Scandi-style.

Here is my second Christmas card for the weekend. I went for sparkly scandinavian style on this one:

I used a backing paper from a paper pad, which was scandi-style, and added a glitter ribbon on the side. I cut a frame using a Sizzix die and left-over red mirri card. The reindeer was a free gift with Simply Cards and Papercraft 141, and was die-cut from cream glitter card that cam from the centre of a previous die-cut. I tried using self-adhesive backing sheets, but then had to cut the adhesive with a scalpel blade to keep it neat, so I think I need to get some of the official sheets (or just some of the self-adhesive glitter sheets that have just come out). I added white pearls and a red/white glitter papermania sentiment to finish.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges:

Always Playing with Paper #52 Make a Christmas card

atlantic hearts sketch 135

SOS #229 No Stamping

craftingbydesigns Christmas

creative corner Glitz and Glam

winter wonderland Sparkle and Bling

suzy bee #108 Use a die
deep ocean #117 White and one other colour (red)
creative moments 82 Bling it up
jingle belles Christmas leftovers
polkadoodle White and one other (red)
quirky crafts #24 It's nearly Quirky Christmas

I also thought you may wish to see an update of my fish - at over 112 hours now:

Thank you for looking.

Hugz Tinz

Violet Baubles

Back from Centre Parcs now and I have been busy making some Christmas cards. Unfortunately the holiday was not as relaxing as expected - always the case with family holidays though I think. I took some cross stitcing with mme, expecting to have more time to do some than I usually do during the week, and actually only did about half as much as I would normally do instead! Needless to say I probably need another holiday from work, just to get my crafting done, never mind to catch up on sleep.

However, here is the first of my Christmas cards (the second I will put into a separate post):

I used a Tim Holtz edging die that I have had for quite a while (it was one of the first dies I got from my OH when my parents bought me the Big Shot for Christmas), and a bauble die that was free with Simply Cards and Papercraft 129. I cut these dies from one of last years received Christmas cards. I then cut a background for the bauble using leftover gold mirri card and a Nellie nesting die. To finish I coloured some mosiac tiles with a purple papermania glitter pen (as they were pink to start) and added an accent line alongside.

This card is being entered for the following challenges:

abc challenge V for Violet

Stella Says Sketch #318

Quirky Crafts #24 It's nearly quirky Christmas

jingle belles Christmas leftovers (recycled card and gold mirri)

the card concept #44 Festive Glory

abc christmass X for 4x4
Th Challenge #52 Christmas card

SOS #229 No Stamping
papertake weekly Take your pick - product - bauble
craftingbydesigns Christmas
Winter wonderland Add some sparkle and bling
crafty calender Sparkle, Bling and embellish

I also thought I would share a picture of my little girl playing on her new rope ladder.

Thank you for looking.

Hugz Tinz

Starry 1222

It has been another cold day today, although I think I have managed to sort out the heating for the main rooms now. And I am going on holiday tomorrow yippee!!

I have made a OL card and an ATC collection today. I am not sure how to split my post into two, so please be aware that the two different designs are for two different sets of challenges. Firstly, here is my simple thank you card (I am not sure I like it myself).

I used a cling stamp from papermania for the button strip, and stamps from my stash for the sentiment and corner. The sentiment and corner were heat embossed, although it is difficult to see this from the photo. Finally a little lilac bow was added to finish the card and add a little pop of colour.

I made this card for the following challenges:

LOC #105 Use a sentiment

SOS #228 Thanks

simonsaysstamp monday Thanks
audsentiments 145 Anything Goes
OLS #22 A multitude of gratitude

ATC Christmas Starry Night Collection

Here is my Starry Night ATC collection, which means I now have nine ATC's ready to go next month. Now just to make a start on my cross stitched decorations exchange!

ATC #1

This first ATC was based around the Sketch from Sketchy Colours
 Sketch #259
I used a Helz Cuppleditch paper, a foam snowflake from my stash, as well as some Santa boots (no idea where these came from) and a pre-coloured Angelica and Adam image of fairy Angelica sitting on a stack of presents. The sentiment was hand-written (in case you couldn't tell).

