Happy 21st birthday Jenny

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and that the storms were/are kind to you. It's certainly blowing a gale outside again at the moment.

Believe it or not, it's not easy having a Christmas birthday in the family. I actually have two, it was three when my father was alive. My Mother is on Christmas Eve, my daughter Jenny is on Christmas Day and my Father's was Boxing Day (Dec 26th).

This year we had most of the family over to celebrate Jenny's 21st Birthday on Christmas Day. Unfortunately not everyone could make it but never the less we had a really good time. Traditionally Christmas is celebrated in the morning and birthday in the afternoon. This year was supposed to be no different and I was up at 5.30 am to start cooking Christmas lunch. Things did not quite go to plan and in the end we didn't eat until 3.30 pm - a little later than the 2.00 pm I had been aiming for, but oh well. Because lunch was running late we ended up doing Jenny's birthday beforehand. But I guess it was the afternoon.

Here's a photo of the card that I made Jenny.

I cased it from Julie Davidson, as I'd seen her version on Pinterest. Click on the link and it will take your to her actual blog post.

I made the card out of a whole sheet of A4 so that I could make a large A5 sized card (just spotted that there's a basic rhinestone missing, oops). There's a few more flowers on this as I wanted to add some extra bling. Let's face it, what 21 year old girl doesn't like bling?

Stampin' Up! supplies used:

Stamp set : Tape It, Teeny Tiny Wishes and Memorable Moments 
Card stock : Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana and Whisper White. Also Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink : Strawberry Slush, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana and Smoky Slate
Accessories : Rotary Trimmer Attachment with Small Scallop Cutting Blade, 7/8" Scallop Circle and 1" Circle punches, Itty Bitty Punch Pack and Basic Rhinestones

OK, so I admit that I did make it that morning, but there was no way I was going to give her a shop bought one! I try not to let Christmas get in the way of her birthday but it really is impossible some years and this one has been exceptionally busy.

Here's Jenny opening her presents and yes that's me wearing a Stampin' Up! apron. I couldn't find the one I usually use when cooking, so I had to make do!

Yesterday was the big tidy up (no sales shopping for us) and today is hopefully going to be a quiet day of catching up on other things.

Swaps from Creative Tour

I'm still busy cutting and preparing all the supplies for Saturday's class but I found time last night to take photos of some of the swaps that I received at Wednesday's Creative Tour.

Swapping is a major part of a Stampin' Up! event, people spend a lot of time and creative juices designing and making their swaps so it's only fair that you get to see some of them. I've split them into two groups - Christmas and Non Christmas. Apologies for the shadows, but I took the photos with the kitchen lights on because it was dark out. I'm not happy with these photos so I will retake them when I get a chance.

Ideas for Christmas

L to R. Maggie Poland and Yvonne Bevan

Maggie's card was made using the Tape It stamp set and Yvonne made hers using MDS to make the background papers and wreath.

Top: Angela Cormier, Bottom : Eimear Carvill

Angela used the Evergreen stamp set and Eimear used Simply Stars and Merry Little Christmas. Eimear's cute button was made using the Simply Pressed Clay coloured in Old Olive.

Non Christmas Cards

L to R. Lisa Cornwall and Natalie Heppel

 Lisa used the Hello Lovely stamp set and Natalie the Six Sided Sampler stamp set.

L to R. Julie Halls and Bridget Speller

Julie has used a number of old favourites, namely Four Frames, Petite Pairs and Gorgeous Grunge. Bridget embossed her card using white embossing powder and the World Treasures and Timeless Talk stamp sets.

Kim Gibbons Fee

As well as making swaps, Kim also had a display of fabulous projects she made using the halloween themed stamp sets. I have no idea how many skeletons she must have cut out for her swaps.
 
These are not the only swaps I received. I have another 14 or so, but I'm saving them to go on my display board for Saturday.

I am getting excited about tomorrow's Christmas Stamp-a-Stack. There's still lots of prep to finish but I'll be posting photos and details of the projects over the weekend.