Avalon MBOM

My Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Block of the Month (made in Avalon fabric by Fig Tree and Co) is coming together slowly but surely...can you believe we are up to Month 7 already?

I look forward to each pack arriving in my letterbox, and have been keeping on top of the stitching fairly well...it doesn't take too long once you make a start ;)

Since the last block I showed you was Block Two, we have a bit of catching up to do!

Block Three is another basket block, called Wildflower Bouquet and designed by Laundry Basket Quilts.

Block Four is Radiance by Bonnie and Camille...love all the blues in this one :)

Block Five is Stargazing by Vanessa Christenson...

...and Block Six is Sparklers by Kate Spain.

Block Seven was a bit of a surprise...a house block! It's called Lemon Lodge by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings, and makes me very curious as to what the next block will be :)

The new 2014 Mystery Block of the Month program has recently been announced, and I was kind of happy that it doesn't appeal to me...the colours are quite dull, and not my style at all. I have lots of projects that I'd love to finish this year, and a couple of new quilts that I'd love to start...a little more achievable without a MBOM commitment.

Well...a girl can always dream :)

TTFN xxx

December Daily 2013...hello AND goodbye!

It occurred to me recently that I didn't really mention here on my blog that I completed a December Daily for 2013...much less showed any photos! How slack is that!

Each year that I've been doing Project Life, I question the need for making a December Daily album. After all, how much documentation does one need? Each year, however, my elder daughter convinces me that I should do it...she's very persuasive :)

I decided to change to pocket style scrapbooking and a ready made album for 2013, as it gave me a good excuse to buy a Simple Stories mini album (wink) and also some Christmas themed Project Life-style goodies... aannnnndd I was also aiming for a quick and simple solution ;)

I spent a bit too long on my title page, but loved how it turned out.

I mostly stuck with elements from December Documented by Simple Stories, and some of the Becky Higgins PL Merry and Bright mini kit, with a few extra embellishments along the way.

Wood veneer bits and pieces from Studio Calico added some extra dimension to the plain journal cards, and I scattered them throughout the album.

On the spur of the moment, I ordered a DD mini kit from Polkadot Creative, mainly for this cute little Christmas confetti pocket ;) I stapled it straight into a pocket, and embellished with a clear word from Heidi Swapp's Believe Collection (leftovers from the class I went to in November)

I covered the back-to-front letters on the reverse side with another Heidi Swapp leftover, this time a banner.

Of course, once I started with the Heidi Swapp goodies, I couldn't resist adding more and more :) LOVE these enamel stickers!

I wanted to include a couple of larger photos, and managed to achieve a fairly good quality enlargement from my iPhone photos of Christmas lights...surprising, but great! I added a couple of stickers to jazz them up a bit.

Each year I've done A December Daily album (which is quite a few now!) I include a pocket at the back for my Christmas cards that I received. I've never liked throwing out Christmas cards, but even more so now that they are becoming smaller and smaller in number. Not many people send them these days, and it is SO nice to find them in my letterbox in the weeks leading up to the big day!

Anyhoo...I didn't have any of the correct sized plastic pockets left for the Christmas cards, so cut down a larger one, taped it all together with some festive washi tape, and stapled on top for added strength. It's holding together very well so far.

So there you have it...a little sneak peek of my December Daily for 2013. The stickers on the front of the album are more Heidi Swapp...we received SO many goodies in that class, I will be using them up forever I think :)

I probably should admit that I didn't keep up with it AT ALL well in those busy weeks before Christmas, but managed to pull it all together before the start of 2014 (only just though!). The pocket page format made it very achievable, and I would definitely consider doing that again...especially if there are cute new albums to be bought ;)

Thanks for hanging in till the end!

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2014...organisation, cover page and Week One

Hello Project Life 2014!

I have to say, I am so excited to be documenting another year :) After falling behind a little towards the end of last year, I spent the last few days of 2013 playing catch-up, which didn't excite me much at all!

Thankfully, once those last few pages were complete, I rediscovered my enthusiasm ;)

I organise my albums, usually two per year, in these gorgeous red polkadot albums that I picked up from Spotlight on sale. I wait for a great deal, and stock up. I recently bought some bookplates from Officeworks to attach to the outside covers of my albums so that they can be easily identified, and looked through often :)

My first cover page for 2014 looks something like this...

...a family photo for the top right corner will finish it off. I've used bits and pieces from my Honey Core Kit, as well as some other cards from my stash.

Spotlight stock some great little phrase card booklets by Pebbles Inc, and they also feature on my title page...I use them quite a lot through my albums.

Machine stitching finished off the page just nicely :)

Week One, which seemed to come and go in a flash, looked like this...

I'm not planning on using a single core kit for 2014...like every other year, I'll mix it up each week according to my photos. This week I've used mostly Simple Stories I (heart) Summer collection, with a few extras thrown in.

Since it's been SO long since I've shared any Project Life pages with you, I thought you might like some close-ups :)

I basically use the same format each week...Design A page protectors, lots of photos, and little bits I collect during the week. Roses chocolates definitely had to be included this week...oh boy, I've eaten some of those lately!

The yellow squares that contain the journaling in these pages are one of my PL staples too...a MUST to include more words when you also like to use lots of photos. Luckily, I have a stamp set that includes squares, circles, rectangles, all in different sizes, so I can customize the colour to suit.

So that's Week One done, and Project Life up-to-date so far ;) Hopefully I can keep the momentum going for the whole year!

Thanks for visiting

TTFN xxx

Hello 2014...so happy to see you!

A new year always brings a fresh perspective on things, doesn't it? There is nothing quite like opening a fresh new notebook and filling it with new lists, new goals, and new projects, all with a renewed determination to do more, feel more, be more.

I truly love the beginning of a new year :)

We have been having a lovely, relaxed holiday period around here...playing with new Christmas toys, relaxing in the pool, and finishing up lots of projects from 2013, which I will hopefully get around to showing you soon ;) Being on holidays has also meant time to play with some of my goodies from a fantastic class with Heidi Swapp and Kim Jeffrees that I was lucky enough to attend last year, most notably, COLOUR SHINE!

I covered my craft table with as much paper towel protection as I could, and handed my girls the pretty plastic bottles. Lydia, my cautious one, was very restrained in her spraying...carefully, slowly pressing the nozzle.

Merryn, on the other hand, went at it like a pro, spritzing and spraying like there was no tomorrow!

Between us, we created lots of colourful, shiny, pretty stuff, and can't wait to have a card making day to use all of our home-made goodies...love crafting with my girls :)

I used some of my colour-shined paper to create my first scrapbook layout of 2014...all about my "one little word", nurture.

"One Little Word" is the brainchild of Ali Edwards, and encourages you to choose a single word to be your focus for a year. I've been choosing a word for several years now, and find it really helpful in guiding my life and decisions...it's amazing how just one word can have such an impact! For me, "nurture" is about looking after myself and my family...my health, my relationships, my creative spirit, and making decisions that have a positive impact on my life. I can't wait to see where it takes me in 2014!

I've used some machine stitching on my colour-shined background, along with some hand cut polkadot strips for my journaling, and a cute little flair button. It felt good to be creating with paper again ;)

Happy new year to you...I hope 2014 holds lots of goodness and creativity for you!

TTFN xxx