Pigeon holes

Hi!

Last week I showed you the pigeon holes in my room, and mentioned I'd talk to you about them later.

Now is later, so let's talk.

If you want to, that is.

(Good thing about the web. Delete button)

So, these are my pigeon holes. They've been used for many different things in my room over the years, but currently this is what they're storing.

Starting at top left and going down in columns.

Cuttlebug stuff.
Bags for punch pieces for classes.
Bags again.

Next row - Cuttlebug stuff, Sizzix dies, Nestabilities. I put the Cuttlebug on top of the pigeon holes to use it.
Punch mates.
Tools - Crop-o-dile, Corner Chomper, hammer etc.

Bits and pieces - brads, eyelets, trimmer, foam, circle template, stamp scrubber.
Glitter.
Tapes.

Ribbon spools.
Bits of ribbon.
Paper templates I've made.

There's another row missing, you can just see a bit of it at the bottom. There's punches in that row - ie. the big ones that don't fit in any drawers in my room.

And that's my pigeon holes and what's in them.

Working well for the moment. Phew.

Stay tuned for the punch drawers!

World Card Making Day

Hey, did you know it's World Card Making Day this Saturday?
Any plans?
I'm at Photo Continental for the morning doing a make-and-take. Maybe you could pop up and say hello. :o)
Try to carve out some time for yourself on the day because it's the only day of the year that you can say, "But I have to do this now, it's World Card Making Day!"
Click here to read more about the day if you like. It was started to get a jump start on making Christmas cards. A jump start? I know some of you are probably already finished!
Enjoy the day, whatever you do.
:o)

Another butterfly...

Hey, another butterfly for you today.

Can't go wrong with a butterfly, now can you?

I've used two layers of butterflies and added glitter to the middles of the flowers on the top one.

All of the papers are Cosmo Cricket - Girl Friday. Except the butterfly, that's from October Afternoon's Cherry Hill line (the paper called Recipe Box). Hey, mixing and matching is a good thing!

What do you think? Do you mix and match too?

I love this photo. Bright and pretty and just nice. A lot of people don't like to use too many colours at once, but I'm happiest when I've included them all on the one card.

Red

Blue

Green

and

Yellow

then

Pink

and

Orange

with

Cream as a base!

What's your favourite colour combo? Are you a minimalist, or do you like 'em all like me?

Just wanted to add...

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to add that I'll be posting some more punch art soon.

I realise it's been a little light-on lately.

Actually, the issue is lights, if we're going to mention lights. Lights and light. I need more light in my photos.

We're working on it!

Still got other things planned in the meantime, the aftertime, and the in-between time, so stick around!

Bye now.

:o)

Butterfly

Hello everyone,

Just a quick card share for you today.

I like simple and this is simple. It's Cosmo Cricket Early Bird paper and the punch is from EK Success. It's the Whale of a Punch butterfly.

And in other news - I no longer have wires coming down the wall under my desk. So great!

Bye now,

Debra

Christmas bunting

Hey everyone,

Here's the Christmas bunting I said I'd show you.

The bunting in my room was one of the strands that started the whole thing. I made four out of curtain scraps and five out of Christmas material. Also helped Mum make three strands for her house too. Got on a roll!

This is our table on Christmas morning. I love this photo. So quiet and peaceful before the busy day ahead.

There's the bunting strung around. We have three wall lights in that area and it just gets hung on those.

Baubles hang from each light too.

We also have three strands (that look like one long one) that hang in the living room to match.

Here's how to make your own:

1. You'll need to buy twill (Spotlight), fabric (Spotlight, or any material shop, or October craft show!), buttons and thread to sew buttons.

2. You'll need fabric pinking shears. Borrow your Mum's. Or Grandma's. Or buy some at the show.

3. Fold fabric and cut a triangle.

4. Make two cuts only. The fold is the third edge (top one).
5. When you unfold your triangle, you should have a diamond. Make sense?

