12 days to Christmas - funfairs and xmas market

Cathedral Gardens - outside the art college UU

Belfast City Council seemed to have pulled out all the stops to make the city centre into a series of mini funfairs. Perhaps it's to help the negativity attached to the main street being split into two separate halves (now kinda sorted) because of the fire at Bank Buildings.There's also the annual International Christmas market at the City Hall. At the eleventh hour I stopped by the latter to have a nosey (It ends on Saturday 22nd). 

Castle Place

Continental Market at City Hall

The market has stalls which offer some specialist goods like German sausage, French pastry tarts or Russian Christmas decorations. And there are some Northern Irish products too. But it's mostly much of the same as the last few years. I feel the Continental Market vibe has been mostly played out.

It is good to see people out and about though and there's a definite festive air. The Russian stall seemed a little empty but a Turkish hand painted ceramics stall was still overflowing with vibrant coloured bowls in many sizes.

12 days to Christmas - decorating my planner

12 days to Christmas - Trollbeads Share-a-Christmas-Card

12 days to Christmas - making bunting

12 days to Christmas - Jacquie Lawson advent calendar

12 days to Christmas - Christmas/Winter quote book

12 days to Christmas - decorating

12 days to Christmas - sending Happy Mail

12 days to Christmas - keeping a December Daily

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All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

12 days to Christmas - keeping a December Daily

December Daily is a project created by Ali Edwards, a 'designer, blogger, workshop instructor and author' who keenly feels that 

''there's no right or wrong way to do all this, 

that the real stories are worth telling, 

and there's a whole lot of celebrating to do 

even in the midst of the challenging pieces of life'

I follow crafters PopFizzPaper, Serena Bee Creative and Sabrina Ann who are a trio of friends who explore, swap, teach, video and share all things paper, card and adhesive. Plus, they're funny. Through their videos I found out about this form of journaling.

It's all about memory keeping the first 25 days of December and finding the best creative way for you to do so. Other paper crafters and memory keepers have developed ways to make a DecD and I chose to make a loose ring bound journal with separate pages on which to visually record days. I originally bought 8cm metal rings but after finding they were just too big I repurposed them to hold my xmas washi tapes.

My book is made from scrapbook paper from 'Traditional Christmas' by Make ^ Create - a value paper pack from The Works. At 3 quid and with 20 double sided sheets it's a great buy. I also picked up embellishments and washi from online shops and the local pound shops on the high street. It's useful to keep flyers with seasonal imagery as they can be used for backgrounds, like the Royal Mail flyer with houses and a postbox in the snow - perfect for days about receiving a letter and writing Christmas cards.

There are interesting ways to create a page - with pockets to conceal private pieces of journaling, card bands to hold separate attachments in place, tags with info or images on the end of baker's twine, envelopes or mini paper bags to hold ephemera. Some pages are smaller than other to create interest, some fold out to enlarge the journaling area and others are plastic trading card pockets sometimes sealed to contain sequin mixes if you like a bit of sparkle. 

felt kit in magazine and Xmas party at UoA

section folds out to contain private journaling

new journal plus Qs for the day 

and visiting Primark after the Bank Building fire

What you end up with is a creative journal that is as interactive as its creator makes. Already I'm finding that I'm developing a certain style with the washi edged pages. I like how my DecD looks when it sits on end and its pages splayed open. Although it's not yet completed the book itself is a decorative thing, not just what lies inside.

12 days to Christmas - decorating my planner

12 days to Christmas - Trollbeads Share-a-Christmas-Card

12 days to Christmas - making bunting

12 days to Christmas - Jacquie Lawson advent calendar

12 days to Christmas - Christmas/Winter quote book

12 days to Christmas - decorating

12 days to Christmas - sending Happy Mail

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Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

12 days to Christmas - sending Happy Mail

sending Happy Mail to my penpal...
(if you're saving it til Christmas Marleen, stop reading now!)

I've had a penpal since the beginning of this year - we take it in turn to send a newsy letter in a small parcel of goodies. Usually chocolate or sweets are included, sometimes tea and always something interesting like a Lego Harry Potter blind bag, a small craft kit, or a decorative object. I seize the opportunity to practise my Happy Mail skills (seriously, it's a thing). This month we both decided to send each other something. I made...

a Night Before Christmas zigzag book

(with lots of reindeer)

       

Presentation counts so I also made 2 little card bags to hold some goodies and embellished them too. Baker's twine comes in really handy to stop things meandering.

mmm...chocolate...

goodies to open...

and some bunting (link below)

A nice newsy letter rolled up like a scroll to place on top, and a little tree decoration. It's all decked out with festive tissue paper and the box it's in has lashings of Happy Christmas tape on the outside...'tis the season. 

12 days to Christmas - decorating my planner

12 days to Christmas - Trollbeads Share-a-Christmas-Card

12 days to Christmas - making bunting

12 days to Christmas - Jacquie Lawson advent calendar

12 days to Christmas - Christmas/Winter quote book

12 days to Christmas - decorating

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Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

12 days to Christmas - decorating

decorating...bah humbug

This year, for some reason, I found decorating to be difficult. Normally I can't contain my excitement, have already planned what colours I'm going to use (I have a lot of decorations) and have the house decorated by the beginning of the month. But it was already past the third weekend in December and I hadn't even taken the tree out of the trunk. When I was little we probably didn't put up the tree until the week before Christmas, it wasn't the done thing to have it up for very long. Times change. Perhaps this year I've reverted to times past.

