New Years Resolution - to use up those crafting bits and pieces!

Like many, I am guilty of hording all sorts of little crafting bits and bobs in the hope they will come in useful one day! I have 8 drawers full of of paper plus other drawers of ribbons, flowers, stickers and other embellishments. Despite my best endeavours - they never seem to decrease!

So, I got out this mix of bits and set to work - whilst I didn't use them all up, at least it is a small dent in the stash now, plus some cards to go to raise funds for local charities

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and as a bonus I also made 2 ATC's for swapping as well!

Decembers Reindeer ATC Swap

I host a monthly theme swap over on Docrafts for ATCs - this months theme was Reindeer and here's a few I have made ready to go out at the end of this month.

If you would like to join in 2015, there are very few rules - you can use any style or techniques, the cards must measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches and up to 4 can be swapped every month

January's theme is Cars and further details can be found on the Docrafts ATC forum

Pollyanna Pickering - Best of Breeds

I spotted these fab set of Best of Breed dog images by Pollyanna Pickering on TV and bought them because I have a friend who loves Jack Russell dogs. Her birthday is not until June - but it is better to be prepared early I say!

I thought I would have a break from all things christmassy and make up a few birthday cards, as I have quite a few other dog loving friends too.

I have bought several of her other card sets before with owls, tigers, mice and otters - the detail is amazing and always on good quality paper.

Upcycled Christmas Cards

A couple of 2014 cards made using last years Christmas cards - I'm lucky that several people save their cards for me and I have great fun cutting them up and reusing them!

I also went to a willow weaving wreath workshop yesterday and for the first time made my own Christmas wreath - you can read more about this on my 50 Challenge blog here

Snowman and a Poppy

Really enjoyed making this cute snowman Christmas card

Was also pleased today to get my special Poppy from the Tower of London - a very special momento of a stunning  piece of public art!

Christmas Bunny

Cute Christmas card of bunny and robin - think I am now suffering from Xmas fatigue - I had to make a couple of girly birthday cards as a break from all the Santas, snow and reindeer!

Foxy Christmas Cards for 2014

I love the Woodland Winter range by BoBunny and treated myself to the Noteworthy pack to make some cards up -the fox makes a change from Reindeer and Santas!

Hunkydory Moonlight Christmas

I don't often buy the Hunkydory Magazine, but loved the Moonlight Christmas images with the cute little deer that were in issue 18! 

Rudolph Reindeer Christmas Cards

I treated myself to a die'sire Reindeer die and I am really pleased how it cuts. I can't resist adding a dot of red liquid pearls as his nose!

I love reindeer on Christmas cards and I am also hosting a Reindeer themed ATC swap over on Docrafts, so expect it will get a lot of use this year!

Bright and Contemporary Christmas Cards

As a contrast to my traditional and vintage Christmas cards I put together a couple of bright and modernistic cards - the papers were quite deep in my pile of stash so maybe 2 or 3 years old! The ribbon was recycled from a gift set.

Stash Busting Christmas Cards

The stars on these cards were all made from odd bits of scrap card that I have had in my stash for ages along with some old backing papers. Mind you - I still have a large pile of scraps to use up!

Santa Cards

A few Christmas cards for 2014 that feature a traditional Santa Claus and little children! 

Baubles Galore!

This weeks Christmas cards seem to have a bit of a bauble theme to them!

Christmas is a coming .......

And like many people I have been beavering away making Christmas cards ready for this year. Not only have I sixty to make for friends and family, but I also supply 2 local charities. 

This is my first batch of over 100 cards and I hope to make a lot more in the next few weeks. I loved the free  Hunky Dory papers in this months Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine and have made 13 so far, with some papers still left to use.

 Most of these cards made been made with freebies from magazines or recycled cards from last year.

Purrfect Birthday Card

This cute stamp from Little Claire has been sitting unused in my stash for too long ... so it was time to bring it out and and have a play. I've used lavender, putty and plum Promarkers for the colour scheme and layered it onto a black card.

Dressmakers Mannequin

Sewing themed card made with dress makers dummy with gilding flakes, buttons and bows!

Wooden Birdcage Birthday Card

Another card with little wooden embellishments - this time a cute birdcage. The background paper was from Hot Off the Press and must have been in my stash for at least 5 years!

Little Wooden Embellishments

Love these cute garden themed wooden embellishments that I picked up in the Range recently!

As I recently celebrated my 50th birthday, I decided to have 50 new experiences over the next 12 months! 

I have set up a blog to recount these experiences and if you are interested - you can find it here!

Big Blooms and mounting excitement!

A couple of cards this week made with the big Papermania die cut blooms with button centres

Soon I will be off on a girly trip to New York to celebrate my 50th birthday. It will be hard to fit in all the sightseeing and shopping into just a few days, but we will! 

However, I will be foregoing a trip on the Staten Island Ferry to go craft shopping - and first on the list is Michaels!! I'm leaving plenty of space in the suitcase for a new handbag and lots of Christmas crafting items.

My sisters New York themed birthday card

My sisters birthday is just 4 days after mine and a week after my sons, so August is an expensive time for my family!

As I am 50 this year, we are going on a girly shopping trip to New York later this month with my Mum and Aunt - no boys allowed!

I have never been there before, so really looking forward to seeing the sites and grabbing a few bargains. I have had these Debbi Moore designs for a while but they are ideal for my sisters card, so I hope she likes it!

My Sons 20th Birthday Card

This year I am having a joint 70th birthday party with my son - he will be 20 and I'm 50 three days later!

This is his card and like most young men he loves his  black Converse boots, so when I saw these embellishments I had to get them for his card.

More Cards with Gilding Flakes

Got my gilding flakes out and had another crafting  session with them. 

One or 2 of the stamps didn't come out very well, as I chose the wrong colour background. 


 I think I will stick to using the gold and silver flakes on a black background from now on!