My boys' Xmas Eve basket of goodies...

Here's the basket of goodies I put together for my boys for when they woke up on Christmas Eve. It contained: the fabby sock monkeys made for me by the lovely Michelle, 2 Santa hats, personalised Christmas snowglobe tree decorations, 2 Christmas DVDs, popcorn, Oreos, chocolates, reindeer food, torches (to help see in the dark for when sprinkling the reindeer food outside), a carrot (for the reindeer), a pot of cookie cutters (for us to use during the day to make Santa some delicious homemade cookies), a Lush bath bomb, some Christmas bath ducks, new toothbrushes, new pyjamas, Christmas book. Think that was it? They loved it and the contents helped get them in the festive mood. We tracked Santa via http://www.noradsanta.org/.

More Easel Cards...

I needed to quickly make three cards for birthdays and thought I'd make some quick easel cards again as I so love the style. I have used Bazzill cardstock and some beautiful Forever Friends Decoupage and matching papers (given to me for my birthday from the lovely ladies Tams and Jane xxx) and a Buzzcraft fairy decoupage set I've had for a while. The car card is for my brother and the bottom FF card is for my nan (87 in January!) and the fairy card is for a little girl at Thomas' playschool.

These are the beautiful handmade cards I received from the lovely ladies on MSE...

This one is from the lovely Mary xxx
This one is from the lovely Popkins xxxThis one is from the lovely Padster xxx
This one is from the lovely flourgirl (and contains a sachet of coffee and a choccie mint!) xxx

This one is from the lovely Choccy Orange xxx

This one is from the lovely Ali xxx

This one is from the lovely Rusty xxx

This one is from the lovely bunbun xxx

This one is from the lovely Margaret xxx

This one is from the lovely furrypig xxx

This one is from the lovely Gemm xxx

This one is from the lovely CT19720 xxx

This one is from the lovely Melissa who was also my Xmas swap partner, will post pics of my gorgeous presents later xxx

Thank you very, very much, I love them all and will keep them forever xxx

Teacher Presents All Made...

Finally got round to making the teachers' Xmas presents. They each have a coaster calendar, coaster post-it note holder and a small box of chocs. I've used some of my much loved K&Co and Basic Grey Christmas papers...

Just need to get them wrapped up now ready for Friday and then move onto the next job!!!

Beautiful Forever Friends ATC and card

These arrived in the post at the weekend for me from Jane for the Crafty Place ATC swap. Isn't the Forever Friends ATC adorable, I love it (and the pretty card), thank you lovely lady xxx

Lovely Cards and a Thinks Box...

These are the beautiful cards I received from Louisa and her fantastic son Tom. The Thinks pot is brilliant and is going to hold my little stash of charms - I am thrilled as I didn't have anywhere in particular to put them and now I am the owner of a beautiful Thinks pot :-)

Look Who's Come To Live With Us...

These gorgeous monkeys have arrived at our house to come live with us...

They are currently hiding out in the garage and will make a sudden appearance on Christmas Eve in time to go to bed with my own monkeys. They don't currently have names but I am going to let my boys choose them I think. They were made by the lovely Michelle, thank you Michelle xxx

Cupcake Craft Challenges - 68 Red & Green

I have actually made 2 cards that are eligible for this week's Cupcake Craft challenge, once I got going making one card I wanted to make another ;-) I used some lovely dull green Bazzill cardstock to make easel cards (yep sorry folks, made more of them!). The house image is a digital download from Doodle Palace coloured with ProMarkers and lashings of Stickles Icicle glitter glue. The papers are Eskimo Kisses by Basic Grey and circle greetings are from Craftwork Cards. The holly sprigs were given to me via a stash swap. The bear in the second card is a download from the Pollycraft site - isn't he cute - and again coloured with ProMarkers and a dab of Stickles glue. Hope I have fulfilled the brief to enter the challenge and apologies for my rubbish pics but the weather has been so dull recently x

Passion for ProMarkers Challenge Week 27 - Any Colour & Theme

I have made this easel card for my nan for Christmas and is my entry for the current Passion for ProMarkers challenge. I made YET another easel card, god I love this style of card. I used Bazzill cardstock, a beautiful freebie image from the lovely Pollycraft blog (well worth checking out - this freebie is no longer available but is on the Pollycraft site to buy - only 99p!). I coloured the image with ProMarkers, I used Ruby, Sandstone, Blush, Cinnamon, Marsh Green and Pastel Yellow. I added some Stickles Icicle glitter glue for a bit of sparkle. I parted with some of my much loved Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses papers - sob, sob! The brad is by Basic Grey and the holly sprig was sent to me in a stash swap, sorry can't remember from who but thank you very much x

Sorry for the rubbish photo, I don't take good photos at the best of times but the dull weather recently makes it impossible for me to snap a good pic x

My blog candy winner...

