Merry Christmas!

Not long now... I hope you're all ready for the festivities to start!

[What was the point in trimming the tree, exactly?!]

Happy Christmas to me! I have been invited back as an 'Alumni Designer' (I think that's Tessa's polite way of saying OLD, hehe) for Precocious Paper. I'm thrilled that I get to design with those yummy goodies for a little longer :)

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and new year! I hope you have a wonderful celebration with your loved ones :) See you in a few days!

Teresa Collins and Xyron!

Teresa Collins has announced a fun new partnership on her blog today!

Not only that, she is giving away a whole load of amazing goodies! Check out this post for details of how to get in on the action! There are lots of my faves on her list of must have tools. Quick, don't miss it!

And so it begins!

I have something to share with you! I can't tell you much, but I can show you this...

 I love the build up to CHA each winter. I love window shopping for lots of new supplies, and this is one collection you should definitely add to your list! Keep your eyes peeled for more new pretties at the Ruby Rock-It blog!

I also have a little Christmas project up over on the Teresa Collins DT blog. Check it out if you need a last minute boost of inspiration!

Until next time...

Almost...

It must be almost Christmas! I love, love, LOVE December, and one of my favourite December landmarks is my Mum's birthday on the 18th. When her birthday comes around I know it's EXACTLY a week until the big day :)

Well, that day is tomorrow, so I thought I'd share the card I made for her...

I made the base for the card with scraps from my 'neutrals' drawer, by cutting and stitching together lots of strips. A few patterns, some textured metallic card and some vintage notebook paper... yum :)

The cluster is a vintage crochet doily, scrunched into a flower shape, topped with a fancy bow and a velvet prima flower. I love the creamy golden colours and that it looks just festive enough for a December birthday!

There's lots to celebrate this month and I always find that it's easy for New Year's Eve to sneak up on you before you know it! Today on the Ruby Rock-it blog I'm sharing some projects relating to my December traditions, including this cute New Year tag.

It would be wonderful if you can find time in your busy December schedule to stop by and check out my post and the work the rest of the DT are sharing this month :)

Remember to take some time to ENJOY the season! Have a great weekend!

Very Merry

Hi folks! I've been busy playing with goodies from the Very Merry line from Precocious Paper, getting more and more things checked off of my December to-do list.

I adore the butterfly doilies and used one to make this Christmas card. I love how they make a simple card so much more special. I teamed it with some paper scraps from the Teresa Collins Christmas Home collection.

The sweet spots were just begging to be used as Christmas ornaments so I created this card with a few of them.

I topped of this gift with a couple of the felt roses and a cupcake poppy - love the silvery poppy!

And finally, as it's Tony's birthday today, I created this gift tag for his birthday present using a cupcake poppy from the Very Merry sampler and one of the sweet spots. This line is not just for Christmas!

Happy weekend! Thanks for visiting :)

Christmas canvas art

Ho ho ho! I am feeling exceedingly festive today :)

Have you checked out the Teresa Collins DT blog recently? There are so many fun and inspiring Christmassy projects over there from the team. Teresa doesn't have room to have everything featured on her own blog so if you're not following the DT blog you're missing a lot of yumminess!

I'm sharing how I made these Christmas canvas designs over there today...

Seeing as it doesn't look like we're going to be getting any snow here in South West England for a while, I'm still scrapping those snow pics from last winter.

It snowed just before Christmas last year, so we're hopeful for this Christmas, especially now we're further from the sea. Fingers are firmly crossed!

We all love the snow in this family, and I love that the Christmas Home line caters for snow as well as Santa :)

This whole LO is based around those paper snowflakes that kids like to make. I'm just a big kid and couldn't resist adding them to my page.

And finally... I just wanted to share a giveaway that's happening over on the Ruby Rock-it blog. Comment on THIS POST for your chance to win! There are giveaways on the Facebook page, too, so be sure to 'like' us there!

I'll be back later this week with my December art journal progress so far. Have a great week!

Welcome, December.

I'm so happy it's December at last, my favourite month of the year! At least, it is if I ignore the to-do list that's getting longer ;)

I have never in my life completed any kind of daily December project. I've started several, but have never even come close to finishing. So this year I decided to make the anti-Christmas book. Yes, I know, it looks pretty Christmassy on the front. I've still got a few finishing touches to add.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas. But with so many Christmas activities and preparations to make during December, I think I am going to need a little time out from it all. So this little book is my December art journal. It's slightly less than 6"x4" and I made the covers by repurposing the covers of a vintage book. Each day I will take some time to make an arty mess in here and recharge my batteries so I'm ready to face the next December day.

I first primed the cover with gesso before taking a polka dot stencil and creating a dimensional design using molding paste. I then went over the top with some white acrylic paint. The original cover was red and I like that you can still see a pink hue under the paint.

I then randomly stamped partial text images over it using versamark ink and used gold mica pigment powder to highlight the script. To top it off I added some pieces of old sewing pattern, a silver frame and a paper poinsettia, highlighted with more of the mica powder.

I repeated the texture on the back, but otherwise left it plain.

I'm ready to face December now! How about you? Leave me a link to your DD posts if you're doing something this year, I'd love to check them out!