Project Life 2013 - Week Twelve

Hello Project Life Week 12...and hello being back in the swing of making these pages in a timely fashion :)

I did this one a little differently to my usual, because I had a few extra pockets to fill up. You know that feeling of having a few too many photos for a standard double spread, but maybe not quite enough for an insert? That's where I found myself this week ;)

 I really wanted to use the 4x6 quote card down there in the corner, so added "Week 12" to a photo, and marked the weeks' inclusive dates on the 3x4 calendar card.

I've put white card behind the insert, so you can get an idea of how it all looks. The first page plus insert are of Lydia's birthday party photos, then you  turn over the insert for the rest of the week (are you with me? LOL)

I've used mainly Echo Park Photo Freedom goodies for Week 12, along with some Echo Park Dots and Stripes (yes...I still have lots!)

Speaking of dots, I've been after a couple of new albums for my 2013 PL pages, and came across these in Spotlight today...

...hello perfection! It was all I could do not to buy their entire stock of them :)

As I placed the albums on the counter, along with some red polkadot fabric and some red polkadot serviettes (what can I say...I was running low!) , and reached into my red polkadot wallet for the payment while holding my red polkadot key fob, it occurred to me that I just may have a little problem. You think? LOL

Have a positively polkadottie day!

TTFN xxx

Constant Companion

Our family is very very lucky...we have the bestest dog in the whole world ;)

Our precious little dog has not been in the best of health lately. He has struggled really badly with the heat of Summer, and there were a couple of times that we thought we might have lost him :(  Clancy is going on 14 years old this year, so each day that he is with us is a blessing.

I took this photo of Merryn and Clancy a while back. She has never known life without him, and he has endured every phase of her childhood so far with such patience...from the fur-pulling and the piggyback rides to the pretty bows around his neck...poor puppy!

I've used some Echo Park Dots and Stripes for the background (favourite!!) , along with some Crate Paper from various lines, and AC Thickers. The word bubble is from a Studio Calico kit.

Thanks so much for visiting, and please leave me a comment so I can visit you back ;)

                                                                      TTFN xxx

Project Life 2013 - Week 11

Hello Project Life Week 11...a week featuring  very pretty new product from Simple Stories called Vintage Bliss...yum!

I was lucky enough to attend a Project Life get-together at Tomorrows Memories today...so lovely to talk PL all day, and have a peek at what other people do with their stories and photos :) Of course, I left it to the last minute to get organised, so decided that taking a Simple Stories Collection pack was my best option for completing a week...everything matches!

Week 11 was a busy but fairly ordinary week around here....netball training started up for the Winter season, we sold (and ate) fundraising chocolates, celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary, and did lots of ordinary things too :)

I documented Hope's new pattern release, my daughter playing her flute, and a mysterious act of vandalism that I think must have been committed by a superhero...our letterbox was concreted on and super heavy!

So that was Week 11, which I actually completed in the company of fellow PLers!

I believe the group is planning to meet each month at Tomorrows Memories, so if you're local and interested please give the shop a call for details.

Have an awesome week!

TTFN xxx

ZigZag Love Love Love!

I have something very exciting to tell you about today :)

 My dear, and very talented friend, Hope has started designing patchwork patterns! Her first pattern release is called Zigzag Love, and is available to purchase here.

Zigzag Love is the most adorable mini quilt, and as the name suggests, features hearts and zigzags...it really is the cutest thing! Hope has included instructions to make other sized versions of the quilt, and also other sized hearts...great value for money, and enough to get your creative mind racing  ;)

I was given the honour of testing the pattern, and after much deliberation, decided to use fabric by Cinderberry Stitches designer, Natalie Lymer.  The small scale prints lend themselves perfectly to the pattern, and the cuteness factor is WAY off the charts!

My little hearts are almost done...and they would actually be finished by now, if I didn't have to keep stopping and admiring each little heart as it came off my sewing machine ;) I'm thinking a binding of red polkadots would do it justice, don't you?

Hope has done an awesome job with the design of the patterns too...

 ...and the insructions are super easy to understand! Most steps of construction are accompanied by detailed diagrams, and I LOVE that she tells you which way to press the seams...makes the hearts go together really neatly.

Hope made her sample from Bonnie and Camille's Marmalade...

(image courtesy of Hope Nelson)

...which may just have to be my next version of the pattern too ;)

If you are in need of a new pattern for your latest fabric purchase, and would like to support an up-and-coming young Australian designer, you can purchase the pattern right here.

Now...off to make some more hearts so I can show you my finished version ;)

TTFN xxx



Project Life 2013 - Week 10

Hello Week 10...a week of birthdays, picnics, state elections and everyday stuff ;)

  I've gone with some new Simple Stories 24/Seven goodies for this weeks spread...loving the yellow chevron and red polkadots in particular :)

 A close up look...

...and that was Week 10!

It's been a very very busy weekend around here...I'm beat! Time to see who won Masterchef, and I'm off to bed ;)

Thanks so much for popping in,

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week Nine, and MBOM

Hello Project Life Week 9...a week that almost didn't make it onto the blog ;)

There is something about this week's layout that I just don't like. It could be the duller colours, or that I've mixed too many patterned papers, or that, in the end I just wanted it DONE! Any hoo, here it is...

I've included an insert, which has a spelling test from my youngest on one side (a good record of her neatest handwriting at this age), and some journaling on the other. The journaling side is a definite re-do...it's quite awful! LOL I had to keep switching pens, my writing wasn't well thought out, and in general it is quite...well, awful. Just keeping it real here ;)

Moving on.

