Shoes and cats and cards and temptation.

Happy Saturday!

It's been a busy one around these parts, but I spied the date and thought I'd better show you my Some Kind Of Wonderful blocks for the month of June...before it's over!

Simply gorgeous shoes...

 Well, they had to be polka-dottie to match my favourite in-real-life shoes!

                                                                      Pet cat...

..made with polka dots... again. Hmmmm....is there a trend happening here?

Today is also a very special girls birthday, and this is the card I made for her...

 ...she loves to dance, and she loves aqua, and she loves bling...and I love to use polka dots :) Happy birthday Maddie...love you lots xxx

Speaking of polka dots (we were, weren't we?) , look at what came in the mail last week...

...it's a blurry Instagram shot, but you may be able to make out that it's my Block One and finishing kit for the Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Block of the Month quilt, made with Bonnie and Camille's Vintage Modern!  OH. MY. GOODNESS. My excitement was off the charts when this turned up on my doorstep! I've been very strong so far, and haven't opened a single package...must must must work on other projects first!

Wish me luck!

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week 24

I think I can, I think I can....

 ...LOL! Catching up on Project Life a little today. ...only one week to go and I will be all caught up...until the week ticks over again on Saturday night anyway!  It's almost the end of June, which means that I have almost made it to half a year of Project Life-ing. HALF A YEAR! It's still not easy, and I still struggle a bit when it comes to taking photos often...I was kinda hoping it would be second nature by now!

This weeks spread started with just 3 photos, but I cheated a bit and added a couple...like the shot of my dog, and the shot of myself, and the shot of my bedside table, and the screenshot of the weather...eek!

I even cheated a bit more and had my family fill out the "gratitude cards" which I scored on Cathy Zielske's blog...just to flesh out things a little.

OK...so I cheated a lot :)

 In a years time, it won't make any difference at all  ;) and I love that I have my familys' handwriting in there!
The little pink polkadot envelope contains the note from school, warning us about the expected nasty weather.

I used Miss Nelly from Kaisercraft papers...because they are just lovely. I probably need to move on a bit, huh?

And that was Week 24.

Have a wonderful weekend...

TTFN xxx

Daily words

There are so many inspirational words floating around the internet these days....open any page on Facebook or Pinterest or Instagram , and you are likely to find words to motivate, words to uplift, words to amuse, words to inspire.

So many great words...it seemed a shame to not share them with the people I love the most every day.

Imagine my delight when I came across this mini blackboard/ easel...perfect!

Every night, before I go to bed, I write my favourite words that I've discovered during that day on my little easel. The kids are loving reading them each morning as they prepare for their busy day...nothing like starting the morning on a positive note!

If you would like your own little easel, send Leisa at Scrapsidaisy an email...she can get you sorted :)

TTFN xxx

The mother of all washi tapes!

So, just as all paper ranges are not created equal, it would seem that the same applies to washi tape!

 I received an order from my sisters' online shop last week (have you visited Scrapsidaisy lately? Leisa has all sorts of new goodies in stock)...and in my package was a roll of the widest washi tape I've come across to date! A whole 5cm wide! It's the prettiest blue...and I couldn't wait to use some :)

I added some stickers from the Miss Nelly by Kaisercraft sticker sheet to it, backed it with white cardstock to get the full effect of the cute litle doilies, and added some blue stitching around the edges to tie it all together.

I know, I know...two cards in as many days! I've even impressed myself LOL!

Try to stay warm...it is SOOOOO cold here in Perth today...my teeth are chattering! Brrrrrr!

TTFN xxx

A little (more) Miss Nelly.

Not all paper ranges are created equal....that is a fact.

 Some I really struggle with. Others, like Miss Nelly by Kaisercraft, seem to just create projects all by themselves :)

I remember saying the same thing when Miss Nelly was first released quite a while back now, so when I spied a 6x6 paper pad from the range at Spotlight the other day, it went straight into my shopping basket.The colours could have a lot to do with it...turquoise, red, apple green and pink...mmmmmmmmm! My favourites!

Do you have a favourite paper range, that you reach for over and over again? Do tell :)

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week 23

Hello Week 23...

 ...a week which actually resembled "normal" for us, which unfortunately also meant that my photo taking was on the sparse side :)

 I chose a 6x6 paper pad called Fabulous by Simple Stories to document this week, and wow! It was so so easy to put these pages together! The pad includes all sorts of journaling cards and embellishment pieces...the perfect accompaniment to Project Life.

 I relied heavily on my Instagram photos again this week...not sure how this album would be progressing without them. (well, yes actually, I do...I would have given up on it by now hahahaha)

And that's about it for Week 23. Tune in for Week 24 where I will prove that you can do Project Life with very very few photos...yes, even less than Week 23 LOL. Note to self: stop making this so hard on yourself and pick up your camera every now and then, for goodness sake!!

TTFN xxx

With sprinkles on top :)

Baking has taken over my Sundays lately. With the rainy weather we've been having and the chill in the air, there is nothing nicer than cranking up the oven and cooking something delicious for afternoon tea :)

I have my tried-and-true favourite recipes that I bake in heavy rotation...orange weetbix slice, cupcakes, vanilla slice, chocolate cake...but I've been on the lookout for a basic chocolate slice with sprinkles on top.

In my search, I came across a very basic, but very very yummy chocolate slice that I thought I should share. It came from an old cookbook that I bought from a pre-school fundraiser many years ago...those cookbooks always have the best recipes!

Ingredients
Base: 1 1/2 cups self raising flour
         1/2 cup coconut
         1 cup brown sugar
         2 tblspns drinking chocolate
         1 egg
         125 g margarine

 Mix dry ingredients together, then add beaten egg. Melt margarine and add to ingredients, bake in a greased slice tin in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.

Icing: 1 cup icing sugar
         1 tblspn margarine
         1 tblspn drinking chocolate
         1 tblspn boiling water

Combine all ingredients and cover base while still warm.

I added sprinkles on top...because I really really wanted a chocolate slice with sprinkles!

How's that for easy? I love any recipe that I can ice while still warm...so easy to prepare if  guests pop in for morning tea and are you totally unprepared...which I often am. I can see this one being a lunchbox favourite too.

Hope your Monday has been kind to you...and if you have a favourite chocolate slice recipe, please share!

TTFN xxx

In an ideal world...

...my papercrafting would go something like this:

1. I would create my Project Life layout for the current week using paper and embellishments directly from my stash...like Week 22, where I used Little Boy by Echo Park, which I've had for quite a while.

2. I would then create a scrapbook layout using the same range...using older photos would also be a bonus ;)

( I have to add here  that these photos of my boy when he was little made me shed a tear or two...just look at that adorable little face, and those dimples!) I would write lots of journaling, and use elements that make me happy...like banners and bright colours :)

3. I would then use the scraps to make a card...yes, a card!...and it would come together quickly, easily, and I would love it!

 I would even make an embellished greeting on the inside...because I'm feeling so inspired and all :)

4. Then...just for the heck of it...I would make another layout! From the same paper range, and using older photos from the great big pile that lives in the back of my cupboard.

It would be a simple layout, but that's ok, because that's how I like it...and some photos just don't need a lot of journaling :)

How cool would that be? My paper stash and  my photo pile would disappear in no time, my scrapbooks would be fatter, and I would have a card stash!

Must try it again sometime...

TTFN xxx

P.S. Leah...if you are reading...the alphabet dies that you asked about are called Die-namics by My Favourite Things, and are available at www.annascraftcupboard.com.au/store

Project Life 2012- Week 22

Hello Week 22!

 I've gone with a somewhat "boyish" colour scheme this week, mainly due to the fact that this week features quite a bit of my boy :) I find it peculiar  that some weeks seem to feature a particular child, but have given up trying to fight it and include photos of each of them each week...hopefully it will all balance out in the end!

 I also tried to include some pieces from my Project Life core kit...I'm no longer afraid to cut into it and alter the pieces to suit! I have no doubt that if I continue with Project Life in 2013 that I will want to buy a new kit, which I won't be able to justify if I already have one sitting on my desk...cut cut cut!

This is one of the plain journal cards with two strips of washi tape placed along the edge and some star stickers to jazz it up a bit...too easy!  Again...can't keep buying washi tape if the rolls I have are still full...cut cut cut!

I've also come to the realisation that I can't continue to buy alphabets to spell out the word "week" each week...it's always the "e"s that disappear first, isn't it? So instead of adding to my collection of alphabets with no letter e, I shouted myself my very first alphabet dies for my (dusty and hardly ever used) Cuttlebug machine.

 Ok...an alphabet AND some cute little banner dies ;)

 These work SO well on the Cuttlebug, and are so much more affordable than the original Cuttlebug dies that I used to buy...why has it taken me so long to discover this??? Cut cut cut!

TTFN xxx

Itty Bitty Patchwork

 My friend Hope has been making teeny tiny, itty bitty patchwork blocks for a while now. They are the cutest things! She was inspired by the full size Farmers Wife blocks...which are all of 6 sqaure inches when finished...to create mini versions using the leftover pieces of fabric. Genius!

While I have admired them on Instagram and over on her blog, the thought had never crossed my mind to make any myself, because let's face it, the full size ones pretty much do my head in :) I may have even called her, well, crazy.

Hope has the last laugh though, because while constructing the June blocks for my Some Kind of Wonderful, I discovered I had to make my OWN little minis for the Sewing Block.

 Just look at the size of that! Is it not the cutest thing ever?

And mini log cabins...get outta here! To my surprise, I found making them quite...fun?....relaxing?....exciting even?...and found my mind wandering to what cute projects I could make with such fun, itty bitty blocks!

SOMEBODY STOP ME!!!!

