It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Hi folks, yesterday I made my mincemeat; the kitchen looked like a culinary bombsite. It is very fruity, full of dried fruit, sultanas, raisins, currants, dried peel, dried apricots, orange peel, lemon peel, apples, lemon and orange juice, and a small bottle of brandy, plus some cinnamon. I make a huge bowl full, and put some away for the following year, when it has a very full bodied flavour! By the way, I use vegetarian suet.

Today, I made my mince pies, I normally like to have a bigger gap between making the mincemeat, and the mince pies, but time is running short. I added fresh cranberries to the mincemeat, and made a crumble topping for the pies. I don't make my own pastry, however, if I added the wet ingredients to the crumble topping, it would become pastry, so I am capable, just realistic about the time that I have.

I made four dozen today, and will make some more tomorrow, and get some in the freezer, as they disappear fast around here.

I had mentioned to my friend Elaine that I was adding cranberries to my mincemeat, and she gave me a link to a really cool website http://somefiddlingonthekitchentable.blogspot.com/2010/12/cranberries.html where the blog owner had stamped the background of her card with real cranberries. I do follow this blog anyway, but had been too busy to pop over and take a look. Anyway, I decided to have a go, as I loved the effect, and this is what I made, using cranberry and raisin Adirondack inks, well it would have to be, wouldn't it!

I think that I will have to make some more of these, as the design is lovely. I hope that you are all getting on well with your Christmas preparations, better than me anyway! Megan comes home at the weekend, which will be lovely, hopefully there will be some mince pies left for her.......

Anyway, thanks for popping by, Judith xx

Christmas comes but once a year

So why do I never get my cards made in time? I'm always making them at this point in time, like a looney, and feeling quite frazzled. I always vow to start early the following year, and never do. Ah well, there's always next year!
I had to send a package of cards off today, one for my Daughter's boyfriend, one for him to give to his Mum, and another for my Daughter's flatmate. As Megan comes home on Sunday, time is running out. Anyway, they are on their way, so fingers crossed that they get there on time.

The first card that I made, was designed around one of Tim's tags, I actually made one this year! Because I had to justify the time spent on it, I made two at the same time, and turned them into Christmas cards, and gave one to my son as well. I think that they make great cards for young men, as that is such an awkward age to make a card for. This grungy style is perfect. Ryan really liked the acetate cover over the snowman.

I used a backing paper from the Artylicious Season's Greetings CD, and made my card from Kraft card. I loved making this tag, and want to make some of the others now!

The second card that I made was for Chris to give his Mum. Apparently, he was 'well impressed' by my blog recently, and asked if I might have a card that he could give his Mum. I have used an Elusive Images angel as my main image. I created my own background using a holly spray stamp, Versamark and white satin embossing powder. Then I sponged various blue and grey Distress Inks over the card. I cut my flowers from cream card using a Crealie die, edged them with Distress Ink, and flicked the edges up. I cut a Tim Holtz deer from grungepaper, coloured it with Distress Inks, and added some braid and a charm.

The last card for Megan's flatmate, uses another Elusive Images angel, who always looks a bit naughty to me. That fits Gemma to a 'T', as she is a naughty angel, bless her. I have used another backing paper from the Season's Greetings CD, and some lovely pink mirri card. I have used another Crealie die, which kind of resembles a snowflake, (it just has one too many points, but who's counting!)

Anyway, I'm back to the grind now, to make a few more cards, although lots of people I'm ashamed to say will not be receiving a handmade card this year. I will try harder next year! Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx

Tim Holtz Giveaway

Linda Brown has a giveaway here. There are all kinds of Tim Holtz goodies up for grabs.

Rockin' around the Christmas Tree

Two more Christmas cards for you today, that I made for the Elusive Images Design Team recently.

This first card uses a Rocking Horse image taken from the Family Christmas themeplate, stamped onto Kraft card. I decided to put it onto a rocker style card, and found a template in the Making Cards with Movement magazine which came out recently. I kept the colouring very simple, as I wanted a homespun feel, just adding some terracotta card, and some gingham ribbon.

The second card uses an image from the same stamp plate which has been decoupaged, and I added some lovely vintage lace and flowers using left over scraps of card.

I'm off to see my Daughter in Stoke today, she assures me that they haven't had any recent snowfalls, and that the main roads are clear. We have no snow on our roads at all, we haven't had any snow to speak of all week. It's cold here, but that's all. We have been very lucky to get off so lightly hearing how everyone else is suffering, I know. For all of you who are snow bound, take care, and stay warm. Thanks for popping by, Judith xx

That Christmas feeling

Well, I'm back down to earth after my Birthday, and thank you for all of your kind wishes yesterday. I had a lovely day, just that little bit less than perfect because Megan, my Daughter wasn't here to spend it with me, and Ryan, my son was poorly, so he couldn't come out to celebrate in the evening.

We went Christmas browsing yesterday, less frantic than proper shopping with a list, and bought some beautiful decorations for Christmas from John Lewis. We bought two lovely wooden words, 'Peace' and 'Joy' which Terry has set out already, and two lovely red and white pottery Scandinavian style baubles for the tree. I also got two felt versions as well, they have some lovely bits in there this year.

We have two trees in our house, since we had our extension built last year. The tree in our living room has traditional colours, red and green, wooden, and metal ornaments, all the precious ornaments from when the children were babies. I love it, as there are lots of happy memories in those boxes. Megan is 21 now, and those years have just flown by. The other tree is white and gold, completely different, but beautiful, nonetheless, and it has been a pleasure to be able to decorate the new room in a different style at Christmas. We have Christmas ornaments from Italy, as we go there quite regularly, and it is lovely to bring out a continental feeling too at Christmas. I am slow to get going with the Christmas spirit, as I like to get my Birthday out of the way first, but today, I definitely have a stirring of something in the air.

We have very little snow here still, I can't believe the amount of snow that the rest of you are struggling with. I am almost embarrased to post these pictures!

Recently we've been making Christmas cards as part of our Design Team remit for Elusive Images I made a tag using a lovely tree stamp from the Family Christmas stamp set, and a little pear stamp from another set also available from Elusive Images. I used Pear Tart and Sweet Plum Memento Inks to colour my tag, which were a lovely colour combination.

We also got to play with a new set of stamps designed by Carrie, called Earth Spirit, and one of the cards that I made was using two sun shaped stamps. I loved working with these stamps, as I chose to make a very non Christmassy card with these! I used very warm colours, and triple embossed my central panel.

I hope that you enjoyed popping by today. Keep warm, and stay safe in those hazardous conditions. Judith xx

WOYWW

Well today is my Birthday, so I won't be crafting much today, so I'm not showing you my desk , just a photo of a stunning creation that my blog friend Elaine sent me. I was amazed at the amount of work that she had put into this for me, as she has been very poorly for weeks, bless her. So anyone else who shares my Birthday, many happy returns to you!  If you don't know what all this WOYWW mullarkey is all about, hop over to Julia's Blog to find out. Thanks for looking. Judith xx