Snow Lady!!

Time to share another of our projects that's been featured over on the Crafty Ribbons blog. Today it's Lady/Mel's turn!! As it wasn't me who created this project, I don't really know what to tell you...it's difficult to know the why's/wherefore's when I wasn't there!!! So perhaps I should just show you her project...

As usual, you can see the item in all it's glory on the Crafty Ribbons blog here...or you can check it out here...

Ok, so he's not quite a lady snowman...but he is a snowman made by Lady...see what I did there!?! When Lady showed Mum and I this creation before we sent them all off, I got a little confused. I thought she'd made the snowman out of felt...turn out he's made with cotton wool instead...how clever's that!!! So well done that I thought it was genuine felt haha!! Lady's used the ribbons we were sent to create the snowman's hat and scarf...clever huh??

Another thing I'd missed when Lady showed us was how she's punch the snowflakes out of the paper and threaded the ribbon in behind...clever idea me thinks!! 

Lady's even given the little snowman a cheery smiley face...but if you ask me he's got the same sort of look that Lady gets when she's trying to pretend she didn't buy ribbon!!

Little x

Pudding Hearts

Another day, another feature of our work over at Crafty Ribbons. This time it was Mum's puddings!!

Mum's forever stitching together "this and that", so much so that we've got a whole christmas tree's worth of decorations...just no tree ...yet!! All it takes is for one tiny little spark of an idea and Mum's got the needle and thread out again!!

When Ali from Crafty Ribbons posted up the Vintage Christmas challenge, Mum knew exactly what she was going to make before she'd even been sent the ribbons!! She'd had an idea in the pipeline for quite some time...she just needed and excuse to make it!!...Cue Ali and the challenge, and the rest as they say is history!!

You can find the original post from Crafty Ribbons here or you can just look here...

Yep, Mum hand stitched all three of those puddings...added them to the ribbon we received from Crafty Ribbons and topped them off with an extra bit of their Christmas greetings ribbon...and there you have the beautiful hanging puddings!! We've not got any to hang up at our own home yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before they too are added to the ever expanding Christmas goodies filled area of the house!!

Little x

From Our House To Yours

I was quite happily sat finishing my cup of tea at lunchtime today, when my mobile phone made the little "bleep bleep" noise to tell me I had an email...I grabbed my phone to check who it was from...the answer was Crafty Ribbons..."Ooo" I thought...new ribbons to drool over!?! Nope, it was a notifcation that Ali had posted a new blog update!!! So I fired up the laptop, and clicked to see what it was....

I'll admit I wasn't quite expecting to find what I did...I thought it would be quite some time before I found that!!! What am I talking about?? Well, a few weeks ago we once again took part in another Crafty Ribbons Challenge. The idea is that they send a notification out to crafters allowing them to apply to enter...we of course did that!! Then Ali from Crafty Ribbons sends you a bunch of her lovely ribbons and a theme to what she'd like you to create with them...This time the theme was "Vintage" seeing as the ribbons she'd sent us were from their new "Vintage Christmas" ribbon collection. Mum, Lady and I all made projects for the challenge and quickly sent them off to Ali so she could take them with her to the Christmas craft shows where they use all the projects as inspirational ideas to help sell their ribbons.

We've taken part in quite a few of the Crafty Ribbons challenges. In fact, way back in the summer we made projects for their "Saddle Stitch" challenge that Ali has yet to share with everyone. So, when I clicked on the Crafty Ribbons blog, I really wasn't expecting to find her showing off one of our Christmas creations!!! You can check it out in all it's glory by clicking here!!! Or you can see it now....

Yep, this is the project Ali featured on the Crafty Ribbons 12 days of Christmas countdown blog post today...and it's mine!! The houses ribbon and the Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ribbons are some of the bunch of ribbons that Ali sent us. When I saw the houses, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it...I'd seen something similar before where someone had used a map and put photographs of the places they'd been on it....but I wanted to do something a little different...

