Tags, tags, tags......

I always run out of tags! Just had to run up a few for the final last lot of presents before Santa arrives....

Turkey is finally cooked, ham is ready, stuffing is done, salads are nearly organised, lists are done, table is set.....not! Family are here and the table is needed but it will be set by lunch time!

Merry Christmas folks!

Hope it's a good one for you

Unstampabelles is running the last week of its challenge to 

#75: Zentangle your way to Christmas.... 

TWIST make a non-traditional item

Prize

Emboss folder, diecut and some sparkle

I grabbed some waste cardboard from packaging and some dies from SU

You can see one side was a dull white - the other brown: I didn't even paint it

A sharp pen, some quick scribbles and a piece of string and hey presto, four tags!

You too can Zentangle!

It does not have to be a Christmas card or tag - anything can be drawn on with a tangle!

You have a week to enter

Please - not stamps. 

One Week !

What happens then? The big man in the red suit rides into town on a sleigh filled with presents and starts handing them out to people. Meanwhile his reindeer, who have pulled the sleigh, eat up the goodies left for them by the eager girls and boys. When the big man has finally wedged his way back out of the chimney - I did mention he climbs down your chimney.... they fly away for another year. If you have been naughty - he only leaves you a lump of coal under the Christmas Tree you have so beautifully decorated and put up in the main room; if you have been good, you get a present......

BUT.....you have to BELIEVE IN SANTA! Otherwise all of the above is obsolete. I did mention that I have been very good and I BELIEVE didn't I? (There is a big box with my name on it hidden in hubby's workshop and I think it is a Foiling Machine so I definitely believe!) Hopefully, it will not snow that night.......at least not here, as we are in the middle of summer and climate change is strange but not that strange please.

OK, I have been rambling, but as I cannot talk about the Ashes I had to talk about something.....

We are still midway through the challenge at Unstampabelles to

#75 Zentangle your way to Christmas.... 

TWIST make a non-traditional item

Prize: Random Number Draw

Emboss folder, diecut and some sparkle

I always need gift bags so that is what I ended up doing: putting a Zentangle I made onto a paper bag I had acquired whilst at the Dentist! It has the name of the practice underneath the drawing.

I saw the tangle on Pinterest and sort-off copied it a bit - as best I could

I used gold pens and pink and yellow pens with the fine black.

My stars are wobbly and my sweeps and swoops and swags are clunky and don't flow as well as they should but I was still quite pleased with my work so took the page out of my workbook and added to it a Christmas sentiment sticker - not a stamp!

Hubby was impressed. 

It will hold a medium sized parcel/present

I have a back issue so standing and wrapping really puts me under pressure. I like using the bags as not only do they look good, I get rid of them, people often reuse them and they are easier to pack. People also have something to take the loot home with as well! Or, if you are the Grandson, take the loot to the bedroom and hide the candy!!!!

You have until the end of December to enter the challenge and it does not have to be a Christmas item!

You can enter 

HERE

Hello Peeps - week two in December and week two into the challenge at Unstampabelles

#75 Zentangle your way to Christmas.... 

TWIST make a non-traditional item

Random Number Prize

This is not my photo but I cannot find where I got it from now

I know it was taken only a couple of weeks ago

It is the Derwent Valley this river flows past our house but it's a lot wider and bigger than this stream!

Since the month began and Summer officially began we have had rain and cold weather - the river would be running a bunker here now!

I made another card out of a tangle I copied from one in Pinterest

I drew my star tangles onto watercolour paper

I then spritzed it with water and sprinkled Colour Burst paints onto the wet surface
 I lay a sheet of card over this and pressed to pickup some of the excess and then dried it off

I will use this sheet for a background for another project

The wooden word was first painted white and then had some layers of Smooch indifferent colours added - I think it started off light blue!

I cut the card to fit a gold blank and then raised the word

I think it looks OK

My stars are a bit wonky though - I am  never good with symmetry

This could be a Christmas card or it could just be a card for inspiration 

Why not tangle yourself something and enter it in the challenge at 

Unstampabelles for December!

Trying Zentangling again.

Weather Report: after a record hot November, the first day of summer was heralded in by rain and cold weather - floods and major storms in some places of the mainland. We got rain - lots of lovely, wanted rain.

Outside the craft room door just a while ago - poor orchids are drenched!

I am sitting here wearing my mother's old cardigan to keep warm.

(She died a long time ago and this cardi is the last one she knitted - I love it)

Oh well - good for crafting!

At Unstampabelles this month, the challenge is to create something using a Zentangle pattern  - whoa, Zentangle! "What is that," you cry.

Can you remember we did this last Christmas too?  Here is a reminder of one of my past attempts are using the Zen Tangles to decorate.....

Well, I like to think I have improved since then!

I have been practicing -  at random intervals - and feel a bit more confident

I found I like adding pencil colour

The twist at Unstampabelles this month is to

Make a Non-Traditional item

This could mean many things but I chose to make a Christmas card using non-traditional colours and themes.

I used a wooded word for my sentiment -sprayed it white and then added some Starlight Metallic paints but it was still too light so I added a blue spray and dried it with the Embosser - it bubbled and I loved the effect!

This photo was taken in the doorway of the workshop, out of the rain  - slightly different colours out of the direct light too!

By itself in the middle of my tangle the sentiment got lost so I backed it with the same card I used to back my tangle. To create the tangle, I used a bit of  Dyon, Chainging and Keeko -no, they are not errors in naming; it seems zentangling uses weird names for each tangle type. 

This was a practice piece but I cut it from my book to make this card. 

It is a sort-of copy of one of Beckah Krahula's and comes from her book 

One Zentangle a Day -a 6 week course

Well worth purchasing if you are interested. 

You can make a card, a tag, a bookmark, a cover for a book, a present (a set of cards?) , zentangle onto an ornament or a any surface that is suitable. Just don't use a stamp please. 

Happy tangling!

December Challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies

Hello Again Peeps!

How busy are you all? Yep - me too!!! This post will be short and sweet!

Don't want to boast too much, but this place is 20 minutes away from us:

One can always stop for a drop, eh?

Riversdale Estate offers a warm and unforgettable experience, with the family the sixth generation to work and contribute to the property. Enjoy the magnificent views, European interiors, cellar door, and superb French Restaurant.

More tips: 
http://hobartandbeyond.com.au/news-posts/winery-tastings-tours-cellar-doors-southern-tasmania/

Image: instagram.com/riversdaleestate

Ok, what is next?  Well, in fact: Hilde at 

Crafting with Dragonflies has asked us to make a last minute quick card  - 

but to glam it up a bit - 

all done that on the the 24th, right?

Kaiserkraft St Nicholas paper pad

A SU icicle in gold and some bling.

Gold always glams things up doesn't it - plus bling of course!

Hope all is going well with you and yours

Cheers,