Happy Christmas!

This is my last post until after Christmas, so I wish you....

...enjoy yourselves!

Fluffy and puffy (yarn and pastry!)

Now that all my Christmas projects are completed and everything packed away, apart from finishing off the gift tags which I've made, I can concentrate on making birthday and celebration cards which I need for early January. Hopefully I can get them made tomorrow and then my desk will be clear.
I spent some time playing with ideas on the Serif graphics programme....

...roses are the theme for one of the cards and so I've used pictures of roses in our garden....

....I've taken so many it's difficult which image to choose...

.....there will be co-ordinating background papers to go along with the main image, once I've decided!
I had a box full of these gorgeous yarns....

...and I've been knitting them into squares....

...they are going to be made into a throw. I could have just knitted it in long lengths, I know....

....but that wasn't the effect I wanted. It will be so much nicer in squares...

....I've done 68 so far....

...and I have enough yarn to make at least another 30....

......and the colours are just delicious...

.....It will be so soft and fluffy, just right for these long dark evenings.

Today has been baking day....

...I wanted to get it all done today. The mince pies, sausage rolls, lemon tarts are all done. I just have to make a Bailey's cream cake and a trifle. They'll be done on Friday.
I shan't get much crafting done over Christmas, I shall be too busy with the family. But the ideas will still keep coming and I shall note them down whenever they arise.
Now it's time for gift wrapping and we still have the tree to put up. That's a job for tomorrow too!

Christmas preparations!

Well, the knitting has come to a halt for a short while. This was so that I could finish off my Christmas cards. As you can see, I am not a tidy papercrafter....

... and I have to have everything out on the desk, so that I know what I'm doing ( I should add, hopefully)!
Last years' cards were of a traditional theme. But this year I decided to go more contemporary, with design and colour. This was partly due to the beautiful wallpapers which I was given. The colours I used for the cards were chocolate brown and black.....

..it's really difficult to see in the picture, but the brown textured paper has gold in it too....

...I used chocolate brown cardstock, and I stamped and clear embossed the snowflake backgrounds. I then used a Martha Stewart punch for the squares of paper and I used my snowflake Sizzix die to punch out some snowflakes. Just to top it off I punched some smaller snowflakes to top the larger ones off. I did the same with the black , the black paper was embossed and has silver threads running through it, and I also used silver holgram card too....

.. I then decided to make a fewcards with some dusky pink card and some velvet striped paper. The effect was great, and so I made a few in that colourway.
For my last few, I used one of my photos of mince pies.....

....and used them as toppers on cards, after stamping and clear embossing holly on the card. It worked very well, and I'm very pleased with the outcome.
When I told Mick what I was doing, he wasn't sure about the wallpapers, but when he saw them, he was impressed. (Breathes a big sigh of relief!).

... I've made sixty, I think I've made enough .....

.... I still have the special cards to make for family. I am sticking to the black/silver/ hologram and chocolate brown/gold theme for these. they will hopefully be finished in the next day or so.
I'm hoping to get started on my "springtime" knitting before Christmas, but at the moment there is way too many other things to do. I don't think there'll be much done over the holidays and for a short while beyond, as with family staying with us, my time will be concentrated on them. Besides, there's the grasndchildren to play with and that is more important!
I have a facination for kaleidoscopes, ( this comes from when I was a child and had a kaleidoscope telescope). Nowadays I use software on my computer, and once I get playing, it's difficult to stop...

...it is very addictive.....

...I have used kaleidoscopic images on cards, as background papers...

....and I they look great as tiles....

......

......maybe I shall use some for atc's....

......or frames....

....the possibilities are endless, as they say!
I still have one Christmas gift to make. It's actually going to be a collection of special pictures to be mounted into a frame. I'm hoping to get it done by the end of the week. Then it's the real countdown to Christmas. I've already baked two lots of mince pies....

....they've all gone already, but December is the month for them! But by the weekend there will be more. The brandied mincemeat is on standby!

84 and counting, now for the real ones!

Well I've made 84 mince pies at the moment, and I have 8 to finish. Then I can begin the real ones!

It will be a change ( and so nice) to make some I can actually eat! My deadline was to finish them all by the end of the month, and it looks like I've done it. All my other Christmas knits are done too...

