Too much fun!

Yesterday we spent a fantastic day celebrating Christmas with the staff and families of Tomorrows Memories...

...there were gifts for the kids, lots of laughter, photos, yummy food and drinks, games....

...and a massive waterfight to finish the day! Thanks to everyone who shared the day....we had a ball!

Not much getting done on the crafting front, which could be due in part to a very messy work area! My craft room has been overtaken by Christmas gifts, wrapping paper, and many projects in various stages of completion. I've made a few more Christmas cards...

...but not nearly enough! Maybe tomorrow?

Must tell you about a giveaway happening over at the Quilt Fabric Delights blog, and while you're there, be sure to check out Sarah's fabulous photos from the Quilt Market...so many yummy new fabric goodies!

TTFN xxx

P.S. A hugely humungous congratulations to my gorgeous nephew Harrison...we are all SO proud of you!!!

It's a start :)

It seems that this week is actually the last week in November.....eeek! I won't even start on where the time has gone, but realise that I really need to get moving if I am going to send hand made Christmas cards this year!

So here is my start...

I received these Cuttlebug embossed pieces as part of a swap over at Scrapsidaisy, and thought they would make a good start to the Christmas cards! The design above was inspired by the lovely Hope, who also received the swap goodies and made a simple but very classy card with her piece....thanks Hope!

This was another piece from the swap....such gorgeous folders!

So now a decision has to be made. Do I rush out and buy the folders so that I can make more (I usually choose a design and make them in bulk each Christmas) , or do I work with the supplies that I have on hand to create individual cards this year?

Do you make all your cards the same? Or do you create one-of-a-kind cards for everyone on your Christmas card list? Just wondering :)

TTFN xxx

Progress...

A few more pages that I've been working on for my December Daily album...

I found the rings in my stash....peeerrrrfect colour :) I'm using rings on this album (rather than the Bind It All) because I want to be able to add more pages if required when we get to December. It's a bit hard to predict just how many photos or how much journaling I might want to add!

The journal page from the front...

...and from the back.

As you can see, I'm not sticking with any particular brand as far as paper and embellishments go, just using stuff from my stash.

These journal blocks are from Making Memories Noteworthy II...nice and bright!

These ones are from Making Memories Paperie, the red strip is felt, and the pink and aqua are fabric pieces.

Even with just these few pages, my little album is starting to feel quite fat! I probably should put this project aside and work on Christmas cards......or not!!

TTFN xxx

December Daily.

See....I told you I was inspired LOL! For several years now, I have been meaning to make a December Daily album a la Ali Edwards, but have never quite got there. In 2007, I made an Advent album (which documented our Christmas activities leading up to the big day) but have never made an "actual" December Daily...until now :)

And these little tags made my resolve even stronger....


Irresistable, really. So today I made a start...

...and I am having WAY too much fun with it! The tags look great with Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses, and also with some of the fabrics I'm using for my Little Bluebirds quilt....all my favourite colours!

I'm going for bright colours and textures...fabrics, felt, pins, zig zag edges, textured cardstocks, fraying...

....and using up bits and pieces from the "Christmas Embellishment" section of my stash. Love that.

Are you making a December Daily album this year? Leave me a comment so I can check it out :)

TTFN xxx

p.s. Kids are feeling a bit better now thankfully....thanks for all your well wishes xxxx

Down on the Farm

I have finally released my grip on the Twilight saga :) and am a little stunned at how fast a week flies by when you have your head stuck in a book...or four! Now I'm thinking I'll have to start on the movies....that might take a little less time.

Our plans for the weekend have been suspended due to sick kids, so I found myself with some unexpected time to scrap today (YAY!!!)

I was informed recently that everyone has their own little scrapbook except me!!! so I set to work on a little gift for under the Christmas tree..

The new Farm Fresh line from October Afternoon was so perfect for my little book about our trip to Landsdale farm with Merryn's Kindy a couple of months back.

My never-been-used Bind It All even made it's debut appearance to bind the album. Can't say it was a stress-free experience, but love the finished result :)

Here are some of the filler pages. I used a piece of Creative Cafe coloured chipboard for the covers, and just covered the front with patterned paper.

I kept it very simple, as sometimes pretty embellishments are just too tempting for little Miss to resist pulling off :)

I'd planned to use lots of the paper from the Farm Fresh range, but in the end used mostly the cardstock stickers and journaling cards to embellish...keeping it simple. Making a mini-book from scratch gives you lots more freedom in the style of your pages. Instead of tossing the leftover cardstock, I made smaller in-between pages to hold more photos or journaling.

It didn't take too long to complete, and has me all inspired to continue with my Christmas pressies...inspiration that was desperately required at this point :)

A big thank you to Linda for hosting a lovely night of crafting last night...a night of laughter with like-minded girls is so good for my soul :)

Enjoy your weekend

TTFN xxx

Easily excited?

www.basicgrey.com

Gotta love gorgeous new products!

TTFN xxx

P.S. Planning to start New Moon tonight ;) Addicted much?

Lost...

...in the gaping black hole of fiction that is

I knew that it was a mistake to start reading novels again :)

Hope to emerge some time soon.

TTFN xxx

P.S. It's all Riley's fault...he made me read it...hee hee.

Daddy's Girls

Having a big batch of new photos printed and sitting on my desk is certainly pushing along my scrapping mojo lately...which I am loving :)

Here's one using some older American Crafts papers...

I'm having some trouble photographing my LOs just lately...the colours aren't right, but after many shots in many locations around my house, these are the best I can do...hopefully they give you some idea of what they look like! (and let's be honest, after seeing Sonya's new camera, I have a severe case of camera envy LOL)

An unusual LO for me...lots of flowers, some bling, Glimmermist, diecut chipboard, and metallic rub-on smeared over the Cuttlebug-embossed chipboard letters...I must have been feeling adventurous!

I love the effect of the maroon metallic rub-ons on the patterned chipboard...I may have to do this again :)

TTFN xxx

Polkadots?

A quick layout to record a funny little conversation between Merryn and myself...

And while there is nothing earth shattering about the design (or the photography, for that matter LOL), these are the types of layouts that I find myself drawn to when I look through my albums.

Layouts that tell a story. Layouts that make me laugh, and hopefully will make my kids laugh when they read them in years to come. Layouts that remind me of why I started scrapbooking in the first place :)

Papers and alphas are by American Crafts, except all the polkadots which came from my paper scrap box.

Hope your weekend has been great!

TTFN xxx

Fringe :)

First of all, thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my last post...I really appreciate them!

I've been busy this morning making a LO for the November challenge at Scrapsidaisy...


The criteria? A title starting with the letter "F", some MM product, a piece of chipboard, and the colour pink.

This story makes me laugh...my darling child who wasn't allowed to have a fringe cut into her hair, so decided to do it herself. Mind you, I didn't laugh so much when I found the clumps of her hair on the floor :0 The paper and sticker are from Basic Grey's June Bug Collection, and fitted perfectly with the story...LOL.

It's Friday! Have a great weekend!

TTFN xxx

All of a sudden...

...it's Thursday again! Is it just me, or are the weeks flying by at the moment? Won't be long and it will be Christmas!

Not much time for crafting just lately, but here's what I've been working on :)

Part 4 of my Little Bluebirds Block of the Month...just working on the blanket stitching around these gorgeous flowers. For a while I didn't have any stitching prepared for this, and a few people at Riley's trampoline training commented that I wasn't stitching...LOL! I didn't realize I was so predictable!

And then, there's this....


...oh boy, has this taken some time :) It's a Kaisercraft Advent Calendar, and comes in lots of raw cardboard and MDF pieces, all ready to paint, and cover, and decorate and assemble.

I've used Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses for the entire thing...and I am still in love with this range :) The tree is made from acetate and a doily from Basic Grey...if you want to see how I've done it, you will have to pop into Tomorrows Memories! They stock all the bits and pieces that I've used to create this piece :)

After I took the above photos, I decided that every Christmas tree needs presents underneath, so after days of procrastinating, I stayed up late last night and created these...

...and they are very tiny! I had to think outside the square to come up with how I was going to do this...I wonder if you can guess what's wrapped up in those little rectangular boxes?

I printed lots and lots of photos yesterday, so am hoping I can get a little inspiration happening in the LO department...here's hoping!

Have a great day

TTFN xxx