Last Day of 2012...........a 'few' Christmas Photo's.

Hello to all my lovely friends, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and taking the time to read my blog, this year. On the whole I have had a good year, a few ups and downs and worries, like most people but with a positive outlook on life, we just get through it. So to all my friends and family, I hope you all have a Happy, Peaceful New Year !

This post is very photo heavy, so understand if you want to skip through, as most of you know, I have my blog printed into a book at the end of each year, so like to see my favourite photo's in the book.

Here are a 'few' of my Christmas photo's, I had such a wonderful time this year with my family, starting with a trip to Thomas Land at Drayton Manor.

We took a train ride on Rosie, one of Thomas's friends.

Big hugs for her cousin.

We saw Polar Express 4D, little Olivia fell off her seat, as she couldn't see with her glasses on, she wasn't hurt so we did have a little giggle.

While we were queuing, we got to listen to a wonderful choir and we saw the real Santa, he even knew that Mya had a new coat !!!!

 A photo of all my Mom & Dad's grandchildren.

Lastly, we went on a few rides.

On Christmas Eve, we always go to my sister's house for tea, then the big day !!!! Santa stopped at our house, we were all very lucky this year and was totally spoilt.

The girls loved their Onsies.

I have been extremely lucky this year and totally spoilt by Mick and my girls.

These presents were from my girls, I love my Pandora bracelet and the wonderful print by Charlotte Bird, I'd seen it in a shop up Stoke when we went to visit Jodie. She went back to the shop and bought it for me, carrying it all the way back home on the train.

These were off Mick, I have some more Rooster yarn, so will be carrying on with my Bobble Blanket in the New Year.

We had my Mom and Dad round for Christmas lunch, I made us all a little pillow box with a Lottery ticket, scratch card and a chocolate inside. I was the only one who won anything, they said it was a fix, hehe.

After lunch is when the chaos begins, the whole family comes around for tea, there was 17 of us this year.
Each year, my Mom and Dad and even the dog, dress up and give out more presents, the little ones love it, shouting 'we know it's you, Grandad'.

So that was my Christmas, this year, sorry it's such a long rambling post but thank you for letting me share it with you.

Have a wonderful New Years Eve and a Happy New Year.
xxxxDebxxxxx

FO Friday........My Secret Project Revealed.

Hello there, I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas, we all had a great few days but will share that in a separate post.

I'm back today with the secret project I started in November but couldn't reveal as it was a Christmas present for my friend Kerry.It was a crochet snowflake cushion, I was so pleased with how it turned out.

I saw that  Heidi was making some gorgeous snowflake hexagons on her blog and knew Kerry would absolutely love them, she loves anything with snowflakes on. I also wanted to make squares rather than hexagons as I was making a square cushion..
I started to look on the internet and found this pattern on Ebay called Snowfire 'snowflake', I used Rowan Cashsoft 4ply in cream and brown.

I crocheted 9 squares and joined them together using double crochet, then to get the right size for the cushion pad, I double crocheted around the squares until it measured 40cm squared.

This is the photo she sent me when she opened it Christmas morning, I think she was pleased with it, she says she can't stop looking at it.

Thanks for stopping by, check out all the other FO's, this week over at Tami's blog.

Have a great weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

Merry Christmas..........

image from Free Pretty Things.

FO Friday.......A Last Minute Gift.

Hello there, Happy Friday everyone, I'm back today with a FO (finished object), which I will be sharing on Tami's blog, it will be the first time I've played along with FO Friday's.

My friend asked me on Wednesday night, if I would have time to make some fingerless gloves for her MIL, before Christmas, she isn't very well and is feeling the cold, at the moment. I was really struggling for time so had to say no, yesterday though when I had five minutes, I thought I would look on Ravelry, just to see if there was a quick, easy pattern and if I had suitable yarn.That's when I found the pattern for these gloves, they were perfect, I had the yarn and were really quick to crochet.

The pattern is called Lacy Fingerless Gloves by Christie Pruitt, I started them late last night and finished them this morning. I love the pattern so will be making more, I'm so glad I looked for some and got them finished, I'm sure she will love them.I used Rowan Cashsoft 4ply, which is so soft and warm but lightweight too, and hook size 3.50mm.

If you want to see other FO's, head over to Tami's and take a look.

I probably won't have time to do another post so I would like to thank everyone who visits my little blog, I really appreciate all your kind comments that you take the time to leave, so thank you again.

I'd like to wish you and all your family, a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Peaceful New Year.
xxxxDebxxxx

Tuesday's Tallies.......Christmas Crochet.

Hello there, my lovely friends. Yay, the big man will be visiting soon, I hope you are all well at this busy time of year and have most of your shopping done.

Since Carole decided to stop Tueday's Tallies due to other commitments, Fiona from Knit Knat Knot UK has now taken over, which I'm so happy about as it makes me pick up my larger projects so I hope you will take a look at her fab blog and hopefully join us all after Christmas with a new project that you may have been wanted to start for a while. All you do with this CAL  is one square or one row a day, there is no time restriction, it's all very relaxed but it's surprising how quick you will get something finished.