So I printed and colourised a map and then stitched the route between Basingstoke (where we live) and Blandford Forum (where Crafty Ribbons are based)!!! I then added the little "from our house to yours" sentiment along with the ribbons, and there you have my completed card. 

We've got friends and family dotted all over the world in different places, so I have a funny feeling I'll be making a few more of these cards!!

Little x

Poopsicles!!!

Evening all!! I'm back with another Christmas project to share with you today...

Yep, that's right...it is indeed snowman poop!! A special gift for the naughty little devils in your life!!...why for the naughty people?? Well...

See, they're just for the devils as all us angels get much better presents than snowman poop!! ...Maybe Tiffany's for instance Mum *hint hint* hahaha!!

Little x

Santa or Elf??

I'm a little bit confused...you see, for most of the day on Sunday (aside from the loo breaks, countless requests to "put the kettle on" and of course the snack breaks) I sat and made quite a few of the same thing...What were they???

These...

What are they??...Well, they're very special little cards for some very special little people (not me) from a VERY special person!!!

Yes that's right...Santa!! So you see, as I spent most of my day putting them together, I'm not quite sure who I am!!! Am I Santa?? I don't have a beard, or a red suit and I'm certainly not buying hundreds of thousands of presents!!! No, I can't be Santa...so that must make me an elf then?? ... I am small...I do own stripey socks...I will be making lots of Christmas presents for people...and I have done Santa's work for him!!! Yes...definitely an elf!!!

Ooo and not only do the children on Santa's "Nice" list get a special card, but they also get this...

That's reindeer food, sent directly from Rudolph!! Plus a little candy cane for the child to eat...but just incase the children decide they want to fly too, the reindeer food is edible...they just might get a rather bright red tongue!!!

Elf-Little x

It's On It's Way!!

I know...I know, there's still a long way to go before Christmas...but not in the crafter's world there's not!! We've had lots of ideas in the pipeline since way back in around January!! Plus with orders for over 90 Christmas cards, not to mention the gift's we need to make, you kind of can't escape it in our house!! It's already taken over the kitchen, the lounge is full of this and that, the hall way has boxes of stuff and well to be fair the only rooms that don't have any "Christmas" in them are the toilets and bathroom...although don't tempt Mum!!!

So seeing as I have to suffer the earliness, I thought it only fair that you should too!!! How kind of me right?? haha I know!! Therefore, today I thought I'd start sharing just some of what we've been making ready for Christmas...starting with these....

Months ago when we were asked to make some pamper cakes for Christmas presents, all kinds of ideas started whizzing around our heads...but the minute Mum started playing about with ribbons, she knew exactly what she was going to do...Santa cakes!! So, after a bit of shopping Mum made both of these...one with male bath products, and one with female. She'd put it all together, but there was still something missing...until she remembered something she'd seen ...and then the candy cane hearts were added for an extra bit of "fetiveness"!! ...what do you think??

Of course, once she'd made one, or even two pamper cakes, Mum's brain went into creative mode and she soon came up with this...

A Christmas kitchen cake...personally I think it would be an ideal gift if you were having Christmas dinner at a friend or relatives house...not only do you get the bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner, but you also get a few utensils that are bound to come in handy at some point when the chef's stressing about doing too much!! And then when all the dinner's eaten you can dry all the dishes up with the new towels!!

Now I know that not everyone's a fan of Chirstmas...My Brother for instance is more interested in the food than anything else!! ...but you still have to have presents...so what about this...

yep!! The ideal gift for the scrooge in your life!! Not even a single bit of christmas in sight!! Plus when they'll be too busy sucking on those humbugs to be able to complain!! ....well ok, I can hope!! 

Little x

More purple...but with green!!

Evening All!! Bit of a late post from me today...I've been busy making even more special projects that I can't tell you about again...but I will someday soon, I promise!! Until then though I'll share a couple of Projects both Mum and I made a few weeks ago...

First up, there's this pamper cake...you may remember a while back, we made a similar cake?? Well, this one is again for a friend of Donna's...she'd loved the last one we made, so wanted something similar again. She placed her order...Mum and I got to work buying all the bits and bobs and making everything match...we were all finished and made when Donna suddenly realised she hadn't asked us to make a card...

