Christmas Crop

Saturday 12th December we have our Chase scrappers crop. Sue is bringing her shop from Crafty Stash, and there will be a class kit provided for £12 for those who want to do it. The room hire cost will be subsidised this month= just £3! We are having our annual buffet too, just bring something to share. If you want to, bring a £5 scrapbooking gift for our secret santa gift exchange. I always look forward to the Christmas crop, it's become just part of Christmas for me. Spending time with great people, doing what we love - what more could a girl want from Santa?
If you love Christmas you will love these! http://www.jacquielawson.com/cards_christmas.asp
Jacquie Lawson's amazing interactive Christmas cards. This woman has single-handedly captured the essence of everything wonderful about Christmas in her cards. Enjoy:)

Seasonal treats

It's my favourite time of year! The day I get out the autumn basket is always a marker for me - Christmas is on the horizon! It symbolizes nights in snuggled on the sofa, Christmassy movies, and that twinge of excitement in the air. I have been having a go at making some cards too. I was given a lovely watercolour painted card last year and kept it, so here is my version, with added stickles for sparkle! I am loving watercolour painting :-)

Sprinkles

Stacy Julian has been around in the scrapbooking world a llooonnnnnggggggggg time! I like her outlook, and her simple scrapbooking style, and most of all, her attitude. I LOVE the sprinkles section of her website. If you have time, it's very uplifting.
http://stacyjulian.com/sprinkles/

Decorating

So sorry I have not blogged much recently. I have been decorating the living room, and what seemed a small job seems to have gone on for ages. It's the domino effect!! I was given a chest of drawers and I wasn't sure about the colour, but I needed more storage space in the living room, so I painted it. Even with good paint it took 3 coats. I'm pleased with the result though, and I now have a great place to store the grandchildren's toys and games, plus pens and paper etc. I will never have to hunt for a pen again:) All the DVD's fit in there too, and the remote controls will have a home. The fireplace was to be a quick job. Or so I thought. I sprayed it with 3 coats of Plastikote stone effect paint. It gave it a nice texture, but it didn't seem scratch proof and I didn't like the colour, so I did a top coat of satinwood silk. It's a lovely finish, and looks much like stone, but a far cheaper option. It's all taken me ages. I have painted 3 walls with Crown "on the rocks" (gorgeous colour on) and just have the last wall to paper. I got some lovely Laura Ashley paper, £20 a roll, reduced to £1 a roll in the sale :) You gotta love a bargain- especially a quality one! So that's what I've been up to. No time to scrap with all my lovely new stash. I'm looking forward to our crop class, felt covers for books on 14th November. There are still a few places so contact me if you are interested.

yummy fabrics

I brought back some lovely fabrics from America. Joanne's fabric shops are amazing- so much choice and a sale on too! Many fabrics were $3.99 a metre. I also got some goodies to experiment with on the fabrics. I'll let you know how it goes! I'm really excited tonight. I just heard my parents are moving to Stafford! After 70 years in the same house (where I grew up) they are taking the plunge. It will be wonderful to have them living just up the road. Fingers crossed all goes well with the house sale.

crop-learn-play

Yay! Saturday is crop day!! I just heard from Jules. She is coming with her shop- and bringing a class for us to do! How exciting:) I'm bringing some stash to sell so bring along anything you have to sell too. Then you can spend your money at Jule's shop guilt free!

stash binge!

Yes, I've been on a 3 week stash binge! I now need an extreme stash diet for at least a year! The photos are just some of my buys. There's also flowers, paper packs, embellishments, and more than a few clear stamp sets. Trouble is, there is no room to even get into my craft room. I am overwhelmed, and have no idea where to stash my stash! I got some great books that i will bring to the crop Saturday, so hopefully there will be some inspiration there for all.