I still haven't started back on my Bobble blanket but once Christmas is out the way I'll be back to it, I have got some fun  Christmas crochet projects to show you though, that I've made this week.

The first one is this fun Christmas Toadstool, I love it and it's so quick to make, you can find the pattern, here.

The next project are these bottle toppers and bow ties, I thought it would make these personalised bottles of wine more festive. There isn't a pattern for this, I made it up as I went along but if anybody is interested, I'll have a go at writing it down.

Last but not least, I've made this sweet little baby hat with some leftover merino yarn that I had, it's going to my friend's baby niece.The pattern is by Connie Stults and can be found, here.

Thanks for stopping by, I'm so sorry I haven't been visiting your blogs lately, I just haven't been about much but I will stop by over the weekend.

xxxxDebxxxx

Papercraft Inspirations Beautiful Blogs.......

Hello there, I hope you are having a good weekend, I nearly forgot to tell you all that my little blog has been featured in the Paper Inspirations blog gallery.
It is the Christmas edition and I was absolutely thrilled when I received an email, asking if they could feature one of my Christmas cards.
It was this easel card that caught their eye, which I created back in January.

It was using the Inspired by Stamping Christmas Greetings stamp set, you can see all the details, here.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of your day, we are off to see Jodie this morning, she started her new job on Monday so I'll get to hear all about it.She lives by Stoke on Trent near Trentham Gardens, so we are going to pop there to look around the Christmas market and maybe go on the ice rink.

xxxxDebxxxx

IBSIC #39.........sage green, red and white.

Hello my lovely, crafty friends, I'm back today with the last Inspired by Stamping Inspiration Challenge, of the year but we will be back on 3rd January 2013 with a new look colour inspiration challenge and some new DT members, so please come back and take a look, you won't be disappointed, the colours and the photo inspiration are absolutely gorgeous !!!

Back to this week's, here is the new inspiration photo, this makes me so happy looking at this, love the colour combo and LOVE candy canes.

Here's my card.

I used the Festive Frames stamp set, I love this set, it is so elegant and has some wonderful sentiments, I had to use one of my chenille candy canes too that I've been hoarding for years.

Supplies
Stamps- Festive Frames.
Papers- October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket.
Pretties- chenille candy cane, button, SU rhinestones, grosgrain ribbon.

I used this week's sketch from Mojo Monday.

Don't forget you still have time to apply to be part of Inspired by Stamping DT, you can find all the details, here.

Thank you for looking, I hope you will play along with us this week, Merry Christmas from all of the Inspired by Stamping Design Team and we'll see you next year.

Have a good weekend, I will be back with other posts before Christmas, so see you soon.

xxxxDebxxxx

Inspired by Stamping Blog Hop..........

Welcome to the  Inspired by Stamping Blog Hop , the DT are choosing two of their favourite IBS stamp sets to work with today. If you've just arrived from Colleen's blog, Dietrich Designs, you are on the right track, if not, you may want to start at the beginning and head over to, Joanna's of Inspired by Stamping.

You could win some blog candy, a $25 gift card to spend at the Inspired by Stamping store also it will be free shipping for 24 hours only. It will run from 9am GMT/4am EST today until Wedsnesday 9am GMT/ 4am EST, just add the code "freeshipping"

It was a hard decision, choosing just two sets, as I love them all but after much deliberation I decided to showcase Oh Baby and Mason Jars.
I went with the Oh Baby as my good friend, Maria, became a Grandma for this first time so wanted to make a card for the proud parents.

I stamped the pram and cut around it, adding some buttons for the wheels and a bit of lace to the hood.
A few of the sentiments are separate, so you can create your sentiment to suit what you need. I stamped the 'Welcome' in blue and 'bundle of joy' in red to match the rest of the card.

I also made a matching tag, as I'm knitting him a little All in One Teddy Romper, this time I used the bib from the set. I adore the sentiment 'cute as button'.

Supplies
Stamps- Oh Baby.
Papers- Prima, Authentique.
Pretties- bakers twine, buttons, IBS Crochet Trim.
Tools- Spellbinders Nestabilities, SU Pennant punch.

 The next set I choose was the Mason Jar set, I went for a festive feel, filling the jar with baubles and glitter.

I used the Holiday Ornaments to create the dangling baubles, the lid I stamped onto the IBS Silver Glitter Tape, adding some lace, baker twine,  a jingle bell and then stamped 'Xmas' from the Vintage Postcard Add On 1, punching out with a mini tag. I added some glitter in the bottom of the jar.

Supplies
Stamps- Mason Jar, Holiday Ornaments, Vintage Postcards Add On 1.
Papers- Stampin' Up.
Pretties- seam binding, lace, bakers twine, jingle bell, glitter.

Now, hop on over to our next designer, Irit of Irit Shalom Designs, to see her wonderful creations using her two favourite sets.

Joanna Munster

Colleen Dietrich

                      Deb Hickman   (you are here)
Irit Shalom

Kendra Sand

Liz Weber

Don't forget, you still have time to apply for the DT call, you can find all the details, here. It is a great team to design for, so don't be shy, give it a try !!!!

Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoy the rest of the Blog Hop.

xxxxDebxxxx