Happy New Year!

Firstly, thank you to everyone that has read my blog this year. I'm hoping to spend a little bit more time blogging in 2010, but we'll have to see what happens!

Anyway, I've got some exciting news.... I'm 3 months pregnant! The morning of New Years Eve was spent in hospital having a dating scan. It was the best New Years Eve I've ever had. I've been feeling so anxious about this pregnancy, so I was thrilled to see our baby's heart beating. I've had a couple of early miscarriages before Dylan was born, so it feels great to be out of the danger zone!

Oh Christmas Tree...

This year I took it upon myself to make all the decorations for our Christmas tree. Mainly for the reason that all our decorations are glass and we've got an 18 month old son, nuff said!!! I tried to use things I already had in the house, so no more money needed to be spent, I nearly managed. The colour theme is mainly red and white but there is a little bit of green thrown in there too.





These button stars are my favourite. The ribbon is slightly skew whiff on this one, but I can't tell from where I'm sat on the sofa! So I'm not going to get worked up about it!





These snowflakes were cut out using a Sizzix Sizzlit die and the Sizzix Sidekick machine. I found the felt circles very tricky to sew on the sewing machine. It won't be something I'm going to do again for a very long time!




To save a bit of time I made the decision to sew this bobble trim on wonky from the start. I figured it was better to start off wonky from the outset than to try and do it straight and then mess it up! :)


I made these decorations using the Maya Road Supernova chipboard set. To speed things up a bit I chose to cover them in white card instead of painting them. The paper in the star is sandwiched between the layers. I used my lovely Crop-A-Dile to punch the holes out for stringing them together. That has been one of my best purchases ever, I don't know how I ever managed without it!

Instead of buying a shop bought Advent Calendar this year (or ever), I made my own version and hung it from the tree. I bought these bags from Hooray Design on Etsy and stamped all the numbers on from 1 to 24, on the front of the bags. I used a set of Bam Pop acrylic number stamps. I love Bam Pop, but that's another story! To prevent any ink from bleeding through to the reverse of the bag, I placed a piece of card in the bags before stamping. Then I placed a chocolate coin inside each of the bags and a chocolate Father Christmas in number 24. I can't believe how good Dylan has been with the tree, considering it's covered in chocolate!
Next year I'm going to make a new star for the tree, I think it deserves a better one, than the 5 minute rush job I made this year. I can't decide what to do though, so if anyone has any suggestions I'd be very happy to hear them.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Secret Santa Swap

I was absolutely thrilled to receive some happy mail on December 1st from Victoria. It's my first swap, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was super duper pleased with all the Christmassy things I received. My favourite item had to be the jazzy Christmas socks followed very closely by the Santa salt and pepper pots, so cute! There were also some great craft items for me to get creative with over the Christmas period. Some glittery felt, a felt reindeer to stitch together and a 3d letter R to alter. Once again thank you so much Victoria you made my day.

Also that day I managed to wrap and post the Secret Santa Swap present to marryannlucy, it was so much fun putting it all together. I'm trying to do a completely hand made Christmas this year, so most of the items were hand made by me. I hope there all ok, I get quite nervous about making things for other people!

I can't wait to take part in another swap, it's so much fun!!! Thank you so much Victoria and Kelly for organising the Secret Santa Swap. I hope there's another one next year!

Oct 1st Challenge-The Studio

Oct 1st Challenge-The Studio
Originally uploaded by FizzPopBang

I was made up this morning to discover that I'd won the October 1st challenge over at The Studio. This is only the 5th 12x12 layout that I've created, so I was ecstatic to find out I'd won a prize for it.

This month they are holding a Charity Extravaganza for charity:water , starting at 7pm (GMT) on Friday 13th November that will last for 48 hours. There will be games, challenges, special guests and prizes. Even if you can't take part a small donation would always be appreciated!

Big Owl Eyes Mini Album

I made this mini album shortly after my sons first birthday, to celebrate his first year! I didn't want to make a traditional baby album, so this is what i came up with.



I used a mixture of chipboard letters the large ones are from Maya Road. The album contains papers from Papermania and Sassafras Lass Pocket Full of Rosies

I've entered this mini album into a competition to win a mini album at The Studio. Check out their blog for monthly challenges and giveaways, to help keep you inspired. I would have posted a little bit more about this album, but blogger wasn't uploading my pictures very well and I'm lacking in patience today! :-)

Leeds Festival (in the rain)

Woo Hoo!!! I finally made it to Leeds Festival after years of talking about going. It rained nearly all day Friday and was as windy as hell, but the company and the music was amazing. At one point my lips had actually turned purple from the cold, my friends suggested i had a good walk around to warm back up. This seemed to help for about 10 mins. But then The Prodigy came on and i danced around like an idiot for an hour and everything seemed better again ;-).

Me and Deborah (my sister)

Me

10 minutes of sunshine

My sister Clare looked after Dylan on Friday and turned him into a fairy princess. He looks so cute (even if I do say so myself)!

My Fairy Prince!

The toilets (poo-tardis) weren't too clever. They'd kindly put hand sanitizer in the portaloos, but unfortunately some of the lids had broken on the containers. One of the dispensers I looked at had tab ends, ash, and a drowned beetle floating in it. My personal hygiene felt violated by the end of the weekend, but it's all part of the fun!

10p a cup!

Deborah and Jimi

Deborah and Tony at the top of the Booster!

The highlight of my weekend was, without a doubt Kings of Leon. I absolutely love them! Big time!

Tony and I

Check Out Prima Product Picks!

Prima Product Picks!
Ready for something FUN?
Something REALLY, REALLY Fun?
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Prima Product Picks Include:
Fleur Danseur: These vintage flowers are absolutely stunning with the gem centers!
Pebbles: Patterned pebbles are perfect for a flower center or as an embellishment on your project.
Say It In Pearls Butterfly Swirl: These are totally feminine and precious! These swirls can be applied to almost ANY medium!
Holiday Lights Pearl Vine: Lovely vines filled with peach-colored pearl beads.
Gypsy Petals: Layers of yummy fabric with lightly singed edges and a gorgeous center.
Fleur Danseur:Sweet flowers made with fancy fabrics and complete centers.
Baroque Blooms: like large flowers? These are perfect for a fab focal point or an altered project!
Say It In Pearls: These centers will add class and elegance to any project!
Romani Flowers: These gorgeous flowers include a combination of beautiful fabric and pearls!
Trellis Roses: Sweet roses that look freshly picked!
Felt Stems: Just add flowers for a fabulous look!

Run on over to the Prima blog to check out the projects made using Prima Product Picks and also for your chance to win.