Creativity Magazine Issue 19

Imagine my excitement when Clare Curd contacted me last October to feature in her Talent Spot in the UK Publication - docrafts / Creativity Magazine.  It is due to go on sale on the 1st of January 2010 but I picked it up at my local Art & Hobby Store on the 22nd of December! so I am quite sure that it's avid followers also have their copies at this stage too! and I am not divulging any state secrets!!!!

                            

Upclose detail of the Talent Spot Feature - Page 82

I am an avid reader of Creativity! and enjoy the beautiful cards and layouts that it's designers feature every two months.  I was delighted and honoured to be asked to feature in this publication.  I also had lots of fun with the products they sent me.  What a great way to start 2010! 

Be sure to check out the website - http://www.docrafts.co.uk/.  Thanks so much for stopping by and any comments you might like to leave - I really do appreciate them all.

Nearly a New Year!

I didn't post a lot before Christmas as I seemed to be quite busy!, but I did take some photos.  This is a photo I took for my December Daily album that I haven't yet developed.  I am not a flower arranger but at Christmas time I always make a fresh door wreath, two mantle arrangements, table centrepiece for my own table, centrepiece for my MIL's table, arrangement for DH's Grandmother and sister.

This is a photo of one of the mantle arrangements.  I included myself in this shot in the mirror reflection so that I would find my way into the Album!

I haven't shared many cards recently - here are two card sets I made for the Boy's teachers. I packaged them in boxes from Clear Bags. 

I used Hero Arts Butterflies Clings Stamp Set, Papermania sentiments, Fiskars threading water punch, DCWV Card blanks, my Big Shot for embossing - Swiss Dots folder, flower embossing folder, some Papermania gems and Hero Arts smooth gemstones.  I coloured with my promarkers and copics ciao markers.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season.

Glistening Frost and Ice

This is the third day of very heavy frost and freezing temperatures here in Ireland.  A lot of the country has experienced snowfalls and black ice.  Driving conditions are poor which doesn't help all those travelling over the holiday period.  Thankfully the boys are finished school for the holidays and hopefully this cold snap will pass (as it isn't normal Winter weather for here in Ireland).  Jack Frost is very busy !

Here are some of the foundation pages for my December Daily that I haven't shared yet.  I didn't photograph earlier ones as I changed them slightly as I went along but now feel that I probably won't deviate too much from the layouts I have already set out below.

Hero Arts Blog are featuring a montage of all the winning entries of their challenges during the year and I am so delighted to be amongst those winners.  Check it out here.
                                             

I am going to sign off for the next few days to enjoy this special time with my family and friends.  I am cooking tomorrow and have spent much of this morning prepping so that everything is ready. 

One recipe that I love to cook around this time of the year is Spiced Peaches by Nigella Lawson.  They take about 5 minutes to make and the Recipe is here.  They are also a great edible gift to bring along with you when visiting friends and family.   

Thanks so much for stopping by and wishing you all a wonderful holiday full of peace, love and joy. ♥

December Daily - Day 14 and 15

My boys finish school for the holidays today so I have lots of running around to do before lunchtime!  At least you will see from this post that I managed to get some Christmas cards made and posted last week so I am not totally behind but not far off!

My favourite page so far!! It's funny the way you complete a page and just LOVE it ...well this is that page for me! I just love it's simplicity . It is a photo of the Christmas Cards I was making to send out which I placed in a box for safe keeping as I churned them out. Took a photo and just loved the splash of bright colour with the date tag.

Day 15 was a day of running errands and doing chores as well as making a "snowman" costume for the School Concert.  Eoin told his teacher he would do the poem "Chubby Snowman" as his Mom would LOVE to make a costume!!! LOL!!! don't you just love it.  All the other Snowmen Moms were thrilled with me!

Happy Tuesday!  Thanks so much for stopping by. 

December Daily - Day 11, 12 and 13

Happy Monday - and the catch up continues!.  I cannot believe that the boys have only another day and a half of school and then it's the holidays.  Where did December go?  I hope you had a great weekend doing all the fun things that happen at this time of the year and spending time with loved ones.  Thought I would share a few more pages.

Day 11 - the journalling reads - "Today was a day all about trees.  First the school tree.  You both hung your baubles for charity along with your classmates, you were so excited to see the tree "fill up" throughout the day.  Then, the church tree with Grandpa for tomorrow night's concert.  He used his golf ball retriever to get them to the top!"

On the back is a close up photo of the school tree with an Ali Edwards Overlay incorporating into the photo before printing.

For Day 12 I had created a divider using a green paint strip sample and the tag from Little Yellow Bicycle and stapled on some green leftover ribbon from my stash.  This album is evolving as I am filling it and I am trying not to worry too much about each individual page but more about what it contains at the end.  This was a tip that Ali {Ali Edwards} shared at the beginning of the process and sometimes it is hard when you don't like the look of a page but I know I will end up adding some embellishments at the end!.

