Crackers, cards and cats

 Good evening

I hope everyone is enjoying their run up to Christmas and not getting too stressed

I am loving the family being home, Amy and Ben arrived yesterday, so the house is full, and happy

I made these cute little crackers for my neighbours doggies, they have some little festive dog biscuits in them

And I made some of these gift card holders for the kids, I copied a design that my good friend Linda shared, she made me one and the bottom held chocolates, in my version I added a lip balm to each one and all the kids gift vouchers fit onto the slot at the top

Thankyou for the inspiration Linda

Finally I have a cute photo to share

The pets are all spoiled for humans to snuggle with at the moment

Sox couldn't wait to get on Rob's knee so perched herself atop his shoulder

They are so going to miss them when they have all gone back to uni

Love and christmas kisses

Tracey

xxx

A Vintage Christmas

These are the final four christmas cards I made this year

All four the same but different if you know what I mean

Same basic design, slightly different papers and images

The stunning papers are Maja design from Sweden, I bought these at a craft show that I visited with my lovely crafting buddy Jan. I just had to have them and knew they would make beautiful cards

I used Marianne dies for the baubles and large flower, the small flowers are a Stampin' Up punch

The little gold leaves are an old Woodware punch and I inked all the edges with Tim Holtz distress inks in Walnut Stain

That is the last of my christmas cards this year

Love and vintage wishes

Tracey

xxx

White christmas

Aside from the little forest of christmas tree cards that I made, the other style of christmas card was these, which I also made in abundance

Again I went with a production line of die-cutting, inking and tearing, making the job much more organised and easy than had I created all the cards totally unique

The music paper was some that I had from my shop, I believe it was originally from Payperbox and the rest of the elements are die cuts, the sentiment stamp is one from Stampin' Up

Although this method of mass production was easier I did miss the challenge of coming up with completely original designs for each card so I think for next year I am going to start earlier ( maybe even one card a week all through the year as I keep promising myself) - well thats the theory but I have been aiming to do this for the last four years !!! 

Love and white winter wishes

Tracey

xxx

It's starting to look like Christmas

The trimmings are up, the shopping is done and one of the kids is back from uni. Robbie arrived home yesterday and Amy and Ben will be here in a couple of days. Robbie has been thrown in at the deep end and is doing a 13 hour shift today back at the Rashleigh, with many more shifts on the rota for whilst he is home

Most of the christmas cards are finished now

Thanks to lots of inspiration from my lovely and very talented friends Linda and Jan

This following card is inspired by Linda and uses all Stampin' Up products

And these lovely little 'tree' cards are inspired by Jan, I made thirteen in total and had quite a production line going, I have a little paper forest in my house at the moment.

This following card is the card I made with Jan

I think I have finally found my mojo at long last, I was beginning to think I had left it back in Grimsby with all my crafting buddies. But I have had loads of fun creating these christmas cards, let's hope it lasts into the new year. I would dearly love to get back into scrapbooking - I have hundreds of photos to play with !

Will be back soon with the remainder of my christmas cards and maybe a couple of other little projects to share too

Love and little christmas trees

Tracey

xxx

Happy birthday Colin

If you read yesterdays post, you will know the last card I made was for my lovely neighbour Mary, this card was made for her hubby Colin. They both have their birthdays in the same week as Neil so I have been a very busy girl this week

I loved Colin from the moment he popped his head over the garden fence to introduce himself just after we moved in

He has me in stitches every single time I see him and he is such a lovely bloke

You will always find Colin tinkering, usually with the cars on his drive, but he can turn his hand to almost anything and always has wise advice to share and has helped Neil and I on many occasions 

I used dies by Nellie Snellen and Marianne, the birthday stamp is by Hero Arts. I have no idea where the paper is from or who it is by, it is one of those random sheets that I have been saving for years, knowing it would be perfect for someone, that someone is Colin, with his love of cars and mending them

Love and good neighbours

Tracey

xxx

Happy birthday Mary

Todays card is for my very special neighbour Mary who has been such a special friend to me, since we moved next door 18 months ago

Mary and I share very similar interests, have the same sense of humour and got along from the first time we met. 

I feel as though I have always known Mary and honestly couldn't wish for a more lovely neighbour or friend

The papers are from Provocraft, the greeting and little heart topper from Making Cards magazine, the dies are Spellbinders and Marianne dies

Love and friendship

Tracey

xxx

Happy Birthday Neil

Happy birthday to my gorgeous hubby

I have been saving these papers for someone special, my lovely friend Jan and I split a pad between us and I have been keeping them aside ( why do we buy papers that we love and then hoard them rather than use them - the mind of a crafter is a scary place !)

The papers are My Minds Eye, I used dies by Nellie Snellen, Spellbinders and Cheery Lynn, the stamps are both Stampin' Up

We have a special date night planned, we will be enjoying an evening late night shopping, followed by a meal at Prezzos and the cinema to finish

Hope you have a lovely day Neil, love you

Tracey

xxx

Amy's card

One person I know I can make a card full of girlie goodness for is my beautiful daughter Amy

She loves flowers and bunnies and the colour pink

I used papers and an image from a magazine

The flowers are mainly from Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts

The tag die is an oldie but goodie from Marianne and the stamp is from Stampin' Up

I absolutely loved making this card and Amy loved it too ( I knew she wouldn't be able to resist the bunny !)

I think that is me all caught up from the last few weeks of cardmaking.  I now, really must, crack on with Christmas!

Love and bunny kisses

Tracey

xxx

Janice's card

As promised, I have another card for another friend today to share. This one is for Janice who works with me and taught me how to use our till at work ( no mean feat I can tell you !)

Janice is very quiet, but has a wicked sense of humour, we hit it off straight away and I love working with her, we share many a quiet giggle or cheeky comment

I used papers by Craftwork cards and a couple that I can't remember where they are from, I swear my memory is getting worse

The stamp is another Stampin' Up one and the flowers are mainly Prima, my scalloped card bases were bought from our local The Range ( just down the road from me and very handy for the basics)

Nearly there with all the catching up, one more extra special one for tomorrow and then I think I ought to get cracking on the Christmas crafting ( nothing like leaving it until the last minute - I never change !)

Love and kisses

Tracey

xxx