Happy New Year...

...let 2010 be the type of year you want it to be.



As we count down to the end of 2009 I wish you all the very best for the year ahead.

However you are going to welcome in the New Year...enjoy...I'll catch up with you all again in 2010.

You never know, I might even get my PC sorted...HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone..............

I hope you all had a...

...wonderful Christmas.



I also hope that this post has come out right as I'm doing it 'blind', so to speak.

The new hard drive is installed on the PC and I've been trying hard to get things re-loaded but blogger is still not allowing me proper access. If I go to another blog I can access my Dashboard (found this out by accident) but I still can not view my blog...it just freezes and task manager tells me the programme is not responding.

Any hoo, I will continue to tinker and hopefully the magic of Christmas will rub-off and things will return to normal (a girl can hope - can't she **rollseyes**).

Hope you are all enjoying whatever it was that Santa was kind enough to bring you...............

Ho hum...

...things are still not working correctly.

Much of my blog hopping at home is being done directly as I still have problems accessing my blog (where I have all those lovely easy links to all my favourite blogs ***GRRRRR***).

As things are so hit and miss and today is my last day at work I am taking this opportunity to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...may 2010 bring all that you wish for..........................

Just so that you don't...

...think I've disappeared LOL

Still trying to sort out problems with getting everything up & running again now that I have a new hard drive. Main prob is actually being able to access my blog **grrrrrrrrrr** it just freezes. I can access it from work but I can't load any piccies **boo hoo** and I can't access all my fav blogs cos some of them come up as blocked sites (don't ask me why...the wonders of our work system).

I am just about to leave work cos we have had another load of snow come down and I really don't want to test British Rail too far..........................

Hi there...

...I'm back - well, sort of LOL

New hard drive installed and internet up and running. Mouse tracking a bit strange but probably need to have a play in control panel.

Email not installed as can't find where DH put the details of the email account passwords **rollseyes** and blogger not playing nice but not sure whether that is just blogger having one of its "moments" or if there are other things I need to sort out.

Anyway, I'm back...YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Now just got to keep everything crossed that the PC Gurus can retrieve my piccies.............................

My PC...

...is not well **sob**

DH is obtaining a new hard drive, as we speak and I am writing this on my PC at work.

Something went wrong with the boot-up system and Windows ceased to load. DH has checked and there seem to be some corrupted files that just won't repair.

That's bad enough buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, what is worse is the fact that my job over the Christmas holidays was going to be the burning to disk of a load of photos - I had actually set aside time to do this and typically the PC decides to die before it has been done **Grrrrrrrrr**

DH has said he will take the old hard drive into work and get one of their PC Gurus to recover my piccies (they worked wonders when DHs laptop went wonk earlier this year) so fingers crossed...and toes...and legs...and eyes LOL

So until it is all sorted I am relying on the limited service provided by the PCs in work - dread to think how many emails will be waiting once I'm back on line cos that's one thing I can't do from work...ho hum............................

Just by way of a change...

...my PC is playing up!!!

It was fine Friday night but Saturday morning it refused to load Windows **grrrrrrrrr**

Being a techy nunce I have no idea why...sob...and DH isn't around to sort it out.

Thought I would locate the Windows disks but they seem to have been put away for safe keeping so at the moment my only contact with everyone is via my work PC. Not ideal as it has so many limitations on what can be accessed.

Why does this have to happen when I'm so very busy trying to get Christmas stuff done......................

Feeling rather...

...yuck :o(

The weekend of the cybercrop I felt as if a heavy cold was coming on but it seemed to clear. Unfortunately, this week the "Winter Bark" has arrived.

I hate getting a cough during the winter cos it always seems to take forever to shift...it looks like I have failed to avoid it this year.

Whilst I don't feel ill, the cough is becoming a pest and is breaking my sleep pattern so I'm just feeling generally yuck!!

Sorry if I haven't dropped by as I haven't done a lot of blopping this week but I hope to catch up with everything that is happening in blogland as soon as possible.

Take care folks..............

The CC is now over...

...and the winners are........................Lions (boo, hiss - no really, CONGRATS)

Here are some pics of what I completed (think I need to redo some photos before I post them)






Didn't get as much done as I'd hoped - Saturday was not a good day as my cold really took hold - but I was please with what I managed to do. Annette's mini book class was another success.

Well, that's another CC over and done with. Anyone know when there is gonna be another CC.............LOL.......................