ATC #2

This card has the patterned paper as the main background, with the snowflake in the same position, but a different shape for the image. Again the sentiment was handwritten using silver gel pen on Kraft card.

These first two cards from the collection are to be entered into the CRAFT 338 Christmas Present Challenge. Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to incorporate a present into the last one due to the style. I suppose I could have replaced the snowflake at the bottom, but I do not have a present stamp that would have fit into the space nicely. These two are also for the Crafty Hazelnut Things with Wings challenge (fairy sitting on presents).

ATC #3

Again the background is dominated by the starry paper. This time I stamped a sentiment and some snowflakes onto the background and heat embossed. Unfortunately I think that the background paper is a little strong for the delicate stamps used and it just overpowers the embossed areas. Oh well I wouldn't have know if I hadn't tried, and it does sparkle nicely.

So here is the complete collection together:

I used the colours from the always playing with paper inspiration photo:

They also fit the following challenges:
papertake weekly Let it Snow
Simon Says Wednesday Christmas
my time to craft #309 Let it snow
alphabet challenge T for Tis the season
The Card Concept Festive Glory
Christmas at Sweet Stampin Stars (ATC #3)
live and love crafts Christmas Tic-Tac-Toe (Star-Snow-Glitter) - ATC #3

GROWING VEGGIES

So I did manage to get down to the allotment today and I cut down the Asparagus ferns, which the wind had already been trying to help me with, and mulched over the crowns ready for the really cold weather. I also harvested all my Beetroot, which weighed in at 3.2kg! Quite a harvest there. Yesterday I took the last of the apples off the tree and half filled a large bag for life! Hmm, does anything use Beetroot AND Apple???

I also emptied my potato sack in the back garden and harvested a good crop of 1230g, with only slight scab on some of the tubers. Not too bad foor a cold weekend in November.

Audio Book Review

1222 by Anne Holt

When a train is derailed during a snow-storm at 1,222 metres above sea-level the passengers are all very lucky – the only fatality is the driver, and nobody has suffered any serious injuries. Furthermore, they are rescued and recovered to a nearby hotel. There is an unusually high number of doctors, due to a conference that they were travelling to, making it easy for all injuries to be dealt with quickly. However, it quickly becomes known as the ‘Finsey disaster’ (Finsey being the village where the hotel is located) due to the event occurring during the isolation of the passengers in the hotel due to the raging storm.

The book uses storm gaging for each of the chapters, reflecting how the tension is increasing between the passengers through the story. First there is the issue of the extra carriage with the secret passengers, then there is the first murder. After this dissension, deaths and suspicion follow. Hanne is an ex-police inspector who was paralysed when a bullet severed her spinal column. She really does not like people and initially finds her situation difficult. She does however start to get over her prejudices and dislikes and determines to uncover the murderer, and maybe also the mystery of the secret carriage.

A fast paced book with an unlikely heroine. I found this a very good book to listen to, although I did think it was a little obvious where the author was angling for the killer. The characters are well expressed and full of character and there are several aspects to consider throughout. I would love to find some more of her work that has been translated into English.

The Sense of a Birthday

Hi there,

The wind is finally calming down, but according to the weather it will be back to gale force winds Saturday morning, along with some risk of snow!! We are not quite ready for that - break us n gently please Mother Nature!!!

Today I have two crafty finishes to share with you, a cooking disaster and an audio book review :)

The first crafty finish is my October cross stitch. I have only just finished it as I ran out of the thread for the backstitch, and then as I had started the new one, this didn't get completed. But it is done now and here it is:

The second creation is a birthday card I made using the larger toppers from the Papermania Art Deco 'Roaring Twenties' collection. I thought this image made a lovely birthday scene - just what all us ladies would like :). Again I used a monochrome black palette, and here is the finished card:

So I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Artistic Inspirations #144 Feminine

CCM #152 Winter Birthday

Deep Ocean #117 White and one other colour (Black)

Creative Moments #81 Winter Birthday

audsentiments 145 Anything Goes

The cooking disaster....well I decided to make my own mince pies this year. We are away at Centre Parks next week, which is the only time we are going to see OH's family before Christmas, so we will be taking all the presents (of course I still do not have all of them!). Therefore, I made some mince pies and froze them raw. However, I had some pastry left over, and as I am never very good with pastry I decided to make a few extra, cook them and take them into work as a taste test. The problem was that by the time I actually took them out of the oven, they were a little blackened - opps. I did still try the pasty and it has the texture of burnt pastry, so hopefully once somebody else cooks the rest of them it will taste like normal mince pie pastry lol.

