Merry Christmas........

Hello lovelies.....

 

Well I am finally sat with a glass of wine in hand after all the festive preparations!

 

I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year.

 

I hope you all have a lovely time whatever you may be doing and with whoever you may be spending the time with. I want to spare a thought for those who are on their own on Christmas Day, Merry Christmas to you all.

 

Also another thought, at this time of year is to remember the one's we held dear in our hearts who are no longer in this world with us. So, tonight, when Santa's bells are ringing and all the star's are shining bright and Rudolph leads the way one of those star's will be my beautiful Daddy shining brightly and I will look up and be wishing him a Merry Christmas too. I am sure there are many who we love up there watching over us on Christmas Day, I for one will be raising a glass on Christmas Day to my Dear Daddy.

 

I want to thank each and everyone of you for following my crafty journey. I absolutely love sharing my crafty makes with you all, and will continue to bring you my crafty makes and ideas in 2013.

 

So, that's it from me for now. I'm signing off to spend some quality time with my husband and family, who I am very blessed to have.

 

Merry Christmas to you all

lots of love

Nicola XXX

Dreamees Design Team Projects.....

Hello lovelies,

 

 I have made some DREAMEES  design team projects today which I have called a  'Sweet Variety' of projects!

As Christmas is coming I knew I wouldn't have any time over the festive season to do any crafting so today I have made five projects for you all to see.

My first project to show you is using the SWEET SHOP STAMP I just knew what I wanted to make using this it was just perfect......

 

 

I had a packet of flying saucers so I thought I would use the stamp to decorate the bag with. I have coloured using Letraset Flexmarkers in shades of: Muted Pink ~ Tea Rose ~ Dusky Pink ~ Blush ~ Pale Pink ~ Pale Citrus ~ Meadow Green ~ Sunflower ~ Soft Aqua ~ Watermelon ~ Honeydew ~ Amaranth Red. I have used a heart border punch and embellished with Card Candi.

The next project I have used the MOSTLY MENS CD to make a birthday card for a wine lover. I am going to give this card to my brother-in-law for his birthday and he loves red wine so this is very fitting!

 

 

The next three projects I have made Christmas Cards using the CHRISTMAS MEMORIES CD I have made two general Christmas cards using more or less the same elements apart from the ribbons are different. I have also made my husband's Christmas Card. I had some ribbons that I wanted to use from my own stash so I matched the colour scheme to the ribbons. I have also used some buttons on the easel card too that I had in my crafty stash!

 

 

For the easel card I have used the Christmas tree topper and the text I have printed from my computer. I also added a PAPER DOILY WITH HEARTS and decorated it with Stickles glitter glue. I wanted to use the gingerbread and snowmen buttons that I had as they match the ribbons, papers and topper perfectly!

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my crafty projects today. Don't forget to click on the links to see where you can buy the gorgeous DREAMEES   products.

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a Very Happy New Year, don't forget to follow the Dreamees team in 2013 as there are lots of exciting times ahead!

Merry Christmas everyone,

lots of love

NJ XXX

 

 

 

 

 

DoCrafts Creativity Club Downloads...

Hello lovelies,

 

I hope you are all keeping well and not getting too frazzled with the Christmas preparations. I am really busy at work, being in a salon everyone wants their hair doing for Christmas. It is the classic case of lots to do but not enough time to do everything!LOL

 

With that in mind, I have made three projects using the fabulous DoCrafts Creativity Club Downloads. I am cheating a little though, as I am putting them all here in one post! Time is of the essence! LOL

 

The downloads and sketches I have used are available free to Creativity Club members. The fabulous benefits of being a member to this exclusive club is you get discount in the on-line store, Creativity TV where you can watch projects being made, lots of project inspiration, design team projects with step by step instructions and also special club offers to watch out for too and much much more!

 

If you would like to join the fantastic DoCrafts Creativity Club just click HERE to see where you can join.

 

So, here are the projects I have made...

 

Card 1...

 

For this card I have used the Florals downloads series 2 and I've chosen an 8"x8" Stepper Card blank. The papers are so pretty I wanted to show them off as much as I could.