Yes, okay...

...we did make cards too LOL
Two of these super cards were designed to match with more of the festive envelopes that Dawn brought back from the USA, back in the summer.

The only problem I have with these cards is that I like them too much to give away LOL.....................

What do you mean...

...it's not a card LOL

Well okay, it's not a card...but it is made from card. 20 circles of card to be precise. Each circle had to be coloured, cut out, scored/folded and stuck together to form the ball at the top of the tree. It was then attacked with stickles LOL
A bit fiddly but not too difficult to do and the finished effect is fabulous.
My Christmas colour scheme is Chocolate so this should fit in well and should look great in the centre of the table.

The circles were stamped and embossed with a poinsettia design.

The base of the tree is a plastic flower pot filled with plaster to secure the trunk and painted white before being covered in a coat of glitter mod podge and a sprinkling of silver glitter.

Now I need to think about some bits to match.....................

Well it has been...

...busy and we are only half way through the week.

Today was the last card workshop at Dawn's for this year and as is tradition it included our Christmas meal.

This is the classroom and the ball-trees that you can see were the first thing we made today.

Lunch was served in the dining room and as always Dawn and Brian did us proud.

The table was beautifully decorated with lots of hand-crafted stuff. Many of the items were variations on the panels used for the ball-tree.

Everything always looks so lovely.

Everyone had a cracker that contained a craft gift and a little Christmas charm.

We all stuffed ourselves with Brian's wonderful cooking...selection of starters, traditional main course and pud or pies for sweet.

Thank you Dawn & Brian for another wonderful day...can't wait until classes start again in March...................

The Eleventh Hour, of the Eleventh Day...

...of the Eleventh Month.

Okay, so today isn't the right time/day but it is the Sunday closest to the event and having family in the forces I wanted to share this...

"They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them."

November countdown...

...to many things.

As you will have noticed from the previous post there will be a UKS cybercrop this month - February seems sooooooooooo long ago. But this isn't the only thing going on this month...

Wednesday 11th will be the last all-day card workshop before the new year. I'm so looking forward to this as Dawn's workshops are always super and the Christmas one also includes Christmas lunch - mmmmmmmmmm really scrummy.

Fri 13/Sat 14/Sun 15 is the long awaited cybercrop - let fun, chaos and mayhem take hold for a great weekend.

Sunday 22 will be the last Artbase crop of the year and it is also Secret Santa time - John gets into the spirit of things and dresses the part LOL
This year the gifts are to be craft based only. It is also my birthday this day so I intend to have a fab time.

So quite a busy month to come and this is without all the normal stuff of Christmas shopping "rollseyes". Have a great November everyone.....................

Ain't I cute...

...don't ya think?


This is my new avatar over on UKS cos the cybercrop went live tonight - yipeeeee!!!

I'm in "Totos" and if you can't guess from that or the fab piccy, this means the theme is Wizard of Oz.

We're all off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz..............

Time for some...

...scrapping.

I realised it has been some time since I actually posted any scrap pages **rollseyes** so thought it might be an idea to post a few that I have done recently.

This was a photo I have had for some time (poor Whiskers, my niece's cat, passed two Christmases ago).

I had seen a sketch on the internet a while back and made a note of it but didn't note the site. Then a couple of months ago in an issue of Scrapbook Inspirations there was a LO of a very similar nature - I combined the two and this is what I came up with...
Whiskers had a "thing" about shoes and trainers - if left laying around she thought they were hers.

From a 'photo session' over at Barleylands, I had these pics of the Wisteria in full bloom (sorry my photo of the LO is not the best) and a box full of K&Co PPs to play with - I also wanted to play with my new Butterfly punch...
Think I still need to add something to this but I'm leaving it alone for a while so that I don't ruin it.

My niece's wedding back in May gave plenty of photo opportunities that can be scrapped (some have been - lots yet to do LOL) but Kristy and Dan didn't have many photos of themselves otherwise. Back in July we spent a lovely day at Barleylands and Malden and I got some super pics. Here are two LOs that have been done with some of these photos...

These two LO used materials and techniques from an Artbase crop - the designs that Margaret & Emma came up with adapted beautifully for the photos I had.
The lemon and grey scheme works perfectly.
I love the way these pages came together.

I've a few more LOs that I need to photograph so they can be put on here...don't rush me...I'm getting there LOL................................

Keep the date...

...there's a cybercrop on the way.

Just in case any of you missed the news, the next UKS cybercrop will be on the weekend of 13/14/15 November...Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Theme is still unkown but we are having fun trying to guess what it might be..........

I'm so excited...

...yes I know...I'm easily pleased LOL

My planner from the previous post has been included on christmasplanner.com **happy dance**

The site have featured the templates from Papercraft Inspirations and my planner is shown as an example of their use.

There are some really fabby ideas on the site so I am feeling rather chuffed that they included me ***VERY BIG GRIN***.........................

It's finished...

...my Christmas 2009 planner.

This is my version of the Christmas planner that the lovely Jane Dean created for Papercraft Inspirations.
The frame on the cover was cut for me by John at Artbase - I covered it with a Christmas napkin and sealed it with glitter Mod Podge. The planner itself was created from A5 envelopes covered in bling CS and PP then bound with my trusty BIA.

I have left quite a lot of 'space' in this planner so that I can add photos.

There isn't a great deal of embelishment, apart from the cover, because I intend to 'bling-it-up' once I have my photos in place

I will probably add more titles as well...recipes, receipts, notes etc.

The PPs used are not overly Christmassy.

I just love Jane's templates.

The envelopes provide the perfect place to keep all those little bits and pieces that get collected in the run-up to Christmas.

I think I need to make a few tags to pop in the pockets.

This is my first major project using my Copic & Promarker pens - the Copics are fab for the wash effect but I found the Promarker's harder nib better for colouring in the lettering and fine detail.

The back pages are empty at the moment but I'm sure these will be filled by the end of the holiday period.

Materials used: -
Templates designed by Jane Dean
Copic & Promarker pens
Be Blessed PP - True gifts of Christmas range
A4 bling CS
Cream & Gold Christmas napkins
A5 White envelopes
Artbase custom die cut - frame 7
Glitter Mod Podge
Glitterations alphabet stickers
Bauble peel-offs
Asst ribbons
Small circle diamonte slider
1" o-wire
I really hope Jane likes my take on her fabby project.................

My chair...

...as Russell makes himself at home LOL



I don't think there can be any doubt that Russell has settled into his new home..........

Family...

...AT LAST!!!!



Considering the wedding was back in May, it is lovely finally seeing Kristy, Dan and Russell, all together at last in their own home....................

The House...

...pics at last LOL







I've just put a selection of pics so you can see just what Kristy and Dan were so excited about...................

Home...

...and completely exhausted.

Kristy and Dan were finally given a date for collecting their keys to their first lot of married quarters and that date arrived last Thursday.

After a poor nights's sleep (worrying that I would sleep through the alarm) I went to collect her, the dog and the other pets to transport them up to Catterick, North Yorkshire. I arrived to see the removal men still merrily packing the van - what they said would take little more than an hour ended up taking 3!!!!

As a result, we didn't leave 'til quite a bit later than we had planned but the weather was with us and the traffic was reasonably kind. Even with a stop for the dog to 'stretch his legs' LOL we were there in good time (about 4 1/2 hours) and Dan was there to greet us at the door - I will get round to loading the photos but at the moment I just can't be asked...

We wandered off to MacD's to get something to eat - leaving Dan and the dog to greet the removal men when they arrived, which they did just as we were sitting down to eat. We got back to the house just as they were finishing the un-loading (much quicker than the loading **rollseyes**)

The house is a two bed, end-terrace/semi (never quite sure what the correct term is when you have a row of houses, sort of linked by garages), in a quite close. It backs onto park/woodland so is not overlooked. The young couple were like kiddies that had been let loose in a sweet factory...

Two beds, lounge, dining room/office, kitchen, bathroom & toilet and two walk-in wardrobes...the one in the main bedroom is big enough to be a craftroom.

So with the remainder of Thursday unpacking and getting beds sorted we finally fell into bed to be up Friday to get stuck into more unpacking and food shopping. Saturday saw a trip into Darlington to obtain a hoover and net curtains - more unpacking, hanging of nets and re-arranging of furniture.

In the few days that they have been in their new house there has been sunshine, showers, galeforce winds and sleet!!! The dog still doesn't quite know what to make of it all but he loves 'his' garden and has been bouncing around out there like a new-born lamb LOL

Today I said farewell to the happy couple and made my way home (just over 4 hours - non-stop).