6. Cut as many triangles as you like.

7. To sew on - drape triangles over twill using fold to stop them from falling off. Sew buttons in place.
8. The buttons are the fun part. Some of my triangles have one button, others have two, three or even five. Some are single layer, some are triple! It's up to you and how many buttons you have.

9. As for the ends you can sew a loop, or just neaten it with some scissors. It depends how you're going to attach it to your walls, or lights.

I sew loops on all mine in case I need them. Above the table I don't use them. I just loop the bunting around the light and peg.

In the living room I use tacks in the loops and tack them to the very top of the architrave where you can't see them.

Done!

My room 4 - The short version!

Hello!

For all you minimalists out there...

Here's the short version of what's happened in my room recently.

This is what it was.

A lot happening.

A lot going on.

A lot of stuff to store.

This is what it is.

It's brighter.

It's better.

It's organised differently.

It's sparse (think minimalist).

It's good.

:o)

PS. Sorry I didn't post this before the long posts.

My room 3

Hello, and welcome to Wednesday!

Here are the photos of my room as it is now. Now, as in last Friday. That's pretty recent.

Things I want to say about this photo:

1. My ribbon is stored behind the door. They're sticky taped to those white things you wind your thread around. Those are put onto metal rings. Those rings go onto the ribbon holder Andrew made me. Nice.

2. Storing my ribbon this way really works for me. Jars don't. You?

3. I love that cup.

4. The box holds all my little Christmas projects from previous years. Mini albums. Lists. Things I've made to display.

Things I need to say about this photo:

1. Where'd that Pooh Bear tin come from? I thought these photos were taken at the same time? Hmmm.

2. I sanded and stained that table. With my dad, I think.

3. Okay, about the sanding and staining. I'll say this once, and then get off the subject.

I told you that we are over sanding, painting and doing up furniture in general. I just walked around the house and counted 27 things we've done over the years. 13 are in this room alone. Some others have left the house, I'm sure. Other things have been made and given away.

It's been good, but people, the sanding and the painting, we're done. And the waiting! Oh, the waiting for the coats to dry in the meantime.

And then the not-waiting-long-enough-and-paying-for-it because I just wanted to finish the thing so I could use it!

That's the story of the sanding and painting. Glad to be using the furniture, but glad to never have to do another piece of furniture again.

4. There are threads in that bowl. They're from my grandma. She doesn't sew anymore. I've never really sewed. I just like having them out because they're colourful.

5. We've put two shelves in the room. Just planks of wood, with brackets from Bunnings. The brackets are good to hang things from.

6. I love idea books. They're on the table there.

Things I need to say about this photo:

1. It's a bit dark.

2. The flowers look a bit sparse. And spikey. They look fine in real life.

3. The shelf looks sparse too. It is sparse. I'm okay with it. I like it.

4. The right side of the shelf holds my button jars. This works for me. It's pretty, and they're easy to reach. I tip them onto paper, choose, funnel back in and put away.

Things I have to say about this photo:

1. I use the black lamp when choosing cardstock/patterned paper. We're discussing better lighting for the room. It needs it.

2. All the paper slots came from a hospital that was being re-furbished. Andrew and his dad kept coming home with cool stuff for me.

3. Those are my punch drawers. These drawers were purchased, brought home and immediately put to use. No other work involved. How refreshing. I'll show you these drawers again in a future post. They're so good, they deserve that.

4. All this stuff was just put here while putting the room back together. It's stayed. It'll get moved in the future if necessary, but for now, it's fine.

Things I want to say about this photo:

1. There's the newly-painted hutch! It's blue and cream! It's so great!

2. I wanted to get rid of some of the brown. Goal achieved. It lightens up the room a lot actually. Cream is up there as a favourite colour for me. Up there, I tell you.

3. I'm going to ask Andrew if he can screw the power boards to the underside of the desk to clean up the wires. Wires, be gone!

