Twas the night before Christmas..... well, nearly

Hello to all my Followers and Blog Friends

This is my last post before I take a little blog break to spend time with family and friends.  I will try to catch up on any posts over the Christmas period.

I cannot think of any words that are sufficient to say how much I value your friendship and support.  I started my little blog earlier this year after a very long spell of illness and it has been a life saver for me.  You have all made it so worthwhile and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  You have encouraged me, supported me,  made me smile, made me laugh and sometimes cry..... but never in a bad way.  I look forward to better things for all of us next year and I wish you and your families the happiest of Christmases and a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.  Thank you all!

So why the title  'Twas the night before Christmas'?  Well, a couple of weeks ago I wanted to enter a challenge at Simon Says where we had to create something, inspired by any of Tim's 12 Tags.

I wanted to re-create Day 10 of 2009, where Tim used sticky backed metal sheets and alcohol inks.  I tried and tried to get it right and after three attempts I managed a version of it but I missed the deadline for the challenge.  In any case I was still not happy with the result - I do have a love/hate relationship with alcohol inks, but was determined to finish it and here it is:

 

 

 

 

 

Twas the night before Christmas is one of my favourite poems - the word Christmas is on the little tag dangling from the tag.  I used the same techniques as Tim did and I added a metal heart, coloured with alcohol ink (that went surprisingly well!), added some staples as Tim did and a ribbon dyed with Festive Berries DI.  The pearls are TH Idea-ology. 

 

If you click on the picture you will see the embossing a little more clearly. 

 

Edited to add: I used the WordPlay die to cut the letters, they are arranged on the tag, the metal is laid on top.  The next step is to gently go over and around the letters with an embossing tool.  I then coloured the embossed tag with the alcohol inks and then gently sanded off the colour from the words so that the metal shows through.

 

I don't make New Year resolutions, as a rule, but this year I am going to try harder with all the craft products that I struggle with - including alcohol inks. Now there's a challenge!

 

Bye for now and hope to see you all soon.  Again, hope you have a wonderful Christmas!  Thank you again.  Big hugs, Anne x

Christmas Wrapping

Hello Everyone

Just a quick post (as I know you will all likely be tied up with Christmas preparations) to show you some gift bags that I made to wrap some special presents.  They are large enough to take a very large bar of chocolate or a nice piece of jewellery.

I am entering these into Simon Says Stamp and Show where the challenge is Gift-spiration and I thought my gift bags would be appropriate to enter.  The Design Team have made the most beautiful items, it is worth popping over just to have a look at them.  There is a $50 Gift Voucher on offer to spend at Simon Says Stamp, and the winner of the voucher will be picked by Random Generator.  Three other people will be chosen as the Top Three by the Design Team.

The bags are made from a template that I created from a chocolate bag wrapper that I took apart.  It goes together easily and if it is made from lightweight card it is quite substantial.

The first one is made up in plain white card and I added some gorgeous BoBunny papers, added a Spellbinders poinsettia, a bow dyed with Festive Berries Distress Ink, and a  snowflake charm.  The flap at the top is the reverse side of the BoBunny paper and the peg holding the bag closed is covered in the same paper.

The second bag is made from my gorgeous Teresa Collins cardstock, the flap at the top is the reverse side of the cardstock.  I punched two holes and threaded through ribbon from my stash.  The pinecones and the 25 are from Tim Holtz dies.  The 25 has been covered in Rock Candy Distress Glitter to give a subtle sparkle.

If you do visit I hope you will leave me a comment, I love to read them all and I will always do my best to return the compliment.  Hugs, Anne x

WOYWW - Week 185

Hello Everyone

Another week has flown by.   Hope you are all ready for the festivities ahead and looking forward to a wonderful break.

It is that time of week when we share our desks with a whole world of crafters, courtesy of our wonderful Hostess Julia, who can be found HERE.  If you want to join in then please visit Julia who will give you full details.

Not a great deal on my desk this week as I am out all day today visiting and looking after Grandchildren (but I will catch up with WOYWWers over the next day or so), just some more knitting.  Another fingerless glove waiting to be sown up and for  me to knit a mate.