AUDIO BOOK REVIEW

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Forty years after finishing school a letter arrives for Tony Webster which makes him re-examine the memories of his past, and throws him back into his old social circle. His serious school friend committed suicide, but nobody ever really knew why, but why has the mother of his old girlfriend left Tony his friends diary in her will. How did she get hold of it? And what is in the diary that is important to Tony?

This story is written from the perspective of the main character. Whilst it does have interest and intrigue it is not exactly captivating and often goes off on a tangent. While this does make it seem more realistic it also means that often you are left wondering what was meant by something. Also there is not actually an ending, or a conclusion to the story, which really annoyed me! Still, fairly interesting to listen to.

Thank you for looking and reading,

Hugz Tinz

Thanks Star

Wow I think the wind is trying to take my house away!! I can hear lots of things slamming around outside and the wind howling down the chimney brrr.

I wanted to use some Art Deco toppers I got quite a while ago, but never got round to using, I thought they would make a stylish, monochrome Thank you card, and this is what I came up with:

Sorry about the flash spot, but it was really difficult to focus on the image without the flash! The topper is from the Papermania Art Deco Roaring twenties collection. The patterned papers used to make the quilted strip are a Make & Create and a Papermania Capsule Collection, Bexley Black patterned papers. Finally a glitter ribbon, and silver Papermania metallic pen were used to finish off the image, and a sentiment added from peel-offs.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

vs sweet ideas #40 Bling it on

my time to craft #308 Quilt it
simply create too #98 Give Thanks
Fussy and Fancy #152 Thankfull
artistic inspirations#144 Feminine
catch the bug Give Thanks
LOC #104 Sparkle
Creative Corner Black and White plus one (silver)
crafty catz#301 Girls only
SOS #228 Thanks
Simon Says Monday Thanks/Thanksgiving

And here s the promised update on the height chart - now at 25 hours (just under):

Finally, today's Audio Book Review:

The Devil’s Star by Jo Nesbo

The Oslo police force are short-staffed due to holiday’s when a murder occurs, throwing the two main detectives, who hold a grudge against each other, together in a race to catch the killer before he kills again. The only clues are a severed finger and a tiny red diamond in the shape of a star. A pattern emerges to indicate that they have a serial killer on their hands. Harry is an alcoholic who risks losing his job unless he uncovers the killer without further consequences, while Tom is suspected by Harry to be a corrupt policeman. This is a fast-paced story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. A very good story and well worth reading!

Thank you for looking

Hugz Tinz

Racy Zentangle

Hello there,

If you have been following my posts you will know I have two groups on facebook for crafters looking for new ideas, inspiration and challenges. My Christmas card for today has incorporated both groups:

 The first group - crafting techniques - is focusing on Zentangle this month. Here is a close-up of the doodles in the Robin:

I have decided that Promarkers are not the best idea for doing this technique! Gel pens next time I think - and maybe pencil first lol.
The second group - Monthly Themes for crafting - has a theme of Racy Reds this month.

Other challenges I think this card can be entered for are:

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 133

papertake weekly Christmas Critters

Glitter and Sparkle #162 Use some red

ABC christmas W for Wild Thing
inkspirational #95 Anything Goes with some Silver
Quirky Crafts #23 Light as a quirky feather (Robins are made of feathers after all)
crafting by designs Anything Goes

The patterned paper and sentiment are from the Papermania Bellissima range of products, and the stamp is a Boofle clear stamp.

For those waiting to see how my Dino is progressing an update will follow soon :)

Hugz Tinz

Hugs in the Pink

Hi there,

What an awfully wet day we have today - so much for getting some prep done down on the allotment :(. I will however be going out into the garden shortly to do a bit of tidying up, and watering the greenhouse!

