Project Life 2012 - Week 47

Hello Week 47...another week in my ever growing Project Life album.

This week was all about school camp (again!), bubble blowing, XBox Live and quilt baskets...

...homework projects, guitar performances, fishpond nets and car crashes :(

Not such a great week in the grand scheme of things...little did I know that the week to follow (ie THIS week) would get somewhat worse. I used mostly the Clementine PL kit for this layout....all the oranges and pinks. I've also started on an insert to include as well, documenting a most thoughtful and beautiful gift which I received during this week...it deserves a page all of it's own!

So that was Week 47.

Stay tuned for Week 48...a week in which my daredevil son fell many many metres from a very large tree and ended the day in Princess Margaret Hospital. I kid you not.

And while I'd love to show you the photos, I can't...because I just deleted the whole lot off my camera....arrrrggghhhh!  Luckily, I had printed off a few during this week, and there are also a few on my trusty iPhone....watch this space :)

They say bad luck comes in threes, right?

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week 46

Hello Week 46...which doesn't really sound so bad, until you subtract 46 from 52, and realise that there are only 6 weeks left of 2012.

Yes. Really.

 Now I've given you a good scare LOL, here is the week that was...

 ...a week created using Simple Stories Snap Life goodies. I may have to order some more at the rate I'm going...love it!

Try to ignore the horrid photo of me staring at you from the middle of the page...I was thinking that my hair growing situation had turned a corner...that is, a not-so-bad hair day for the first time in ages....so I took a photo. Turns out I was wrong :) I'm almost ready to get it cut short again...my patience has almost run out!

And that was our week :)

Thanks so much for visiting...hope you're having a great one so far!

TTFN xxx

The Sweetest Thing

One of the joys of parenthood is sharing whatever bugs and germs the children bring home...usually after you've nursed them back to health! That's where I'm at today...finally child free after a stretch of days-off-school and broken-nights-sleep, and I am up to my neck in tissues and throat lozenges. Blah.

After unsuccessfully trying to attack my rather long to-do list, I decided to sit myself and my tissue box at my craft desk and see where the mood took me. Looking at the scrapbook layout I created, you may see the inspiration the tissues provided? LOL

Lots of white on white....although to be fair, white-on-white seems to be my current favourite where scrapbooking is concerned :) I laid out paper doilies on white cardstock, and carefully stitched them in place with white thread.

 I stitched around the outside of the white cardstock with black thread, to mimic the Amy Tangerine letter stickers in the title. The cute little house and heart stickers came in my Studio Calico kit, and I created little tags to stick them on, then threaded them onto grey twine.

The photo is from our shoot by Sharon Manning Photography last year. Not a single piece of patterned paper was used in the creation of this layout, and not a single polkadot or bright colour either.

I know. I really must be feeling sick.

TTFN xxx

December Daily - decisions and beginnings :)

December Daily. It's something that's been on my mind a bit lately :)

I've been making albums to document our December happenings for quite a few years now, and it has become, in itself, one of our family December traditions.

 With Project Life in the mix this year, I've tossed around how to approach documenting our December memories quite a lot.  Should I incorporate DD into PL? Should I keep them totally seperate? Should I ditch December Daily altogether? I even put it out there to you guys, and had some interesting feedback, and lots of food-for-thought (thank you for your comments and suggestions!)

In the end, it has come down to my Christmas-obsessed daughter Lydia, who was horrified by the thought of no December Daily! (why does that NOT surprise me? LOL)

So, in the interests of keeping things super simple this year, here is my start...

..to say I love the October Afternoon Holiday Style paper on the front cover is an understatement :) I hand cut the cream base title plate to fit the album, and added the word sticker "December" from Simple Stories Snap Life and some small grey alphas to spell out "twenty twelve". A bit hard to see, but I stitched around the perimeter of the paper, too.

The filler pages are all plain ivory cardstock, stamped with variations of Ali Edwards' Today You Journaling Frames stamps across the bottom...I may or may not add a little embellishing as I complete each page. I've sized the pages specifically to fit a 4x6 photo at the top...keeping it nice and simple and manageable.

