TODAY'S GUEST BLOGGER IS....

My name is Karen and I am a craftaholic.  There I have said it out loud. 

I love Christmas, for me it starts in the latter half of the summer holidays, bringing out my Christmas Creative blog and dusting off the cobwebs.  There are always those people that complain about Christmas starting early, but for many crafters there is no choice as the stock needs to be made up well in advance. This is of course something I have learnt from experience (the hard way!)  To get in a Christmas mood, I pop on Christmas music, normally Nat King Cole or  Celtic Woman  and let their dulcet tones transport me into a winter wonderland.

Every year I develop new Christmas ranges and decorations, but I still get asked for the Karen specials, so they get made every year.  My most popular product is probably the one I love making the most, it's a Christmas story bracelet.

Each of the beads and components represent a character or event in the Nativity Story.  I make each bracelet up individually so that no two bracelets have the same components.  The bracelet comes in a gift box with a card that has the nativity story told in poem that I wrote and also the key to understanding your bracelet.  Over the years, people who have been given the bracelet as a gift, often ask me to make them for other people too which is a wonderful joy to me.

These are my embroidered curtain ring decorations and have proved to be popular over the years.  last year I published the tutorial so that other people can make them too .

 At any time, I have several projects on the go and one of mine at the moment is in association with the UK Crafts Form.  I'm part of the Quill A Long.  It's being led by resident quilling expert Indri and members of the forum are quilling Christmas decorations.  Anyone can join in and there are some amazing creations.

In the run up to Christmas I will be teaching several Christmas decoration workshops  for WI's and other groups.  It's always a fun time and I enjoy sharing my knowledge (and also picking up tips from other people).  You can find out about my workshops and anything else that may interest you on my web site