I'd like to introduce you to a new friend...

... in my first blog post for PaperArtsy over on the blog which I'm very excited about. .. please pop over and take a look  - not just at my project but at all the other great and inspiring projects that are on there.

This is the little friend in question - please pop over and say 'hello' - I think she's going to be a fun addition to the PaperArtsy family!

x

Stamp it, Paint it, Pin it & Wear it!

This is one of those 'while I have 5 minutes I'll see how this would look if....' projects... Its not the most complicated 'thing' I've ever made but it looks very nice pinned to my apron.  :o)

(I just realised - what?! no buttons!! maybe I decided the pretty brad did the job better.....)

I'm off to work... to the land of beads and sparkly things...

Deck the halls....

... it was time to decorate our home - festive tunes on the stereo and a glass (or 2) of bubbly stuff and the decorating was go, go, go

This year the tree is the right way up (!)

I love decorating the tree- getting the decorations out each year and choosing what colour scheme to go with- this year I chose a really simple scheme- White...

I've wanted to make a garland of pompoms for a few years but the thought of making enough pompoms to go around the tree (ours is 7ft high) was daunting but then I found out a shop was selling bags of white pompoms as 'snowballs'... LIGHTBULB moment! So I bought 3 bags & strung approximately 100 (yes, I counted them lol) onto a length of cotton yarn... LOVE how it looks - the tree is so pretty (even if I say so myself!)... And I managed to decorate the tree this year without injuring myself at all! (if you want to know what happened last year and what an upside down christmas tree looks like go here)

I've also created a wreath for the front door - something I haven't done for a while:

I'm really happy with this- love the combination of the colours - & I can't tell you how excited/pleased I was to find those black sparkly snowflakes when I was looking for something in our boxes of decorations...

The wreath is a combination of lots of my favourite things - kraft card, glitter (black glitter - v glam!), buttons, calico, my stamps - love it - would it be wrong to hang it all year?? (inside, not outside!)

Happy to use my stamps on the wreath too - a lovely fun contrast to the darkness of the snowflakes, and the Kraft tones down the blinginess of the baubles. The pieces are all attached by hot glue... gotta love a hot glue gun!

Sometimes I buy decorations to alter them (which I'm sure some of you do too) - buying them in the sales or when they're on offer like these:

..and I alter them- not because I didn't like them but because they suit an idea that's in my head or I can see how they can be altered:

This is the back and front of the same decoration.... Fresco Finish (great coverage!), buttons, die-cuts, and vintage book text.. :o)

I hope your festive plans are coming along nicely..

I've noticed (from being on both sides of the counter) that the shopping 'frenzy' has begun - good luck out there!

Take care..