Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is finally here and every one is getting very excited. Every thing is more of less done. Presents have all been wrapped with the exception of one which because of it's size and weight is going to have to be wrapped last thing tonight and put straight under the tree. I wonder which lucky boy or girl is going to received that???? Christopher and Lara made the mince pies yesterday and this morning I made the reindeer food. The bag toppers were free from Kate Hadfield (Thanks Jakey for the heads up about this). When it gets dark we will be scattering the food on the back lawn to make sure that Rudolf and Co know where to land. A glass of Santa's favourite tipple (this year wine!) plus a mince pie and a carrot will of course also be left by the fireplace.

Our Advent Candle will be burnt for the last time tonight although the doors on the children's advent calendars will continue to be opened until the New Year. I have just one gift left in my box of Advent Swap Presents. I opened more lovely presents this week and it won't be the same when I get up each morning when I have opened the last gift tomorrow and I have no more left to open.

No time for scrapping this week but I found this LO which I created earlier in the year but never uploaded so I'm uploading that now.

Anyway I'll sign off now and whatever you are doing this Christmas, I wish you a lovely time, and a healthy, happy and prosperous new year.

Karen x x

6 sleeps until Christmas

19th December and just 6 more sleeps until Christmas Day. The children have now finished school and it is all getting very excited.

Tuesday was Lara's actual birthday and was also the day of her school's Christmas performance. So, after scoffing far too much Chocolate birthday cake (yes we did have a second birthday cake!) we all assembled at the parish church. There were two performances - a traditional nativity play accompanied by some very uptempo singing from the children followed by a musical performance by the 'school band'. Lara had the honour of being Mary in the nativity play which included her singing a solo. Considering she was singing in front of 100+ parents plus all the school children and teachers she did really well.

Wednesday evening was Lara's last 'Rainbow' session before Christmas. They had a Christmas party and at the end of the party a number of the girls, including Lara, made their promises. It was so sweet to watch and considering their age they did really well at reciting their promises.

Since my last post I've opened loads more advent swap presents. All have been lovely and will be really useful especially since I have decided from January 1st to go an a stash diet. I have so much stash and really DO NOT need any thing else. So today I ordered a pack of BasicGrey Bittersweet papers and they will be the last I buy for some time apart from adhesive and the odd sheet of card stock which I will need. I just hope that BasicGrey, Scenic Route and Fancy Pants don't tempt me at Winter CHA!

Hopefully I will be back again before Christmas Day to show you the last few gifts I received in the advent swap.

So until then good luck with any last minute shopping, wrapping, partying, and preparing.

13 sleeps until Christmas

12th December - 13 sleeps until Christmas and I am actually feeling fairly festive. Letters to Santa have been written and posted and the Christmas tree and decorations went up yesterday . The majority of the cards have been written and posted (although I have a few still to make) and the presents have all been bought. The children have just one more week at school and then we will be on the final countdown to the big day. I can't wait. Since I last posted I have opened another 6 advent gifts. I was sad to learn just after my last post that this advent swap will be the last one on UKScrappers. I had said that I was unsure whether I would take part again and now the decision has been made for me. It won't be the same next year without my little gift each December morning, but it was good while it lasted.

Lara's birthday party last weekend was a huge success and the cake was a real hit. I'm glad I decided to make her cake - she was really pleased. I was disappointed with the photos I took at the party, but these two weren't too bad and hopefully with a little editing they will be better.



Yesterday I was looking through some LOs and came across some which I created back in April whilst away on a scrapping weekend with some friends. I loved making this one of Lara. It was pure luck that the photo captured the snowflakes on her eyelashes and I felt I had to scrap it. I've not had time to scrap this week so I'll leave you with this LO.

19 sleeps until Christmas.

6th December - 19 sleeps until Christmas. Not long until the 25th and the days seem to be flying by.

I have now opened 6 of the gifts in my UKScrappers Advent Swap box and have been thrilled with them all. (apologies for the awful photo) Every year some of the people who take part in the swap seem disappointed (to put it mildly) with what they received but I can honestly say that during the 4-5 years that I have taken part I have never once been unhappy with the gifts I have received. Judging by some of the comments people make, it seems I have been very lucky! OK, occasionally a gift isn't quite to my taste but it can usually be used in someway or another or altered to make it fit in more with my style. I've never had anyone say they haven't liked the gifts I have sent them either and I really look forward to the swap. But, that said I am beginning to wonder whether in view of all the negative comments that have been posted on forums this year about the swap whether I will join in next year.

Last night was MojoHolder night. I wasn't able to join in this week. Tomorrow is Lara's 6th birthday party and I have been so busy preparing for that that scrapping has had to take a back seat. 24 little guests are coming to the party and yesterday and today I made the cake. After the stress last year of making the cake I vowed never to make another, but I relented and this year I made a 'Spongebob Square Pants' cake. Considering how difficult it was last year to make the cake this year seemed a dream. Last year I used a bag of catering cake mix, struggled with the quantities and when it was made it tasted foul! This year I just used a tried and tested recipe for a Victoria Sandwich , doubled up the quantity I would use for a standard 7" cake and the 'trimmings' which I tasted were really yummy. Spongebob has now been iced, looks fab and is ready in his box to take to the party tomorrow. I'll report back hopefully next week on how the party went and hope to have some photos too.