The picture is one I found on the internet and I don't know where I got the little tongue twister verse but I thought this card would suit my brother, who is always good for a laugh.

So easy with just a snowy background paper, white glitter card cut to form  the slopes and a few trees from my stash.

Have a good day everybody!

Love and hugs from Christine xx