My "Special" Christmas Card

Ok ok I know all Christmas cards are special but I like to make an extra-special card for my Granny as I know how much she enjoys putting her cards out, counting them and showing them to her visitors.

You may remember that I recently made a thank you card using lollipop flowers and I said back then that I wanted to have a go at making a Christmas card the same way.  I've finally got around to it and was so pleased with the result that I had to take it into work just to show it off (I really don't know how they put up with me sometimes!)

So hear it is.  Base card is a trifold with the front double embossed with snowflakes and swiss dots.    I did both because it looked too stark with just one so the snowflakes are underneath with swiss dots on top as they are easier to match as I had to emboss in stages.  The die-cut "Christmas" was from Di's die-cuts and has been embossed with cuttlebug snowflakes.
The "snowballs" across the top of the hills are from a roll of wrapping ribbon tfrom Home Bargains (of course).  The lollipops were 'borrowed' from Costa Coffee because the top of the die-cut Christmas trees was too thin for a standard lollipop stick.  Background is black glitter paper (does anyone know where I can pick up some more without having to pay a fortune for p&p) with a glitter star.

I'm planning on making 2 or 3 more of these for close relatives and friends (just as long as I can find that glitter paper!)

In the town where I was born.......

Another scrapbook page to send out to Helmand to attempt to brighten my poor sister's days. 
The whole family (minus her) went to Gran Canaria at half term and this picture is of her hubby and boys (+ my boy) getting ready to go on the Yellow Submarine in Puerto De Mogan.

I had big plans for this - was going to attempt to recreate the beatles yellow submarine in collage but decided that might be a step too far.
Not sure what make the background paper is - I got it in a stash swap over on crafty place - but the pattern reminded me of waves.  The letters and fish are all cut out on my trusty cuttlebug - some in paper, some in foam to give a bit of texture.
Finally, I've aded a bit of glossy accents to pick out the waves.

School Christmas Fair

Packs of Magnetic Pegs.  I had these at £1.25 for 3

Dr Who Notepads £1.25 each.  I sold most of these and got the pictures from my desk calendar at work.  The notepads worked out at 5p each and the pens/pencils were around 8p each.  All paper from existing stash

All 3 of these ones sold before they even made it to the sale!

Both Sold

I tried to make a few masculine type notepads but they didn't sell so well.  Lesson learned!

All these girly ones sold though.

Again, the girly ones sold - the car one's didn't.  Lucky for me I have lots of boys in my family that I can give them to!  The pad with the largere flowere on the front was made using the front page of the my MME Bllom and Grow Packs - you know - the one with the barcode on. 

Sold a few Christmas cards too.

Some more notebooks that have found a new-home

Apologies for the messiness of this post.  _ I think blogger must be having a bad afternoon.  Either that or its a bit over-excited about the new Dr Who episode this evening (much as I am) it would only agree to me posting pics if it also posted the picture of the Dr Who notebooks on each occasion so I've had a lot of deleting to do!

Too busy living life to craft?

Gosh!  It's been quite a week.  I've been out on grown up night out 3 nights this week and to be honest, it's begnning to show.  I saw the excellent Rich Hall on Tuesday night.  Went to a murder mystery evening on Thursday (and no I wasn't the murdered but I was a very convincing contract killer.  Then a few drinks and a chat last night.  Phew.  I lay in bed until 10am this morning - just because I could!

But I realised about 10pm that I really ought to make a start on a card I need to give tomorrow morning!  I'd seen something similar to this at the Harrigate Pepaercraft Show but wasn't really sure how to do it.  I decided to just have a go which probably isn't a good plan at that late notice but, do you know what, I think it might have worked!

The papers are MME bloom and grow and I used a tri-fold card with the front folded in half then opened it 'tent style'.  You can't see it so well in the pics but the flowers are on lollipop sticks and stand prud of the back card to give a 3d effect.  AM going to have a try at a Christmas card with Christmas tress using the same principle.

Doh!

This is the card I referred to in my previous blog post - I'll add it in as an edit on there but thought I'd put it here too in case any of you were picking up updates from the blogger dashboard

More Card Reconstruction than card making I'm afraid

"&son" wanted to do some crafting today and the thing he wanted to use has been missing since last Christmas - I had a niggling feeling that I hadn't found all my Christmas stash yet so I thought I'd better have a look for it.  Found it.  OMG - how much stuff do I have so I've been galvanised into action on the Christmas card front.

To say I had made these cards would be pushing the truth a little.  I bought 10 boxes of cards for a pound on the last day of trading at my local woolworths.  Why??  Anyhow, I thought I'd send them to the school Christmas fair but when I looked at one box they were particularly awful - these were "hand finished luxury cards"

Now I know my finishing isn't perfect on some of my cards - things aren't sometimes straight and I'm by no means a perfectinist but really!  Look at the finish on this - the topper is not straight and the ribbon has been stuck down with white tape that has been out on so badly that it's clearly visible at the top of the card

So I've had a go at making them a bit nicer - I was thinking 50p each for these ones as a guide price for the school fair - what do you think?  I cut the front of the card, straightened up the toppers and added them to a window card embossed with snowflakes on my cuttlebug.

I've also been trying to make a Christmas card for a child - its a blog challenge somewhere but I've forgotten quite where and have probably missed the deadline but I need some help.  I started off with an embossed sheet of paper - I'm sorry, I don;t know the name as Saveapenny did  it for me a while ago on her bug.  I thought it was a bit too much all at once so cut out a couple of swuares for use on other cards but the remaining shape reminded me of a window so I thought I'd use that as the basis for the card.  The card blank reminds me of snowflakes and I've put a Christmas tree in the window.  But what should I put in the top of the window?  Any suggestions gratefully received.

Finally, I've added my card to my previous blog post - it was hiding in another folder on my PC.

Red Cross Box

Gosh, how time flies.  I've set myself a target of sending my sis a "red cross box" out to her every fortnight.  She's working so hard - 14 hour days, 7 days a week so I like to send her something out to cheer her up.  It was the notepad last time but this time I'm sending her some scrapbook pages to add to the scrapbook I sent out in her first box.

I don't think I've done 2 LOs in one night for a long time and I seem to have just lost 4 hours of my life but here they are.....

My sisters youngest is the spitting image of her when she was little so I've deliberately mixed their names up.  "& son" doesn't get humour that isn't toilet related so he thinks I'm going senile and genuinely can't see that one of them has 70s trousers on.  Background paper from my stash - I drew the question marks on myself.  Chicks also from stash.  Alphas by Stickopotamus.

And here's one pf her eldest with some produce from her garden that she worked so hard on all year and didn't really get to see the fruits of her labours as she was deployed before harvest time.  Background paper, flower and grass from My Minds Eye Bloom & Grow.  Letters and leaves cut out by cuttlekids machine - shh don't tell "& son".

I'll be sending this card out with the parcel too - its my first proper stab at "colouring in" for a while (since primary school maybe?) altho its amazing how things come flooding back.  "&son" was astonished by my ability to play both the main menoldy and the descant harmony of "utumn Days" a fave hymn from my prmary school days.  I'd not attempted it for 30+ years and got most of the notes right!  the lovely image below was sent in a stash swap parcel from cazarol and was coloured in with the latest love of my life - promarkers!

EDIT (DOUBLE DAMN - THERE WAS OBVIOUSLY A PIECE OF DST BACKING ON THE SCANNER - I suppose this could be a new gmae - spot the DST backing on the LO!)