Christmas Is Almost Here!

Well blog friends, not many days now until Santa makes his appearance. LOL! I am not so sure about the fat man but I do know it is a wonderful time of the year to remember the birth of the Saviour. Here is a verse that I have come across which I feel is very appropriate for the occasion.

Oh God...
Help us rightly to remember the birth of Jesus that we may share in the songs of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the wise men. May Christmas morning make us happy to be your children, and I pray that God's presence is especially near to you all this Christmas.

I think the preparations are almost done and I must admit the house smells yummy, what with all the cooking smells. We are going to be having a family gathering down in Dunedin with Jo, Wal and family, who have just returned from overseas and shifted into their new house, so we are all looking forward to that. There is nothing like having family all together over this happy time.

Now, I am going to share some cards with you today and I dare say it will be the last ones before the NewYear as I am planning to go further South for a few days. In our farming days we couldn't leave for holidays as we always had sheep, cattle and dogs etc to attend to, and now, believe it or not, it is the TOMATOES holding one back! Oh well, it doesn't take two of us, to do that duty!

This first card was made for our lovely daughter-in-law who has her birthday three days ahead of mine. It is called a lever card and a tutorial can be found on Splitcoaststampers site, under resources.
I have used the lovely Authentique collection, called Crush.

Another step card using Cherry Lynn Die and the Cherry Blossom collection from Kaisercraft.

John and Ruth celebrated their Golden Wedding a few weekends back and I did enjoy putting this card together for them.The die I have used is Spellbinders Floral Ovals. The photo was on the invitation so I made use of it. Hugh is very fond of his cousin, Ruth and we did have a lovely time with them, at the celebrations.

Must carry on with the good work ladies, here's trusting that your holiday time will be enjoyable and that the weather will be kind to everyone, and you all get spoilt rotten.

Many blessings to you all,

Betsy  xxx

BoBunny "Madeleine" Cards

Hello there blog friends!  It is a beautiful Spring day here in Geraldine, New Zealand, but I must admit it has been in the minority, of late! Anyway we are very thankful for it, washing will get lovely and dry today. Doesn't it make a difference when you wake up to the sun shining - almost makes you want to get out of bed early!! Actually, I did have a practice run this morning, as we are heading up to Christchurch first thing tomorrow, to firstly spend some time with Rachelle then to welcome our family home, who have been overseas travelling for five and a half months. It will be just great to see them again, after all this time. Then tea with our other Christchurch family before heading home. We are really looking forward to it all.

Today I would like to share with you all some cards I have made using the lovely BoBunny collection, Madeleine. I really have had fun playing with this one and I'm sure you will agree it is  so nice, the colours are gorgeous. It is a range that I bought at Artfull Crafts.

This card was made for an order and I have again used the Cherry Lynn, Step Card Die, B348. I have certainly got my moneys worth out of this one!! I love the frames and the birds in the collection.

A birthday card made for my special friend Doreen. We had a lovely day on Saturday celebrating three of our birthdays by travelling down to Oamaru, meeting up with another friend Michelle down there, doing lunch, then visiting Riverstone on the way home. A super day was had by all.

Another one specially for Joanne who has her birthday on the same day as myself. For this one I have dimensioned the frame, after adding acetate, so it looks as though the bird is on the outside of a window, looking in. I think the girls were pleased with both cards! Hope so anyway!

Well, I must go and complete the preparations for the cards I am teaching at Artfull Crafts, on Wednesday morning, which is the final class for 2014.

Happy crafting everyone, don't get too bogged down with all the Christmas preparations and I pray you will all know much blessing over this busy time.

Betsy  xxx

Exciting News!!

WOW ladies!! Today, I just have to share with you my exciting news, although we have to wait until March to actually enjoy working with it. Yes, Kaisercraft have designed a collection called " Betsy's Couture" and it is so BEAUTIFUL. I just absolutely love it -  the colour palette is fabulous. Navy, teal and a gold brown with quite a vintage feel. It is so exciting ( and humbling! ) that Kaisercraft have named this lovely collection after me. Thanks so much to my favourite scrapbook company for this prestigious honour. I will just give you all a little peep on what to expect ladies and I can guarantee, it is well worth waiting on! One can never be too old to get excited, can they?!!

Both feet are now back on the ground!!

Lately I have been working with a Spellbinders Adorning Squares, SKU: S4-389, which a special friend kindly lent me. Thanks Lyn. This die has so many possibilities and would be a great asset to one's collection. What do you reckon ladies?

Now I must admit,that all these cards are ideas that I found on Pinterest - it is a wonderful place to get ideas and although copying to some extent, you can put your own individuality on them. There are some really talented people out there and we appreciate you all and your talents.

I am heading up to Christchurch later to be with Rachelle  as she is having her next treatment tomorrow - it's not that she needs me but it is so nice to be able to be with her. As she progresses with the chemotherapy she is finding she is not recovering as quickly as at first and is feeling more fatigued etc. She's still chirpy though and a joy to be with.

Thanks so much for stopping by - your emails, comments and prayers re Rachelle are so much appreciated and I hope I haven't bored you all, with my news, but you have to admit it is exciting!!

Happy crafting all and God's blessing, especially at this busy time of year.

Betsy  xxx

Cherry Blossom from Kaisercraft

Hello ladies. Today I would like to share with you a couple of cards made with one of the new collections, for the month of December, from Kaisercraft. Again, it has come up to the expectations we now expect from Kaisercraft and is lovely. Would love to know what you think ladies.

A very simple 5 1/4" card and Pinterest is where I have taken the picture from - there is certainly plenty of choice there! I also do like sewing on cards with my sewing machine, and as you can see I have zig-zagged round the edge of the inner square.

For this card I had this picture in my stash and as I thought the colours were just right for the collection, I have recessed it into a window. The frame was part of the image and lent itself to being used as such. The range has almost a Japanese flavour what with the cherry blossom, fans etc and is very pretty.

Now lastly, I thought I would share with you all a box card made for our lovely grand-daughter Heidi, who celebrated her 11th birthday on Friday. These cards are super cute to make and it was made with an older collection from Kaisercraft, called Spring Bloom. There are many tutorial on the web for making these cards at the moment, so do have a go.

Just another angle ladies.

Well, are you all prepared for the big day?! Only three and a half weeks now and I'm sure that it will fly. One of our families have been travelling overseas for the past six months and they are due home in the next week or so, moving into a new house and expecting all of us to be with them for Christmas. It will be so nice to have them home as we have missed them so much. It sounds as though they have had a marvellous time, something the kids will remember as they are eleven and seven years old. Very impressionable ages and no doubt they will have lots to tell.

Our Rachelle is almost halfway through her treatment and is coping really well although is battling with fatigue and finding she is taking longer to recoup from each treatment. Do hope she is up to the travelling, to be with us all over Christmas, as it will be in Dunedin. Thank you all so much for your kind comments etc - we appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Well ladies, don't get too stressed out over the next few weeks, happy crafting and may God bless each and every one of you.

Betsy  xxx