advent calendar

i've been planning this project for a while now. i had an idea in my head already, but kaisercraft beat me to it!! i changed it up a bit by painting the framework and tree and adding some of my own embellishments. i'm still pleased with the way it turned out.

only one card to share today

i was asked to make a new baby girl card for a friend at work. this is what i came up with. the papers are imaginisce and i combined these with some bazzill bling and a qk die for the stroller. sorry for the less than perfect picture!

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my little haul.....

it is freezing and the weather forecast is predicting snow. if it does, it will be the first snow this far south for 17 years. i am sitting all wrapped up in front of a blazing fire, lovely!

i received my order today from papertrey ink.

i am not a stamper, i keep saying that, but actually i have been buying more stamps than anything else lately. i also bought some of their metal dies, which are similar in thickness to quickutz, but oh so cute!!

i have no projects to share today. i am getting ready for the wycombe crop on saturday. i am making an advent calendar, so stay tuned for pictures!

playing away

was the title of the class i took yesterday and this was what i created:-

the mini suitcase was plain papier mache when i started and this is inked and painted in several layers. i then added the labels (all tim holtz stamps) and used some inca gold on the edges. the mini book started life as plain chipboard painted black, clear embossed and then i used some paints perfect pearls to give it a shimmery effect. i also used a tim holtz frame and adage ticket.

i had a fabulous time at this class, thanks linda, you are one clever lady!!

more projects to show

when we created the box frame at artsycrafts, i knew exactly what i would recreate with this project and this is it:-

i would like to add some detail around the edges of the inside of the box, but until i find something suitable it will remain blank, i don't think it looks too bad though, somtimes simple is ok.

i am off to a class with the lovely linda elbourne at lb crafts today, i'll post the project tomorrow.

i have the best friends......

i've spent a lovely day with my friend jen today, crafting and chatting. 

we went to the didcot railway centre for a while. they are filming some scenes from the new sherlock holmes movie there and we went to have a look at the set. amazing is the only word that describes what they are doing. we came away with so much inspiration. unfortunately we are not allowed to post any pictures as the film isn't being released until next year.

i have been working on the cover for my december daily album today. i know that the idea behind this album is to have all the basic pages prepared before the event, i'm not sure i will achieve that, but i do plan to do as much as possible beforehand.

here is a picture of the cover:-

i started by covering a piece 5 x 7 piece of chipboard in papers from fancypants, edged with a tim holtz espresso paint dabber. i then added some inca gold to the corners to give some extra definition. the chipboard frame is a very old product from deluxe designs. again i used the espresso dabber and inca gold. i also painted the tim holtz numerals in gold and used a jenni bowlin studio bingo card for the background. finally the gold decoration is from sainsburys!!!

 julie-anne popped around last night with a very early christmas present for me

i have been searching for this die for ever, it is the last one i need to complete my collection, i now have every 2x2 die quickutz have ever produced, that's over 1000 in total!! thank you julie-anne, you are a star!!

craft fair

jen and i had a great day at didcot craft fair today. we were lucky and had been given a double stand, which was just as well really as we had way too much stuff for just one!! this was our first fair and a bit of a trial for us to see what sold well and what didn't. we have some more ideas for future fairs and have been asked if we would like to do another in a couple of weeks time, which is good news.

here are some pictures of the event:-

all in all, and for our first fair, we had a good day. thanks to everyone who came and offered their support, it was much appreciated.

you simply must read this book....

i finished it today as i am still off sick and feeling poorly.

i'm not sure what the draw was with this. it isn't the usual book that i would choose to read. i saw it at the airport when i went to creative escape and it has been on my mind ever since. i finally bought it last monday and have read it over the course of the last week. it's the kind of book that you can easily read in one sitting because you really, really want to find out what happens. i won't spoil it by telling you what happens, but to say it moved me is an understatement, i was in floods of tears most of the way through!

all i can say is read it, you will love it!!

day two of artsycrafts

and this is what i created

to think that this started out as a plain wooden frame and some corrugated card!! i truly loved getting all inky and painty and putting this together. i wasn't happy with it to start off with, the bottom half was far too red and although shades of that remain, i repainted it, inked it and added some mega thick embossing powder to tone it down and voila!!

here is linda elbourne with her art...

this looked absolutely stunning in teal, i wish i'd got a better picture.

for this last week, i have been quite ill, so much so that i had a day off work on friday, a little unheard of in my world, i don't "do" ill, i prefer just to keep going, but on this occasion, i had to stop. i watched rubbish tv all day and slept for a vast portion of it!

over the weekend, i felt a little better and i have been busy preparing for the craft fair, which is next sunday. i now have my snowman soup, santa soup, snowman poop, snowman kisses, holiday journals, door hangers and tags all ready, i just have to finish the gift card holders and then i'm all set.