JYC Days 3, 4 and 5

Good morning JYC-ers and festive crafters.

Oh how I wish for a better camera or at least some basic knowledge on how to get the best out of the one we have already (although my partner and i have put a shared pressie of a new camera on the Christmas list this year. So hopefully we'll get a bargain in the sales after Christmas ;0) So once again, these are not the greatest pictures (largely due to being taken at 6am this morning before the sun had reared its head so I could edit, write and schedule this post before work!).

Here is a picture of my Stampin' Up! stall from this weekends craft fair (it features again on my JYC page but in a much smaller form). I was really pleased with the fair and how it went and my Snowman Soup and Reindeer Food went down a treat ;0) Thanks to Angie and Fiona for hosting the day and putting it all together. A hugely enjoyable festive afternoon (followed by a trip to the cinema to see Arthur Christmas!).

 Here is my JYC for Days 3 and 4:

Again I have used the reverse page of the pockets insert. I like this style as it has taken a lot of the 'worry' out of my creating. How can 4 rectangles of pretty paper ever look bad? And embellishing each page with an advent window makes it all the more Christmas-y.

 I am especially enjoying creating the central embellishment for each page. This one features Arthur in all his Christmas jumper glory ;0) 

 Here are my two advent windows. I am trying to keep a bit of consistency across the days by using a felt embellishment and matching papers to cover the outside of the windows.

 For my journalling for days 3 and 4 I decided not to tuck it away inside the pockets as with Days 1 and 2. As the Dec 3rd prompt was about Christmas cards I decided to make a duplicate card of one I created for my 'Due in May Facebook Group' Secret Santa. We were all tasked with finding some lovely little Mum to Be bits for our recipient. I had seen a card similar to this on the Convention inspiration boards and knew it would be a perfect Christmas card for another May Mum. So I set up making two, one for my SS and the other for my journal. I love using mixed stamp sets in unusual ways. I would never have thought to combine Polar Party with Bundle of Love. But the effect of doing so is lovely and Christmas-y ;0)

I created this with Real Red, Garden Green and Whisper White cardstock and matching Stampin' Write markers. For the icy ground I tore strips of Whisper White card and then finished with Tombow and Dazzlin Diamonds Glitter. The sentiment is stamped from Polar Party. 

And finally, as I am very conscious of my last years journal ending up too thick and straining at the rings holding it together, I decided to create a smaller Day 5 on the reverse of the Christmas card above. A simple page that speaks more about the journalling than the embellishments (and yet another example that one should not craft when exceptionally tired as you end up with a rather mish-mashy result!! Still in the spirit of keeping things simple, I wont be beating myself up over it. Today is a new day and a new page so I shall move on and create something different which may inspire me more).

So thank you for popping by for another installment of festive craftiness. I am loving looking at all your creations too and will hopefully pop by to leave comments later ;0)

-XXX-