4. See the scrolly brackets? Great hanging space.

Things I need to say about this photo:

1. I love my Cuttlebug.

2. The desk is about the size of a single bed. You'll have to believe me on that because I haven't measured it, but it is, I reckon. We bought it for $89 from a second hand store, did it up and I've put it to good use ever since. Have had it for at least 11 years. It's as solid as rock and is sooo big. Great to spread out on!

3. That metal thing under the desk is a super duper punch mate by Leone Em. It's called the Eezy Punch Press. It's a great machine.

4. Great chair that too. Comfy. And as solid as the day we bought it. Had it for about 7 years. Quality pays. And we paid about $300...guessing there.

5. I made that bunting. I've made lots of bunting. It's scraps of curtain material hung over twill and sewn on with buttons. Okay, so I sew a bit. :o) Button sew, not sew sew. Made stacks of Christmas bunting in 2007. It'll be pulled out every Christmas season for years to come. Will see if I can find a photo to show you.

Things I want to say about this photo:

1. Here's the first real look at the other pigeon holes. Bought them from the Tender Centre years ago (the one near us has shut down now) and it houses lots of great stuff. Will explain that later too.

2. I've always wanted to cover, paint, do something to the filing cabinet. Ugly!

3. My brother made the scrapbook trolley for me years ago (has wheels). He hates painting as much as me, so the deal was that he'd make it, and I'd paint it. Currently it has photo albums in it, although this changes sometimes. A few months ago it held all my cardstock. It houses two big drawers full of punches too. Will show later. Gotta pace myself here!

4. My grandma's old typewriter is on top of the trolley. She's the one who gave me the threads and the kitchen dresser. Ah, the typewriter. Clickety, clack. It takes me back to Year 9 typing...frf, frf, frf. Follow the teacher, do the drills, frf, frf, frf....did you do that too? And the smell, I love the smell of the ink. Thanks, Grandma. Love you.

5. The cloth on top of the typewriter was made by my other grandmother, Gran. She did such beautiful embroidery. Such tiny little stiches and so neat. I miss her so much - it's been 18 years.

Things I have to say about this photo:

1. The set of pigeon holes under the desk came from the hospital too. They've been used in my room, Andrew's workshop and my room again. Things rotate a lot around the place.

2. That piece of cardstock under the desk against the wall isn't supposed to be there. It fell down from above. Hang on, it's gone now. I just crawled under there and got it out. :o) See what you notice in photos?

3. That chair mat is not working for me! It's ugly (almost orange). It slides around. It doesn't have side ramps. It did all this years ago, which is why I replaced it with a clear spikey one, that stayed put, and had side ramps. Ah, so much better. Unfortunately, it didn't last because of the roller chair, and recently I had to chuck it. The old orange thing had to come back into use. Rats. And it loves the roller chair!

4. Remember my paper scraps that started the whole "move 'em on out" in the beginning?

See that vertical plastic paper holder in between the punch drawers and the other pigeon holes under the table?

That's where the scraps are now. They're in there. They're on the floor!

And is this working for me right now? Yes!

Can you explain why storing something on the floor would work for you? No!

Things I need to say about this photo:

1. That Making Memories Carousel is one of the best things I've ever bought. Seriously. You can buy one at Blue Bazaar at the moment. If the link doesn't take you straight to it, it's under Storage/Tools. http://www.bluebazaar.com.au/

2. They're stamps in the pigeon holes. I don't stamp much, but I will with these. They're from Hero Arts - Raindrop background, Woodgrain, Clouds and a couple of others including the basic alphabet set I've talked about before.

3. The hutch isn't organised really.

Things I want to say about this photo:

1. So, here's the hutch from the front.

2. Andrew made it for me.

3. Remember I said that I was impatient, and couldn't wait, and I put that second coat on too soon? First coat, stain. Second coat, varnish. They didn't mix. They scrambled. It looked awful. We didn't fix it.

He wouldn't.

I was over it too.

I had it like that on my desk for at least 11 years. I got used to it and it got covered up with stuff anyway.

But, the scrambledness is now gone because it's been sanded off and painted over. Yay! Finally...

