Christmas Wrap-up

Hello!

How was your Christmas? Christmas Day was a bit different for us this year. Usually we are on a schedule, racing from one side of town to the other to visit both sides of the family, but this year my husband was unable to join us as he is suffering severe back pain, impeding his ability to sit or stand for too long. I took the kids to his parents on Christmas Day and it was lovely to relax and enjoy the day, knowing I could spend the latter part of the day with Robert. Boxing Day was then spent at my sister's which is often a quiet day for us, but it was good to continue the celebration over two days.

I was very organised...well it did start off that way! My daughter and I made cards for her classmates which were handed within the first three days of December, which meant I would have plenty of time to get mine done and delivered by mid December, right? As you know, December can be a little busy so it didn't quite happen that way. I also prepped for a card making session with my daughter's class - that was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time embossing with a Cuttlebug, gluing glittery diecuts on their cards and stamping their hearts out! At any rate, my cards were finally made in the last days leading up to Christmas. I am unsure if they all arrived in time, but I do hope so!

I love this Tim Holtz stamp and die set. It made it easy to have a production line going, though it did take some time getting through each process. I used distress stains to colour the tree, which was stamped in archival ink onto Specialty Stamping paper. If you haven't yet tried it, you really must! Distress markers were used to colour the baubles and over that I used a clear Wink of Stella pen, which provided some shimmer and glossy accents topped them off. I planned on adding some clear Distress glitter to the tree, but simply ran out of time to allow it to dry. I coloured the seam binding with distress stain and the gold sentiment was stamped with Tsukineko Delicata GoldenGlitz Ink. It's a beautiful ink.

 I hope you are enjoying a lovely week and that you received a handmade card in the mail!

Take 2!

Surprise!

Hello lovely people, I'm back. :)

A wonderful friend, Joy, from Simple By Design very kindly offered to redesign my tired looking page and hey presto, I'm going to give blogging another go. Thankyou so very much Joy, I am thrilled  with how it looks. If you don't know Joy, she is a hugely talented card maker and a beautiful person, please check out her blog and say hi!

Since I began card making, I haven't heard of one person who isn't a fan of Tim Holtz. I do know that some people just can't get enough of him, in fact! This card is made with mainly Tim Holtz products as it is going to a very special lady whom I would consider one of his biggest fans! She is an inspirational and courageous woman who has supported her husband through a lengthy, grave illness to good health and is now fighting her own battle of illness. Through it all she has shown great strength of character and at times, like now, it has forced her away from partaking in her love of papercraft. Nevertheless, her great humour has not left her, despite the difficulties and frustration. Suzanne, you are amazing. Your family is made of tuff stuff, no doubt about it. xxx

Crafting has introduced me to some generous, warm and supportive people and I share two examples right here. Sending hugs to you both!