Grab a cup of tea and put your feet up

'Cos this is a long 'un!
Well there is a fortnight to catch up on. Doesn't time go fast over Christmas?

Here are some of the highlights of the season
* the tree in her full tacky glory!* the joy of the pyjama service (Christmas eve, me and the little kids from Church dress in our pj's and bring cuddly toys and I read a Christmas story and say a prayer. It is just brilliant)
* the anticipation of Midnight Mass
* the Christmas table decorated in a posh manner (first. time. ever.) (maybe last)
* the 6 dogs getting on well (only 4 in the picture. there were actually 3 collies, 2 Tibetan Spaniels; 1 greyhound. And a partridge in a pear tree)* the extreme excitement of a cage for Guinea Pigs (they arrive tomorrow. there are 120 rescue GP's to chose from. Only 2 are allowed here) the one in the cage is a cuddly toy. What a surprise that amongst the 3 million soft toys owned by Carys one is a GP)* presents all going down well. lots of fun and laughter and love. my present was to have my marathon cross stitch framed. it was a complete surprise and looks great. But I haven't taken a photo yet...
* Phil's family leaving on Saturday and mine not arriving until Wednesday giving us some time to be just the 5 of us. even if we spend a lot of it in different rooms.
* Going to see the 39 steps at the Criterion. V. expensive for us but a complete hoot. the kids had never seen the story and we stopped them watching it on tv the day before, but I think they need to see a thriller version now to get all the jokes. this was a 4 hand comedy and was just amazing.
* Spending some time crafting - magazine work that had me v. afeered as I didn't really feel up to the task. But quite pleased with what I have done.
* Getting a new year hug from the family. Watching the first series of Outnumbered together while we waited for midnight.
* Receiving my copy of Docraft Creativity with a two page article by ME! in it.
Which included this layout featuring Carys.
When I showed it to her she said "nice" When I asked if she wanted her won copy to show her friends she said "not really no" Which burst my big head and has made me giggle at my own ego ever since.
* making cards for this weeks Daring Cardmakers Challenge. Oh how lovely to say "must just go and make a card" and escape for a while! (yes hostess with the mostest I am)
And the theme was, naturally - thank you cards. Which I will use as samples at the church card club tomorrow
OK so I made that layout in November. Hww funny it looks almost the same as this card :)
Some of the elements are the same - Basic Grey Urban Prairie Papers. but the card uses the pad not the 12x12 scale pattern. And BG chipboard letters (other letters are Making Memories). The cardstock is American Crafts embossed card. I decided to buy a pack as it is 81/2 x11 size which means that cards made using it should fit into the Cuttlebug embossing folders. I am also trying to force myself to use coloured card bases.
And I managed a whole two before going back to white :) :) :)
BG papers
Stampin Up white card
Swiss Dots CB embossing folder
Imaginesce stamp
BG button
LIquid Pearls
(funny thing just happened. I couldn't remember the name of that stuff. Knew it was made by the same company as do Stickles and that the colour was opal. So stuck them in google to see if that helped. Apparently there was a woman who died June 22, 2007 called Opal Stickles. So there you go)
Heidi Swapp stamp using Colorsnap green ink, outlined
BG papers as before
Doodlebug paper frill
Papermania brads
x cut flower punch and a hole punch for the flower centre
Same things as before but in a different order!
in the middle of the flower is the teeniest weeniest gem. A great find in poundland under then nail decoration section!