So having already made the pamper cake in the purples and greens, it was obvious what colours the card needed to be...We've had these backing papers lying about in our stash for quite some time, but never knew what to do with them ...until now!!! Added to tatty carrying the purple present, I think it makes quite an elegant yet cute looking card!!

Plus both the card and gift match!!

 Little x

A Little Bit Of Purple!!

Anyone notice I've been missing for the past couple of days?? Well, I've been a busy little elf, making some rather special goodies...but that's not why I've had no time to make some posts for you...Nope, the reason for my Absence is Mum!! You see, she's the big 5 Ooo in a little under a month and I've been trying to make a couple of VERY special things for her...trouble is, how do you make them when she's in the same house?? ...Yep that's been my problem...Mum walks out the door and I rush to my secret hiding place and get back to working on my projects...it's all hush hush secret stuff, but the minute it's in her hand I'll share it all with you too!!

So now you know where I've been, am I forgiven?? Haha thanks (I'm hoping you said yes)!! Back to today then...

A couple of weeks ago, Allie asked us to make 4 special cards for her Daughter Zoe's 16th birthday...which is today!! All we knew, is that they needed to be purple, include tatty teddy and be very special!!So here's what we came up with ...

First up, and probably my favourite card I've made in a while is this large Daughter card... when I started looking for things to put together for this card, I found the lilac gingham piece of A4 card and had that lightbulb moment!! You know, the one where you have an image inside your head of what you want to do...usually the final project doesn't work out the same, but this one really did...I know I'm a little bit biased, having made it, but I really do love this card!!

This is the first of the three Sister cards...Mum made this one. You might not be able to see it as the image is a little small, but the backing paper on this one says "happy 16th birthday". Again, once Mum knew Allie wanted purple themed cards, she knew exactly what image she wanted to us...tatty carry the purple present...Ooo and the present's even got a little gift tag with Zoe's name on it too!!

Second on the list of Sister cards, was the tatty flower card which was also made by Mum. Again, she's personalised the backing paper, which reads "happy 16th Sister" with Zoe's name this time added to the flower. The difference between making and buying cards, is that you can personalise every detail of the card, not just the bits a system decides to allow!! 

Lastly, this third Sister card was made by me...I won't tell you the trouble this card in particular caused?? Why?? Well, lets just say it was 11pm, I'd spent the past two days playing with my drawers (that's another story), I hadn't quite figured out what I was doing, and when I did I just kept making silly mistakes!! Thankfully the end result was pretty, but I did worry that it wasn't as purple as the other cards...

Mum and I really loved these cards...to the point that we decided that if Allie didn't like them, I was going to hold her down and Mum was going to punch her!! (Sorry Allie)...But it's ok, she loved them!!

Happy Birthday Zoe...hope you've had a fab day and loved your balloons!

Little x

P.s...Allie...Mum says the cake looked so yummy, don't forget her slice!!

Just A Card??

A few days ago I shared a couple of "off to university" cards, and today I'm back with more. This time they're both for Bethany. When we're asked to make a card, a lot of time and thought goes into their final look. We do have a library of set images that we can use, but it's not quite as simple as picking a picture and sticking it to card. Nope, we like to know what who/what the card's for so that we can tailor it to the person/event. 

With Bethany's card, we knew she was a fan of tatty teddy and pink. We also knew that although both cards were to be "good luck at uni" cards, one would be from her Sister, and the other her Parents....so that's the order placed!! ...once we had that, it was a case of looking at the images to try and see what would represent it all best....that's the difficult bit...not having any patterns/step-by-step guides...it's all imagination and creativity!!

So with my imagination and creativity, I made ...

this tatty teddy card, personalised with Bethany's name and wishing her good luck...

and this tatty teddy card with the little "you're off to uni" tag...

So that's the two card I made...simple right?? Well, not quite...you see to anyone else they're cute tatty teddy cards, but as I made them, I know the reasoning for those images and I hope Bethany does too!!

