PATCHWORK CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone

Thursday already!!

Who is stealing the days this week that's what I want to know?  Time seems to be flying by super fast.  I clearly must be having far too much fun because school weeks when I was a kid used to last forever in comparison.

Today's card is a Christmas version of a card I posted here .. .. and truth be told I am a little obsessed with making them.  Firstly because it uses up the smallest pieces of backing paper and lengths of ribbon and secondly because I really enjoy doing all the stitching .. .. so a "win" on two counts.  Well three counts actually if you count having a finished card at the end.

So here is my patchwork Christmas card

This used:

Papers:  Nitwits Collection "Yuletide Cheer"
Sentiment:  Julie Hickey "DS-HE-1020 Christmas Border A6 Stamp Set
White Embossing Powder
Spellbinders:  Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle Dies
Ribbon
Fabric Puffy Metallic Snowflake Embellishment
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I'm not sure where the puffy metallic snowflake came from originally .. .. .. I have had a collection of them for quite a while because I used to use them as decorations at the wedding fayres alongside my Christmas themed wedding stationery.  

But weddings are no longer part of my life .. .. ..  that boat has now had to sail of into the sunset as I cannot commit to them any longer.  

All of my weddings are now finished .. .. .. with venue stationery for the very last one being completed by a lovely fellow exhibitor who I met at the wedding fayres.  We hit it off straight away and became good friends and she was my first port of call .. .. .. .. doing a brilliant job for me "and" the happy couple.

So the remainder of my wedding stash is available for general use now, which gives me even more card, ribbon, lace, gems and embellishments to play with!   Unless I open a little on-line shop?  Now there's a thought! 

Not sure how I am going to store everything when we move .. .. .. but bless him Mr Heart hasn't once said "exactly how much stuff have you got?"  LOL!!!

Enjoy the rest of today and I will hopefully catch you again soon.  

TEENY TINY POLAR BEARS

Hi Everyone

I hope your Tuesday has been a good one.

I am here with my Teeny Tiny creation for today .. .. ..  a card that is a whole 9cms square.

This used:

Image and Die Set:  MFT Polar Bear Pals
Sentiment:  Clearly Besotted "Speaking Out"
Background Word Stamp:  Julie Hickey "JH1061" Christmas Background Stamp Set
Design Paper inside the frame:  "Snow & Ice" The Works
Christmas Tree:  Cut and Make  - Mini Christmas Dies (very old)
Frame:  MFT-926 Stitch Round Square Frame
ProMarkers
Small Star Punch
Glitter Paper
Chalk (for those little rosy cheeks)
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and whilst making one I actually made three .. ..

I will hopefully catch you again soon but in the meantime many thanks for your visits and lovely comments .. .. I am enjoying being back in blogland so very much and am not looking forward to having to pack away all my crafty goodies when we finally move!  My little craft pod will be the last room to be boxed up and emptied!  LOL!!

ACROSS THE MILES

Hi Everyone

I hope your week is off to a good start.

The weather is definitely very Autumnal here with the wind swirling a multitude of different coloured leaves all along the roads!  Not my most favourite season I must admit.  I love the colours but not the dark evenings or the thought of worrying winter weather looming.  

My share for today is a Christmas card which uses another of the cute images from the download I purchased on Friday .. .. .. I just knew this was the next character I "needed" to use.  I love the outfit so much that I would love a jumper just like it!  LOL!! 

This used:

Image and Sentiment:  Amanda Jayne Designs "Ultimate Christmas Bundle"

Backing Papers:  Buddly Craft - Kim MacFarlane - Silent Night Digi Papers
Memory Box Die:  Snowflake Heart
ProMarkers
Diamond Stickles

Glossy Accents

My Trusty Sewing Machine

I am trying really hard to make "at least" one card every day and will hopefully be here again tomorrow with a Teeny Tiny Tuesday creation.

But each card needs to be created alongside us working on what we are calling "project downsize" .. .. .. .. where we are sorting out our house ready for moving to pastures new.   Not an easy project!  We have lived here for 32 years and have accumulated far too much. We are all sold and have found our next nest .. .. .. but can't take everything with us! 

