Album for a New Baby's Grandma

A friend has become a Grandma and what better gift could she have than a new Grandma's Brag Book? In this case though the other Grandma is in Finland and is missing out on all the goodness of her new grandson's birth. A group of us scrappy girls decided to make two Grandma Brag Book albums for the two Grandmas - on in English and one in Finnish. Now I don't speak Finnish, so I relied on the Internet to find some kind of interpretation of the words 'Baby's First Bath'. I sure hope I got it right!

If you speak Finnish please do let me know if I got it wrong - it's not too late to correct any little problems! Lol!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Stampin' Up! Australia is having an Inventory Sale!!

I just found out that Stampin' Up! (Australia) is having its first Inventory Sale! There are some bargains to be had!

If you would like to check them out, you can do so on my Stampin' Up! website :)

I would be glad to help you Aussie visitors out with an order if you are so inclined. The sale lasts from 15th December to 24th January, so maybe a post Christmas order would be fun. You can contact me via my Stampin' Up! website.


Have a lovely Christmas, everyone.

Christmas for a Cousin

I'm back :)

I was trying to think of a cute card to make for my cousin, who always sends me funny cards at Christmas. Suddenly I thought of the waiter from 'Voila' and the presents form 'Loads of Love' - the two make quite a cute little ensemble for Christmas, don't they? I made my own speech bubble up and I crumpled the paper behind the image to give it a little dimension.

What do you think?

Taking a small break....

Don;t be concerned if I am away for a few days :) Hubby and i are off on a little jaunt :wink:

See you when I can access the Internet again! (It will be soon).

Just for a change.....

It was my bestie's birthday today so how could I resist making her a card? I made a simple one due to time constraints but think it turned out sweetly anyway :)

I used Stampin Up!'s Time well Spent set and some Stampin' write markers, some Encore Gold ink (it was handy from the glittery Christmas goodness I've been making lately anyway) and whisper White, Barely Banana and Very Vanilla cardstock.

I stamped the butterfly once on the VV cardstock then stamped one on a separate piece, cut it out and glitzed it with some crystals before folding its wings up and adhering it over the original stamped butterfly.

I think my friend liked it :) and her little gift too. Happy Birthday, my friend!

A Quick Christmas Card Idea

How is your Christmas preparation going? Do you need a quick and easy to make card idea? How about making a card with a wreath like the one I made here? It's so easy, it's light (it only has one layer) so it is perfect fro mailing .... you can read about how to make it on PaperCraftCentral.

I hope you are having a great day! Only twelve sleeps to go!

Christmas Recipe Cards

I've been having fun making some Recipe Cards for a swap today :) I made ten of these and am expecting 10 in return, eventually. Won't that be great?

I have been taking part in Recipe Card swaps for a little while now and really need to think about how to store them. I was considering an altered shoe box and making some dividers for it. The cards are 5" x7" (12.7cm x 17.8cm), and if anyone has an idea for me I would love to hear it!

I could punch a hole in them and keep them on a book binding ring, but I think they may get a little beaten up if I do that....

Oh I almost forgot to say - nearly all materials used in making my cards are from Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: basic black, Kraft, Christmas designer paper (retired)
Stamps: Baroque motifs
Inks: Chocolate chip, gold
Accessories: Curly punch, red rhinestones, computer generated recipes on notepaper, gold pen

Sparkly Christmas Card

How are your Christmas card projects going? I decided to make a sparkly card for this week. It fits in with a few mini challenges people I know have made, such as 'make a card with glitter on it', 'use blue and white', and so on. Do you like the card? It looks cute to me because of the stamp set (Classic Christmas) and the bling! It is clean and simple, I know, but I kinda like CAS. I have plans to try out some similar cards with some Designer Paper if I get a chance, so will upload them if I get to them :)

Meanwhile, I hope your own projects are coming along nicely! Happy Stampin'!

My New Stampin' Up! Website!

I'm so pleased to announce that I have a new Stampin' Up! website for your viewing pleasure. It has news, new project ideas, a way to subscribe to my newsletter, and even a way for Aussie readers to become demonstrators on my Team. It's also linked to PaperCraftCentral through the Craft Store (Shopping) link.

Let me know what you think if you check it out, and yes, it is fine to link me to your own blog/site :)

(PS: There's a new mini Summer catalogue coming out Dec 1st - check back on that date to see it here first!)

Swap cards

What a fun time I had this afternoon! Tomorrow is a Stampin' Up! Regional Training Day and I am going to go. We all like to swap card fronts so I made a couple today to be ready :) Actually there are 23 of these. They went together pretty quickly once I figured out what I was doing! Lol! I gave my punches a workout too. There's a circle punch or two, a scallop punch and a spiral paper punch involved in the making of these. I used Baha Breeze designer papers and the stamp sets were Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Occasional Greetings and Tart & Tangy. I used both Rose Red Taffeta ribbon and stitched ribbon too.

Anniversay layouts

I made a couple of layouts of our anniversary photos. This one was done according to a sketch by Tanyah. Which reminds me - I need to upload this to her gallery! Lol! It was a lot of fun to make this. I liked swiping the ink on and doing the borders with ink pads. The little embellishment was made from twisted paper and a large brad (thank you for the brad, Carla! I save them for special occasions as you can tell!) and I cut down some webbing and twisted it to make the other part of it. Oh and i made the leaves form cardstock and ink.

It was a beautiful place.

Scrapping from Lexie's Stash

On the weekend I attended a wonderful retreat with a bunch of girls I've gotten to know online and have become friends with in real life :) It was a lot of fun! I loved catching up with everyone.

One of the best things about a scrapping retreat is that you get hours of uninterrupted time to scrap! I took part in a challenge run by Lexie - it was to make a layout from 'scraps' she had in a huge box. I made this layout with only a little help from my own stash - a rubon, some multi coloured flowers, some stitching, a little gold ink...and of course the photo. This sunset happened while my dear husband and I were celebrating our recent anniversary :) so it is a special one.

Lexie just now notified me that I won her challenge! I am so amazed and delighted! Thank you for the fun challenge, Lexie. I really enjoyed it!

Pearl's Sketch Challenge

I've been scrapping this weekend! I went away on a Scrapping Retreat and managed to get a few layouts done. I took one of the sketches I got from Pearl's inspiring blog with me and made a double layout with it. I was happy with how it turned out - thank you Pearl!

My husband Colin is currently taking part in a fundraising venture to raise money for research into men's health issues. I had to scrap about that! He is growing a Mo for the entire month of November - hence the name Mo-vember as my page title. He has a page where people can follow the progress of the growth of his Mo, and also for people to donate to the cause if they so wish. I am so proud of him for wanting to do this.

I'll be back soon with more scrapping done on the weekend!

Natural Skincare Recipe Book

I don't know about you but I have been on the hunt for natural skin care recipes that didn't cost me a fortune to make. I found this wonderful book of them on the web and just had to share them with you! They are so easy and quick to make and I had most of the ingredients in my pantry anyway :) (I just love sharing good stuff with you all!) My online friend Sue Dolan wrote the book and she has it available as an e-book as well as a hard copy if you would prefer that.

I also love that Sue is giving away some free 'recipe' cards with the book right now. It gave me ideas for hand crafted Christmas presents - why not make some of the recipes from the book, then dress up the containers as only we know how? They would make sensational (oops - SKINsational! Lol!) gifts!

Embellish This Week 3 Entry

Week 3 of Embellish This! had lots of criteria - we had to use teal, hot pink, black and white, three different textured backgrounds, lots of bling, a feather and a handmade embellishment. While I met all the criteria with this layout of a horse the family used to look after (the inspiration for the challenge was the Melbourne Cup logo so I thought a horse would fit in!) I didn't get through to round 4. The competition was pretty wonderful though so I am happy :)

If you want to see the other entries and follow along, head on over to this gallery. The competition involves eliminations every week of the registered participants so no one else can join in (unless they upload to a general member's area as unofficial participants)

Decorate It! A brooch decoration is born!

Week 2 of the Scrap N Craft With T challenge is underway and I had to come up with a present decoration that was red, green and white and incorporated wire in it somehow. I chose felt to make this little heart brooch. It has a few beads and stitching and there is a wire centre (made from industrial wire!) I cut the petals out freehand and they are basically heart shapes. I gathered the centres and sewed them together, then curled the wire and threaded it through the centre to form a pin base at the back. Beads have been threaded together and sewn around the centre. There is some contrast stitching around some of the petals. I used my Paper Crimper to make a cardstock belly band for the present.

You can take the heart flower off the present and wear it as a brooch afterwards, just in time for the Christmas party season!

My First Copic Coloured Image!

This week was a red letter week for me ;) I received a wonderful package in the mail containing my very first Copic markers!!! After I ripped open the package I dashed in to my craft desk and quickly shuffled through some wonderful images I received in a swap to find this little guy. He was so black and white! He neeeeeded colouring!

