White Christmas - Christmas Eve 2014

Good Day Friends,

Well here we are, all the preparing, wrapping, card making almost over for another year! I want to begin this post by saying a big thank you to each and everyone of you for your support, inspiration, friendship...I love our community; sharing tips and techniques, looking at all your wonderful projects..you really are a talented group of people!

I hope that you all have a happy and healthy Christmas Holiday with family and friends and look forward to seeing you all 'the other side'.

Glad you liked my Tilda Santas/Pixies yesterday...they probably took the longest to make of my Christmas projects, they weren't difficult, but there were two of them! lol!

Excuse this for being a bit of a picture heavy post, but I wanted to squeeze in my last 'makes' before Christmas...

Today I am sharing the card I made for Tom...he will be given it tomorrow, but he won't be looking at the blog...

I have no idea if this type of card has a name  - 'illuminated card'?? It is a tent fold shape, made using acetate and die cuts. I'm not going into details as you probably have a lot to do without me listing everything...but if you have any questions just ask in your comment and I'll let you know.

The base of the card has a little holder which I made to take a tealight, so when the card is on display it lights up.

Did I tell you that most occasions Tom makes my card too? I put some pieces/elements together in a 'kit' and leave him to decide what to do..generally he is very good. I'll photograph it after Christmas so you can see what he comes up with!

As this is my last post for a few days over the Holidays, I wanted to share the last few projects I made this Christmas...

Snow Globe


This has to be the easiest decoration to make...a dry snow globe!

All you need is a jam/mason/kilner jar, some figures, craft snow and foliage.

I pinched a few more figures from our Christmas Village (sssh!) and using glue dots adhered them to the base. I then added the craft snow. With more time I am planning on making a water filled one next! Just add the ribbon and foliage to the lid and it's all finished. I just wanted mine to stand on a shelf as an ornament, so I did wrap some snow acetate around the inside of the jar as well.

My final Tilda Christmas decorations for this year...


Snowmen Tree Hangers

I made these little snowmen tree hangers....the noses are broken wooden cocktail sticks coloured with orange promarker.

Here is one of the gingerbread men as a tree hanger.. 

Snowmen Pot Sitters
Here is one of the snowman pot sitters I made...loved making the little ear muffs with left over fabric from the polar bears.  He is simply sitting on cotton wool 'snow' and twigs in a clay pot. I dry sponged the edges with white paint for a dusting of snow. I think these are one of the favourite things I've made, he's so cute! The one thing I should have added was a little shovel, but time ran out to source one for this year.

Flowers
I had a lovely surprise yesterday when these flowers from Tom were delivered...they are so festive and beautiful, the photo doesn't do them justice...

Christmas Village
These villages are incredibly hard to photograph...my friend in Australia and myself were comparing our scenes on Facebook (they are really big there and the USA and growing here) and we both agreed there is no good time and way to snap them, but here is a little glimpse of ours...this year we added the windmill.

Tom started this after one of our 'closer to Christmas' trips to California..also at the same time they started to sell it at our local garden centre...it has grown each year and of course, I'm the one who puts it all up and believe me, it took the best part of a day!

The complete village with the house lights on and flash...a bit harsh but the only way to get it all

snippets of the village, you can click to make them larger if you wish

So my lovely crafty friends, I hope you all have the most beautiful Christmas and Santa brings some fab craft stash to put under your trees...thank you for all your visits and comments over the past year...you are all brilliant!

Love, Hugs, Peace and Holiday Joy,
Carole XXXX

PJ Pixies & Gingerbread Men -Tuesday 23rd December

Good Afternoon Friends!

Only two more sleeps! Today I'm sharing two more Tilda makes, one of them the other 'biggy' I mentioned! The pattern for these dolls is' PJ Santas', but I think more 'P J Pixies'

I like these because they are so cute,  Christmassy and colourful..they took me a few evenings to make. The hot water bottle wasn't part of the pattern, I just drew the shape and made it using left over wool felt from the socks.

I have also been making some Gingerbread Men (Actually I have made some edible ones as well)...

These little decorations could be hung from a tree. joined together to form a garland or displayed in pots or biscuit jars! The pattern is from the Tilda 'Crafting for Christmas' book.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I will be back with one final festive offering tomorrow..including the card I have made for Tom, which considering my card making mojo has still taken a hike, I am pretty pleased with!

Before I go an update on our Tilda - she laid her first egg a week ago, is very cheeky and independent and it's really nice to see her cuddled up with Cara at night!

Love and Hugs
Carole X

Christmas Shadow Box - Monday 22nd December 2014

Hello Friends,

Thank you for your comments on my little angel busts yesterday, they were actually a joy to make. I was a bit nervous about painting on the hair and clothing first of all, but didn't make one mistake and I was really pleased with them.

We had the most wonderful day yesterday: Tom's cousins, John and Katie live in a small Oxfordshire village about an hour and a quarter from us and the pub where we ate lunch is a 2 minute walk away from their house. They have  3 lovely children, aged 9, 16 and the eldest Robert is 18 on Sunday....they also have a mad, bounding and beautiful black Labrador called Archie.


I am also pleased to report that they loved their polar bear!

John's brother and his wife were also visiting for the weekend with their adorable 8 month old baby girl. They live in central London. So it was a fabulous family gathering and we all left feeling very very Christmassy indeed!

Tom is working today and tomorrow, but I am now home for 2 weeks! These two days on my own will give me the chance to get a few things finished before the Holiday.

Today I am sharing a little Shadow box that I made very quickly recently...

I took one picture with the room lights off and another with them on, just to show the details.

This is a simple, cheap, deep frame. I took the glass out and adhered very dark night sky paper to the back, then I brushed over some sparkle Mod Podge glue finish.

Once that had dried I wound some tiny copper battery lights around the back of the frame before fixing it back on to the front.

The icicles were in my Christmas stash box and are on a string, really sparkly and pretty.

The 'snow' on the bottom is a glitter fibre snow, again from my Christmas stash box. The trees were 'borrowed' from our Lemax Christmas village (we had loads. they haven't been missed!) and the reindeer is a wooden cut out. I inked over it using distress ink and then stamped 'Winter' randomly over it and hey presto a winder 3D scene, which looks very effective on the mantelpiece!

Thank you so much for stopping by, I think I could be back with a Twofer tomorrow as I still have more Tilda makes to share! 

Hope you are having a happy Monday,

Love and Hugs

Carole X

When you hear a bell ring....Sunday 21st December

Hello Friends,

A scheduled post today as we will be spending today in a lovely little Oxfordshire village, with lunch at the local pub, with  Tom's parents, brother and cousins...the pub is just a short walk from their house, in a village with very few houses...it's gorgeous! There will be 12 of us and we have really been looking forward to getting together. One of my very favourite things about this Holiday time is visiting with friends and family.

I can't believe how close it is to Christmas now and it's the longest day already!

So, we al know the lines from 'It's a Wonderful Life' about how an angel gets his/her wings when a bell rings don't we? I made these little angel busts from a pattern in Tone Finnanger's latest Tilda book, Homemade and Happy. They are such a lovely little decoration to make...

The hair and bodice top are painted on with acrylic paint and then you simply decorate as you wish. I made most of them as little presets, but have two hanging from our mantelpiece.

I photographed the rest hanging from a little artificial tree that I have in my craft room. It was the tree Tom and I bought when we got married, so when it started to fall apart and had to be replaced, silly old me got a bit sentimental and instead of throwing it out, I get it out every year and decorate it for the upstairs landing or the craft room! There are also lots of bells hanging from it this year :)

Thank you for stopping by, I really love to read your comments...have a wonderful Sunday and I'll be back tomorrow.

Love and Hugs

Carole X

Reindeer Tentfold & Gift bags

Good Morning Friends!

First of all I want to thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my Reindeer wall hanging...he is on our lounge door with his cheeky grin to see whenever we go near it! Lol

I have more Tilda makes to show you, one more big one and lots of smaller cute and pretty decorations. I hadn't intended to miss the last few days, but we had a meeting at work on Thursday and then I had to finish up a few things before leaving the office, so it was late when I got home...it was my last day until 6th January though - yeh!! 

Yesterday some of my office volunteers came over to my house and I provided afternoon tea as a Christmas thank  you (we have out meal out in the Spring). It's so nice to get the all together as the work different days, in twos, so everyone had a good catch up!

Today I am showing the tenfold card I made for some of them, it's a variation on the Dasher Deer DT card I made for Sam, but using a Tilda reindeer cut out. The other card I gave was similar  to the vintage Santa card I made for the Nicecrane DT last week.

