Happy Mail and Trio of Christmas Cards

When I came home from work one evening this week, I was so excited to find a package waiting for me from my good friend Linda. Included in the package was this wonderful card Linda had made, it's so pretty and soft looking – I love it. Linda always seems to know exactly what I love and this time was no exception – look at this brilliant array of goodies. Thanks again for everything, Linda:)



Well talk about spoiled for choice and not knowing where to start! I’ve been having great fun playing with the Brush Strokes set but the first items I completed were three Christmas cards using Shari Carroll’s fab Christmas Trees from Hero Arts. I wanted to make three cards that are quite different to each other and also wanted to reflect something from the images on the rest of my card. As I was inspired by the Hero Arts blog I’m submitting these cards into the current Hero Arts Challenge.

The first card was inspired by the design and traditional colour scheme in this gorgeous card by Jennifer McGuire. As the Christmas tree made me think of an appliquéd pattern, I added lots of faux stitching after colouring the tree. Because of the design of the tree I tilted the background stamping.



Stamps (Hero Arts) – Shari’s Tree No 3, Very Merry Christmas & Precious Baby Boy

For the second card I went with non traditional colours and lots of embellishing. I was inspired by the repeating of the circular shapes, rounded corners and added bling in this wonderful card by Kelly Rasmussen.



Stamps (Hero Arts) – Shari’s Tree No. 2 & Very Merry Christmas

The third card was inspired by the thin branches on the Christmas tree and the colours and lines in Tami Hartley’s fab tag here. After colouring a rainbow Christmas tree, I wove thin strips of card into a colourful background to tie in with the tree and “Joy” sentiment.



Stamps (Hero Arts) – Shari’s Tree No. 1 & Very Merry Christmas

I’m planning on making a card organiser today – thanks for the great idea, Linda! So hopefully as the weeks go by I’ll be adding more and more Christmas cards to it and won’t be dashing around at the last minute, as I usually do, making cards!

WELCOME LILLY! - Blog Hop

Welcome to our blog hop for Paula and Lilly!

Little Lilly aka “Bug” was very excited about meeting her mum, dad and big sis. So she decided to arrive a little bit early and was born on Friday 4th June weighing 7 lbs and 13 1/2 oz. I’d like to send big congratulations and best wishes again to mum Paula, dad Doug and big sis Em! There’s nothing like having a new baby in the house, exhausting at times I know, but just wonderful too!



Back in April, Deborah and Hannah hatched and organised a plan for us to send cards to Paula once “Bug” had arrived. Paula’s friend Helen was also involved in the planning and we all sent cards to her to pass on to Paula. Deborah also put a lot of work into organising today's hop. Oh Paula, the things that have been going on behind your back!


Stamps (Hero Arts):- Adorable Baby Girl & Precious Baby Boy

As Paula is a moderator at the Die Cut Divas group on Flickr, I decided to go a little bit Cuttlebug crazy on both cards and of course being me I just had to put a bit of gingham fabric on the first card!


Stamps (Hero Arts):- You’re the Best, Clouds & Birthday Messages (used back of balloon stamp)

Well Paula as you already have your little cutie Em, I probably don’t have any tips to pass on to you that you don’t know already. But here’s something we used to do when our kids were babies. At the weekend my hubby and I would have a morning each. So whoever was “on duty” would get up when our baby woke (usually very early!) and let the other do what they wanted until 11am/12 noon. It could be sleep (often!), breakfast in bed, go for a walk, read a book, meet a friend etc. Having those few hours was just brilliant for recharging the batteries.

Killarney, Co Kerry, Ireland

Just to finish here are some words of wisdom I’ve come across:-

No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behaviour, and I'm not talking about the kids. Bill Cosby

When my kids become wild and unruly, I use a nice, safe playpen. When they're finished, I climb out. Erma Bombeck

Be nice to your children, for they will choose your retirement home. Phyllis Diller

Hopefully you will have arrived here from Hannah’s blog in the US and now it's time to hop from Ireland over to Indonesia and Fika’s blog. If you think you have missed any stops on your travels or if there have been broken links in any of the blogs you can go back to Deborah’s blog where you will find the full list of links.

Again, welcome Lilly and congrats to Paula, Doug and Em! Thanks everyone for visiting and hope you all have a wonderful weekend!