 

 

Card 2 ...

 

For this card I have used a square Kraft card blank and decorated it with The 80's Printables part 3 downloads and also used Daily Sketch 162 designed by Emma Collins...

 

 

Card 3...

 

Finally for my third project I have used Daily Sketch 59 designed by Katy Godbeer and teamed it with some of the Boofle Christmas Elements...

 

 

Using sketches is a great way to pre-plan your crafty makes and is also good if you need some inspiration too. Don't forget that the daily sketches and downloads are just one of the perks of being a member of the DoCrafts Creativity Club.

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my December Projects for the DoCrafts Creativity Club, thank you for stopping by and I look forward to your next visit.

 

Merry Christmas,

Lots of love

NJ XXX

 

 



Graphic 45 - A Place In Time Easel Calendar...

Hello lovelies,

 

I hope you are all keeping well and not getting too worn down with all the Christmas preparations!

 

I have just finished decorating a calendar that I make as a Christmas Gift for my husband every year. I have been doing these for quite a lot of years now and I try to pick a different theme each year. This year I wanted to go with a vintage theme. We have been together nearly 21 years now and I wanted to show how much this means to me through the pictures I have used. I have chosen photos of just us two, apart from one month where I have chosen a photo of the lovely doggy we used to have. May was very much a part of us, we loved her to bits and we called her May as we got married in May!

 

May was a gorgeous, friendly labrador and we miss her very much, it didnt feel right not to include her. Anyhoo, the photos I have changed to Sepia and I have used a Graphic 45 Easel Calendar and the Place In Time Collection, which was just perfect for this.

 

I absolutely adore my husband, he is the love of my life. I think you can see from the photo's how much we love each other...I am truly blessed and also very thankful too! If my hubby reads this he will tell me to stop being so soppy lol.

 

So, without further ado here is the end result...I hope you all like it.........

 

The front cover...

 

 

Celebrations...

 

The month of love...

 

 

Celebrating my lovely hubbies birthday...

 

A photo from a wonderful holiday in Barbados...

 

This photo was on our 10th Wedding Anniversary, we flew by helicopter into the Grand Canyon...and the bottom photo is at the top of the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas...

   

 

A lovely holiday in Florida...

 

 

Another holiday photo in Barbados and Florida...

  

 

Our beautiful doggy May, it was her birthday in August...

 

A lovely week-end away this year...

 

 

Another lovely week-end away...

 

 

The top photo was in Florida, and the bottom photo was taken quite a few years ago on Christmas Day in Stratford UpOn Avon...

 

 

Christmas Day and New Year's Eve...

 

I absolutely love the Graphic 45 Collections, simply stunning.

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my hubbies Christmas present lol I told him not to look if he saw the link in his timeline!

 

Thank you for looking,

have fun and a very Merry Christmas to you all,

lots of love

NJ XXX



Exciting news Update...Winner........

Hello lovelies,

Thank you so much for entering my blog candy draw to celebrate my new design team post at

DREAMEES

The draw is now closed and I am pleased to announce the winner of the fab candy kindly supplied from Carol and Hayley at Dreamees is............

SCRAPPY SCATTY

Congratulations Jan on winning the candy!

If you email me your details I will pass this onto Carol who will send out your prize!

Well done, and don't forget to keep an eye out for all the exciting things to come from Dreamees in 2013.

Merry Christmas everyone,
lots of love
NJ XXX



********************************************************************************


BLOG CANDY FOR THIS POST IS NOW CLOSED!



Hello lovelies!

 

Well I have a very exciting announcement to make today, I am so excited to tell you all that I have

joined the

 

DREAMEES DESIGN TEAM

 

I am so happy and excited about my new position on this fantastic design team.

 

Carol and Hayley who run the company have a very exciting 2013 to look forward to with lots of crafy things in the pipeline, and they have asked me to join them on this journey which I am so excited to be a part of.

 

Dreamees sell lots of gorgeous stamps, cds and much more which you can find on the website by clicking HERE

 

Dreamees also have a BLOG which I would love you all to follow as I will be adding lots of my design team work on there too.