The numbers for each day are going to be placed directly onto the photo, and I'll be using the stickers below...

...which are part of a Mint Twist sticker sheet by Kaisercraft. I'll probably make a title page with the Holiday Style journal cards, and may even pop one into the album every now and then...depending on how many photos I end up with ;)

So that's the plan. I wonder what the reality will be?

Watch this space :)

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week 45

Hello Project Life Week 45...another week of everyday observations and lots of iPhone photos :)

 This week I've used Pink Paislee's Spring Jubilee papers as the base for my layout...fresh yellow, musky pink and pale turquoise...sigh, so pretty :)

 I discovered a Laura Ashley shop in this week, which had me all kinds of excited! As a teenager, I was obsessed with home decor and interior design, and my major crush was Laura Ashley. When we arrived home, I pulled out my Laura Ashley Home Furnishing books for a little trip down memory lane, including her annual from 1987 which was my favourite...and yes, I still have it!

My purchases included a very cute dress printed with green apples (sqeeeeal!), a birdie skirt and a red hat...love.

 Each week I'm trying to include at least some journal cards from the Project Life kits that I have...condensing them down into one box is my goal! Then I may just give myself permission to buy another kit...just maybe :)

I added a few extra embellishments this week...like the banner from Amy Tangerine below. Again, trying to use up some supplies!

So that's another week done, and another week closer to Christmas...eeek!

The proof that the year has flown by? Yesterday I had the pleasure of lunch and chatter with some of the participants from the photography class I did with Sharon Manning earlier in the year...

...May, in fact. Now that is scary...it seems like just last month! It was so lovely to see these girls, hear all about Sharon's trip to France and Italy (jealous much?) and talk just a little bit about photography. Must get some practice in before our next catchup ;)

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday

TTFN xxx

Farmers Wife - The Two by Two Edition

Another couple of Farmers Wife blocks made today...and in record time I have to say!

Cutting tiny pieces with my mini equipment is proving to be quite an amazing timesaver...so much so that I probably should increase the production rate and make THREE blocks each week :)
The block above is number 98 Waterwheel, and below is Number 97 Waste Not.

With approximately 40 blocks left to make, I'm starting to dream of  finishing this project (thus the crazy talk of making extra blocks LOL). I will definitely be handing this quilt over to a longarm quilter to quilt...there is NO WAY a quilt of this size would fit under my trusty domestic machine...and that makes the thought of finishing the quilt top SO much more desirable. The quilting bit is not my favourite.

I'm jumping the gun, I know. 40 blocks IS 40 blocks...but I just can't help myself  :) Another finish means I could allow myself to start something completely new...and that is a VERY exciting thought!

Off to dream a little....

TTFN xxx

Lollies in every colour :)

I have a little scrapbooking to share with you today :)

 Sorting through some photos last night, I came across the very colourful photo of the lolly buffet at Riley's birthday party. Rather than try and match colours, I chose a stark white backgound, some white ledger paper, and just a peek of rainbow coloured dots to add some definition. The papers are all from Snap Life by Simple Stories, as are the coloured letter stickers.

I cut a white banner from textured white cardstock and added white ribbon too...love me some white :)

I dug the chipboard frame from deep down in my stash, and my lovely daughter gave it a lick of white paint while crafting other things this morning...so helpful :) The rosette adds just a hint of colour...it's by Amy Tangerine for American Crafts, and I changed the pink button it came with  for a white one.

That's all for now...as usual, my plans for crafting this weekend have been sidelined by other things, but I'm learning to sneak a few minutes here and there to satisfy my crafting addiction :)

Have a great day

TTFN xxx

Growing...

The great thing about Block-of-the- Month sewing is that progress kind of sneaks up on you :)

You do your little bit of sewing each month, tucking each block carefully into your Project Box when it's done...

  (this months block is called Cherry Sundae and was designed by Barb Adams and Alma Allen from Blackbird Designs)

...until the day comes when you decide to see what the blocks look like all laid out together...

