Wrapping Christmas Presents

I thought I'd squeeze in one more post before the BIG day.  And, this time, I wanted to tell you about another of my great loves.....  wrapping Christmas presents!!!

Wrapping gifts at any other time of year is just a chore.  No fun at all!  My love is strictly reserved for wrapping CHRISTMAS gifts.  I've always loved this job - and everyone who knows me knows it!  My Dad has had me wrapping his presents for my mom since I was 10 years old!!!  Do I mind???  Not one bit.  In fact, I think I'd be rather offended if he didn't ask one year.

What's more fun than setting up your own North-Pole-style Christmas workshop on a winter's evening, and filling it with presents, papers, bows, tags, Christmas tunes, and a nice cup of tea and a mince pie (or two)?!?  I like to take my time over it, and spread the fun over several nights.    

Now my work's all done, and my workshop's closed down until next December.  

Here's my final batch of wrapping, waiting to be sent off to Santa Claus (for sleigh-loading).....

Before I go, I just want to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!  I hope your stockings'll be filled with crafty treats on Christams morning.....

Carly

x 

Old Favourites

Hello, lovely blog readers!  

Thank you SO much for your lovely messages following my last post.  I'm feeling a lot better now - and it feels so good to be out of hospital!  We drove back to the UK for Christmas on Sunday (I was worried that the doctor would put a stop to our plans, but he said travelling would be fine).  So now I'm being spoilt and well-looked-after by Simon AND all of my family!!!

Every year, when we're back home for Christmas, one of my first tasks is ALWAYS to find all my 'old favourite' decorations on my parents' tree - the ones I remember most from my childhood.  This time, I thought I'd take a few photos and share a few of them with you..... 

[This one's my all-time favourite!  He's a lot older than me - and very delicate and precious!] 

[I think this one's just fun!  It was the first ever non-glass decoration that Mom permitted on to our tree] 

[This is the sparkliest of them all!  It's older than me, again, but still glistens beautifully when the fairy lights are on!]

Well, I took a few more photos that I wanted to share with you.  But the light didn't want to play nicely yesterday (it barely got light all day long), so lots of them didn't turn out.  Never mind!  I can show you some more another time. 

Do you have favourite Christmas decorations that you look forward to seeing each year???

Carly

xxx

Buttons, Buttons and More Buttons!

Can you guess where I'm writing this from?  No, it's not exciting!  No, it's not fun!  I'm blogging from a hospital bed (well, I couldn't let Simon have all the special treatment, could I???).  I've been here since last Wednesday (so my apologies for not having been a good blog-visitor this week).  I don't want to go into details, but I had an operation on Monday and feel much better now.  I hope to be able to leave tomorrow.  Please keep your fingers crossed for me.....

So, as I'm not at home with access to my camera and crafty projects, I'm going to have to show you some older makes.  As I know that some of you share my love of buttons, I thought I'd show you these.....

Hopefully, my next post will be a jolly, christmassy one.....

Hugs,

Carly

xxx

Christmas Cards

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced you to my new best friends - my cute little letter stamps! You lot obviously know me well, as most of you guessed that I was making Christmas cards with them.

I've been having so much fun!  Dragging out my collection of pretty papers, finding my tiniest buttons, and seeking christmassy inspiration from staring lovingly at our beautiful Christmas tree and listening to my favourite carols.....  Can anyone think of a better way to spend a few wintery evenings?!?

Here are a few of my favourites cards, all packeted up and ready for their first showing (at the school Christmas Fair):

And here's a little peek at my stall at the fair:

What a brilliant success the Christmas Fair was!  The lovely (and VERY hard-working) ladies who organised the event did a truly amazing job.  It was such a fun and festive day - and I sold a fair few bits and pieces too (including an order for some cards)!

As I look out of the window right now, the snow's looking pretty deep, and it's not showing any signs of stopping yet.  So I'm feeling very christmassy at the moment!

I hope you're all getting on well with your Christmas preparations and are starting to get into the spirit of the season!

See you soon.....

Carly

x 

    

Yippeee! Crafty Birthday Pressies!

It was my birthday last week.  I had a lovely day, and lots of fantastic gifts.  

Simon bought us tickets to the the Cirque du Soleil 'Corteo' show, which was AMAZING.  If you get the chance, you should definitely go to see it.  I can't recommend it highly enough!  The acrobats were brilliant, and the costumes.....  Oh my goodness!!!  It got me wondering how complicated it would be to make a career change - from teacher to trapeze artist.  How long would the training take???  

Unfortunately, I couldn't take any photos of the show.  So, instead I thought I'd show you some pics of my the crafty pressies I received.....

Firstly, look at this cute box for my knitting needles:

I LOVE it so!!!  I love the little old nanny's outfit. I think I need a knitting outfit just like it!