Kristy and Dan (oh, and mustn't forget Russell) I wish you all the very best in your new home. Lots of love, Aunty Toni xx

Oh and for everyone else...I promise, I will sort out some photos - just let me have a few days sleep first LOL.............................

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

...collection complete

**does happy dance**

I now have the complete collection of Copic Caio pens...a new delivery at Artbase and Yipee, the missing B93 has now been obtained LOL

Someone on UKS asked about Christmas Planners and one of the responses was from the lovely Jane Dean. She posted a link to some templates which I have printed out onto white card. Last night I spent a very pleasant evening 'colouring-in'. Only managed one of the sheets last night but it was so relaxing.

Not sure what format my planner will take (probably A5 envelopes decorated with the coloured templates and Christmas paper) but I'll let you see what I come up with.....................

Who Started...

...The Christmas Cards Tradition?

Yes I know, I was bemoaning the fact that despite it being so early in the year Christmas was everywhere you look...I've decided to give in gracefully (???) and thought I would have a look at some of the things behind the "Christmas Traditions" that we follow. I found this bit of info on the Christmas lore site (lots of interesting snippets but do be warned - if you venture there it is crammed with advertising links).

"Why We Send Christmas Cards During the Holiday Season
This year while you're preparing all of the Christmas cards that will be going out to friends and family you may take a moment to wonder why you do it and who started it all. After all, it's not like the apostles took it upon themselves to send each other greeting cards to remember the birthday of Jesus. Hey, Hallmark didn't even exist back then! So how did Christmas cards become a part of this Christian holiday? Here's where it all began...

Let's Travel Back in Time
Let's go back in time to 1840s Britain. The first postal deliveries were being sent thanks to the brand new “Penny Post” that had been set up.

Now that the Penny Post enabled people to send Christmas greetings to one another it became customary to do so. However, many people found it tedious and time consuming to hand write all of their Christmas letters. In 1843, the first Christmas card was commissioned.

Christmas Cards Come to America
For about 30 years, Americans had to import their Christmas cards from Britain. It wasn't until 1875 that the first Christmas cards would be printed in the United States.

And the Christmas cards sent back then really didn't mirror today's popular cards at all. The Christmas cards of yesteryear tended to depict flowers and faeries. It wasn't until later years that Christmas cards took on a “holiday theme”.

And the Evolution Continues...
What the Penny Post did for Christmas cards back in the mid 1800s, the Internet is doing today. The way we greet one another at Christmas is changing once again. Thanks to the wider acceptance of “e-cards” all it takes is the click of the mouse to send your friends and family Christmas greetings. Who knows what tomorrow brings..."

So it would seem that we Brits invented the Chrismas card and then the Yanks very kindly sold the idea back to us LOL Whoever had the original idea doesn't really matter to me - it is a tradition that I like and will continue to follow (e-cards are lovely and very clever but they are not for me). I love making my own cards and it is part of the fun to come up with different ideas, shapes, colour schemes...so long live the good old Crimbo Card................

Nearly there...

...collection ALMOST complete.



At the Stamping & Scrapbooking Show at Ally Pally in the Spring I bought some Copic pens. When I mentioned them to Emma (Artbase) she said that she had been thinking of stocking them and in no time at all she had a lovely stand full of them. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one who likes these pens and as is often the way, a shade I wanted was sometimes out of stock...but I'm nearly there LOL

Each visit to Artbase has seen a few more of these lovely pens 'jumping' into my basket and when Emma gets her next order in I should have a complete set - I'm only missing ONE!!!

Along the way there have been a few detours...the glitter pens got added to the collection - oooooo the clear glitter one is just fab but the colours are lovely too.

So now I'm just waiting for that last shade - I'll let you all know when the collection is complete LOL...........................

Everywhere you turn...

...there is something about Christmas.

Whilst I'll admit to being one of the early ones who made a start on her Christmas cards a while back but I do think things are getting a little out of hand LOL

The shopping channels seem to be obsessed with the Holiday Season with not just craft goodies reflecting Christmas but loads of other stuff too in a bid to make an early start for Christmas...it's not even September until tomorrow!!!

My little Christmas tree has sat down at the bottom of the page quietly counting down the days (116 as of today) but I won't be moving it up until at least November.

I will continue to make Christmas cards and they will probably get posted on here so that I can share with you any new techniques I have learnt but I will be making an effort to post other stuff too...

I have several LOs that I need to photograph (when the light is right) and I promise to let you see what I've been up to.................

Snow scene...

