Poinsettia Box and some thrilling news...

Hello Blog Friends, 

For the last few weeks I've been on the edge of my seat wondering and hoping that 

I would get through the first round of the 2012 Spellbinders Design Team.  

Yesterday afternoon I received the news and it was a.....

 'YES' 

(I did a little skip around the kitchen!)

I have two further rounds to go so please keep everything crossed for me.

I'm putting my serious thinking head on for the next round!

So, back to craft - continuing with the Layered Poinsettia theme! 

(I will run out of projects with this soon...and then I will shock you with lots of flowers and butterflies!) 

This time I'm featuring a poinsettia on top of a Square Bracket Edge Box.  

This combines two of my very favourite die templates and so useful too. 

To add a little more interest I set an eyelet into one edge of the box lid, 

tied a bow twine and added a tiny tag with crystal gems.

I like to add just a light touch of ink to my projects, just around the edges. 

I reach for the same one again and again, Ranger Distress Ink - Tea Dye.

I think all crafters have certain favourite products that they use repeatedly - what's yours?

Today is a working day for me in London, we are having a Christmas lunch so that can't be bad!

Thanks for stopping by.

Back tomorrow, have a great Thursday everyone.

Poinsettia Gift Bag

Hello friends,

Something slightly different today - a gift bag.  

This is made from a sealed envelope, I have done a video tutorial on this technique which can be found in this blog post here or the video can be located on my 'You Tube' tab just under my blog banner.  

I've used Layered Poinsettia (just the one and it's mini!) 

Lace Doily Accents (folded in half to make a seal for the gift bag) and the red strip along the bottom. 

To finish, Labels Twenty Two for the stamped tag and a tiny peg with a gem stone.

The size and shape of your gift bag depends on your envelope but it's great for small gifts like...chocolate!

I've been Christmas shopping, made a dent in the gift list and I have a new star for my tree! 

 It's really beginning to feel a lot like Christmas (feel free to sing the lyrics!) ...and I love it!

Pop by tomorrow - I'll be here with another project to show you.

Thank you friends for visiting, truly appreciate you all.

A Gift Card..Card and A Winner!

Good morning friends.

Today following on with my poinsettia obsession (!) I want to share a Gift Card..Card!

I created this card with a pocket to hold one of the store gift cards, the Labels Twenty-Two die template is perfect for this.  Again, I've used Lace Doily Accents for the pretty strip across the top of the card and Layered Poinsettia for the ...poinsettias!  

Distressed and inked the edges of the cardstock, some ribbon with a pretty clasp and a tiny bit of bling.

 Important stuff now.. the WINNER of my blog candy is .........

MELANIE

Bella is here holding the winning ticket, I'm afraid I zoomed in a little close so cut off the top of her head! 

You will appreciate I have to be a bit speedy when taking these photos!

Congratulations Melanie - please drop me an email with your address and you will receive 

an early Christmas pressie! 

Bye for now - I'm back tomorrow with...a few more poinsettias..maybe! 

Christmas Smile

It's Monday - a new week and we are getting much closer to Christmas!

I feel so much more festive now my tree is up - at last!  Pictures below.

Today's card.  As mentioned yesterday, this is one of the Christmas projects for 

Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine with a running theme of Layered Poinsettia. 

This time cut from glitter card.  I've used Holly Motifs as a backing for the poinsettia, 

the lovely Cosmo Cricket - Odds and Ends paper and a some sewing and inking.  

The beauty of shabby chic is your sewing does not have to be perfect - suits me!! 

So the tree.. this was the beginning...

And after a few hours and puppy assistance we achieved this...

It's not perfect but arranging beads with a puppy on one end of them is quite a challenge.  

I'm also going shopping - my tree needs a new star! 

Tomorrow Bella will pick a winner from the dotty tea cup - all the details are in this post -
it's not too late to leave a comment there and be in with a chance of winning some nice goodies.
Also tomorrow more poinsettias!! (In Spring I promise to switch to daisies!)
Bye for now.

Christmas Chocolate!

Hello friends,

Today I would like to share chocolate! 

Some time back Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine asked me to create 10 Christmas projects,

 (at the time it was boiling hot outside and did not feel at all Christmassy!)

Nonetheless, I really enjoyed putting together some slightly different Christmas ideas and over the next few days I will show you a few.

This is a chocolate wrapper.  A fun idea for a small gift, perhaps for teacher, work pals etc.

I removed the original wrapper and used that as a template to make a plain one from cardstock.

Then onto a base I began to build up my design.  The papers are Cosmo Cricket - Odds and Ends - not a Christmas line at all but I think it works.

The Layered Poinsettia was a running theme through all my projects and here, by using a lighter paper, I think you get a really different look.

Lace Doily Accents create the strips at the sides and Labels Twenty-Two for the stamped tag.

Tiny bit of lace and it's finished.  

Tomorrow I shall be back with another project - be lovely if you could stop by.

Pretty in Pink

Hello to my Blogland friends.

It's the weekend and no, I haven't forgotten it's Christmas but I thought 

I would like to share a pretty pink card today.

This is a nice quick card to make using Lace Doily Motifs and Lace Doily Accents.

You will see I've cut into the larger die cut and cut up a smaller one to represent leaves.

The embossed background is the Hedged Maze embossing folder,cute zipper rose and the sentiment stamp is from the  'Gratitudes' set - all available from Creative Expressions.

I still haven't put up my Christmas tree!  

This is super late for me and I'm missing not having twinkling lights - it will be soon and I will share some pictures, hopefully before Bella discovers it!

Back tomorrow, bye for now.