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!

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….