Merry Christmas

 Snatching a minute for a quick post to wish all my lovely friends, team mates and followers a very happy Christmas. I intended to do this much earlier today but it's been a bit hectic here so I thought I'd do it now before anything else happens or any more visitors turn up! Thank you all so much for all your lovely comments, support and friendship, it means a lot and you're much appreciated.

 This is the card I made for Marvin's best buddy's family. Watson is also a Red Fox Lab.  he's just a few months older than Marv and they look like two peas in a pod...they have the most wonderful walks together...or rather galloping, leaping, bundling runs- not a lot of walking goes on , a joy to watch.

I tried very hard to get Marvin to wear a Santa hat and pose for a photo to use on the card...but no chance- that hat will never be the same again. So I drew a dog (cheated a bit, drew my own version of an image I found online) scanned it and added a hat (Mo Manning digi), copied and flipped it so I had 2 dogs then coloured using my markers. Watson's owner loves it! 

I'm totally recovered from the Covid now, my O?H is nearly there- he managed to get a man-cold on top and we all know what THAT means! daughter and son in law much better- and no longer infectious ,so fingers crossed we will be having our family Christmas as planned.

Whatever you are doing, and with whom I hope you have a wonderful time. Merry Christmas!

Hugs

Chris

xx

Favourite colour...

 Good morning, a quick post from me with a mid-month reminder for our current challenge at

Stamping Sensations,

 the optional theme for this month is favourite colours.

 I stuck with green and used a stencil and some Lavinia stamps to make my card. Please visit the main challenge blog for details of how to play along, the fabulous prize on offer and some beautiful inspiration makes from the rest of the Design Team.

I'm feeling a lot better now, it's a week today since the  Covid symptoms first appeared so I'll take another test to see if I'm clear to go out yet, I'm going stir- crazy...and there's a lot to catch up on.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a good week.

Chris

x

The best laid plans...

 I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself today,  I had a busy week of Christmas celebrations all planned , then BAM- Covid!! Missed little Charlotte's Nativity play yesterday, totally gutted about that! I have been promised a private performance as soon as I'm not infectious- she'll wear her angel costume and sing for me, so some consolation, bless her.

At least I'm not dreadfully ill, symptoms of a heavy cold, coughing and headache and a brain that feels as if it's made of cotton wool plus my glowing red nose puts Rudolph in the shade, on the bright side I should be over it before Christmas gets here!

Today sees the start of our last challenge of the year at Fab 'n' Funky, our lovely Sue has picked the theme of Christmas, so we're hoping you'll be able to join in and show off your last minute Christmas creations. I used my inks and Lavinia stamps to make a magical snow scene, I blinged up the tree with tiny gems.

Thanks for visiting today,

take care...and try to steer clear of germs!!

Chris

x

It's Christmas!...at Sweet Stampin' Challenges

 Good morning. Are you all in Christmas mode yet? It's been a busy week for me one way or another and a bit stressful but things are looking up now and I'm looking ahead to Christmas. We're off out this morning to choose a tree, for me it has to be a real one! Not worried about Marvin this year as he was so good with the tree last year- after all he's a big boy now and knows how to behave (he doesn't always do it but he knows how!). Most of my Christmas shopping finished, just a couple of gifts left to buy so feeling more relaxed about that. Our hallway is finally finished- carpets cleaned, dust all gone and the new doors looking very smart, I can't tell you how happy I am that it's finally over :)

Anyway, enough of me waffling on! My card today is for our Christmas Challenge at

  Sweet Stampin'- this challenge will run for 4 weeks and anything Christmas themed is welcome- as long as there is some stamping include.

I gave in to temptation and bought this fabulous pre- loved stamp from ebay. It's a fairly large wood backed stamp so I kept the design simple. Stamped and masked the bear and used distress inks and splashes of water to create the background, coloured up the image and added the stamped embossed sentiment and a few die cut snowflakes. I'll definitely be using this stamp again, he's so cute!

Lots to see over at Sweet Stampin' so do hop over for some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the DT.