So here is my very first attempt at using Copic markers for your viewing pleasure (before I know enough to be too embarrassed by my inexpertise! Lol!)

PS: Carla, if you are reading this (and I just know you are - he he) please feel free to email me about how I can improve!

My Girl

This layout took me awhile because I made all the flowers and beaded them. Some of them were made with paper punched shapes, stamping and inking as well. A flower shaping tool was used to get the cupped effect. Felt, velvet and a paper doiley found their way onto the page.

I loved this picture of my DD when I first saw it and have been thinking about how to scrap it for awhile :)

Bonus Challenge 2

It's about time I scrapped again, huh?

Thanks to Scrapchat's Girls' Night In Cybercrop, I got the chance to :) Our challenge was to use a particular kit to scrap a page about anything, and we had to use all the kit up. I managed to use all the items except a few scraps of pink paper. Oh and I am not sure if I cheated but the whole thing is mounted on a piece of white bazzil, which was also in the pack. They sent a piece of string that I plaited into a heart shape, and I made some 3-d objects like the accordion butterfly and some layered flowers. I used a lot of Stampin' Up! punches (the scallop border punch, the scallop circle punch, the curly label punch, one of the circle punches) and I had a ball.

I hope you like it too :)

Shh! It's a secret card!

Don't you love secrets? I have one this week. It's our anniversary soon and I fond time to make a card for hubby without him knowing. I made the flower on the card out of layers of thin paper (thank you for the lesson Tracey!) stamps and ink, and the stem out of twisted cardstock.

This year our anniversary symbol is lace. How do you give a guy lace? You grunge it up, of course! Lol!

I think he'll laugh about this one. Hope so anyway :)

Candy Thank You Treats

I used my Curly Label Punch Bundle to make a whole bunch of these little treats to say 'thank you' to a group of special ladies this week. They all belong to my Stamp Club! They were so easy to make and i was able to create quite a few in a short time. I thought they would be good for other occasions as well - just change up the card stock, inks and embellishments for Birthdays, Christmas, weddings, or any other special event you can think of.

If you would like to see how they are made, I have a little show and tell on PaperCraftCentral for you :)

Inspirational

Thanks to an occasional reader (Tom) I started off my morning by watching an inspirational video. If you haven't heard about William Kamkwamba, he's the boy from Malawi who built a windmill from a tractor fan and some bicycle parts. Now it powers his family compound and he has plans to harness the wind for others. His ideas came from a library book picture. See for yourself.

New Stampin Up! Policy

Just a little note today to say that Stampin' Up! has a new policy thus:

"The changes restrict you from providing purchasing information, referrals to catalogues or publications, links to web sites, or other similar material, of directly competitive companies, or locations where a customer may purchase directly competitive products."

So I apologise to anyone who I have been linking to as a favour. I have had to take your links off my site in order to remain a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.

I wish you all success in the future. Hugs and loves XX

Come and Join In the Fun!

My friend Tanyah is having a great scrapping event in October. Come on over to her blog and read about it! I'd love to see some of you there. The word is that there will be many interesting challenges and you won't want to miss them :)

Dust Storm Update: We're still dusty - lol. It isn't anywhere near as bad as it was on Wednesday. I am finding the accumulative effect rather daunting though. Everything is covered in a thick layer of fine, talc-like reddish orange dust...as soon as the dust settles we are going to have a great time cleaning it all off!

More Dust and a Wedding Card

We're having our second dust storm this week. Some photos taken near where I live show you the extent of it. We've closed up the house again and the dust is still sneaking in though to a lesser extent than it would if we had all the doors and windows open. I realise other parts of the world get dust storms but the east coast of Australia hasn't had such a week in over 70 years, so it is a bit of a novelty to us younger than 75 or so.

Maybe a wedding card will provide a nice contrast to the thought of all that dust. I made this one for a wedding I attended last week. I should have made it more dramatic - the bride wore black, high black boots, black strapless dress and a long flowing wide white scarf that reached below her knees. She carried the most beautiful black/red roses. The groom was in a black suit, white shirt and red tie. I hadn't been to a wedding where the bride wore black before...

Gift Card

While in Far North Qld I met up with some crafting friends (which was great!) and showed them how to make the Father's Day gift card I made a few weeks ago. Here's the one I made. This time, I used paper punches to decorate the card and blinged them up a little with metallic and black pens. It was a very quick way to make the card!

