Christmas Cones

I've wanted to make some of these cones for ages so today I decided to just go for it. Well, they were so easy - I made three in a very short time. The ones here are small, I used a saucer to draw around, but I will probably make some bigger ones too.

This Week

I don't know what I've been doing this week, the time has flown by and not one bit of stitching done! Monday we travelled home from Norfolk where we'd spent the week; had some beautiful weather and got a few lovely walks in. Tuesday I did housework. Wednesday I 'supervised' Graham while he sorted out some of his frame stash that was cluttering up two shelves of the wardrobe; it's all now stored in our workshop (otherwise known as the shed). Thursday was craft group day, we did quilling again. Friday we caught a bus to a supermarket. We are very lucky where we live, there are lots of buses and now that we have bus passes we are trying out all the different routes. Today I spent all morning packing up a swap - it took me ages!!! Anyway, it's all ready to be posted on Monday. Also got a packet ready for a Norwegian blogging friend, I'd been meaning to send her something for a couple of months but time just got away from me. So, maybe next week I'll get back to some sewing, I have my log cabin quilt squares to put together and I've got to decide how I'm going to do the borders, with a bit of luck I might get it finished and out of the way.

Swaps

This is a terrible picture, I took it before I realised that if I used the macro setting on my camera I got a much clearer picture. Also there is an area in my kitchen that has just the perfect light for taking this type of picture, my craft room lighting is completely wrong because of the glare. The items here were for a swap I did ages ago; a needle case, thimble keeper and coaster. I have very few pictures of the swaps I've sent. The reason for this is that I hate packing up swaps, I find it stressful for some reason. Plus I'm never sure if what I'm sending is good enough or if I'm sending enough. Most of the swaps I do are with people in the USA and I don't want to give the impression that people from the UK are mean or that our workmanship is poor. To send anything heavy is too expensive, then there are all the regulations about what can be sent. I must take pictures in future then I'll have a record of what I've sent.

Paper Crafting

I think my favourite style of card are the ones I make using 3d decoupage. That is an image that is layered with silicone so that it becomes 3d, then I varnish it with Prism clear glaze. I love the effect even though the cutting out can be a bit fiddly. The two robins are cut out this way but the two fairies are from the new die-cut decoupage sheets, they save lots of time and aggravation but still look beautiful.
This type of card is very quick to make. I had to make some cards for a charity coffee morning that a friend is giving. In less two days I made over 30 cards using this method, basically it's just gluing things in place on the card. I don't like them much myself but they are popular at fund raisers.