Christmas Card Friday

Hello, and welcome again to Christmas Card Friday!

Detect a theme here?

Yes, posting a Christmas card every Friday. At some stage they're going to come thick and fast for a while too. It's Christmas after all and what's Christmas without a bit of overindulging? At least it's eye candy, not real candy...

(We say lolly over here, but eye candy is eye candy. Can't be saying eye lolly because no one would have a clue what I'm on about!)

All these Christmas cards were made with the My Mind's Eye Colourful Christmas collection.

I'm a red and green Christmas combo type of girl, but I'm also a cream and all colours type of girl too, so Colourful Christmas, what fun!
As you can see in the photos, the Colourful Christmas paper is based around white. I decided to mix cream in with the white (scallop layer). Cream and white don't sound like a good combo, but they can be really nice together.
For some extra sparkle I added some Pearl Glimmer Mist to the cream scallop. Trust me, it's there. Actually, now that I've said trust me, I'm not sure if it's there. I think it is. If it isn't, it should be, okay?
Like I said last week, we don't have the winter Christmas over here, but snowmen are still fun to send to your snowed-in relatives overseas. Or they're just fun to make for yourself if you like that sort of thing.

And like that sort of thing, I do.

Do you?

I also like that big Sizzix scallop die. I like all the big scallop dies from Sizzix. They're getting more in at PC soon.
(PS. The one I used is from their Bigz Clear line)
(PPS. While you're on the Sizzix site, have a look at the Sizzix Big Shot Pro. Oh my!)
Used the Snow Dots embossing folder from Cuttlebug. Love it. Makes it feel really textured and snowy.

I had all the layers sorted for the cards and I needed a feature. I had to be creative because my original thought was to use the Colourful Christmas Die-Cut Chipboard shapes, but I didn't have any.

I ended up using the Cuttlebug bauble die from the For You die/embossing combo. What a great die!

I cut just the tip in gold and the bauble part in paper with a snowman in the middle. Added a bit of cord to finish it off.


Note the envelopes in the background? I love using double-sided paper for envelopes because there's a suprise colour inside. Makes the card-opening more fun for the recipient, I think.

Are you going to make a snowman card this season?

Give it a shot, they're cute!

Okay, have a great weekend and remember...

Blog promotion with the Scor-Pal starts on Monday! Tune in then to get the coupon code to get 15% off!

(Honestly, how have I crafted for so long without one of these little beauties? It rocks!)

See you then!

Hello Monday

Hey there,

Wanted to send a couple of links your way today.

Remember I mentioned I'm having a blog promotion in a couple of weeks? The promotion will be about the Scor-Pal and will run from 16 to 20 Nov. I'll be showing you what the tool is, how it works and of course some projects made using it. What a great tool it is too! You'll also have the opportunity to purchase one at a 15% discount. You'll need the coupon code for that, so stay tuned, it'll be fun!

Kristina Werner is doing 25 videos over the next month. That's right, 25! She's doing one each day from Monday to Friday (Tuesday to Saturday for us) until about Dec 4. Well worth the watch. She's great at those videos. She's already done five, so head on over to her blog to check them out.

Ali Edwards has started putting together her December Daily album.

She's done this for the last few years and explains what it is, and why she does it etc, on her blog. Well worth a look even if you're not necessarily interested in doing one yourself. Honestly, her stuff rocks.

Monday, 26 October is when she introduces the December Daily album for this year, so start your reading there. Last week she posted the foundation pages and lots of explanations.

I did the December Daily last year and got a lot of enjoyment out of putting it together and documenting our Christmas season.

Just to explain, the December Daily album is just that. You take a photo a day in December and do a little journalling about each one. The key to making it work is having the foundation of the album done before the busy season begins.

So you can see a finished version, here's a link to her 2008 December Daily.

And here's her 2007 one. Scroll down to Weds, 7 Nov. And look here for the full book.

(Hopefully all the links work!)

I've not decided if I'll do one this year. It was a lot of work last year (I made it that way because of the type of book I made etc) and I remember finding it hard to keep up with it, especially in the week leading up to Christmas. Ali said the same thing.

Here's a photo of my desk with all Christmas bits and other stuff on it from last year. Seeing this photo makes me want to do another December Daily.

If I do, I'll make it simpler.

Will post pics of my book and you'll see what I mean!

Bye for now,

D

Christmas Card Friday

Hey!

