Tuesday 31 December 2013

HAPPY NEW 2014 !!!

Happy-New-Year-2014-Text-SMS-for-girl-friend

Thank you all so much for all your support this last year. It means a lot and I look forward to a brighter and better 2014!!

xoxoxo

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Sunday 22 December 2013

Christmas Home Tour

Hello there :),

I hope you are feeling calm and with all the preparations for the big day finished. And if you are not, relax it will all get done and it will be just perfect.

Today I want to invite you all into our humble home all decorated for Christmas. I LOVE Christmas and I always like to go to town with my decoration. I am definitely a more is more girl especially this time of the year. Our home is small like many of the UK  houses but is cosy and very comfortable. And there is nothing in this house that we are precious about if  it got ruined or broke so this makes it a very relaxing environment to be in.

Ok so come on in I will put the kettle on and we’ll have a smooch around.

As you come through the front door this is what you see. The hallway is not wide enough for a console table so a radiator cover gives me a bit of room do create a bit of interest. This space has not been decorated for the last 10 years so I stick with a silver white and black  theme because of the black and silver wallpaper, I am dying to change it up, maybe next year :)

hallway

Ok so I am simply in love with the two paper houses inside these glass hurricane lamps. I cut them on my Silhouette using a free file from this site. (please consider making a donation if you use them though, the files are just beautiful). I cut them in natural white card stock from Stampin'Up!. Plenty of dazzling diamonds for the roof and over the windows and doors. I used packing tape over the windows and doors then I rubbed more dazzling diamonds over it. Battery operated tealights and voila( they took about 30 minutes to make. Oh and I couldn’t get fake snow anywhere so I used Epsom Salts for the houses to sit in.

hallway 2

As you enter the living room the first thing you see is THE TREE :) allFor the first time in my life I have decorated a fake tree. Real is usually the way for me but I LOVE the look of a flocked tree and finally bit the bullet and here it is :).

Do I love it ? YES !! 

Will it stop me going real? I DON’T THINK SO !! I love the smell and feel of a fresh tree and I can see myself going for real again, but not for a few years. I love all the snow on this tree, yes is huge !! do you play musical furniture at Christmas time? we had to move a huge cabinet into the conservatory to have the tree up, we do it every year and its worth it!!!!

front 2

I went for gold's, silvers and whites together. I love mixing metals in spite of what the rules say. I do it with my jewellery and definitely I do it in my home. Also I just knew that an all white and silver combo would have been lost amongst all the snow tipped branches. Can’t wait to see it with a red combo. But for now is perfect !!

A different angle

tree 2

And looking the other way

blueberry 1

At the other end you can see the fireplace and the windowsill behind the blueberry (the world’s comfiest sofa), it looks tiny in this picture but is whooping 2.3 meters long.

See that little drink table? I work on that all day long unless we are entertaining. Normally the table is covered in my paperwork and laptop :), oh and please pretend I hid the lights cable :). The windowsill behind the sofa hosts an enchanted forest with sparkly reindeers :)

We have two beautiful bottomless glass lamps in this room and I love the opportunity to decorate them seasonally, so I shoved a mini tree in each one this time. Yes the shades  gets a little Christmas love, tiny wreaths made in a snap using fresh eucalyptus branches. The silvery leaves go with my snowy theme.

table

And here’s the other wall, bits and bobs from around the house get pulled together. And while you are judging my art taste I just need to let you know that its temporarily here and she doesn't belong to me :), although Breakfast at Tiffany’s is my fave movie :)

room 1

Ok so looking from the living room into the kitchen, and a little table top tree in the conservatory beyond.

kitchen lights

My friend Julie made me the gorgeous table arrangement, now this is big news as this is one of the first crafty thing she has ever attempted so it has special meaning as she made it just for me. I might get her into making cards next :).

I am sorry about the naff table runner, is a heavy duty (read plastic – fantastic) one that we use for everyday and I forgot to take it off, I should have set the table but I already had to clean the whole house before this shoot so I was done by then :), yes just keeping it real for you.

mini wreaths

More mini wreaths from fresh eucalyptus leaves, they smell divine. My beautiful table is a French Antique which I lovingly painted  and distressed !!!! I have also stripped the brand new chairs and refinished them to suit my battered style. Yes only done two so far, the other 2 are still shiny brown (nice).

