Wednesday 24 December 2014

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas to you all!
I have chosen this beautiful image from The Graphics Fairy to 
wish you Seasons Greetings.

Swedish Santa Image

Saturday 20 December 2014

Tag Tuesday- Christmas Angels

On Tag Tuesday the theme this week is Christmas Angels.

For my tag I used a beautiful angel image
from the Graphics Fairy. I placed her on some antique paper
lace (Graphics Fairy again), and a circle of stars printed on
my gelli plate. The background is sparkly felt, covered
in shimmering stars, and gold paper and ribbon were added
to set it off.

Friday 19 December 2014

Oxford Christmas Market

I went to the Oxford Christmas Market yesterday, and had
a great day. There were some lovely stalls, with a wide
range of foods, drinks and original items, many hand-crafted
and some were small businesses, which I always like to 
support. It was pleasant to wander round with a glass of
mulled wine , browsing, tasting and shopping.

Seasonal small cakes from Merangz
Who could resist these?
A rainbow of colours
Traditional decorations
Delicious cheeses
Pretty stalls

Oxford

Tuesday 16 December 2014

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

 This morning I have been making cranberry jelly, 
whilst listening to Christmas songs on the
radio. What could be more Christmassy?!
Looking at the ingredients, the gorgeous contrast
of reds and oranges, seemed a perfect combination
for a photo. Then I wandered round taking more
seasonal photos.

Cranberries and orange
Add cinnamon
Bubbling in the pan
Ready to eat!
Wreath bought in the market, made of orange, cinnamon, chilli and apple 
Little chilli wreath from the market
Drying chillies in the kitchen
They cast a beautiful shadow
Our Christmas tree, complete with pine cones!



Monday 15 December 2014

Tag Tuesday-Christmas Greenery and Let's Dance

Here are my tags for Tag Tuesday.
Just in time with this week's tag, plus the previous one!
It is such a busy time of year, that I have been falling behind.
I have enjoyed looking at all the wonderful tags.

Here is my Christmas Greenery Tag.
I had a lot of fun playing with  my Christmas
stencils and stamps!
I used a stencil for the three images in the foreground,
pine cones, poinsettia and holly, on card. The background was 
stamped with holly onto textured card, and then
I added washi tape -my favourite! A red ribbon adds the final
touch.




Here is my Let's Dance tag.
I used an image of dancers from a greetings card,
 added sparkly nail polish to the dancer's dress, and
highlighted her make up. The background is glittery card.
This is a timely tag, when it is nearly time for the final
of Strictly Come Dancing, which I have been following avidly!





Monday 8 December 2014

Christmas Wreath

At the weekend I went on a wreath-making course, at Harcourt
 Arboretum. There was a demonstration on how to make 
wreaths, then we were able to 
make our own, using  natural materials gathered from 
the Arboretum and Oxford
Botanic Gardens. It was great fun, and I am 
so pleased with my wreath!

My wreath
Plenty of greenery to choose from
Dried seed heads and berries

Ready to start work

 In place on the front door

Monday 1 December 2014

Peacock butterfly

I had an unexpected visitor in my kitchen- a peacock
butterfly! I couldn't believe it came so late in the year,
and wonder where it came from. I don't expect it to
last long, but put some sugar water on a saucer for it,
which I realised  when I took the photo
 is the  Boleslawa peacock pattern!