A Tiny Slot for Blogging!

Phew! Just time for a breather before it all starts up again, but moreso.
Christmas Day was a lovely peaceful day in our house. Just the two of us spending some real quality time together, sharing the cooking, spoiling each other rotten with treats and pressies and just simply enjoying the day. We both enjoy the big family-busy-type Christmas Days but there's something special about just being a twosome for Christmas. And there's the ultimate bonus of actually getting to eat our dinner while it's still hot, yum :-)
We always end up buying loads of things for each other, lots of little things as well as a "main" gift so there's so much to open it lasts all day!
We spent Boxing Day with Hubby's sister and family - it's the first time we've been to their house since they moved over to England, and looking around other people's houses is always entertaining, isn't it? More pressies, a light lunch and back to the horror that is the M25, which thankfully wasn't as bad as on the way there.
Hubby went back to work yesterday, he's one of those people who quite enjoys the novelty of driving to work when the roads are really quiet and the office is peaceful. He reckons he gets done in half a day what would normally take all day - why more businesses aren't open to the work-at-home idea beats me, I guess they assume that people wouldn't work if they weren't in the office, but in reality most people would just get stuff done quicker without the interruptions you get in a busy office.
Later today we're heading over to see my bro and family and to catch up with the work on their house which is almost finished at last. All my SIL wanted for Christmas was a working sink! Which is understandable after months with a temp sink in a trestle table, eh?
We've friends coming to visit tomorrow then on Sunday my aunt and uncle, and cousin will be arriving to spend New Year with us - so it's going to be pretty busy around here.

So to catch up with some craft stuff.....
I finally got my DCM card for last week's "I'm Free" dare onto the blog yesterday - honestly, it was done in time but the only chance I got to stick it on the blog was the day Blogger was playing silly beggars and wouldn't let me load it, typical.
Anyway, I used some free papers that came in a mag (I forget which, sorry) - I never use these freebies, even when the designs are ok I'm not inspired to have a go with them because I just don't like the thin, shiny paper they are printed on - they just go straight in the recycle bin. If I'd been less rushed I'd have remembered those chipboard freebie bits I've got saved somewhere - even though the colours are grotty I could have covered them with something nicer, couldn't I?

Next up is my card for today's "4 of the Best" Dare - we've chosen 4 of the most popular recent dares and the idea is to use one or more of them on our cards. The dares are "Ribbons", "Button It", "....and Cut" (hand cutting) and "Frames"
I needed to make a commissioned card for an 80th birthday so used this dare to get it done. I used three of the old dares - hand cutting, ribbon and buttons, I guess I could claim the frame one too if the mounted greeting counts.......well it looks a bit like a frame, don't you think?
I dug out some old chintzy papers from a K&Co paper pad for this, along with some lovely Primas. I think that bit of ribbon is recycled from a chocolate box so maybe I can get some extra bonus points for that?
Don't forget to check out the DCM blog for loads more inspiring cards - and to meet our new Guest Designer, Judy Fowler, a new "name" to me, but her work is fab so it's great to have her playing along with us for a couple of weeks.

What else then?
How about some Secret Santa stuff I made and xouldn't show on here till now.....
A little notebook mounted on board so that it can be hung on a convenient hook
An Address book in gorgeous BG Urban Couture and using my robo to cut the word and the swirl
A decorated picture frame -I printed a photo from the recipient's blog to print off and put in the frame before I sent it off

This is another commissioned card
It's a sort of joint New Baby/Happy Christmas card, which was heading for Italy - eventually!
Long story involving a forgetful hubby and a tight time schedule....



Also my latest cards for Crafty Templates Design Team, Leo's templates are always inspiring and exciting to use - I really look forward to my little batch of templates arriving each month.
I loved the little parcel idea this time - perfect combined with the Cuttlebug "Thanks" folder for making all those Chtristmas present Thank You cards

I only send a couple of Happy New Year cards, so was pleased to see this clever template - and the DT pack had these gorgeous papers in "frosty" colours which look fab with a bit of ribbon and some bling. Well I think so anyway!
I cut the numbers individually and mounted them to overlap using foam tape I've got loads of other bits and bobs but that'll do for now.

I'm not sure when I'll get back to my blog again so I'd like to say
HAPPY NEW YEAR
to anyone who comes to visit - I've loved getting to know so many friends over the last year and am looking forward to crafting with you all again in 2008