 

To celebrate my exciting news Carol and Hayley have kindly offered some blog candy! To be in with a chance of winning the Dreamees Candy leave a comment below and add a link to the

 

DREAMEES ON-LINE SHOP

 

and the picture of the candy in the side bar of your blog.

 

Also leave a link to my blog so everyone can see how to enter the candy, as they MUST leave a comment below to be entered in. One winner will be drawn from the people who have left a comment below.

 

 

Spread the word about the fabulous candy and the wonderful DREAMEES

 

I will draw a winner on Sunday 9th December at 6pm. So you have one week to enter!

 

I have also made my first design team project for Dreamees, so I could show you just an idea of what you can make! The great thing about the stamps and cds is you can make cards, altered art projects, anything you set your mind to.

 

For my project I have altered a photo frame and made it into a Christmas picture...

 

 

To make my Altered Photo Frame I have used ....

~ 6x4 photo frame

~ POINSETTIA STAMP 

~ BRANCH STAMP click the links to be taken to Dreamees to see the stamps

~ Ranger Alcohol Inks - Butterscotch ~ Caramel ~ Red Pepper ~ Gold Mixative

~ Blending tool and felt

~Memento Ink Pad Tuxedo Black

~ Letraset Promarkers - Crimson ~ Cardinal Red ~ Poppy ~ Berry red ~ Pear Green ~ Olive Green

~ Pigment Ink Pad Clear

~ Pearl Ex Pigment Powder Sunset Gold

~ Crafter's Companion Spray & Sparkle Gold

~ Pinflair Glue

~ Stickles Gold

 

To make....

 

~ Remove the back from the frame and glass. Lay the frame on your craft sheet. Add drops of each alcohol ink to the felt on the blending tool. Work in sweeping motions to add colour to the frame. Add your colour to your taste as you go along, this is a very random technique. I built my colour up gradually by letting it dry, then adding more.

~ Colour the chipboard backing, you would normally add a photo to this, but I have used it to create the picture.

~ Using the clear pigment ink pad stamp the branch in the centre.

~ Using a brush, dust the pearl ex powder over the image and gently sweep over this with a larger brush.

~ Sit the ink pad over the image and spray the gold spray around this to create a sparkly border. Add dots of gold stickles.

~ Stamp the Poinsettia 20 times, colour in. Cut out. Spray them all with gold spray and attach to the frame as shown using Pinflair.

~ To finish add the Stickles Gold to the centres of the Poinsettia.

 

I hope you like my first project for Dreamees. I think this makes a lovely Christmas Decoration with a difference.

 

I am looking forward to a very exciting 2013 working with Dreamees, so keep following my crafty journey and my crafty makes!

 

Thank you all so much for your love and support and taking the time to read and follow my journey.

 

Lots of love

to you all

NJ XXX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



My DT card for the Flat Friends Challenge...

Hello lovelies,

 

I hope you are all keeping well and getting into the festive spirit now we are in December!

 

There is another fantastic challenge over at the

 

FLAT FRIENDS CHALLENGE BLOG 

 

the theme is

 

'White on White with a Splash of Colour'

 

You need to use a Flat Friends Digi to enter the challenge. Emma has designed a Christmas Freebie for you to use called 'Crimbo Shopping'. Hop over to the challenge blog and get your free digi and join in the fun with this month's challenge.

 

The winner will be announced on the 1st January and will have their choice of 4 free Flat Friends Digis as their prize!

 

For my card I have used Tree Hugger which you can buy HERE 

I wanted to use lots of texture on my card so I have used various handmade papers...

 

 

I have coloured her with Letraset Promarkers and Flexmarkers in shades...

Promarkers: Mint Green ~ Soft Green ~ Pastel Green ~ Tea Green ~ Blender

Flexmarkers: Sandstone ~ Dusky Pink ~ Blue Grey 1

 

I wanted to keep my splash of colour very similar tones.

 

Myself and the rest of the design team would love to see your entries so don't forget to hop over and grab your free digi to join in!

 

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX