Less than an hour to go...

...and we will be in a new year, the start of a new decade.
No parties for me tonight but I will be watching the fireworks on the TV. If it wasn't such a pain to get there & back I would love to be in the centre of London as the Big Ben chimes start to 'bong'. The atmosphere on the TV looks fab. We also seem to have finally got to grips with large scale firework displays - for those who remember the damp squib of a showing that we gave to see in the new century (oh it was shameful compared to the rest of the world) we do now put on a pretty damn fine show.

2010 - did you call it twenty-ten or two thousand & ten? - was a strange year...lots of change at work and at home and boy did the year fly by. There were some sad moments too - an Aunty and an Uncle passed this year so the family has shrunk a bit more and someone I managed for more than two years also passed (early 40s, young family - such a shock).

Despite the rotten cold that I have at the moment I have to say this year has been relatively healthy so I shouldn't complain.

So 2010 has been and will shortly go...there are photos and memories that will gradually appear in my scrapbooking (don't hold your breath - it could take a while LOL) and items that I have made for myself & others. I have found new blogs & websites to visit - increased my cyber friends - learnt a lot of new techniques - and enjoyed my crafting.

One of my favourite stores - Artbase - is no more. Margaret & John decided that this was the year they were finally going to retire...I do so miss the Sunday workshops and my weekly visits. Have a wonderful retirement both of you. I look forward to Emma getting going with the on-line store and wish her all the best for 2011.

Well, 2011 (think this will be "two thousand & eleven - twenty/eleven doesn't sound right) will be arriving shortly. There will be more changes ahead - that is the nature of things.

I don't make resolutions as they are never kept and then I feel guilty - so I don't do them. I do hope to continue to learn more things, craftwise, as the new year progresses. We will also be counting down to the arrival of the 2012 Olympics and as I work in East London where the bulk of this event will take place I will continue to see the preparations taking shape.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening, whether you are having a quiet one at home or out for a full blown celebration. Enjoy yourselves but take care - be safe.

I wish you all - health, wealth, love & happiness for the coming year and hope you get to realise some of your dreams

Welcome 2011!!!

Love Toni xx

Last day...

...of the old.
I will be seeing out the old year very quietly as I still have this rotten flu-like cold. It really has mucked-up my sleep pattern with all this coughing so I don't feel like partying or any such like.

As I look out the window everything looks dull, grey, dirty - typical aftermath of having snow. At least it has warmed up a bit.

For those of you having parties tonight - have a great time!

I'll pop back later to wish you all a Happy New Year...............

Wishing you all...

...a very Merry Christmas.

Well despite my plans to be more organised this Christmas, time ran away from me. I didn't get lots of homemade goodies done and my home does not resemble a photo shoot from one of those glossy mags.

What I did manage was to complete all the Christmas cards that I wanted to make (a bit close to the wire with the last few but they got done). I also have my own "Tim Holtz" style Christmas wreath made at one of Andy's fab workshops and the gift shopping is done. What hasn't already been delivered is sitting wrapped and waiting for me to take to their final destination.
I'm not sure if I have felt very Festive this year but I have enjoyed the crafting that I have undertaken for this holiday period. I have done a lot more stamping this year as I am soooooooooooo loving my Copic & Promarker pens...grown-up colouring in sessions are so relaxing. My Martha Stewart punches have been well used and I've had some great fun with miri card and embossing folders.

Christmas seems to have arrived with a rush...just like most of 2010.

Craftwise I have been a bit more adventurous this year - I've actually participated in 'messy' stuff (not something that I naturally feel at home with). I've played with inks, shaving foam, glitter and grunge...

I've tried to be a better blogger this year and in my blopping around cyber-space I have found some super new blogs that I now follow in addition to my long standing favourites. I have found some amazing artists out there and have been inspired by their work and ideas. I do try and leave comments when I visit folk's blogs but life does sometimes get in the way so I apologise now if I haven't been as good as I should be about this...there are just so many amazing folk out there I sometimes just get carried away trying to see as much as possible in the short time I have available. I have been blessed with some wonderful comments throughout the year and I ackowledge how encouraging this can be for any crafter - I will try harder in 2011.