Various local charities are doing well out of us, and anything that we don't need which will help someone else is being passed along.  I just wish I could be given £1 for each time one or other of us has said "why on earth did we keep this?" LOL!!!

We have moved house a few times during our very happy marriage, and a couple of times the saying "new house, new baby" has turned out to be true .. .. .. but there is no chance of that anymore (unfortunately).  Those days are long gone.

Anyway, enjoy what is left of today and I hope the week is a good one for you.

TREE OF LIFE

Hi Everyone

Back to Christmas here in the House of Hearts and today’s share features a lovely stamp set from Julie Hickey that is new to my collection .. ..

This used:

Image:  Julie Hickey Designs "JH1075" Tree of Life
Sentiment:  Dovecraft "Christmas Basics" (very old)
ProMarkers
DecoArt Gold Glamour Dust
Gold Cord
Nail Heads
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is me for today!

Have a good one everyone.

BRING ON THE PUD

Hi Everyone

I hope your Thursday has been a good one.

I certainly can't say I am a fan of the nights getting darker so early.  I don't like crafting by electric light.

More Christmas from me today:

This used:

Image:  LOTV Digital Image "Christmouse Pudding"
Sentiment:  Computer Generated
Backing Paper:  Make & Create "Merry and Bright"
Corner Rounding Punch

ProMarkers
Ribbon

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is another Christmas card added to the box.

Many thanks for all the comments and emails regarding my Mum.  You are all so very kind.

It is certainly good to see her more like her old self again .. .. .. just in time to be treated to a flu jab on Saturday!! 

Catch you again soon

WONDERFUL

Hi Everyone

I hope your week is progressing well.

I am super happy to report that Mum seems back on track again after a worrying week or so  .. .. .. thankfully life is feeling more normal again and I have been able to visit my little craft pod a little more frequently.

This is one little creation I have put together which uses a "new to me" stamp set which I acquired from Ebay.  I bought it because I wanted the image I have used here .. .. but there are some other beauties in the set that will be getting an airing too.

This used:

Image:  Penny Black Clear Stamp Set "30-143" Joy to the World
Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique (sadly no longer trading)
Backing Papers:  From Snippet Mountain
ProMarkers
Snowflakes: Memory Box Die "99031" Snowflake Heart
Crystal Glamour Dust (not that you can see it in the photographs)
My Trusty Sewing Machine

As everything but the card base has come from snippet mountain, I am running over to Pixie's Snippets Challenge where we are encouraged to use up any leftovers we may have.  Be these card, paper, fabric, ribbon .. .. in fact anything you can create something else from.

I really don't think I will ever see the back of my snippets as hard as I try .. .. .. ..  or even feel I have them under control .. .. .. .. but I am going to keep up the fight anyway.  

Enjoy the rest of your day everyone.

CHRISTMAS TREES

Hi Everyone

I hope this week has been a good one for you.  We actually saw some lovely sunshine here yesterday afternoon .. .. .. but today we are back to rain again.

Yet another Christmas card from me today (apologies to anyone who thinks September is too early but I really do want to have them all finished with by the time December gets here .. .. .. which would be a world first for me!).

This used:

Image and Sentiment:  A very old Woodware Clear Stamp Set "FRS292" Christmas Trees 
Tree colouring was paper-pieced using Wow! "Stamp Set 65" Scrunch

Distress Inks:  Peeled Paint, Twisted Citron and Shabby Shutters
White Embossing Powder

Red Marker
Christmas Red Stickles

.. .. .. and nothing seems complete anymore without a bit of stitching .. .. .. even if it is only eight stiches!

So another Christmas card into the box, and a nice pile prepped ready for just putting together.

PROBABLY AN IMPOSSIBLE HEART

Hi Everyone

I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

It has been a scorcher here today and I have spent quite a bit of time colouring on the patio table under the shade of the umbrella.  Happy times and so relaxing!!

The current "As You See It" challenge is a sketch with a focal point.  Well we all know how much I love a sketch .. .. .. so I decided to make a Christmas Card .. .. .. to cool me down LOL!!!

