One month today and I'm sure a lot of us will be sitting down, possibly in front of the fire, watching Christmas TV, wishing we hadn't eaten that last roast potato or that second helping of Christmas pud, wondering how we will ever eat another thing, then Boxing Day morning our appetite has miraculously re-appeared!

We all have our Christmas traditions and tend to repeat them year after year, especially when they have gone down well...

At Utopia Furniture Group where I work, we started a bit of a tradition last year - to run a competition where there would be daily winners who would be entered into an overall prize draw to win the top prize... Last year we did the 12 Daves of Christmas and this year we are running the 12 Dogs of Christmas, where an adorable bunch of pooches, dressed in all known possible Christmas doggy outfits from elves to a turkey are going to be inviting you to join them from 1st to 11th December.

Check out the facebook campaign and see if you beg to differ (pardon the pun!)

So I couldn't help but scrap some of these pooches in action! Hettie is our MD's dog and what a superstar she was!

Not only is she the face of the campaign but she is our 10th dog of Christmas... Dressed in her Little Miss Santa outfit looking totally adorable, she behaved like a true superstar!

 All the stash is from Hey Little Magpie...

Stunning glittery thickers...

I'm loving the latest range from Crate - Open Book

Not to mention my recent discovery of embossing paste through a mask...

Gotta love the beautiful lustre of that gold embossing paste...

And for a wintery twist, why not sparkle with silver?

A bit of machine stitching for detail...

And a silhouette cut file for a title - my silhouette is out of action until my computer is repaired!

Sadly we haven't backed up in a couple of years and our photos may be lost - I currently have one very upset photographer husband - hindsight is a great thing isn't it!

Got the thickers bug again!

I've got the thickers bug again..

Its been absent for quite a while, largely due to my obsession with my cameo and the endless possibilities that this machine continues to deliver.

However the new 'Story' Glitter Foam Phrases by American Crafts have well and truly kiboshed this current obsession.

Who could not fail to fall in love with these glittery pretties?

Not to mention the delicious 'Open Book' collection by Maggie Holmes for Crate Papers…

I delved into my embossing supplies to locate my white powder and then using a bubble wrap effect mask and embossing inks, I created a base which repelled the watercolour paints and gelatos to give a dreamy blend of rich apricots and deep blush pink tones - a perfect complement to the ephemera.

The 'Slideshow' paper was an instant "must have" purchase but then the reality of what shall I do with it sunk in!

By cutting in two then moving the excess sky to the base enabled me to have a platform of a cream base for the photo, floral ephemera and embellishments.

By using a selection of watercolours, gelatos and white gesso, I created a subtle sky to frame the layout's top.

If like me you have a glitter phobia, which I believe stems form my fear of sand, fear not! Both the alpha phrases and the floral ephemera had their glitter well and truly stuck…. phew!!!

To create this background, I painted both under and onto the gold newspaper printed velum to add bands of co-ordinating colours.

Bring on the bling and the glittery thickers!

In October already… that can only mean one thing!

The GoGoGetaway…

In less than two weeks time I shall be setting off on that familiar route, taking me down the M6, M1 then onto the M25, junction 25 to Theobalds Park where I shall be meeting old friends and new to teach four classes at the 13th GoGoGetaway!

Where's Washi? is my Friday evening class…

Perhaps its a give-aways but we're gonna be using lush wash tape!

You've been framed is my first class on Saturday, where we will make some pretty polaroid style frames - I do so love the lovely ice creamy colours in this class...

De'SCRIPT'ion is such fun layout to make - can I just say I have found a new love - chinese brush ink!

Chevron Swapp uses some lovely papers from its name sake Heidi Swapp and is one seriously colourful layout - a perfect end to a perfect weekend.

So roll on Friday 24th October and lets have some fun!

Notes & Things

I've decided that whilst I didn't realise that I had an alliance to a paper manufacturer, I clearly do!

And that manufacturer is Crate… whether its a Maggie Homes range or pure and simple Crate, I love it! Time after time, past and new collections co-ordinate so well together.

Notes & Things has proved to be right down my street and my bank balance agrees with me.

Who can resist these chipboard tags, perfect for embellishing with some Maggie Homes rub-ons….

My bestest bud Sheena, who just happens to be a magpie too gave me a mask recently, a simple bubble wrap effect mask. I hadn't played with it, so decided I would christen it on this layout, as I had already created a pretty and colourful background with my gelatos. A thin layer of texture paste through the mask created a semi-translucent effect so that the gelatos colour still showed through.

I'd also fallen for the 6 x 6" paper pad and used this on both my layouts, especially the butterflies and tabbed file papers.

The title, simply cut on the silhouette reminded me of the KI squiggle words from a few years ago, hey Mrs Ashton!

I always endeavour but due to space constraints on my desk never seem to get around to sewing on my layouts but some stitching was essential on this waterfall effect layout...

I've a never-ending love with butterflies, perhaps it shows?

Both layouts use a base paper form one of the Crate collections form last year… who can tell! Bonus buy new stash, and don't feel guilty as you're able to use up some older stash too!

I haven't even begun to dip into the majority of this collection but I'm away with some fellow scrapping friends, three of whom are also magpies! 

Small world, hey little magpies….

Sailing down the Grand Canal

The last day of our holiday and we are spending it in the mist amazing place... Venice!

Listening to opera as we sail into Venice made me want to shed a tear... How lucky am I?

Ok, so I'm not so lucky to be able to afford one of the many motor launchers we saw on route!

First glimpse of St Marks Square...

Wow, seriously... how many people!

A beautiful day, an amazing place that I'm lucky enough to say I've explored once before and I'm as excited this time as I was the last

One bridge of many no doubt!

Sadly it's home time tomorrow, but a great holiday has been had by all...

Creating with goodies from Hey Little Magpie

And so the 25th of the month sees my turn to reveal what I've been up to with a selection of very yummy goodies from the Hey Little Magpie shop…

I'm actually enjoying the sites and sounds of Istanbul today - were visiting the worlds biggest market and boy it's BIG!

But back to more scrapping related issues… I decided to pick from a selection of new releases in the Hey Little Magpie shop, including 'Story of Us' and 'Good Day Sunshine' both by Simple Stories and 'Me-ology' from Fancy Pants…

Be Serious used a background frame cut on my silhouette and then a selection of the sections was backed with a couple of papers from the Story of Us collection and then clusters of die cuts created depth to certain sections.

How cute are these - so aptly named "bits and pieces"

Some Bunny Loves You came together so easily - once my title had been cut on the silhouette, I used a red ink and blended the colour to frame the title. By back mounting with book text and then adding back in the die-cut adds both interest and enables you to add layers behind the title…

I just love the word ephemera… I always find it so hard to say, let alone spell!

Lastly You Colour My Life Beautiful enabled me to play with a recent purchase - my gelatos… Once I'd got over the angst of simply opening the box, enough was enough - I got brave and used them! I LOVE THEM… you can really build up the colour, from very subtle to strong and vibrant and unlike more congenital paints, the paper doesn't get all soggy!

The B side of the 2 x 12 elements paper was the perfect starting point to create a fun and vibrant layout using the paint swatch panel

I've already got plenty of ideas for next months product - check out Life Emporium by Teresa Collins cause I certainly will be!

One week to reveal and counting...

Greetings from Barcelona…

Only one week to go before my first CT post for Hey Little Magpie. In the meantime, here's a taster of what's to come...

UKScrappers 2014 Summer Scrapbooking Challenge

Having recently become a member of the Creative Team for Hey Little Magpie has enabled me to connect with some wonderful likeminded scrappers including Niki Rowland, who I already knew from the GoGoGetaways.

When Niki invited me to create a sample layout for a Summer Scrapbooking Challenge 2014 over on UKScrappers. I jumped at the chance!

The layout, for Challenge 6 is based on a colour palette of peaches and greens, and uses a multitude of different patterned papers, ideal for using up all those scraps of papers that we all seem guilty of saving.

Using a Silhouette heart cut file by Wilna Furstenberg, I created an ombre effect through a series of patterned papers - 44 papers to be precise! The file cut a series of hearts and I can confirm that each and every heart was filled with a different patterned paper! It might be a labour of love, but I find the arranging and sticking of the papers very therapeutic indeed! Sad but oh so true!

Embellishments from some of the recent Maggie Holmes and Amy Tan releases were a perfect match to the colours on the layout, but keeping them simple didn't detract from the array of decorative papers.

I've had a secret...

I've been keeping a secret for a few days now.

It's been really hard, I've been dying to spill the beans and I've even avoided texting or talking to my closest friends!

But thank goodness, today's the day when I can reveal my secret! I must add at this point there is no baby Ball on the way!

I applied to be on the Creative Team for Hey Little Magpie, the new trading name of the wonderful online scrapbooking store, formerly known as Sarah's Cards, and guess what, I've only gone and got on their team!

Along with 15 other ladies, we shall be creating with the very latest scrapbooking stash - how totally amazing does this sound?

And it gets better, because tonight I've discovered that some of my nearest and dearest buds are joining me on this team - Sheena, Jackie and Julie. Writing this post reminds me that Jackie was the first person I met on my first ever retreat and we have been great mates ever since! Neither of us knew anyone, we were retreating 'solo' so to speak and plucked up the courage to talk to one another - and the rest they say is history!

I submitted a series of five layouts…

The first two illustrate my love of my silhouette cameo - it tends to sit on the end of my desk until I get the urge to use it, then I go mad and use it on layout after layout!

I'm very into scripty phrases, but keeping the positive and negative of the cut, inking or painting the edges of the cut then simply re-inserting the cut phrase to create a seamless look.

I do like intricate cutting and boy does this illustrate my love of it! I've intricate cut so much before I end up with cramp in my fingers - not a great look, nor without a certain amount of discomfort - no pain, no gain!

I'm quite into grid formation layouts at the moment, especially when softened with 'paintily' effects or mists!

Lastly, I love colour co-ordinated layouts where the papers and photo complement each other meticulously - this is one such layout of pinks and beiges...

So there, the secret is out!