Eeek! Only 5 weeks to Christmas ...!

What a miserable day!  Rain, rain and more rain ... Still, could be worse - at least it's not snow.  Did you see the pictures earlier this week of the snow storm in Buffalo, New York?  Now that is something to complain about!

This weekend I promised myself that I would get cracking with my Christmas cards and get them all done & dusted.  Usually I have them all made well before now (last year I did them all in August!) but this year I am really behind.  I have made so many for demonstrations at classes and workshops that I think maybe it has started to feel like a bit of a 'busman's holiday' (as my mum would say) making my own.  Still, time is fast running out ... can you believe that it is less than 5 weeks till Christmas?!! (how did that happen?!) and so yesterday morning I was up bright and early, ready to do some serious Christmas crafting.  Feeling a smidge guilty about all the lovely new crafty stuff I have purchased lately, (if Mr CC is reading this it was just a bit of ribbon **walks away whistling and looking shifty**) I decided that I should set myself the challenge of making this year's cards by using up my existing Christmas crafting stash ... **nips upstairs to the spare room cupboard to fetch
previous years' Christmas card/papers/embellishments etc.**  O...M...G!!  It was like a scene from the Magic Porridge Pot!  As fast as I could get boxes down from the shelf, more appeared as if from nowhere! Who on earth had bought all of this stuff?  Oh yeah ... that's right, I remember now ... naughty Dobby! **scarpers downstairs with it all before someone sees**

So after hours of oohing and ahhing over forgotten sparkly papers, shiny toppers, cute little gingerbread men and fluffy snowman embellishments ... oooh look, that ones even got sparkly mittens on! .... I decided I needed to have a ruthless sort out and give myself permission to ditch the ones I just didn't love any more.  It's very easy to hang on to everything because we feel guilty for getting rid of perfectly good stuff, but just like the clothes in our wardrobe, we hang on to things that we have fallen out of love with and lets face it, are never going to love again, so they need to go.  I applied the '3 box'  principle... Keep, Donate (to crafty friends or school/clubs), Trash. Now I just need to USE the stuff in the Keep box!

Fast forward to 6pm .... total of four Christmas cards and two bird houses made (ok ... I got distracted)..

 How are your Christmas preparations going? Hopefully a bit more productive than mine!  Note to self ... Must try harder today and not get distracted .... oooh look, my Christmas scrapbooking papers ... I'll just have a quick look and then I'll get started ...

TTFN
Bev x

A dazzler of a card!

Well, what a busy week it has been here at the crafty headquarters! Last weekend's 'Mum & Daughter' stamp class was a great success and everybody went home with a selection of beautiful cards that they had made themselves and a decorative Christmas cracker.  Perhaps more importantly though, they had been able to spend spme quality time together doing something fun without the inevitable interruptions & distractions that always seem to happen at home however hard we try (or is that just me?!) and none of the mess!  **one mum was hyperventilating when she saw me getting out the glitter which is apparently banned from her house ... Lol!**  

This is one of the cards that they made - complete with offending glitter! (and a sneaky peek for those attending Wednesday's stamp class - you WILL go home sparkling).
It was made using the White Christmas Stamp set, stamped in black Memento ink with a smatter of dazzling diamonds glitter added ... gorgeous and very sparkly!  

In last week's post I mentioned the Hello December Project Life class that I would be running in January details here. and class dates have now been scheduled and are open for booking.

I will be offering a choice of two dates:

Saturday 17th January - 10am - 2pm & Wednesday 21st January - 10am - 2pm. (Both classes will be held at my home in South Chailey, details provided on booking)

The cost of the class is £40, which includes hot & cold drinks, biscuits & cake (the cake is always an essential for any type of crafting I find), and as well as tuition and guidance, will also include:

• 1 x 6”x8” Project Life Album  
• 1 x pack of 6”x8” Project Life Photo pocket pages 
• 1 x Project Life Envelope Page 
• 1 x Hello December Project Life Card Collection 
• 1 x Hello December Project Life Accessory Pack 

The total value of product is £39.85, so essentially, you are getting your class for free!

As this is a seasonal item and only available whilst stocks last, payment would be required in full at time of booking so that product can be ordered well before the Christmas period to ensure availability.  If you are subsequently unable to attend the class for any reason, you will still receive the product for you to make up at home.

