Mother's Day bits and pieces

Hi there ladies!

I thought I'd share the bits and pieces I made for Mother's Day with you today.

Now, before you say, 'gosh, does this girl ever stop crafting', let me tell you I had no intention of making anything.

Okay, not totally true. I did think of making the cards, of course I did.

I had ideas, I had thoughts, but I also had doubts. Doubts about pressure and time and having to be creative - all that. I mean, I love making cards, but the fun goes out of it when I have to do it under pressure. Totally...

So.....I ended up buying the cards. 

Yep, I walked into the store and saw the display and thought, "There are some pretty ones here, I'll just take a look" and then ended up putting two in my basket.

I've said it before and I'll say it again on behalf of all of us...

1. Just because we make cards doesn't mean we have to make every one we give out.

2. If we don't want to make a card (or can't), it's okay to just go and buy one.

3. If there's a type of card we need that's not our kinda thing, it's okay to buy it (ie. sympathy cards for me).

Okay, so I bought the cards. They were flowery, pretty and a bit glittery. I liked 'em.

We wrote on them, put them with the gifts and then I had a thought....

"Why not make a little banner to hang around the place?"

And then it started....


You know how it is. You get an idea, your eyes sparkle, you have a bit of time, you know what paper you want to use, you can totally see the finished product in your head and you just want to start there and then.

Well, luckily I had time to start there and then and I did. I pulled out the stuff and got to work. They were pretty simple and came together quite quickly at first...

And then it really started...

I added pop dots...

and borders...

I made flowers for Grandma's banner because I didn't like the hearts and then I ended up flicking the flowers because I didn't like them and went back to the hearts. It happens!

Anyway, I made the banners, I wasn't forced to and I had a great time. What else can you ask for from your crafting? Nothing...nothing at all.

I used The Girls Paperie Kitch collection including the big alphas from the sticker book, Papertrey Ink's Boxy Banner dies for the actual banner and some red and white Baker's twine from Divine Twine to tie it altogether. Again the Baker's twine rocked it. It always rocks it...

After all that s'plain'n, let's move onto the banners, shall we?

For my mother-in-law...

All packaged and ready to go.

See-through envelopes - so cool. Got them online here at Regal Craft a few years ago. 

Note the flower there - that's one of the ones I made for Grandma's banner that I flicked because it stuck up too much.

I was determined to use them somehow... :o)

Onto Grandma's banner...

I added a few borders along the tops of hers because there was a coordinating border sticker sheet in the sticker book that I wanted to use.

The one above isn't actually a sticker though because I ran out and had to make two paper borders instead. Grandma didn't notice.

This one's a sticker.

I actually had the foresight to add pop dots to the letters on hers. Pop dots always make things poppy.

I was kinda racing the clock to begin with and then I just stopped watching and embellished away (pop dots, borders). Don't you love it when you can do that?

Kept the packaging simple for her.

Easy is best when you're 89.

Unwrapped by the giver is best when you're 89 - I went that route...

And this is Mum's banner...

The alpha stickers from the sticker book were limited in number, so I had to think of words that I could actually make. There was a page of numbers in the book too, so a few of the zeros got used for o's like that o up there.

Mother
Love
and
We love you (with a heart)
is what I got in the end. Not bad.

Mum's packaging.

Added a little banner to the front because I knew she'd enjoy it. I knew she'd probably pull it off and save it. And I knew she'd just like it.

And OH MY GOODNESS - I've just remembered the tag! I forgot the tag! I always make Mum a tag for her birthday, Mother's Day and Christmas and she keeps them all on a ring. Oh, rats, after doing it for a few years it's still not entrenched in my brain. Okay, must whip up something.

OR, because Mum's crafty....die cut an extra boxy banner and get her to stick the flower and the little banner to it. Score, that's what I'm going to do...problem thwarted...

Actually maybe I'll give that to her when I give her her second little gift. I bought something o/seas, but it didn't arrive in time.

Did I tell you that, Mum? You'll be getting something else from me.

Nothing like spreading out the gift giving is there?

Ooooh, I love these photos. They turned out so fab.

The little banner up there is a die set from My Favourite Things - they have great dies. And guess what? If you buy only dies or stamps they'll ship your order for $5.45 AUD. That's from the USA. Amazing. They have reasonable shipping rates if you buy other stuff - check it out. They release dies and stamps monthly too. And Kim is really nice.

Laaast thing - the little alphas stickers there are from October Afternoon. They're called Sticky Keys. So cute.

Veeery last thing - I got the Kitch papers and Sticky Keys from Blue Bazaar. Fab.

Feel like I've talked so much I've gotta keep quiet for the rest of the day...bye now!

PS. Threw the flower photo in for kicks.

PPS. Enough pics for ya, Sue?

Mum's tag...

This post will tell you why I like the Martha Stewart Embroidered Floral border punch...just so you know.

And just because I told you I'd tell ya.

And just because I don't like forgetting things like that.

Firstly though, this is the tag I gave to my mum for Mother's Day.

I give her a tag three times a year - birthday, Mother's Day and Christmas. She collects them on a ring, just for fun. I always use favourite products on them and we always chat about them on at the hand over.

This year she remarked about everything on the tag (of course she would, she's my mother and she's crafty, she has to!) and was impressed to find out that she could cut chipboard with her big Sizzix dies. The eyebrows went up and I could see her mind spinning...funny.

