Jane's Journal's Crackers for Christmas 2016

Hello we have just finished the wrappathon and I am pleased to say that the presents are all wrapped. It really is getting very exciting seeing everything so festive everywhere you look now. I did a little squeal on Thursday morning when I brought my milk in from the doorstep....you may think these look like 2 ordinary bottles of semi skimmed milk

 look again...............

 yes the festive foils are back 😋

 Every year I hope that they will return. In these days of cutbacks I am just thrilled to see them back. Yes it's the small things which bring me such joy at this festive time of the year.

Pure nostalgia of Christmas past.

I have also managed to get my annual crackers made. I have shared these every year since I started blogging so this is my 6th set. These these are the serviettes I wanted to coordinate with this year.

I searched the internet and found some cool vintage snowmen images which I die cut using a stitched frame die.

I dug out all my  kitchen rolls and cut them to size.

The contents are secret until the big day. 

I added jokes, bangers and hats and started to roll them in crepe paper

and then a final wrap of tree paper.

So here are a few of them

I would like to enter my handmade crackers into the following challenges;

A Vintage Journey Winter Magic

Simon Says stamp Monday Let there be snow

Simon Says Wednesday gift it

Studio 75 Christmas decorations

Pile it on any holiday/celebration

C.R.A.F.T 1/3 Christmas

Fussy and Fancy 1/3 Angels/faires or Winter

Winter Wonderland For someone special/happy new year 1/3 These crackers are for the most precious people in the world to me; my family. 

I will leave you with a couple of the corny jokes inside

What do you call Santa when he's lying on the beach?

Sandy Claus

What do you get if Santa gets stuck in the chimney?

Crisp Kringle 

Did Rudolf go to school?

No he was "elf" taught

Ho Ho Ho!  I hope that made you smile. Just 8 more sleeps until he pops down the chimney for real. 

Are you ready? It's the final of Strictly tonight and as an avid fan I have booked my seat in front of the TV, with a G+T to boot! Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Thanks for stopping by. 

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Stormy skies

I was looking though my photo files and realized I had not shared those from a recent visiting to the family in Southampton. Our summer weather has been a real mixed bag this year.  I know we all like clear blue skies and sunshine but I rather like the cloud formations I have also seen.

On this particular Saturday we were  lucky that the rain held off and we were able to enjoy the walk we had planned. We went down to Universal Marina and walked a loop around Sarisbury Green whilst Daisy snoozed in her buggy. As always my camera came with us.

Just look at that sky

We love to walk  along the coastal path.

The tide was out further than I have ever seen it.

and the mud flats were exposed.

We walked a loop around Saribury Green





and of course as with all good walks we ended up with afternoon tea and cake with a view.

And bless her, Daisy only woke up once we had all relaxed and finished out tea and were ready to drive home.

My challenge card today has a retro sea theme to it, just like some of my photos ...using my favourite Nicecrane digi image. This is one I made for Dotty's Teahouse.

I used another piece of my precious sail boat paper from my ancient paper stash. I made some die cut MB sea creatures. The sentiment is LOTV.

Pixies's snippets playground #238
Crafting from the heart  3/3 anything goes
Creative Inspiration 2/3 seaside, sunshine, and summer holidays I have used all 3
Crafty Hazelnut's patterned paper challenge anything goes July
Try it on Tuesdays happy holidays
Little Claire's 1/3 anything goes
Simon says stamp Wednesday create a scene
The ribbon girl any image

Thanks for visiting today and for the sweet comments you leave. I would also like to give you a heads up for an exciting giveaway I am offering soon.

Jane's Journal will be 6 on 26th July..yes 6..where have those years gone? I am giving you a peep today...below is the prize I am offering...all handmade jewellery by me. Someone will win a sea inspired bracelet, a summer bag charm and a pair of sunny dichroic glass stud earrrings.

I would love if you can give this a shout out on your blogs etc in advance. More details coming soon.
The weather has finally taken a turn for the better and we are the enjoying our lunch lunch al fresco today. Happy Sunday.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

My retro celebrations begin....

I would not usually make a big issue about my birthday but those of you who know me well may remember that I have a very special  FIVE O one coming up very soon. I hope you will indulge me sharing with you a few posts about  my birthday delights.

Well the day is nearly here and last Saturday I started the beginnings of my "Big" Birthday celebrations. My oldest dearest friend Karen and her Hb came over for a meal at our favourite Chinese restaurant. She had asked me if they could come over a little earlier as she had my birthday present. I was told that I just had to open it in front of her...even though it is a little early; she could not allow this to go unwatched!

They arrived an hour before we were due to go out to eat and she came bearing the most wonderful basket of gifts. Just take a look at this!

Everything was wrapped in blue tissue with gold ribbons, laid in a glorious hamper with more wonderful packaging. It was enough to make a grown (very much now) girl cry.

There was a card to open first ( I have a birthday card too which I will save for the day) and it read inside, ".. enjoy a fabulous retro birthday."

The card gave me a little clue as to what I would find hidden in my basket. Karen and I both love Ladybird books, Enid Blyton, etc etc, they are so part of our childhood. We have known one another since our earliest secondary school days and first became friends in 1972. We celebrate 39 years of friendship this September. We went to Girl Guides together, first discos, wore first fashion trends from minis to maxis and from flared trousers to the tightest fits. Our first loves were cried over and of course we met our dear Hbs. We went through all our school exams together, first jobs, our weddings, first homes, celebrated out childrens' births and more. It is a lifetime of friendship which I treasure.  

  She set out my parcels to open and I just had to show you what I unwrapped.

....on the back of this was a summary which make me smile so much. Have a read and if you are of a similar age it will ring very true to you too.......






How great is that......my children would certainly not understand it!   It was the on the back of a beautiful birthday book shown below.

And yes I even remember wearing party dresses and hair
ribbons similar to this when I was around 6-8 years old. I always remember some of the fabrics used were nylon and itchy.
It was not too elegant having a scratch in your best party frock!

I can also remember my brother sometimes wearing little clip on ties but never a jacket!

My party dress for this weekend will certainly not be yellow and I will not be wearing a pink ribbon in my hair either!

Here are just some of the wonderful presents I found in my hamper.....a real retro delight, the sweetie jar was full of old childhood favourites and it even had a packet of smarties with a "J" on the lid!
And one other of my favourites is this fantastic old retro poster from the days when we all wore "ladybird" clothes...oh my just look at the fashions!

So now I am awaiting my Big Day  and then my Party Lunch on Sunday...just to give you a peep, these are the place names I have made.They are die cut butterflies which I have stuck little sparkly jewels to.

and I have also made some gifts for everyone.....without revealing too much here before the day, these are some in their little spring organza gift bags ready to place at the table.

I shall reveal their contents in a future post, after the event. They were such good fun to make and will give each of my 30 guests a little memento of my special day.

So I will be back soon to reveal both my birthday celebrations and also my party lunch. I will take my camera with me and take lots of photos to show you. I will also raise a glass of champagne to all my lovely blogger friends out there. Thank you for reading my blog, I so enjoy your company. I also want to thank you again for all the comments you take the time to leave, they are such fun to read and are so appreciated.

Cheers!

Bye for now,

Jane x