Deer Family Christmas card

 Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? Probably much the same as ours. We do go out for walks and we are still doing our shopping. Other than that it is just staying home and staying safe. 

I have found crafting a bit difficult. Last week I had a focus and a deadline to meet and I managed it. This week it is hard to know quite what to do.  I always start Christmas cards straight away. I have been given lots of lovely old cards and they make gorgeous Christmas cards. So when I can't think what else to do I start making Christmas cards. 

The background is an old card. When I saw it I thought that needs some deer on it. 

This is the Deer Family die set from Creative Expressions. I had the male deer already cut and laying on my desk. I like the pale colour against the background. I had a snippet of the same colour card and I cut the mum and baby to match. 

The sentiment was on the card so I didn't have to add one or cover one up. The snowflakes I added were cut with the snowflake dies that come with the Jane's Trees die set from the John Next Door range. 

I am pleased I have made a start on the Christmas cards. There are always so many to make. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Challenge 394 at Pixie's Snippets Playground

The Happy New Year Challenge at Fezziwigs Festive Frolics 

Challenge 524 at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge blog

I hope the rest of the week is kind to you. 

Stay safe and take care. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Circular Christmas Box for Chocs

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

We are back from our cruise. It was so lovely to be away in a holiday bubble. We got back last Friday and on Saturday I had a call about my mum who had taken a turn for the worse. We visited on Sunday and all seemed fine but the care package might need to be increased. I am in talks with the Care Agency to try and work out what is best. Today I am helping at the first of two Felting Workshops this week.

Before we went away I challenged myself to make a circular box.I wanted to use  dies that I had from the Heart Box die set from the John Next Door range. I did watch a video on how John Made the Heart box and I applied this new knowledge to a circular box.

I used a lot of the Double Pierced Circle dies from Creative Expressions to make this box. They are my go to circle dies. I also used the Winter Trees die set and the Deer Family die set all from Creative Expressions. 

Here you can see the Washi Tape around the edge of the box. The paper I used came from the John Lockwood Box Magazine. 

The lid fits nicely on the box. 

It does remind me of a Cheesy Triangles box. I am sure some chocs will fit just fine. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Challenge 460 at the Fab 'n' Funky Challenge Blog

The Christmastime Challenge at the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog

Enjoy the rest of the week. I will be mostly sorting out things for Christmas. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Christmas card made from Left Overs

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

I hope you had a good weekend. The weather was certainly kind. I had a lovely time at the Farnborough Craft show of course I spent way too much money. It was also nice to meet up with Littlelamb who kindly comments on my blog. The visits with our parents went as well as could be expected. Then on Sunday we had a nice time with our daughter and son-in-law when they took their hamster back. This week I will be mostly invigilating.

I do enjoy making Christmas cards all year round and it is good to find challenges to enter. This is my entry for the Rudolph Days Challenge that starts on 25th of each month and runs to the end of the month. 

When I got near to the end of making Christmas cards last year. I had lots of bits left over like where I had cut too many things  for a project or the circles from an aperture I had cut. These are the bits I used on these cards. The mats were cut with the Double Pierced Square dies set. The paper in the background came from a magazine. 

The deer from the Deer Family had been cut for another project and not used. The circles were cut with the Double Pierced Circle dies and were left over after cutting an aperture for another card. I added a glitter card line of snow and added some trees cut with the Winter Trees dies set. All the sets I have mentioned are from Creative Expressions. 

I think this design worked quite well considering all the bits were leftovers. I do hate things going to waste. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

The February Rudolph Days Challenge. 

The February Challenge at Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge 

Challenge 178 at the Crimbo Crackers Challenge blog

Challenge 426 at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge blog

Have a great week

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Z - Fold Christmas Scene Christmas Card

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

Happy Monday. I hope you had a good weekend and are ready for the week ahead. We visited two garden centres over the two days. On Saturday we visited Rosebourne near Andover to celebrate our Son-in-law's mum's birthday. We had the most amazing cream tea. On Sunday we popped over to Garsons and visited their Christmas shop. The different sections are themed around musicals. Of course we had coffee and cake too. It would have been rude not to. I have another busy week coming up.

When I made my first Z-fold Christmas card I started thinking how I could I could change the design. This card is slightly larger.

The main part of the card is 6" x 6" and the side panel are 3" x "6. I used both the Snow Scenes and the Deer Scenes die sets from John Next Door  to make the decorative edges. 

This shows how the the Z-fold works I do decorate all the way down to the bottom. The greeting will go on the back. 

I am sure I will be making a few more of these cards they are so easy and very effective. Not just for Christmas . For Beccy's Challenge maybe I could go for Quiet. 

