At last a few minutes to myself

That's Boxing Day over with and now a few days of R&R to get myself and the house straight and hopefully find time for a little crafting.

First of all I need to upload the photos of some of the cards and projects made in December.

There was a memory book made for Janet when she retired at the end of November. I asked work friends present and past to provide recipes with a connection to Janet and I made them into a book with photos of the people who donated the recipes. Really pleased with the way it turned out.

There was a birthday card for Homa made with My Craft Studo Deco Ladies CD.

There was a birthday card for Helen whilst she was away on a Nile cruise.

And a bit of fun for my boss Jonathan from a Joanna Sheen CD.  A line drawing coloured in with Promarkers.

Had fun making all my Christmas cards.  Most were made with an Anna Griffin kit from QVC and also made some with the My Craft Studio Christmas Deco CD. I didnt get round to many rubber stamped ones and wasnt happy with any of the Christmas Tilda cards I started.  I wish I had more time for making a few more presents - my favourite ones were the decorated Elizabeth Shaw mints (thanks to Helen at 'It's all fiddle fart')and the cookie jar which I gave to my lovely sister Gina.

In all the Christmas chaos I also made a memory book for my old friend Ameer who finally had enough of the new ConvaTec.

Made a quick pit stop at Hobby Craft today and picked up some bargains so tomorrow I will get started on a few Birthday cards for 2011. I am determined not to be making cards at the last minute next year. (Mind you I say that every year!)

PAM'S CARD

The last couple of cards I sent I forgot to photograph so I haven't posted for a while. I have been busy with Christmas cards and have started making some presents as well. Goodness  knows if they will get finished in time.  The dining room is in uproar and I am seriously considering setting up a craft room upstairs in what was Kat's room.

Tomorrow is the birthday of my lovely friend Pam who is another year old but still looks the same as when I first met her over 20 years ago. Some people have all the luck.  I did a Tilda card for her a while ago and hung on to it so for once there wasn't a last minute rush.

DECO LADY

Here is the card I made for Sheila using the Christmas deco ladies CD from My Craft Studio.  I did some decoupage and added gem embelishments.

ILONA'S CARDS

When I saw my friend Ilona a while back I was telling her how touched I was that my Mum had save all my cards. To my surprise Ilona said she had done the same and brought them to show me. Thought a would take a few photos and post them as it brought back nice memories to see them again especially the one in the style of Sonia Turner who was such an inspiration when I first got into card making seriously. Went to some fabulous workshops at her farm in Dorking. She is part of Joanna Sheen's design team now.  Incidentally the second image is from a JS CD.

OPULENT

Opulent is the latest addition to my CD collection from My Craft Studio. Actually I have had it for a while and havent used it.  I wanted to make a quick but pretty card for my friend Nancy and I fell in love with this Art Nouveau image. This one stands a good chance of getting to Nancy on time for her birthday on 21st as it was hand carried to the US by my boss.  The Mary Stewart punches work well.  (Note to self to check out whether the Mary Stewart Show is available on Sky- I thought I saw it on the planner!)

PAUL'S BIRTHDAY

I always make a card for Paul and I wonder each year if he thinks I am mad..... this year I featured Boris the adorable red squirrel we photographed whilst we were on holiday in St Petersburg.  Such a shame there are very few left in the UK.   Happy Birthday Paulie....

TWO MORE TILDA CARDS

Still enjoying making the Tilda cards and am spending far too long on them.  First of all here is one I made for my friend Barbara in our US HQs. She's been having a rough time recently and hope she had a great birthday - her first one since her boys have been away at College.

The next Tilda card was for my penfriend of over 45 years (hard to believe we started writing when I was 9 years old). Thought this 12x12 scapbook paper made a good base card for the image.  Needless to say both cards are photographed badly as the colours are not very true and probably neither of them got to their destinations on time!  My bad......