Also on my desk, from left to right is a box that I have altered with crackle paint, a gift bag that I made which is ready to be filled for Christmas, a new stamp which was a swap gift by fellow WOYWWer Sandy and then just my usual crafty stuff.

I would like to show some of the cards that I have received, in the main from lovely crafters I have had the pleasure to meet through WOYWW. 

I am not naming the senders (and yes I have duplicated one) but aren't they all beautiful?  Apologies for the arrangement but I cannot get used to using this laptop, the photo system is different to my PC, which did come back, allegedly repaired but was not and it has had to go back to the PC hospital and I am unlikely to get it back before the new year!

My heartfelt sympathies to all those affected by the recent tragic events in Newtown, USA.

That's it from me this week.  If you do visit I hope you will leave me a message, I always do my best to return the compliment.  Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.   Hugs, Anne xx

A Holly Tree

Hello Fellow Bloggers and Friends

I have gone back to my roots with my offering today, I only ever made 'pretty' cards until I started blogging and got hooked on Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi products, used by so many of my blogging friends and those who inspire me so much.

Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers this week (Week 236) is based on that wonderful song, The Holly and the Ivy and we are to create something with holly on it. 

Because I also used lots of glitter card and other sparkles I thought it would be appropriate to enter the Penny Black December Challenge where the challenge is to create something with Glitter and Sparkle.  There are four sponsors offering great prizes for this challenge.

Here is my offering:

The holly tree and sentiment are both Penny Black stamps.  The backing paper (green) is from a paper pad called Authentique and this has been matted onto glitter card..  The red dotty backing is from my stash and this has been matted onto an 8" x 8" square card.

The holly tree has been coloured with TH Distess Inks and the berries have been coated with Glossy Accents with glitter sprinkled over.  I went around the edges of the of the tree and sentiment mats with Festive Berries Distress Ink and mounted these onto glitter card.  The ribbon has been coloured using Festive Berries DI together with Glimmer Mist in Abominable Snowman (my favourite colour).  It is very sparkly in real life.  I made a double bow and attached three shiny jingle bells.

I am not sure the glitter and sparkle show up but I am happy with the result.  It was nice to do a card like this for a change, it is for a friend who does not really appreciate grunge or vintage.

If you do visit, I hope you will be kind enough to leave me a comment, I love to read them all.  I would like to say thank you to all of you who have commented in the last week or so when you have been so busy with your Christmas preparations, it is much appreciated.  Big hugs, Anne xx

Tim's Tags December 2012

Hello Everyone

This is quite sad as this is the last month for Tim Holtz's 12 Tags for 2012 but the good news is that we get to make an extra tag for the month of January 2012!  So two tags.  You can see Tim's original tags HERE.  I have followed Tim's tags fairly rigidly, where I had the products to do so and this month I was only short a few so was a very happy bunny.

These are my tags:

 

 



On the first tag I used all the techniques that Tim used but I did not have the Idea-ology snowflake so I used a metal one from my stash.  The tinsel at the bottom is Tim's blue one as I used all the silver tinsel on my Christmas cards.  I do not yet have the mirrored card that is in Tim's range and so I did my JOY using some holographic mirror card which has a lovely sheen to it.

For the second tag, again I used the same techniques and colours that Tim did but I did not have the Joy to the World die and used a stamp from my stash on the ticket.  I stamped it with Versamark and then embossed it with JudiKins Black Detail Embossing Powder. 

Again I did not have the Idea-ology deer charm.  I was stumped on this for a while and then had a brainwave.  I took the Movers and Shapers small deer die and cut this out in Shrink Plastic but when I shrunk it down it was far too tiny.  I cut the deer out again on card and then triple embossed it with Debbi Moore's Metal Magic in silver to create a faux silver deer.  I then embossed the shrink plastic deer in the same way.  I was really pleased with the result.  I liked the little one so I put it together with the big one to look like Mum and Baby.

I do hope Tim keeps to this format with his tags for 2013, it is so much easier doing one per month than one each for the 12 days of Christmas and it lets us focus on other occasions throughout the year.

If you do visit I hope you will leave me a comment, I love to read them and providing I can find you I will always return the compliment.   Hope you are all nearly ready for the festivities ahead.  Hugs, Anne xx

WOYWW - Week 184

Hello WOYWWers and Fellow Bloggers

Julia will be pleased with me because I am keeping short and sweet!  Julia is our wonderful hostess at What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday and if you want to join in then pop over and let Julia tell you how to do it.

