Hang up your Stockings

I am back today with another of my House-Mouse stamps.  It is called 'Stocking Hung', isn't this just too sweet?

The backing paper came from a 'Me to You' paper pack and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I coloured the image with my polychromos pencils and mounted it on some silver and some mauve card.

Dionne

Happy New Year - Day 31

New Year's Eve, I wonder what you have planned for this evening?  Are you off to a party, spending time with family and friends.  Or do you like to see the New Year in taking a bath or getting an early night.

This Watermelon Dress is another of SuzieMarie's variations of the Julie Williams Seasonal Dresses patterns.

So, you have now seen a months worth of dresses, all based on the Julie Williams Little Cotton Rabbits range.  A big thank you to Daisy the Rabbit for modelling all of the dresses.  These little knitted animals have proved to be hugely popular with all of my family and this will not be the last time you will be seeing them.  I do not apologise for this because, if you could see the pleasure on their faces as they unwrap their presents, you would also start knitting them.  

I wish you and your family the very best for 2018.

Dionne 

House-Mouse at Christmas

I think the House-Mouse range is adorable and last year I bought several new stamps to add to my collection, this cute little mouse decorating him pine cone was one of them.  You will not be surprized to hear that this image is called 'Pinecone Tree'.

The backing paper came from one of my Housemouse CDs and the little flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the sentiment is from a 'Me to You' paper stack.

 I coloured the image with my polychromos pencils and mounted it on some gold card.  Finally, I added some Glossy Accents to the star to make is catch the light.

Dionne

Flowery Frock - Day 30

Just one more Advent post to go for this year.  Today's dress pattern is taken from Julie Williams 'Little Cotton Rabbits - Girl Fox' pattern.

This dress design is called 'A Flowery Frock'.  Made using soft pastel colours in cotton 4 ply.

I will be back tomorrow with my last Advent post for this year.

Dionne

Fetching the Christmas Tree

I have another of my Christmas cards to share with you today ...........

This one features one of my House-Mouse stamps, the image is called 'Rockin Ride', I coloured it with my polychromos pencils and mounted the image on some distressed festive papers and glitter card.   I also added some flat backed gems to the tree and a couple to the features on the reindeer's face.

The backing papers are from a Dovecraft paper stack called Winter Blooms.  Finally, I coloured the white card with a red Promarker.


Dionne

Fair Isle Dress - Day 29

We are getting towards the end of my collection of Advent dresses, I made these for my friends Advent Calender this year.

This dress is one of the SuzieMarie variations on the Julie Williams Seasonal Dresses, the design is called Fair Isle Dress.

It is made of soft 4 ply cotton, with little cap sleeves and a tiny button fastening at the back.

Dionne

Silent Night

I want to thank all of my followers for their support and to thank you for all of the lovely comments you have left over this festive season.  Some of you may have noticed that I have not yet posted any of my Christmas cards.  I was a bit late making them this year and by the time they were finished I was already making two posts a day.  I thought that three posts a day would be too much for anyone to take.  So, now that our little elves have returned to the North Pole I thought I would dig out the photos of my Christmas cards and share them with you.

A few moths ago a close friend told me that he had taken I photo of his street when it had snowed the previous year and he was thinking that it might make a good Christmas card to send to their neighbours.  Of course, I jumped to offer my services .......

I made each card more or less the same, I just added some slightly different die cut embellishments to some.  I felt that this bronze glitter card really complimented the photograph and I added some contrast with this sliver metallic organza ribbon. 

The snowflake die is from Cheery Lynn and the sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.

I also used the Craftwork Cards sentiment for this layout, I am afraid I cannot remember the make of the pine tree die. 

Finally the Tiny Pine Tree Branch die is from Marianne Designs.

Dionne

Be My Valentine - Day 28

No, I haven't skipped ahead a couple of months.  Be My Valentine is the name SuzyMarie gave to this dress pattern.

I think this pattern looks as if someone has woven a pretty pink ribbon in and out of the hem of the dress and then added a little falling snow.

The dress is made of soft 4 ply cotton to fit Julie Williams Little Cotton Rabbits range.

Dionne

The Holly and the Ivy - Day 27

Unlike most Advent Calenders, the ones my BFF and I make for each other last for 31 days, so the new 'Little Cotton Rabbits' dresses continue ....

This one is from Julie Williams 'Seasonal Dresses' leaflet, it is called 'Red Berries', but I think it looks a lot like holly berries.

I added a row of red glass beads around the edge of the bodice to give it more of a festive look.

Dionne

Boxing Day Bash - Day 26

I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday and got to spend it exactly how you prefer to celebrate Christmas Day.  Hubby and I had a very quiet day, lots of fabulous presents and far too much food.

Daisy Rabbit is modelling another new dress today.  This pattern is another of Julie Williams designs, this one is called 'Falling Snowflakes'.  It is one of the dresses from her Seasonal Dresses leaflet, which is available from Ravelry.

I hope you have another fabulous day.


Dionne

All Together Now - Day 25

It's Christmas!

Today my glamorous assistant is joined in her Advent fun by two new friends - Girl Cat and Girl Mouse.  Both of these Julie Williams patterns are available from Ravelry.

Girl Cat is made from a mix of yarns, the brown is an alpaca wool.  I have not been able to track down a true white alpaca wool so the white patches are Baby Soft Double Knit.

Her legs and shoes are made of 4 ply cotton.  The shoes have tiny buttons as buckles and the cherries on the dress are tiny glass beads.

Here is a back view where you can see her lovely swishy tail.

The body of Mouse Girl is also alpaca but her ears, tail, legs and shoes are 4 ply cotton.

The bottom of the dress has a lettuce hem and the flowers have small faux pearls at the centre.

Her tail is so long she can carry it around over wrapped around her arm.  You can just make out the slit in the back of her dress to accommodate the tail.

I think they look great friends already.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the holidays.


Dionne

Time to Go Home

Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope you are all having a wonderful time and enjoying your day however you have chosen to spend it.

Our little elves have now returned to the North Pole to help Santa deliver all of the presents around the world last night.  However, before they left, they had one last task to perform.

They were very busy collecting reindeer poor and shovelling into packets marked 'Chocolate Raisins'!

I just love this fabulous wonderland scene, it reminds me of when I was a child .......... many years ago.  

Every year my mum would take me to see Santa at the local department store.

There was always a queue and we would wind our way through a scene very much like this.  To me it was so magical.

As you can see, the elves have already changed into Santa's Little Helper outfits, ready for when they get to the North Pole.

I hope Santa bought you all you were hoping for.


Dionne

Schhh, Can you Hear Santa's Sleigh Coming? - Day 24

I have a rather special outfit to share with you today, I like to think of this as Santa's Little Helper Outfit.

In fact, Suzymarie has called this design 'Santa's Helper Dress', the instructions are available on Ravelry. It includes instructions for converting Julie Williams cloak into a Christmas cloak to match the dress.

I love all the attention to detail, like the 'fur' trim and the belt and buckle.  It makes such a wonderful outfit for Christmas Eve.

I should like to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a very happy Christmas.

Dionne

Dotty about Christmas - Day 23

Oh golly, Christmas is getting really close now.  Are you ready?  I think I am just about getting there - all the shopping is done, all the presents are wrapped - the last of which should be hand delivered to the recipients either today or tomorrow.

I love this pretty dress, it is from the  Girl Monkey pattern, which is available from Ravelry (the original pattern has a pretty bow, I tried to reproduce it but mine just looked ridiculous, so I scraped it).

The other change I made was to make the dress in the fuller skirt variation so the bunny tail fits neatly under the dress.

Dionne

Plastered Elves!

On Thursday Ryan had a little accident and needed a plaster.  That night our little elves found their way into the First Aid box and did a little first aid on themselves!

It looks as if the little girl may have had a little nip and tuck on her ears and possibly a nose job!

Yesterday Ryan had a lot of fun making his Gingerbread House ..........

although there should have been a lot more decorations, I wonder where they went - Ryan?

Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Dionne

Random snowflakes - Day 22

My glamorous model and I am back with another snappy dress designed for the 'Little Cotton Rabbits' range.

The dress is another of Suzymarie's variations of the Julie Williams 'Seasonal Dresses' pattern.  Once again I have made this dress in the fuller option using 4 ply cotton.

This design is called 'First Flurries' and is meant to represent the start of a snow storm.

Breakfast in Bed - It's Alright for Some

I think our little elf friends had an unscheduled trip back to the North Pole, which is why we have not seen them the past couple of days.  Whilst they were there I think they took to opportunity to make yet another report to Santa on how good Ryan and his sister have been.

A few days Louis had a little accident and had to go to elf hospital to be fixed, but thankfully all went well.  He took it easy yesterday morning and had breakfast in bed.

Looks pretty good to me but I am not sure he should being eating that many eggs a day.

Because they have not been around for the past few days the elves bought Ryan a little gift of a Gingerbread House Kit, which he and his mum are going to put together today.  Sounds like a lot of fun.

Dionne