It's nearly here...

...that time of year when we join Kerryanne English for some good old fashioned homely type Christmas stuff.

Each year for the last couple of years, Kerryanne has run her Simply Christmas event. She shares tips, ideas, recipes etc. that will help to put 'Family & Home' back into Christmas. She also invites some of her crafting friends to share stuff too.

The event helps to take the stress out of the run-up to Christmas by giving you ideas/tools for planning...from gift making to card sending, house decorating to shopping for that fabulous Christmas meal.

You will notice a new button over on my side-bar...why not hop over to Kerryanne's blog and nab a button for yourself and then you too can join in the fun.

The Holidays are coming...Holidays are coming...............

No knitting...

...and stitching kept to a minimum.

Let me start by saying, these are NOT my creations...they are something that I found via a link from a blog I follow.

I love to knit but I know there are a lot of folk out there who do not or just can't...so when I found these over on the Sizzix site I just had to share.

For all of you papercrafters who have a Bigshot or Cuttlebug - I'm sure you have plenty of dies that would be suitable for decorating these cute little mug hugs.

Dig out those sheets of felt and see what you can come up with.

Why not turn your mug into a steaming cauldron with a bit of black/orange/purple felt or even get the kids making their own 'hug' over the half-term holiday.

No tension to worry about (just measure and cut to size), no dropped stitches and as I said...the sewing can be kept to a minimum.

Go on, see what you can come up with.....................................

Mystery Kit...

...the reveal.

One of the elements of a CyberCrop over at UKScrappers is the team Mystery Kit - a box of scrapping goodies put together by one of the Sponsors for a specific team at a super price. The number of kits are usually limited in number so it can be a bit of a scramble to try and nab one.

With this box of goodies you have to create something...a mini-book, LOs, a piece of paper engineering...anything you like but there are conditions that you must obey...

You must not discuss the contents of the kit with anyone - not even fellow teamies.

You must only use what comes in/with the kit i.e. the the kit and any packaging - except for a list of specific allowable additions (black/white plain CS or paper, black/white ink, thread, anytype of glue, any tools - inc. stamps, I think you get the idea).

It can be pretty difficult when faced with the contents of the box to decide what to make and it makes it so much harder when you can't chat about it with your team to get ideas - still, that's part of the fun and challenge.

I decided to make a stationery box...

...the base being constructed from white CS and given a bit more stability with some black CS panels before being decorated with some of the PP provided in the kit.
When the lid is taken off...

...the front drops down to reveal the contents.
I made a few note cards...

...using up the odds and ends of PP that I used to decorate the box.
The mini-album is made from the greyboard that was supplied...

...and decorated with more PP. The pages have been made from white CS and as there were no book rings and only a limited amount of ribbon - I went with CS hinges to fix it all together and more of the CS was used to wrap the spine.
The stationery box has 3 sections for storage...

...and I will probably add some more bits-n-bobs after the CC has finished.
The little note cards are perfect for a quick 'thank you' or...

...just a quick keep in touch sort of message. I kept the decoration fairly simple as I am trying to be more 'postage aware' with my card makes.

No-one gets to see anything that has been made until the gallery is opened for voting - that in itself can be a bit stressful as you can't see if you have up-loaded it correctly due to it being a 'hidden gallery'.

The kit was fab and I still have quite a bit left which I'll be able to make good use of. From choice...if I had been using these PPs without any restrictions, I would probably have chosen kraft CS or brown/cream as my additional items - but hey!...that's part of the fun of the challenge....................................

Oh Poop!!!...

...(best I could think of LOL).

I've waited weeks to get a chance of a photo of the Orbit all lit-up. This was the best I could manage...

...not very impressive, huh?

The only elevated place to take the pic from was our office and the first couple of pics were useless because of the bounce-back of the flash on the windows - so this one was taken with the camera held outside the window (wrist-strap firmly in place LOL), not easy as the windows only open a small amount at a rather funny angle.

The building site next to the office has been a hive of activity until quite late in the evening. This is a pic of the big drill thingy that they have been using all week (wonder where they get rawl-plugs to fit???).

As I mentioned in the last post - there was a rather big oops! when the dirt from the drilling pushed over the fence into our car park. Only a few moments before there had been 3 cars parked there..................................

Indian Summer?...

...think I mis(t) it.

Okay, don't groan too loudly - it wasn't my idea...the pun came from one of the Monday newspapers.

Having a quick hop around Blogland it would seem that the Fog & Mist was pretty much common across the country.

The view from the office has been grotty all day and the heavy mist just hasn't lifted - at times you could only just make out the Olympic stadium and the top of the Orbit was sort of lost somewhere in the murk.

Instead of enjoying unusually warm temps for this time of year; I'm sitting here with a lovely hot mug of Hot chocolate mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

The office was its usual Monday morning icebox (well it was in our wing) and things didn't really improve all day - I dread to think what it's going to be like when the weather gets really cold.

All this dismal weather is not doing much for my creativity - there is the 10th Anniversary CyberCrop fast approaching over on UKScrappers and except for the Mosgots and the tidy-up I don't seem to have achieved very much **pout**

I thought if I sat here for a while I would get some inspiration but at the moment all I can think of is going and snuggling up in a nice warm bed. Oh well, things may be better once I've slept on it - nighty night.....................................

The Mosgots are...

...ready to fly.

Before I explain what a 'mosgot' is, I just wanted to prove that my desk is still tidy...

...even after 'mosgot' construction LOL

It seems kinda bland just saying it was a 'typo' but that's how it started.

When UKS have a CyberCrop it has been a sort of tradition to have a Mascot Swap - usually an exchange of small cuddly toys that the recipient can sit on their desk/work area.

Someone asked if there was going to be a swap this time but instead of 'mascot' it printed as 'mosgot'...so The Detectives are having an ATC Mosgot Swap (sounds much more fun than mascots LOL).

These are my five completed and ready to wing off to Suzie...

...who is acting as swap host for the event.

I went with some cheery 'menguins' (no that is not another typo - it's what we have always jokingly called them in our family)

You might have noticed that there are some little menguins below the ATCs...these are little 'mosgots' that the recipients will be able to use in any way they like (there are a variety of mini menguins so they might not match the image on the front of the ATC (and they will be snuggling inside the ATC for their journey).

I actually made 6 of these so that I could keep one...

...as you can see - this little chappie has made himself at home on my nice tidy storage stack.

Never having made an ATC before (I don't think you can count the samples that we made at one of Andy's "Tim style" days) I didn't realise how difficult it could be to make something soooooooooooooooooo small. Worse than that, I was worried that my efforts would be woeful against the creations of the others in the swap. Never mind - we're all in it for the fun so I hope folk will like these when they recieve them.

Suzie; they are heading to the seaside and will be in the post to you tomorrow......................................

Pens, Pens, Pens...

...what crafter doesn't like pens!

The lovely Enfys has been given a set of Promarkers to give to one of her followers...hop on over to Going Buggy

I'm not going to show you a picture of the prize you could win as you really do need to hop on over there and see what it is all about.

Can I just say; Letraset who have provided the prize have not been stingy..........................................