Lots to catch up on!!

Wow, it's been quite a while since my last post and I have a lot to write about, so be prepared for quite a long post. :)

I'll start with the things you'll be most interested in, crafting.
I came second in the photography self portrait vote!! I was very pleased with that, it meant a lot and was a brilliant photography confidence boost. Here is the lovely prize that arrived through the door a couple of days ago.

I've seen this in Paperchase a couple of times and thought it was so cute, so it was lovely to receive it as a surprise in the post.

So today I have scrapbooked my self portrait, and I really love the final page.

Here are a couple of close ups

It's been great to scrapbook again, it's been quite a while since I've had time to scrapbook. It's also the first page I've ever done with a Christmas theme to it, thanks to my 12 days of Christmas course.

I've been being quite crafty recently,I've made all of my Christmas cards and thanks to discovering Helen's blog, I've been inspired to make all of my friends Christmas presents.

Here is the gift for the girls, a make-up emergency kit.

And for some of my friends that aren't into make-up

Now for the boys, something to target their sweet tooth, a jar of sweets (it was great fun doing these, I was very proud of the result).

This is the design I had for this year's Christmas cards, an idea based around some felt tree decorations I found in Paperchase which made the perfect topper.

This Christmas I have been inspired to make decorations for around the home after looking at some amazing Christmas magazines. This weekend Mum and I have been decorating the house and seeing which decorations we could make that would look good where. So far, this is the garland we have made to go across our fire.

We have another in the production line for another room. I'm really having a handmade Christmas this year!!! :D

The 12 days of Christmas course has finished now, we have been left to go it alone over Christmas and see what we come up with.
Here is my work from the last few days of the course.

 I've never tried to photograph candles before, but this was great fun and I love the result.

This task was to differ the focus between the foreground and background, and I like these two comparison shots.

These photos were taken to capture the reflection in the mirror, something I would never have thought of doing without the course.

And these were such fun to do, light trail photos, I shall definitely be trying these again.

I really enjoyed the course, it was brilliant and I'm very pleased I managed to get a place. I would advise that if CJ runs the course again next year you join it, it was brill. :)

So, onto family stuff and home life.

Like many around the country, we have finally had our share of snow. We were out for a dog walk yesterday when it began to come down and we luckily got home before the snow became thick on the roads. Rolo absolutely loves the snow, and it's deep enough so he has to jump everywhere. Here's a quick photo Mum took of him earlier after his walk.

Aside from the snow, two weekends ago we had a very special weekend. It was my Grannies 80th birthday, which is special in itself, but what made it even better was that we had a massive family gathering. Over mine and James' lifetime, we have only been as a whole family once before, 5 years ago at my Aunt and Uncle's wedding. One of my Aunt''s and Uncle's live in Australia with two of our cousin's, so as you can imagine it is quite rare that we all get together. So my grannies 80th was an amazing weekend, all 7 of us cousins together for the second time in our lives. As you can imagine, it was an occasion well worth capturing on camera, and here are some of my favourite photos from the weekend.

We had a big family meal, with extended family and Grannie's close friends at this amazing manor house (I mean AMAZING, a wedding photographer's dream!!). This staircase was so grand, and as the day fell very conveniently with a group shot for my 12 days of Christmas course, I had to use it in our group shot. I love this photo, it's sooo special, not only because it's all 7 of us cousins, but because everyone, including James, is actually looking at the camera!!!

One of my cousins is a keen photographer and has a lovely DSLR camera, so I cannot wait to see how his photo's turned out.

A special event called for a special outfit, and it was great to get my Prom dress back out of the wardrobe, and especially nice to have the chance to pose for the camera in such a grand location!!! :D

And finally, a photo which was just the icing on the cake for a fab weekend, a glorious photo of me and James (doesn't he look all grown up and smart!)  :)

Sorry that's been such a busy post with thousands of photo's, now I'm on my Christmas hols I should be able to find time to blog, although I have a lot of revision to do ready for AS modules in January!!

Hopefully the snow wont cause too many problems this week for us, and please al of you be safe in the snow. If you are reading this Louise or Richard, I hope your journey across the country isn't too hectic and you make it to Shrewsbury for Christmas day, xx.

Bye for now,

Hannah :)