Wednesday 21 December 2011

JYC Days 14-20

I'm not as far behind with my journal as it appears. I just havent been able to upload my updated pictures to my blog. Of all these pages I am leaning towards simplicity as my favoured pages. Of the pages that I have created there are some I like a lot more than others. But on the whole (and i know I keep banging on about this) I am not feeling any creativity guilt over not perfecting each and every page. It is liberating and I feel like this journal is such a good reflection of my life at the moment. It captures all the important info and I have made extra room for journalling so capture what is going on in my head.

I keep trying to look over my pages from a Mums point of view and look at the stories and pictures I will be able to share with my little one in years to come. I think I have managed to capture some of the special little details of the pregnancy and little ones first unofficial Christmas.

Days 14, 15 and 16

Not so keen on the New Years Eve page. Although I was very keen on the film (although there is a scene with lots of newborn babies that made me blub like a wally in the middle of the cinema). If you are wondering about the random Moses Basket- I wanted to remember the bargain Sam and I picked up from Wightbay. I was on a bit of a baby buying rampage and decided I'd have to get a Moses basket for downstairs at home. When I saw this one advertised I just fell in love with it. And it was even lovelier IRL and so well looked after. What a bargain! ;0)

And Day 16 is a bit of a copout i realise as I havent properly embellished. More used a whole sheet of 8x8 with a matching journalling card. But that is because i just love this paper and feel it needs no further embellishment. I wanted to have the whole picture included (which is why i didn't actually stick the journalling down- this can be lifted to show the whole page).

 Day 17: Music Makes The Season

I had bought a pack of mixed up embellishments to match these lovely papers and as soon as I saw this record I knew the page I wanted to create. The Silent Night song sheet folds back to reveal my musical journalling for the day.

 Days 18 and 19

Sam and i finally got around to buying and decorating our quirky Christmas tree. By the time we got out to buy one late Sunday afternoon there wasnt a whole lot to choose from. Most of the trees left were quite 'quirky' and had individual personalities. I fell in love with our one even though it doesnt have lots of full and lovely branches to hang things from. I feel like i have given a tree a purpose and saved it from an unloving Christmas ;0)

Day 19 uses a card from this months card class. This was inspired by a gorgeous make I spied over on Vicky's blog using the Stampin' Up! Autumn Days stamp set. I love all the stamping and texture of this card and it made a perfect little journalling card to include. Also, I am finding using cards between the pages is giving me lots of extra space to fit photos that don't necessarily fit on the main pages. Perfect solution to the lack of journalling space on the pages too....
 I had this photo from messing around with the baubles at work a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to include it somewhere in the album but just didnt know where. So on the reverse of the Autumn Days card i created a mini layout.

 And finally here is my page for yesterday (our big baby day!). Its not detailed or wonderful and I really wish I had a smaller journalling block so I didnt cover so much of the scan pic. But it captures our happiness and excitement from yesterday and shows our lovely little girl in all her glory. There isnt really a lot you can do to embellish an already perfect picture ;0)
Right, off to spend the evening at my Mums for our annual Muppet Christmas Carol singalong.
-XX-

Tuesday 20 December 2011

My little lady

Here is a lovely little break from my JYC. Today was my 20 week scan and we went along to see how our little Miss or Mr was getting on. We had a lovely sonographer who was super chatty and talked us through every little detail of  the scan. She showed us all the organs (even saw the baby's brain!!!) and showed us the measurements of the leg bones. It was truly fascinating. And in true to our little ones form they were wriggling around a good'un. I think the sonographer might've woken them up and so there was a lot of wiggling and stretching going on.

Sam and I held off asking about the gender until almost the end of the scan when I caved in and asked (I had briefly toyed with staying yellow earlier this afternoon). She had a good look around and there were no bits to be found so she said with 95% certainty that we are expecting a little girl. So my bargain Maxi-Cosi purchase last week in Coral (it looked red in the catalogue I hasten to add) was a premonition after all. I suddenly have an overwhelming urge to go baby girl shopping..........

Here are the scan pics. SO much better than the 12 week ones......



What a treat for a cold and rainy Tuesday ;0)

Friday 16 December 2011

JYC Days 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13

Wow I seem to have fallen very behind with my Christmas Journal blogging. To be honest, I have fallen behind with my Christmas Journal crafting. Between working and living out all the festivities, there has been little time for actual photographing and making!!! But i'm getting there slowly. And have scheduled myself an impromptu catch up day over the weekend. So hopefully I wont fall any further behind.