What about a snowman card for Christmas this year?

Now, I realise after all the talk of 39 degree days it seems silly to put a snowmen card up, but go with me here...

You could use this card for a couple of reasons.

Reason 1: It could be tongue-in-cheek to your family and friends. You know, wishing and hoping we won't swelter on the day this year.

Reason 2: A lot of people send cards overseas to those that live in snowy countries, so yay, what a card to send.

Good enough reasons?

Gosh, I just love making cards so much that I'll make up any reason to make it work. Know what I mean??

Let's see if I can list all the supplies used on this one:
Cuttlebug Cut and Emboss snowman die and embossing folder combo. Didn't use the embossing folder on this card.
(The face is a part of the die. Fiddly diddly! You wait until you try to glue those little eyes on! I pulled out all the fine motor skills I had to get those things on there)
Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder.
Sizzix Scallop square die (clear).
Pearl Glimmer Mist on the scallop square.
Did I add that Holly leaf? Looks like a CP1: Holly to me.
And the star...CP8: Star.
And the little circle...CP1: 1/4" Circle.
Bazzill Bling Feather Boa for the pink base.
Bazzill Bling Diva for the pink envelobox.
The Ultimate Crafters Companion to make the envelobox. Love those enveloboxes.
What else? Ah, tracing tool. The good old tracing tool.
(It's a little wheel with spokes attached to a handle, and when you run it along the card like a pizza cutter, it looks like faux stitching)
They were used in the olden days...back in the day....way back in the day for pattern making.
They're also used nowadays, but not as much. I say back in the day because I use my great grandmother's that my mum had in the old Singer sewing machine. Mine's from back in the day alright.
You can buy them at Spotlight. And haberdashers.
I love saying haberdashers.
Go on, say it...
Fun, eh?
:o)

Well, whaddya know!

After all my talk about envelopes the last couple of days, have a look at Kristina's video on the envelope maker she uses.

Kristina's video (scroll to Oct 18's entry) Watch how it tears the paper!

Funny how we've both been talking about making fun envelopes at the same time. And even suggesting the same idea of using Christmas wrapping paper. I'm so going to do that. Christmas wrapping paper envelopes.

Bye now!

What about this?

Hi, hope you had a good weekend!

I showed you this card a while ago. It's using actual road map paper from a big road atlas.

Today's idea - Why not use some of the maps as envelopes? Might as well!

Reasons why this is a good idea:

• The atlas paper is big enough to make envelopes. My atlas is A3. Great size.
• It's a good way to use up the old atlas!
• Who wouldn't like to get a printed envelope in the mail? Honestly, what's with all the white?
• It's cheap.
• It's easy.
• It's fun to do something different.
• Doing something different can spark other creative ideas.

Think of the atlas paper as a springboard to other envelope paper ideas...

What about wrapping paper for example? (the thicker stuff) You know all those ends of the rolls that you have hanging around? Use 'em up!

Or why not use Christmas wrapping paper to make Christmas envelopes! Ooohh, love that.

Ah ha, here's a good one. Use that scrapbooking paper you know you're not going to use. You know the stuff you can't throw it away because it just seems so wasteful? Use it for envelopes! Why not?

Or wrapping paper! Use your scrapbooking paper as wrapping paper! Again, why not?

Gosh, you could even use junk mail as envelopes if you wanted to. Anything big enough and colourful enough to make an impression in the letterbox is what you're going for. Old calendars? Old magazines?

Another reason this is a good idea to try? It gets your creativity going and you never know where that'll lead ya!

Ah ha, the stepping stones of creativity. My mum has done many (many) crafts over the years and she always says they were a path of stepping stones that led from one to the next. And sometimes the skills you get from one can be put to good use in the next craft. Or the 8th craft after it. Or not in craft at all, but life. That's true...deep, but true.

Go on, I dare you. Walk around the house and see if you can't come up with some other fun paper options for some cool and different envelopes. Might sound like a dumb idea, but you never know what other ideas it might lead you to!

Have fun,

Oh, and PS. I use envelope templates to make my envelopes. I bought some online at Sandy Jane Designs - plastic ones from Kreaxions. Or you can use the Enveloper from Crafters Companion I think it is (check Google or You Tube). Or you can even try googling envelope templates to see what you come up with. Finding a quick and easy way to make envelopes will make a difference as to whether you produce them or not!

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?

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)

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!

