Feeling festive

Last week I went to a Christmas craft fair at Coolings Garden Center with my Mum and Dad. It was a lovely event and so good to see everything was handmade. I don't know about you but to me a Craft fair should me just that..not bought in from China!

I took a general photo as I then got distracted browsing all the lovely goodies.

 I bought a handmade cranberry scented candle, a sweet seahorse pendant and a very sweet Mr and Mrs Christmas cutlery holder. Sorry no photos as every time I think of photographing them it's pitch black. I really dislike the lack of light at this time of the year.

There were also some fun displays in the garden centre, these penguins were very cute.

I have been knee deep in making Christmas cards this week but I found time to make my artist trading cards and coins for the swap group I belong to.

Daisy and I started them last weekend and decided to use my ancient but very sweet Snowman and Snowdog stamps.

I make 5 of each. 3 for the swap, 1 for Daisy and 1 for me to keep. I coloured them with Promarkers adding some pencil highlights. The sentiments are ancient from my stash and the background stamps are all from the Visible Image Christmas Eve stamp set. The greenery, starts and snowflakes are die cuts. 

These are the cards.

 This is a close ups of the one I am giving to Daisy.

and these are the coins;

with a close up of a couple of them. 

 If you think you recognise the words to the music they are resting on, yes it's my old sheet piano music from the Snowman. 

I would like to enter my artist trading cards into the following challenges;

Passion for Promarkers Christmas critters

Try it on Tuesdays Inspired by a song or carol mine is of course The Snowman.

Simon says stamp Monday let's sparkle

The Artistic stamper 2/3 Christmas is coming

Love to craft 2/3 anything goes

Sparkles 2/3 winter wonderland

Stamping sensations 2/3 anything goes

Happy little stampers watercolour anything goes

and my coins into these challenges
I love promarkers circles
Creative inspirations 1/3 festive fun
ABC Christmas Y  for yuletide
Simon says stamp Wednesday traditional Christmas
Winter wonderland 1/3 anything goes

It's the weekend again, how quickly this week has raced by.  Our trees have been delivered and I'm hoping to get at least one decorated tomorrow. We are also going to see Santa with the grandbabies and if you want to guess who is more excited...yes it's me!

Have a great weekend and I hope that you too are getting into the festive spirit?

Thanks for stopping by,

Back on Monday,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Festive scenes for the Winter Solstice

Today is the Winter Solstice, or the shortest day of the year. It will be dark by about 3.30pm this afternoon but the exciting thing is that tomorrow the days will start to lengthen again. It is also the first day of winter. It's really looking Christmassy here at home. The trees are up, the decorations are hung and the opening of the doors of my vintage advent calendar give me so much joy in the mornings.

Down at my local High Street in Carshalton everything looks so festive. I always love the window at Dotty's Teahouse where my cards are sold, how pretty is this!

If you are in this neck of the woods over the Christmas holiday Dotty's is a lovely place to sit and natter over tea and home made cake or even for a more leisurely lunch. You'll find the shop in the High Street, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5 2AE The only days they are closed are Christmas day, Boxing day and New Year's Day. 

There was the return of another of my festive favourites on my door step in the week...

Yes Mo ,my lovely milkman, delivered my milk....with festive foils! Every year I wonder if it will be the last as it must add to cost but I'm delighted to see them here for another year.

One last festive item I bought in the week was for my darling son. He said he was far too busy working to get time to buy and decorate a Christmas tree, he even mentioned the word fake tree. 😲 Well you can imagine my horror at the thought that a) he had no Christmas tree and b) he had contemplated the thought of a non real tree. He works 6 days a week and I know that it really is hard for him to juggle everything at this time of the year. However, like me, he is a huge lover of Christmas.

I could not bear the thought of him having no tree so I hatched a plan and managed to find this when I met up with my daughter and Jack on Tuesday at a nursery near Godalming in Surrey.

yay...a tiny Christmas tree, grown in the UK.

I love the last sentence.