In the spirit of not stressing I am not sticking rigidly to the prompts this year. I am dipping in and out of the class and simply choosing which prompts fit and which days I would like to chat about a subject. Mainly I am just capturing the everyday goings on through December through my little mini pages ;0)

Days 9 & 10

Hmm... think this page is getting a little on the 'busy' side. And not so much in the spirit of simplicity. But I love the layout all the same. And my JYC album would not be complete without some Stampin' Up! pages would it? The papers I have used for this are the gorgeous and sparkly Holly Berry Bouquet Designer Series Papers with Crumb Cake windows to embellish. Took me ages to precisely cut out that bow for the central embellishment too (taken from one of the page designs- I do so love these details that keep my pages flat and the overall album not too wide!). You can also spot a little square of the GORGEOUS new Red Glimmer Paper (coming to a Mini Catalogue near you VERY soon!).

These two days photos cover the works Christmas do- an empty plate of roast dinner!! And the second day was the crop and the Brighstone Christmas Tree festival. This was the British Legion tree decorated with rememberance poppies. I thought this was an absolutely lovely tree and it really stood out.
 At this point in my journal I had a moment of baby brain and had a numbering malfunction. I created my next three days pages completely omitting the eleventh of December. Goodness knows how that happened. But as a result I had beautifully finished pages which then needed some rejigging. The lovely number window I created for this page ended up (somewhat out of place I might add) on Day 12 which is a shame. But I still love the overall feel of these pages.

Here are two Day 12 shots showing the page with and without the journalling. This was Sam and I's big day out to Bath for the last day of the Christmas market there. It was tipping it down so photo opportunities were few and far between unfortunately. But I couldnt miss the chance to include a photo of me and my good NY friend Francesca (and of course the obligatory Starbucks Egg Nog Latte picture too ;0).


 Days 12 and 13

Here is where the numbering malfunction shows its ugly head. My lovely pink ticket that looked so lovely on Day 11 looks a bit weird here. But thats one of the quirks of pregnancy I guess. And it gives my journal character (I journalled about the mess up on another page). I created both of these halfs of the page and realised there was no room for journalling. So I punched holes down a long album insert and journalled on that instead.

Day 12 was a quiet day for catching up and writing Christmas cards after a busy day at work. So not much to report there. Day 13 was my trip to Whippingham's WI meeting to demonstrate for them. I've had this in my diary for a long time and was really looking forward to showing them 4 simple Christmas projects (two of which I have included in my journal as a memory spark). Mum came with me and we helped to Demo the projects within a fixed amount of time. I think the ladies all really enjoyed it and it was fun to do something different of an evening too. 
 Here is one of the projects I demonstrated for the WI ladies. A folded pouch for a Christmas Tree decoration or place setting. I have adapted it and jazzed it up a bit to use as a journalling pouch in my album. I used it to reflect on the Christmas Past/Christmas Future prompt. No prizes for guessing that i am looking forward to about Christmas future. There will be very little sense coming from me until after my scan on Tuesday. I am so excited!! ;0)

I've also been busy beavering away in some kind of manic 'collecting' frenzy. This week I purchased our little ones Maxi Cosi car seat as well as a beautiful second hand Mamas and Papas moses basket. I think the organisation hormones might've kicked in. Or maybe its just the practical side of my brain thinking that i should get things done while i have the energy ;0)

Right, I hope to be back soon with more pics of my journal and how it is coming along....

Happy Crafting in the mean time
(oh and keep your fingers crossed for me on Tuesday that our little one behaves so we can find out whether its a little Miss or Mr).
-XX- 

Friday 9 December 2011

JYC Days 7 and 8

I tell you what, it is a joy and a relief allowing myself a simpler and less involved JYC this year. By giving myself a little less pressure I am actually ending up a lot happier with my results and also I'm not falling behind which is a small miracle too ;0)

Here are my pages for Days 7 and 8. I'm not entirely enthralled with the first. I couldnt quite match my embellishments perfectly. I wanted to capture the lovely reaction I had from my online Secret Santa on Facebook. There were a lot of lovely comments made about the gift i had sent but i couldnt fit them all on the page. So instead I just screen captured an image of her thank you. It didnt fit with the theme of the day, but I wanted to capture this memory all the same. It is a part of my December journey 2011 ;0)