...and night sky.

A short while ago, Andy over on the Pinnacles blog made a 'white on white' embossed Christmas card that I loved.

I have had a play and here is my take on the design that he produced...





I used the EK border punch of the trees along the top edge of the white base card and then I embossed the body of the front of the card with my Cuttlebug 'Snowflake' embossing folder. A sheet of A4 blue mirricard was folded in half to create an A5 card and I used the white embossed card as a wrap. Peel-off snowflakes were scattered over the blue to create the look of snow against the night sky and a few gems were added to the embossed snowflakes. The sentiment was embossed on a small piece of the mirricard using one of the folders from the Sizzix embossing set - Christmas 2 and I used the tree border punch along the top edge.

I still can't get to grips with photographing shiny or embossed surfaces but I hope you get the idea LOL I was rather pleased with the finished card............

Book in a Box...

...that looks like a book (IYKWIM)

This is my first completed (apart from photos) book from the UKS summer minibook event. Surprise, surprise, it is one of Annette's LOL

I decided to go with a wintery theme so that I could use blue & silver and lots of blingy bits.


The box has been kept quite plain as it is made from holographic mirri board. I just covered it with panels of PP from the Daisy & Dandelion Christmas range and a couple of gems. I cropadiled 2 snowflake brads to the cover and attached silver ribbon as a closure.

The inside of the box is lined with more D&D Christmas PP.

I had some blue and silver beads and some pearl snowflakes so I strung them on navy thread and wrapped them around the front panel of the cover on the book. I also made a little dangly to hang from the binding wire.

The pages are white pearl CS and I have kept the decoration very simple. The first page has been punched with the Fiskars Effervesent (sp?) border punch. Each page has just a small PP highlight and a bit of bling.

If the pics are naff it is because my battery died and I was faffing around try to find some with enough charge to take the piccies.

Hope you like my take on your lovely little book Annette.....................

Minibooks...

...everywhere LOL

The Summer event over on UKS is a fortnight of minibook instructions - oh there are some really super ideas. I have been merrily printing off the instructions each day (a copy for me and a copy for Kristy) but at the moment I'm spoilt for choice and don't know what to start on first LOL

I have cut & folded the card for MaryAnne's squash books that were the 'run-up' to the event. I have bought some brown velvet paper to make the darling little Owl book.

Tonight I have hunted high & low for some stiff A4 card that I know I have (why can you never find stuff when you need it..."rollseyes") and failed :o( Nevermind, I did find some very stiff holographic card so I have made a start on Annette's fabby "Book in a Box" - if she thought hers was 'blingy' she'll need sunglasses for this one LOL

Right, the box & covers are cut, scored & folded - now let's go hunt for some PP to decorate it with...I could be gone a while........................

Amaaaaaaaaazing RAK...

...Random Act of Kindness.

Ingvild has reached 200,000 visits on her blog "My Paper Art" and is offering the most amazing stuff by way of a thank you - do drop by her blog her work is lovely.............

A Day...

...to remember.

Kristy, I think you and Dan should have organised something like this for the wedding last week.........LOL

Still, you could always consider this for later..........

For bloggers in general - these two clips appeared on You-tube and the first one seems to have sparked a spate of similar 'wanna-be' type weddings. Whether real or spoof, I think the idea was fun..........................

EDT: you need the sound on c",)

A very, very...

...busy week.

Lots of cards made.

The week started with me making a card for my sister's birthday - she isn't overly into papercrafting so I tried to keep it fairly simple but I wanted to play with my Martha Stewart Heart border punch. This I did on the edge of some handmade paper that I used as a wrap.








Wednesday was Dawn's card workshop "Christmas in July". The cards we created were lovely and very enjoyable to make. The first one here was a cute little Angel card in its own box - everything was made as part of the workshop including the box. To help show off the Angel a little more clearly I took a pic with some white paper behind it. The Angel was printed onto acetate and then decorated with glitter and some netting.
This one was an outside-looking-in card and again the box was made to fit the card to make it more of a gift.





I'm going through a phase of making Quad cards at the moment - they look so complicated but are really very easy. I just loved the way we decorated this one.





More printing on acetate and a bit of rubber stamping...Santa & Sleigh are actually stamped on the card behind the printed scene on the acetate.




I have loads of ideas for more Christmas cards but it is getting the chance to sit down and put them into practice. Still, at least I've made a start - how many days to Christmas?................................