.....so I don't think I shall be making any more now, unless...
anyway I'm now trying new things for spring. I'm starting now as it's going to be very hectic here over Christmas and New Year with family staying. I won't be knitting ( or sewing) whilst we have our grandchildren with us, I shall be too busy playing with them. Even though the youngest is only a few weeks old!
I have put some into my Folksy shop....

.....

.....

.......

...and I did have some of the larger cupcakes.........

...but they sold before they hit the shop. There will be more, and different varieties next year.
I am halfway through making my Christmas cards. it's strange, but it's usually the last Saturday in November when I get them all finished. This year will be no different, as my desk is loaded with inks, stamps, card, die cuts and my Sizzix machine sits waiting patiently for me. I have already planned that this coming Saturday afternoon ( whilst Mick is at the football) is the time I will get it all done. ( I hope my plans don't go astray!)
Once they're all done I can pack all my card making things away ( for now) and sort out my fabrics and yarns. Then everything can be stored ready until I need them.
I have( slowly) begun my atc adventures, at the moment I am just making elements to use, using papers.....

..fabulous wallpapers which I've been given...

..some I'm creating myself with various mediums....

....some are made on the computer and printed out. this is where my Kaleidoscope kreator comes into its own....

.....I'm even experimenting with fabric and yarn....

....

......in fact I'll experiment with (almost)anything....

...

..the last one is one of my own photographs which I've used in a serif Craft Artist programme.
I love old style crafts but I also love using my computer and printer. It's so much more exciting creating things yourself. Whether it's from paper, yarn , fabric or whatever. Go on, have a go, you won't regret it!

Christmas treats...update

Well, now we're into November and the buzz of Christmas is getting up speed.
I've just completed 48 of these....

...and they are now safely in their new homes.
These are also ready.....

....butonly one set(at the moment)is currently in my Folksy shop.
I will be making these selections up until the end of the month.
My knitted stemmed flowers are coming on a treat. They are a special order for someone, so no pictures for now.
My christmas card making is on the back burner at the moment. But the stamps, inks and everything else are all on standby, ready for action.
For now, it's back to the flowers.

Inspiration and experimentation

There's a lot going here, nothing unusual about that. But sometimes I have so many things which I want to do, that I find it almost impossible to make my mind up in which direction to go first.
Like many people I know, and perhaps many I don't, I do have quite a few ufo's in my craft room. Some of them will, eventually, be finished, but some will be taken apart and remade, in some form or other.
Some of them are finished and are now being used, or in place.
My £6 Ikea chair is now finished, and this is what I did....
Remember it looked like this......

.....I then gave it two coats of white paint....

....then, after much dithering, I decided which fabric I would use for the seat pad, which meant I then knew which colour paint to use.
In my large collection of fabrics I found some of this....

...I have several pieces of this Sanderson fabric, but one piece was just the perfect size for the seat pad cushion, which meant I didn't have too much measuring and cutting to do. The colours were just right too, pretty pastels. So the chair was painted cream, ( yes, boring I know, but then I found this paint......

... a gorgeous pink, which a pearl lustre in it. ( The picture doesn't quite do it justice.) Whilst the cream paint was still wet and using a clean, dry, soft cloth, I rubbed the pearly pink paint all over the chair.
It was looking good but still not right. When it was almost dry I dry brushed gold paint over it, then waited for it to dry.
The result was this.....

......the cushion looks lovely and fits just right, the colours blend perfectly with the painted chair. The finish is a pearly paint with a gold shimmer. Just like an organza ribbon. I am so pleased. Mission accomplished!
On to my knitting adventures, I am using this book.....

....to gain my inspiration for some flowers I have been asked to knit.
I know that there are books available on the market, but I prefer to design my own. I have several varieties of flowers to make, so I'll just show a sneak preview of the first one which I've done...

.....I do have a lot of "left overs" from my knitting projects and many people would throw it all away....

.....but being my mothers' daughter I don't. I have many ways to use these up......

...even the smallest amount.....

....and it's not always knitted! But I have to keep that for another time as I have to concentrate on making more flowers and I have a very large book to go through.