I have not done any crafting for the last two days because I have been busy wrapping all the Christmas presents - how did I come to buy so much?  This is a very small selection which I am packing up into various bags and boxes........

Have also tried my hand at knitting some fingerless mits, with one of the dozens of unused balls of yarn/wool that I have.  Not sure I like this design but it took me ages so I am going to knit a mate for it.

I got happy mail this last week too, which cheered me up no end -  from some wonderful WOYWWers, Eels, Sandee and also May, thank you ladies for your brilliant cards/tags, I will photograph them and put them on my blog soon. 

Hope you are getting on well with your Christmas preparations, we always put our tree up late so that is next on the list as well as doing Tim's tags for December.  I have an appointment this morning but I will try to visit as many of you as possible.  Happy WOYWW,  Hugs, Anne x

NOEL

Hello Blog Friends

Well, my poor old PC is still at the Computer Hospital but I have persevered with DH's laptop, I have figured out how to load photos and so this is an experiment to see if I can upload the photos to my blog! 

I would like to say thank you first to all my lovely Followers, old and new, for your continued support.  I get so excited every time I see a comment, I love reading them and they give me so much encouragement, so thank you all!

I have done a piece for two challenges.  I was so inspired by my very talented blog friend Butterfly who used Tim Holtz's wings die, that I just had to have a go myself.  This is such a beautiful die which I originally purchased to use as butterfly wings. 

At Sunday Stampers this week (week 235), which is hosted by the amazing Hels Sheridan, the challenge is to create something based on the theme of NOEL (The First Noel).

Also, the challenge this week at Anything But a Card is Celebrating the light or Seasonal Holiday and I have chosen to follow the Seasonal Holiday approach with my Christmas Decoration.

 My make is a bit different and kind of evolved, there are so many fabulous Christmas decorations out there in blogland and I wanted to do something a bit different but also needed to try and meet the requirement of the challenges.

I used a block of wood which is cut from a 2" x 4" plank of wood and is cut to approximately ATC size.  I painted the block with silver acrylic paint and then used my new Snazzy's win paper (Teresa Collins) to cover it on all sides including the top and bottom.  The papers were edged with Peacock Feathers distress ink.

I cut the wings using my Tim Holtz Bigz die - Layered Angel Wings.  I cut two sets for each side so they could go back to back.  I wanted to be able to turn the block around to view the back too.  I edged the wings again with Peacock Feathers DI.  The wings are fixed to the block with Glossy Accents (brilliant stuff because it dries in seconds).  The frame is a Tim Holtz Idea-ology one which I have coloured using the Ranger Alcohol Ink in Silver Mixative.  The word Noel is a Inkadinkado stamp and I stamped this in Peacock Feather DI, adhered it to the frame and then filled the frame with Glossy Accents.

I also coloured the brads in Silver Mixative and also the metal on the TH door knob (for the top) which was originally a brass colour.  I think the silver gives a lovely cool feeling to the piece.  The feet are wooden beads which I also coloured with silver acrylic paint.

The back looks like this:

The gorgeous snowflake is again a Tim Holz die, which sadly I do not own, but another wonderful blog friend Barb Cady gifted these to me when I mentioned how much I loved hers (Crafters really are the most generous people - thank you again Barb!).  I layered the smaller one on top of the larger one, glittered both and added a lovely blue gem to the centre.

I do hope you like my creation and that you will leave me a comment.  I do appreciate the time you take to leave comments, I love reading them and will always try to return the compliment (providing I can find you).  Crafty hugs, Anne xx

Tags - Sunday Stampers Week 234

Hello Friends and Fellow Bloggers

I am in a bit of a panic at the moment, my cherished PC has all but died and they are coming to take it away for repair so I am scheduling this post this in haste!

This week over at Sunday Stampers our Hostess Hels has chosen - Labelled with Love as her theme and we need to make a tag.  I have done mine in a bit of a rush due to said PC being poorly and here it is:

I used Tim Holtz products to create the foreground (die cuts) and Distress Inks and Metallic Pewter Distress Stain on the background.   I added some glitter card for snow at the bottom, a little piece of ribbon on the reindeer (his antlers are cut from the Movers and Shapers twig die).  The wording is a bargain stamp from Hobby Craft (£1) which I have embossed with silver embossing powder. 

