Christmas Shopping

Yesterday I spent a wonderful day out Christmas shopping with two friends, we started out at 9.30am
and arrived home at 5.30pm.   The sky was blue, the sun was shining but it was only 1° and we had a very thick frost in the morning which made it look very Christmassy.
I did manage to find some lovely presents and this is one that I found for myself I have really caught the cooking bug



I have the cookie dough in the fridge, and the chocolate melting on the stove, I have decidede to make presents of them

Ooh La La Challenge # Reflections

So sorry I am late posting this the time just fly's by
Our theme this week at Ooh La La is Reflections
I decided to go with the Boys to Men CD the artwork on this Cd is amazing and comes
from the very talented Doug Laird, this image is called New Boat and the DT have come up with
some fabulous creations do pop over and join in, this will be the last challenge for this year
So let me wish you all a Very Merry Christmas/ Joyeux Noel
and see you all next year

 

 

 



Another day Cooking / I could get used to this

I said in my previous post it was my son's Birthday next week and I asked him what he would like for his Birthday, well he surprised me by saying he would like some homemade cakes and cookies so, today that's what I have been doing.

I nearly have his package ready to go tomorrow, just waiting for the last batch of cookies to come out.
I managed to make him 30 Chocolate Brownie slices this was a Mary Berry recipe which has never disappointed me so far, I also made him 2 dozen little choc chip buns and then the most amazing Peanut Butter Cookies from Marie's recipe over at the English Kitchen, my son inlaw has just had a taste and did not believe I had made them so they must be good
I did not add the sugar at the end on mine

The recipe given was for 4 dozen but I must of made mine a bit smaller as I managed to get 5 dozen, sorry but the light is not that good in the evening
I hope he enjoys his Birthday tea

Spots & Dots

I can't believe how quick this year has flown by it will soon be Christmas but before that it's my son's Birthday on the 4th Dec so next week aswell as celebrating this we shall also be decoraing the Tree and hanging the decorations a tradition we have kept for the past 35 years, oh boy that makes me feel old saying that

The challenge over at Ooh La La this week is Spots & Dots and we have some amazing creations from the DT and such a variety too so if you would like to join in pop on over here

We also have a copy of Yuletide Wishes on offer so if you are still making your Christmas Cards you could get a helping hand if you are lucky enough to be chosen by random.org

This is my entry it comes from the new Cd out soon

 



 

 

Honey Glazed Granola Doughnut

I decided to have a rest from paper crafting today and decided to bake
I have recently found a wonderful blog full of delicious recipes called   The English Kitchen

We are off out this eve to a late bonfire party and I have made this to take with us
I even made the granola which by the way tasted glorious with yogurt this morning

Marie's recipe is for single donuts but as I did not have a donut pan I decided to use a large pan with
a hole in the middle and it worked a treat.   I can't wait to try this

 

 

Before

 

After





You can find the recipe here

 

 

Someone Special

This week over at Ooh La La the challenge is to create something for someone Special
The image I have used will be on our next CD coming soon and is for my Son's Birthday in a few weeks, yay I am actually ahead for a change

We have 4 new team members that have joined us so I do hope you can pop over and look at
everyone's fabulous creations and of course join in
Happy Crafting
x

Cooking Blog

Whilst searching for a recipe I spotted on a program Sunday I came across this wonderful Blog

The English Kitchen  if you love cooking you will love this blog and the recipes

Today I am going to give the Sausage Bakewells a go

Christmas Sentiment

 

Thank you to everyone who joined in our last challenge, your creations were all fabulous

 

The challenge over at Ooh La La this fortnight is Christmas Sentiment

and the girls have come up with some stunners this challenge.   We are also giving away

one of the new Yuletide Wishes CD as a prize so pop on over and add your creation and link

We look forward to seeing what you all come up with

 

We are looking for some new team members so if your interested dont forget to add

DT at the end of your post

 

My image and papers are all from the new CD and you can see samples of what's on it here

 you can also purchase it in the shop

Yuletide Wishes

This Sunday we are launching our new CD Yuletide Wishes
Artwork/ Shelly Rashe same artist as Everyday Occasions

We hope you will be able to join us in front of the television
Sunday 14th October on Create & Craft TV
 Sky 671 | Freeview 36 | Freesat 813

We have 2 shows 5pm & 7pm with a new guest presenter
Paul Church who we would like to thank for stepping in at short notice
Hayley was otherwise engaged with crafting demo's

There will be lots of beautiful sample cards and projects and new demo's from Paul
If you would like a sneaky peak then pop on over to our Gallery 