Sorry about the photos I seem to be in too much of a hurry to take them and in bad light at the moment!

I also gave them some choccies in these little gift boxes.

A quick post today, still lots to do and I have a large polar bear to finish, as part of a present for Tom's cousins whom we are visiting tomorrow...just his nose left to stitch!

I'll be back tomorrow with a scheduled post as we will be in Oxfordshire all day, but thank you so much for stopping by,

Love and Hugs,
Carole X

Reindeer Wall Hanging - Wednesday 17th December 2014

Afternoon Friends!

Well I didn't quite get my desk in an state to share on WOYWW so will have to wait until the New Year I think!

Today I'm  sharing another of my Tilda makes...this time a  rustic reindeer hanging decoration...he's quite large/tall so it was hard to photograph him in full and get close! I had intended to make two, but his pal will have to wait until next year.

The pattern is from Tone Finnanger's latest book 'Homemade and Happy' and I think he's quite a cheeky chappie!

The antlers are just twigs from trees in the garden, dry sponged/dabbed with white paint for a hint of snow and his scarf is some ripped remnant fabric from another Tilda design I will be sharing before Christmas.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I really do appreciate it!

Love and Hugs,
Carole X

Pink Petticoat CAS Christmas - Tuesday 16th December 2014

Good Morning Friends,

Off to work early again, so another quick post...thought I would share some of my CAS Christmas cards today..all of them 5x5 cards using images from Pink Petticoat and papers from stash.

I originally started to add little bells to the ties, but when they were put into envelopes to post, the embellishment really 'bulged' so reluctantly I decided to take them off - I made some others in similar designs that were being given by hand and left the bells and buttons on those!

Thank you for stopping by, I'm going to try and get my desk in a good enough state to take part in WOYWW this week!

Love and Hugs,
Carole Z X

Merry Tweetmas! - Monday 15th December 2014

Hello Friends!

A card for you today...this was made using a reindeer head stamp by Woodware. I coloured it using Chameleon pens and then added  gold cosmic shimmer PVA. I used a DL card because the stamp is so long and matted and layers on to red and gold card.

Please excuse the mega quick post, I am off to work this morning so just got this in quick before flying out the door...!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Love and Hugs
Carole X

Bambi - Sunday 14th December 2014

Hello again!

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments about my lantern yesterday, glad you liked it!

Today  I am back with another of my Tilda sewing projects. This pattern is from the new Tilda book, Homemade and Happy, which is a selection of mostly winter projects.

This reindeer is quite large, so he's standing on the floor by our fireplace at the moment.
He was another 'fun' make (they all are) and his antlers are made using twigs from a tree in the garden, dusted with some white paint for  snow effect.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Love and Hugs,

Carole  X

Christmas Lantern - Saturday 13th December 2014

Good Morning Friends,

Hope you are all well and staying away from the colds and viruses that seem to be doing the rounds!  I've had another busy week, plus a mid-week visit by my cousins from Swansea - we were joined by some more family members for a lovely lunch celebration on Wednesday, my one day off work this week...it was a lovely pre-Christmas get together.

Before I continue, I would like to welcome my latest follower Pamellia. If you don't know her blog http://mylittlecraftthings.blogspot.co.uk  please do visit, because her creations are simply stunning. Thank you Pamellia, for joining my blog friends.

Coop update: Tilda has settled in amazingly well, so well that I let her free range with Cara within a few days of her arrival and now they are besties...how about that then!

I must get my blogging up together between now and Christmas, as I have lots of projects to share and not much time left....not many of them are paper craft. All my cards were very CAS this year and most of them posted without photographing first, as it was such a rush. I still have the last few presents to get and then I'm finished..phew! 

Today I am sharing a Christmas lantern...do you remember the autumnal 'rusty' lantern I made? Well I have repurposed it for Christmas! Just as I dabbed the orange paint on for the rust effect, I dabbed dry white paint for snow.

 
To create the windows, I used masks (from Stamps Away), which I stencilled through using  Cosmic Shimmer glitter embossing paste.

 I added florists berries and foliage, with checked ribbon... 

To finish I added an LED candle and foliage inside. The lantern is now displayed in our porch window, flickering softly.

That's it for today, thank you so much for stopping by!