You see, the way I look at them is the little bear on it's own is Bethany's Sister Becca wishing her good luck at uni ...and the other card?? Well, that's her parent's in the top right wishing her good luck whilst Bethany's got her bag packed at the bottom left and is off to uni!!! Makes sense doesn't it?? So, like I said, they may just seem like cute cards, but as with every project we make, there's a lot of thought, hidden meanings and even more love put into them.

Hope you liked them Bethany

Little x

The Return Of Felt Friday!!

Ooo yes, it's been gone for far too long, but today Felt Friday makes it's return!!! Not only is it back, but it's back with quite possibly my most favourite felt creation yet.....

Meet Barry!!

I can hear you asking..."he's a penguin...why's he called Barry?" ...well, I'll explain!! A couple of years ago, Lady asked me the following question..."If you had a polar bear, what would you call it?" I gave it some thought...poley??...nope...snowy??...nope!! Those names were far too common, so I decided that should I ever be fortunate enough to in fact own a polar bear, I would call him "Steve"!!! Ooo yes, that's right...Steve!! Not a clue why, but since the day Lady asked me that question, all polar bears have been called Steve!!

Earlier this week, as Mum was hand stitching the cute little penguin together, I wanted to keep what she was stitching a secret from Lady. However, when she asked what Mum was stitching I couldn't just say something...I had to give her some kind of explanation!! So I asked Mum to name him, but he couldn't be called anything obviously linkable to a penguin...Mum's response?? "Albert" ...no chance of Lady guessing what Albert would be!!

So, Albert was all stitched up and ready to go, when I suddenly had a brainwave...in fact I made myself chuckle and couldn't wait to tell Mum what I'd thought of...I decided it was a shame we'd called him Albert...I had a much better name in mind...seeing as he was a cover for my Blackberry, and with him being made of black felt, he had to be called "Black Barry"!!!

And so, Barry was born!!!

Mum's also been busy stitching all kinds of other felt creations for Christmas, including these ... 

felt tree decorations, Rudolph, Robin, Rudolph and ...well, this little penguin can't be called Barry...he's a tree decoration!!! Perhaps I should name him Declan...what with him being a "Dec"oration!!

I know, I've lost the plot!! So on that note I'll leave you all alone!!

Hope you all have a fab weekend

Little x

Kit's 94!!

Today's post contains a very special card made for one of my Nan's new friends...Kit. Last week, Kit reached the amazing age of 94!! How amazing is that??...here's me moaning I feel old at (almost) 33 and then there's Kit, so full of life and giggling her socks off at 94!! As Nan hasn't known Kit all that long, we were a little unsure what to put on her card, but after a bit of thought and some investigating, Mum came up with this...

A very special floral card...with two little bears...I'm not sure which one's Nan and which is Kit though haha!! 

Kit even had a little party to celebrate her birthday...there were mini sausage rolls, lots of sandwiches and of course tea and cake...she was centre of attention for the entire day and loved it!!

Little x

Forensic Teaching Science!!

Confused by the title of this post?? Haha!! Then I shall explain...a while back we were asked to make a couple of cards for two very special people that were heading off to Uni this September....Melissa (Mel) will be studying Forensic science and Bethany (Beth) will be studying Teaching!! See, it makes sense now doesn't it!?!

With all that in mind, Mum made the following three cards to mark their new starts...

First up, there's this tatty teddy "star" card...Mum decided as they were both about to become superstars, they needed a super star card!!!

Ooo and as they were both from Donna and they'd probably see one another's card, she made them both the same...slightly different colours, but still the same!!

As Mel was moving all the way to Kent to study, Donna also asked us to make her a new home card...

So Mum made this very cute little card...personally I'd say that the two little bears are Ed and Donna (Mum and Dad) sending lots of Love to Melissa in her new home...so appropriate I think!!

We're still a little bit behind with these posts, so both girls have now left for uni...but as far as we've heard (and seen the pics!) they're both having lots of fun already!! 

Best of luck girlies

Little x

Chez Jackie!!!