I hate the lights in our kitchen, but I hate poor lighting even more so I put up with them, still looking for the perfect ones. This year I decided I am going to pretend I have fancy chandeliers so I added some twisted willow from the garden and to disguise the uglies further I suspended a collection of mercury glass ornaments,sparkly snowflakes, mirrored hearts and garlands. This is my favourite makeover for sure, the whole thing sparkles and twinkles and I will find it hard to take it down :(

kitchen

Another  radiator cover, another opportunity to add some festive decor all year round not just at Christmas.

skates

Love those little ice skates which you have seen here on my blog before, and did you spot the burlap fat bows? I made my own minimums this quarter by buying burlap ribbon for my home decor, I am sure of it :)

Sweet details, the bird house was £3 in TK Maxx and it fits in with the birdies on the Ikea fake trees. The birdies are looking a bit tired they have been with us for at least 10 years so their feathers are a bit worse for wear, ruffled shall we say :).

detail Another vignette in my kitchen is actually my favourite one, and the real reason we celebrate Christmas :).

I am still looking for the perfect nativity set :(

nativity I did the chalk board sign by hand drawing using the chalk marker from Stampin’Up!. Yes I know, I need more practice!!! you wouldn’t believe that I took calligraphy classes in school.

Next a view from the kitchen back into the living room, love to catch a view of that snowy tree from another room :)

vista

I only wish I could have the luxury of a separate tv room so that the big black box wouldn’t exist about the fireplace :(

One more look at the beauty (well, at least  I think it is), have you spotted the peacock feathers? I added them as a nod to the blueberry, we are not finished changing this room so things are not completely pulled together colour wise just yet. The tree has 1600 lights on it and hundreds of baubles. Really cheap plastic ones in the background and special fancy ones at the front :)

tree_

There are peacocks perched on a garland on the mantelpiece :)

peackock

   And remember the windowsill? well here it is again this time at night.windowI had these reindeers a good 5 years now and they usually go by the fire. I fancied a change and tried them in the window then I ended up cutting up a flocked garland to create a little forest for the reindeers to roam in. Clear lights and a few feathered birds were enough. I am loving the starburst effect on some of the lights in this photo :) I am wondering if I am the only one who likes to look at the lights on the tree with squinted eyes LOL.

So that is all, I do decorate the bedrooms as well(even the bathrooms) with tiny little touches but I couldn’t cope with tidying the whole house in one go. It was more fun trying to capture fun pictures of this lot for you all, as I  know you are just as nosey as I am when it comes to looking inside at peoples homes.

bauble

Well thank you so much for popping round, it was lovely to have you here.

xoxoxo

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Friday 13 December 2013

DIY Christmas Ornaments-Video Tutorial

Hello there,

I am grabbing two minutes to update my blog between writing nearly 150 cards today. Its ok, I have the music on and a BIG pot of my current favourite Teapigs Spiced Winter Red Tea to keep me going, it would be AMAZING if I managed to get all my posting done today :)

The tree has been put up 2 days ago, it is massive and bare at the minute but I am hoping to tackle that as well as the rest of the house decorating this weekend. And just like every year my tree will have lots of handmade ornaments. One of them will be these really cute and very easy to make

joyful tidings ornament_

They take no time at all and would work just as well done in paper as they do in the fab canvas from Stampin'Up!. I used the fabby Snowflakes Flurry stamps along the fabulous More Merry Messages sentiment stamps.

They look very pretty hanged on a bunch of twigs in a vase or a basket for a bit of natural  Christmas decorating. And the texture of the canvas is so pretty :)

joyful tidings ornament close

And I do love an all natural decor but I love it even more if it has touches of glitz and glamour like these pretty frosted embellishments :)

Enjoy watching the quick video, and I hope you might even want to give them a try :)

As always thank you for your visit :)

xoxoxox0

 

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Tuesday 10 December 2013

My Digital Studio Home Decor Stencils

Hello there,

Yesterday I blogged on the My Digital Studio my December Design Team assignment, and it was about incorporating MDS in your home decor.

Here’s my post:)

With December being such a busy time for all of us, I wanted to share a little creative inspiration that doesn’t take long to execute (but that still packs a punch). Stencilling in home decor is always trendy and there is nothing easier than fabric printing. Silhouettes, typography, and geometrics can all be used creatively around your home and with MDS it couldn’t be easier.

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Making your own stencils is a breeze, especially if you have an e-cutter (but it’s not essential). You can simply scale your image to size in MDS, print it on normal copy paper, tape the paper securely to a cutting mat, lay a piece of window sheet over the top, and tape that into place. Then using a scalpel and a steady hand, you can cut away around your design. In July I was privileged to attend a special demonstrator incentive trip in beautiful Utah. For every incentive trip, Stampin'Up! gives us fabulous pillow gifts and this year our gifts were presented in cute hessian/burlap bags. I kept the bags thinking I would reuse them for some of my presents this year but then it hit me: I wanted to keep them for myself, so I turned them into throw pillows! And one quick stencil later, I managed to introduce one of my favourite images to my living room home decor.

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And you know the best thing about these? I didn’t use any special fabric paints; I just simply stencilled using some regular wall emulsion paint. It took me longer to style the cushions for the fabulous photo than it took to put them together. I love how they turned out. In less than an hour I managed to add some seasonal art to our room that I will be able to keep out for the whole winter season.

stencil

I would like to mention a few points regarding stencils. Once cut out, I used a layer of multipurpose glue around the shape (especially around the fine lines). Once dry, this becomes repositionable and it will allow you to keep it secured to your fabric. While stencilling, you do not want to risk moving the stencil and distorting the image. Start with a little paint on your brush then gradually build the intensity again; too much paint on your brush could bleed around the stencil and ruin your image. Wash the stencil in warm water after using.

clip_image008             And if you would like to make a pair of pillows and your design is a silhouette, flip the stencil over and have the silhouettes facing each other.

What do you think? Is this something you could be trying yourself? I would love to know if you are making anything sp please share it with me :)

Have a fabulous day and thank you for the visit :)

Don’t forget to check the CLEARANCE RACK  updated today up to 80% some Stampin’Up! goodness. hugs

xoxoxo

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Sunday 8 December 2013

Last Stampin’UP! class of the year

Hello there,

How was your weekend? I ran my last class of the year this morning and it was super fun, we had Christmas music, mince pies, a decorated hall complete with the tree and lots of the usual fun banter.

I really love our group of crafty ladies and I couldn’t be more grateful to them for their friendship and their support :).

And we went off with a bang creating 3 over the top projects !!.

The first one a festive fresh foliage pocket. My favourite way of adding a festive touch to a corner of the house is by simply adding some fresh greenery, whatever there might still be alive on the garden at this of the year. And the banner kits make lovely pockets perfect for such posies :)

Stampin'Up! Remembering Christmas_

Yes, the stag head made yet another appearance :). This time I gave my MDS and ECutter a go and let the machine cut all of these heads out for the ladies. It was the first time I used my Silhouette/MDS  for a class but won’t be the last I am sure.

I cut the heads in Soft Suede card stock then we inked the edges in early Espresso ink and stamped the Woodgrain background  stamp in whisper white ink.  Stampin'Up! Remembering Christmas from UK demonstrator  Monica Gale close

Layered Labels is a favourite Stampin'Up! stamp set of mine and together with the matching framelits I used them for more or less every occasion, definitely a firm spot in my top 10 :)

A bit more layering and inking and we ended up with a lovely piece of home decor.

Short and sweet as I need to do some ironing tonight before Paradise starts :). Like always if you have any questions about my project please let me know. Have a lovely evening and thank you for stopping by.

xoxoxox0

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Friday 6 December 2013

Envelope Punch Board Gift Bag-Video Tutorial

Hello there its Friday !!! And not only is the beginning of the weekend is hubby’s birthday today. Needless to say I am rushing around to get everything finished and ready for a little celebration tonight.
So I am sharing a quick video tutorial I made for a project I blogged before. I had so many emails for a tutorial for this gift box made with the Envelope Punch Board from Stampin'Up! that I hope it tickles. I am running out of videos so I might have to make some more but truth is they take me a lot of time to edit so I might slip back into my old ways :) we shall see.
Anyway here’s the little bag,
Envelope Board treat bag
 
I a loving the alternative colour combination of this project and it goes so well with the brown  of the chocolates YUMMY
treat,  here’s the video –ENJOY :)
 

I want to thank you for stopping by today and to say that I will hopefully see you again tomorrow, but if I don’t -Have a wonderful weekend !!!

xoxoxoxo
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Thursday 5 December 2013

December’s most wanted Stampin’Up! Product-Video Tutorial

Hello there,
I know my title is intriguing but I do believe that there is one product every crafter should buy for their festive makes. It isn’t even an expensive product but its certainly one that will take your super makes to superb makes :)
I am of course talking about the the fabulous heath and stick powder, a powder which will allow you to glitter glaze everything in sight.  Have a look at my card below
Stampin'Up!  Uk Lovely as a Tree Video tutorial
This stamp set has been in the Stampin'Up! for a very long time, it is called lovely as a tree and I can’t see it retiring any day soon either. Its what you would call a keeper.
Back to the powder :) you can pair this with so many different dry ingredients to use in your paper crafting but none give you a more stunning effect then dazzling diamonds.
Stampin'Up!  Uk Lovely as a Tree close
Sparkly glitter is hard to capture in photography but the video will definitely show you the true  dazzling effect :)
Watch the video below to see what I mean
And because I am getting more and more confident with Stampin'Up! My Digital Studio by watching videos from talented demos around the world I decided to share an amazing card using the same stamp set but this time digitally.  It will blow you away and teach you a lot :)
Here’ s the card
julie le blanc
and here’s the fab video :). ENJOY !!!

Thank you for your visit, I will see you tomorrow again with the next 2 days of December Daily, you can see the first 2 pages in my previous post :).
xoxoxoxo
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