Biting off more than I can chew!!

When Riley asked if we could make treat bags for his classmates I thought it would be a blessing in disguise, as writing is not his thing and the thought of him writing 15 cards, was a bit of a nightmare to be honest, as I knew he would get bored of it after the first one. So 15 little bags couldnt be that hard, could it?

Then I realised that now he is in a shared class of 2 years, I couldnt really leave out the reception class year group, of which there are 12 and it would also be nice to make some for the 3 teachers too. So, that took me up to 30. But then I couldnt really do it for one and not the other, so it was only right to make them for the children and teachers at Poppis pre-school - 24 in all. So all told it suddenly went from 15 bags to 54 (GULP!) Riley chose the PP donkey, and Poppi the Robin, So I printed the images, frames and wording and just coloured them in places and we all added the treats. For the teachers I decided on some of those big quality street, which obviously meant it would work out cheaper to buy a box of each. (well thats my excuse anyway) "the purple one" "the triangle" and some "caramel swirls" Well after bagging them and sorting through the triangles, which if you are fan, you will know half of them are never wrapped in the foil properly (come on Mr Quality Street man, sort your machines out!!) I had quite a few left over and Boy! did I feel sick. So after putting them all in boxes and waddling off to bed after one " purple one too many" I felt like a great big heffalump to the point that I thought I was never going to eat chocolate again.

As my mum knows I can certainly eat chocolate for England, but I feel that I over did it slightly (well, quite a lot actually) but hey! it is Christmas and people are always saying "live each day as though its your last." I even got up the next morning and saw a few left over in the boxes and couldnt stomach the thought of eating them. But that feeling has gone now (I knew it would) so Im off to dunk one in my latte. Have a lovely day,

Mich

x

Bits and Bobs

Talk about Deja vu!!! Im sure I said last year that I would start my christmas cards earlier this year, oh well, I will try again next year. So I made all of these in a bit of hurry (can you tell?) not very pleased with them, as always have good intentions of spending more time and care putting them together, but there we go. I still have a few christmas present projects to finish too, but I like to think I work better under pressure, although I feel that I am pushing it a bit. Had quite a busy few days what with Christmas plays for both Poppi and Riley, a secret trip to toys r us, which was so much fun. I get all excited when I get the toys for the little ones, imagining their faces on Christmas morning. Spent over an hour waiting in the doctors today with Poppi, she has an infection and hasnt been herself for the past few days, so hopefully she will be on the mend by tomorrow and back on track for the big day. I cannot wait for Friday when they finish school. I love getting them home and spending the next few days getting them all excited, wrapping prezzies etc... Dentist, for me tomorrow, cant wait - I do love a bit of route canal treatment (not!!)

This is the card that I made for Dawnys big 50th. I have just been over to her blog and boy did she receive a fantastic array of cards and she deserves them all, as she is such a special, lovely lady I feel priviliged to know her. (even if she is an old bird,lol...)

Well thats it for now. Must dash and get to making the prezzies.

The Snowman

We had lots of fun yesterday. Poppi decided that she wanted to build a snowman even though there wasnt much snow. So in typical "boy stylie" Riley thought it would highly amusing to throw snowballs at mine and Poppis head and shove as much snow down our backs as possible. Having an older brother myself it took me back to my childhood of being covered top to toe in snow and never being quick or strong enough to get him back. But hey, that is brotherly love and I wouldnt change those memories for the world. Anyway, back to the snowman. My little girl scraped and swept up as much snow as she could and started to pile it up. Every time she piled more on she was rubbing her little freezing fingers on her trousers to try and warm up. She did not complain, but I could see that she was finding it unbearable. I was then ordered to get the carrot and twigs. She was so pleased with what she produced and kept looking at him all day and waved goodnight to him from her bedroom last night. It certainly made me stop and think about how lucky I am to have two little ones who are so easily pleased. In a world that consists of too much importance on possessions, in the eyes of our children none of those things matter. When they get hours of joy from a bit of snow, it makes me smile and warm inside.

Every year me and my mum watch "The snowman" dvd. It is one of our little christmas traditions. When that great big snowman takes the little boy by the hand and starts running just before the "walking in the air" music starts I get butterflies and it feels real. Ok, so it would have to be rather strong snowman to take me on a magical journey across the skies, but I am right there with him. For these few moments of excitement, I thank my mum, who has always encouraged me from a small child to believe in the spirit and magic of christmas and that will never disappear, as it is always in my heart.


And this was our snowman this afternoon. I thought there was going to be tears. Sad, we were, but my little girl who always looks on the bright side, said "it ok mummy,we build a bigger one when the snow comes again" - how refreshing....

Plain and Simple

Just a few cards to show. Mum wanted 30 plain and simple ones for christmas, so I hope I done ok. They were all meant to be in traditional colours, but somehow I managed to make a pinkish one. I was playing with the blooms and inking them, to see what they looked like and it just so happened to match some BG paper, so I snuck it in the pile.....

Anyway, thats it for tonight, hope you are all having a great evening.

Matchbox Advent Calendar

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After hours of searching the net for a Karen Foster countdown calendar and having no success I decided I would have to improvise. I thought of using small matchboxes, which would have been ok if I wanted to load them with tic tacs. I studied those large household matchboxes (Yes! the lady in the shop did think I was off my trolley) and they were ideal because they are nice and deep. But 24 of them stacked up would be a bit bulky. So I decided that 12 of them would be ideal because if I accessed them from both sides, that would make 24 as they have those little dividers halfway in the little drawers. So I stacked them up and glued the cases all together. Then to make it nice and sturdy I cut 2mm chipboard covered it in paper and glued it to the sides, top and bottom.

