Christmas is coming....Yay!

Well the panic is well and truly setting in now. I still haven't finished all my Xmas cards and I've only got a few pressies so far. OMG what am I going to do, I have never ever been this late. I'm normally all done and dusted by now. It's been a real strange year that's all I can say. Well there has been some good bits, but the crappo bits are winning the competition this year that's for sure.

Before I go further, A mahoosive thank you to Kate and Nikky for sending me Gower Cottage Brownies last week. I can't thank you enough for the thoughtful gesture and they really were much appreciated, with not a crumb missed. I even grudgingly let Colin have one when he came home at the weekend, lol. And I did put a few crumbs on the side for Bilbo. He loved them too, so it seemed fitting to leave him some. They were gone in the morning, so someone enjoyed them. If you've never tried these brownies then I urge you to try them, they are heaven in a box make no mistake. Ordinarily I don't like brownies but these are so delish and scrumptious that you just can't stop eating them. Seriously they are nothing like all those yuckie shop bought ones that are dry and cakey with vile lumps of chocolate in. Just no comparison at all. There is a link to the online shop on the side bar if you fancy a treat, or if you want to send them to someone else. An excellent Xmas pressie for those people who are difficult to buy for. There is even gluten free and dairy free varieties available too. I've ordered a few for pressies this year I have to admit.

If you'd like a chance of getting your hands on a Making Memories Slice machine then hot foot it over to A Card 4 U's website. They're giving one away this month so it'd be rude not to now wouldn't it! link on the side bar.

I've done a bit of playing this week and I'm quite pleased with the results. Firstly I've decorated some candles. It's the first time I've tried this, and although they're not perfect, they're good enough to be given as pressies to a special couple of friends for Xmas.
How did I do it? Well it's actually quite simple and easy and if you look on YouTube you'll find several clips. Firstly stamp your images onto tissue paper with a permanent ink pad. I used a gorgeous stamp set by Blond Moments which can be purchased from Art From The Heart (link on the side bar)(Dyan I hope you likes what I did with em). Then I coloured them in with watercolour pencils and water. Then roughly cut them out. Place an image on the candle where you want it, then wrap a piece of good old fashioned greaseproof paper round the candle. Holding it tight at the back, heat the area with the image with a heat gun. The image will sink into the candle. You'll see a colour change through the paper, just don't go mad and over heat, or you'll end up with a melted candle, lol. Add the remaining images as before and voila it's finished and looking very swish.

And another little make over, but for me this time. I bought myself some tiny inexpensive clear glass baubles. I covered them with VersaMark ink and sprinkled with Blond Moments iridescent embossing powders (available from Art From The Heart as well as above stamps) and a few other ranger embossing powders then heated with a heat gun. While they are still hot add more powder and reheat. A brilliant way to get the colours you want, but remember to make sure they don't touch any lights on the tree, or the coating will melt if the lights get hot. Ooo and remember to hold them with tweezers while you're doing them to save burnt fingers and hang them up till they have cooled.

I just love them, and had a whale of a experimenting and mixing the powders. They're going to look stunning on my tree. If you've got bigger baubles why don't you try stamping small images on them and embossing. A larger Bauble with embossed snowflakes would look gorgeous don't you think?

And a few more pics of cards made from KaJeD Designs (available from A Card 4 U, link on the side bar). Nikky and Dyan skip past the first one, I don't want to be responsible for making you ill. Blimey the second one as well, LMAO.

I used the digi stamps on these ones

I'm rather fond of the reindeer images, can you tell?

From the papers .......

Take care all xxx