This was the final result:

This used:

Cuttlebug Snowflake Die .. .. .. probably has antique value now as it is years old
DoCrafts Embossing Folder:  Snowflakes
Distress Ink Pad:  Chipped Sapphire

Spellbinder Circle Die
Ribbon

Crystal Glamour Dust (for adding to the snowflake)
DoCrafts Glitter Dome
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and the sketch for following

So that is me for today .. .. with another Christmas card in my stock box and lots of images coloured!

I am hoping that tomorrow is going to as productive as today .. .. .. with lots of colouring done in readiness for future cards!

Enjoy tomorrow whatever you have planned and apologies if the heart isn't showing up too well on the photographs.  But I promise there is one there.

A QUICK CHRISTMAS CARD

Hi Everyone

I hope you enjoyed your weekend .. .. .. shame about the football result but at least we got to the finals and enjoyed the excitement of the game.  It is also a shame about all the bad and embarrassing behaviour but I am not going to start on that because I will rant on for ages!!!!

Instead I will just share a Christmas card:

This used:

Image:  Visible Imaged "Inked Holly"
Backing Paper:  From my snippet mountain
Gold Embossing Powder
ProMarkers
Red glitter
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I began by heat embossing the image in gold and then re-stamping in black to colour, cut out and add to the embossed image.

So that is another Christmas card into the box .. .. .. I need to pull my finger out on the Christmas front .. .. .. we are over halfway to Christmas 2021 already eeekkk!!!.  

If I want that chilled Christmas build up I promised myself this year I need to be getting a move on!  This year seems to be whizzing by!

Take care everyone.

Catch you soon.

ALL HEARTS COME HOME

Hi Everyone

I hope you have enjoyed your weekend.

Yesterday was wonderful sunshine from start to finish here, but today has seen spells of rain and sunshine .. .. .. what gardeners would call "growing weather".  At least Mr Heart has been spared watering duties!  LOL!

Today I had my first proper play with "The Frisk Speckling Brush" I showed on my previous post .. .. ..  I speckled the image panel once all the work had been done on it (apart from adding the sentiment).  So I "speckled" thinking .. .. "I hope this works or I will have wasted my time"!  Thankfully all worked out OK and once the paint was dry I was able to stitch the sentiment in place and stitch the panel to its backing card.

This used:

Images and Sentiment:  Stampin Up! "Hearts Come Home"

Snippet of Green backing paper (which you can hardly see)
Distress Ink Pads:  Stormy Sky and Chipped Sapphire
Memento Dew Drop Ink Pads:  Rhubarb Stalk and Bamboo Leaves
Versafine Ink Pad:  Onyx Black

Slightly watered down White Acrylic Paint for the speckles
Frisk Speckling Brush

My Trusty Sewing Machine

I am taking this over to Fezziwigs Festive Frolics Challenge where the theme this fortnight is "Red & Green".

I gained this stamp set "pre-loved" from Ebay a couple of weeks ago and it came with some beautiful dies alongside.  They will be played with another day .. .. but for now I am happy that another Christmas card is making its way into the stock box.

So that is me for today. I'll catch you again soon.

HOLIDAY HUGS

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I hope your week is going well.

A bright start to today here .. .. with a clear sky and sunshine!  Just the sort of day for sharing a Christmas card don't you think?  LOL!!!

My card is for taking over to the Christmas Kickstart Challenge .. .. where the theme is currently "Santa and Friends".

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "40-081" Holiday Hugs
Sentiment:  Woodware "FRS771" Merry & Bright
Backing Paper:  Make & Create "Lovely Mystery"
Sizzix Thinlits Die:  "660978" Woodlands
ProMarkers
Metallic Cord

I hope you have sunshine where you are and that you enjoy your day!

Still lots on my "crafty must do list" that I am working my way through  .. .. .. with the most exciting part being the work I am doing for a wedding that was postponed last year and is hopefully going to be taking place when everything potentially opens up again next month.  My fingers are very tightly crossed for the lovely happy couple!

Right .. .. ..off to try and work some miracles!  

PEEKER

Hi Everyone

Happy Monday!

I hope your weekend has been a good one!  Quite a bit achieved here .. .. .. but of course never enough!