The tree has been glittered with Stickles Rock Candy to give the appearance of snow.

I will still be able to comment on blogs, using OH's laptop but I am not great on that with my dodgy wrists (I do love my keyboard!).   Hope you will leave me a comment if you visit.  Hugs, Anne x

Simon Says Stamp and Show - house rules

Hello Friends and Fellow Bloggers

Well it is a while since I entered a challenge where there is a prize on offer but when I saw the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp and Show and saw all the inspiration from the design team I thought I would have a go.  The challenge this week is - house rules.  The prize offered by Simon Says Stamp is an amazing $50 - who wouldn't love to have that just before Christmas!

I have had a wooden birdhouse for about a year now, just waiting to be altered but I have never had the inspiration to get me going on it before now.  So, here is my entry:

As I said in my last post, I was so lucky to win the monthly kit over at Snazzys.  The kit contains Teresa Collins beautiful Christmas papers, stamps and embellishments.  Since I have made all my Christmas cards for this year I wanted to use the papers to make something special to keep.

The base is a wooden bird house from the Craft Barn.  I covered it with Gesso and then painted the bottom section and the little step with white acrylic paint.  The walls are covered in the gorgeous TC papers.  For the roof I wanted a corrugated look and I used my ribbler to 'corrugate' some silver mirror card.  I used the roof as a template and cut pieces for each of the four sides and glued them down.  I added some glue and some Polar White Flower Soft to give a snow like effect.  Here is a close up to give you a better view of the roof and snow.

I also added some Flower Soft to the base and to the little step.  The tree and the wreath are from Tim Holtz's Idea-ology Woodlands set.   I put some Silver Metallic alcohol ink into a plastic bag, put the tree and wreath in and shook it to coat them in the silver and once dried I glued on red gems and white pearls and added a red bow to the wreath.  Around the edge of the roof I added some of Tim's tinsel in red to give the whole piece a more festive feel.  The little knob at the top of the house was painted with silver acrylic paint.

I also covered a little bird with the TC paper and inked the edges with distress ink and added wire legs.  Putting the bird on the little step was just a bit too much, but I didn't want to leave him out  - so he is sitting at the side of his house, just for show!

Finally, I added the number 25 brad which is also from the TC kit.

If you do visit I hope you will leave me a comment, I do love to read them all and I thank you in advance if you do leave one.  I always do my best to return the compliment.  Hugs, Anne xx

WOYWW - Week 183 (I think)

Hello fellow Woywwers and Bloggers

It has been a while.  I have certainly missed joining in.  Firstly I would like to thank my latest followers, it is lovely to have you along on my journey of learning and developing.  Thank you also to all of those who contacted me to enquire after me, I am much better now and hopefully will remain that way.

If you are wondering what on earth WOYWW is all about then please pop over to see our wonderful Hostess, Julia at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk and join in the fun!

My desk this week is a sad affair but I did have a huge win over at Snazzys where I won November's design kit and it comprises the most wonderful Teresa Collins paper pack, stamps and embellishments.  You can see them on the left hand side of my desk, they are gorgeous.  I have had to hide what I am making with them because it is not finished yet. 

In the middle of my desk is another brown paper bag album (similar to the Nutcracker one a few posts ago).  This is a commission for a little girl who does ballet and she is being taken to see the Nutcracker ballet as a Christmas gift.  Her sister is having the earlier Nutcracker album.  They are being given the albums with the ballet tickets inside - how sweet.

Here is a closer look at some of the inside:

On the right is some knitting, also for a Christmas present.

Well that's all from me, I am still making Christmas cards.  I have posted my international ones and nearly had to take out a mortgage to pay for them.  The cost of postage here in the UK has become ridiculous and I am not a happy bunny, but family and friends are important so I gritted my teeth and paid up!

Hope you are all well and I look forward to visiting as many of you as possible.  If you do visit I hope you will leave a comment, I always do my best to return the compliment.  Happy WOYWW!  Hugs, Anne x