Thursday 14 January 2016

My first Christmas Card for 2016 and an Update on my Planner

Hello everyone and welcome to my Blog.  I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

I am in shock!!!  I have actually made my very first Christmas Card for this year  ..  I think I might be really sick and just don't realise it yet!!  LOL!!
For a long time now I've been  trying to convince myself that I should be making Christmas cards right through the year and I have finally listened!!  I actually found a Challenge site for making Christmas Cards and that has given me the incentive to get cracking on this.  The site is called Christmas Card Challenges (surprise! surprise!  LOL!!) and the current Challenge is Anything Goes!

HERE is the link and here is my card ..


Used some Kaisercraft papers on this one and actually popped it through my sewing machine to stitch the edges.



The chippie is from 2Crafty Chipboard.  I simply painted it with a paint dauber and, while it was still wet, sprinkled it with some glitter.

Used crackle paste through a stencil and again, while it was still wet, sprinkled on some micro beads.

The larger bloom is the Carabella Rose which is available through Megs Garden.   It was pink originally .. I simply sprayed it with a mix of acrylic paint and Cherry Pie Dylusion spray.

The inside with some blank space for a personal message ..


.. and my first Christmas card for 2016 done and dusted!!!  So now I just need to stay focused and make sure I make at least two per month.  Then, hopefully, I won't be so rushed at the end of the year.
With that out of the way, I thought I would give you a little update on my 2016 Planner.  I haven't done a great deal on it yet but I have completed the dividers for January and February and decorated a few of the January weekly pages.  

This is the January divider ..


.. and the full month on two pages.


The little plastic pocket was meant to hold some photos but, as I keep forgetting to take photos (Duhh!!), I have inserted a couple of quotes instead.


So, on the full month pages I will record appointments and reminders, etc.


and then on the week pages, I will write about  those in more detail and, hopefully, remember to take some photos and place them in there as well.  By the end of the year, I should have a really good record of what we actually did.  

Here is the divider for February.


 The plastic pocket here holds the strips and quotes I will use for that particular month.  I have decided to colour code each month to match with the tabs on the side.


I was going to purchase a whole heap of Washi Tape to decorate these pages but , as that would be quite an expensive exercise, decided to simply use strips of scrap paper from my stash.  A little more work but will look just as effective and I get to use up all of those pesky scraps!!

I should point out that I'm not really happy with those dividers and I may yet decide to create some art journal-like pages instead.  Will have to see how enthusiastic I am whether that happens or not.  LOL!!

That's about all for now folks.  Just a reminder about the Christmas Card Challenge Blog.  Why not join in and start making your Chrissy cards now.  Would save a lot of hassle at the end of the year!!  HERE is the link again.

Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.  Happy crafting everyone!!

Take care and God Bless.

8 comments:

  1. What a great idea to make Christmas cards throughout the year. Now to convince myself to do the same! Love, love this card Margy. The chipboard is gorgeous and I love the gold beads on the crackle. TFS

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  2. Hi Marg! I do think you are being wise getting some chrissy cards started, just look how fast last year went, and how fast january is going already.. I shall pop over and have a look at that site..thanks for sharing.. your planner is looking great.. and good idea to use up the paper scraps.. I have a lot of those bottom bits from the papers that have a bit of decoration on them, you know the strips along the bottom of the paper especially the kaiser brand.. and I was wondering what to do with all those I have.. I really should just try and put them on my pages and cards just to use them up.. anyway I hope your week has been good.. friday already tomorrow.. and then a weekend.. Oh and beautiful card too.. I always love how you decorate the middle too.. have a good evening!

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  3. What a great idea to start on next years C card already, and wow, this is a stunner! Both the in and the outside look wonderful! Your planner is looking fantastic too, - wow you certainly seem very organised!!

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  4. This is beautiful. Thanks for playing along at Christmas Card Challenges!

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  5. What a fabulous card, Margaret!! Love the sparkly glitter and microbeads and the stitching adds such a nice touch!! I adore seeing what you're doing with your planner too!! ~ Blessings, Tracey

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  6. Awesome! That card is lovely and really it makes perfect sense to keep at it with the Chrissy cards all year round. 12 months is not a long time and Xmas always sneaks up on us!! Loving that you are keeping a planner! I really want to but next year as too much moving about this year. Great idea with the paper strips. I cannot resist pretty washi and now there's a bit available here which is lethal!

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  7. Your card is gorgeous!! I think it belongs in a frame for décor! :D
    Thanks so much for sharing it with Christmas Card Challenges!

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  8. Sorry I've been MIA....& especially when you leave such lovely comments over at mine....but I'm back from hols & cavorting [well, chatting, shopping, coffeeing!!] with my BFF.....I am sooo proud of you with your Chrissy cards - GO YOU! The 'berries' in this one....LOVEE!! AND I'm way impressed with your journal. I think many peeps will start these and then fall by the wayside; it seems like you are really using it properly. All power to you - & great idea re: the washi. I've done that too:):)

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