Happy Christmas and a great new year

I made 2 of these star books, one for our family and the other to give to the family we spent christmas day with. Their house burnt down earlier this year so i though this would be nice to put some new memories in...and a pic of the pav we ate on christmas day mmmmmm.
Im still very new to the blogging and want to thankyou for all the lovely comments in my guest book and i wish you all a safe and happy holidays...see you in the new year...Valita

A thought for the new year
And those who are peacemakers will plant
seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness
James 3:18

My Christmas Cake Recipe/ Folded Pudding card

Hi all i just have to share my christmas cake recipe with you. We had this all while i was growing up but my mum used basic ingredients....i have scince spiced it up and added a few of my own secret ingredients. We love it and everyone I've given it to all loves it, very moist and morish. I make one each year for the the kids bus driver as a thankyou for safe travel through the year and my daughters Oboe teacher got one this year.They also go great as muffin size cakes which make great little presants. Hey they would look great in my christmas pudding bags you'd just have to make the base a more square shape to fit them and i'm making my own cookies and crean type icecream but with the cooked cake mmmmm for christmas sweets this year.And below is a quick last minute card tutorial. So here we go........

Valita's Christmas Cake

1/2 Kilo of mixed dried Fruit
1 c brown sugar
100g bag of glazed cherries
6 dried dates chopped
6 dried apricots chopped
3/4 c mxied chopped nuts
125g butter
1/2 440g can pineapple chopped small
1, 1/4 c pineapple juice - use the juice from the can of pineapple
and add enough water to make it up

Bring all this to the boil and boil for 3-4 mins. add 1 tsp of baking powder stir and then let cool.
when mixture is cool add

2 eggs
1/2 chopped banana
1/2 c choc chips
4 tsp Rum essence
2 tsp of vanilla essence
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 c self raising flour

Mix all this together and pour into a lined cake tin. top with extra cherries and or almonds. Bake in a Mod oven for about 1 hour or until when tested with a skewer it comes out clean. ENJOY

Pudding Card

I love Iris Folding and in the past have made many of my own patterns but not in the traditional IF fashion. Now do'nt be scared to try this it is'nt hard, dosent take long and comes up great. I know its probably getting too close to christmas for making loads of cards but theres always a last minute special card to give to someone.

You will need:
Pattern... found bellow

Card stock in 3 different colours
stirps of coloured paper
sticky tape
craft knife
double sided tape
inks
ribbon and trins

First you will need to cut a template of the outside of the pudding. This can be stored with your pattern for later use. Tace an outline of the pudding onto the back of your card stock and cut out with a craft knife. I then cuttlebug embossed my card front and wiped a silver ink over the embossing.
Now tape your pattern to the bench and with your card front facing down lay your cutout over the pattern and tape that down also using small amounts of tape. Your pattern will all be showing through the cutout ready to add the folded strips. Cut 1' strips of paper ( i like to use a mix of patterned and plain) and put a fold down one edge. It's important to follow the numbers on the pattern. So starting with number 1 lay the white strip down making sure the folded edge runs along the pattern line. tape down and do the same with 2 and so on until all the nimbers are covered.

It's important that you don't get any tape on the pattern or you will see it when you've finished.
remember your working on the back of the card front.

Don't panic i know it will look pretty messy but that is normal you wont see this side. A tip though to make it less bulky is to only cut the length of paper you need to cover the cutout.
Now carefully take off the pattern and flip it over to reveal the finished folded pudding
Add the cherry and holly leaves decorate the rest how you like using my finished card as a guide and tape to a layered card front. See that was'nt too hard... Dont panic the pattern is at the end of this post. As i'm writing this post another christmas cake is in the oven cooking and it smells divine. We have been busy traveling to and fro to our kids awards nights. I'm so glad school have finished for the year its been a busy one. They now start their 6 week break....heres some pics from the last 2 nightsBeth was awarded Excellence in Society & Culture and Pursuit of Ecellence in Advanced English
and was also chosen to be a part of the school executive team as prefect which help the school captians for next year. She also was awarded Directors Choice award plus a cheque for the Oboe at the conservatorium of music. Madaleine was awarded a scolarship for next year which pays a whole terns fees. Ben did'nt get any awards but came first in computers in his class and overall did very well. We are so proud of them all they have done so well.
and a last thought to leave you with. My daughter has found this text helpful through the year.

Thought for today

If you wait for the perfect conditions,
you will never get anything done.
Ecclesiastes 11:4

Heres the Pudding pattern its a jpeg file so you can resize it to fit the card you want. Valita

Christmas Pudding bag

I Made this pattern on Friday in the midst of getting things ready for my husbands 4oth birthday. I thought it would make a really cute table setting for each of your guests at Christmas dinner with some goodies inside or a small pressy. It was a fun pattern to make and i was really happy how it turned out. I love all the cuttlebug emboss folders and dies....my wish list has a cuttlebug machine on it. At moment i have a sizzix but im wondering whether the cuttlebug would be better for the longer dies. Anyway i must be happy with all the great things i already have and learn to get the most out of them. My husband has been fighting the fact of turning 40 for a while now and if he'd had his way a party would never of happened. But i couldn't not do something for him, he is so selfless and has blessed my life to no end. Heres a pic of last night, he was so nerves as he doesn't like being the center of attention in a large group even when they are all friends and family.

And i love the text that was in one of his cards....and its my

thought for today

The Lord bless you and keep you,
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto to you.
The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

I had to share with you a pic of my pudding bag made by Henny. I think she's done a great job...love it Henny and thanks for sharing this with me.....feel free to send me pics of your finished projects..Luv Valita

Christmas Pudding Bag

Elf Shoes

Well Christmas is racing upon us fast and will be gone just as fast and then to clean up the after marth and exercise off the goodies we ate. Talking of exercise Im at pesant 8 weeks out of a tummy tuck operation and finding it hard to get enough exercise to keep off the unwanted kilos as i am still restricted in what i can do till after christmas.

Having to take it easy has been a real challenge for me as Im use to doing 2okm on the bike and 40 laps of the pool each day. So this blog was born out a need to do something with my time... Heres a spin off from my santa boots. I hope you enjoy making them and challenge you to share them with someone you might not normally be giving to this christmas....Valita

A thought for the day

Don't be misled; remember that you can't
ignore God and get away with it:
a man will always reep just what kind of crop he sows!
Galations 2:7

Tiny paint rollers

I was asked by Patsy, a friend from the CircleOfCrafters forum, if i would show her how to make these tiny paint rollers. Now i must stress that i didn't invent these i seen it made by another member of the forum (which by the way are all very talented friends)...and looking at the supplies i had on hand came up with this version of my owm.

You will need:

One 5cm long plastic coated paper clip
thin card stock one colour and black
a good quick drying craft glue

Cut the colour you've chosen for the roller to 8x3cm.
start the rolling prosess on a knitting needle and then roll up leaving a tail of paper unrolled.
use a quick drying craft glue and hold in place till it dries.
Cut a 6x2cm strip of black or the handle and rool up all the length and glue closed.

Next bend out the paperclip and adjust to the shape you will need using my pic as a guide

















add some glue to the paperclip and slide on the roller and handle and set aside to dry.
Use then to add to your cards, scrapbook pages etc. These would be great added to mens cards.
Heres Angela's blog she has great instructions on how to make the shirt i made on this card and lots of other stuff. I know this will help you Patsy and its gives others some more ideas.Valita

A thought for today

Work together with one heart
and mind and purpose
Philippians 2:2

Santa's Boots Treat Box

Christmas and treats they go hand in hand. Not sure what a treat would be like in santa's smelly boots after he's been everywhere.... LOL, but
i thought it would be a cute idea. Talking abouts treats my friend Lizette just knocked on the door and gave me the most mouth watering home grown strawberries...... now where can i hide them before the kids get home from school..LOL ! don't worry i could'nt do that there that yummy ya have to share them so we can all go mmmmmmmm. Your a gem Lizette! Anyway before we get into the santa boots heres some pics from monday nights performances with our puppet group.

And these are the latest addition to our group our Character Heads.
there so much fun and they will have a part to play in carols by candle light this year

here's the pattern and instruction sheet, print this on a regular A4 sheet in your printer......enjoy......Valita

A thought for today

Don't be selfish; dont live to make a good impression
on others. Be humble thinking of others as better
than yourself. Don't just think about your own affairs,
but be interested in others too, and in what they are doing
Philippians 2:3,4

Standing Christmas Trees and pets rats

I thought i'd show you all how to do these cute standing christms trees. But before we start i have to show you some pics......my daughter owns 2 pairs of pet rats which are still growing on me.... they have recently had babies and are sooooo cute or as cute as rats get. when she cleans out their cages she puts them in a container to keep them from escaping. well rats are nocturnal and are pretty quiet during the day. She yells out to me to come and look at her mother rat which looks like she was so glad to get a break from all those babies. It looked so funny she looked dead but was sound asleep. Speaking of rats here are our 2 lastest puppet caracters Martin and Mansel. our group will be perfoming tonight at a combined churches christmas concert with the new rats.....we have quite afew performances over christmas and new year which is always a busy time for the puppets but a fun time. Anyway back to the christmas trees

Standing Christmas Tree Tutorial
You'll need:
3 squares of 4 1/2 x 4 1/2" card
double sided tape
and whatever you want to decorate your tree with.

Fold the 3 squares diagoally. with one colour you will only see the bottom so choose which 2 colours to want to see the most. going on my tree i layed red down first which was my least seen colour and lined up purple with double sided tape down along the center fold. I then cuttlebug embossed the yellow and taped that down the other sied of the center line.This is how i chose to decorate my tree, but it is really limitless

I stamped the card stock and added ribbon to keep it closed and cuttlebug dies for the flowers/ slider tag and some scalloped edging. when you fold it up it will overlap a colour, mine was purple so i had 2 side yellow and 1 purple. I made a star with a jumbo flower punch and keep your eyes open now for all the chrissy decorations you can use.... all those little bits and peices which i used for the center of the flowers.

and your done. this can also be folded up to post as a card if you like or would make great table decorations for your christmas dinner. here are some closeups. hope you have enjoyed another of my tutorials.Valita

A thought for today

Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right.
Think about things that are pure and lovely, and
dwell on the fine good things in others.Think
about all you can praise God for and be glad about.
Philippians 4:8