I just created a label on the right - Mother's Day cards 2009 - that'll take you to the card and tag I made for her last year if you'd like to see.

Things I used on this year's tag:

~ Stampin Up! Top Note die.

~ Tulle from Spotlight.

~ Martha's bakers twine. I know, she rocks.

~ Tim Holtz's Vintage Market alpha letters. You get all numbers and letters on the one die, it's great value. Got it at PC.

~ October Afternoon Thrift Shop paper.

~ An October Afternoon wild card. I'm not sure of the collection it was from. Maybe their school one? I cut around the edges with mini deco scallop scissors.

~ A little heart punch. Mine came from a border punch that was near me on my desk.

~ Crepe paper in cream. Stuck behind with tape and pleated. Thank you, Johanna. I've done this with paper before, and ribbon, but not crepe paper.

(Check out vblog 96 for a fun Mother's Day card. I had the same Oct Arvo wild card as her, although I didn't discover it until much later...vblog 92 shows the crepe paper idea. The link takes you to Leah Fung's blog)

~ Martha's Embroidered Floral punch - see why it's a good one? You can hide the top bit and have a tiny scallop border...so lovely. I only discovered this because the tag needed a bit of red at the bottom and the 7 other borders I tried first didn't work.

Okay, that's it for the Mother's Day offerings this year. Actually, not true. I put some on the table at PC, but forgot to photograph them before I took them over. Will do that when they come back home...

Okay, bye now.

:o)

Mother's Day cards...

Hey, how's it going?

Today I thought you might like to see the rest of the Mother's Day cards. What fun these were to make. Totally cool and I had some of the desk time that I love (and need).

I seem to be making a lot of big cards lately and these are big too. They're A5 and I made my own envelopes to match (in yellow).

This first one's for my mum.

Incidentally, I made these together. You know, chose the papers for both, then chose the bits for each of them at the same time. Punched out the borders, punched out the labels.

Much easier than making a full one then going back and make another whole card, even if it's the same type. Yes?

As I said earlier in the week, the papers are from October Afternoon - their Thift Shop line.

It's old-worldy and vintage and perfect for those lady embellishments from GCD Studios. They're the chipboard shapes from their Homespun Chic Collection by Melody Ross.

(You can see the pack of shapes here)

Here's the sneaky peek one of the cards.

Nope, my mum doesn't wear those shoes while cooking.

The two border punches I used are both new EK Success Slim Edger punches - the top is a paper ribbon one called Zig Zig Chain and the other is called Open Scallop.

These rock.

Seriously.

I'd like a smaller ric rac one and a smaller donut chain one now. They don't exist, but I wish they did.

Ah, this is EK too.

It's called Journal Plate and Bracket (it comes with two brackets).

I drew the gold edging on it, just to outline it a bit.

The tiny type stickers are from My Little Shoebox. Tiny type stickers are a favourite too. So many uses and a lot of companies are doing them now.

The bakers twine is Martha Stewart. Not surprised? Exactly - she rocks it.

Speaking of Martha - this edger punch is hers too. It's called Embroidered Floral and I love it.

Now, mind you, it wasn't love at first sight, but it grew on me and now I love it. There's a second reason why - I'll tell you about that another time soon.

It has a corner punch to match it as an option too. Would make nice doilies, don't you think? I really must try the whole punch-around-the-page thing one day.

Honestly, doilies used to be so out, but now they're so in. Anything that reminds me of my grandmothers is a winner for me, so doilies are always in, regardless of their trend status.

Don't you love the trends? In, out, in, out. I use whatever I want, when I want - what about you? Hey, love the trendy stuff, but it doesn't have to be trendy for me to use it. Plus, who can keep up with it all, everything changes so fast...know what I mean?

Oh, hello border punches.

You used to be so out too. Lol. But someone made some nice ones and all of a sudden, ka-bam, border punch explosion!

A final word - it took me ages to figure out what to put on the signs.

Happy Mother's Day? Too obvious.

For you? I do that all the time.

Love you? Too mushy (we wrote that inside!)

Finally (in amongst doing other things and then coming back to it) I thought, "What are they saying? Well, ta-da!" So, I put that.

Both mums liked 'em.

Good!

Mother's shoes...

Here's a quick sneaky look at my mum's Mother's Day card for this year.

Points to note about the things you see:

~ My mother doesn't wear shoes like that anymore (who does?)

~ Bakers twine rocks.

~ I used two border punches. Can you guess which ones?

~ And the paper? The paper is from October Afternoon.

~ The embellishment isn't, but I tell you about that later.

:o)

More cupcakes

Since we were talking about cupcakes yesterday, I thought I'd show you these today. They're the ones I did for my mum for Mother's Day this year. You'll recognise the Divine Swirl Cuttlebug folder on both. The card bases are String of Pearls Bazzill Bling - a nice background colour with a bit of shine of course. I put the glitter on the buttons. That's fun, you've gotta try it.

The card base is big - 6x6 square. Really into the big cards.

I always make my mum a tag for gift-giving occasions. That is, Mother's Day, her birthday and Christmas. She is collecting them on a ring and they're becoming a keepsake of bits and pieces I've given her over the years. It's just something special between her and I.

Love you, Mum.