And look what was inside it:

Aren't they the cutest needles EVER?  Who cares what they knit like - they have red and green toadstool tops!!!  Crafty friends always know JUST what will make us jump up and down with excitement when we tear off the gift-wrap, don't they?!?

Simon got me this:

It was on my 'wish list'.  It's a kit for making mini mobiles, which I thought would look good in my little crafting room.  If you haven't heard of the make before, check out djeco stuff.  It's for kids, but I think lots of you may well fall in love with it too!

This was also on my crafty wish-list:

I remember this from when I was little and, when I accidentally stumbled upon it while I was searching on Amazon, I thought it would be a fun book to have in my crafting library. 

So, look out for future knitting projects, teeny-tiny mobiles and pictures made from cut-up circles of paper in future posts.....

Happy weekend to you all, my lovely bloggy friends!

Carly

x

Another Crafty Addiction???

I've been wanting a set of alphabet stamps for aaaaaages, but I couldn't find one that was just right.  Then, a few weeks ago, I found one that was exactly what I was after.  AND the stamps came in a cute little wooden box.  So, of course, I HAD to get it there and then!

Here it is.....

Don't you love the little box?!?

My first attempt at using the stamps wasn't great.  I kept getting blotches around the edges of the letters.  Here's my first bit of stamping.....

I've been working on improving my stamping skills over the past week.  It's getting better, slowly. I'd be grateful of any tips, though. 

Can you guess what I've been using my stamps for???  I'll be posting about it soon.....

Carly

x 

Baby Card

Well, I haven’t been getting a lot of crafting done lately (see my last post for some of the reasons).  I have a few ongoing projects that I’ve been picking up and putting down, but they’re not ready for showing-and-telling yet.  And I’ve been working on a few Christmas pressies, but they’re top-secret!

So I thought I’d show you this baby card that I made for our next-door neighbours a few weeks ago.  I really want to make more cards.  I struggle to find ones I like in the shops – and the nice ones are so expensive!  So, for this occasion, I decided to make my own.  And here it is.....

What do you think? 

Once I managed to make a babygrow template that I was happy with, the rest was pretty simple.  I enjoyed adding the little trim-bits with cute spotty and checked papers.  And, of course, HAD to stick on a few buttons to finish it off!!!

I hope I'll be able to get a bit more crafting done over the weekend.....

Carly

x

Fun in France

Hello, dear blogging friends!  

I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for a while (my last two posts were pre-scheduled), but now I’m back.

Firstly, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who visited me here while I was away – and an extra BIG thank you to those of you who left lovely messages.  And, secondly, I wanted to apologise for not visiting or leaving comments over at your homes-on-the-web while I’ve been away.  I’m looking forward to spending some time this weekend catching up on what you’ve all been up to!

Well, what have I been up to??? 

We had our half-term break, and went off on our travels!  We went to France for the week, with some friends.  We stayed at their auntie’s cottage, in the Cognac region (in the southwest).  It was a looooooong drive – 6 hours one day and 5 the next.  But it was well worth it!  We had a brilliant time!!!

Then, since we’ve been back, we’ve had a pretty awful time.  Simon was in hospital for a very long and very scary week.  He’s back at home with me now - and feeling a lot better.  Thank goodness!!!  But I don’t want to dwell on anything horrible here – my blog’s meant to be a happy place!  So I’m going to tell you about our little trip instead..... 

Here are our holiday highlights:

- Eating fresh croissants every morning

- Touring the Hennessy cognac factory (with tasters, of course)

- Cycling around countryside lanes (past vineyards and tiny villages and beautiful chateaus)

- Befriending a local dog (‘Pinpon’ decided he wanted to live with us for a day – and we didn’t object)

- Playing games in the evening, in front of the fire

- Romping over Europe’s biggest sand dune (near Arcachon)

- Eating ice-cream sundaes – at the beach – in the sunshine – with no coats – IN OCTOBER (in La Rochelle)

- People-watching in Bordeaux

- Taking lots and lots and lots of photos

... and here are my favourites:

[home for the week]

[our new friend]

[vineyards]

[a beautiful chatteau]

[Bordeaux cathedral]

[blue sky and autumn leaves]

[a charming cobbled street]

[a pretty window]

[heaps and heaps of sand]

[enjoying our trip]

Thank you, Vicki and Jon, for a wonderful week!!! X

Right, I’m off to put the kettle on, grab a biscuit (or two) and pay some of you a visit.....

Carly

x

Bags of Bags

Over the summer, while I was back in the UK, I bought lots of new fabrics.  I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of them at the time, to show you on here!  Bad blogger!!!

So, instead, I'm going to show you what I've been making with my new stash - bags of bags.....

As always, my favourite task was sortimg through my stash and matching colours and prints together!  

I still have plenty of fabric left.  So.....  what shall I make next?????    

Have a great weekend!

Carly

x