It's Christmas Eve eve!

Whoop whoop, good morning all, it's Christmas Eve Eve and I am here to share my final design team inspiration for our Country View Crafts December "Christmas" challenge.  The monthly challenges are now being hosted over on Facebook as it makes it easier for everyone who wants to enter, to do so. You don't need a blog or an Instagram account, just head over to the group and join in with the fun! The link is here and if you are not already a member just request to join and we will love to welcome you over there. It will also be a place you can see Country View Craft products, the latest releases etc etc. We have a happy membership of over 250 crafters already and we are growing every day. 

I try to link up the products I use in my posts but obviously stock on the CVC website sells out quickly . Some may be out of stock when you click on the links. If they are just fill in the email notification and you will be emailed when they are back in stock.

As tomorrow is the night when Father Christmas will deliver presents to good girls and boys I just had to make a card creating the scene I have in my head from my 1960s childhood Christmas Eves.

This is what I got up to 

I stuck various pieces of Tim Holtz Christmas Christmas ephemera (mine is from a previous year but all his packs are awesome) onto black card using distress collage medium

When dry I cut off the overhangs.

I added some distress crayons to the edges and stitched around the perimeter of the background (seen in the final photos). I also stitched the border using my trusty sewing machine,

I stamped the Father Christmas from "Yuletide", coloured him with distress pencils fussy cut him out. I also stamped and cut out the sentiment from "Department store". I had some left over Tim Christmas die cuts in my box and added them to create my Christmas Eve scene. 

Here is my finished card;

with a couple of close ups;

and one final shot;

I really hope that I may have inspired you to join in with the "Christmas" fun. Do head over to the challenge on Facebook here.  There is also an amazing prize for one randomly selected winner to win...a £25 voucher to spend on the Country View Crafts website. You can enter up to 5 different projects.

Remember you can find me most days over on Instagram here @jane.tyrrell where I do share many, many more makes then I have the time to blog. 

This is the last of my design team blog posts for 2023. I will be back in the new year with lots more inspiration. "See" you on the other side. Wishing you a very merry Christmas, thanks for all your blog support this year. I can see by my stats that you are still out there reading Jane's Journal after all these years. 

I thought I would close with a little Christmas poem, one of my favourites.

It is just to try to set the scene and to remind us that material things at Christmas are nothing compared to making memories with those you love.

We will be raising our glasses on Monday with my daughter and her family and my son. We will remember our Christmases past, present and yet to come and our darling loved ones who sit or have sat at our tables over the years. They will always be a part of our Christmas.

Somehow not only for Christmas
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.

And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to make you glad.

(John Greenleaf Whittier)

Merry Christmas dear blogging friends. Have a peaceful time, make those memories and tell those you love that you love them. Find joy in the small things in life and try to look for the best in everything.

Bye for now,

Jane x