Since having a blog I have "met" some wonderful folk and learnt about their lives in different parts of the world - it is so lovely to feel a part of this and look forward to this continuing in 2011. There are some crafters out there whose work I so admire and it is an amazing feeling when these folk drop by and comment on my crafting efforts - can I just say a very big thank you for all your lovely comments and encouragement throughout the year.

The next few days will probably pass in a whirl so I doubt I'll be getting any crafting done. Let me take this chance to wish each and everyone of you a wonderful Christmas and hope that 2011 brings everything that you could hope for.

Merry Christmas everyone...

Love from Toni xxx

That's all folks...

...for another year (at least I think so).

After a bit of a mad rush I have finally completed my Christmas cards and delivered them - Yipee!!!
I just loved the colour of this miri and the fact that it came in plain and patterned/embossed versions was even better - just wish I could get the hang of taking pics of it LOL...lovely picture of my lounge net curtains; don't you think **rollseyes**
Some Forever Friends easel cards and some foil decoupage added a bit of variety to the mix.
Some more foiled decoupage toppers and my trusty little Kanban bear and that is me done for this year.

It has been a bit of a slog - despite getting lots of bits prepared well in advance I just don't seem to have had the motivation to actually put the cards together...never mind; all done now.........................phew!

Two & a half hours...

...to travel less than 5 miles - grrrrrrrrr!!!

Okay, so we had a bit of snow yesterday but not that much. Pavements were icy but the roads were clear and the forecast said that further snow wouldn't hit until later today...I need to remember my own advice about not trusting weather forecasts...





In the space of less than an hour we went from cold winters day to GRIDLOCK. Traffic was bumper to bumper and the police had closed off a stretch of the A13 (main London to Southend road in south Essex).

I passed some very lovely sites which if I had been the passenger rather than the driver I would have been snapping away at (I did get the pic of the footbridge whilst I was stuck going nowhere) but to be honest, I'm just glad to be home safe & sound and I don't think the car will be moving again for some time (unless the snow goes, that is). These are a few quick snaps of the garden that I came home to.

Hope everyone out there with this weather is tucked up in the warm - take care folks......................

Three of a kind...

...Yep, more cards.

These three were variations on a theme - white card, co-ordinating embossed miri & ribbon and a matching coloured stamped image.
The polar bear stamp is a real fun image and I have coloured quite a few of these since I got the stamp and as you can see - another little Kanban bear.

No matting & layering on this batch...edge of cards attacked with my Threading water border punch ("Martha" decided not to 'play' last night as the card is almost 300gsm) a 1" strip of embossed miri card attched behind to show-off the punching, some 2cm wide satin ribbon tied in a knot and the coloured image.......Voila!!!

Glitter card, miri & Winter light...

...equals - naff photo!!!

Sorry, can't wait for more daylight as there is a lot to do today and I wanted to get a pic of this card before it is given away.
Glitter card & miri are not the easiest of things to photograph at the best of times but I hope you can see enough detail on this (whilst trying to ignore the glare LOL).

Very simple card - 5x5 square cream card base, gold miri matt just slightly smaller. The top miri card was cut slightly bigger than 3x3 then embossed in the Sun Rays folder - matted onto cream hammered card so just a small border of cream shows. Two brown glitter card reindeer (were cut for me so sorry don't know which cart was used). Everything attached to the card base with DST except for the deer which were mounted on foam pads. A sentiment panel from hammered cream card - mounted on foam pads...and there you have it..............................

And there's even more...

...Christmas cards, that is LOL

Just a few more cards completed and would you believe it - these were the ones that I remembered to take pics of **rollseyes** You can probably tell that I'm starting to panic a bit now...time is flying and I just don't seem to get done what I need to get done. I was in such a rush to get some of the cards written and distributed that the envelopes were written and sealed before I even gave a thought to photos...and NO!!! I was not going to open them all up again (strange that LOL).
So here are what remained of the latest batch. I had actually done a few B&W cards using some monotone decoupage toppers that I had come across - only one remained for the photo-call.
Another of my Kanban bear images coloured using Copic pens and a bit of stickles to add some bling. This is a basic white square card with a matt of blue miri card, then a matt of white card embossed with the sheet music design folder from one of Tim Holtz Alterations sets. Some more blue miri embossed with the Craft Concepts 'Sun Rays' folder and then Ted attached on top with some foam pads.
The idea for the Penguin cards came from Helen over at It's All Fiddle Fart - I found a sheet of puff stickers so adapted one of her 9-square designs...this was the result.

