Cards for Aussie Troops

Before Christmas last year I was asked by a close friend if I could make a few extra Christmas cards to donate to the cards for Aussie troops collection which I did. I then discovered that she had volunteered to co-ordinate a collection for Mother's Day which she is doing with a brand new baby!!! So yes I sure can help make some more for this collection too. I have managed to make nine which I'll send off shortly so they can make it in time for distribution. While I have made batches to the same basic designs (yes inspired off web - sorry I can't remember exactly from who or where) all nine appear to have ended up being variations on a theme.

This is the first batch I made using the beautiful kaisercraft botanical script stamp and Madame Boutique pad. The stamp is coloured using distress inks (I love these for colouring). It turns out I don't have a happy mother's day stamp (since rectified its on order) so kaisercraft's tiny type has been used on all cards for the sentiments. They have such a fantastic range of colours - just wish they would make them in a slightly bigger size too. I've added some inkessentials crackle accents on the stamped roses, leaves and the main butterfly which I stamped twice so I could cut it out and layer it adding foam dimensional under the wings to support them.

I then made up these guys no stamps just a heap of die cuts - doilies, flowers and butterflies.

These are the last four again quite quick as its mostly paper and cardstock layered with the MFT upsy daisy die again to make the flowers. Its my newest addition and I've loved using it. I hope that the Mum's who will be sent these by their sons or daughters who are serving over seas like them. I guess I should start thinking about making more Christmas ones again some time soon. Thanks for stopping by. xx

Family

Its been a couple of months since I've been able to find the time to do any scrapping. The January sketch challenge over at Handmade by Suzanne's was perfect inspiration to get me going again. I've used mostly Kaisercraft products on this one Miss Nelly papers and stickers, mini blooms in cranberry and coconut and adhesive pearls. I fussy cut all of the roses out of one of the sheets of paper and tucked some under the photo and raised some of the flowers up with foam mounting sqaures to frame the photo but also add some dimension. I spattered October Afternoon sprinklers on the background paper using a stiff paint brush and misted the lot with pearl  glimmer mist which unfortunately can't be seen in the pic but it does add a nice sheen. I have to appologise for the poor picture but we are having some building work done at the moment and its really hard to find somewhere clean with the right light at the moment for taking photos. Take care till next time.

Alicia's 40th

Its begun - the round of 40th birthday parties! Alicia isn't quite the first of my friends to hit the big 4-0 but she is the first to have a P-A-R-T-Y!!! Actually its kind of nice to have an excuse to go out with the girls for dinner minus husbands and all of our respective children. Around Christmas time I'm usually in Christmas card mode and got to the evening before the dinner and realised I still hadn't made a birthday card. I love the Cosmo Cricket Clementine collection so grabbed the 6x6 pad and was able to whip up this birthday card. I must say it was rather excellent to not have to send the card in the mail for once which meant I could add some Kaisercraft paper blooms without having to worry about them being crushed! While I don't really mind having to make cards that will survive in the post (which is a good thing as most of them do need to be sent via the mail) it does tend to limit the types of embellies that can be added. Thanks for dropping by. 

Christmas Ornaments

I bought some Kaisercraft wood flourish baubles a while back with the intension of decorating them as Christmas gifts for friends. In my usual way I have left it to the last minute but have managed to get half of them finished so I could start giving them to their new owners. I managed to take a quick pic of two of them before they were wrapped. I love the crackle paint finish and will have to experiment with it some more in the future. On items as small as these I have discovered that the second coat of paint needs to be applied on top of the crackle medium after only about an hour and not the three hours suggested on the instructions on the jar to get the large paint fractures I was after. I'm really pleased with how they have all turned out and I must admit I didn't really want to part with them. I'll have to make some more for me sometime in the future! The picture is a bit dark but these two are a really intense bright blue over pained with white, then either distress stickles rock candy or picket fence and decorated with flowers and butterflies in colours to match. Hope you like them too.

Errol & Zelie

I was recently given a felt gingerbread man ornament as a Christmas present from a colleague at work. In need of a few pressies myself that were suitable for children I decided to make some of my own using less traditional colours. I've named them after the two children they are gifts for. I'm very pleased at how well they have turned out and hope to make some more if I can find the time. Hope you like them too.

Xmas Gifts for Teachers

Come Christmas time its always a challenge to find the right gift for the kids teachers. Sure I could easily go out and just buy something but I feel that they should have something a little more special. So each year I try and find a craft project that is easy enough for the kids to do but still looks lovely. (The one thing I absolutely can't stand is parents making the project and claiming that their child did it.) So this year I bought some kaisercraft flourish baubles which both my 6 & 8 year old could confidently paint. I then sprayed each bauble with glimmer mist (only because I'm a control freak and didn't want to see any wasted otherwise the kids would have happily sprayed away). My 6 year old felt putting the rhinestones and pearls onto the baubles was a bit tricky so my 8 year old has done all of those. I got the rather mundane task of adding all the hanging ribbon. Each bauble will be teamed up with a bag of Haigh's chocolates (teachers need something yummy after all and you can't go past Haigh's) to make what we think is a rather lovely Christmas present. Hope you like them too!

Grandma

This is my entry into this months Show Us Your Stuff blog skectch challenge. All SUYS challenge entries must include at least one hand made item and as I'm having so much fun making my own flowers at the moment I made the three spotty net flowers. This month the optional additional criteria was to include blanket stitch somewhere on your layout. I have blanket stitched along both side edges of the pink pattern paper with avacodo jute string but then promptly covered one side with flowers lol. The cardstock base is one of the new coredinations embossed range  - Aunt Grace Bubs in vanilla - I've sanded to reveal the core colour but also added some distress ink over some of those areas too. The pattern papers are Basic Grey Hello Luscious range. The yummy pin comes from the Top 50 Scrapbooking forum market. Thanks for stopping by xx.