A little bit of fun :)

Sometimes you buy a piece of paper...not because you know how you're going to use it, but because it is so darn cute! I bought this sheet of My Little Shoebox paper from Scrapsidaisy when I visited earlier in the year...the colours and design are irresistible!


Paper piecing the house brought back some horrible memories of past scrapbooking, when we used to cut our photos into circles and such, but it just seemed to fit the theme so I kept it :)



I dug deep into my stash to find some older bits and pieces...like Making Memories Simply Stated rubons, heart brads and 7Gypsies hardware! The journaling was written in 2008 (yep, still have my little journaling book out) so I used an older photo of us to complete the page.

Speaking of Scrapsidaisy, Leisa has been busily updating the online store with lots of new arrivals from CHA2010, including Making Memories Flutter and lots of the new Crate Paper releases...check them out at www.scrapsidaisy.com/shop .

TTFN xxx

The One.

Just a couple of sneak peeks of a layout today...

I wanted to record a little of the process we went through to find our house late last year...and I had journaled about it in my Little Book of Journaling :) so that part was already done!

I started the LO with that little piece of ribbon from American Crafts, and built it around those colours. Most of the papers are from October Afternoons various collections...Weathervane, Daydream and Night Light, and the words are from lots of different packs of Making Memories Word Fetti...a product I seem to go back to time and time again.

Happy Friday...hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend!

TTFN xxx

Cupcakes and polkdots :)

Two of my favourite things!

I decorated these yummies yesterday...

I used my normal cupcake recipe, but instead of icing I decorated the tops with rocky road...and they taste delicious :)

My polkadot obsession is way out of control...

...but when you can buy a set of (good size) teacups and saucers for under $13 on sale...well, why wouldn't you?

And taking that obsession to a whole new level....

...red polkadot sheets. Seriously cute. I have no idea what my husband is going to say about sleeping on red polkadot sheets, but when it comes down to it...he is away a lot! LOL! I'm imagining my Little Bluebirds quilt hanging above the bed, with it's blues and aquas and red polkadots and pinks.....must go and do some more stitching on it!

TTFN xxx

I'm not your average girl!

I've been playing around with buterflies today...they seem to be everywhere at the moment, don't they? I'm particularly loving the Jenni Bowlin butterfly embellishments, and the Flutter range by Making Memories...lots of yummy butterfly goodness! For this LO though, I made my own :)

I cut and embossed the big pink butterflies with my Cuttlebug, the green ones are Making Memories Slice Glitter paper (and by coincidence, cut with my Slice) and the small ones are a tiny punch.

This flower is a new Prima with some bling in the centre, mounted on a stitched diecut...lots of stitching on this layout.

The papers are Pretty Please by My Minds Eye, and the word strip is Girl Friday by Cosmo Cricket. (what? no Basic Grey? LOL) I love the challenge of mixing collections...old and new from different manufacturers...it takes a bit more time, and makes a LOT more mess, but is lots of fun!

These are some cards I've made recently...

One for my very clever nephew...he's the captain of his school this year! (yep, very proud aunty here).

This one for my neice, who took out a major dancing award...

...American Crafts papers are so nice and bright!

I copied the design to create a birthday card for a male relative who celebrated yesterday(because I find male cards really hard!)

..and this one is for my gorgeous sister who is celebrating her birthday today. (I photographed it before I posted her gift last week hee hee)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEISA!

Thank you to everyone for your comments about "the paint incident" in my last post. I may have recovered enough to attempt a LO using the splodgy papers....or maybe not :)

TTFN xxx

A story for Sunday (or one VERY expensive LO!)

Yesterday morning, I was doing a little browsing on the internet (as you do) and saw a layout by Nic Howard over on the Aussie Scrap Source blog using some Hambly Screen prints. This isn't a product that I use a lot, and thought it would be kinda fun for a change.

I took the kids to a birthday party at a swimming centre quite a long way from where we live, and on the way home, passed a scrapbooking shop which I hadn't been to in quite a while. Since it was still open, I decided I had enough brownie points with the kids to pop in for a look :)

The girls came in with me. Merryn had been there before, and I let her go off to the toy area...she usually loves to play there, and it keeps her busy while I shop. I was browsing the Hambly Screen Prints when Merryn asked if she could sit in the car with Riley. Sure, no problem.

It was only when the salesperson asked me if the little girl in the white dress was mine that I realised something was going on. I looked over to the counter, and oh.my.goodness. Spread over the entire counter was scrapbook paper. And on that scrapbook paper...every single sheet of that paper...was green paint. Big splodges of green paint.

I didn't believe that Merryn could be responsible. My little veteran scrapbook shopper KNOWS THE RULES. I retrieved her from the car, and did a thorough hand inspection. No green paint. A thorough clothing inspection. No green paint.

It was the tiniest little bit of green paint on her chin that gave her away. Apparently, the paint was "very squirty" :0

Close to tears, and in utter disbelief, I handed over the $$$$ for many many sheets of Kaiser La Di Da, all splattered with green paint, and one almost empty tube of green paint. Oh, and one lovely sheet of Hambly Screen Print :(

Today, I used the Hambly Screen Print on a LO...

It's that cream swirly bit on top of the "I read your emails first" bit. Enjoy it...it cost me a fortune sob sob sob.

I've also used Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday, American Crafts A la Carte, Basic Grey ribbon, KI Memories lace cardstock, and lots of other bits and pieces.

Sigh. That is one expensive LO.

TTFN xxx

Edited to add: I probably should note (for non-regular readers of my blog) that Merryn is almost 6...quite old enough to be left in an enclosed childs play area without my constant supervision...or so I thought!!!

Double Shot Wednesday :)

Is it just me, or are my titles beginning to sound like a radio station? Scary.

I have another 2 layouts to show you today. Why the sudden increase in mojo I hear you ask? I'm putting it down to my journaling book...the spot where I write down stuff as it happens, or as I think of it. I've filled one recently, and have been reading the stories before putting it away...and that has inspired me to scrapbook them :)


This is about one of the funny things Merryn said last year, that I happened to write down. The photos weren't taken on that exact day, but that really doesn't matter :)

The papers are Love Bandit by Bo Bunny, alphas are MM tiny alphas, Kaisercraft Child's Play (Girl), and AC Thickers brackets.

This is another story from my journaling book...

I realised one day that we seem to move house every four years, and thought it was a good subject for a LO about the houses we've lived in...took me a while to find all the right photos!

This is the sort of LO that I think the kids will love looking at when they get older...the stories of each house, and a record of where they were born. Most of the papers and embellishments are from the Lemonade collection by Basic Grey...one of my all-time favourites.

That's it for today...but I might keep that journaling book out for just a little while longer :)

TTFN xxx

Two for Tuesday :)

Actually, three if you count double layouts as two (which I do LOL). I've found myself with a bit more scrapping time in the last couple of days...the planets must have aligned!

My latest DT pack from Tomorrows Memories contained some of the yummy new 3 Bugs In A Rug Little Chick papers, so I set to work to create a double LO with photos from last Easter...


The papers are so bright and cheery...I couldn't resist creating some Easter eggs...

It won't be long before it's Easter again....the year is flying by so quickly! While I had my Easter photos handy, I made another LO...

I combined the 3 Bugs paper with Basic Grey Lemonade embellishments and papers...love pink, lime and aqua together :)

I cut the word "Easter" using my new Fonts Design Card for the MM Slice that I received for Christmas...the script style is JUST what I was after :)

Miss Merryn survived her first full day at school, but woke up this morning crying, complaining that her brain hurts. Poor girl...she is so disappointed to be missing school today :( Better go and make her some lunch.

TTFN xxx

Colour Inspiration

Something a little different for the February Copycatcard challenge...some colour inspiration from www.thecreativemint.typepad.com ...

Aren't these colours just gorgeous? So fresh and yummy :) The idea is to make a card inspired by the colours, and this is what I came up with...

I used orange cardstock, Basic Grey Sugar Rush and Bazzill Swiss Dots as the base, and added the Little Yellow Bicycle monkey and Basic Grey alphas from various ranges.

If you have a minute, pop over and check out the creative mint website...it is sure to get your mojo happening!

Have a great Monday

TTFN xxx

Sunday Cardmaking

Sundays are for relaxing.... for sleeping in and late breakfasts and lazy afternoon activities, and doing whatever makes you happy.

Sunday for me has been about cardmaking today :)

I started out with a Basic Grey Lemonade cardmaking kit, which are so much fun...not much thinking involved, and a great way to build up your card stash. Then I fell in love with Heather Bailey's Freshcut papers all over again...

I have no idea why I love this range so much...but I do!

The papers are all Heather Bailey, but the bits and pieces are random things from my stash, and the sewing machine came out to play too :)

Lots more cards to make this week, so I'd best get to it! Hope you are doing something that you love this Sunday.......Happy Valentines Day xxx

TTFN xxx

I think you're awesome :)

The journaling in this LO has been circling around my head for a few days now...feels good to get it onto a page :) Click on the image if you'd like to read it!

As you can probably imagine, Riley's trampolining is a big commitment not just for him, but for our whole family. I just needed to let him know that, despite my complaining every now and then about competitions, long whites, training, blah blah, that I think he is really awesome :)

Look Evana...I used the Dusty Attic! LOL...I challenged myself to use some of the gorgeous chipboard recently released by The Dusty Attic...I'm not usually much of a chipboard girl, but since it's stocked by a couple of my very favourite shops, I thought I'd give it a whirl. I didn't do anything creative with it...just plonked it on my LO with a bit of bling, but I like the way it looks :)

Paper is Just Chillin' Boy by Making Memories, Eva by Basic Grey, and the other alphas are Basic Grey Boxer.

Thank you for all your messages of congratulations on my last post...I really appreciate them, and Riley was, of course, thrilled :)

TTFN xxx

Exciting news (part two)!

Are you ready for the next (and final) instalment of exciting news :) ?

Last night, Riley and I were invited to attend the Gymnastics WA Awards Night, which recognises Achievement in Gymsports for 2009.

Riley was lucky enough to be awarded the title of Junior Male Athlete of the Year 2009...wooohoooooooooooooo!

It was so wonderful to see him rewarded for all his hard work...I greatly admire his dedication and good sportsmanship, his talent and his never-failing positive attitude. Well done Riley...I am so very very proud of you!

TTFN xxx

P.S. thank you so much Caitlin for minding the girls for me...you are one awesome babysitter xxx

Sugar Rush

I had my first play with Basic Grey's new line Sugar Rush last night , and am loving it :)

I used the gorgeous doily as the base, but put a full sheet of Gummy Bears (don't you love the names?) underneath, then layered a piece of Orange Slices on top and stitched it into place.

I used a MM Journal Block to cut the shape of the scalloped piece, then hunted around my kitchen for the right sized circle to cut the blue :) The green dots around the journaling are hand drawn with green pen, and the alphas are White Chocolate Chip by Basic Grey.

Here's a close up of the corners. I stamped the flower (stamp by Doodlebug Designs) then coloured with pencils, and drew the extra red lines to highlight the corners.

This awesome photo was taken by Michael Thompson, my husband's talented brother-in-law who did a family photo shoot while we were visiting. My parents-in-law's farm is the backdrop...so green compared to WA!

Thanks for visiting

TTFN xxx

Distraction :)

This is it. The first morning I have come home to an empty house after dropping my kids at school :( Not good.

So rather than do boring stuff (like housework!!), I have been daydreaming thanks to the Pottery Barn kids website. Anyone else in love with kids bedrooms?

Lydia loves green and pink....

The details get me...look at the little tree on the bedside table :)

Polka dot baskets? Yes please!

More polka dots? Why not?

And it's not just girly rooms I love....look at these!

The whale cane basket is so cute!

How much would Riley love this bunk bed, complete with desk? How much would his Mummy love this bunk bed, come to think of it :)

All images courtesy of Pottery Barn...if you need some decorating inspiration, or distraction, head over and have a peek :)

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/

I am in love.

TTFN xxx

Exciting news! (part one)

Some exciting things are happening around here at the moment!

The first thing....I am teaching some card classes at Tomorrows Memories in February and March! It's been a while since I have taught, but couldn't resist the opportunity. I am so looking forward to catching up with some lovely cardmakers next Friday February 12th :) We will be making this...


...called "Fresh...not Fancy", it's a gorgeous set of five cards complete with holder, making it a perfect gift for someone special (especially someone special who is hard to buy for :) ) This is a great class for the beginner cardmaker, or if you'd just like to play with yummy supplies...not forgetting the scones with jam and cream for morning tea ;) There are a couple of places left as of today...give the shop a call if you'd like to come too!

My other class is called "Butterfly Kisses", and includes some fun techniques...


...including stamping and stitching (couldn't resist!), layering and punching, and some Cuttlebugging too! The class is on Friday March 12th, but there aren't many spaces left...be quick!

So that's my first bit of exciting news...I have some more, but I had better wait to share it :)

Have a great day

TTFN xxx

Red, pink, aqua...and repeat :)

Do you have a colour combination that you find yourself repeating constantly? I seem to have that problem with red, pink and aqua at the moment....and lime green if I can manage to throw that in somewhere too! (It's probably not helping that all these colours are stitting on my desk, patiently awaiting the completion of December Daily...but we won't go there LOL)


This layout started life with the photo of Merryn and Jordan in the bottom right corner, taken a couple of weeks ago when we were staying on the farm in NSW. I started flicking through papers and found this gorgeous little saying on some Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday, and thought the photo would be perfect. The saying lends itself to photos taken over time, which had me searching through boxes for just the right ones :)

All the time I was thinking of the February challenge on the Scrapsidaisy gallery...to use a heart, the colours pink and red, an arrow and some bling...and that's how this LO came together! A little scary to see what weird directions my thought process goes in sometimes? LOL! Anyhoo...

So the heart is hand cut from felt and stitched with embroidery thread, the papers are Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday and Snorkel Umbrellas, with some ribbon, ric-rac, Kaiser bling and Making Memories tiny alphas thrown in for good measure.

Thanks for looking...and thank you so much for visiting!

TTFN xxx

Milkshakes and first days :)

I've been having a play with some Twiddleybitz chipboard lately (thanks to the girls at Tomorrows Memories)...the possibilities are endless, really! The alphas are a new release, and come with a whole sheet to play with...great for longish titles :) I painted them blue, then gave them a spray with Bronze Crafty Notions colour spray to give them some sparkle.

The swirls were covered with paint, but rather than smooth the paint, I roughed it up to give a bubbly effect...

...a little hard to see on the photo, but a nice effect in real life. There's a bit of sewing and distressing on this page too, and the papers are Basic Grey Offbeat and some American Crafts solids.

Thanks for all your well wishes on the back-to-school thing...we survived the dreaded first day, and I even managed to get through without tears :) The kids are very happy with their teachers, and have a friend or two to sit with, so it's all good! I'm sure I will get used to having no kids at home....eventually :(

Hope you are having a great week!

TTFN xxx