The anecdote (which will be more than an anecdote, I'm sure. Thus, this post is called The story) The story...

Well, hello!

It's much later. Later than I anticipated, but that's okay. If you've just dropped by here, and just read yesterday's post, then later for you is only a couple of seconds. Good on you.

So, here are the cards.

(Warning! If this post is too long for you, scroll to the bottom, there's a summary)

And they're still unrelated by sight. But they're related by story.

After all this build up, there's not really a story, just a thing to tell.

And that is this.

I made these cards.

And then I made them again, but I switched the colours.

That's the story.

That's it.

Told you it wasn't earth shattering.

BUT it was fun. Only 75% fun because I spent time mucking around trying to find the scraps I'd used the first time and all that. I hate mucking around trying to find things. That then led to me totally pulling everything out of my room (not the cupboard, I'd done that only a while ago) and totally re-organising it. I'm serious. I re-organised by whole scrapping area because I couldn't find my paper scraps quickly enough. Oh, I didn't mention that? I could find them, I just couldn't find them quickly enough, so something had to be done!

Anyway, that's another story. And that is a story!

And I'll tell it to you.

I promise.

With photos.

Later.

How much later entirely depends on how quickly I can finish painting and then take a final photo.

I hate painting, so it could be much later.

Anyway, back to this inconsequential story.

I made these cards. I love lined, ledger and hymnal papers and will find any excuse to use them. You know when you've been doing something for long time (add make cards here) and you find something different and new to you and just, well, different, and you grow to love it because it spices things up a bit and makes it more fun? And rich? And gives it more depth? And makes it cooler? Well, that's how I feel about lined, ledger and hymnal/music paper. It's fab.

Told you this would be more than an anedote.

So, I made these cards. How many times have I said that already?

I liked this flower because it was simple, easy to make and I didn't have to think too much. 10 points for sure.

Then another day I wanted to make a card using this woodgrain paper. I bought it at Stamp Art Studio at Aspley a couple of weeks ago. It was a surprising find because it comes in A4...I've not seen a paper like it. I don't think it's a scrapbooking paper, per se? There's no brand on it either, but it was 90c. And it's a thickish type of weight.

So I made this. I don't usually go for the browns very much, but a change is good. But only for one or two cards, then I snap back to the colour.

I like it. I like those Labels One - Nestabilities. Nice, very nice. And the embossing around the edge finishes it off, which I find this shape usually needs.

So I made the cards at two completely different times and they were unrelated.

But one day I decided to make them again and switch the colours. Like I said, 75% (okay, 50%) fun until I had all the pieces found and cut out. The fun-0-meter steadily climbed after that.

No point making cards if the fun-o-meter is only at 50%. I'd rather wash dishes.

I like how this butterfly one turned out. Orangey-yellow and pink with lined paper. Yep, good. And that butterfly. What's not to like about that? That's Doodlebug polka dot paper. Pre-glittered!
What do you reckon?
Which do you like best?

Gotta be honest here. Not overly entralled with this card. I mean, it's nice, but what am I gonna do with it? Not a man card. Not a girl card. Not a boy card. Not a card, I guess. Maybe it's a card to send to a family for something because it's got a bit of everything.

I'll put it in my stash and go back to the brighter colours where I belong.

So that's the story of the cards.

Here it is in summary:
I made 'em. I switched 'em.
The End.

Hey

Hey everyone,

Just a quick card share for you today. These chooks are from my third book, Punch Art Fun for everyone 3, on pages 8 and 14. The card above isn't in the book, just the chooks. Cute, huh?

And that's Early Bird paper again and some Making Memories ledger paper behind. I like mixing and matching papers, but only if I don't have to try too hard. And those are my favourite basic alphabet set from Hero Arts.

I use a lot of the same things over and over again...do you do that too?

Like them, paid good money for them, want to use them up! All good reasons that they keep appearing on the old cards.

Bye for now,

:o)

PS. When I link you over to things on the net, I usually choose the site for the picture of the product. I didn't buy my Making Memories ledger pad from the shop I linked, I just liked that they had a picture of all the papers inside. If you like what you see, you can do an added search to find it somewhere else online, or in a shop near you. Just wanted to mention that.

PPS. Blue Bazaar currently has some of the ledger pads for about 10 dollars (under September restocks 2), which is a really good deal. And if you read their newsletter there's some specials going on. The newsletter came out today, so it's current info. And they're a Brisbane based company. