Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas to you all!

I have chosen this beautiful image from The Graphics Fairy to 

wish you Seasons Greetings.

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.

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

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!

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!

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

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!