And you can also Pre Order Yours  Here

If the Shoe Fits

  

 

Thank you to everyone who entered our Teddy Challenge last week, there were some amazing creations
and I hope you will all join in again with this weeks theme # 114 If the Shoe Fits

The DT have come up with some absolutely beautiful designs and we say goodbye to our Guest Designer
Kim this week who leaves us but not without creating another gorgeous card
If you want to see them up close pop on over to all of the girls blogs

My card comes from Shoes in Bloom 2 CD, Artwork by the talented Lee Brownlee
You can purchase her work here  or even commision her to paint your own bridal bouquet
in the shape of a shoe

Teddy Bear Antics

 



The Challenge this week over at Ooh la la this fortnight is Teddy Bear Antics
The DT have made some fabulous cards and we have a new Guest Designer for this month
Kim over at  Tilly's Crafts

I do hope you can join in with this fun challenge

The papers, image, buttons and ribbon are all taken from Everyday Occasions CD
which you can purchase  Here  and dont forget to tune in this afternoon at 2pm with Hayley West and Leonie who will be showcasing this Cd along with Boys to men and Fairies and Blooms.
New demonstrations

All at Sea

The theme this week is All at Sea over on Ooh la la this week
The girls have come up with some gorgeous creations and our guest designer
Pauline who's card is fabulous both inside and out, do pop over and join in

Image and papers from Boys to men Cd which can be purchased here

Oriental

This week over at Ooh La La the theme is Oriental and we have some fabulous samples from the Design Team and  our Guest Designer Pauline, so pop on over and join in
The papers and image come from Teentastique CD and you can see it  HERE  along with many other Cd's to purchase

Challenge 107 # Baby

Wow I can't believe how many entries we had for the last challenge I was so pleased I did not have to choose the top 3 there were so many fabulous entries.

The Challenge this week is Baby and I have used one of the beautiful images from our new CD

Everyday Occasions featuring the artwork of Shelly Rasche, you can see and purchase this  here

This one is called My Little Child and is so adorable, it's one of my favourites,  the photo does not really show this but it has been decoupaged

If you would like to join in pop on over  to
 Ooh La La Challenge
where you can see the other DT members gorgeous creations and our guest design team member too

You can catch the first viewing of this CD on
C & C  Sunday 8th July at 10am & 5pm both shows will have new demo's no repeats

Veg & Flowers

The garden is coming along nicely I love going out and picking what you have grown it always seems to taste better.   This year we have raised beds and a smaller plot and everything is doing well.

The pansies at the front are the winter ones and after the coldest winter we have ever had I thought they would not thrive but they keep flowering and flowering.  The Clematis has gone mad as has the honeysuckle and it smells divine. 

                                        

 

 

 

 

Even the Lavender is in bloom

Conservatory

When we moved here 9 years ago we had a bread oven and rabbit hutches which were really overgrown
We cleared the hutches away and revealed a lovely oven and sitting area but now
we have turned this space into a small conservatory and these are the finished results, hubby has worked so hard doing this all on his own with a little help from me, like holding the hammer and cleaning the windows, now I have a beautiful space to sit and read and craft, even has power points for the laptop.

Bird cage my son bought me for Mother's day

Playing With Colour

I had a tutorial sent to me this afternoon and thought I would try it out
These are the results which I am really pleased with

#101 Thank You

I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers day yesterday, in France we dont celebrate until June so I still have mine to look forward to.  The challenge over at Ooh La La this week is Thank You and the girls have made the most gorgeous cards,  pop on over and take a look and even join in we would love to see your creations

The image and papers come from Teentastique Cd
You can see it here 

#98 Be my Valentine

This week we are celebrating Valentine's Day and we would love to see your creations over at Ooh la la the DT have come up with some gorgeous creations so if you can pop on over and join in
Last week we had some beautiful creations for seeing double see if you was the winner this week here

Yesterday saw loads of snow and it was freezing, but today we have a blue sky and sunshine but still lots of freezing snow so I shall stay snuggled up inside today but I expect my two fav little people will be out in it again especially as there's no school today

Lake in the Park frozen solid

Snug as a bug in a rug

Boy are we getting thru bird seed

New Beginnings

Our First challenge of the year and I decided to make a card for a new Job

as I know someone that will be starting a new job very soon

The image and papers are from our new Cd Shoes in Bloom 2 which had it's first viewing on C&C just before Xmas

I used the Hellebores decoupage and took this into my serif program and added the wording, this is one of my favourite flowers and I was lucky enough to get a white one for Christmas from a very dear friend

I hope you can join in and pop over and see all of the gorgeous samples from our new and existing DT members