The edge of this page is scalloped and came pre cut in a mat stack from Little Yellow Bicycle which I love.  Half the work is done for you... especially as this is my first year doing this album.

Day 13 - Sunday - features journalling and a photo of the The Advent Wreath in Church.  My parents phoned to know if the boys would like to help dress their tree - the boys jumped at the chance - it is documented using an Ali Edwards Overlay - December 13, available from Designer Digitals here.

Grandma and Grandpa's little helpers - tree decorated - hey presto!  They were paid in chocolate!!

Hope you all have a great week.  Will share some more tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by.

Caardvarks Digital Challenge and Visit to Santa!

Happy Sunday everyone.  Just checked out Caardvarks and was thrilled to see my monster digital card featured in the list of Stand Outs!.  I used one of Jane's images to create it and am so thrilled to see it featured alongside my Hero Arts Flickr Friends cards - Sally, DustyPenny aka Joy, Alice, Mabel to name a few - be sure to check them out.  Jane's wonderful digital images are available here from Squigglefly. 

I am doing the happy dance but can only do it for a short while because I have a LONG list of stuff to do this afternoon.... wrapping, making lists, catching up on my December Daily... and the list continues!!

Yesterday we had our annual visit to Santa.  This santa doesn't arrive by sleigh or helicopter but another means of transport!

It is so much fun, the anticipation of him arriving. 

All the children stand along the shoreline, shivering - waiting for him to arrive.  A shout and cheer goes up when he is spotted coming up the river.  He is safely transported by the local RNLI.  He receives a 21 gun salute as he walks up the marina to the welcoming crowd of happy children.

Then the boys got to see him and he chatted about what they would like for Christmas, whether they had been good and what they were going to leave out on Christmas Eve for him!.  You can see the awe in their faces as they got to meet the man in red with the funny accent!

Such a wonderful holiday memory and tradition.  Thanks for stopping by.

December Daily - Days 8, 9 and 10 and Hero Arts Blog Hop

Happy Saturday everyone.  Hope you have a great weekend.  In case you aren't aware - Hero Arts are having a blog hop which started yesterday here but you can play catchup and look at all the wonderful creations made by 36 wonderful artists with the stamps from the 2010 Catalogue - and wow are they amazing.  Be sure to check it out.

I am still playing catch up with my Dec Daily - so here are a few more of my pages. 

Day Eight was the day assigned to put up all the Christmas decorations, so all the boxes had been pulled out the previous evening and stacked under the stairs.  The boys were off school so we were all very enthuasistic!

Day Eight continued - this was the first tree completed and my helpers disappeared!!!

Day Nine - a fun day but no photos so I am going to further embellish this page with something glittery - a star perhaps just haven't added it yet.

Day Ten - started with a search for a Santa Hat - rehearsals for the school Concert went serious today and hats were needed!  We found one and it was worn for breakfast and I managed to snap a shot before the boys went off to school.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope you are having a great weekend.

December Daily - Day Five, Six and Seven

I am behind with sharing my December Daily Album!.  In case you don't know about this you can check out my previous post here.  So I am continuing on the December Daily catch up and here is Day Five

We celebrated the christening of my new nephew.  He is adorable and such a blessing (my SIL is probably reading this!) and would agree.  It was a beautiful celebration - and an upclose shot of the magnificent christening gown (over 100 years old) and the three generations.

Day Six - we went shopping for our "real" tree for the hall table.  The boys just loved getting in between the the trees to check them out.  No tree farms near us so we had to settle for a store bought one! 

Day Seven was a regular December Day - school, housework, homework and I didn't take any photos so I "dressed" the page with a cute pixie coloured with copics and promarkers.  Journalling done on Ali Edwards Overlays.

Thanks for stopping by and any comments you might like to leave - I really do appreciate them.  Happy Friday!

New Beginnings - new Paperplay Challenge

This week's challenge on Paperplay is set by Sandie.  The challenge is "New Beginnings" - Make a project for something NEW, i.e. new baby, new home, new year, etc.

This challenge is going to run for three weeks with a closing date of January 7th! 

I made this new Baby Girl card as my DT card.  I used a stamp from Forever Friends/Do Crafts, stamped on white cardstock and used my sewing machine to create the washing line.  I then stamped the image again on patterned paper from Papermania and paper pieced it on top of the image already stamped.  Coloured the hearts on the bibs and paper pieced the babygro using pop dots for dimension.  I also did some paper tearing to create the "ground/grass".  I coloured the individual pegs on the clothing and the sentiment is from Papermania.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great Thursday and remember - this Challenge is open for three weeks and the winner gets a SURPRISE PACKAGE from Sandie.