Our 2012 Mystery Block of the Month (MBOM) from the Fat Quarter Shop is quickly coming to a close...this one is Block Nine by Joanna Figueroa from Fig Tree, and is called Lakeside Retreat.

Only 3 blocks to go, and we are done! Luckily, the 2013 quilt is looking rather lovely...I would miss receiving my little fabric parcel in the post each month!

That's another couple of ticks off my to-do list for March, which is pretty good considering I haven't even put the list up on my blog yet...hahahaha...oh dear.

Happy hump day!

TTFN xxx

When hoarding pays off :)

Truth be told, when it comes to scrapbooking supplies, I'm a bit of a hoarder :)

I still have papers and embellishments from when I first started scrapbooking...you just never know when you may need them (mostly, I forget about them and they don't see the light of day for years on end!)

HOWEVER...today was different.

 I was doing some blog hopping this morning when I came across an idea from Stephanie Howell ..she covered a chipboard heart with washi tape,  trimmed it to shape, and used it on a layout...very cool. I taught this technique a few years ago using ribbon, which got a bit messy, and some of the ribbons were a bit prone to fraying. But washi tape? Perfect!

I remembered a Making Memories chipboard word that I'd been hoarding for years, and thought how great it would look covered in polkadot washi tape. It took me a while to locate it, BUT I have to say...it looks sorta awesome with the polkadot treatment ;) Any messy ends can be easily tucked behind the chipboard, and trimming with a craft knife was super easy!

I ended up cutting the chipboard horizontally right through the middle to balance the layout, and added a few brads from My Minds Eye My Girl collection in the top left corner. Other than that I kept it pretty simple, and let the photos and the polkadots take centre stage :)

While searching through my...ahem...older pieces, I found a few other treasures that may be given a new lease of life too....could this hoarding habit of mine be finally paying off? ;)

TTFN xxx

The 12 Months Of Christmas...checking in ;)

It occurred to me today that, with all the excitement around here lately, I forgot to check in with my 12 Months Of Christmas progress for February...sorry about that!

So, how did you go for February? Did you manage to tick anything off your Christmas 2013 list? Or maybe moved a little closer with some of your Christmas crafty goals?

I did the latter...just moved a little closer to a Christmas finish :)

My Christmas Tree Skirt has quite a lot of stitching to get through, and I didn't really expect to get it finished in February...it's a bit more of a long term project :) Besides, that's why we scheduled in catchup months, right?

I also have a decision to make on the finished shape, and how much more applique I'm going to add. In the meantime, I'll keep pondering and blanket stitching and pondering a little more  :)

Our project for March is a Christmas tablerunner, and turned out to be the perfect excuse for me to stock up on some new Christmas fabric (like I need an excuse LOL)...

 ...Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas is a gorgeous combination of red, grey, turquoise and green, and has lots of cute small scale prints. At this stage, I'm leaning towards using this pattern by Janelle Wind...                                           

...the colourful version on the right, NOT the embroidery-laden one on the left ;) Tracey, Linda and I have planned a catchup on the Easter long weekend to make a start...perhaps you might like to join in too?

Please leave me a comment if you have some 12 Months of Christmas show-and-tell...I'd love to take a peek!

Have a wonderful week

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2013 - Week Eight

A little late posting Week Eight...I am still trying to catch up on life after being away, which sounds ridiculous even to me, when you consider it was only four days :) That's how it is, though!

I had lots of Melbourne photos that I wanted to include on this weeks spread, but also had snapshots of life type moments from earlier in the week....in the end I went with the left side for these, and added an insert to accomodate the extra Melbourne shots.

The insert has the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang e-ticket on the front, which I attached to one of the large cards from the PL Olive Edition kit...

...and the bulk of the journaling written on plain cardstock, which I attached to the back of the same journal card (they are double-sided).

Here's a close-up of the base pages.

 .
 I stuck mostly with the PL Olive Edition for these pages, which takes a lot of fiddling out of my process ;)
You may notice that I've used a different pocket page design for my right hand side page. I have a few of this design in my stash, but have struggled to use them, so thought I would challenge myself ;)



I'm feeling much happier now that PL is under control...I know just how fast it can creep away from you!  With another now over (week 9) I had better get back to my usual schedule, I think ;)

Hope your week is wonderful!

TTFN xxx

A gift for my sister...

Well hello there!

 I know, it's been a little while since I popped in here.  I'm still trying to find "normal" after a wonderful long weekend spent eating, shopping and chatting with my sister in Melbourne last week...what fun we had!

You may remember that we went to Melbourne around this time last year to celebrate my sisters birthday? Well, we had such a great time that we decided to make it an annual event :) 

I like to make her something special for her birthday, and this time settled on a square tabletopper using a free pattern found here.

 I just happened to have a Moda Candy Bar of Bonnie and Camilles Vintage Modern fabric, which seemed a perfect match for her love of all things vintage (and saved me lots of cutting!) Her kitchen also has pops of red and aqua, so the fabric decision was easy :)

I quilted it very simply with a cross-hatch design, and bound it in one of my favourite prints from Vintage Modern...a yummy aqua and red combo. Of course, once I saw it on my own kitchen table, I had a hard time parting with it...

...but I did. I found this photo on my camera this morning and thought I'd show you the proof...seems a little someone was playing spy with my long distance camera lens  :)

Now I had better go and continue unpacking my suitcases and dealing with the mountains of washing which grew while I was away!

Have a great weekend

TTFN xxx