I would like to enter the following challenges: 

The November Challenge at Beccy's Place Challenges 

Challenge 412 at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge

The November Challenge at the Die Cut Divas Challenge blog

Challenge 229 at the Crafting from the Heart Challenge blog

Challenge 28 at the Love to Craft Challenge blog

Challenge 4 at the Merry Little Christmas Challenge blog

Happy Crafting 

Hugs Jackie xxx

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Moving Along with the Times (MAWTT) - Winter Animals

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? I am busy with invigilating. There is just one Mock exam today. So I should get some time to craft when I get home. Tomorrow I am in for three exams which will make a very long day which will be tiring.

I am hosting the challenge that starts today at the Moving Along with the Times (MAWTT) challenge blog and the theme I have chosen is Winter Animals. 

I used lots of my festive dies to make this winter scene. All the dies were designed by Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions.  The sky was made with the Night Sky die. The Trees were cut with the Winter Trees dies set. The houses were cut with the Cottage Scenes dies. I have had all these dies for sometime. All the white I used is glitter card. This card really sparkles but it doesn't show in the photo. 

Why not join in with our challenge? Click on the logo and you will be taken there. 

The deer were cut with the Deer Family die set. They were embossed, I inked through the dies and backed them with gold card. 

Santa was cut with the Santa's Sleigh dies set I added an extra deer. 

I do love created scenes like this will dies. Enjoy the rest of the week. 

I would like to enter the following Challenges:

The November Challenge at Beecy's Place Challenges

The November Challenge at the House of Cards Challenge blog

Challenge 171 at the Crimbo Crackers Challenge blog

Challenge 490 at the Craft Challenge blog

Challenge 410 at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge blog

Challenge 20 at the 2 Crafty Critters Crazies Challenge blog

Challenge 101 at the Scrapy Land Challenge blog

Challenge 11 at the Crafter's Castle Challenge blog

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Upcycled Snowy Christmas card.

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

I hope you have had a good week. I have been busy. I keep having to write lists to keep track of what I need to do. I am looking forward to the weekend. We are hoping to get some Christmas shopping done at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. We have some vouchers for Cafe Rouge that need using up soon and the closest outlet to us is there.

Yes I have been reusing old Christmas cards again. This time I found I had two of the same design.

The background it the entire Christmas card. 

As I had two of the same card I thought I would photograph the before and after. I do love reusing old Christmas cards. 

I used the Deer family dies from Creative Expressions. They were cut once in Kraft card and once in black to create a shadow. 

I like how the members of the family face each other. 

Everything is better when you add deer.  Have a great weekend. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

The October Rudolph Days Challenge

Challenge 39 at the Holly and the Ivy Challenge blog

Challenge 408 at Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge blog

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Up-cycled Christmas card.

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends and Visitors

How is your week going? Now is the time to confess that we are going away for the weekend to Destination Star Trek at the NEC. I have been a Star Trek fan since the show started way back in the 1960s. My husband is a fan now as well. On the way to Birmingham we are going to stop in at the Crafter's Companion in Evesham. It is a bit of a diversion but my husband doesn't mind and it will be a real treat for me. I will catch up with everyone when I get back.

I have been making lots of Christmas cards this week. I was asked by a Brownie leader to make some cards to support a table top sale to raise funds for her unit. None of the cards I have made for her are too complicated. I rather liked the colours on this one.

The whole of the background was the original card in my stash I had a card blank that matched. I worked from the original card out to make the mats and layers and finally the card blank was trimmed a little. 

I added the Deer Family from Creative Expressions. They were cut in kraft card and I added a black shadow. 

This is the John Next Door sentiment stamp cut in white glitter card with a black shadow. 

Altogether I think I have made 20 cards for the sale. I need to find them all envelopes and plastic covers. 

Have a great weekend. 

Happy Crafting

Take care. Hugs Jackie

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Twisted Easel Christmas Card

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends

I hope you had a good weekend and got done all the things you needed to do. We caught up with jobs on Saturday and on Sunday we went to see both sets of parents. We have dropped off their presents and cards. My parents are off to stay with my sister soon and we will see my husband's parents on Boxing Day.

I have been looking through my files and I found a Christmas card I had made but not shared.

I do like twisted easel cards. I made the background with white heat embossed snowflakes. Then I used Distress ink to colour the card. Around the edge I ran Ice Stickles to give a glittery appearance. 

I cut the Winter Trees from Creative Expressions from a white glitter cards. The Deer family also from Creative Expressions were cut from black card and I put some black card behind them to make them solid. 

This is the Snowflake tag from the Snowflake Border, Corner Tag set from Creative Expressions. The stamp is from Indigo Blu. I heat embossed the whole tag with a clear sparkly powder. 

I hope you are getting on well with your Christmas prep. The time really does seem to be dashing by. 

Have a great week. 