4. We (he) added the plinth at the bottom. Not sure if it's called a plinth, but it's that strip of wood along the bottom. I can now get to stuff in the bottom rows more easily. Nothing in the way on the desk anymore. So good.

5. There's not much stuff in the hutch is there? I'm going through a minimalist period at the moment.

The slots used to hold punches, but they've found different homes. They also held paper, but all that's found a different home too. Everything has. I have empty slots.

Minimalist period.

6. Yep, they're Golden Books. Did you read them as a kid too? We loved books-on-tape in my family. They were books-on-record originally. Mum tired of having to come in and turn the records over every few minutes, so she taped a bunch of them onto one tape. We played it ourselves then, and she got some peace.

7. Those two pink punches in the hutch are Fancy Squares from McGill. I got them from Blue Bazaar too. Not sure if they have any in stock at the moment. Ask though, they have great customer service and will help if they can.

8. The white border punch on the desk is a new Martha Stewart one I got from Photo Continental recently. It's called Double Scallop Edge Punch. Martha makes great punches. And they're only newly available in Australia, which is good for us. They're also at Blue Bazaar.

And that's it.

This must be the longest post in the history of this blog.

And guess what?

I'm still not done.

I've gotta show you my punch drawers!

Soon, soon.

Bye now!

:o)

My room 2

Hey, how are you?

Today I'm showing you more photos of my room.

These are the transition photos.

There's one big piece of furniture missing. It's the hutch. It was downstairs drying when I took these photos because I got the brilliant idea to paint it.

Yep, paint it. And I hate painting. Andrew and I have done up a lot of furniture over the years and we are over it.

No more sanding!
No more painting!
No more waiting for paint to dry!

That's what we're saying around here. No more doing up of furniture, please!

We just did a kitchen dresser (what they used before built-in cupboards) that my mum had in her kitchen as a girl. We did seven coats on that thing, and it took ages. I did probably two of those coats. Andrew did the rest because he's such a legend. He also looked after the hardware because he's a legend. And he knew which screwdriver to use.

After doing up the dresser...
After not really enjoying the process...
After vowing never to paint another piece of furniture again...
And after leaving the car outside for weeks because the furniture was in the garage...

After all that, I said, "I think I'd like to paint the hutch."

And then he said, "Good idea. I'll help you."

We were committed. We knew it'd be worth it. Well, I did.

So the big heavy thing was taken downstairs ready for painting. But of course it needed sanding first.

The sanding began, and I'm pleased to report that I did all of it.

The painting began, and I'm pleased to report that I did half of it, and all of the fiddly bits.

But this is how the room was set up in the meantime. Andrew came up with the design. Because I couldn't move the furniture by myself, and because he was out, I sat on the couch and drew sketches of how I thought the furniture could be rearranged.

I drew six sketches, but they all got the flick.

I took Andrew in the room another time and said, "Can you help? I need a change in here and don't know what to do."

He said, "Let's move that here, and this there." We did. And it was just what I needed. He's amazing, that fella of mine.

It's a small change in that we only swapped two pieces of furniture, but it was enough to make the place feel different.

And yes, I have to walk around the pigeon holes to get to the computer. I did that before with the table, so it's okay.

So, the hutch is missing, and there's still a bazillion wires under the desk. They disappear somewhat when the hutch comes back in because the stereo lives on the hutch. It's higher, and the wires get puller up higher.

But still, wires!

It all looks very peaceful and tranquil in the photos, but the place was a mess for days.

All the stuff came out of my room and got sorted into piles on the lounge room floor.

Andrew got a fright when he saw it all. I did too. I knew I had to put it back.

The stress of the whole process surprised me because I've done this many times before. I usually like organising like I said, but this time was different for some reason. I think it was because I didn't want to spend all this time pulling stuff out, chucking things, organising them and then putting them back in, without having the whole thing work any better. I mean, what's the point if it doesn't work any better?