I still have a way to go - I keep looking at my card list and thinking that it is growing instead of reducing. Better get off here and get some more done..............

Are you sitting...

...comfortably?

Here are some pics of what I've been up to lately...
There is no real order to these as I was more concerned in trying to get some reasonable photos to post. This time of year is especially difficult with the poor light quality (and my lack of photography skills don't help LOL).
Dawn's Christmas workshop was another great day of techniques & engineering - I would never have thought to glitter spray vellum to cut holly from but it works beautifully.
Fabric stuck to acetate is also something a bit different and provided the basis for a lovely hanger on a 'K' card. The muted gold card was a lovely change from miri.
This lovely Santa makes you feel as if you are peering through a window. A beautiful card that is more like a gift as it has its own lovely box - these images were from one of the My Craft Studio Christmas disks (must make more use of mine).
I have so enjoyed using my Copic & Promarker pens this year...unfortunately, I got a bit carried away LOL I have a lovely collection of coloured images but have yet to turn them into cards and my mind seems to have gone blank for ideas.
This cutie little bear is a clear stamp from a Kanban set. Easy to colour and a bit of bling helps to bring it all to life. I am also loving the 'sun ray' embossing folder that I got a few months ago - not specifically for Christmas but it certainly does the job.
This little group is just a selection of some of the Christmas cards I have finally put together this week. The card that I used for Mum's card is beautiful - pale green with a snowy effect, slightly pearly and embossed - I thought it made the perfect background for the traditional red/green Magnolia image that I had coloured.
This little cutie was a card I made for one of the Cybercrop challenges, last weekend. The polar bear stamp is so sweet and again the sun ray embossed miri card works really well.

I have used a mix of PPs on my cards, many are off-cuts from other projects (Paula, you will be proud of me - I've actually used some of my scraps LOL). In most cases there wasn't a need to worry about make or range...I already have the images coloured so I'm just looking for PPs & CS that will co-ordinate.

Although I've been busy I think I need to speed up a bit as we are now only 13 days to Christmas **groan**........................................

Decorating for Christmas...

...here on the blog.

Thought as there are only 14 days to go until the big day I should give the blog a bit of Christmas cheer...what do you think?.............................

Yes I know...

...I have been a bad blogger this week.

I have been crafting...honest!

Last weekend was fun with the cybercrop and Andy's "Ink" workshop but boy was I tired by the end of it. I do have a few things to show you but I really do need some decent light to get some photos.

Promise to get some pics taken tomorrow.....................

A Winter's Tale...

...well sort of LOL.

I really liked the look of this class over at the UKS cybercrop but I didn't really want to do another snow Layout. So this is what I came up with...



There have been so many berries on the bushes this year that I just had to take some pics.

I was rather pleased with the way this came out as I do love the Autumn colours..........................

Letter to Santa...

...Cybercrop class.

I have been able to combine one of the CC classes with the use of a template by Kerryanne English. Her Santa letter template was just what I was looking for and I meant to sit and colour one in a few days ago, then guess what - one of the CC classes needed a 'letter to Santa'...sorted.
I was quite pleased with the way this came out - I was able to use the photo of "Santa" that I took on my recent visit to Harrods.

One of the problems I have with loading pics to the UKS gallery is that the pixel size makes it quite small so I normally prefer to load here and place a link on UKS. Unfortunately, that can't be done during a CC otherwise I can't claim the points for the things I've completed...never mind, at least the pic here is a bit clearer LOL....................................

What more can I say but...

...SNOW!!!

In the space of two days we have had far more than we got last year and it hasn't stopped yet.
As you can see, I've taken a couple of these pics from indoors - I'm not daft...it's cold out there LOL
The walk to the station yesterday wasn't too bad but not very good light for picture taking. The walk back on the way home from work was a different matter - very slow.
The snow has continued since Monday night and hasn't let up. We have had a variety of snowflakes from the very fine powdery stuff to the large 50p size flakes but whatever - it hasn't stopped.

I'm off today because I was to attend the Christmas card workshop that was postponed from November but weather has stopped play - fingers crossed the weather will have improved enough for it to go ahead next week.................