Yesterday was...

...the Eastwood Carvery Crop - and Sunday lunch arrived a day early.

I actually remembered to take a photo of my lunch before tucking in...

...but you knew it had to be too good to be true; didn't you - I forgot to take a photo of the sweet doh!

Carol always sets aside a table where folk can display stash for sale - a great way of getting some pennies back on items that you no longer want...and a great way to grab some bargains.

Having coloured an 'Edwin' Magnolia stamp earlier in the week, it seemed fate that there were some Magnolias on the table - so how could I say 'no!'.

Hardly had the money left my hand than this little miss was out of the packet and inked up...

 ...the hair & skin are usually my starting points so they were the first bits coloured. Then came the choice of what colours to use for the clothing...

 ...and with this first one, I kept to fairly traditional Christmas colours.
One of the great things about attending a 'crop' is that your fellow crafters will often have equipment with them that they are willing to share...

 ...my friend Suzie had this X-Cut die set with her and Carol had brought along her Grand Calibre so I had a bit of a cutting session. Although the dies were small enough to go through a Big Shot/Cuttlebug, it made it so much easier being able to put the sheet of A4 card through the machine rather than cutting it up and running the risk of cutting the pieces too small or on the wonk.
I didn't stop at one image...

 ...this one was coloured with my favourite aqua shades and then I played with my "Wink of Stella" brush pen (clear)...

...I had intended to colour just the antlers and the bell necklace (which I did on the red/green image) but as you can see...I got a bit carried away and brushed all over the kraft matt on this one.

I now have two cute Christmas toppers ready to either be used on a card or some other 'make'. At last, I feel my Christmas makes are starting to materialise.

Hope you have been enjoying a crafty weekend............................................................