And the second page I was a lot happier with (hence I should stick with the 4 mini rectangle idea....). Due to the awful weather yesterday I wasnt overly keen on going out in the wind and rain to capture the sights of the season. I did, however, capture a few 'indoor' sights. I took loads of photos of our work grotto and Christmas trees and then used the star as a focal point for the page. I also captured my favourite Christmas traditions- the Radio Times and Christmas stamps ;0) Very simple but I'm happy with this all the same.
 Another project i have worked on this past couple of nights is this 60th birthday card for a work colleague. I cannot claim this all as my own as I used a swap I'd received at Convention as my base inspiration. I then personalised it for the occasion and mounted on a large enough piece of Rose Red for all the girls at work to sign. 
 And finally, here is a photo of some of the Gift Cards I have been working on recently. I am happy to personalise for any occasion (although Christmas is proving mightily popular at the moment!). Inside this little card is a pocket with the Stampin' Up! gift card within it. I can create a card for any denomination. Just get in touch on poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk or 609249 to place your order.
Happy Friday to you all and have a festive weekend ;0)

-XX-

Wednesday 7 December 2011

JYC Day 6

Here is my JYC Day 6 page. I love it when I can use odd scraps on a layout as it makes me feel like a good scrapbooking housekeeper. I had lots of strips of (sadly now retired) Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper left over from my Christmas craft day in the summer. We used these for our paper curl Christmas trees. I've not known what to do with them for months. But the dimensions of this page were perfect for using up these scraps.

I love the unusual combination of colours used in these papers and I thought they picked up on the festive feel of our RSPCA collection dog well. I didnt know where to start with yesterdays theme prompt so instead i decided to take my inspiration from my work place. Here at the Animal Centre we the staff have created the most lovely Santas Grotto to help raise funds for the IOW RSPCA. Outside the Grotto door sits this sad looking chap (not even that Santa hat can make him crack a smile ;0)

I used his photo as my focal point and I added a journalling insert over the top (it lies across the top of the page when the album is shut). I have been heartened this year by the kindness of the public. Working here is my first experience of working within a charity and I am overwhelmed by the kind donations of money or food we receive from passing members of the public daily. I journalled about how much I enjoy writing thank you letters to all the kind souls who send in a cheque with a Christmas card, either from their pet rehomed from our Centre or just to thank the staff for everything they do.

Working here has changed my perspective on things and I love working somewhere where the odd cat or dog will stick their nose in for a pat or for a biscuit. It is calming. And no matter how stressful a day I am having I know that only a few feet away there is a hedgehog to watch scurrying around or a dog in need of some affection. I am very thankful to have found this job and was happy to represent its importance in my JYC ;0)
Here is just a quick close up of my advent door for today:

Thanks again for stopping by and happy festive crafting to you all. I'm off for a crafty evening with friends tonight so hopefully there will be more inspiration to share tomorrow.
-XX-

Tuesday 6 December 2011

JYC Days 3, 4 and 5

Good morning JYC-ers and festive crafters.

Oh how I wish for a better camera or at least some basic knowledge on how to get the best out of the one we have already (although my partner and i have put a shared pressie of a new camera on the Christmas list this year. So hopefully we'll get a bargain in the sales after Christmas ;0) So once again, these are not the greatest pictures (largely due to being taken at 6am this morning before the sun had reared its head so I could edit, write and schedule this post before work!).

Here is a picture of my Stampin' Up! stall from this weekends craft fair (it features again on my JYC page but in a much smaller form). I was really pleased with the fair and how it went and my Snowman Soup and Reindeer Food went down a treat ;0) Thanks to Angie and Fiona for hosting the day and putting it all together. A hugely enjoyable festive afternoon (followed by a trip to the cinema to see Arthur Christmas!).
 Here is my JYC for Days 3 and 4:

Again I have used the reverse page of the pockets insert. I like this style as it has taken a lot of the 'worry' out of my creating. How can 4 rectangles of pretty paper ever look bad? And embellishing each page with an advent window makes it all the more Christmas-y.
 I am especially enjoying creating the central embellishment for each page. This one features Arthur in all his Christmas jumper glory ;0) 
 Here are my two advent windows. I am trying to keep a bit of consistency across the days by using a felt embellishment and matching papers to cover the outside of the windows.