Thanks for visiting,

have a great weekend whatever you are doing

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

allsorts #758 Bear, blue

alohafriday #5

kraftychicks #693

MAWTT #161

PFM #719

crittercrazy #81

sparklesforum #170

Double D Christmas animals

A Christmas fairy

 Good morning, it's time for a new challenge at Crafty Catz, our last one before the Christmas break. 

There's no twist this week, and no sponsor- it's an Anything Goes Just For Fun week! 

I made a joy fold card featuring a sweet little fairy digi from Funky Kits, another company which sadly no longer exists. The image is coloured with Copics, lots of glitter on her wings. Various papers from stash. To keep the card closed I covered a chipboard circle with a piece of the robin paper and added some die cut leaves and berries to the back of it.

Please be sure to hop over and see the beautiful creations from  the rest of the DT, it would be great to have you join us for this last challenge of 2023.

thanks for visiting 

Chris

x

digichoosday #48

aperfecttimetocraft #12

classicdesign #11

crafterscafe #303

thecraftingchallenge December Challenge

christmaswiththecuties #76

dragonflydreams December

TFATU December Challenge

 

Favourite colour...

 Good morning,  my card today is my DT make for our December challenge at 

Stamping Sensations, 

the optional theme for this month is Favourite Colours. 

Our sponsor for this challenge is 

HighLight Crafts

2 lucky winners will receive 2 sets each

There aren't many colours that I don't like but my favourite is green, so green it is! I used mainly Lavinia stamps ( everything except the sentiment) and various shades of green ink to create my card, green Elements and Distress inks for the wreath and dark green Versafine Clair for the fairies and sentiment. The wings are covered in Wink of Stella for some lovely festive sparkle.

There is plenty of inspiration to enjoy over at Stamping Sensations so please do hop over for a visit.

Thanks for stopping by

have a lovely day

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

welovestamping December Challenge

thefairyandtheunicorn December Challenge

kraftychicks #692

abcchristmas W for Wreath

December Challenge at Crafty Calendar

 Good morning, our last challenge for this year starts today at Crafty Calendar. 

We are sponsored by ALL DRESSED UP stamps-

 the theme is Christmas.

I made a card for one of my granddaughter using a cute sponsor image given to the team, it's called Christmas Skate and is available here. These lovely digis are so good to colour, which I did using my trusty Copics. The background is coloured with pastels and I added some glitter to the 'ice'. The DP is from the works , I stamped and embossed the sentiment  to the top right corner

Emily loves glitter and sparkle, like most little girls, so glittery die cut trees and snowflakes were a must! 

Some lovely Christmas cards, made by my super teamies, to be enjoyed over at the challenge blog, so if you're still making your Christmas cards and need some inspiration head on over for a look. 

I'm feeling pleased with myself today as yesterday I wrote and addressed all my Christmas cards- they're ready to post next week. I usually end up putting it off until mid December then it's a terrible rush to get them done. Just a couple more to make....they will be hand delivered and I'm all done for this year.

Thanks for stopping by,

hope you have a happy weekend

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

allsorts #757 

polkadoodle #48

thepapershelter. #578

christmaswiththecuties #76

cutiepie#188

alldressedup November Challenge

worldwidecrafters November Challenge

More snowmen...

 Good morning, well December has arrived! Not long to go now before Christmas is here- I can't believe how busy the shops have got already- so many people in our local shopping mall yesterday! I'm definitely not going anywhere near shops this weekend and I'm going to do my best to finish my present shopping next week before things get even more manic!

Today's card is my DT make for this week's challenge at Crafty Catz, sponsored by the fabulous

SheepSkiDesigns

The optional theme chosen by our lovely Ginny is 'Make them Smile'

The DT were given some of Andrea's lovely digis to play with but I chose to use one I already had, Snowman Selfie, this one always makes me smile! I've coloured the snowmen with my markers, papers from stash, just added a few die cut snowflakes and a die cut sentiment banner.

There's plenty more inspiration from the rest of my teamies over on the challenge blog so do pop over for a visit, remember the theme is always optional so please do join the fun with one of your own lovely creations.

Thanks for visiting

have a great weekend (best wrap up warm if you live in the UK!)

Chris

x

Challenge entries:

CRAFT #700

creativeknockouts #509

ilovepromarkers #548

PFM #718

sheepski #81