Thank you card featuring Etty Bear special release in memory of Amanda Reed

Hi there!
Have you recovered from Christmas? Santa was good to me and the family with once again our boys getting lots of gifts and spending money (they are richer than me!) for our upcoming holiday! Hubby and I are busy with preparations for the road trip, I have also managed to sneak in some time in my craft room!
 

I completed my card for Sweet 7 Design Challenge (post will appear on the 13^th Jan), and thank you cards, one for friends who are putting us up for a week and the other for another friend who is house & pet sitting for us!

Here is the first thank you card… this particular friend loves the colour purple so this was always going to feature heavily with this card. The embossing folder I used a Spellbinders M-BOSSABILITIES Reversible Embossing Folder, I used design B for this purple strip.

The digi image on this card is the image released especially in memory of another great digi artist/creator, Amanda Reed. “Etty Bear” range is by PolkaDoodle Dandies. 
Copics used in colouring this cuddly bear was:
E33, E47, E49, E57, W3, C-1, C-3, YG17, V17, BV17 and the flower was coloured using a group from Stamping Up Blendabilities range called “Razzleberry”

As we are going away at the end of this week (New Years Day), I won't be crafting as much nor able to post very much but stay tuned for my DT piece (released on Jan 15th)  because I think it is fantastic (not often am I completely happy with a piece... usually there is something I wish I could better!) and definitely worth a look! :)

Merry Christmas!!

Where has the last year gone? The years now are just going so fast... or is it because I am no longer a kid itching to grow up?  I say that because as I type this post Christmas Eve 2014 is nearing the end which means folks... yep it isn't long before Santa pays us a visit here down under in Australia!  

We have a busyish day tomorrow, starting bright and early I am sure with our boys waking us up to tell us Santa has been! (They have been a tad naughty ok really naughty this last week especially so I  sent Santa an email and told him to not bring them any presents and for those to be donated to charity but Santa had another idea... since they have been fighting ALOT, Santa decided to bring them one present... to share! He has left them a note explaining his idea so let's see if it works!) Then we will go to the hospital to visit my mother-in-law  (not the ideal place to be on Christmas day but it's the best place for her to be while she receives her last course of iv antibiotics) and open a few small presents with her (will open the rest when she comes home on the weekend!) before going to my sister's house where we will have the main opening of presents (family tradition) followed by lunch and then hopefully a relaxing afternoon! 

But while we gather around each other tomorrow, please stop for a moment to remember those that can only celebrate with us in our hearts and memories... We all know someone or of someone and their families that is grieving these holidays. Tonight I started a new Christmas Eve tradition (along with many friends old and new over on Kit & Clowder Facebook group) where I lit a candle for those passed on. My candle tonight was lit for an old friend who lost her long hard fought battle to cancer, leaving behind her new husband and their two young boys last month. I know she will be close by tomorrow.... 

So as I sign off for tonight I will leave you with our 2014 Christmas message "From my family to yours, may your holidays be full of magic and the power of love be all around you.  Merry Christmas!!

Thank you so much for the love!

Wow thank you so much for the support and the kind encouraging messages I have been getting! I am still playing around with layouts and gadgets etc learning as I go!  I guess I better start sharing some cards that I have made hadn't I! How about I show you the two cards that I had entered into artbymiran's Anything Goes November Challenge where I won a top 3 pick!

This card was made for my niece's 12 birthday. The layout is called a centre step up (tutorial is from Beccy's Place I am a big fan of Beccy's blog!) and it features a beautiful digital image from Mi Ran Jung called "Desi"  This card was entry #1 in the challenge.

My second entry was a card that was requested by a friend to give to a colleague that was leaving her workplace. The requirement was for a female chef and she wanted it to say thanks.... Again Mi Ran had the perfect image for me to use and she is called Chef Charolette. Backing paper is from Trixie Scraps

I am in the process of organisig a new watermark to use to mark my work (again never had to do much of that before either!), now that I have a blog I need to spread the word right!!

Thanks for stopping by!

L