If you would like to reserve a place on either of the above dates, then please do let me know as soon as possible as classes are small to ensure maximum individual focus and therefore places are limited to 6 per class.  Most importantly of all remember to start taking your photos from 1st December!   Why not treat your Mum/Sister/Best Friend as a Christmas present and book a place for you both to do together?  (don’t forget to make sure they take enough December photos too though!).

If you are not able to attend a class but would like to have a go at creating your own December memory album, then click on any of the products below to go to my Shop.  

TTFN
Bev x

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Hello December ...!

As those of you who are regular visitors to my blog will know, I am a BIG fan of Project Life (if you missed my previous post on this topic you can read it here).  Project Life is an amazing memory keeping system which allows you to create entire albums in one evening; simply tuck cards and photos into pockets, stamp a few accents, add a quick embellishment, write your journaling, and your done!

Becky Higgins has also now introduced a Project Life app which means you can create your pages on the go and then either get them professionally printed to slip into a 12x12 page protector, or, as I did here, use the app to plan your pages in advance and then, when you are ready, just recreate the layout in your Project Life album.  I actually completed the below whilst we were still on holiday and then when I got home, my layout was already planned and all I had to do was print off my photos, copy out my journalling and slip into the pocket pages.

This year, I am definitely planning to complete a 'December Daily' album, which is a photo a day throughout the whole of December.  I had every intention of completing one of these last year but didn't quite get round to it (well, that and I kept forgetting to take the flippin' photos ... ).  This year I am determined to try harder as I think it is such a lovely way to capture all the hustle and bustle of the  Christmas season ... the shopping, wrapping, baking ... nativity plays, Carol concerts, visits to Santa ... buying the tree, putting up the lights, hanging treasured ornaments ... family traditions, gifts received, visits with loved ones.... and then of course seeing in the New Year, taking down the tree, packing all the decorations away again ... and LOTS more!   Sound too nostalgic?  Don't worry, in my head it's always going to be a 'perfect' Christmas.  My reality will most likely be rolls of sticky tape slung in the bin because it is impossible to find the end .... a lopsided tree... tangled lights ... hideous queues at the supermarket ...wonky chocolate log  ...  BUT it doesn't matter, good or bad, they will all be captured and preserved as memories of December 2014!

I will be running a 'Hello December' class in January to help you preserve your December memories.   All you need to do is remember to take a photo every day during December, then turn up to the class with a stack of photos in hand and you will leave with a seasonal album completely done!

The cost of the class will be £40 and as well as tuition and guidance, will include:

• a 6" x 8" Project Life Album
• a pack of the 6"x 8"variety photo pocket pages
• one 6"x 8" Project Life Envelope Page
• a set of Hello December Project Life cards and 
• Hello December Accessory pack.  

Then all you need to do is turn up to the class with your stack of December photos and after a few hours, you will leave with a beautiful album preserving your treasured December memories!
If you would like any further information, just drop me a message by clicking here -  Contact Me.
Class sizes are small and places are limited so if you would like to attend, book yours as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Thanks for stopping by, and hope you all have a good week.

TTFN
Bev x

A Real Red Christmas ...

Morning all!

Hope you all had a spooktacular Halloween.  Wasn't it warm?  I did a quick Costco run to Croydon yesterday afternoon **well, I say quick ... deciding to go in half term week was probably not the best decision I have ever made!** and when I left the temperature was 23 degrees!! Unheard of for the end of October and officially the warmest Halloween since records began!  Let's hope we don't pay for it this Winter!  Youngest and I had great fun carving a pumpkin and making some Halloween cookies (we were definitely not the best at icing but we cried with laughter at the demented owls and cyclops witches we created!).  We don't go Trick or Treating in our house, but are happy to welcome those that want to call on us with treats at the ready -  last night we were visited by a couple of the cutest little ghosts and a rather large rabble of zombie boys!  How about you?

Now that Halloween is over and done with for another year, it's time to start thinking about getting ready for Christmas and this week I thought I would share another card using the White Christmas stamp set.

This time I swapped my usual white base card for a red one and stamped using the White Craft Ink.  I stamped the polar bear on a scrap of Whisper White in black ink, then cut him out and stuck him onto the snow scene.  Next, I used a two way glue pen and some dazzling diamonds glitter to add some sparkly highlights and finally stamped the message onto Whisper White and punched out with the Modern Label punch. A quick & simple card to do but very effective don't you think?

All the supplies I used are detailed below.  Just click on them to be taken directly to the shop.

Have a great week!
TTFN
Bev x

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog