Christmas in july

On saturday i went to a fab little class run by vicky, who is a stampin up! demonstrator. The theme, as the title of this post suggests, was christmas in july. Vicky runs her classes from her kitchen, for a limited number of people. There is a very relaxed atmosphere, and as the newbie to the group i was made to feel very welcome and no one was patronising towards me at all, while still offering me great hints and tips =)  she runs a couple of other clubs/classes so if you're in the northamptonshire area check out her blog and see what shes up to.

My lovely handmade bookmark and it's cute packaging

We were greeted with a lil handmade gift and christmas songs in the background to get us in the festive spirit, our goodies consisted of a set of tree trimmings stamps and jolly holidays designer papers.

We made a lovely selection of cards, some were quite simple but looked great. Which is great if you've got lots of christmas cards to make.

I love the colours we used, because while they are traditional colours, they aren't old fashioned and have a fresh modern feel to them. i can't wait to actually order my christmas supplies and start making my own batch of christmas cards (i don't have too many to make so i won't be starting my just yet).

I got the chance to have a go with the big shot, which we used to make some gift packaging and add some texture to one of our cards. I've been thinking about selling my grand calibur as its a bit restricted with the dies you can use and after saturday, its on ebay as i type!!!!

I think i actually enjoyed this class more than the workshop in doncaster as there were fewer people and you could really chat and it was nice to go somewhere local to me and get to know other crafters. I can't wait till next months class.

As well as the projects we made vicky gave us ideas for christmas packaging and decorating. she had an amazing advent box on display, which i must work out how to make in time for christmas! Suffice to say i placed my first (of many i'm guessing!) order today (its taken me this long to actually decide what to buy!) and i've already got a rather large list of things i want from the catalogue. well its my birthday in september, so guess what i'm getting!!!....

Summer Crafting

I've just got back from a lovely weekend spent in doncaster =) I managed to combine a visit to my parents with a weekend of crafty fabulousness!!  On friday I went to the workshop with stephanie and nancy & was lucky enough to have Diane looking after our table.

Some of the items from our goody bags

 This was the first ever workshop i've been to, so it was a bit over whelming when i walked in and saw soooooo many people milling about but everyone was so friendly & we were all there for the same reason so i was relaxed and having a good laugh in no time =) I even managed to sit next to someone who is relatively new to crafting, just like me!

My favourite of the days projects

 None of the projects were too difficult, but lovely all the same, and i tried some things that i hadn't tried before (even though i'd been meaning to!). I think some of the more experienced crafters felt a bit frustrated as they felt 'there was nothing new' about the workshop, but in all honesty we see these people on TV regularly, & they had to work out projects that lots of people (of different skill levels) could all complete in the time we had.

As i said i think all the projects were lovely and overall it was a good day, everyone had a good laugh and stephanie and nancy did their very best to get round and talk to everyone and have pictures with those who wanted them. unfortunately i didn't get to have a picture with diane (she is very sweet and hardworking) as she was surrounded by people wanting to join the MCS platinum club & she was just as busy during the show on the saturday and sunday demoing the cd roms and all the new features and exclusive downloads for platinum members.

The free MCS Platinum club stamps

I managed to spend so much money over the weekend, i think i've now got enough stash to keep me going for months, the hubby says i won't need to buy anything for ages now (and realistically i probably don't) but i know i will 'need' something else soon enough!! I do have my stamps away ink dabber deluxe collection to come as i arranged for it to be delivered so i didn't have to carry it around =) and the lovely Ali reeves gave me some info on a local craft group, which i'll hopefully to be able to attend from september (they're taking a break for the summer soon)

Some the purchases i made over the weekend =)

Any ways, enough babble from me for a while. Time for me to try and relax after my busy weekend and start playing with my new goodies =D

Swap cards

I've not been well this week so haven't had much time for crafty pursuits =( after (finally) seeing my dr i'm almost bac to 100% (just on time for doncaster at the weekend!).  so i'll be starting the invites for my sisters baby shower in september, i've decided to put my humphreys corner cd rom to good use.

Any way what have i managed to create since my last post well i used my bird sanctuary and floral flourishes shapeabilities to decorate my wallet card for the july wallet swap on the Do crafts forum, it was my first ever swap and i must say it was an enjoyable and actually pretty exciting experience =) so thanks to Karen aka Redrottie for the fabby swap and all the lovely images that kept me occupied while i was 'suffering'!

My next card was for the july friendship swap and i used one of my humphreys corner stamps, and i'm so pleased with how its turned out. it was so simple to put together but i really love this lil card.