 For my journalling for days 3 and 4 I decided not to tuck it away inside the pockets as with Days 1 and 2. As the Dec 3rd prompt was about Christmas cards I decided to make a duplicate card of one I created for my 'Due in May Facebook Group' Secret Santa. We were all tasked with finding some lovely little Mum to Be bits for our recipient. I had seen a card similar to this on the Convention inspiration boards and knew it would be a perfect Christmas card for another May Mum. So I set up making two, one for my SS and the other for my journal. I love using mixed stamp sets in unusual ways. I would never have thought to combine Polar Party with Bundle of Love. But the effect of doing so is lovely and Christmas-y ;0)

I created this with Real Red, Garden Green and Whisper White cardstock and matching Stampin' Write markers. For the icy ground I tore strips of Whisper White card and then finished with Tombow and Dazzlin Diamonds Glitter. The sentiment is stamped from Polar Party. 

And finally, as I am very conscious of my last years journal ending up too thick and straining at the rings holding it together, I decided to create a smaller Day 5 on the reverse of the Christmas card above. A simple page that speaks more about the journalling than the embellishments (and yet another example that one should not craft when exceptionally tired as you end up with a rather mish-mashy result!! Still in the spirit of keeping things simple, I wont be beating myself up over it. Today is a new day and a new page so I shall move on and create something different which may inspire me more).
So thank you for popping by for another installment of festive craftiness. I am loving looking at all your creations too and will hopefully pop by to leave comments later ;0)
-XXX-

Sunday 4 December 2011

JYC Day Two

Good morning all. I hope you are having a fine first weekend of December. I do realise it is the 4th today and I am only now posting pics of my JYC Day 2. However, my days 3 and 4 are still works in progress and i wanted to capture some pics of my album so far in better lighting (the previous post didnt show the colour properly). As you read this I will be setting up my stall over at Newport Football Club for the Gifts for Girls Christmas Fair (pop on by and say hello if you are in the area) so will hopefully have lots of lovely tales to tell and pics to share for todays JYC page.

So here is my album so far. This is the complete page for days 1 and 2:

 My day two window:
 And a close up on just the day 2 half of the page. The prompt for December 2nd was about the weather. So I printed the local weather report for Newport and created several journalling tabs which I stuck to the back. I then folded this and tucked it into the pocket behind the pretty paper. My journalling reflected on the weather in comparison to last years snow and ice. By this point in last years journal i had pages and pages of photos. However, inspiration has yet to strike me this year. Bring on some snow I say.....

So thats my page 1 completed. I'll be back to share my weekends goings on once my pages are complete. I've also got a lovely Secret Santa card to share with you that I created using Polar Party for a fellow 'Due in May' Mum.

-XXX-

Thursday 1 December 2011

First JYC Day!!!

After much anticipation it has finally arrived!!!! December 1st is here which means one thing- Journal Your Christmas begins!! I've been so busy with Christmas crafting preparation (please come along on Sunday to the Gifts for Girls Christmas Fair at St Georges- you'll get to see that all my efforts have not been in vain!!) that i havent had a second for my own crafting (goodness knows where I am going to magic all my Christmas cards from this year?). I have been so looking forward to starting my Christmas  Journal and taking a few minutes a day to create something festive. There are so many things happening at the moment that I want to capture and remember that it couldnt have been more perfectly timed.

But before we get on to my JYC album.  Here is a little something Stampin' Up! for the day. I finally purchased the fab Petal Cone Die and couldnt wait to create a festive cone with my card class ladies. This was inspired by some beautiful Christmas bunting I saw on the Convention boards. I used the Pennant Die and the Holly Berry Designer Series Paper to create the embellishment. This would look lovely hung on a Christmas tree filled with chocolately treats.

 And now onto the exciting JYC photos. I'll have to apologise for the weird lighting in these photos. Wouldnt it be lovely to get home while there was still good light. I'll try and take pics again at the weekend which might reflect things a bit more accurately.

