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Monday, February 28, 2011

A Note For You

1. Create a messy but really fun background using shimmer sprays with the technique that I shared here. Makes a lovely watercolour effect. And don't forget to splash some extra droplets on for even more interest.


2. Emboss background with a fabulous sunrays effect because that just equals happiness in my opinion :-)


3. Punch and piece and sticker and stamp and glue a bunch of cute little embellishments to make a pretty little card.


4. Enter it into the Moxie Fab World Stamping with Shimmer Sprays challenge before giving it away to a friend. 

Sunday, February 27, 2011

If you just....


Oh my gosh, I have just been on a card-making junket this weekend!! I've just churned out 6 of the little blighters, which is a big deal for me, cos I don't mind admitting I struggle with cards most of the time :-)


But I do love my washi tape/fabric tape/I-don't-care-what-you-call-it-I-love-it-tape and after getting all inspired to play along with the Moxie Fab World challenge 'Get Daring with Decorative Tape' this was the first one I came up with.


Yes that's right, that means there's more to come!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Little Things

Firstly, congratulations to those speedy blurkers who managed to be the first to put their names down and score some handmade goodies from me. Could the following five ladies please shoot me an email with thier postal address so that at some point soon I can get that out to you?

Stralunata
Emma
Anita S
Nicki
Danielle


In other scrappy news: I found this photo of myself when I'm less than 2 weeks old, snuggled up in my Daddy's arms. Ignorant of the world around me, and all the things that were happening at the time. Those things surely didn't matter to me at all. But I thought it would be fun to record them.


The first window of journaling is all about how and when and where I arrived into the world.The specifics of who delivered me, what time and what day it was, that kind of thing.


And the second window is filled with interesting things that were happening in Victoria and Australia at the same time. The date 18-11-81 isn't my birthday, it's when the photo was taken (a fact I had to make clear when The Man asked me if I was confused as to the date I was born - but hey, at least he knows when my birthday is)


And I thought the title was pretty clever.You know, because I've recorded a lot of little facts, but none of them really matter. What mattered most to my Dad was that little bundle of cuteness..... me!! Especially since I'm the first-born. And what mattered most to me at the time was just the security of my Dad's arms I'm sure.

I used my favourite Studio Calico kit 'On the Easel' for this layout. I'm constantly surprised how many pages I've managed to make using this kit and the add-on I got, and I still seem to have so much left!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Pay It Forward

PAY IT FORWARD for creative people: I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment on this post. They must in turn, promise to post this & send something they made to the first 5 people to reply. It must be sent sometime in 2011. Mix tape, postcards, jewellery, cookies, sewing all count!
I recently was lucky enough to be one of the first five to reply to this post on none-other than Debee Campos' Facebook page, and cannot wait to get my Inspire Lovely goodies. As promised, I too will Pay It Forward to the first five people to reply to this. 
Ready.... GO!
 

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

We Have a Winner

I let Random.org decide a winner for the February giveaway. And the lucky lady is......

Ronnie!!!

Congrats Ronnie. Please email me your postal address (my email is there in the sidebar) and I'll try and get your prize out to you as soon as possible.

PS. Come back tomorrow for another giveaway. And this one will be fast!

Suppertime

This post first appeared on the Handmade by Suzanne blog here

The second I saw the house-shaped diecut paper in the October Afternoon Modern Homemaker Collection I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. It seemed so obvious to me - make a dollhouse!! The real question was........ "how?"


So with a bit of planning I managed to pull this all together and made it sturdy enough that my girls can play with it.


I used a sturdy chipboard as my base - it's thicker than cardboard, but I can still cut it with about three swipes through of my cutter. In fact, it's the chipboard sheets that Suzanne includes with your papers when she ships them so they don't get bent! I always save them because I know they'll come in handy for something :-)


See that gorgeous letter box? It's from the new arrivals by Dusty Attic. They make some beautiful chipbaord pieces, and this one was perfect for this project. All I did was cover it with some white Ranger Distress Crackle Paint.


The smoke from the chimney was my daughter's idea. She questioned why I didn't include any in the first place. Silly me! I used some doily ribbon by Basic Grey because it's plastic and will stand the test of time. At least longer than cotton wool which is the more obvious choice :-)


I've had these hinges in my collection for the longest time. I bought them on clearance at Spotlight thinking I'd use them for a mini-album or something. But they were perfect for this project. Hinges on this side, and a simple tie around a couple of large brads on the other side so my kids can easily open and close the "door".


And this is what they see on the inside. A cosy four-room cottage :-)


I made three removable "dolls" for the dollhouse. The boy and girl, and this cute little snoozing puppy dog. They're made from the stickers which I stuck onto some thinner cardstock and then cut out and varnished.


I wanted to do the mum as well obviously, but she was a bit too big to fit inside her own house!


I left little tabs of cardboard on the bottom of each figure, and cut a few slits into the floor in each room of the house so the little boy and girl and puppy can go exploring and visit each other :-)


I'm also contemplating adding some wall art or rugs and other 'decorations' - what do you think?


Here's my very willing model showing you how those figures are removable and re-positional. And how much space there is for other visitors too!


So there you go. Scrapbooking supplies to make a non-scrapbook project. And I can tell you that this project has already received a whole lotta love in our household. So I would call that 'Mission Accomplished"!!


PS. Most of the other papers you see here are from the Modern Homemaker collection too. And despite making this, I've still got heaps of 'scraps' left over for a few more traditional pages too.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Sweets for my Sweet

I had a couple of delicious scraps from my Paper Crush collection which I knew would be perfect for a card.


A Valentine's Day card was the obvious choice, but I had already made one of those, and after all, I really only needed one right?! So I tried to strike the right balance between lovey and lovely so this could be used equally well for romance or for many other occasions too.


Handmade by Suzanne has just started carrying gorgeous Hambly Screen Prints papers and transparencies and I couldn't help but throw a few into my cart with my last order. I know a lot of people will balk at the cost of them but I figure I'm going to cut them up and use them on LOTS of different pages and projects which means they're actually extremely good value for money!


And see how clever I was here? Adding little colourful pearls (which look just like bubblegum) into my otherwise empty sweets container. Instant colour, dimension and a touch of whimsy :-)

PS. Don't forget about my giveaway going on

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Long Distance

You can enter my February Giveaway by clicking here.



When we moved house back in August, it was the first time for Munchy. Well, it was actually the second time for her, but the first was when she was only 8 months old so of course she doesn't remember.

She reacted very well actually. A mixture of excitement and caution, but mainly she was thrilled at the adventure of it all. On the other hand The Man was less than overjoyed at the prospect of moving to outer surburbia. From his point of view if you're going to live in a major city then you might as well live in the middle of the city/inner suburbs where all the action is, and that's what we had done for the 9 years or so.

Despite the fact that we still live in city of Melbourne, we are so far on the outskirts now that we see paddocks filled with cows, we had empty development sites next to our house (now quickly getting filled with new houses) and the freeway signs no longer say "To the City", they say "To Melbourne" !!


So it was most definitely The Man's influence and what Munchy had overheard him saying many MANY times that formed her own opinion on the matter. For about a month after we moved, whenever one of our friends or family asked her about her new house she always answered "now it's going to take you 35, 26, 59 minutes to come and see us"!

Hhhhmmmmm :-)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

With the Girls I Love

Does anyone else have those moments where you go to "check up" on what's happening on your scrap table on your way to say, having a shower and getting dressed, and you step back an hour later and suddenly a new project has appeared?!

I swear that's how this door hanger was born :-) One minute I'm looking at the scraps of my Paper Crush collection, a Hambly transparency I'm in the process of cutting to pieces, and some embellishments I was given for Christmas, and the next time I looked it had morphed into this.


My mother-in-law regularly gives me copies of photos she has taken if it involves my girls on an occasion when I wasn't there. So I don't really know the story behind this photo but it must have been taken around Christmas. It fit just perfectly into this pink glittery (?Making Memories) frame.


And I think this will make a nice thank-you present to her. She's coming down to do some baby-sitting for me again this weekend whilst my husband is busy with Church activities but I'm still on night-duty and need to be sleeping during the day.


See the pink plastic mesh I've layered behind the whole card for a bit of extra texture and interest? Swiped that from a building site just down the road from me! We were on a family walk one night and I spotted it and knew immediately it would compliment the Paper Crush collection perfectly. Scraps of it were tied around lots of fence posts. I don't know why. Didn't seem to be serving any purpose, and I figured they wouldn't miss this piece! Crazy what you see with the eyes of a scrapper hey?


And yeah, this is the reality of what this photo shoot actually looked like when you see the full picture :-)

PS. Plenty of time to check out this month's GIVEAWAY!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

February Giveaway

This month's giveaway has a mixed-media theme to it. I've put together a pile of new and barely-used products which would be ideal for use in dimensional and textural projects, although most of them can be used in your traditional scrapbooking too.


 Here's the complete package of what you could win. Let me break it down for you.......


1. A packet of Fusible Film in Opal Sparkle. I've only used a tiny bit of this so there's miles left! If you're unsure about what this incredible material is I suggest you check it out on You Tube.
2. A packet of 3 stencil brushes. I've used one once, but it's been cleaned. The others are brand new.
3. An unopened flexible push-mold with a variety of baby-themed molds.
4. Buzz and Bloom chipboard
5. Vintage buttons


6. A packet of Angelina Fibre in Copper Flash. Again, I've only used this once or twice and as you can see, there's lots left.
7. A packet of clear photo-corners. It started off with 250, and I don't know how many I've used. Maybe half?
8. 3 hand-made owl buttons
9. Various lengths of lace, paper lace, tulle and mesh
10. Two packets of guaze


11. A packet of clear crystal stickers. One missing
12. A variety of Tattered Angels Glimmer chips
13. Approximately 10 paper doilies in two sizes
14. 5 mini-pegs
15. Some travel-themed rubons
16. Various lengths of sequin-waste in three colours
17. Two fabric butterflies

I think that's about it! But there'll probably be a few extras too I imagine :-)

By now you know the drill to get your hands on this loot...........
  • Leave me a comment for one chance to win (can you make it something interesting?! Tell me a funny story, a joke, anything! I'm on night-duty for 7 nights in a row, and need something to keep me entertained in the slow hours!!)
  • Leave me a second comment if you post about this giveaway on your blog
  • Leave me a third comment if you are a follower
Internationals welcome.
I'll draw a random winner next week when I'm back awake during daylight hours :-)

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Happy belated Valentine's Day

Only slightly late!

Remember this project I showed you recently where I had the two doves punched out of the base cardstock? Now you know what they were for! They were just perfect for carrying my banner of love :-)
 

And can you believe how versatile these lovely My Mind's Eye papers are? They're all from the Alphabet Soup Girl collection which of course make beautiful little girl pages. But I still can't resist the red/pink/aqua (ish) colour scheme and think it works wonderfully as a romantic touch too.


Horrible shiny photo I know, but I just wanted to demonstrate the glitter and shine I've added to the pink woodgrain paper by spraying it with Silver Plated Maya Mist. It's subtle most of the time, but in the right light really packs a punch in terms of shimmer. Loove it!


I used this card sketch on the My Mind's Eye blog for my inspiration. But if you know me by now you know my finished product seems to have evolved someone from the original sketch :-)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Curls? Just a hint

If you've followed my blog for any length of time to see numerous photos of my Munchy you will have noticed her great big mop of curly hair. Because of that distinguishable characteristic we quite commonly get asked if our little Moodles follows in her footsteps. There are a lot of questions of "does she have curls like her sister?"


Now I know she's only 15months old and certainly Munchy didn't have curls at that age like she does now, but I have a feeling that Moodles is going to luck-out a bit in that department. She has "just a hint" of curls in the back, but the front is quite quite straight :-)


The February sketch at Handmade by Suzanne (which I used for this layout, can you tell?) has been created by our very own talented DT member Chloe Nielsen. It has a great die-cut paper indicated behind the photos, as well as my favourite embellishment (still!).... bunting.


Of course, the great thing about sketches is that you don't have to follow them to the letter. In fact, they're just supposed to inspire your own creative expression as you interpret them to fit your own needs. Quite often my pages barely resemble the sketch I began with :-)
 

As was the case here!
I had three photos that I wanted to fit into this page, and although the sketch only indicated two photos, I was determined to make it work anyway :-) And because of that I had to shuffle my title and embellishments around slightly too.



I'm playing with the fabulous Paper Crush collection by Sassafras this month, and I cannot stop raving about how awesome it is! This page came together sooo quickly. In fact, it's one of the fastest pages I've made in the longest time - I reckon it was under 30 minutes (which trust me, is quite fast in my book!!) It helps that all of the papers and embellishments are already so detailed and textured and lovely that I merely have to cut and paste and a beautiful page is born :-)

If you want to play along with the February sketch challenge at HBS, follow this link to find out all the details. You don't have to create with products that Suzanne carries, and the winner is determined by chance so you have nothing to lose by entering, and a very big voucher to gain if you're lucky!

PS. If you're planning on taking part in the sketch challenge then I strongly recommend you head over to Chloe's blog also to find out how you can double your chances of winning a prize!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Fusing Plastic Bags

I really like the concept of using recycled, or upcycled materials in my scrapping. The Man has on occasion 'complained' about the amount of money/product I buy (in actual fact, he's really quite supportive and understanding) and has stated "isn't scrapbooking supposed to be about using scraps?"


So a quick tutorial today on how I made this flower out of upcycled plastic bags.


It's a simple method of cutting multiple squares of plastic bag roughly the same size. Here I've used four layers of white plastic bags. It's sandwiched between two layers of baking paper (or other non-stick material) - one on the bottom and one on the top.


With your iron on a low-medium dry setting (no steam) give it all an even and thorough ironing. Keep checking your plastic layers regularly to ensure they're fusing together, but not melting! They'll come out a bit wrinkly at the end, but this just adds to the texture.


Now I've got a material that easily went through my trimmer, and can probably be punched with simple shapes too (maybe? I tried with a detailed punch and it didn't work. I didn't get any more adventurous than that!). Of course, it's easily cut with scissors, and you can now make it into anything you like.


Cut a long thin strip and fringe one edge of it. Then run a strip of glue along the un-cut edge.


 And roll, roll, roll!


This is the bottom of the flower. How easy was that?! Flip it over, squish out the petals a bit, even add a brad or button if you like.


This is what happens if your iron is too hot, or you iron it for too long. You'll get little melted holes all through it. Then again, maybe that's not a bad thing for some purposes?


So that's the secret behind my upcycled fused plastic bag flower.


The butterflies are also made of fused plastic bags, but I used clear ones this time. The end result is much like vellum really. Transparent but strong. And I can foresee lots more uses for this material.
And it also makes me think of all the different coloured plastic bags I've got in my cupboard ready to be packed off to the recycling plant. The possibilities are endless :-)

PS. You can see the whole layout here.

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