I learnt to just make a decision and put it somewhere. I could always move it later if it didn't work.

When organising, I've always used Julie Morgenstern's SPACE method.

S = Sort (your stuff into categories)

P = Purge (chuck out things as you go)

A = Assign (give each category of stuff a place in your space)

C = Containerise (find containers for your items. This is the time to buy them, not before you start!)

E = Equalise (keep it neat, put things away)

Like I said, I've organised craft rooms a few times (at least 5 times, not counting my own) and the system has always worked. It's a lot easier to do someone else's room when I'm just the motivator, and not the decision maker. This time I was both, and I wasn't feelin' it!

Thus, it took me days to complete.

Thus, I ignored it for a lot of the time on those days.

Thus, I ironed instead.

But then I got myself into gear and got it organised.

Sort of.

I put stuff back. I found homes for things. I didn't decorate per se. The shelf just had stuff put on it.

But that was okay. I was just glad everything was off the lounge room floor.

Hutch tomorrow.

:o)

My room

Welcome to a new week of what already feels like summer! Hope you had a lovely weekend doing something you enjoy.

Today I'm going to show you some photos of my room. I call it just that, my room. Not "my craft room", not "my studio", and definitely not "the office". Who wants to call a place of creativity "the office"? Not me!

So, this is it. This is my room.

It doesn't look like this now, mind you. It looked like this back then. And back then was probably around December last year. Without delving into the recesses of my digital photo files, I'm guessing it was about then because of the box under the table. That had Christmas craft in it, so it was about December.

And the other two photos are even older. I just looked in my files to show you some before shots.

Whoa, looks pretty full, hey? Like, too full.

It's actually our home office, so a lot happens in there. And a lot has to fit in!

You know what I've learned about this? Looking at photos of your room (any room) allows you to see the place in a different light.

I never see those wires under the desk when I walk in, for example.

And the space on the wall to the left of the window needs a picture, but I never see that when I walk in either.

That's a tip for all you interior decorators out there...photograph, and then you'll know what you need to fix up. Or fix up the most.

Or leave. You can just leave stuff too.

I've seen this photo before. I've seen that space on the wall before. I've left it.

I've had cards to make! I've had organising to do!

I do love to organise. Why? Stuff not organised the way it works for me = frustration = leaving table = no cards made = no fun had!

Like I mentioned in a previous post, the latest clean up started because I couldn't get to my patterned paper scraps easily enough. I had the scraps, but they weren't being used properly. Then it started. Right, let's reorganise the punches then too. And the cardstock. And the journalling cards... And well, everything. Let's just organise everything.

Reasons for doing this?

1. I wanted to rearrange my patterned paper.
2. I was running out of room to store my punches.
3. I had to make stuff fit. I only have so much space (and furniture) in the room, and I'm about condensing, not adding more furniture. More stuff in, means more stuff has to go out.
4. My crafting needs have changed, so my environment needed to change too.
5. I like organising.
6. I like systems.
7. I needed a change in the room because it'd been the same way for 5 years.

Once again, a lot going on here. This is where I've always tried to keep the stuff I use the most. Punches are in that tall boy thing (as well as many other places around the room - a problem!).

And the desk. No wires because of the boxes. Those boxes (they hold all my classes) have long ago been put into the cupboard.

Once again, a lot of stuff here. Believe it or not, I don't like clutter. Clutter is easy to come by when you are a crafter though, isn't it? It's all about taming the clutter in the end.

I don't know who said this, but it's true.

Do I need it?

Do I use it?

Do I love it?

If yes, keep.

If not, chuck.

Easier said than done.

More room stuff tomorrow.

:o)

That's better!

I've put these photos up again so you can click on them to see them larger, and actually see them larger!

I've been yapping about clicking on the photos to see the closer details, but the photos haven't been that much bigger, have they? It frustrated me, so I thought it might frustrate you too.

I have to post the photos on here in a smallish resolution, otherwise they just take up too much memory, but sometimes they need to be big so we can see the Glimmer Mist for example.