I quite like this 'atmospheric' photo. To some this might look like a messy craft desk. But actually I find this pic quite inspiring as you'll see all things that I'd been turfing out of my Christmas box to make a start- alphas, Starbucks cup, scissors (and weirdly my phone- not sure where that appeared from?).  Anyways, as you can see from my album cover, this year I have sworn myself to simplicity. With my little monkey growing ever stronger (starting to feel some flutterings now) and my energy levels not quite back to normal I made the decision to keep this album simple and not sweat the small stuff. Last year I put so much pressure on myself to create every page as a work of art.  This year I want to capture mood and emotion and people. The journey is the important thing not the endless hours of worrying about embellishments. So here is my simple black folder embellished with a lovely reindeer decoration and matching letters (I am just waiting on a SU order to fill the space under the 'C' with a red glimmer paper heart- a splash of glittery colour).
 Here is my Christmas Manifesto for the album. I took Shimelle's Manifesto as my foundation but personalised it for me right now and what i hope to  capture.  I have just stuck this to the inside front cover of my folder. I wanted my Manifesto to balance the seriousness of things with the fun and humour of Christmas festivities. And of course the excitement of what looking ahead to 2012 will bring.....
 Day 1:

I found in my Christmas box a series of these plastic wallets with sub divided sections (about the size of a business card or ATC). I thought these would be the perfect solution to simplifying my album for days when there is not so much going on. Today I had some  journalling that I wanted to capture and tuck away so this wallet gave me the opportunity to make a pretty page and still tuck away my writing. I am using the bottom two spaces for Day 2 so as not to overstuff my album like I did last year (simple and space saving- just what I need!!!)

For my numbers this year I am using a FANTASTIC Stampin' Up! die that I was given from the USA (sadly not available here just yet). It creates little windows and is perfect for making advent calender windows for each days number I have cut this from Crumb Cake and then inked with Old Olive to match the mood of the papers.

 Just a couple more pics to show a bit more detail....
This is my journalling envelope tucked away in the pocket.
So thats my Day 1 complete. I am so happy to have a simple solution and I am really looking forward to seeing where December takes me.

Happy Crafting
-XXX-


Wednesday 30 November 2011

A favourite Convention card

There were a number of very inspiring presentations at Convention, but one of the most memorable was by a Scottish Demo now living in France who taught us all the partial embossing technique (you can find more info on her blog here). I fell in love with her card that she demo'd as it showcases three of my favourite new products from the 2011-2012 catalogue, the Brushed Gold cardstock, the Antique Brads and the Victoria Crochet Trim. I made a very hasty trip to the Convention Boards to take a photo of her project after she'd completed her stint on stage.

Here is Moira's beautiful partial embossed Christmas card:
 And here is my attempt (almost identical I know). I had to make a few slight amendments to the design to teach at my Christmas card class on Saturday. This card was a real hit with my card class ladies at the weekend and the brads and crochet trim were very popular too.
Such a lovely technique that I'll definitely be trying again (although you would probably have laughed at me trying to master it for this one card!! Oh the mistakes I made! I promise it is quite simple if you follow a tutorial which is what I ended up doing after MANY failed attempts *laugh*)

Products used:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Brushed Gold
Trim: Victoria Crochet
Embellishments: Antique Brads & optional Basic Pearls
Stamp sets: The Christmas is from 'Heard from the Heart' and the Happy is taken from a sentiment in 'Polar Party'
Punches: Small Oval and Scalloped Oval
Embossing Folder: Vintage Wallpaper

Thank you for stopping by today ;0)

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Convention Catch Up!

Wow, where did that week go? Cannot believe i have been back from Convention a week now and I havent had a moment to update my blog with photos. I finally get a chance to schedule a post and now my photos are playing up. Hope you don't mind rotated pictures. I guess you'll get the idea!!

So I returned from Convention over a week ago now. And what a crazy couple of days we had. It was an inspiring and fun two days in Disneyland Paris surrounded by Demos and friends alike. I had a blast just catching up with team mates and meeting new people, and that was before we even began to think about crafting ;0)

I was so pleased that I chose to fly with fellow Pink Lady team mates earlier on the Thursday as it gave us all a chance to catch up and chill out before the main event got started on the Friday. We all went for a big team meal on the Thursday evening over in the Disney Village (just a hop, skip and a jump from the Sequoia Lodge where we were staying) followed by team swaps.  For some reason I must've had a total camera block as I didn't take any 'people photos' during these social meet ups. Think I was too busy chatting to think about my camera.

