The final letter - 'P'!

Dear friends,

Well, we've made it!  After a year's worth of fortnightly challenges, we are now on the final letter of the Craft Barn's alpha dictionary challenge, and it's the letter 'P'.

My choice was easy - having just made Christmas cards that featured poinsettias, it was the first word that popped into my head - I didn't even scour the dictionary for something else!  It's also the longest word I've featured in the challenge during the year with 10 letters to cut out and glue down.  

My tag features:

• A tag die from Heartfelt Creations
• 'Happy new year' die by Sue Wilson
• Poinsettia die by Spellbinders

I have really enjoyed taking part in the challenge over the year; and I've enjoyed meeting other crafters and seeing what they've created throughout bogland.  Thank you for visiting and leaving your comments.

So, to echo my tag, I'd just like to wish you all a very happy new year for 2017.  

Take care.

Anne

Merry Christmas! - 'M' is for Merry!

Hello!

Well we are at the penultimate letter of the Craft Barn's alpha dictionary challenge and it is the letter 'M'.  I settled down today to do two things in my craft room - to make a card for my husband and to do my entry for the challenge.

Here is my card - it uses a set of border dies that I have arranged together to imitate the images so popular in Nordic countries.  It came out better than I expected and I must confess to being quite pleased with it!  I like cutting a pattern out in different colours and then piecing them together.  This is what I have done with the sparkly elements of the card in the snowflakes, the decoration on the baubles and the stars.  I think he will like it.  

Then I immediately hit upon the 'M' of Merry Christmas as my possible solution to the challenge. What's more, I had a lot of 'waste' elements from the card and I just put them together for this tag.

It also reflects what I'd like to say to my blogging friends - I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year for 2017.  

Take care everyone,

Anne

'Y' is for 'Yule' of course!

Hello,

The Craft Barn's challenge this week is the letter 'Y'.  Now there aren't many words beginning with 'Y', but as I'm in full swing making Christmas cards, the solution was simple!  Yuletide!

My tag uses the elements I usually have in my cards:  pretty backing paper, tags, a central image and snowflakes!  I love snowflakes and I usually add to my collection each year with something new to tempt me!

I'm off to the Craft Barn's sale in a minute - looking for some presents for two family members.

Hope you like my tag.

Have a good day.

Anne

Ice skating - my entry for 'I'

Hello,

The Craft Barn alpha dictionary challenge this time is the letter 'I'.  For me, this was a simple choice, as I've been playing with Heartfelt Creations two wintery launches called 'Celebrate the Season' and 'Snow Kissed', which contains this lovely skating snowman image.  Frolicking Frosty snowman appears on a number of my Christmas cards this year, along with the pair of skates.

I also used a snowflake stamp in white chalk ink to add to the background.

As we draw to the end of the year, there are very few letters left.  I'm trying hard to enter each challenge, but invariably leave it to the last day!  LOL!

Best wishes,

Anne O

Unite! - my entry for the letter 'u'!

Hello,

The letter for the latest Craft Barn alpha dictionary challenge is 'u'.  Now there aren't really that many words beginning in 'u' if you discount all those that begin with 'un'.  My favourite word was really umbrella, but my attempts at drawing umbrellas for a bit of zentangle were pretty pathetic, so I had to have a re-think.

I was tempted by 'Uncle Sam' - probably because the news is full of the US presidency outcome - and I thought about creating a flag and adding some stars floating off it, but then I came up with 'unite' which I've illustrated by two intertwined hearts.  

This die set is one of the first ones I bought - it's by Heartfelt Creations, which is one of my favourite die manufacturers.  It's called 'Timeless amour' and has got a number of very pretty hearts.  It's a very simple entry this time.  I've been making some Christmas cards and only just remembered that I needed to do an entry...

Thanks for visiting.

Anne

Travelling with luggage

Hello

Today's blog is for The Craft Barn's alpha dictionary challenge and this time it's the letter 'V'.  Once again I've left it to the last minute, so much so that the next letter has been announced.  It's the letter 'U'.  As I was at a loss about what to do - I'd even thought about combining both challenges and illustrating Ultra-Violet - I was beginning to think this might be the first challenge I've not completed.

Then I happened upon 'Valise' - a small case - and I was away!  I turned to a die set from Heartfelt Creations which comprises a suitcase, various labels and some tickets.  Perfect!  I then turned to a favourite postcard stamp - again from Heartfelt Creations, to link my case, label and ticket with a pretty postcard.

Phew!  Once again, late to post!  Hope you had a good weekend and are rested for the week ahead.

Thank you for visiting.

Anne. x

'E' is for Eight!

Hello!

Today's blog is my entry for The Craft Barn's alpha dictionary challenge and the letter this time is 'E'!

There are quite a few words beginning with 'E', but somehow I wasn't attracted to any of them until I came across 'eight' and 'eighteen'.  While I was initially going to illustrate 'eight' with a rowing boat (The Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race kind!), I wasn't really happy with my rendition of the long and graceful boats, so the number not the noun it was!

I found some balloon dies (Spellbinders' 'Fun on a string') and I cut out eight balloons and mounted them on a checkered paper that reminded me of a table cloth and a birthday party!  

I added the definition, as usual, but one thing that struck me was the wording:  Eight is defined as one more than seven.  So what if you don't know what seven is?  One more than six?  And why not use the definition as one less than nine?  As definitions go, I think this one is pretty weak!

Perhaps I should have gone with eighteen after all - the tag does look a little bare!  LOL

Have a good weekend.

Anne x