Then I printed the numbers onto matching patterned papers, cut them down to size and added them to the drawer fronts and inked the edges.Next I added eyelets to the drawer fronts to thread the ribbon through, so the drawers could be pulled open. Decorated them with brads, flowers etc... and added lots of little treats.

You may think this is for Poppi and Riley, but its for my mum and dad (who says Christmas is just for children, eh?). Mum opens it on odd days and dad on even. I hope they enjoy their little surprises!!!

I really enjoyed making this, at first I thought it might be a complete disaster, but I am really pleased with how it turned out, mainly because, adding the chipboard has made it really strong and sturdy. I hope that it will remain in the family for a few years at least, so I can see it looking all old and tatty.

So Ms Foster, if you are reading this (highly unlikely) thank you for the inspiration and making me think outside the box. Not only that, my idea comes with a lifetime supply of matches, 2880 to be precise - which reminds me, anyone got any suggestions what I can do with them all??? lol.

Thanks for looking, have a great evening.

Supplies are: yummy Fancy pants - Happy holidays papers

Brads,eyelets,flowers - Poppicrafts

How Fantabulous????

Just look what Dawny and Debs have been doing... Honestly their work really is beautiful. I am loving Dawnys garland - it is so original and something I would never think to make.(Hey Dawny - Is it still to early????))) Thanks girls for your work, I am very proud to have you on the team - It is all inspirational. If you fancy taking a look in greater detail it is here

Well its inspired me - Im off to get my poinsettias out.

Have a great evening,

Mich

x

On a roll-a-coaster!!!

Like the title? Very pleased with myself for coming up with this one - On a roll, because Ive blogged 3 posts in 2 days - woohoo!!! and coaster, because I made a few for the christmas dinner table. still have a few more to do, but thought I would blog the ones ive done allready. I used the 4" chipboard hydrangeas and 4" hydrangea blooms in Moss green and wine from poppicrafts as they are exactly the same shape and size, so I didnt need to trim theem down or anything (coz Im lazy like that!!), just glued them straight on. Then stamped them with autumn leaves flourishes, inked the edges, added glitter to some and then wacked on a bit of glossy accents so that they are at least wipeable. The moss green ones look a bit pale in the picture - dont know what thats all about...

Hope everyone is having a great evening.

TFL Mich x

Blooming Marvellous!!!!

Sara and Tracie - Poppicrafts creative designers have made some absolutely gorgeous cards - showing us some fabulous flower creations. Sara, very cleverly has made hearts, Christmas Trees, Umbrellas,Bees and little skirts out of her blooms - they are truly amazing. Tracie Jane has used the layering technique to her blooms to add fabulous depth to her cards.

Here are some sneak peaks, if you would like to see their creations in all their glory, please pop over to the poppicrafts gallery - Im sure you will agree they are all gorgeous. Thank you both for your inspiring work.

Blimey! I wondered why I felt a little peculiar, Ive only gone and posted 2 (yes 2) posts in the space of 24 hours - very impressed with myself.... I may even really push the boat out and post some of my own work tomorrow...lol

Have a great day,

Mich

Competition winner!! Halloween and Pink Petticoat

Good evening!

Firstly, thank you to everyone for your poppicrafts competition entries. I have genuinely had a tough task choosing a winner. I noticed that a few of you cheeky ladies added an extra colour - naughty,naughty,lol... silver seemed to be the favourite.

Anyway, eventually I chose a winner, her card is right up my street - bold,bright and juicy!! She is the very talented Enfys and you can drool over her card here.

Moving onto spookier stuff, we have had a great half term, walks in the woods,pub lunch, bowling, Riley even wanted to go to Tescos, which I was really impressed with, until he said "Ive got my pocket money, once Ive picked a toy, we can go home" and then on Friday we met Hannah (aka hans crafty creations) and we had a great time. Hannah organised balloons,party games, halloween lunch and spooky goody bags. William (hannahs son) was so sweet and patient with Riley. He was showing him how to play bowling on the Wii and showed him over and over again until he grasped it.Thank you Hannah it was fab to meet you, you are very kind and made us feel so welcome.

Then yesterday, we went to my mums for a halloween tea. Poppi and Riley loved it, they had a halloween chocolate treasure hunt in the pitch black, with just a torch each and Apple bobbing, which was hilarious - every time Riley went under the water he shook himself like a dog, splashing water everywhere and the bowl was a bit deep for Poppi, so every time she dunked her under she was near enough doing a headstand trying to reach the apples, anyway we had a really fab evening - thanks mum for decorating the house and making so much fun for the little ones (and me)

And finally, well its just so simple, yet genius isnt it???

I am forever printing off the Pink petticoat colour sampler, then losing it. When I tidy the craft room I find about 10 of them. AAGH!!! So when I saw the colour pallete on the website, I just had to print it off. I mean, how often do we scratch around trying to find papers that match/co-ordinate with our embellishments. This is just so easy - hold it up to my vast stash of ribbon and blooms and find the perfect match - fan - blimmin - tastic!! That is what I love about PP, you can just print what you want. So often in the past I have bought paper stacks because I like some of the papers and you end up with colours and patterns that you will never use and they sit in your stash for ages.

Thank you Liz for this genius little download, its hanging up in my crafty place.

Thanks for looking,

Hope you all had a great weekend,

Mich

x