The things you do...

...because you can, basically. 

The red and green look. 

The natural look. 

The red and green look again because they're Christmas colours afterall. 

The non-traditional look. 

(The I'm-not-ready-look)

The I-know-she's-gonna-throw-me-the-ball-again look. 

She did. 

Many, many times before the shoot, some during and lots after. 

:o) 

A little story - The hunt

Being the candy cane/peppermint = red and white nut that she is...

(American Crafts Hollyday line)

(October Afternoon Holiday Style) 

(American Crafts Elf stickers - I want these!)

Goldilocks (that's me) was immediately drawn to these decorations when she saw them in the catalogue...

Oooo, look at the red and white striped balls, she thought.

And the candy canes.

And the red Ho Ho decs - cute.

She poured over the page looking at all the fun things.

"I'm going to check them out," she said and ripped the page out of the catalogue and put it on her handbag so she'd see it when she left the house next time.

A couple of days later she made her way to Target to check out the decs.

She could feel the anticipation building and was hopeful they had what she wanted.

She found the Christmas section...

....and looked around...

...and looked around again...

She was disappointed.

There was nothing.

They had nothing from the catalogue.

Why don't they have anything? she thought.

Big sigh.

She left.

She ate chicken.

She mentioned the dilemma to Prince Charming, but he had no advice. She even saw the head of Target on  telly and silently asked her why she didn't have the decs in her stores when they were in the catalogue.

She checked online, but nothing.

Far out.

Meanwhile Goldilocks went to Myer to check out their Christmas section.

She discovered that if she bought three or more things, they were 30% off. She bought three or more things and was happy.

She even got some red and white striped balls!

The horizontal ones.

At 30% off.

Happy.

Still though, she liked the wavy red and white striped balls in the catalogue and wanted to check them out in real life.

Four days later she was at the shops again doing errands and she decided to run (not run, get serious, go... go) into Target again to see if any new stuff had come in.

Again, she looked.

Again, she found nothing.

On a whim, she decided to go to Big W to check out their stuff.

Off she went. She drove.

She found the Christmas section.

She was intrigued.

She looked.

She found the candy canes from the picture....

....then it dawned on her.

She'd ripped the page out of the Big W catalogue, not the Target catalogue. 

She rolled her eyes at herself.

She looked left.

She looked right.

She shrugged.

I'm here now, she thought, good for me.

She didn't get the candy canes from the catalogue - they were a bit chunky for her liking.

She didn't find any wavy striped candy cane balls either.

Or horizontal striped ones.

All the other savvy Christmas shoppers beat her to them...

She didn't find any red Ho decorations - only a lonely white one that was a bit beat up.

She did find some other plastic candy canes that she liked though.

And some red jingle bells, a bear and a Joy word.

Nice.

And as she left the store, she silently apologised to Mrs Target for thinking she'd been false advertising.

:o)

Review: Fairy Dust Glitter

Hi there, 

I mentioned I'd talk more about this photo when I posted it in the craft show update recently. 

What I want to talk about is the glitter...and review it. 

So, it's called Fairy Dust Glitter (cute name) by Donna Salazar with Clearsnap. 

It comes in three shades - Sugar Shimmer, Pralines & Cream and Mixed Berries. 

Sugar Shimmer is white-ish. 

Mixed Berries is pink-ish. 

Pralines and Cream is brown-ish or cream-ish. 

Hello? Cream-ish...my boat is floating. 

Here are the glitters used on some cardstock. Thought this might help you see the difference in the colours...it does...kinda.

This cardstock is cream - see how nice the Pralines and Cream looks on it?

The Sugar Shimmer is like white sugar and the Mixed Berries has more colour in it (I think it's pinky blue).

This cardstock base is white. The Pralines and Cream stands out a bit more on than on the cream. 

Hope this is helping! 

Below I used cream based papers with Pralines and Cream. Love. 

Okay, so, what else can I tell you?

1. PC sells it for $14.50.

2. It comes in a salt shaker bottle. You can see the red stopper next to it above. You can leave it out or put it in when you (if you) want to transport the bottle.

3. Shaking the glitter on is pretty fun. It's a nice way to do it.

4. There is an issue with the bottle though. The screw channels in the glass bottle neck get filled with glitter when you actually use the bottle. Then when you go to take the lid off to put your excess glitter back into it, all the caught glitter drops onto your work surface.

It's messy and shouldn't happen. Kathy (a friend I saw at the show) and I had to be mindful of that each time we took the lid off. Having to do this did take a little of the shine off the whole glittering process I've gotta say.

To combat it, it's easy enough just to leave the lid off entirely and just pour it on. Good for large areas, not so great for fine work. You do what you've gotta do though, hey?

Okay, they're the basic details, and the not-so-fun bit, now onto the actual glitter.

It's fabulous.

Don't let the issue with the bottle stop you from buying this glitter. You can always put it in another bottle if you want..or leave the shaker lid off like I said.

Above you can see the Pralines and Cream colour...actually, this is the thing...it took me two days to even spot this glitter in the stand at the craft show. How's that? So much going on, so I just didn't see it.

Anyway, I saw it and Googled it on Saturday night to find out about it because I was intrigued by the Pralines and Cream colour in particular.

What I didn't really find out and what I'm going to tell you is....

....this is the glitter you need to use on cream based paper. 

Above I used last year's Christmas line from The (now defunct) Girls Paperie called Tinsel and Twig.

It's cream based. 

It needed this glitter. 

I did a flower from the same line using the Sugar Shimmer and it was a bit too stark on the paper.

So, white based paper = Sugar Shimmer.

Cream based paper = Pralines and Cream. 

White or cream based paper and esp. pink/blue papers = Mixed Berries. 

YUM.

Seriously fab.

Seriously GOOD.

If you do a Google search you'll probably come across Donna herself doing a video of a flower using the glitter. I applied the glitter like she did, but I didn't have her cute glue to use.

Julie (the stencil lady next to me at the show) suggested putting a chocolate in the middle of the flower.

Immediately I thought of doing that for the Christmas table and having one at each place setting. Nice, yes?

Immediately after that I thought that my mother would love to make the flowers and immediately after that I thought I'd ask her if she wanted to.

I know she has the Tattered Florals die and some Tinsel and Twig paper, so we'd be set with two machines, two dies, lots of paper and the gorgeous glitter.

Sounds like fun, right? I think so.

I reckon my sis would want to be in on the act too. Have you got the Tattered Florals die, Sue? Not that it matters cause you can use ours, but just wondering. Oh, Gina stopped to say hi too. She was lovely. Say hi to her for me.

Summary of the Fairy Dust Glitter:

~  The bottle's fun to use, but it collects glitter under the lid.

~ The glitter is fab, fab, fab!

~ The Pralines & Cream was made for cream based papers...oooh, yeah.

~ I used the Mixed Berries on some pinky blue papers and it looked really pretty.

~ I'm really looking forward to making something with white based papers and the Sugar Shimmer.

~ That to me is a sign of a good product - if I want to use it again, and I'm excited to, it's good.

~ Extra note - Obviously in this review I've gone on about using the different types on glitter on different based papers - I still stand by that.

BUT I've also used all three colours on one collection of paper (Daily Junque by Pink Paislee) and they've all ended up looking really lovely. Just wanted to throw that in there!

What I'm saying is - if you have to choose one colour, go with my original recommendations above.

If you're getting all three, forget everything I said and just have some fun!

Tomorrow I'll be back with some more sparkly projects.

Here's to glitter!

Updated ribbon shots

Hi there,

I took these the other night and thought you might like to see how the ribbon turned out this year.

Now, I've gotta say, it looks more than ample in real life, but in these photos it kinda looks pretty sparse to say the least. No matter, it still looks pretty.

Oh yes, please excuse the mess on the table, it's Christmas time. Remember how I said I'd like 17 tables around the place? Well, case and point right here. Need tables to put stuff on!

The additions since I last took photos are:

~ the jingle bells (on four different strands)
~ some painted stars (four - painted them with gold spray paint)
~ a tree (was on my desk)
~ a rosette (made it ages ago and just never got to hang it).

Wow, not much, but it felt like a lot at the time.

Like I said above, it's ample in real life.

And you'll notice in one of the photos two baubles are caught (easy to fix) probably because of this big storm that ripped through last Thursday.

Whoa, green sky...

This is a south facing window and it's fab for seeing the storms roll in. I've always loved this window. We have three south facers, so we can see 'em coming from all angles! I love watching the colour of the sky change and well, watching it roll in. Makes for some good shots.

And it also gives me time to shut some of the windows in readiness for it. We don't shut all of them because of the pressure in the house and all that - Andrew's taught me about that - so I now leave a few open a bit on both sides so the pressure doesn't build up. And yes, I mop up a bit, but it's a small price to pay. And it is small, only a tiny bit of mopping. Who am I kidding, it's a paper towel on my foot kinda mopping. Told ya, not much.

Wow, hello hail. We didn't get any, but I know some people did. My aunty showed me the golf ball sized ones she got at her place on the Southside.

Getting closer and more furious...

Hello, in the midst. The show's over by this point. Nothing to see when you're in the midst, it's all just wind and rain.

Just wanted to show this too.

Got a nice surprise at my front door today when this arrived. The title says "Cute as a Button" referring to Cody, not me! Thanks, Vania, it's gorgeous and I love it. That one of Cody with the reindeer ears cracks me up :o)

Have a great night everyone!

Random bits...sort of

Here's Mum with the wreath she made with us girlies a couple of weeks ago. My sister, Sue, has been on a wreath making frenzy and has done at least three. I did mine, but still have to put the jingle bells on it.

Mum's has bells on it, can you see them? They're red, green and gold.

We just used fabric scraps and tied them around one of those cane wreathy things, it's really easy. I just used all the scraps from the bunting I made a couple of years ago, as well as a few of Mum's leftovers.

Good job, Mum!

And speaking of Mum, she wanted to make this card. I taught it in a class years ago and I must've shown it to her. I had one kit left, so lucky ducky. She did it over a couple of days and now has it displayed in amongst all her Christmas decorations. 

It's a long card - an A5 folded lengthways.  

Wow, lots of bits on there, hey? Remember how I talked about making cards with lots of bits on them? Well, looks like I still do them sometimes. I love this one - it's just so cuute. I love making cute characters, they really are my favourite.

And lastly, a Santa ornament.

I saw this idea in a Marvy advertisement a couple of years ago. Their artist had layered the shapes exactly as you see here and had pierced the holes too. I added the Santa, he's mine.

Gosh, if I had some time, I'd make one to go on the ribbon. I'd use this year's Santa though, the one with the hair on both sides of his head. I'd keep the plain heart - needs to stay that way otherwise there'd be too many scallops, I think.

Okay, enough randomness for today. Bye now!

What a mess!

Things I've discovered about the way I work and make things:

1. I have no problems making a big mess.

2. I'm okay with it because I know I'm good at cleaning up.

3. Sometimes I annoy myself because I clean up too quickly. I put things away and then have to pull them out again 10 mins later.

4. I can work in an organised (to me) mess. I cannot work in chaos.

5. I need a lot of space to work. I know the desk is huge, but I'd have 17 desks this big in my house if I could.

The 17 desks (let's see if I can list 17. I'm going to try!)

1. One for extra work space in my room.

2. Die-cutting in my room.

3. A place to dump stuff in my room.

4. A gift wrapping station.

5. A writing desk (okay, so this one doesn't need to be as big as the others).

6. A desk for Andrew, so I have somewhere to put his stuff.

7/8/9. Three for my laundry - folding, baskets, just junk in that there laundry.

