brrr...so cold

Well, I thought the weather was bad in the UK, until I landed in Ottawa where it's currently -15 degrees!!!  I thought I might walk to Michaels craft store to stretch my legs after the flight as it's only 5 miles away, by the time I'd walked the first mile I was completely frozen through, despite the thermals and 3 layers + winter coat, so I've trudged back to the hotel, cup of coffee and donut in hand courtesy of Tim Hortons, to do some blogging, before setting off in an hour or so in the car (i.e. once I've thawed out).  I've been a bad blogger - didn't realise until I looked that it had been nearly 2 months since I'd posted, but things got somewhat hectic in the run-up to christmas.  Needless to say, I got plenty of crafting done, so have lots of piccies to share over the next few days, which i've finally edited in photoshop ready for upload.  First off, here's my two Christmas Card designs for 2009

This design was inspired by my card created for the challenges over on SWUS winter, recipe below.  Secondly, I used my new favourite colour cardstock - kraft to create the following:

as part of the ILWS secret santa swap, I also made a matching gift bag for the recipient of my gift:

Recipes:

aerial snowman

Stamps: snowman rubber (rubber soul),  "Merry Christmas" (AMuse), assorted snowflake stamps (Hero Arts and Butterfly Kisses)

Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Bordering Blue and Whisper White (Stampin' Up! - SU!) clear cardstock (Elzybells), scraps of black and orange from stash

Ink: white pigment (Elzybells), cotton white and black (stazon) Not Quite Navy (SU!)

Other: Not Quite Navy ribbon (SU!), foam pads, 1/4" circle and ticket corner punches (SU!)

deck the halls card & gift bag

Stamps: fancy holly outline by Hero Arts, 'Deck the Halls' and 'Secret Santa' from the stocking prints set and layer outline from vintage labels both by Papertrey Ink (PTI), 'Merry Christmas' background stamp from Stamp It! Australia

Cardstock: Kraft, Stampers Select White, Pure Poppy and Ripe Avacado (PTI) Dark green from stash

Ink: white (elzybells) black (stazon) and versamark

Other: ribbon from stash, white embossing powder (SU!), pure poppy buttons (PTI), labels 1 nestabilities, linen thread (SU!) Large Oval and Scalloped Oval punches (SU!)

Well, that's all for now folks, but I'll post my entries for last weekend's ILWS challenge cup later

Keep warm!

L