My Favourite Christmas Cards of 2011

Good evening everyone...I know I don't usually post in the evenings...but I'm just popping on to share my five favourite Christmas cards of the year with my PBSC DT buddy Debby...and all of you too! It's taken me a little while to look back through this year's cards and choose my favourite five...but here's my selection:

I love the mint & chocolate colour combo on this one...and of course those adorable wee mice :0)

This one's bit more elegant than my usual style, but I reminded me how much I love the effect of embossing (both types)

I'm not one to use 'people' stamps on my cards...I much prefer animals, but I love the vintagey feel, and all the distressing on this one

It's the combination of bright funky colours...Penny Black chickens...and kraft card that I love on this one

And, as I was on a mission a make flatter (and therefore cheaper to post) cards this year, I had to include a one layer card...this is my favourite one...although I didn't get to send it to anyone as it was snaffled from my card box by my Mum!

Oh...and before I go...just a little photo of the Christmas cake I decorated yesterday:

Merry Christmas - I hope you all have a wonderful day! :0)

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes!

It's Wendy's turn to set the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge...where we have a special challenge that will run to two weeks...we know you're all busy, so her theme is:

'Anything Goes'

As it's the last challenge of the month, it's your last chance to be included for the draw for the prize from our fabulous sponsor The Stamping Boutique.

I've made some Christmas crackers...I used loo roll middles for the centres of the crackers...attaching my cracker snap (from Hobbycraft) to the inside of it before covering it with kraft parcel paper. I'd punched along the edges of the paper (using my EK Success 'Scalloped Diamonds' punch)...and perforated around the centre (so it will tear more easily when it's pulled) before I stuck it all together. After adding a little gift to each one, I tied the ends with some twine ( from the Ribbon Girls), then decorated each one with some paper from the 'Wonderful Winter' pad by My Mind's Eye.

I'm also entering these into the following challenges:

• Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes
• Crafts & Me - Anything Goes
• Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please visit the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

ABC Christmas Challenge - Z is for...

It's my turn to host the final ABC Christmas Challenge of 2011...where our theme is:

'Z is for Zingy Colours!'

And I found this funny photo for some inspiration:

Lol...rainbow coloured turkeys!

We have two wonderful sposors for this challenge...firstly our lovely Lacey & her store, Stamp & Create:

The prize from Lacey is a $20 voucher to spend at Stamp & Create!

Our other sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps:

Bugaboo Challenge Blog 

The prize from Bugaboo Stamps is 7 of their fabulous digis!

I don't mean to boast...but I finished all my Christmas cards a few weeks ago...and even had some left over! But, I've not been quite so well prepared with all my tags...or even some of the gifs themselves! lol So I've made some much needed tags for this challenge. I took some 'zingy' coloured papers (from the 'Fancy Christmas' pack by Dovecraft and one from the 'Colourful Christmas' collection by My Mind's Eye) and used it to cover some plain tags...scuffing up the egdes a little with my distressing tool. I then made some of the papers double sided, by folding them back on themselves and sticking with glue, so that when I cut out the trees (using a Marianne Designs die) they'd be patterned on both sides. I then added some 'zingy' coloured ribbons for attaching them to their gifts.

I used two trees on each tag, cutting half-way up from the bottom on one, and half-way down from the top on the other, so that they would link together to make a 3D tree:

And another view for good measure:

I'm also entering these tags into the following challenges:

• Crazy Challenge - Christmas
• Everybody Art - Anything Goes
• One Stitch at a Time - Anything Goes 
• Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Christmas

For more inspiration from my fabulous DT buddies, and a couple of the Bugaboo Stamps DT girls...please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.