Remember way back in May, I shared a very special card with you that was sent all the way to Canada?? Then in July I shared another card that was sent to Canada?? Well, they were both sent to Jackie's Son Rob and Daughter-In-Law Jess who live in Canada....but this week Rob returned home for the first time in over two years...don't worry he brought his Wife too!!!

Jackie was so excited when she found out her Son was coming home...in fact I'm pretty sure that if it was possible for a human to explode with excitement, she would have done just that!!! Jackie instantly set about getting everything ready for their visit ...including repainting!!! But as it was such a special occasion and she was so excited, she asked us to help her out with something a little bit different...the only problem was, she didn't know what!!!!

Originally Jackie asked us to create a couple of special gifts for Rob and Jess to take home with them. However, having found out that Jess had been given a huge list of requests for things to take home and would therefore have no room left in her suitcase, Jackie thought it best to change that idea!!!

So then what??? ...Well, that was a surprise...even for Jackie. Ooo yes, she asked us for our help and our help was what she got!!!

Mum and I decided that although Rob and Jess would be staying with Jackie rather than at a hotel, they would still need the "hotel treatment", so with a bit of imagination, a lot of giggles and some heartfelt thought, we came up with this...

Yep that's right...Rob and Jess will be staying at "Chez Jackie"...the new and exclusive hotel situated right here in Basingstoke and rather handily owned and run by Jackie!!!....why the flip flops??? Well, Jackie loves her flip flops...she even wears them in winter!!! So when I created the brand logo for "Chez Jackie" there was only one choice for the imagery!!! Ooo and what you can't see in this picture, is that inside their welcome folder was a whole heap of leaflets for local places to visit along with some taxi company business cards and some fascinating information all about Basingstoke!!!

Now then, usually when you stay in a hotel, you not only get a welcome pack, but you also get some refreshments too right??? ...

you do at "Chez Jackie" too!!! there are two little boxes, each containing some coffee sachets, tea bags and of course sugar. Only problem is, if they want a tea or coffee they don't have a kettle in their room!!! Well you can't have everything can you!!!

But you can have breakfast....

So long as you order it from "Chef Rob"...Ooo yes, there was no way we were going to have them thinking Jackie would take them breakfast every morning!!! I can tell you, Mum and I had so much fun making this menu and thinking up all the names of the dishes...my personal favourite is "Baps Out"...makes me chuckle every time!!! 

Most importantly of all though, no hotel stay is complete without finding a mint on your pillow!!! So Mum made these little guys...

Ok, so don't look at the one in the middle with the funny eyes (I said don't look)...don't look like mints??? Well, hidden inside their heads is a round chocolate mint...cute right???

There were a couple of other jobs that we did too, but they were a surprise!!! Mum and I honestly had so much fun making all these little goodies, and can only hope that Rob and Jess love them as much as we do...but if Jackie's reaction is anything to go by, I'm sure they will, as not only did she not stop saying thank you, but she also brought us a very special treat...

Not that she had to of course, but they were very gratefully received...Love you Jackie

Little x

Almost Lost Nelly!

We've made so many projects recently and had so much going on I seem to have lost a bit of my brain!!! A few weeks ago we were asked to make an elephant birthday card. I chose all my paper pieces...I printed off the image...I decoupaged the elephant...I stuck it all together...I added the flowers...I glittered it all...I added some ribbon...In fact I finished it all...It was pretty (well in my opinion anyway)...I had it all ready for collection...it was collected...

But....only after it was collected did I realise that I hadn't taken a photo of it...It's habitual...you make a card...you take a photo of it...you than bag it up, write a receipt and it's all ready for collection...but this time I failed!!! My brain was so full of "what am I going to make for Christmas" that I completely ignored what I was supposed to have been doing!!! I sat for hours disappointed that I'd lost it...but then it struck me...whilst texting back and forth with Lady I mentioned I was making an elephant card....Ooo and not only that, but I sent her a photo of it!!!! Woohoo!!! 

and here it is!!!

it's not quite the completed card, but at least I didn't quite lose Nelly!!!

Little x