Hello, thank you to everyone who entered my little draw. The winner has been randomly chosen by my son Jack and is...

sh3ri3

Please can you email me (sarahmclaughlin888@o2.co.uk) your address so I can get the goodies posted off to you x

Look at all the beautiful things I've received...

Here are the beautiful cards sent to me by the lovely ladies on MSE...

Top row from left: Rusty, Bunbun, Padster. Front row: CT19720, CT19720 and Choccy...
Top row from left: Gemm, Marg, Flourgirl. Front row: Ali, my auntie Brenda (ok not on MSE but it is a handmade card), Mel...
Here's my pressie stash before I started ripping the paper off...

This is the beautiful scarf & card sent to me by Padster...

This gorgeous card and yummy box of mint chocs are from Flourgirl...

This lovely stash of stamps, pearls and fantastic card are from Melissa...

This HUGE stash and chocs is from the lovely bunbun and Rusty. These girls have the easel card bug, aren't they lovely...

This very cute card and fabby box of little things is from the lovely Choccy...

This gorgeous bar of chocolate, teabag card and beautiful card are from CT19720...

Thank you very much lovely ladies, I've been very spolit xxx

I also received an Amy Butler scrapbook from my OH - you could have knocked me down with a feather, it's beautiful! A few boxes of delicious chocs, some gorgeous mugs, smellies, a beautiful pendant, a cross stitch kit (going to return to Hobbycraft as it's not really my kind of thing) and some spends - it's buring a hole in my pocket so off to shop tomorrow!!!

My Blog Candy - Ends 29th November

CANDY NOW CLOSED, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR ENTERING xxx

I thought I would have a go at giving away some blog candy. I have included a selection of items but the emphasis is sort of on altering/scrapbooking...
Woodware scrapbook in a tin
Pack of chipboard daisies
A4 clipboard
Maya Road Calendar Turns Family Ties embellishment
Papermania Signature Vinyl Stickers - Ornate
Papermania Transparent Adhesive Stones
Papermania Studded Stickers x 2 packs
Papermania Notelets - Scrumptious
Imaginisce Chip Chop Just for Frills chipboard embellishments
2 sets acylic stamps - fairies and Christmas (these were freebies with Papercraft Insprirations magazine)
Colorbox Pigment Brush Ink Pad - Silver
Wooden tree decoration
Will also add some chocolate :-)

Please leave me a comment by 29th November if you'd like to win the stash and I'll draw a name out of a hat on 30th November x

This used to be a jar of chocolate powder...

I have made this joke jar to put on the table during Christmas dinner at my mum & dad's. The jar started life containing hot chocolate powder - it was really easy to get the labels off after a good soaking. The papers/embellishments are MME The Merry Days of Christmas. I love these papers. I found the Christmas jokes online.

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge 59 - Make a Calendar

Anyone who is a regular visitor to my blog will know that I am in love with making coaster calendars! Here's yet another and I am entering it for the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge. I have used a chipboard coaster and covered with beautiful glittery K&Co Christmasy paper. The calendar tab is by Anita's and the flowers are from Sarah's Cards. I have attached a little magnet to the reverse so it can be attached to the front of a fridge.

A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge 78 - Baby/Pre-schooler Christmas card

Here is my card for the ASFOS Challenge this week. It is to give to my friend's little baby girl Georgia to celebrate her very first Christmas. I have made a 6x6 easel card from white Bazzill cardstock and covered with beautiful Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper. The image is coloured with ProMarkers (got the image from ebay, not sure of name?). All embellishments are from my stash (flowers are Prima, dew drops from Sarah's Cards and snowflake charm from Quixotic Paperie)...

Crafty Place November Card Swap - Anything Goes!!!

This is the beautiful and very clever card I received from the lovely Margaret for the Crafty Place card swap this month. Look at the back too, isn't that so cute...
This is the card I made for Margaret, an easel card (my first one ever!). It's 6x6 size and I used my new Messy Rabbit stamp bought from the NEC, he's going to be appearing on lots of cards I think because he's so cute...
I had 2 card swap partners this month and this is the card I made for Mel, same image and style of card...
Thanks for looking x