I've been a very lucky girl...

I was delighted on Christmas morning to see this under the tree...

which, when opened revealed...

this absolute beauty!

I love it :)

And the lining is soooo lush too...

I was also treated to another charm for my Pandora bracelet from Lianne

Which is now on my bracelet with the others, some from my birthday in November.

I seem to have a colour section theme going on here lol!

And some other lovely things too...

Spoilt me? - most definitely!

Now the dust has settled....

I can share some of the lovely cards given to me this Christmas by my crafty friends:

Lynn made this one with a beautiful Angel stamp.

Anita created this lovely aerial view of a snowman - how unique is that?

She also made me a cake stand which I will share later - watch this space...

Liz created this gift card which has a pull out drawer with tea lights in.

Sue made the most beautiful pot of paper flowers..

Sorry I should have unwrapped them :( Will blog them again later!

These are the ones she made for my birthday..

Wendy made this cute card with a Warren the Rabbit image from CWC.

Jill gave me this lovely card with a cute bear image.

Chris hand-beaded this bauble for the tree.

This lovely one arrived in the post from Karen.

Sandra sent this lovely embossed card.

Alison sent this cute card too.

Thanks to everyone for these lovely treasures.



Christmas Dinner and Dad's Birthday

I love to set the table for Christmas Dinner, this year we were only 4.

This is just as we were sitting down to our starter..

Lovely dressed Lobster and Prawn Cocktail :)

It's Dads birthday on Christmas day and this year I made him a fruit cake (Delia's mix from Waitrose) which I covered with marzipan (ready made) and home made royal icing.

I've not done this type of icing for many years so please make allowances :)

This cake stand belonged to my grandmother (or great grandmother?)

I'll take another photo later so you can see how lovely it is.

I added some ready made blue flowers to the top of the cake too but didn't get a chance to take another picture before it was served.

Robert took a video on his phone which I hope to upload too.

Happy Birthday Dad (belatedly I know)

TFL

xxx

Dressing the Tree(s) II

And on to the lounge....

I have taken a different approach to this tree and 'draped' it with floral garlands and sprigs.

Pride of place went to this lovely Angel, made by Lynn to match my colour scheme of purple and lime. Thanks, Lynn, she looks perfect.

I love these white spikey stems and the new lilac sunflowers.

There are jewelled, feathered birds too.

The lilac garland is new this year. 

These are the new jewel stems I got from the Christmas shop in Bluewater, some in an olive/lime green. 

Some in purple.

So, what colour is your tree this year and do you prefer traditional or modern?

Would love to hear your choices :)

Thanks for sharing.....

Linda

x



Dressing the Tree(s)

Yesterday, we bought a real Christmas tree to put in the hallway.

It's the first time we have put one here but it seemed like a good idea.

We got the box of old decorations from the loft and had a sort through, Lianne decided on a blue and lilac theme.

Once the lights and baubles were in place we were quite happy with the result.

I took this one today with a little daylight from the front door, I love the glow.



Finding the old decorations was fun and I found this polar bear balancing on ice cubes, so cute :)

This tree is very different from the one I've had in the lounge for the last few years which is very modern. I'll add that one tomorrow with some new pieces added this year.

TFL

xxx

Gifts for the Girls..................

We always exchange gifts at our Chistmas crop at Jill's - Cardinal Colours - so this year I made gift boxes like the ones shown us by Zoe Pearson.

The bases are Bazzill with patterned paper by BG - Nordic Holiday, topped with a reindeer stamp from Stampin' Up.

Each box had a L'Occitaine shower gel or lotion or soap and a stamp from Sweet Pea Stamps plus

a bracelet I made with glass beads.

This one was for Lynn as she loves greens.

This one is Anita's

I made Jill a matching necklace too.

This one was for Sue.

And the remainder....

Stampin' Up - Part 2

The second class at our Stampin' Up day out was designed by Natalie as above.
A lovely shimmery gold card stock was used for these designs along with red cardstock and lush red ribbon. On the first card, the background was stamped with serene snowflakes, the message is from Contempo Christmas set.

The people are from the Welcome Christmas set and we made a reflection using the stamp-a-majig, trees from Lovely as a Tree.

Coated with heat and stick powder then glittered we learnt a new technique too.

This is a twisted easel card using stamps from Welcome Christmas set.

And another new shape...

 

Thanks Natalie :)