(sorry Hope...you did warn me they were addictive LOL)

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week 21

Some Project Life weeks are more daunting than others :)

I've sat on Week 21 for longer than usual, knowing that I didn't have many photos...knowing that I wanted to scrap it in purple (not exactly my go-to colour)...knowing that it included my trip to Sydney to see Prince and not really knowing where to start!

I dived headlong into my stash looking for purple...and not sure that I would find any! Quite by accident (literally!), I found several sheets of Kaisercrafts La Di Da Collection. If you've been reading my blog for quite a while, you may remember my youngest child had an unfortunate paint accident in a local scrapbooking shop, which resulted in me having to buy LOTS of paint-smeared paper :)

That paper collection is not only purple (because you couldn't scrap a Prince concert in any colour but purple!) but is covered in birds which look suspiciously like doves (Prince's song, When Doves Cry? You still with me?)

Problem solved!

 All of these photos are from my iPhone, as I didn't take my big camera to Sydney with me....I'm still amazed with the photo quality that the iPhone 4S gives me!

 When I started to write the journaling, I realised that most of what I wanted to say about the concert was already in my blog post from that week...so I printed the pages straight from the blog, adhered them to some more La Di Da paper, and included them as an insert. Too easy!

 I did a quick Google search, and was thrilled to find the setlist from the concert that I attended...how cool is that? Now I can relive the night, song by song, any time I want to...YAY!

And that was Week 21....and the last of the La Di Da Collection from my stash. Do you ever get the feeling that some little accidents happen for a reason?

TTFN xxx

Let the fun begin....

I know I know...my track record with Block of the Month programs is not so good :)

But who can resist a quilt using the new Bonnie and Camille fabric, Vintage Modern?

NOT ME!

What about you?

TTFN xxx

Rows upon rows of glorious stitching :)

I think I may have found my quilting groove :)

From the moment I put this baby under my walking foot, I was enjoying it. Oh what a feeling! I just couldn't stop....row upon row of quilting appeared as if by magic. No watching of the clock this time...no counting down how much to go before I could be finished. Oh no...I actually enjoyed this!

This, by the way, is a tablerunner which Linda, Tracey and I got together to make last Sunday night. It was one of our Sweetwater Label Crew projects (can't recall which month?).

I cheated a bit. You may recall our last get-together, in which nothing-but-nothing would go right? Well, I decided to avoid that and buy a kit...and turn up prepared...much to the girls' disgust!

I decided to do my own thing with the quilting, and went with echo-quilting some triangles after my binding went on. LOVE how they turned out!

 I actually had to stop myself from going right into the centre with the quilted triangles...very addictive once you get started!

 The banner fabric is my favourite from Sweetwaters' Hometown range...so perfectly cute, especially covered in rows and rows of quilted goodness :)

 Of course, no Sweetwater project would be complete without a personalised label to finish it off!

 I added some red buttons to the centre and TA DAH! All finished! Now...what's next on the to-do list?

TTFNxxx

Project Life 2012 - Week Twenty

Week Twenty...14th to 20th May. Just saying those words aloud is a little scary...where is the year going?

 My double page spread is overwhelmingly PINK!

 The photos on the date card above were a bit of fun we had on Mothers Day morning, when the kids all came into my bed to snuggle :) We took them on my iphone, and I created the collage with an app called Diptic...I can't help but smile when I look at them!

Pink, pink...and a bit more pink ;)

 Here are some favourite pockets...

 I saved this tag from my fluffy new dressing gown that I received for Mothers Day...pink polkadots, of course. Since receiving a gift card for my 40th birthday last year, I have been a bit addicted to Peter Alexander pyjamas...they are so comfy, and the designs are ridiculously cute.

My Prince tickets arrived in Week 20...

 ...and I created this photo using two apps on my iphone...Instagram and Phonto. Oh how I love my iphone!

So here is the whole spread...

I mostly used an older paper pack called Pretty Please by My Minds Eye, with a few other elements that were sitting on my desk at the time. Gotta love using some paper stash!

Have a great day, and thanks for popping in to visit :)

TTFN xxx

It's going to be that sort of day...

...the sort of day when you make a pot instead of a mug, and just keep on refilling it :)

 ...the sort of day when you decide to indulge in a home-made cookie, and end up eating many more than one (can I just add that substituting the new caramel bits into my favourite choc chip cookie recipe was a stroke of genius...they are SO SO yummy!)

 ...the sort of day when you turn your camera to manual for the first time in ages, and realise that you can't remember how to get it off black-and-white mode (obviuously need to refer to my instructions from Sharon before the next photography class and get practicing!)

...the sort of day when you pull out your Farmers Wife blocks for the first time in months, and realise that you're not even halfway to finished yet. ..although they do look very pretty, and maybe, just maybe, you should consider making some more. Or just sew them together and call it done :)

...the sort of day that you look at your sidebar to-do list and realise that it's now June...and you haven't even put up Mays to-do list (how did that happen?)

Yep...it's going to be that sort of day :)

What sort of day are you having so far?

TTFN xxx