...and the result is surprising! This is just three of the five blocks I've completed in the Vintage Modern Mystery Block of the Month, but don't they look pretty? The ones with the red polkadot fabric are definitely my favourites :)

Progress is a good thing, right?

Have a wonderful weekend...thank goodness it's Friday!

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week 44

Hello Week 44...a week inspired by the traditional colours of Halloween :)

I had  plans to add spider webs and other scary embellishments to this double page spread, but in the end I just wanted it DONE and off my desk! I printed the photos on the weekend, and even started to play with the layout...and from there the process has been long and slow.  I should never let things sit for too long...LOL...my attention span is just not that long :)

 I've used papers from  (the now extinct!) The Girls Paperie Toil and Trouble collection, and a few other bits from Snap Life, vintage Making Memories stickers, stamps, and some October Afternoon...love a bit of stash busting!

Can you spy the Santa, looking decidedly out of place in this Halloween-fest? If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that each year we add a "mode of transport" Santa to our collection each Christmas. We have Santa in a hot air balloon, on a motorbike, in a plane, riding a ferris wheel...and many more. Each year it's becoming a bit trickier to find a new mode of transport, so when I saw Santa on a wooden sled while out shopping, I snapped him up!

The last few weeks have seen the word CHRISTMAS steadily sneaking in to my album. I'm planning to make a December Daily album again this year (I think?) , but am yet to work out how that's going to go along with Project Life. Am I biting off more than I can chew? Two lots of daily documenting may just send me over the edge LOL!  I would love to hear your thoughts/ideas/strategies on doing both :)

TTFN xxx

Farmers Wife...a mini revolution!

As you probably know, I've been making Farmers Wife blocks for quite a while now...as in over a year ;)

In all that time, I've been using a paper version of the templates,  pinning them to my fabrics, and cutting each individual shape with scissors.

NOT ANY MORE!

I was lucky enough to receive a little bonus from my work, and decided to go all out and shout myself a mini rotary cutter, a mini patchwork ruler, and a mini cutting mat! Apart from the obvious cute factor  :)  they have revolutionized by whole FW process...multiple blocks are being cut all at once, AND they are very very accurate....love that!

So today I can share 3 blocks (and I am pumped to make more!)

Block 58 Mothers Dream...

...and Block 57 Morning...

 ...which, like mornings themselves, was not my best. I am really NOT a morning person :)

I went back and remade Block 34 Flock, because the original didn't have any white...

...and ALL blocks must have white!

I now have a total of 69 blocks made, with 42 to go...I'm on the downhill run to a finish...WOOOHOOOOO!

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday

TTFN xxx

Thought for the day...

How I love the work of Australian illustrator, Kate Knapp...

I first discovered her cards while shopping in Melbourne with my sister, and instantly fell in love with her whimsical style. Since then, I have come across her work in some of my favourite places...Margaret River, the Swan Valley, and today it was Kalamunda :)

This image will find it's way into a frame and live permanently in my craft room...I love it so much.

Here in Perth today we have had some beautiful heavy downpours of rain...perfect weather for snuggling under a warm quilt with a loved one (or two or three) ...which is where I'm heading now :)

Have a wonderful day, wherever you are...

TTFN xxx

A pinch and a punch...

...it's the first of the month!

I can't quite believe that it's already...

...a month of preparations and planning, of catching up with friends, of shopping for special people, of hopefully ticking LOTS off my to-do list :)

As I move my October To-Do List down my sidebar to make way for Novembers, I can't help but feel  a little chuffed ;)  In October, I finished my Some Kind Of Wonderful quilt (WOOOHOOO!) ...I kept up-to-date with Project Life...I made cards...and I made scrapbook layouts for the first time in months. In fact, I find myself nowwith just three...only three...quilts on the go, which is some sort of record I think! (If you get a chance, pop over to the Stitch-a-long blog and check out all the gorgeous quilts that have been created...truly inspirational.)

I just wanted to take this chance to say thank YOU!  Thank you for popping in, for leaving such lovely comments, for following along with my crafty endeavours, and for generally being so great...your encouragement and kindness mean  lots to me!

Here's to another crafty, productive and happy month!

TTFN xxx