Making christmas presents

Yesterday I managed to finish making the christmas presents, and also made another birthday present for next year. We'll start with that one.

I die cut white shrink plastic, used alcohol inks (let them dry before using a heat gun) and shrunk them. Then I used glossy accents on the bird, added a few gems, a plastic rose, and a mask. Simple but effective.

Onto the christmas presents, the first thing I had to do was to finish the domino books. I used various papers with these, along with a few black gems and some remnant rubs, which were perfect for them.

You can see with the bottom one how effective the remnant rubs are. Once they were dried I tied them up, and got the rest of the things together.

Each heart shaped bauble has a cross stitch keyring/necklace, a domino book and a quote (bit like a fortune cookie). Then the tags were tied on with red ribbon so that they can hang on the tree. 

This means I've earned another treat, but I'm not sure what to get at the moment. I'll wait to see if something catches my eye.

Onto the spends. I bought a ton of snacks for my week off (£9.80) paid the Sky bill £21.50, bought a couple of milkshakes and some Terrys choc orange £2.98, paid the phone bill £24.86 and bought some cat food £4.70, bought a cameo skull cross stitch pattern 68p, got some fish and chips and drinks ££9.90 and yesterday I bought some snacks for the cinema for £3 (cinema was free using my gift card) 

I was pleased with myself the other day, as my bag split on the way to work, but instead of immediately going out for a new one, I transferred the stuff into carrier bags, then rooted around at home until I found a spare. 

Now onto why the money has gone low yet again, and it's not cos of my spending but somebody else's money woes. I've had to lend money out yet again, to the tune of £250. I will get it back, but it does leave me depressed as my savings take yet another hit. And I do realise that I could have said no but I'm soft, and people know it. I just wish they'd appreciate it.

Finally, the tasks

1. Starry night cross stitch (DONE)

2. Project book (DONE)

3. Book plans (no progress)

4. Read and review 100 books (82/100)

5. Christmas presents (DONE)

6. Birthday presents (DONE)

7. Calendar, box and tags (DONE)

8. Minimum savings target (48%)

9. Kili cross stitch (DONE)

10. Write 50,000 words (28054)

Halfway through the year and halfway through the tasks so I'm holding steady.

Happy crafting

Ems