This is a "Life in Australia" post

Australia's east coast has been experiencing some pretty huge and dramatic dust storms in the last 24 hours. In Sydney it is the worst (they say on the news it was last like this over 70 years ago) but this video of life in Broken Hill yesterday shows just how bad it can get. We live in Qld where we had an eerie windy and orange day but it never got as bad as this video. Today we have almost clear skies but they are telling us on the news that we should expect more dust tomorrow. We're checking the air filter on our car and absolutely everything inside is covered in a fine film of dust - it is going to take a long time to get the dust out of our clothes and houses.

Jozzi

I'm visiting my wonderful daughter today and we intend to go check out the Bat Hospital soon. My daughter has a lovely big boxer dog named Jozzi who has such a great memory! She remembers me no matter how long it has been between visits.

The Bat Hospital looks out for the Spectacled Flying Foxes. I'm looking forward to finding out more about them and what the volunteers at the hospital are doing for them. The live in such big colonies. Their calls are unmistable once you have heard them!

I'm in Far North Qld!

Isn't this tree magnificent? I have always enjoyed looking at it. It lives on my sister's farm in Far North Qld where I am visiting. I'll be away for another week but just had to share this tree with you to let you know I am not paper crafting but am enjoying looking at trees that remind me of paper's origins at least :)

I'll be back!

Baby Memory Albums

Do you find it hard to know where to start when making a Baby Album? If you are anything like I was after having a baby, it's a little hard to focus sometimes! With that memory of my own in mind, I have put together a list of suggestions for pages you might like to include in an album about a newborn.

On the other hand, you may be an expert or at least more experienced at making these sorts of albums. If you have an idea to share or a picture of your own album to show, I would love to hear from you on PaperCraftCentral.com!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! Here are a couple of little wallet cards I made to give to some special fellows. I was pretty chuffed to figure out how to use bling on one of the cards! Using bling on masculine cards can be a challenge. There are pockets and extra cards inside each of the pictured cards.

If you would like to see how they are made (they would make wonderful birthday cards as well) subscribe to Paper Twists and you will have the instructions right away!

White Space Design

I had never heard of White Space Design before I did this layout. I took it literally - that the space around an image needed to be blank and white. It was while actually scrapping this layout that I learned it could be so much more! The whole idea fascinated me, so now there are more layouts on PaperCraftCentral and an explanation of white space design for you to see.

I used a picture of me when I was about three years old to make this layout - aren't I cute? He he!

Thank You in a Box!

I wanted to make a cute little surprise for someone special. When you have cardstock and stamps, you can always make something unique and pretty! I found this idea fro making a little box full of cards on SplitCostStampers and decided to give it a go. This little box full of cards complete with handmade envelopes was the result :)

I hope you liked it, Ali!

A Square Card

Have you ever made a square card? I made this one as an entry into the Scrapchat card sketch challenge for this month. I made the card 15cm square and had a ball with the coloured cardstock. gold ink, the Stampin' Up! Tart 'n Tangy stamp set and the gold embossing powder :)

After I made it I couldn't find a suitable envelope, so I wound up making one to fit exactly. I made a tutorial about envelope making on PaperCraftCentral if you would like to see how I did it. I find my method works for any sized card and I use it all the time!

Have a happy time paper crafting!

Recycled Card

Do you like using recyclable poducts on your cards? I am a hoarder of anything that looks like I could use it! But I don't get round to actually using the items all that often, usually.

This month I had a chance to do so when I took part in a swap at RubberStampChat. You can read more about what I used on the card at PaperCraftCentral.

It sure was a fun swap! And so economical!!

Stampin' Team Meeting

At the stamping team meeting yesterday, we didn't just eat chocolate, we girls also took part in a swap. I love swaps! You get so many new ideas and this time was no exception. I had made 8 of these cards pictured and in return I got another 8 new cards (or card fronts) made by other members of the team! What a bargain!

Thanks fro the meeting, Kim, and thanks for being there, everyone else :) It was great to see you all and to talk about all things stamping!

I got a cute little card idea from a make and take that we did that I will show you one day soon too....

(All materials used in my card are from Stampin' Up! If you live in Australia and would like to know more about how to purchase these products from me, feel free to contact me via this blog :))

Chocolate!

Yesterday I tried out a recipe for Traditional Chocolate Truffles that I found on Chocolate Candy Mall. They turned out so yummy! I rolled the first batch I made in cocoa and took them to a Stamp Club meeting. All of them disappeared, so they must have been OK.

The first time I rolled them I don't think I left them in the fridge long enough. They turned out lumpy because they were so soft. This time I left them in the fridge overnight and the result when I rolled them this time in coconut, powdered sugar and cocoa, was much smoother! I plan to take them to church this afternoon and I think they will all be gone so it's just as well I 'reserved' a couple more in the fridge for us to have after dinner tonight!

I thought these little yummies would also look good wrapped in cellophane and put inside a handmade paper gift box. I'll have to try that when I make another batch. Well, there IS extra cream in the fridge that has to be used up so I just need to go to the store and get another lot of chocolate....he he he!

Happy 30th Birthday!

I got the Stampin Up! "Voila" set and was so wanting to use it! I had in mind that I would make recipe cards with the images, of course, but then my husband told me he needed a 30th birthday card for a male co-worker and for some reason, the Chef popped into my mind!

I didn't get to see if the recipient liked his card, but I loved using the chef image to make it.

If you would like to see how I made the card and embellished the middle, the instructions are on PaperCraftCentral.com :)

Featured Artist at PaperCraftCentral!

What a wonderful day it has been!

Tanyah Payne, scrapper extraordinaire, sent me some beautiful pictures of an OTP baby album she made for her little nephew. She also agreed I could feature her and her work on PaperCraftCentral, so I did! With great pleasure and tickled-pinkness!

Tanyah's work is so gorgeous and different to my own, so it is a real pleasure to be able to show you a sample of her style.

Thank you Tanyah!

Chalk Pastels

Do you use chalks on your stamped images? I love to do that when I want to make a soft image, and I thought the chalks added a lot to this lovely image.

This lady stamp is fast becoming a favourite of mine!

Paper Craft Punch Cards

I was playing with my paper punches the other day because I needed to make lots of cards in a hurry, and I also had some new punches and stamps I wanted to try out. The result was this little cutie! It was easy to make many times over once I got the first one planned. Don't you just love that little birdie and the paper lace? I really liked the Oval stamp set too.

All products are from Stampin' Up!, including the paper shapers, stamps, ink and card stock.

I played with my blog template too and picked a design from Aqua Poppy Design to enjoy for awhile. You can pick one (for free) too if you like by going here.

Blessing Box

A friend of mine made me feel very special the other day by giving me this cute little handmade box. It's called a Blessing Box. Every day I am supposed to think of a blessing in my life, write it down and store it inside. Isn't that a lovely idea? Needless to say, the first blessing was all about having a beautiful friend like Rebekah!

Oh and I found my camera cable at last so it won't be long before I can show you those Christmas cards - just need to take some pictures!!!!

I decided it was time to change my blog's look. I'm not sure I like it - what do you think?

Crop!

Do you get together with your paper crafting friends fro a crop sometimes? I did that yesterday and what a great time we had! It was a day where any craft was welcome so there were not only scrappers and cardmakers, there were knitters and sewers and painters as well! It was such a good opportunity to see other people's ideas and find out about new products and of course, to catch up on friendships :)

I made 18 Christmas cards - unbelievable!!

I would show you my Christmas cards but since my move, I have misplaced my camera upload cable :( So I have pictures but I cannot get them to my computer!!!!! How frustrating!!!! I'm getting desperate enough to go buy an new cable!

Every day we unpack more boxes so one day it will turn up.

I decided to show you a quilled card I made some time ago instead :)

Meanwhile, the crop was great fun and it even had a higher purpose - we were fundraising for the Girl Guides :) It is so nice to know that us having fun actually helped people! Lol! Now that's a GREAT excuse for a crop :)

Scrapchat's Auction is on again!

Scrapchat's Trash and Treasure Auction is on again this weekend. Pop in for some great hand made items or plenty of bargains. I am always amazed at what you can find there!

We're Moved!

Just a quick catch up - we are indeed moved in to our new home. I am being a little slow to unpack though as I have had asthma and bronchitis since we arrived. It's bed rest for a few days for me, then I can get back into unpacking my craft gear. I managed to unpack the kitchen and bathroom things so we can eat, sleep and get clean, but the rest is having to wait!

I do like the new house. It is much roomier and more peaceful than where we were.

I'm thinking up new cards and scrapbook pages and will show you some when I can!

Take care all :)

We're Moving!

We're ion our way again. I know we moved last year, and we have had an interesting time in our house here, but it is too small for three adults, three vehicles, a handyman's workshop, a computer programmer who likes riding motorbikes, and A PAPERCRAFTER! The new house has more land, more rooms, and even a 6 x 9 m shed for the boys :) Well, the shed is pretty nice so I will probably have a corner there too.

We move on Tuesday and will probably be offline for awhile.

I've packed up my craftroom, my clothes, my just about everything, even the food. We're doing take away for a few days :)

But I'll be back!

Happy PaperCrafting!