This year it's all teal, pinks, white and silver - I decide the colours I'm going to use whenever I'm packing the decorations away after the previous Christmas. The colours I choose are put away separately in easy reach. I had loads of white and silver, a few pink and teal and thought I'd pick up some more in the January sales. One pack of tiny silver and teal baubles, that was it. But this November I did find two lovely pale pink glass baubles, quite large, in Poundland. I bought them and then smashed one on my stone floor when I unwrapped it. Finding other pink baubles was difficult but I settled for a fish and a jellyfish from Tiger...now floating aimlessly on the the tree between the polar bears and the reindeer.

Baubles on and I stood back to admire my handiwork. Something missing - the picks and the ribbon. There was no way those baubles were coming off before January. I stuffed some ribbon and a few picks between the branches where the tree looked a bit bare. This was not the fabulous tree I'd envisaged after watching Rebecca Robeson on YouTube.

It's up, it's lit, it's decorated (bar the angel). The bannisters which usually have decorated swags might be done later this week. Ho ho ho hum...

12 days to Christmas - decorating my planner

12 days to Christmas - Trollbeads Share-a-Christmas-Card

12 days to Christmas - making bunting

12 days to Christmas - Jacquie Lawson advent calendar

12 days to Christmas - Christmas/Winter quote book

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Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

12 days to Christmas - Christmas/Winter quote book

making a little Christmas/Winter quote book...

When I watch movies I'm itching to be doing something so this becomes the perfect time to sit and invent. I already have my Christmas/Winter papercraft stash out, organised and at hand, so it's easy to set to work. I'd found some little plain book kits and decided I would decorate them - ideal for using up offcuts from larger projects. I like to use washi tape to bind the edges of journal pages - it seems to make them look more finished. 

And as I was tying the cord to bind the pages to the covers I thought of writing some Christmas/Winter quotes. This is how quite a lot of what I make happens, things evolve into objects even though I hadn't planned them. A couple of tassels tied onto the cord ends and it becomes a tiny Christmas decoration - one to be picked up and flicked through. Just add a cup of hot chocolate with a dash of brandy.

12 days to Christmas - decorating my planner

12 days to Christmas - Trollbeads Share-a-Christmas-Card

12 days to Christmas - making bunting

12 days to Christmas - Jacquie Lawson advent calendar

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Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

12 days to Christmas - Jacquie Lawson advent calendar

Jacquie Lawson advent calendar...

Each year for the past few I've bought myself a Jacquie Lawson online advent calendar. It's a little cutesy but it's a bit like having my sister around as she used to send me JL e-cards throughout each year in celebration of holidays and birthdays and sometimes just to say hello. There were always inspiring and loving words attached to them. I was going through old emails and I did a search and found every e-card she sent me. I'm thinking it would be nice to download them onto a memory stick. 





The advent calender this year is based in Edinburgh and has scenes (with added teddy bears) from the city and online games to play including the chance to decorate a Christmas tree and to design a tartan. If there were a clan called McWabbit then this might be suitable, a nice grassy green. So far there's also a tree to decorate, a coat-of-arms to design and snowflakes to create - your chosen designs will appear in the living room, which is also interactive.

There's glimpses into Edinburgh's historic buildings including artworks from the National galleries of Scotland with a good mix of art styles. And occasionally there's a teddy animation just for fun. If you're looking for a paper-free advent calendar then this one's a sweet choice...

12 days to Christmas - decorating my planner

12 days to Christmas - Trollbeads Share-a-Christmas-Card

12 days to Christmas - making bunting

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Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

12 days to Christmas - making bunting

making some Christmas bunting...

What's a celebration without a little bunting? Give me an excuse and I'll make some. Last year's included phrases like 'Ho Ho Ho' and 'Jolly' but this year I left off using alphabet letters and went for colour and pattern instead. 

Sometimes I buy Christmas cards in the cheap shops to use, picking those that have plenty of sparkle and embellishments as they'll go further. Larger sized cards are worth getting too, especially if they're less than a quid each. But as I had prepared for a crafty Christmas by buying packs of holiday themed card I used 'Traditional Christmas' paperstack by Make & Create instead.

I have a method - use my triangular master to cut pennants from a variety of similar coloured sheets, the add contrasting card to a corner. Use 2 different washi tapes to break up the shape. Then a sticker, a die cut and a 3D embellishment. Finally a pre-made word embellishment and some sparkly gemmies. And I back each pennant with some plain coloured card - I think it creates a good finish.

Some baker's twine threaded through punched holes at the top 2 corners and bob's your auntie. This is the perfect idea for using up last year's cards if you don't have a stock of scrapbooking materials.

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All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

12 days to Christmas - decorating my planner

12 days to Christmas - Trollbeads Share-a-Christmas-Card