The main event started on Friday morning with a chance to register and pick up our fab SU craft bag (which I'll have to take a pic of for another day), start general swapping, check out all the lovely goodies for sale in Memento Mall, and just generally catch up. One of my favourite things about meeting up with fellow Demos is seeing the swaps people come up with. There was a team of German ladies all in traditional dress swapping German gingerbread biscuits (my kinda swapping!!) and there were card swaps, and chocolate swaps, card candy and 3d items. It is just a creative mash up of ideas. All of which I then had to fit into my swap box to carry home!! I'll try and get some good photos at home of some of the swaps I received. There are so many ideas and techniques used that I'll have to go through them all for inspiration for my upcoming Christmas journal (2 days and counting.....).

Anyways, enough jabbering. Here are a few Convention highlight photos. This first one is of my lovely Kala on the Convention inspiration boards. I was so pleased to see her lovely face up there. I made everyone nearby take a picture too ;0)
 The theme of this years Convention was 'Grow' so there were a lot of lovely papercraft displays of flowers and garden related items.
 One of Shelli's presentations on the main stage (she is always so well dressed!)
 A Saturday coffee break! What festive trip would be complete without a Starbucks Red Cup. The Parisian menu was different to ours at home. So I  ordered myself (or rather got a fluent French speaking Demo friend, Jenny to order) a White Chocolate Cranberry Mocha. Sounds weird. And in all honesty it was pretty strange (there was a strange jammy mixture left in the bottom!). But lovely to try something different. And another photo for my Starbucks of the World album ;0)
 And this last pic is a fun Pinkies photo taken in the New York hotel. Not sure my pregnant body was too keen on fitting in this little taxi. But fun to take time out with Sarah, Michelle and Jane.
So much more i could say about the weekend. But all in all it was just a fun weekend of Stampin' Up! related chatter and crafting. Now, how can I manage a 6 month old and my luggage to Mainz for Convention next year.... I'll have to have a think.....

-xxxx-

Friday 18 November 2011

Convention swaps

Oh to live in sunnier climes where there is sunshine all year round for better picture opportunities.  Instead we have to battle the early evening light and flash rebound..... But you'll get the idea with my swap photos.

The first project I have to share is my Button Buddies/Nursery Nest inspired Card Candy.  The idea is to create card toppers that use punches or a particular stamp set in a variety of ways and to showcase the images. I fell in love with Button Buddies the first time I saw it. I love how Stampin' Up! create products that link with other items (such as this use of buttons within the image). I stuck with the DSP colour scheme and used several pots of Subtles Buttons to create my 10 matching sets of Card Candy.

 My second project today is my general convention swap- a shrink plastic wine glass charm. My lovely Mum sat and made these all for me as I just havent had the energy to create 87 (thats how many my wonder Mum made!! Thats a whole lot of shrinky dink plastic and jewellery wire) swaps. She is truly fab as she created her own little links for the charms and also raided her bead stash (not sure how I ended up photographing identical swaps as she used lots of different beads for these wine glass charms).  So for this Mum stamped the flower from Season of Joy onto shrink plastic and sat with a heat tool shrinking them (after cutting them all out and creating the link by punching a hole with my Crop-a-Dile). After linking the charm and beads onto the wine glass loop we mounted the whole charm onto Old Olive cardstock and finished with a small cello bag.
So these are my swap projects for 2011. I'll be back at the weekend to share some of the lovely projects I receive in return and tell you all about the Convention experience.

Happy Crafting ;0)

Thursday 17 November 2011

Off to Convention

If you are a Stampin' Up! regular, or you hop around a few Demo blogs, you won't have failed to notice that Convention fever is in the air. So as you read this,  I will be on my way to Paris for this years European Stampin' Up! Convention. Two days of Disneyland fun with fellow Demos from the UK, France and Germany. Stampin' Up! always know how to put on a good show and there is always a couple of fun crafting sessions too. But I'll share more on that on my return....

I've kept things a bit simpler on the swaps front this year and also had a great deal of assistance from my lovely Mum too. I just havent had the energy to do all the organised swaps like I did last year. I wanted to be involved in the swapping but also had to consider that I'll have to carry everything home on the plane ;0)  If you pop back tomorrow I'll share my Card Candy and general swaps. Todays project are the stamped candles I made for my two Convention roomies, Jenny and Anja. They havent turned out quite as perfect as I imagined (its been well over a year since i tried candle stamping) but I do love the embossed gold and silver against the red candle (which matches Stampin' Up!'s Cherry Cobbler ribbon and embossing powder perfectly).

So here are my Serene Snowflake candles.....


Thank you for stopping by today and come back tomorrow for more swapping and convention makes.

Happy Crafting ;0)
-X-