Last of the Old and First of the New

Meaning the last of 2008's received items and makes and the first finishes of 2009. Yes, it's back to the crafts at long last. LOL

I had to share a pic of the lovely decoupage card my PenPal Maggie sent to me:

Unfortunately my pic just doesn't do this any justice at all, as it's much more layered and dimensional than you can tell from the pic. So pretty. :0)

Another card, this time one I made for my friend Alex's birthday on the 23rd December:

As you can see I've still not tamed that flippin' scanner and it's left the card looking very "flat", so I shall be taking all pics with the digicam from now on. The image and wording were stamped then heat embossed with carbon and silver embossing powder - it and the darker backing layers glitter much more IRL. I do like the romantic look of this and was fairly pleased with how it turned out.

The next card I made for Karen:

The roses and butterfly are decoupage, so are 3-D. Karen's card was the last make of the old year and was a pleasure to do - I love those cards that just flow nicely and come together just as they've been pictured in my mind. :0)

So....... drum roll, please...... now we have the first finish of 2009:

Kit AY10 - Rose & Ribbon

Mini Motif range - Graphworks International

14ct cream aida

DMC threads

Charity stitch for Treetops Hospice, Derbyshire

Aperture card kindly donated by Claire

OK, so maybe a drum roll is a bit OTT for such a small finish but getting this done was a bit of an achievement with my mojo going missing during the festive season...... I actually started it back on the 23rd December but didn't pick it up again until a few days ago, when it finally got finished. Weirdly enough the renewed interest in stitching seemed to coincide with the day that the festive decorations got taken down and packed away. Go figure! LOL

To keep the renewed interest going I started another small card the same day and finished it up on the 6th:

Kit - The Medieval Knight

Medieval Miniatures range - The Textile Heritage Collection

Designed by Ann Orr

16ct? Royal Blue Aida

Possibly DMC threads

This one will probably be for my DS. Both kits I rediscovered after rootling around in my stash boxes, so that's two less guilt trips in there. Actually that was quite a useful voyage of discovery, as there are quite a few small festive kits in there that will do nicely for the JA/S&S Monthly Ornie SAL that Karen is running (thanks Karen!). Yes, I signed up for that because: 1) although I may not always manage to join in every month, at least it'll give me the incentive to stitch some ornies through the year; 2) it's a good way of getting through some of the stuff in my stash boxes; 3) my special tree still looked awfully bare again this year, despite a couple of nice additions to it - I'd love to get enough done to fill it this year. :0)

Another new year restart is the JA/S&S Monthly Challenge. This month we can choose any of the Papillon Creations freebies we want to stitch and then finish however we like. I like quite a few on there so the decision is a hard one to make - I've managed to whittle it down to three that I've printed out ready, so I shall have to make the final decision soon, pick out my fabric and threads and make a start. No sharing of that until after Reveal Day though.

Also restarting after the holiday break is Tuesday UFO Night and Thursday Sea Stars SAL Night. Unfortunately I got carried away with finishing the Knight card and totally forgot this Tuesday...... despite spotting the reminder on the Forum earlier in the day. A decidedly Doh! moment. Sorry Julie and Mr Stick - I promise to do better next week and dig Night Watchman out of the pile. Reckon he'll be glad of the outing, don't you? LOL

I think all that little lot will keep me busy and out of mischief so I'm not making any goals as such. I just want to keep up with the Monthly Challenge plus the Ornie and Sea Stars SAL's as much as possible and take part in UFO Night to get those UFO's completed. Oh, and keep up with the new dietary regime so I can get my health on an even keel and be a bit less fat. LOL

Whilst the mojo was intermittent then missing I did get a bit of reading done and finished a few books. You can see which ones in my side bar, if you're curious, and there's more info on The Reading Corner blog. I've also added another post to my Moonglow blog too. The blog reading/commenting is going well too, though I've still to make it to a few more yet - please bear with me.

And because it's a new year - and because I felt like a change - it's been out with the old look and in with a new one on my blogs. Not sure I'm totally satisfied with this one yet, so may still have another play with colours and things. Hope you approve. :0) BTW, can anyone tell me how I put a banner in my side bar, to show it's an Izzy Grace background, please? Tried several times with various "Add so & so" bits and it just won't have it. Ta very muchly. :0)

Many thanks for taking the time to visit. Hope you're all managing to stay warm and toastie during this cold winter weather. :0)