Part of my crafty play yesterday involved another Christmas card for adding to my stock box.  This image really makes me smile. . . . . 

This used:

Image:  Bugaboo "Reindeer Peeker"

Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Black Script Printed Caps" (I quite like using this font because it prints with white areas that you can colour to match your image)
Backing Papers:  LOTV Frosty Christmas Blue (behind the reindeer) which is sadly no longer available, and a random plaid snippet from snippet mountain in the background
ProMarkers

Chalk

Glossy Accents
Gold Glamour Dust
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I used my Craft Artist 2 programme to layer first the LOTV snowy background (washing out some of the colour as the original shade was a little dark for my needs) and then layered onto this the PNG reindeer file.  (PNG files block the background out, leaving the area inside your image white so you can colour it).  Lastly adding the sentiment.

Those little white dots I added to the background were cut using a small circle die that is supposed to be used for cutting a hole in the top of a tag.

So another Crimble Card into the box .. .. yay!!!

Enjoy your day everyone.

I am off to Mum in a bit.  We are hoping to go a walk out today .. .. .. but the sky isn't looking very promising.

FEZZIWIGS FESTIVE FROLICS

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday .. .. we have woken up to sunshine today!  Yay!!  Let's hope it is going to last!

I am playing along with Fezziwigs Festive Frolics Challenge today where the theme this fortnight is "Festive Florals".

Not too many of those in my collection so I am hoping a partridge in a pear tree will count.

This used:

Image:  Stamps to Die For "Danielle's Partridge" plus matching die

Sentiment:  Clearly Besotted "Rockin' Robin"

Backing Paper:  This is an old snippet of design paper that I created a while ago by printing a Pink Petticoat script design onto white card and then I ran it through my printer again to add a green snowflake design on top.  I designed this paper years ago and have re-created it over and over again as I love it so much.

ProMarkers
Glossy Accents

Ribbon

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is another Christmas card into the box.  Woo hoo!

I'll catch you again soon.

ONE MORE SLEEP

Hi Everyone

I hope you have all had an enjoyable weekend.  Hasn't the weather been brilliant!

Fingers crossed we are going to have a lovely sunny summer this year.

So with the sun shining beautifully .. .. .. I make a Christmas card!  LOL!!!

This used:

Image:  Clearly Besotted clear stamp set "One More Sleep" (half price at the moment and I just couldn't resist it)
Distress Ink Pads:  Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky and Pumice Stone
Stampendous! Chunky White Embossing Enamel (heat set from underneath so it doesn't fly everywhere)
ProMarkers
Ribbon
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I am taking this over to the Christmas Kickstart Challenge where theme is "You Sleigh Me".   So time to bring out your Santa sleighs!

But don't panic .... it isn't really one more sleep.  If the website I looked on is correct we actually have 244 sleeps!  So if we make one card a week until Christmas we will have nearly 35!  Is that going to be enough for you?   It definitely won't be for me!!  

Take care everyone.

I will catch you again soon.

OH DEER

Hi Everyone

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend and your week has got off to a good start. 

Definitely some more lovely sunshine here which was great to see!

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while may remember that on the run up to last Christmas I decided I was going to try and make all of my Christmas cards.  Well, I did make "most of them" .. .. and we got some lovely thank you messages afterwards which I thought was nice.

So I am thinking that if I get started early enough I might be able to make "all of them" this year.  So I am trying to design some super quick digital makes, save the files to my computer, and I will be "good to go" whenever I get a spare moment to pull some together.

This first design has been put together using a selection of different digital images and my Serif Craft Artist programme.

This used:

Image:  Bugaboo "Snowflake Reindeer Silhouette"

Background Image:  Huckleberry Hearts (Etsy) "Watercolor Clipart Set"

Sentiment:  Digistamp Boutique (sadly no longer trading)
Backing Paper:  The Lovely Studio "Doodle Flakes"

The Little Stars came from a Memory Box Die "Snowflake Heart"
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I am also taking this over to Fezziwigs Festive Frolics Challenge where the theme this fortnight is "Oh Deer".   Just hoping my images counts.  Is a Reindeer the same as a Deer?

Catch you again soon folk.