Ho, ho, ho - A Passion for Papertrey Challenge 17

I love Lauren's new template "Time for Takeout" - its a great size and shape for small gift giving. I've been crocheting these little fruity bag charms and flower hair clips/brooches for my niece to give to her friends for Christmas and this little box and my other fav template "Tucked Away" have turned out to be just what I needed to turn them into pretty gift packages.

Both templates have smaller versions included in the download which I think are just right for hanging on the tree or even for creating an advent calendar (the perfect size for a Christmas chocolate or two) so I'm hoping to get some of those made too - I'm getting really ambitious now!!
I've been lucky enough to buy a few PTI Christmas sets second hand over the last 12 months - I've used here (in no particular order!) Polka Dot Basics, Snowfall, Holiday Treats, 2008 Holiday Tags Collection and my lovely new set Holiday Button Bits.

I hope my niece likes them as she mumbled something about needing £100 to go gift shopping for her friends! My sister nearly fell off her chair.....

Oh no- I've just realised I'm too late to enter the challenge again! Don't know how many times I've done that. Never mind - it made me crack on with them anyway!

All that Glitters - Mo's DP Challenge 5

I really don't like glitter much so I baulked at this challenge - but that's what makes challenges so interesting. Mo wants three different bling types this week and I hope I've managed to keep to the rules by using silver ribbon, some star gems and Sakura glitter pens. I've wanted to colour this beautiful fairy for some time but never got round to it - but here she is and I really like the effect of the Sakura pens but they don't show up well on the photo I'm afraid. As usual I've kept the card simple and just used a piece of handmade paper for the background and nothing else.

I did intend to enter her for the Copic Colour Challenge too but didn't get my entry in in time! I must try harder next week!

Apple Pie - Copic Colour Challenge 37

The colours to use this week are Blush, Yellowish Green and Sand.

I've had an idea that I wanted to put together a few recipe cards in some sort of pretty album as a gift for one of my sisters who says she wants to cook more instead of buying convenience food. So here's card number one - Apple Pie, one of my son's favourites!

This sweet image is from one of my copyright-free books and the pie stamps are from Papertrey's My Punny Valentine set.

The garden has some ancient apple trees which almost always fruit profusely even though I'm guilty of doing nothing to look after them. I collect as much fruit as possible for storing and give away as many as I can get family and friends to accept, but there's always lots of apples that end up damaged and bruised on the ground as windfalls, which can't be stored. I just have to console myself with the thought that they provide a good food source for the birds and other garden creatures which have to face the cold months ahead on short ration.