I have been playing with my Daisy and Dandelion 'Lovingly Yours' clear stamp set as I had them out for a Christmas card the other day and realised I had not really used them much. So here is the card I created:

I used a papermania patterned paper, a Zentangled column of paper (drawn using papermania glitter markers) and a piece of pink card. The image was stamped on a pre-cut scalloped circle and coloured with Promarkers. The butterfly, envelope and sentiment were stamped onto watercolour card and fussy cut. The butterfly was Zentangled with promarkers. These were layered under the scalloped circle according to the challenge sketch:

I would also like to enter this card for these challenges:
papertake weekly Anything Goes
audsentiments BINGO (Favourite colour/Rubber stamp/Pattern Paper) 

Creative Moments Anything Goes

scrapbook stamp society Anything Goes

Thank you for taking the time to look :)

Hugz Tinz

Letters to my Animal creations

Hi there,

I do not know how many of you are into knitting and crochet, but my crafting techniques facebook group focused on Amigarumi last month, and whilst I am still in the process of doing a crochet bluebird (I had to buy eyes before I could continue) I have finished my knitted Giraffe:

Not sure ho much like a giraffe he looks, but he is good enough for me :)
I would like to enter him into the following Anything Goes challenges - Creative Moments - abc-callenge (U for Unlimited) and crafting by designs

This months techniue n focus is ZENTANGLE - check out crafting techniques if this is a crafting technique you have been interested in trying.

I have also been working on my Dino height chart, which is now at just over 20 hours:

Finally I have another book review for you all.

Letters to my Daughter’s Killer by Cath Stainliff

This is a story about a Mother’s feelings towards the killer of her daughter. She writes to him in order to try and get rid of her feelings of hate and desire for vengeance, so that she can start to have a normal life again, if not for herself, then for her grand-daughter’s sake.

The way this story is written is unusual as the whole story is told through letters from the mother to the killer. There is no other narrative at all throughout. I am not sure how realistic it is that the whole story would be retold in this way – especially to somebody who was a part of it – but it does work quite well. It gets a bit confusing sometimes, as the letters are written four years later and so sometimes it is difficult to grasp whether she is telling him of something that is current or in the past. However, all-in-all a very good and captivating read. (You may end up wanting to slap the female defence lawyer though lol).

Thank you for looking,

Hugz Tinz

Christmas at Halloween

Well it is no time to start thinking properly about Christmas. Finished with the Halloween creations - decorations, pumpkins, costumes lol. Now onto the Christmas paraphernalia!!! Time to start getting excited. Even better is the fact that I have a holiday to centre parks in three weeks  whoop.

This year my pumpkins did not germinate so we did not have a pumpkin to carve. However, my round courgette plants did germinate and so I let one of these grow quite large to use as a pumpkin - and this is what I came up with:

The cracks that had appeared naturally on the large courgette made it look even more spooky, and obviously he had to eat one of his smaller brothers hehehe. Unfortunately the flesh was inedible because the cracks had allowed damp inside, which had led to some mould growth - but it was definitely worth it. He weighed 4.35kg before carving!
I would like to show him off at - creative moments #80 Anything Goes - deepocean #115 Halloween and LOC #102 Halloween.

Now onto the Christmas creations - another ATC collection. I will not be caught out this year - my ATC's will all be ready by the end of this month! Especially as I also have to organise a Christmas zoo themed cross-stitch exchange.

This collection is called Puppy Presents:

I used black peel-offs, with diamante detail, for the festive element of the ATC's, with sleighs and holly for each card. Then I stamped the image, from the Daisy and Dandelion Lovingly Yours clear stamps and fussy cut the image. I used the Brights promarkers to colour the image and fill in the holly peel-offs.

I would like to enter this ATC collection for the following challenges:

polkadoodle Add sparkle, bling or glitter

Hanna and friends #234 Say it with flowers

fussy and fancy #151 Flowers
abc christmas V for Very Cute
scrapbook stamp society #78 Anything Goes
C4C310 Christmas
catch the bug Black and white and a pop of bright
allsorts 335 Christmas
Winter Wonderland Anything Goes Christmas

Thank you for looking

Hugz Tinz