Saturday, December 20, 2008

Almost forgot!

to blog my Daring card this week. Doh!
only it is not actually a card.
the theme is

Traditional Gold and Silver

and I decided to make name cards for Christmas Dins. we are never so posh usually! The paper tablecloth and the cracker are from Wilkinsons and I based the colour scheme of my cards on them. Bazzill bling cardstock in silver formed the base, covered in inked BG Figgy Pudding paper. I only bought a 6x6 pad and hardly touched it last year but I love it now! the letter is from a Costco set, with additional silver penwork. ONly it is not a stable surface so we will have to be very careful handling them as the silver smudges really easily :(. The snowflake is a punch I have had forever using more bling cardstock and a gem. the name is finished off with Making Memories tiny alphas. They could not be had for love nor money in the UK for a few years so imagine my glee when they appeared.

I have now made 7 of these tags and they do look cute all lined up ready to go on the Christmas table!

I have a very busy couple of days and my craft space has become a bedroom, so I won't have much to share for a while. I do hope you have a Christmas full of love and joy!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Its beginning to feel a lot

like Christmas!

OK so the house is still a mess and almost no presents are wrapped. But I am getting there with my Christmas services. that means I have to sit down and think about the angels and shepherds and the amazing news that God was born among us as a baby.

the weeks before Christmas I just hate all the build up and all the overwhelming sense of a train thundering towards me. but it is getting close to the stage where none of that matters and all I can do is worship in awe and wonder...
and then later on have presents and food and chocolate (which is not a food it is a medicine)

All this is why I set the Salt challenge this week as

O Holy Night

it is almost here.
the most wonderful time of the year.
not just because of the presents and the food and the family time - fun though they are.
but because, on this most holy of nights, God comes to us as one of us.
Amazing love.

I went with using a version of a Christmas card that I cased from Papercrafts a couple of years ago. I knew I wanted something quite plain.
but sparkly.
(bit like me really!)
Bazzill kraft cardstock and 3 other Bazzill's to make the stable and Little Baby Jesus. the circles are punched and the star is a QK die. the yellow cardstock had glitter glue added and so did the Thickers for the title
and here is the close up of the journalling. I just let my thoughts develop and to my great pleasure I have realised that I can turn this into the short address for the Midnight Communion service. Result!
Right, back to the choirs of angels.... Got a parade service to do for Sunday (where we have lots of kids and no sermon) and I haven't a clue what to do as yet. Except that Little Baby Jesus will figure somewhere

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Oh my

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Can I just say that this has been a secret dream of mine and I am a little overwhelmed at actually being mentioned?
Thank you so much Jo and the team at Inspirational.
Sadly I have nothing crafty to show - only things ready for later this week.
I have however done... being a proud mum at lil' C's assembly when she won three awards; started writing meditations about the angels for Sunday's carol service(s); gone to morning prayers; delivered church Christmas cards to one street; led a carol service for a women's group; did a funeral visit and after tea chaired a rather difficult meeting.
Oh it is funny writing it all down as I would have said I did nothing today!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Quick!!!!!

that was our challenge on Daring Cards this week
10 Minute Christmas Card
We want to see cards that take only a few minutes, but of course don't look it!

I thought I had done well until I saw Kathy's bountiful crop! Anyway I managed 4 in about an hour and some are a bit fiddly so there!
But first, my pressie from Sue. It is a mini book featuring the 12 days of Christmas. there are so many fabby details, here is just a sample.
thanks sooooooo much I really appreciate it!

And my cards...
A version of this one might just end up being my Christmas card next year!
a blue pearlescent card base (haven't got many coloured ones left. I fins the colours of card blanks either too pastelly or too bright if you know what I mean. If anyone knows where you can buy Bazzill type coloured card blanks I would love to know!)
some lovely off white glitter card. Most of my glitter card has gone to church craft club now but I kept this one as I love the colour. Of course I only have a little scrap left and no idea where I bought it. I cut a Sizzix star, cutting off the edge. as you will see I am on an off the edge kick at the moment. BG Figgy Pudding paper, distress ink edging and some doodling and it was all done.

this one is based on a card from a Card Inspirations christmas special and is dead easy. Same set of paper for all my cards (Figgy Pudding) Stars cut with a QK die. Doodling, blinging and foam padding followed!

This one took longest just to get it all ok. Nestie frame, handcutting and doodling and that was that. So dunno why I had to fuss so much!
I think this one is my favourite! Journalling spot cut using the Robo - I made a few a couple of days ago and they are handy to have around. QK heart, lots of inking and doodling and apart from a gem "and that (said John) is that" (from one of my favourite poems. It is really, really deep you know)

Now this is a bit of a long shot but a few weeks ago I thought I read somewhere of a font that created journal tags - it was just using the numbers, no letters. I thought that I had saved it and that it was good to go, until I went to use it. I can't find it! I even downloaded a font manager and have sent ages trawling through. Now I am sadly beginning to think that the whole thing was a dream. Was it? If so how sad am I that I dream about fonts and craft robos!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Pubic Service Announcement

If you fall over in Tesco car park and cut your knee taking a fair bit of skin off, don't be a cheapskate and think - the shop can give me a plaster. No, just suck it up and buy your own antiseptic wipes and plasters and sort it out yourself. That will avoid having to wait for 20 minutes for a first aider to appear (who was more injured than me. His arm was in a sling which meant giving first aid was a bit tricky...) and the embarrassment of having to fill out a long form in triplicate for a grazed knee.... I was ever so lucky - having got to the age when falling can mean breaking something. I can't afford that so near Christmas! I just have a lot of aching bits and a bruised ego!

The last week has gone by in a bit of a blur with card club, services aplenty, a trip to see my DCM pal Sue for a gift exchange (yay!) including the most spiffing present which wasn't wrapped that I can have for now. Which I need to photograph so will do that for tomorrow. It is amazing! (Just a big build up so you will come and visit tomorrow) OK back to the list - doing work for next term's Imagine That class (see below), MA work in Cambridge, writing Christmas cards (I know! I usually get round to this the day before last second class posting!), serving soup and cheese at the Church lunch, visiting - and falling over.

Anyway I thought I would show my Imagine That doodling class. This is number 2 in a series which is great fun - only I am now at the end of my own doodling comfort zone and the next class will involve doodling proper shapes direct onto a layout (eeek!). Still, that will be in a few months time. This time we will be looking at doodling in shapes. I chose a photo of my dear Sister in law Erica, not a brill photo but she looks radiant I think. And it is of an event where she was the belle of the ball, which was just what she needed.
I'm not going to give it all away - you will have to book a class! But I used the lovely Crate Paper Mia collection (which is weird because you wouldn't think all the patterns and colours would go together but they do), a Heidi Swapp butterfly mask (guess who has discovered that they can't draw butterflies unless they look rather fat?) , tall timbers letters by Technique Tuesday and Sakura Glitter pens. It is a funny old photo because I asked Phil to photograph it in daylight and he forgot so this is taken in the shop and I had no chance of getting it straight really! It is even more sparkly in real life!

Emma asked how I made the scallop card with the fold. The easiest way is to show you. If you have a big shot and big shaped dies you can make, well, bigger cards this way! I have a cuttlebug and nestability dies which means that the cards are on the petite side, about 10 cms high I reckon.
As you can see you first fold over your cardstock and then make sure the die goes slightly over the edge. I've used a plain circle this time. NB if you are using nesties don't forget to add other paper underneath as, if you do own any nesties I am sure you know how well they like to sink into the cuttlebug plates ! You end up with something like this
only hopefully more in focus!

Friday, December 05, 2008

Just a quick one!

Trying to fit in everything I have to do in the next few days and I've also got the untidy house blues. I know the answer. Less fun time on the 'puter. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak!

Kathy came up with a fab dare for DCM this week!
Be Inspired at Home
The idea is that you look around your home and find a pattern, design, motif etc - or just part of one that you can replicate and use as the inspiration for your card design

I decided to go with a feature that won't be around much longer...
After Christmas our conservatory is going to be painted and the funky squares - which don't seem so funky any more - are going to be painted over. We don't have any plain white walls in the house so I am looking forward to having some - mostly to take photos against! I may just have some vinyl word art instead - we'll see.
Anyway that is the inspiration and here is the card
the lighting is off. This time of year drives me mad! Optimum time is late morning/afternoon but that is not the time I need to take photos. Lovely and simple this one. Yellow square punch, the SR Sonoma papers still on my table from yesterday, yellow and green distress inks, foam pads and an Imaginesce stamp.

I used the same papers to make a sample card for Church card club tomorrow. I wanted to make a fun shaped card and used my Nesties to make this one
It isn't a big card as I only have the petite scallops! And I think I ought to have cut further up the scallop. But it makes a cute thankyou card for after Christmas I think. I added a few Auntie Sarah's Bloomers, various brads and jumbo ric rac.

Right back to Church work. This stage of life is the busiest as services need to be prepared in advance in order to get readers etc. By 21st it settles down a bit!

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Oh what have I done?

Little C had one thing on her Christmas list. A kitten. And I suddenly realised that although I like other people's cats, I only like other people's cats in other people's houses. The thought of living with a cat made me feel quite ill. So I said that she had a choice. A cat or me. Which didn't go down too well. But better than it might have done as she is a very loving and understanding girl. Which made me feel even more guilty. She was still mulling it all over obviously as, on Saturday she suggested that maybe she could have a hamster instead. Now, I had been wondering about a similar compromise, so it made sense. But the one thing I know about hamsters is that they are very nocturnal so do not always make brilliant pets.
So I said something which seemed like a good idea but in hindsight I wish I had done some research before opening my big mouth.
What I said was this
"what about a Guinea Pig instead?"
BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG smiles from Carys.
BUT
within a few hours I discovered that apparently
  • GP's are social animals and you have to have two.
  • They need a hutch/cage more like a rabbits than a hamsters (I was hoping that the GP would live in a little cage in her room and I would never have to see it).
  • They like to be around people so the best place for them to live is in the sitting room.

Oh my.
they will be coming in the new year once my parents have gone home. To fit in with the rest of the pet household they will be rescue pigs. It is quite a trauma you know to be a really rather non animal person in an animal loving family.
Big H really wants a snake...

It is Salt day today with a great theme from Kimberley.
God is good
I was still thinking about the anniversary of my ordination.
Told you I looked young! We have had problems with our scanner so I had to use an original photo. Eeek! Actually it was a spare one so that is ok. I am standing behind the communion table of my first church. The organ is behind me and advent candles in front. It was a wood heavy building.
The scrap details are these - all the papers are Scenic Route Sonoma, title cut with the craft robo and mounted on foam pads. Added bling and dots with Stickles and Liquid pearls.
Here is the jouranlling made easier to read
and some details including my cheeky chops
those glasses were v. fashionable at the time I tell you.
Do have a look at what the Salt girsl have prduced this time round as every entry has something great to say about how good God is.