Okay, click on these to see them larger, and don't fall off your chair!

The lotus has the Distressed Stickles on the edges - you'll see it better now. Remember it doesn't glitter like glitter, it's more glassy.

In the future the photos will still be as they usually are, but sometimes I'll post some of them in a higher res so you can see the details.

Okay? Okay.

Delta Echo Bravo Romeo Alpha out.

Edited to add: Forgot to tell you that these Wisteria projects are on display at Photo Continental for the next few weeks. If you're over there (Logan Road, Mt Gravatt. Click on link in sidebar) check them out because they do look lovely in real life. Better than the photos.

Delta Echo Bravo Romeo Alpha really out.

Ah, pretty...

Hi, fellow crafters.

I have my last lot of Wisteria projects to show you today.

And what I did that I didn't expect?

I used the chipboard shapes to decorate the middle of these flowers. It was one of those things I didn't plan for, but it all made sense at the time, and onto the flowers they went. And they're big flowers and they needed something punchy in the middle.

I used regular Stickles in the middle of some of the flowers for some sparkle and accent. Crystal is my favourite.

And for even more glitter, I sprayed the whole thing with Pearl Glimmer Mist. So fun. Found it hard to stop spritzing once I started!

(The link I've provided will take you to the Tattered Angels site. There's quite a few Glimmer Mist how-to videos on the site. Also trouble shooting etc. Might be helpful for you. Swirl, don't shake!)

Remember you can click on the photos to see them larger.
If you do, please excuse the dust on the chair.
Thank you.

Took some close-up shots so you could see the Stickles and Glimmer Mist. Can you see the mist? It's subtle, but it's there. Added such a nice touch at the end.

I added Opal Dust to the edge of this card. Glitter, glitter everywhere. If it calls for it, you've gotta add it!

Okay, so there you go. More boxes, more glitter, more flowers, more fun. Hope you enjoyed it all!

The scallops I used were Marvy ones with the big Sizzix scallop die. You might have scallop Nestabilities dies, or scallop punches in other brands. Any of them work and look good. And we like good.

Okay, bye now!

Snail Mail

Hey de ho,

The snail mail cards got sent out this week. Thanks for participating, ladies! We should do it again sometime, yes?

I think we will.

Glittery is good...

Well, here we have another paper box. Surprise, surprise.

This paper is from Basic Grey - Wisteria too.

You know, sometimes buying a complete paper collection in a kit can be a good idea. You get all the papers in the set, and you can use them together, or separately, for completely different looks.

In particular I found this line interesting to work with because I could choose different colour combinations.

Gold and purple.

Green and purple.

Blue and green.

Gold by itself.

Gold with any of the above.

You get my drift.

And if you get the chipboard accents in the collection, you've got things to put on the boxes, and on your cards. I love chipboard shapes for that reason. And that they already have some chunk that gives the card a bit of weight.

Art weight that is, not kilo weight. :o)

Okay. Here are the chipboard shapes from the Wisteria collection. You can see the dragonfly I used above. I added the Opal Dust - those big flecks of glitter look good.

I've used most of the Wisteria chipboard shapes, and I didn't know I was going to use them that way until I saw myself do it!

Stay tuned to see what transpired...

Edited to add: Found the chipboard shapes on my desk and found I didn't use most of them at all. What a fibber. I used a few of them. Some of them. The circular ones. And they were good.

It's easy, really.

Another paper box for you.

And this one has a paper lotus on it. Nice, hey?

I know it looks hard, but it's easy...really.

Have a look here and you'll see a simple tutorial. Thank you to the person who put this up to teach us. If the link doesn't work, try typing Paper Lotus into You Tube.

The good thing is that you can make this flower from one piece of paper. Actually less.

The paper collection I used is Basic Grey - Wisteria. It's made using greens, blues, purples, golds, white and cream.

Did you know that you can click on the photos in the posts to see them larger? Try it on one of these photos.