I bought a couple of decs, gave him one off our tree and made a little die cut star for the top

He really loved it and it has pride of place on his breakfast bar. Phew, Mum worry over (we're mad aren't we..my baby boy will be 30 next year!)

Today I wanted to share the card I made for my dearest little grandson Jack who is 20 months old today and loves anything with animals on. It is just right for sharing on the first day of winter...a very wintry scene...with that wonderful thought of "let it snow".

The background is a very treasured sheet of DP which I have had forever and never wanted to cut into but I thought it perfect for Jack. It has sweet little snowmen dancing in a starry sky. He loves The Snowman and I have a very old stamp set of the snowman so I stamped and coloured him up with my Promarkers and fussy cut him out. I also added lots of inks to my robin and holly leaves. The moon was stamped too. It's a large 8X8" card so lots for Jack to see.  Here is it

Here are a couple of close ups. Lots of silver STAMPlorations stars have been stamped onto the deer for some extra interest for Jack.

and of course Santa had to feature. The sentiment is a CUTplorations die from STAMPlorations.

and one last shot

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

I love Promarkers anything goes
Passion for Promarkers hip to be square
Fashionable stamping 3/3 Winter
Double D let it snow
Crimbo crackers anything goes
As you like it 1/3 anything goes
Simon says stamp Wednesday party time I think my snowman is having a great party in the middle to the woods with all his woodland friends!
Time out 1/3 inspired by words I was inspired by the words celebrate, family and life!
Cute card Thursday 1/3 anything goes

My daughter sent me this photo. Jack is a bit blurry, as he is really hard to catch as he is forever on the move, but here they are with their Christmas cards.

I can't wait to spend Christmas with them.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for your lovely comments, I so appreciate them.
I'm back again on Monday with my Christmas Eve post..the last before the Big Day...just 4 more sleeps....are you ready? Have a fab weekend.

Bye for now,

Jane x

A Snowman day with Daisy

Last week my daughter was on a course so Nanna (aka me) took the day off work and went down to spend the whole day with Darling Daisy. What a wonderful day it was. Daisy has discovered "The Snowman" on DVD and it was love at first sight.

"Hey Nanna this is wonderful cartoon and it's much better watched in my reindeer boots" ;0)

After lunch we ventured down to the local shops as Nanna wanted to find a wreath for her door. We wrapped up warm and off we went to Waitrose.

Daisy had water and rice cakes and Nanna had a cappuccino with cinnamon and chocolate sprinkle...mmmm, 

I managed to find a beautiful wreath and here is in on my front door.

 The Snowman is a real favourite with our family and this is my son's advent calendar this year.

Whilst we were shopping we spotted The Snowman and Snowdog DVD, which just had to come home with us. So now Daisy has both the original Snowman and the sequel which was first shown last year. Just perfect.

I also made her Mummy and Daddy a snowman accordion card this year.

These stamps are sooo cute. 

I coloured them with my Promarkers and fussy cut them out. 

Here are some close ups

 The icicle die is Cheery Lynn and the star Memory Box

 I also added some bling to a wooden snowflake from my stash and lots of frantage for sparkle.

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

I love Promarkers mega Christmas bingo challenge my line is the middle line ;die cut, free (I have used stamped images) glitter

The Ribbon Girl anything goes

Coffee, chocolate and cards use a charm I used a holly charm

Stamp and Create anything Christmas

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Celebrate the season my papers are ancient, my stamps are from last year.

Live and love crafts With love

Fashionable stamping winter wonderland

Natalie and Amy cute and cuddly Christmas

Stamping Sensations winter wonderland

Loves rubberstamps winter or Christmas

It is now just 16 days away from the Big Day. We managed to get the trees decorated yesterday so the house is really starting to look very festive. I hope you are all managing to tick things off that ever lengthening list!

In the UK we are being threatened by the weather forecasters with a weather bomb....whatever it is it sounds pretty dire so hold on to your hats everyone!

Take care,

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x