Crackers

 I havw also been busy doing crackers. These can be straightfoward (I have learnt that it isn't worth too much trouble with some family members) or elaborate (good for enclosing special presents) or somewhere in between depending on who and what for

Other lanterns

 I decided to use the bauble frame for

a lantern box this year. Whilst it is larger than I usually do I do love this die and the effect of the lights behind.

The top shelf shows the lanterns done in the last 3 years

The pyramid die

 Having purchased this new pyramid die from JND I have used it for boxes, lanterns, hanging decorations and cards. I tried it with different backgrounds - parchment for lanterns, glitter card for boxes etc. 

Christmas Specials

I have looked at using some of the stamps and dies we have used this season to create special cards for the family. These can be reproduced in December's workshops.

Stencils with paste and mica

 As mentioned, these stencils had paste applied first, then mica powders. The choice is then to heat or not depending on whether you want a bumpy or smooth effect.

November's Die cutting

 This month I have used two dies from creative expressions - the christmas pudding and the robin scene.

The robin has various backgrounds with alcohol inks and kitchen foil, usually used for stained glass effects.

Stamping in November

 Stamping for this month started with the novelty reindeer head which I tried cutting in different ways.

I then moved onto the scenic stamps, using them with different dies for frames. The next choice was the Anamone stamp which I pretended was a poppy for Remembrance in November .

The bauble stamp and DL nativity were from last years' stamps but I have similar ones for sale so I thought I'd include them

Stencils and Masks with glitter pastes

 For this month's stencilling I decided to use various types of glitter paste. I used both metal and plastic stencils and masks.

Using some new dies from JND

  As you can see I had a great time paying with these new dies and had to stop myself trying more ideas and move onto stamping..

Stamping for October workshops

 The first stamp I used was a new one from creative expressions involving penquins.

I had another new lovely stamp in the shop that was a solid stamp. Since I have a few of this type of stamp I used my old ones to show the differences obtained by using either coloured inks and clear powder or coloured powders.

As you can see I tried a number of variations and didn't put them all into cards