Friday 28 December 2012

Christmas 2012

Hello again and I really hope that you all had a fabulous Christmas? What a wonderful Christmas Day we enjoyed. It was a real bonus this year my parents and both our children with their partners were with us. I do know that in years to come this is not going to be possible. As our family grows up Christmas Day does evolve. I think this is a very natural process and I will never be a person who desperately clings to the past. My motto in life is to always live for the day. Every Christmas is unique and every Christmas past, present and in the future will be treasured. We number 8 for our direct family and their partners so this is the perfect number for my dining room table. Billy did try to get a place as I set up the table but he has his own green chair so he was persuaded onto that instead.






What a funny boy he is.....













My crackers well well received and the table looked very festive for our Christmas lunch. I must confess it is the only roast I cook all year but I do enjoy it. My son said he could have eaten a whole plate of roast parsnips.

We gave and received some wonderful presents. My family are so very clever at choosing the best gifts for me.

We flamed the pudding, played cards, laughed a lot and watched the wonderful new Snowman and Snowdog again (we watched it Christmas Eve too). O my this is another classic and I really hope they produce merchandise from it. It will be on my Christmas watching list from now on...it was magical. In the evening we had a buffet tea with all the trimmings. One of my children's favourites is cheese and bacon parcels so of course there were plenty of these. We also had a chocolate Yule Log and lit the candles on it and sang "We Wish you a Merry Christmas".

A really magical day was had by all. Another very treasured Christmas for me and I look forward to all the count down again in 2013. It really is my very favourite time of the year.
So what were my gifts......obviously I can't share them all as I would be here til next Christmas but these are some....




Inside the big snowman paper box was indeed my Big Shot die cutter, I am going to have such fun with this. I was also bought my first dies and some more Martha Stewart punches.














I love this retro Portmerion Kellogg's mug, very me.



I also got these great Harrods tea caddies containing my favourite blends.


















My daughter and her Hb bought me, amongst other unique gifts this brilliant  Kath Wohlfahrt  decoration which clips to the branches of my tree. He came back from their recent trips to Bruges. He is a frosty candle with cute dangly legs. So cute.















 and of course pigs had to feature somewhere. This great tin came with lots of crafty goodies inside too.
My son was very clever and managed to buy me the correct Estee Lauder face cream set that I use as well as other well chosen gifts. When I showed my surprise that he bought the correct one his answer was that he used to sneak in and use it when he was at home and needed some moisturiser .......LOL!
What a very lucky girl I was.

So today's card challenge is my last Christmas card for 2012. I am pleased I started working on my cards from September as I was able to get many more made this year.
Although I do really like the contemporary colours I used for some of my cards I will admit that I still love traditional Christmas colours the best. Give me golds, reds and greens any day ;0) I am also using one of my favourite Christmas stamps from Lili of the Valley called Angel with oval bauble.
I made lots of variations of this card this year. This one I sold on Etsy some time ago but it was one of my favourites.
I coloured the image with my Promarker pens and highlighted with Prismacolor pencils. The poinsettia die cut is a Marianne and the snowflake by Memory Box. Just think I will be able to die cut my own shapes now using my Big Shot. I hand punched the small gold snowflake. There is plenty of shine here from using gold card and gold ribbon at the side of the image. The sentiment is by Whimsy Stamps.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Crafting for all season's red green and sparkle
Charizma cards #51 anything goes
Pretty little ribbons #17 It's Christmas
Visible Image Christmas
Card Crafter's Circle #55 anything goes
Natalie and Amy Winter Wishes
Papercrafting Journey anything goes
A and T Emerald Faeries #38 Christmas
Joanna Sheen with love at Christmas
Simon Says Stamp anything goes

Please also take a trip to the Ribbon girls blog as they have had an amazing giveaway over Christmas. They also have an amazing online store here


To see the old year out and welcome in 2013 I am also having a Winter/end of the year Sale in my Etsy shop where you can get a massive 25% off everything there. You could stock up on cards for next Christmas as there are still some left here or even start thinking about birthdays and celebrations for the new year. Just enter the Code WINTER2012 at the checkout and this will be taken off your purchase(s)  (does not apply to shipping costs). You could even treat yourself to one of my bag charms; with 25% off they work out at around £5 instead of the usual cost of £6.75

Thanks for visiting me today and I hope you are all looking forward to seeing in the New Year? Let's hope that the new year brings back some dry weather to the UK as the situation has been quite dire for many over Christmas, some parts of the country are still badly flooded.  We are off to a New Year Ball  on Monday night at our dancing class so it may well be time to get out my Cinderella slippers again ;0) Enjoy the last few days of 2012

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

34 comments:

  1. A beautifully dressed table and a beautifully made card, Jane. I also enjoyed seeing and hearing about some of your pressies. I love the pig tin - not actually because I particularly like pigs but I just love the humour of the artist - Simon Drew. I used to visit his shop in Dartmouth occasionally and was always in fits of laughter at his fun phrasing and fabulous images. I took a scroll down some of your recent posts and spotted some fab retro items on your tree. I'm delighted you were able to replace your Santa and sleigh and I have some of those 60s retro elves with the bendy knees in my decoration stash. Hope you have a great new year! Festive hugs, Lesley

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  2. Hi Lesley thanks for visiting my Journal. I am glad you enjoyed your read. I just love pigs and they feature in my home a lot. I only recently found Simon Drew;I bought my son a brilliant "goose" golf tin for his Christmas stocking and as you say the humour and artwork is brilliant. Hope to see you here again,
    Jane x

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  3. Another post packed with interest and great photos Jane.

    Super card as well, thanks so much sharing with us at Pretty Little Ribbons challenge this month.

    Wishing you a Happy New Year.

    B x

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  4. Lots of lovely presents! I would love a big shot!
    Enjoy the rest of the holidays!
    Helenxx

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  5. Thanks Brenda and a very happy New Year to you too,
    Jane x

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  6. Helen, it's soooo goo, the only trouble is I now want lots of dies...;0)Hope you are enjoying the break too,
    Jane x

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  7. Afabulous card. Thanks for joining the Joanna Sheen Challenge.

    Wendy -x-

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  8. Wonderful card Jane. Thank you so much for joining us this week at Charisma Cardz.
    Hugs
    Laine
    X

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  9. So glad you had a lovely Christmas! Your preparations all look wonderful, and what lovely gifts! Especially the crafty one which will bring hours of fun :) Enjoy the rest of the holidays!
    Helen x

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  10. and you too Helen, have a lovely rest,
    Jane x

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  11. I had to laugh at Billy, I showed it to my Hb and he said ' well why not if everyone else can sit round the table'!!!! :)
    You got some lovely gifts Jane and it sounds like you had a great family Christmas!
    You're right great minds do think alike, same percentage off, same code!, :)
    I know you're a Christmas girl at heart but here's to a new year, a new start and springtime!
    Wishing you and yours a happy and peaceful new year!!!!
    V xxx

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  12. Dear Jane,

    It seems that you had a truly wonderful Christmas again, and I must say just as Vivienne before me: That handsome Billy-boy made me laugh too, I think there's a similar picture of him participating ;) from the previous year(s) too...

    I love your table, so festive with the beautiful crackers and that fantastic Log!

    I wish you most wonderful weekend, and happy crafting with your new tools! And all the best for 2013 - it's just around the corner!

    Yours,
    Mia

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  13. Billy has loved everyone being around Vivienne, he really is part of the family. Here's to better weather and a sunny 2013 my friend,
    Jane x

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  14. Hi dear Mia, he is such a sweet cat and he even had some salmon and turkey as a treat. I am enjoying some crafting time this week. Here's to another fab blogging year,
    Jane x

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  15. Beautiful card. I can see why it was one of your favorites -- I like it, too! Thank you for sharing bits and pieces of your lovely Christmas with us, and thank you for joining us this week in the challenge at Card Crafter's Circle.

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  16. Thanks so much Jenee,
    Jane x

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  17. I really like your card too. Your Christmas joy makes me smile :) I'm glad you had a happy day, and am wishing you a happy 2013! (How many days till next Christmas?)

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    1. Thanks Linda and if you need to have an answer......it's 361 days ;-)
      Jane x

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  18. Such a pretty card! Adorable image and great details! Thanks for joining us for the Simon Says Stamp Challenge!

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  19. Dear Jane, how lovely your table looked and how fun everything you did sounded! I am going to go back over all your photos and savor them. I had lunch with 3 of my local blog friends today... that was so much fun!

    *:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*
      *H*A*P*P*Y* *N*E*W* *Y*E*A*R*!*
    *:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*

    ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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    Replies
    1. What a real treat Teresa. Happy new year...nearly there.
      Jane x

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  20. What a gorgeous card, stunning design and colours. Your beautifully coloured image is adorable.

    hugs
    Heather xx
    Thanks so much for joining Simon Says Stamp challenge.

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  21. Thanks so much for visiting Heather
    Jane x

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  22. Such a fabulous card, love the cute image and the design.
    Thanks for playing with Charisma
    xx Vee

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  23. Such a beautiful blend of rich colour! Thanks for sharing with us at Card Crafter's Circle!
    Do enjoy all your new crafty goodies!

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  24. I am having such fun with my new toys Jennifer,thanks for visiting,
    Jane x

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  25. Gosh what a lovely selection of presents! I'm sure you'll have hours of fun with the Big Shot!

    Your card is fabulous, that image is so cute.

    Thanks for joining the Pretty Little Ribbon Shop challenge.

    Sarah x

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  26. I am loving my Big Shot Sarah :-)
    Jane x

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  27. Beautiful card
    Thanks for joining us at CFAS!
    Jani x

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  28. Jane, your card is gorgeous and i loved seeing all of the other pictures as well! Thanks for sharing your talent at Card Crafter's Circle this week!

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Jane x