A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year!

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! I hope you've all had a brilliant Christmas so far and are enjoying the snow if you have been 'blessed' by it! I love it when it snows as long as I get to stay cosy and warm inside lol. We haven't had any this time but it's still rather cold and I am very grateful for the new central heating system even if it did cause a lot of mayhem having it fitted a few months back. It's been a quiet but exciting Christmas for us here in my crafty nook. It started with some sad news - Quick Card Made Easy announced on Facebook that their January issue of the magazine would be the very last. I think I've got the very first issue or at least  some of the very first of the publication in a cupboard, I probably haven't got every issue as I missed some when I damaged my back about ten years ago and I wasn't able to get to the newsagents to buy QCME but I have been subscribing ever since (some may have got lost or damaged during various moves too) so it's an end of an era really. It's made even more poignant by the fact I've finally got to take part in the sketch challenge (I've been applying for nearly a year!) and my card is featured on page 69. The magazine went on sale yesterday and it would be great if as many people as possible purchase the magazine not just because my card is in it (though feel free to do so - I'd be incredibly flattered!) but to show our support of a wonderful publication that has given years of inspiration and helped me (certainly) and many others become better crafters - who knows if enough new people buy the magazine then they may change their mind and start it up again.

As usual, I was making cards until Christmas Eve but I think most people actually got Christmas cards made by me (though they may not have got them yet - I was late posting them!) and those who didn't will hopefully be getting New Year's cards instead. Christmas was a quiet affair at home with just my husband, my mum and I enjoying a roast chicken with the trimmings. Things took a bit longer to make then expected and in the rush to get down to the taxi in time, my mum didn't put her glasses away properly and has now lost them - I think she kind of blames me for not being more organised with the meal because she was decidedly frosty with me when I rang her this evening. I've not felt very well since Christmas Day - no I didn't give myself food poisoning though I may have over indulged when it came to the stuffing! - so I've not done much apart from feeling sorry for myself. I've not even been online that much and as a result I didn't find out my youngest niece on my side of the family finally had her baby girl on the 27th December (she was due on the 16th!) Isabella-Rose (isn't that a lovely name) is beautiful and is my second great-niece born this year!

One of my best presents (and I got some great presents this year) was from my lovely mum and dad-in-law who bought me a gorgeous Polaroid iG128 digital camera (purple one of my favourite colours!) so I've no longer any excuse if my cards look rubbish on this blog - yep the card's naff, it's not down to my old camera anymore - saying that the photos I'll be sharing soon were taken using my old camera because (a) most were made before Christmas and (b) I've not been able to use it before now because it won't take photos without a memory card (now purchased and installed). I may still use my old camera from time to time but that's just because I can charge it via a USB whereas my new camera requires AAA batteries and I've a feeling it maybe a bit of a battery hog - I may have to buy a charger and re-chargeable batteries if it goes through them quickly. I'm hoping to make YouTube video tutorials but not sure at this point as I couldn't get the sound on the video playback on the camera, it might not have sound on the camera but does once it's uploaded, I'll just have to wait and see. I'll also have to rig something up in my crudy (challenging as there isn't much space!)

Here are a selection of my recent cards including Christmas cards, Baby's first Christmas card, birthday cards and A New Baby card. As this is already a huge post I won't be adding any details - if you are curious about products or methods used then please leave a comment in the usual place.

 
These are only about half the cards I made because I didn't take photos of the rest of them. I think my favourite of this lot is the 10th birthday card I made for my nephew who turned 10 today (29th December), it's always a bit hit or miss making sure he gets his card on time because of the Christmas post so I was extra pleased that he got in time for his birthday. I'm not sure if he does like to dress up as a robot but I bought this Personal Expressions stamp with him in mind about six months ago. I did try to colour it in using metallic pencils on kraft card but preferred it on white card and using ProMarkers. I used the kraft piece to make a pocket inside to hide some money - I know you're not supposed to send money through the post but a bank transfer to his mum's account seems a bit impersonal (yes I know money is too but at least it's there for him on the actual day - better than waiting until he sees me in person!) Anyway it got to him ok and I think he likes the card. Charlie hasn't got the card from us for Isabella-Rose so it's a bit naughty of me to share it on here but tbh I don't think Charlie reads this blog so she won't see it before it arrives at her home.

I hope you've enjoyed my latest makes, sorry it's been so long since I've added a blog post, the run up to Christmas always goes so quickly and I've not really had time to blog until now. Hopefully now the Christmas frenzy is over for another year (but this isn't the last of my Christmas makes - I'm going to make at least two Christmas cards a month!) I should have time to blog more often and with my snazzy new camera, I don't have any excuses! If you have any questions or comments then please leave them in the usual places and until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx