Sunday 6 December 2009

Oh Christmas tree (day 10)

Right now, I'm sitting next to the twinkling lights of our Christmas tree, listening to the Ronettes singing Sleigh Ride and getting ridiculously excited about the Christmas countdown! Last night Jamie and I took the evening off to put up our Christmas tree...and I spent most of the time pretending to be 'artful' with my camera, with varying degrees of success! Deary me. Anyway, we've decided that our tree needs some more tinsel (because you can never have too much tinsel, apparently), so I won't post the 'finished tree' photo until we've made a trip to John Lewis. In the meantime, here are a few festive photos from last night....

Fairy lights!

An action shot of Jamie attempting to sort out the fairy lights (which actually didn't get too tangled whilst in storage). Last year we decided to buy an artificial tree, seeing as a good-sized Christmas tree is pretty hard to come by in Central London. We found this 'snow covered' tree in Next, which I love! It looks as though someone has frosted the branches with icing...

Hopefully you can tell that this is a Christmas tree....

He he! This photo makes our Christmas tree look very 'loud'!! I'm actually big on tradition at this time of year - red and gold ornaments, white fairy lights etc. - but Jamie LOVES coloured fairy lights, so we compromised with a hybrid tree. You'd never know it looking at this photo though!

Remember this little guy?! He has taken pride of place on our tree (and he's safely anchored between two branches, because he's surprisingly heavy!).

So, in yesterday's post you may recall that I was rambling on about bokeh photography. After fiddling with practically every setting on my camera, I managed to produce this photo...which sort of captures what I was going for. Practice is needed, I think.

On a non-related subject, I have a couple of questions which I'm hoping someone might be able to help with. First of all, can anyone recommend an adhesive (available in the UK) which I can use with vellum and acetate? I'm using some Making Memories acetate for my JYC album, but right now I'm stuck on how to adhere it to the front cover...Secondly, does anyone have experience with any of the following:
  • Zutter Bind-It-All
  • Cricut
  • Silhouette Digital Cutting Tool
Would you recommend these products? How useful have they been? Are they worth the investment? Would you recommend a Cricut over a Silhouette Digital Cutting Tool? Your help is massively appreciated! Thank you!

Enjoy the start of the week!

5 comments:

melissa said...

I have used a cricut, and love it. You can make so many different letters and die cuts, varying the sizes to exactly what you need. I am going to hit up the post-christmas sales for one ;-)

Meghann Andrew said...

Your photos are definitely improving! I like the colored lights shot. I can't really help with the tips, as I don't often adhere acetate (I would just cover up the glue with embellishments!) and don't have any of the gadgets! Sorry!

sarahp said...

I have a cricut and so do most of my crafty friends we all love them and use them loads we also share cartridges which save on the money.... loving the arty pics so jealous as my camera is brokne so being a very good girl and hoping santa is watching xxx

sharyncarlson said...

Great start to your christmas tree!! I have the Zutter bind-it-all and LOVE it. After my initial fear of the machine, I just jumped in and started making albums. It works great and makes the most adorable binded albums. They have a variety of rings, covers and pages you can use or you can get creative with items you already have. I love it and would recommend it if you are someone who likes making small albums.

Christy said...

awesome photos! I actually read a tutorial yesterday about how to get that "bokeh" look with your tree. I'll see if I can find it and send the link to you, if you want. Just email me and let me know. You did a great job, though. The way it was explained, it sounded very simple. I hope to try it this weekend. christy.lewis(at)hotmail.com