Rome wasn't built in a day...

Hi folks...Rome wasn't built in a day and that certainly applies to my rather ambitious plans to create a Winter Village for this year's Christmas mantlepiece...

and this "bull in a china shop/rush in where angels fear to tread" one woman construction crew is thanking her lucky stars that Tim shared a  fabulous "how-to" video with invaluable hints and tips. Don't get excited just yet...at the rate I'm going...I suspect it may be end up being more of a hamlet than a village...

just a few bits and pieces to add before I can share tomorrow. And it's batten down the hatches time again...the North Wind shall blow and we shall have snow...Storm Clodagh is on her way...in the meantime I have the Christmas card marathon to finish and a magazine commission with a fast approaching deadline to concentrate on.

It's hard to believe it's the last day of November...tomorrow we'll be on Christmas Countdown for real but first I would like to wish my fellow Scots across the globe a very Happy St Andrews Day and hoop-de-doo...huge congratulations to Team GB and the Murray Brothers for their spectacular Davis Cup Win.

Hugs Kath xxx

Woohoo...halfway there...

Hi folks...woohoo I'm halfway through the Christmas card-making marathon...continuing with the quick and easy production line system using one of my all-time favourite Hero Arts Christmas stamps...the gorgeous Winter Moon stamped with Hero Arts Charcoal Shadow Ink...

and one of my favourite Hero Arts Christmas Sentiments from Miracle Of  The Holiday 4...a chance to break out The Misti to guarantee they are all stamped in the same place...

with the addition of a Many Branches Tree...

and a sprinkling of Stampendous Frantage Aged Silver Embossing Enamel...

I'm looking forward to a "putting the card making on hold" time away from the cubbyhole...hope you enjoy your weekend too...whatever you have planned.

Hugs Kath xxx

Christmas Made Easy Part 2...

Hi folks...Happy Thanksgiving to my friends in the USA...wishing you all a happy holiday with your family and friends. In the meantime I'm back on the Christmas card production line and ready to colour the cute little "Bird Crazy" dudes...

a little bit of easy peasy Distress blending is the way to go using the left over piece from the mask we made yesterday...

starting off with Fired Brick for his red breast...

and Vintage Photo for his body...leaving a little area white...

voila...colouring done in two shakes of a cow's tail

now it's time to die cut the eyes...beaks..wings and some Christmas accessories

with the help of one of my favourite "make life easier" tools...the fabulous Sizzix Magnetic Platform...

woohoo...job done and at this stage of the proceedings...the Furry Guy with the big waggy tail has been asked to vacate the cubbyhole and I'm praying I don't cough or sneeze

and before you know the first batch of cards is done and dusted...

and it's time to put my thinking cap on for Batches 2...3 and 4.

Hugs Kath xxx

InLinkz.com

Christmas Made Easy Part 1...

Hi folks...well here we go...only 30 more days until Christmas and if you're anything like me...you'll be running around like a headless chicken trying to get everything done. Time to prioritise and first on my list are the Christmas cards because that all important last posting date will be here before we know it. With about 80 cards to make I'm taking the production line approach...making 4 batches of 20...mixing up the designs to keep the creativity flowing and my sanity intact.
I'm starting off with Bird Crazy...probably my favourite Tim Holtz stamp set of 2015 and going for a layered look but without the layering if you get my drift...minimising the chances of a "how much" heart attack when I finally reach the top of the queue at the Post Office.

I stamped this cute little dude straight on to the card blanks...

and used the matching Bird Crazy die to make a mask to create a little Broken China shading around the bird.

I would recommend using card rather than paper as the mask is going to get a lot of Distress Blending action before you're done...

and then it was time to create some background interest with a snowflake from Mini Weathered Winter...

adding sentiments from Crazy Talk...

I'll be back tomorrow to share the next step...the all important colouring on the bird.

See you then

Hugs Kath xxx

Practice what you preach...

Hi everyone...I've just realised this time next month will be Christmas Eve...crikey time to panic and hit the Christmas Card production line but first there's a very important task to finish off. I confess I'm one of those irritating "love to be organised" folks...a place for everything and everything in it's place tends to make life a whole lot easier but I don't always practice what I preach. I've been putting this particular job off for months and it was beginning to drive me bananas so I headed over to the Ranger Organize Your Products Page and printed off the labels I needed for the latest additions to the cubbyhole's Distress collection.

I covered the back of the labels with Stick-It making them self adhesive and the front with clear tape making them easy to keep clean. I don't have suitable size punches so time to raid the circle die collection...

I'd never got round to doing any of the Spray Stains so that was a bit of a die cutting marathon but with a few coffee break stops to keep our spirits up...

 they are all labelled and arranged in colour families...job done...

 the new ink pads have joined the rest of the Distress Family...

 but I may have to consider adding a second storey to the paint storage...

and there may well be a good few more coffee break stops required before I can face making a start on the big Christmas card making marathon.

Hugs Kath xxx

Winter Strolls...Hot Chocolate and Happy Mail...

Hi folks...it's Monday again already and after a fun few days away to recharge the old batteries...I came home to find a little taste of winter had arrived in my neck of the woods...

and at the first sign of a snowflake...the Big Girls' Blouses at the Met Office go into severe weather warning mode...it's Winter for goodness sake...it comes around each and every year and I'm sure you'll agree that the first fall of snow is so pretty...

 I doubt if today's commuters will be enjoying it quite so much as they sit in the usual gridlock chaos...

but how lucky am I to start my day with a bracing stroll in a beautiful winter wonderland with the Snowball Catching Champion aka The Furry Boy for company...

before heading back to the cosy cubbyhole for a cup of delicious hot chocolate and a fun day with the latest "Happy Mail" arrival...my parcel of Lucky Clover goodies "Sealed With A Hug" from my lovely crafty chums Brenda and David at Craft Obsessions...

Take care and stay safe if you're out and about

Hugs Kath xxx