December Daily Catchup!!! Day One, Two, Three and Four

I can't post about what myself and the boys did today in case my DH reads it.... and it spoils his Christmas surprise!  So instead I will play catch up with my December Daily Album.. I promised a while back that I would share some of the days when completed.... so better late than never!.  I have really enjoyed journalling and photographing events each day - so here are some of the little things that make me smile at this time of the year!

Above is the back of the first page where I have the holiday shot of the boys.  Then a green envelope with a note inside for the boys from me about writing their letters to Santa.

Then photos of them writing their letters - blogged here.  Day Two already shared here.

Then Day Three - toothless!!!... reminds me of the song - "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!".

and on Day Four we attended a beautiful wedding.

Will get some more pages photographed and post over the next few days.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  New Paperplay Challenge tomorrow, so be sure to check it out.

Tape... but not just any ordinary tape!

I know this is my second post today but I came across this and had to share!

You know when you stumble across a product while blog hopping and you know that you would just LOVE to get your hands on some of it... I think this is the product for me!!!

The company is called Tapeswell.  I came across it on Cards Blog this morning and realised that Hannah is doing a giveaway on her blog -  Sherbet Blossom.  Be sure to check it out.  Look what you can do with it!!!!

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They make mailing label tapes, envelope wraparounds and combo packs.  Wouldn't they make a great stocking stuffer!!!!

Another Christmas Card Share and Caardvarks Entry

Another entry for the current Caardvarks challenge.  This digital image is from Alison Spelman over on StretchnBubbles.  She has a freebie digital image every Wednesday - so be sure to check out her blog/store. 

I used a gold pearlescent tall card blank, - love the shimmer off the card.  Stamped the sentiment with Hero Arts Holiday Sayings set and stazon ink.  Used Alison Spelman's Unity Image and I coloured/shaded with copics and promarkers.

Just a simple card which I am going to make a few of to send out shortly.  My card sending is WAY BEHIND!  Off to start writing Christmas cards.  Thanks for stopping by.

Caardvarks and Hero Arts together - what a wonderful mix

 and

Hero Arts are the sponsor on Caardvarks at the moment and there has been some amazing Hero Arts artists featured each day.  Today they are featuring Eva and have featured Kelly Rasmussen, Heidi Van Laar, Jenyfur of Caardvarks, Lucy Abrams and Kathy Racoosin to name a few.

The current challenge is to make a "new" card using a digital element on it and the closing date is December 20th.  There are some free digital kits available on 2peas if you would like to give it a try including a number of Hero Arts kits.  Believe me, once you make your first one... you will be hooked!

My card is made using Jane's wonderful monster digital image available here.  I attached him to white cardstock that I put through my Big Shot in the swiss dots embossing folder.  I coloured him with copics/promarkers, added a purple prima flower for "punky" hair!  A touch of purple ribbon from Papermania and one of my fimo buttons with white embroidery floss.  Hey presto!  he is done!

I haven't added a sentiment yet - was thinking of adding a sentiment inside - .... Have a Monster Birthday!!

I am also entering this card into Jane's current challenge - check it out here... she is giving away amazing goodies to the winner.

I didn't post over the weekend as I was a busy girl!!!  I did a craft and card making party on Saturday for a great friend's daughter who was celebrating her 11th Birthday.  We had so much fun - cutting, colouring and "making", just hope the girls enjoyed it as much as I did !! LOL!!!  I did bring along my camera to capture the fun but didn't manage to shoot off any shots. 

Yesterday, the boys helped Grandma and Grandpa to hang the baubles on their tree (which they do each year).  They discovered the had a willing (captive!) audience and so performed their "pieces" for the School Concerts which are on later this week.

Sorry for the very long post.... and thanks for stopping by.  Hope you have a great Monday.

Creating Keepsakes - holiday quotes

If you are ever stuck for a Holiday greeting or saying for your cards/projects/layouts.... check out this.  Creating Keepsakes have 25 beautiful quotes for you to use.  The sayings/quotes include ones such as

"Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas"

and

"What a blessed place the world would be If we had that Christmas feeling all year".

New Paperplay Challenge - inspired by a book or movie

This week's Paperplay Challenge was set by DT Member - Kate.  "Let A movie or book inspire you. You can get inspiration from the title of the movie/book, from the cover art on a book or from a movie poster".

I got my inspiration from the movie "Jungle Book" / "Lion King!".  I used digital images by Jane which are available over on Squigglefly.  They are just adorable and so fun to colour in.  I used my promarkers and copics to colour and shade them.  Then used some patterned paper from my stash, prima flowers, machine stitching and pop dots... hey presto... !  I am sending it to my little niece who has been unwell and got out of hospital on Sunday evening last.  She is one and a half and I hope she will like the animals (hence the addition of the pink flower behind Leo!, there just had to be some pink added!!!).

Supplies: Jane's digital images - big boned, giraffe and Leo from Squigglefly,

PP by DCWV, prima flowers, pop dots and machine stitching.

Thanks so much for stopping by - it's nearly Friday!!!!.