Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW

YEAR!

Whatever you are doing tonight, I hope you have a wonderful time. Me? We are staying snug at home in front of the TV

To tell you the truth, New Years Eve has always been a bit of a washout for me, not that we haven't had some lovely times in the past, but it all seems a bit forced to me. You dress up, you eat, you drink, you start looking at your watches in a furtive way at about 10.30, 10.40, 10.50.......by 11.30 you think midnight will never come....thank goodness, here come the fireworks, now we can go home. That's just me, being a grumpy old woman probably, but to be honest I felt the same way when I was 21! 

However, I do love the thought of a new year, a clean page, a fresh start, time to cross all those things off your list that have been there since January 1st 2013 - or put the same things onto a new list, which makes it all seem so much more achievable somehow

So here we are, at the threshold of a brand new year, and I am raising my glass to all of you. Thank you all so much for all your support, comments and friendship over the past year, without you, I would be very lonely here, burbling on about cards and life in general without anyone listening.

Here's to 2014 x

My year in cards - part three.....

Trudging along now through the last four months of the year....


September

Memory Box dies......



a circle punch for a new baby card......



October

Heartfelt Creations hydrangea coloured with ProMarkers.....



Grunge paper leaves cut with a Sissix die and coloured with distress inks



November

This was my favourite card for children this year.....



a flower pot card made with the gorgeous Blush Rose paper floristry kit from Craftwork Cards.....




December

I was really pleased with these two all white cards made for a guest designer spot at The Ribbon Girl.....





and last but definitely not least the music sheet wreath I made for Papercraft Inspirations magazine Christmas party...... this one cost me two days, burnt fingers and a back injury, so I had to include it!



I'll be back tomorrow to wish you a happy new year, so dig out the haggis and a wee dram - we can have a party!

My year in cards - part two....

Ambling on with my card review for 2013....

May


Here's one I was pleased with - made with a Craftwork Cards candi stamp.....



and an altered box made for Letraset......



vellum candles for Papercraft Inspirations magazine......




June

This was the month that I discovered new flower dies by Sissix......



and I was really pleased with this 'spotlight' card made with Craftwork Cards products.....




July

A 18th birthday card using an Emma Canning image for Polkadoodles...



You can see how I made this petal card HERE



August

A glittery hexagon card cut with the Silhouette for the Letraset blog.....



and I got carried away with a bit of zentangle.....



I'll be back tomorrow with the last four months of the year - just in time to ring in the new.....

My year in cards.....

Well, how was it for you? I've had a lovely Christmas, a very quiet 'big day' then a whirlwind trip down to London to see the family. Time to get back to the desk now to finish some outstanding projects with a looming deadline, and putting my thinking cap on about the next project which needs to be done and dusted by the end of next week....

But I have been browsing around on here to pick out my favourite cards of the year to show you. They are favourites for various reasons, some of them are examples of my crafting journey through the year, new techniques, new equipment, cards that finally came together in a pleasing way after a lot of wasted paper and slightly blue air around the crafty cupboard....

January

This first one was the first card I made with my brand new Silhouette Cameo, I still haven't explored that machine fully, I seem to have been busy all year




February

I finally got back to being productive after a bad bout of flu, so I have chosen two cards for this month.....

Another Silhouette card, this time using all white cuts that I coloured with ProMarkers. This one was for the Letraset blog



and using Memory box dies......



March

and this one was for Polkadoodles. I liked the colours on this one.... 






and a gift box I made for Craftwork Cards



April

One of my faves, I like the clean and simple and quite graphic look




and this next one using border embossing punches took me forever! I knew what I was aiming for but it just didn't click, until, bingo this card appeared!




That's enough of my old stuff for now, I'll be back with more tomorrow. If you have done a review of your cards on your blog, let me know and I will pop over to see you.  Don't forget if you didn't have time to drop in over the holiday that there are ProMarkers up for grabs if you scroll down to the previous post and leave a comment there

A very merry Christmas to you all

Here is a card from four year old Monty to wish you all a very merry and peaceful Christmas......

the object that looks worryingly like a sharp knife/handgun is, apparently, a Christmas tree!

I am taking a few days off from crafting and blogging but will be back on the 28th with a round-up of my favourite cards from 2013, in the meantime leave your name under this post to be in with a chance of winning a set of 12
Promarkers in the Limited Edition Spring/Summer colours, just the thing to get your creative juices flowing after all the reds and greens of Christmas. You will get:
Heatwave, Sand Dune, Starfish, Pineapple Crush, Green Shoot, Oasis, Rock Pool, Capri Blue, Reef Blue, Spring Lilac, Peony, Fresh Bloom and a blender pen

I will draw a random winner on the 1st January 2014. As always, I will mail anywhere in the world

Once again, have a very festive few days, wherever you are, and whatever you are doing,  and I will see you soon x

Happy Mail

Look what's turned up. All the latest paper packs from Craftwork Cards

One of the things I love is that they really understand cardmaking, and their designs are always perfectly scaled for cards - so often paper packs have huge designs that are perfect for scrapbooking 12 x 12 layouts, but are pretty hopeless when cut down for a smaller card. These are all 8 x 8

There is a lovely paper with tiny storks on it in both packs, great for new baby cards, but the other papers mix and match and I will be using them for all sorts of cards.....

Here's what I mean, this paper is from the Amelia pack, I just love those tiny flowers..........

Considering that we are only here for Christmas Eve and Christmas day, I seem to have been doing an awful lot of shopping! What is it about Christmas that brings a sort of mad panic where you think 'oh my goodness I may run out of grapes, I better buy some more....' I put out some nibble stuff - pistachio nuts, chocolates etc. Mistake. They have all gone, disappeared, I can't think where (but Mike's pockets make a strange crunching noise when he walks, because they are full of pistachio shells.) I can't blame him totally, I may have had one or two when nobody was looking......

The crafty cupboard has been tidied up ready for a flying visit by Alex, our daughter tomorrow so I have downed tools for a few days, but will be back tomorrow to wish you all well, and with a little Christmas giveaway to keep you going.  In the meantime, I'm off to buy some more nuts..... x 

Parcels and post.....

I've had a couple of emails saying that folk couldn't access my Craftwork Cards post from their phones or tablets, so here is a peep at what I got up to with a roll of brown paper and some bits and pieces.......

Here are the handmade cards that have been lovingly made and sent to me, thank you all so much

From Maryellen in the USA.....

From Mary also from the USA

From my artist friend Anne, here in Solihull......

From Bev (USA)

and from my buddy Kath in Scotland.....

From Cheryl, also from the USA

Thank you all so much, each and every one is just beautiful - when you make cards yourself you so appreciate the time and effort that has gone into sending a greeting. They have the prime display spot in my house

As we all love hearing children's funnies at Christmas here is one a very good friend of mine shared. She has twin grandsons aged six..
'What do you want to be in the school Christmas play Alfie?'
'A shepherd'
'And what do you want to be Stanley?'
'God'

That made me laugh!

Paper Floristry

A reminder that Julie Hickey of Craftwork Cards is doing three shows on Create and Craft TV today, be sure to catch one of them....

Here is a card I made for the last show when the Paper Floristry kits were introduced as the Pick of the Day

It's a big card - 8 x 8, they always look better on the TV. I used all flowers and papers from the Blush Rose collection, such pretty colours.... 

Liquid pearls added a bit of a sparkle....

I am being so laid back this Christmas, for the first time ever, it's just Mike and me here on Christmas day, we see the family on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day. At first I hated the thought, now I am feeling quite smug as I see a lot of people running around the shops like  headless chickens, with long lists in their hands, worried looks on their faces and pushing around enough food to feed a small country for a month. I fancy fillet steak and lobster. Sounds good to me, it will be the first time for years that I haven't had to peer anxiously into the oven to see if that massive turkey is overcooked/undercooked. I always manage to forget something as well, so a few days after Christmas I always discover the sprouts or cranberry sauce lurking in a dark corner somewhere. What's on your menu? 

See you tomorrow