Handmade Christmas Deccies.

About 2 weeks ago I had a workshop at my new second home Craft Days, in Saffron Walden. With much enthusiasm we embarked on a Christmassy craft fest!  First project in the pipeline was this gorgeous little item!
Made from jewellery wire and a mixture of festive beads and pearls they were such fun to make!

Next on the agenda was a fabulous button project! Again using jewellery wire - and assorted buttons also in festive colours - but would look equally amazing in frosty blues and creams/whites.
Last but by no means least were some lovely felt baubles - we used the templates downloadable from here

 



 Of course after all that industriousness I had to but some supplies so that Shelby and I could make some at home.  Doesn't Shelby concentrate well hahaha

Operation "Challenge 2012"

I love a good challenge - though I rarely complete them lol!  I am full of good intentions though!  For 2012 i've chosen two great challenges.
365 + 1 is the first of my chosen challenges.  The lovely suzie has come up with a doozie!  Have a look at her 365 post and see if it inspires you.  I happen to think that it is a great challenge.  I have a lovely dSLR camera but only take it out on high days and holidays!  Of course I always have my iPhone with me and am looking forward to getting some great shots.  I may even invest in an air printer so I actually print some of my efforts.

The second challenge is on a blog that i've been reading for about 6 months.  Creative Every Day is a wonderful source of inspiration - especially if you like to art journal.  I have dabbled with art journalling and love the results.  However, I dont have much of an original brain and love to get inspiration from prompts or reading blog posts.  If you are an art journalist or even if you want to give it a try - check out Creative Every Day

Wonderful sir tim

So last week and today my lovely friend Stephanie and I have been working on one of Sir Tim Holtz' Christmas tags from 2010. This is what we achieved in 4 hours of crafting!

crochet queen?

So words cannot describe how excited I was to discover that a new craft workshop had opened in Saffron Walden!  Sadly not doing papercrafts BUT the shop is full of beautiful vintage and modern fabrics, tables with lots of do dads, fun kits to gift or keep and beautiful locally sourced yarns.  The lady that runs it Jane - used to be a buyer for liberty and so you can imagine she has amazing good taste!  I immediately signed up for beginners crochet course - ive always wanted to learn and I seized my chance!
Week one had me starting and restarting the foundation row and tutting away at myself lol - but by the end of the 2 hour class I had produced this cute bracelet.  Though I wouldn't necessarily wear it myself Shelby LOVED it and I had to make another that evening - the lovely thing about this project was it was quick to make about 3 hrs in all.  Craft Days dont have a website yet but when they do I'll be sure to blog it - its just a fab place.

Week 2 had me eager with anticipation at what was in store for me at my next class.  Imagine my excitement when I was shown a pair of really really cute Nana Slippers!!  This is what I started with....

And this is what I produced...
















I wonder what awaits me next week.....

I gave up facebook....

...only to discover one hundred and one other things to occupy my time --- like Ravelry & LittleBirdieSecrets and then I ended up signing up for this Christmas Quilt Club.  

i am sooo neglectful!!

cannot believe I haven't posted since May!!!! Anyway New Year always brings the creativity out and so far this year I have done one layout for my scrapbook which is not bad lol!

I was sitting here thinking I really want to make a card. Hubby is due home on leave soon and valentines is just round the corner so I was inspired to make a valentines card - this one is very masculine but that was the whole point!

My inspiration came from thinking I wanted to make a silouhette and the colour way came from using the fantastic colour coach - i looked up red riding hood which said that baja breeze and more mustard co-ordinated with the DSP - in the end i didnt use any red riding hood but im really pleased with the final result! The more mustard that i have sponged at the top doesnt look this dirty in real life! it's the result of my rubbish scanner lol!
SUPPLIES USED
Basic Black Cardstock 12 x 12 mixed textures   
Very Vanilla Cardstock 12 x 12 mixed textures  
Love Letter Designer Series Paper                      
Bird On a Branch Stamp Set                                
Baja Breeze Stamp Pad                                      
More Mustard Stamp Pad                                    

Basic Black Stamp Pad                                      

Sponge Daubers

Stampin Dimensionals

Colour Coach