Christmas Lights....

I saw a really cute idea for Christmas lights on the Splitcoast stampers site the other day and decided to adapt it for this card. I used diecuts from the Silhouette store, cut on the Cameo..

Firstly, I dotted the tree with a white gel pen.....

Then I loaded a cotton bud with chalk - put loads on.....

 Go over and around the white dots with the chalk - the area around the white dots gives an effect of a light halo. I sprayed the chalked areas lightly with hairspray to set it, and used liquid pearls to dot some garlands on the tree..... 

Here is the finished card, I tried a coloured sentiment, but it looked wrong, the black was much better with the silhouetted shapes.....

My magazine commission is done - in my head. I have worked out my designs and all I need to do is translate the ideas into paper. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's back to the drawing board

In the meantime, I have been playing with chocolate - crazy when I have so much to do, I'll show you what I've been doing tomorrow. One thing is certain, I will never be a famous confectioner - I'm not a huge fan of chocolate but melted warm runny dark chocolate is like heaven on my tongue, if I did it for a living I would drink all the profits!

See you tomorrow x

Snowflakes, winners and exciting news....

Firstly, today's card, which is the result of a mistake I made. I was playing around with the Cameo this week (as you know), and when I was trying to remember how to print and cut, I cut out this snowflake which was totally off the print area. It still looked pretty and I wasn't about to throw it away, especially as I found a scrap of paper that was perfect as a background - same colour, snowflakes, they were born to be together - and here is the end result

Now some exciting news, Kath and I and doing a one day workshop at the Craftwork Cards outlet in Leeds, here are the details, you will be sure to have a day filled with crafting goodness and a lot of fun, and it would obviously be brilliant to meet some of you there

KATH & ENFYS GREAT BRITISH CRAFT WORKSHOP!

Join our very own 'Mel and Sue' for our Great British Craft Workshop on Saturday 25th January at our Factory Outlet, Unit 6-8 Willow Court, Lotherton Way, Garforth, Leeds. This fun filled day of papercrafting magic takes place from 9:30am to 4pm.

Enjoy fabulous workshops with Design Team members, Kath Stewart and Enfys Cashmore on this special day creating beautiful cards and a keepsake project.

Everything is provided to complete the projects, all you need to bring is a basic tool kit.  The workshops are perfect for beginners through to the more advanced crafter and you will pick up lots of hints, tips and techniques throughout the day.

The day includes a lovely buffet lunch and refreshments are available throughout the day and there will be 'spot prizes' to add to the fun!

We have a shop that is filled with a range of our gorgeous crafting goodies, so you can shop to your hearts desire!

The cost of this special day is £30 so why not come with a friend? Book your seats now as space is limited.

Now on to the winners of the Polkadoodles prizes. Drum roll.....

1. Bonbon Belles CD - SAMMY JEAN 

2. Frederica CD - NANAPAT

3. House stamps - MISSTEEJAY

Congrats to all of you, email me please with your address and they will be on their way 

Last minute......

Here's another shaped Christmas card cut with my Cameo - no, I didn't spend hours welding the letters onto the card base (I wouldn't even know how to do that!), it's a purchased shape from the Silhouette store. The little bear is a stamp that has been sitting around for ages, I wanted something that was quick to colour.....well, it's for a four year old who isn't going to be too critical about a lack of shading....

 The reason for wanting a quick child's card is that I have lost the two cards I made so lovingly for Max and Milo - the house has been searched, turned upside down, tempers have frayed, frustration has grown. In the end, it was much simpler just to give in and make two more. Sod's law will leap into action the minute I post them of course, and the missing cards will appear like magic from somewhere I didn't dream of looking like the pantry!

I will be drawing the winners of the Polkadoodles prizes later today, so pop back tomorrow to see if your name is there - see you then x

Snowflakes and glitter.......

Now that I've remembered that I have a Cameo, I have been playing around with it this week.......

Pretty standard stuff, just cutting designs purchased from the Silhouette store and given a few added touches. I added quite a bit of glitter to this card, and some extra punched snowflakes....

 Then I moved on to a little gift bag to hold a necklace - I cut it from Coredinations gemstone cardstock which has a pleasing pearly sheen, but next time I would probably use a good quality paper - the cardstock was a bit difficult to fold..... 

The first of the Christmas round-robin letters has arrived - those printed sheets that some people put in with their Christmas cards with a round up of all their family news for the year. I have mentioned these before, sorry if you send them out, but for some reason I find them profoundly irritating. Well, I know the reason, it's because they are so relentlessly cheerful and everyone in the family is a high achiever and nothing ever goes wrong. I don't know about you, but in my experience, life ain't like that. 

It would be so great to have a letter, which as well as the great news of fabulous new jobs, genius exam results, also said stuff like:

 'little Joey started school, he is getting on very well apart from the biting and scratching, but the star chart is beginning to work now, they only sent him home twice last week.......'
or
David failed his driving test twice, we are hoping he will pass next year. We are having the garage door and the garden wall repaired when he has got the hang of steering the car onto the drive in a straight line.....
or
Aunt Flossie has gone into a residential home, we found clearing out her house hard work. We were hoping to unearth the long lost Ming vase, last seen in her attic, but all we found was a hundred and twenty empty marmalade jars, forty five balls of army green wool and a broken guitar. 

Okay, okay, so my imagination is running away with me now, but you get my gist. I may write a letter myself, in this vein, next year and send it out with my cards....

See you tomorrow x

Snowman Money Holder

 Looks like a card - but it's a narrow box to hold a gift of cash.....

I used a print and cut box from the Silhouette store and cut it with my Cameo - first I had to work out how to do it, it's been a while since I used the machine. I sprinkled Frantage shabby white embossing powder onto the snowman image and added a big white seam binding bow (from the Ribbon Girl)

Of course, when I had figured out how to use the machine (note to self: try to get to grips with this in the New Year.....), and cut out the box, it was apparent that it had been designed for US dollars, not British pounds. After all that faffing about I wasn't about to give up, and I just tied up the money with a pretty ribbon and put it in the box. So much nicer to receive than cash in an envelope!

Question of the day - from Max again.......

'Is Father Christmas a vegetarian?'

I think he must have been pondering why everyone leaves Santa mince pies/cookies and not a ham sandwich. They are going to leave him some sausages this year as well as the mince pies, so if this is a question you have been asking yourself for years, come back after Christmas for the definitive answer.........

I had a message from Google today to tell me that there have been over a million visitors to Going Buggy since I started it. A million! That's a lot of visitors coming to read my burblings and see what I have been up to, I feel very humble. thank you all for sticking with me!

See you tomorrow x

Snail Mail

The idea for this card came from one of those dollar stamps they have in Michaels - I always find odd sayings, and an idea for a card often pops into my head. I needed a snail, so I found this little lady in the Silhouette store and cut her out with my Cameo....

I thought it would make quite a good 'sorry I'm a bit late' birthday card, which seems to happen quite often these days. Another oopsie moment!

My day yesterday was a bit like the Curates egg - good in parts. I had a great lunch with some girlfriends, nice enough to sit outside and eat, with only the wasps for company. Then I spent hours making a project for a design team, only to discover that the merchandise I was highlighting had been discontinued. Sob. The rest of my day was spent getting together armfuls of stuff to take down to London on Friday. Young Max was given a holiday project by his school - to make a scrapbook. He is very excited and even sent me an email from his own email address to remind me (email? He is only six!) Still he wrote 'I love you very much' so that was enough to send me into a frenzy of preparation for the big project. You will get to see the work in progress of course....

See you tomorrow x