Can you see the glitter I put around the edges of the flower? It's gold. It's actually Distressed Stickles. And the one I used is Antique Linen. If you click on the link you'll go to Tim Holtz's blog and he'll tell you all about it. I also used it on the button in the middle of the flower on the wedding box. It's not really glittery, but glassy. It's good!

This box is a very simple one because I like simple. Ribbon would jazz it up even more...

Okay, bye now. Wishing a great day to you!

Link to Paper Boxes

Just wanted to make another link to the paper boxes tutorial.

Thanks, Erin!

Another gift idea...

Hey, how are you?

I've got another gift box to show you today. This one is definitely for a wedding. A lot of couples just need money (or gift cards) nowadays, and rather than just putting it in card in an envelope, why not make a box? You could attach the card to the outside with some ribbon, or just put it inside. Something different, and a bit special.

Yes?

Have a few more box ideas to show you soon...

A cute gift

Hi everyone,

How was your weekend? Did you get to enjoy the sunshine? The weather forecast for the next few days around here is fine, fine, fine! Good old Queensland, the Sunshine State.

A quick, fun project to share with you today.

I've linked you to Erin's paper trinket boxes before, but here it is again in case you need to look. Click here.

I've made a few of these boxes and given them as gifts with different things inside. Money, chocolates...anything.

Below is an easy one. Well, easy for us because we have chooks. And we grew that parsley. You could put eggs in a box too, but it could be a little weird if you don't have your own chooks, you know? Like, why are you giving me eggs?

That exact thing happened to us a while ago when I gave the eggs-in-the-little-box-with-the-chick-on-the-front to my newlywed cousin and her husband as a little house warming and welcome-to-the-world-of-cooking-now-that-you-have-your-own-kitchen gift.

She was like, "Ah, I got eggs...." but the look on her face was said, "Ah, I got eggs, but why am I getting eggs? Like, isn't that a bit weird? Why wouldn't you just give me the whole dozen?" You know a quizzical look...

I said, "The eggs are from our chooks!" and she got it. We chuckled. "And that parsley is from our garden. And that straw is from our chook shed..."

(I don't think I got straw from the actual chook shed. I think I got it from under the house where we keep it before it goes to the chook shed. I'm all about health and safety and not having poop on the straw afterall.)

And it was obvious that I made the box and whatnot for her. All of a sudden it wasn't weird, it was nice. Just a little gift from me to her. We always pretend to include the boys in these things...ie. a little gift from us to them, but really it was from me to her. :o)

The actual box below was given with a bunch of flowers for a 40th - it's a versatile little gift!

Also made one for my dad for a gift with cash inside. It was yellow with a black tyre on the front. He was getting money for a 4 x 4 magazine subscription.

Also made a stack of three for the neighbours to say thanks for looking after our chooks while we were away. No real eggs for them though because they'd been collecting them all. They got chocolate eggs because it was around Easter.

Versatile gift idea. Get me?

And with Christmas coming up, need I say more?

Um, yes.

School teacher gift with Christmas ornament, little cards, pens, notepaper, jokes, chocolates, lollies, gingerbread biscuits or any other little thing(s) inside.

Friend gift with any of the above inside.

Other things to put inside - gift card, money, movie ticket, restaurant voucher, tiny scrapbook album made using the Bind-it-All, any other tiny scrapbook album, photos.

Oh, and a cute baby shower gift! Little baby on the front with little socks inside. Cute. Cute.

Okay, enough said.

The gift boxes rock. That's it. End of story.

Have a great day!

A nice combination

What about this one?

Jammie and I had a chat in the comments section about the cards I made, then switched, last week. Our chat inspired me to make this...

What do you think?

For me, it's become a new favourite. A bit of bright, and a bit of the woodgrain. And glitter. Nice. Pink and brown always look good together.

Hey, Jammie, want one of these in your letterbox?

And you might even receive one of these in the mail if you take me up on yesterday's offer. You might not either, because I haven't decided on the cards I'm sending, but still, you might. :o)