Last post for 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and a

Happy New Year!!!

Good friends

My dear friend (and neighbour) made this for us. It will be the perfect centre piece when we sit down to our Christmas dinner. As you can see, it compliments the colours of our dining table perfectly and will look even more beautiful when the candle is lit.
Many, many thanks Hélène for doing this for us.




paul said...

Hi lesley that looks something special, will set of Xmas dinner very well.

24 December 2008 00:04

The tallest Christmas tree in the world . . .

The Gerbrandytoren is a TV & radio tower situated in IJsselstein.


At Christmas time, lights are suspended along the tower wires, and at 375m, makes it the tallest Christmas tree in the world.


This year I was lucky enough to receive a digital SLR for my birthday, which I was allowed to have early. The tower still had it's lights and I managed to take a picture of the Gebrandytoren at night - all lit up!

Photo taken January 2008

Yesterdays gift box creations

I spent a pleasant afternoon yesterday making gift boxes.

These are the milk carton style ones, made from a template. I used holographic card and carefully cut & scored to make the box. The bows are hand tied and finished off with ribbon curls and a tiny gift card (die cut).

Hope DS and DH like the boxes and the contents inside.

The second type of gift box is a minature popcorn box (die cut). This too was cut from holographic card. The picture below shows the boxes made up and one unmade (at the back).

Now available from our shop

Happy crafting!Y

paul said...

love the boxes Lesley they a brilliant ...oh you are such a talented lady well done

16 December 2008 20:35

Our Christmas Tree

As I said before, I would love a "real" Christmas tree but cannot face clearing up the mess when the needles drop!
Here is our beautiful "fake" tree. Please note, that Winnie just had to be in the picture too!
This picture was taken by DH with his mobile phone - he wanted a picture of the tree with the lights on - not a bad photo, all things considered.


Today I am busy making gift boxes - milk carton ones in various sizes. I haven't made this type before but so far I am pleased with the results. I made some other gift boxes at the weekend (for my own Christmas present I might add!!), well, I say I made them, all I did was cut them out and provide instructions on how to put them together (couldn't do it all as it was for my Christmas present!!) . DH had his first craft lesson and although it was a simple project, he certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Happy crafting!Y

Twelve days of Christmas

Many years ago when DS was little, I made these Christmas bell pulls. Every year they are put up despite the fact I think they should be retired.
Each square represents one of the twelve days of Christmas. The border is holly and the berries are tiny red beads. Backed with felt and topped with green ribbon bows they still remain a firm favourite with DS.
















Anonymous said...

Wauw, you did an amazing job again Lesly!

Greetings,Esther

13 December 2008 09:14

Our little Christmas tree

I have always wanted a "real" Christmas tree but I must admit the thought of clearing up all those pine needles did not appeal.



This year in a moment of madness, I bought a small, real Christmas tree and found some small baubles that were suitable. I spent a pleasant hour tying on the baubles, the pearly star on top is one from my stash and the pot is one that I already had.

It now has pride of place in the middle of the coffee table (conveniently blocking the view of the TV - didn't think of that one!). I am really pleased with the result, just a shame that my photography skills are not up to much this week - I'm blaming that on the cold that I have - it must be affecting my vision, mustn't it???

We received a handmade Christmas card!

This morning we received this beautiful handmade Christmas card - isn't it great?
This was from our dear friends, Paul and Hazel and is one of Hazel's lovely creations. Thank you so very much!

Check out more of her lovely Christmas cards on Paul's blog His photo's are better than mine!!

Another Christmas card

It is always difficult to come up with an idea for a card for DS - too sentimental is not an option for this teenager and funny cards can be a bit hit & miss. This year I combined his nickname and his love of brands to come up with this unique Christmas tree. The spanners are for his nickname - he is affectionately known as Spanner (as they are useful some of the time! lol!!) and the "Converse All Star" logo as the tree topper, to satisfy the brand idea. The card is based on a gatefold, with the tree cut from the folded fronts. A cuttlebugged embossed background completes the card.

DS loved his card and to my amazement even found it funny - wonders will never cease!


paul said...

Yet again the master / mistress you'll have to advise me on that Lesley any you have shown you are the tops in creativity ability. well done.

Paul

11 December 2008 21:36

Creative Christmas

I love Christmas. I love making Christmas cards, Christmas shopping, wrapping the presents - I could go on. I dislike the crowds, the food shopping and the lists. I do a lot of my Christmas preparations when I am back in the UK, getting all the Christmas goodies DH & DS love that we cannot get here - Christmas pudding (nut free of course!!), stuffing and Christmas crackers to name but a few. Unfortunately this year we were back too early to get the Christmas crackers, the Christmas stuff was only just arriving in the shops - but at least I managed to get the pud!!

As I couldn't get the crackers I decided to make them myself.


The theme for this year is silver and black. I got a bit carried away and made some gift tags too!

A very personal commission. . . .

A few weeks ago I was asked by DH to make an A4 page to be included in a digital book for a retirement present. The idea for the book came from the retiree himself, as he had said that in his retirement he would write his memoirs about his time at work. His colleagues decided to write his memoirs for him!

The brief was to: "Write a story, rhyme, or anecdote with the retiree as leading character. Maybe a photo of you and him together. It is also possible to draw or paint something if you like."

Now I was lucky enough to know the man who was retiring (I worked with him 20 years ago!!), and DH has worked with him for the last 10 years but known him for over 20 years, so I had a little inside knowledge.

He had been counting down to his "big day" by cutting the segments from a tape measure, 1cm equalling 1 week and had also talked of what he would like to do with his new found freedom. I wanted to include this in the final design but it wasn't enough to fill an A4 page. I then had a brainwave and decided to split the page in to two - one half for the retiree, showing his hopes and dreams for his retirement and the other half for his wife showing her hopes and dreams for his retirement. As you will see below, her hopes and dreams for his time are the complete opposite to his!!

The poem reads:

Best wishes on your retirement
Enjoy a rest that's overdue
Take pleasure in the finer things
That are awaiting you

Retirement . . . . . . . . .
where every day is Saturday!!

Here's hoping that our retiree loves his book and all the memories within.