Christmas Market for Paper Players #713

Happy Saturday.

It's the fabulous Ann's turn to host our Paper Players challenge this week and she has a fun sketch for us.  As soon as I saw this I thought of a decoupage set that was inlcuded in the most recent Simon Says Stamp kit.  They are absolutely adorable and so not the usual thing I would buy, but I loved playing with them.  It's a set called Christmas Market and it's from a company called Craft Emporium outside of the UK.

Here's a sneak peek:

Aren't they the cutest??? Here's Ann's sketch:

To create my card I used a cover plate from Pinkfresh Studio that was included in the recent Create and Connect.  It's called Festive Grid.  I used my circle dies to create a circle to house the little snowmen and a little bit of glimmer to surround them.  The decoupage has 5 layers, but I only used 3 so that I could make 2 cards using it. Here's my card:

As always our design team have some fabulous inspiration for you:

• Ann
• Claire
• Joanne
• Laurie
• LeAnne
• Anne Marie
• Jolanda
• Eliz
• Jen
• Stef

On a personal note:

Well, we are almost organized.  We are still waiting for a couple of things to arrive so that we can get the laundry completed, but we have gotten through many of the updates.  My craft room isn't quite ready yet, either – but at least there is enough organization that I can do some crafting.  As we are so close to being finished, I was inspired to do some decoration.  On our first view of the house I fell in love with the fireplace and could see it decorated for fall and winter.  I had such fun decorating it and can't wait to put on the fire.  It's been way too hot to need the fire, but I do imagine how great it will look with the warm flames.   I'm not quite finished yet… but it is certainly getting very close.

The cats are loving being here and Chilli decided it was time to relax on the fall plaid blanket:

He really is growing into a handsome boy.  Oh…. and that blanket is so soft 🙂

I started to decorate the fireplace… this is the first layer.  I really love how tall this fireplace is.

It is starting to look festive, but it needs more layers.  I won't be able to finish the layers until tomorrow, but I think we are close. 

However, some of our renos aren't as pretty.  One of things we had to do was to replace a 40 year old toilet!  If you look at the writing on the inside you will see a number = 4.8.  Yep… that would be 4.8 gallons per flush!  Seriously…. most toilets today do 1.6 galloons per flush…. not 4.8.  Also, it was enormous!  So we now have a sleek new toilet that takes up less space and uses less water.  Also, and most importantly, it looks better 🙂

One of our favorite places in our new home is the sunroom.  Man, it is such a wonderful little suntrap and the cats love it.  It isn't quite finished yet as we are waiting for our new coffee table.  That arrives on Thursday.  It's technically not a 4 season sunroom, but we are hoping that the addition of a space heater will help us extend its use a little longer.  Mind you, this unseasonal weather we have been having – in the 70s – means that we can sit in it for much longer.  You can see it at the far right of the next photo.

One of the best things we did – and it has made a huge difference in the house – was removing the old black LVP flooring and putting down much lighter, warmer flooring.  The areas went from dark and cold to much lighter and much warmer.

Best of all, we get to see these guys again.

Now that… is priceless 🙂

I'll be back later in the week with another card.  In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight and my continued prayers for all of those affected by the recent hurricanes.'

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe:

• Background coverplate:  Festive Grid – Pinkfresh Studios
• Decoupage elements:  Christmas Market – Craft Emporium