November has arrived...

...but from the temperatures you would never believe it.

Yesterday was 1st November and after experiencing the warmest Halloween on record (in the mid twenties as far as degrees C are concerned) it was a bit of a shame to wake up to a dull, drizzly morning - but the temps were showing 16C before 8am.

Anyhoo...

November has arrived and that means that Christmas is that much closer.

Kerryanne English over at the Shabby Art Boutique kicked-off her 5th "Simply Christmas" event with the posting of this year's free downloadable planner - it is beautiful. Lovely vintage style pages to print off and make a planner to suit your needs. Unfortunately, my printer has decided to die - something else to go on the replacement list.

Still, undaunted...I met my friend Hilary for breakfast over at Barleylands and then we toddled off to Pinnacle Crafts for one of Andy Pearson's "Demo Day" events.

As we entered the workroom this is what was on display...

 ...a lovely table setting in frosty blues & white...

...one finished Advent - beautifully lit up with battery tea-lights and decorated with poinsettias...

 ...and some lovely personalised crackers for his family's Christmas table (which unfortunately will have to be re-done as Andy used red & white and Joanne wanted red & cream - oops!).

Andy demoed some lovely ideas for finishing touches and last minute makes for Christmas.

When I got home I thought I'd have a play.

So grabbing my newly purchased...

...Envelope score & punch board...

 ...an assortment of CS from my stash...

 ...my un-used Spellbinders Poinsettia die set (**hangs head in shame** - in fairness, I really wanted the "Tattered Poinsettia" Sizzix die which I managed to get a couple of days later so this one got put away and forgotten)...

...a selection of ribbons...

 ...and my "Holiday Greens".
I die-cut two lots of the poinsettias...

...and as you can see, if you just stick them together they look very flat...

...so a bit of curling was in order - much better.
Some 'greenery' cut from kraft card...

 ...I was using up some CS scraps so the die-cuts are all slightly different.
Having cut an envelope from white CS, suitable for a 6x4 card, and lining it with the glitter card...

 ...I then decorated it with some ribbon and the die-cuts. I was going to put two poinsettias on the outside but it looked 'too much' with the bow.

Here is the finished item...

...and as you can see, it is a cutlery holder - ready and waiting to decorate the Christmas table.

Thank you Andy for the inspiration. This was so quick & easy to make and you could do it in any colour you like so that it co-ordinates with your own colour scheme.

Next week Andy is holding a "Finishing Touches" workshop at Pinnacles. It is an all-day event and I'm really looking forward to what other ideas he has in store.......................................................