When Emily met Santa....

We joined Emily's Godparents on a boat trip up the local Canal on Christmas Eve, which was wonderful!  The canal boat was decorated for Christmas, we had a cup of tea and mince pies, played pass the parcel, and had a visit from a very special person!

This layout was completed using My Creative Scrapbook December kit!  You can tell from the smile on Emily's face how much she loved meeting Santa!  She was nearly beside herself when he was waiting for our boat on the tow path!

My kit contained some gorgeous Petaloo material Poinsettia's!  They are rich in colour and very tactile, and set off the Echo Park chipboard element.

Santa bought me a Stampin Up Doily Punch, which I used on this layout. The punch is a three in one punch, and punches three different doilies just by moving a slider.   I've layered 2 of the doilies using foam pads and put a Sarah's Cards gem in the middle to give a bit of sparkle.

Teacher's Presents with a difference.....

As if the last week of the School term wasn't busy enough, I decided to give Emily's Class Teachers a present with a difference.  In a moment of total insanity, I decided to bake them all Cupcakes from my Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, then butter ice them and add edible glitter!!

I was really pleased with how they turned out, and Emily's teachers were thrilled to get a different sort of present!

The completed boxes!  I bought the cake boxes from an online store that I found.  They were only a few pounds for 2 boxes and the inserts, so I bought three packs of them.

My finished cakes!  It didn't go quite as smooth as I wanted it to!  I ran out of paper cases (checked all my other ingredients, but not the cases!), then my buttercream icing wasn't as thick as I wanted it.  I had to load up my brush with the edible glitter, then tap the brush against my finger to cover the cakes.  I wanted a nice brushed effect, but ended up with a splatter effect.

My labels, however, turned out much better and didn't take very long to do either!  

I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Fired Brick and Vintage Photo, Memento Ink in Black, my Scrapagogo Loyalty Stamps for the lettering, Bakers Twine and my Stampin Up Owl and Bird punches for the reindeer.

I rubbed the Fired Brick ink over my craft mat and sprayed it with water, then dipped both sides of my tag into the ink, letting each side dry first.  I then used the Vintage Photo ink and an ink blending tool to age the edges of my tag.

Using my Scrapagogo Loyalty Stamps and the Memento Ink in Black, I then stamped the name of each teacher onto a tag.  Finally, I made a reindeer using my owl and bird punch, attached to one corner of the tag and threaded some bakers twine through the hole.

I was really pleased with the end result, but if you hear me say I'm going to do this again next year..........

Stampin Up Critters...

I promised everyone a little while ago a picture of any Critters I made using my new Stampin Up Owl Punch.  I managed to have a play with my punch last night, and here is the result.

I've used the owl punch for the main body of the critters, then I've used a  Stampin Up Scalloped Circle Punch for the Robins wings, and the branch from my Stampin Up Bird Punch for the Reindeer's antlers!  I've used googly eyes on the Robin and a red pompom nose on the Reindeer.  These are so cute, I'm definitely making more!

If you would like to purchase any Stampin Up Products, contact Lynne by clicking here!!

Cards.....

I started my papercrafting "career" as a card maker, and was a card maker for many years before Scrapbooking caught me.  This year I've vowed not to buy any greetings cards if I can help it, and so far so good!

Emily's Godfather's birthday was on Sunday 30th October, and here are the cards I made for him.

This card was hand stamped using my Mo Manning Simon Stamp, which can be bought from Charmed Cards & Crafts, and coloured in with my trusty Promarkers, which I love!  The October card was part of a Jenni Bowlin Calendar set, and the lettering is Sassasfras!

This is the first time I've used my Stampin Up Owl Punch and I love it!  It was very easy to do and I can see why people are addicted to making critters (watch this space, as I've bought small red pompoms for Reindeers noses)!  I've used a piece of heavyweight Kraft Cardstock, some orange patterned paper from my own stash, and a couple of lengths of Bakers Twine.  Simple, but great!

If you'd like to see more Critters using the Stampin Up Owl Punch, click on the Running with Scissors Blog link on the left of this page!  Tracey has made some fantastic Critters, which I plan to have a go at!  Thanks Tracey!!

Stampin Up!

I've always liked the Stampin Up punches and stamps, and I've used a few over the years, as various friends have a punch or two, but I've never been able to find out how to get them!  I decided a couple of weeks ago to take the bull by the horns, and I searched for my local Stampin Up Demonstrator!

I found the very lovely, and very talented, Lynne Fahey, who is my local Stampin Up Demonstrator.  I contacted Lynne and she sent me out a catalogue straight away, and when I placed my order a few days later, Lynne was very knowledgable and told me all about the different products I was ordering, and helped me with a query regarding paper!!  Check out Lynne's blog here - www.spiralzandcurlz.blogspot.com, and if you would like to order anything, or to receive a catalogue, Lynne will be more than happy to help you out!

Here is my very first haul from Stampin Up!!

I ordered the Scallop Circle Punch, the bird punch, the pennant punch, the owl punch and the rhinestones!!  There are loads more items on my wish list, so watch this space!