I would like to enter challenge 187 at the Crafting from the Heart Challenge blog, challenge 269 at the Glitter 'N' Sparkle Challenge blog , Pixie's Snippets Playground Weeks 311 and 312  and the December Challenge at A Perfect Time to Craft Open Challenge blog. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Moving Along with the Times (MAWTT) Challenge - theme Christmas Animals

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends,

How is your week going? We have already got to Thursday. Yesterday I went into Southampton and I met my husband, who had taken a half day leave. The Christmas market is in full swing and we did a bit of Christmas shopping. Today I am going out with a friend for coffee. It will be nice to have a chance to catch up with her.

The new challenge starts today on the Moving Along with the Times (MAWTT) Challenge blog and the theme is Christmas Animals.

The background is another old Christmas card. I hunted through a big pile of old cards to find a suitable one for the background. Around the edge of the card I put some Ice Stickles.

I used the Deer family die set from Creative Expressions. 

This card should be nice and flat for posting that should please my husband. 

Enjoy your day.  

I would like to went the November Christmas Challenge at Beccy's Challenge blog. 

Happy Crafting 

Hugs Jackie

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Christmas in the Forest

Hello My Crafty Blog Friends

How is your week going? I seem to be getting busier and that is a good thing. My back has improved immensely and that has  given me a lot more energy.

I was so lucky to be able to go to Crafting at Ally Pally again last weekend. I really do enjoy that show. It was a bit quieter on the Saturday probably because of the bomb on the tube the day before. I was quite restrained in my spending and I only bought one die but I wanted to try it out. I did get some other things as well.

 I had this idea for a winter scene. I have been using my Tonic Guillotine for cutting my mats and layers I have been finding a lot easier than my rotary cutter. The moon was just cut from the black with a circle die to reveal the layer below. The stars came from the Star Spray die set from Creative Expressions. Really I wanted to cut the stars from the black like the moon but I couldn't find my star dies. 

This is the die I bought the Santa's sleigh from the Festive collection of dies designed by Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions. 

I used the Winter Trees die set and the Deer Family die set also from Creative Expressions. The snow was made with white glitter card. 

When you come out of Ally Pally there is a terrace round the building and from there you get the most amazing views of London. 

In this one you can make out the towers on the O2.

I am planing to have another play with the new die I have some other ideas to try.  So far I have made 54 Christmas cards. I am really not sure how many I need this year now I am not working. 

Enjoy the rest of the week. 

I would like to enter challenge 74 at the Scrapy Land Challenge blog, challenge 35 at the Merry Christmas Challenge blog and challenge 44 at the Snowflakes Promoise Challenge blog

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Christmas in March

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends

How is your weekend going? We visited our parents yesterday and dropped off Mother's Day presents. Next weekend is planned for veil shopping so there will be no time to visit them. Everyone is being very understanding about our time constraints at the moment. On a positive note I have finished making the flowers for the table decorations and we have solved the problem of attaching them to the glass contaniers. So lots of progress there.

I have been trying to get ahead with my Design Team makes and for one of them I needed to make a Christmas card. While all the stuff was out I made another two cards. I now have  10 Christmas cards  which is not bad considering all the other things I am making.

This was quite a simple card to make in fact I made two. The background came from an old issue of Making Cards Magazine. 

I cut the Deer Family die set from Brown card. I do love this die set I go back to it again and again it was a very good investment. All the dies I used are ones designed by Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions. 

I do like how the mum and baby face the dad. 

I cut this Merry Christmas die from glitter card. 

A nice quick but rather effective card. I think I have some more of these backgrounds I might make some more. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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Twelve very quick Christmas cards.

Hi My Crafty Blog Friends,

How is your week going? I hope you are getting everything done that you want to do. We are mostly doing Christmas prep in our free time. Work for me finishes tomorrow. We have a busy weekend ahead but things should calm down after that.

I seriously misjudged how many Christmas cards I needed. When we were writing them on Sunday I realised that I needed to make a few more. Now there isn't  a lot of time left is there? So I needed to make some quickly.

I made three of each of these designs so that is twelve altogether. They are made with a Kanban pad that was a members gift from Create and Craft a while back. I was looking through the pack I noticed that some of the sentiments on pages of four  matched some of the backgrounds. I added a few die cuts and there you have it some quick cards. 

The deer family dies,from Sue Wilson's  2015 Festive Collection of dies, I thought went well with the designs just cut in white. Did anyone else get the Crafter's Companion Advent Calendar? Everyday there is a new die it is a lovely gift, I used the star from my collection of dies on one of the cards. 

The recipents seemed to like these cards. I still have a few cards to make. Next year I am going to have to be more careful about calculating how many cards I need. 

Happy Crafting

Hugs Jackie

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