Love and Hugs

Carole Z X

Introducing Tilda... Monday 8th December 2014

Good morning friends!

Ha! I bet you thought I was going to share my latest Tilda creation? Wrong, a quick post today to introduce you to Cara's new coop mate.

Firstly though, thank you so much for your messages on my Bella post...I was welling up reading them, you are all so thoughtful.

It's hard when you are forced to go out and get a pet because one has died, but hens just shouldn't be on their own. If Tom had listened to me in the summer and we had got the two Orpingtons that I wanted, we wouldn't have had to...Saturday was busy, we had to zip over to Thornbury, a town close by, where Judy, who used to always be the stallholder next to me for the fairs we did in Chipping Sodbury(she makes lovely jewellery) had a stall at their street fair. Our Fairs didn't happen this year, but she had ordered some Christmas cards from me. We had planned a leisurely look around the Food and Gift Fair(which was huge and looked really good) and then a day in Clifton, Bristol...well of course that was out now!

We couldn't park, it was horrendous ..it took ages to find anywhere- so a quick chat with Judy, cards delivered and off to the bird farm. We could only get one hen as you aren't supposed to add two to one (even if Cara is a pretty tough cookie!) and I had decided on a Cotswold Legbar; they can hold their own, but at the same time are good pets. An Orpington wasn't an option because they are so docile and Cara is  a proper Diva with the temper to match. As it happened they had lots of Orpingtons and no Legbars.

I guess I always new we'd return with another Bluebelle - we have never not had one of these large, pretty hens..gorgeous hues of blue and grey when in full plume and so a Bluebelle it was to be. I picked one out..she had an unusual brown back with black spots, James the owner misheard me and picked up another and once she was in his hands it was fated, I wasn't going to ask him to put her back.

She seems pretty feisty and dare I say clever? She is in a nursery pen during the day and we have a very large coop, so I was able to divide the sleeping quarters during the night. She and Cara had a nasty spat once through the bars of the pen, but she held her own and she immediately worked out how to use the plastic corn ball toy, which all the others were afraid to go near for days.

For three weeks now we had been trying to teach our girls to use a new treadle feeder. They stand on it to open the feed dispenser and it stops unwanted critters from getting to the food, as they don't have the weight. They haven't wanted to know it, so I thought I would put in in the pen and see what happens - she ate from it straightaway. Of course the problem will now be getting Cara to eat from it when we put them both together..hopefully she will copy Tilda,  as one always has to have what the other is having.

The name? Well we hadn't had much chance to think and I've been making things from so many Tilda patterns over the last few months that the name is firmly embedded in my brain...so Tilda it is!

Thanks for stopping by, I will be back with craft tomorrow,

Love and Hugs

Carole X

Bye Bye Bella - Friday 5th December 2014

Hi Friends,

This isn't the post I intended for today, but I have to say that this year has been a very bad year in the chicken coop; in all the years we have been keeping our little clutch of hens, we've never lost more than one in a year, this year we lost 2 and now I am sorry to say we have lost a third.

Bella and Cara were both in fine fettle on Wednesday - I was home and they were able to free range all day, they were fine when I put them back in the coop and also when  I checked on them and shut the coop door after dark. The only slightly odd thing was that Bella had moved to one of the empty nest boxes, but they do move around now and then..she looked fine. When I went to get them up yesterday before work, Bella had passed away. 

So it with sadness I write this post: Bella was our adventurer - fearless, she would get up in the grapevine, jump up on anything where she thought there might be food, never still. Apart from a little health scare over the summer, she has appeared super fit.

Bella was with us for three years and she and Cara were inseparable. Hens definitely pine, because Cara keeps looking for Bella and all she has done today is sit on the perch in their little covered area in the garden, only getting down when I go out to give her a treat. I really want to pick her up and give her a cuddle, but  Cara is a very independent hen who has never liked being picked  up..she doth protest when I do my regular checks.

Of course this means that tomorrow we will be forced to go and find her a new coop mate and then spend the next few weeks settling in a new girl...the spare coop will have to be made ready, it's very much not the time of year to be doing this.

So Bella will now be at Rainbow Bridge, hopefully foraging with her old mates Lacey and Penny, sleep peacefully Bel and thanks for the fun you gave us with your cheeky antics X

Thanks for stopping by,

Love and Hugs

Carole X