Merry Christmas everyone :)

Wishing all my blog followers and fellow crafters a Peaceful Christmas and all the best for 2014!

I had a little giveaway last year and here's the surprise:

I am having another giveaway this year......BUT

it will be a little bigger - woohoo!

Please enter either here on the blog by posting a comment or on facebook for a chance to win one of THREE workshop places in 2014.

Good luck and be sure to enter by midnight on New Year's eve.

I will announce the winners in the New Year.

I am extending the date for entries up to 31st January 2014.

The free spaces will be available for workshop spaces in Enniscorthy, Kilkenny, Bonmahon (Waterford) or Limerick.

To those special people who I have recently met and those who continue to share their friendship and support, I sincerely appreciate this.

Please select the anonymous identity for posting comments if you don't have a blog or don't want to enter by facebook and remember please leave your first name and surname

.. and here are the Christmas themed boxes...

Sorry its sooooo late, but I am suffering with a bad cold all week and on day 4 :(  feeling rough as nails so hopping off to bed in a mo with some paracetamol!

So in my previous post of workshop cards I mentioned that everyone has the option of making all cards or swapping a card with a box option, and these are the choices... I love making favour boxes, am sure you can tell ....

Christmas Workshop makes

Popping in to share makes for this month's Christmas workshops.  We are getting stuck in to all things Christmas with the option of some gift box / packaging ideas for those really special gifts!

Today's post will be about all the cards and tomorrow I will post more versions of the tall gable box and an easel drawer box. I have decided to share these before the workshop this month, which I know some of you will like LOL!

I will be updating the Links to Products page with more info on products used, dies, papers, images etc where this are still available. Just need a little time to put in all the links so please be patient :)

Without further delay then, the first project to share is a matching tag and card (good for a man as no frilly things around!) and a nice way to dress up a bottle

My previous post contains info about an offer over at Meljen's designs where Melissa has a sale until November 30th - the snowmen used on the card and tag different size digi images which come pre coloured, so super quick to make up.

And to follow is a card made with a much loved Sarah Kay Christmas image - the card is slightly narrower than A5 with different sized front panels. 

the image was coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils

The inside of the card:

The next card is quite feminine and has a 'Country Christmas' feel about it - the digi elements were from Nitwit Collections Holiday Bouquet collection which I adore.  and I am addicted to this spellbinder ornament shape on this card as you might notice LOL!

the same papers used on the inside of the card as the front. The papers are subtle enough to line the card inside and still be good to write a message on..

The embossed ornament shape has a different feel embossed. Sorry the photo just doesn't do it justice - I need more practice!

Some more red - it's my favourite Christmas colour after all!!

This little bear is sooo cute... I haven't used bear images in a long while and I couldn't resist that along with lots of glittered edges...

Above shows the easel card closed and below the easel in the standing position

Muted papers for the inside too, and loads of space to write a special Christmas message..  I will post the box version of this card tomorrow ;)

So another colour combo I use often is blue and white, and I love this cornflower shade of blue especially at Christmas time. The doves were the first ever set of Flourishes stamps I bought and the stamp design is simply stunning.

Lots of die cuts and embossing on this one!

Coloured with pencils again (note to self - paints and markers are being neglected..)

Some new snowflake dies from Marianne D..

Used those sentiment Stamps from The Snowman released by Crafters Companion - fabulous sentiment selection for all of your Christmas cards in one pack. Below is how the card will look closed...

Also note the different pressure used embossing the front of the card and the inside with the same embossing folder - the versatility of the Jus Cutz machine is fantastic and no shims used!

Last but not least is a card  using the Spellbinder ornament die - yep the shape lends itself to so many things, including using with stamps which don't specifically fit the die, like the Angel Trail one from Inkadinkado used below:

This card has white embossing powder heat embossed on purple card, dry embossed snowflake corners and stenciling (the die used as a stencil for stamping the image and for using the distress ink.

Will be back tomorrow with the boxes

Meljen's Designs digital image offer news

Just wanted to share this. Have goodies to post up here on the blog but need to wait for some daylight and being at home to take some photos. In the meantime, for those of you who are coming to workshops this month and those who already attended one last weekend, here is a snippet of a bottle tag (matching card to go with it too) we are making - I used a pre - coloured digi from Meljen's designs.

So go on, take a look at the shop HERE and spoil yourself with the fab voucher below.  One of many things I love about Melissa's images, is that they always make me happy and smile when I look at them and use them.

Examples of cards I have made with some of Melissa's images can be found here. I love colouring them with promarkers or pencils.

Workshop kit up for grabs - UPDATED WITH A WINNER

Hi everyone, I have a full workshop kit up for grabs from September's cards, which you can find here.

this is one of the cards we made during September.

If you would like to be in with a chance of winning, please leave your name using the Comments box on this blog post (if you don't have a blog or google account leave a comment marked Anonymous, and put your name and surname in the comments box).

I will pick a random winner on 31st October @ 9pm.

I will post worldwide, so everyone is welcome to enter :)

Good luck!

and the winner is Ann Rochford, number 11, picked with Random.org

thanks to everyone who entered :)

Workshop Dates

For those who are interested in attending a workshop, my last two dates where there are a few places left, are as follows:

23rd November in Kilcannon Garden Centre, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford

30th November in Crafty Bride Wedding Studio and Craft Shop, Kilkenny City

Both these workshops are Christmas themed.

Workshop Cards

Hi everyone, from a very wet Country Wexford - today sure was one of those days for crafting!

Thanks to everyone who came along for these projects to Caroline in Crafty Cove in Bonmahon last weekend and to Kilcannon in Ennscorthy today.

So full swing into Christmas then, and we made a gift box, pop up note card holder and three other cards, with a mixture of die cut decoupage, stamped images for coloring and printed images, with lots of glitter thrown in for good measure - think we all went home looking decidedly sparkly today he he......:)

Please check the Links to Products page for items you might want to source yourself..

This first card is one of the new Craft Creations due Cut Decoupage designs I really love, called Christmas Birdhouse, with green and a splash of red mini dot satin ribbon

The Christmas Sentiment Stamp was from one of The Snowman set from Crafters Companion which i found in the Crafty Bride Wedding Studio and Craft Shop in Kilkenny - these are just beautiful for traditional Christmas cards!

This next card was by request. I made the original last year and had so  many comments about the cute donkey that I decided to make it this year. 

To make the white pearls blue, use a Royal blue pro marker or peel off pen.

and some partial embossing for the inside layers...

Onto the gable box - reminiscent of the Cupcake Gable box, this one was taller made with either 12x12 or A3 size card sheets, some die cut decoupage (I didn't use the layers though just the main image), a punched border and more dotty ribbon together with stamped and glittered snowflakes.

one of the sides...

and the back..

the next project was a pop up gift card holder, and inspiration came for this from a fab tutorial you can find here

the closure is made with a ribbon tied around the card, and this runs through a snowflake, which is part adhered on the back:

coloured with Faber Castell Polychromos Pencils..

Last, is a vintage Christmas card, made with a postcard found here.

finished with distressed, inked papers and soft, muted coloured pearls for an aged look..

if you like the Snowflake paper then you can find it at Bearly Mine Designs, Designer Extreme Volume 3 here.