10. A general all purpose anything desk because you need one of those.

11. A place to put stuff we have to take and give to people. I cannot see my mother at any time without giving her something, or her giving something to me. Currently we have an egg carton that needs to go to Andrew's brother (he keeps chooks) and DVDs that need to go to Andrew's dad. There's always things to give to people and I've no where to put them! And Mum's going to give me a Christmas carol book the next time I see her and I'll probably return her Women's Weekly if I've finished it by then. See? Always something to give and get back.

12. Okay, running out of ideas. Oh, a bigger desk to scrap standing up at.

13. And one to put behind me to dump extra scrapping stuff.

14. Another bench in the kitchen. In my next kitchen, I want it to be eat in. I've been watching too much Escape to the Country - I want a little table in the middle of my kitchen. I'd love that.

15. A desk/counter/bench outside to dump stuff on. And a cupboard underneath to dump stuff in.

16. Nearly there. A fold up table to bring upstairs for when we have extra people over.

17. Last one. Can I think of one? Ha ha, and it took a bit of thinking - a ping pong table. We love ping pong, but we don't play anymore. Andrew turned our table into our kitchen bench!

There you go, 17 desks/tables/workspaces - ridiculous amounts of surface area!

6. I need space to work, but I also need to see what I've got in order to use it. If I'm making Christmas cards I pull out all the fun Christmas stuff I want to use and put it in front of me so I can see it.

And the list goes on...Things I've discovered about the way I work and make things:

7. I hate using cheap tools. Give me quality any day of the week.

8. I have several cards/projects on the go at once. It's because I start making something, get an idea for something else and then move on to make it, so I don't forget it. I always come back to the previous things, so it works for me. I rarely have unfinished projects.

9. I like working on self-healing mats because the glue doesn't stick to them.

10. I try a lot of systems of how to access things easily - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.

11. Accessibility is key for me. I can't stand not being able to find things easily.  

Other things I've discovered about how I work and make things:

12. I get an idea and try something like that Doily Lace across the red card - sometimes it works immediately and sometimes it doesn't. This one is in the "I want this to work pile, but I don't think it's going to."

13. If things aren't working, I leave them and work on something else. Usually some time away will tell me whether to persue the idea or not. With the Doily Lace on that vertical card, it didn't work. Sad. But I ended up getting it to work on a horizontal version. Glad.

14. I tend to do lots of versions using the same idea to see just how good the idea is - eg. Jennifer's Brackets edger card idea. She made a card base out of it with the edger on both sides. I did the same thing, but also then went on to do a horizontal version, one like the green above with the edger on the top only and then one with the brackets on both sides, but as a layer on the card, rather than the card base. I like to see how many things can come from the one idea.

15. If I'm experimenting with a new product, I always choose cream/white/clear first. Cream card, white/clear embossing powder/ink, clear/white Glimmer Mist/Glimmer Glam, Crystal/Diamond/Stardust Stickles, Versamark Ink, cream pearls, clear rhinestones, white flowers (actually, that's wrong, I think I went pink first that time), clear glitter, Pearl Perfect Pearls etc etc.

16. I write myself a lot of notes while I'm making stuff, so I remember what I want to make next. I like the constant flow of going from one thing to another, which is why I have a few things on the go at once.

17. I don't like being stuck as to what to do next!

18. What I think I'll use most in the beginning, is not what I used most in the end. For example, a pack of patterned paper. There will be one I think I'll love, but I won't use it much. And one I didn't think much of in the beginning will become a favourite. That Eyelet Lace punch above is one of those dark horses. Love it now.

19. And when the crafting for the year is over, I get a real need to give the place a good clean. A move 'em on out clean and a spring clean to get rid of the dust and glitter and all those tiny punch pieces that get themselves everywhere. Might do that while the weather is still cooler...still feels like spring, might as well spring clean.

20. Nah, forget 20. Who says lists have to end on an even number?

:o)

Tinsel and Twig

Hey there,

Just wanted to share this with you today. Had to! It's one of those things...

Every year I look forward to buying a new Christmas collection or two. This year I found this collection from The Girls Paperie. It's called Tinsel and Twig and it's gorgeous. Margie (the designer) used to work for Making Memories, but now she makes her own stuff. I love her style and knew this was going to be a collection for me as soon as I saw it.

I do love the traditional red and green, so that's what drew me firstly. Then I noticed the ledger paper, hello? Very cool. And the patchworky one makes it feel homespun. It's a traditional, yet modern, vintage-y style. Vintage is modern right now!

So, I bought the papers. Loved 'em. Made a card with them.

But the thing I really wanted to mention today is the sticker pad.

Let's scroll, shall we?

(Just check out the prettiness as you scroll down)

Oooh, this is one of my favourites. It's the one I used to make the card. And I love that red and white snowflake one. No snow around here, but I like it anyway.

Okay, let's stop here for a second.

Imagine me getting my package from Blue Bazaar and I'm pulling stuff out of the box at the kitchen bench.

Okay, here's the sticker pad, I think to myself as I see the spiral. I give it a tug to pull it expecting something small and "Whoa, it's huge!" It just kept coming out of the box!!

You know how you buy sticker sheets with tiny letters on them and they're about A5 size? I was expecting that, but instead I got this! Get a load of it - it's 12" tall!! I was just shaking my head - that's buying off the internet for ya.

Have you done that before? Ordered something off the internet and it's way smaller than you expected, or way bigger? I got some journalling tags once and they were so small I needed a magnifying glass to check 'em out. And once I got this alphabet stamp thing that I expected to be the size of a date stamp, but it turned out to be about five times the size!! So funny.

Now, when I ordered the sticker pad - the pic had only what you see below. I went onto the manufacturer's website to see if they had pics of what was inside, but there were none, so I took a punt and bought it anyway. 

It was $7.95, so I figured I couldn't go wrong and I didn't. It's amazing! And you just wait til you see what comes in this sucker for $7.95!! 

Gorgeous red letter stickers.

They're a nice size for cards. They're about the same size as October Afternoon's Mini Market letter stickers actually.

This was a FAB surprise! Little alphas!! Yes, people, that's four alphabet colours there, can you believe it? And there are six of each of the main letters. In each colour! Ah, so happy. This sheet alone is worth at least $6 compared to other ones I've seen (and bought).

I love, love, love tiny alphas because they suit my new way of scrapping. Got that story on my blog-o to share list.

Fabbo :o)

And yet there's still more.

These are all individual Christmas words - there's like a billion of them.

They make good borders - you know along a card or page. Just a row of these. It's a great way to add a bit of somethin' to the project. 

And a countdown of the Dec dates. And the December letters there at the bottom.

December Daily anyone?

(Ali Edwards is the December Daily queen)

And still more...

(Can you believe how much is in this pad for $7.95?) 

Borders...

And lastly, labels and bits...

I love the postage stamps. Perfect for putting on your own handmade envelope. Nice. I'll be using these bits and bobs in my scrapping and whatnots. So many possibilities.

So, there you go, what do you think?

Summary: I was expecting it to be about A5 size and I knew whatever was in it would be nice, so I paid the $7.95. It turned out to be huge, both in size and quantity of stuff. And the stuff is gorgeous. And the letter stickers are tiny, just like I like 'em. Actually, they're two sizes and I love both.

I'm using the papers in my scrapping as well as to make Christmas cards and decorations for our tree. We have a new tree this year and it needs some decorating. I'm also doing a December Daily, so it'll feature in that too. My December Daily is different this year, but that's another post. And my Dec Daily is different to my regular scrapping. I also thought I could use the papers to make some bunting. Gotta have some bunting, you think?

And hey, I got the Tinsel and Twig papers and sticker pad here if you'd like to check it out. Remember Blue Bazaar holds orders. You can order say $20 worth of stuff and then wait for some other new things to come in to add to it before you get them to send it. You have to wait for your stuff obviously, but it's a great system. Some people just add to their order and get BB to ship it to them each month. And some people just accumulate things until they want the whole lot shipped. Their newsletter talks about the holding system they have if you'd like more details.

Okay, that's all for now, enjoy your day!

:o)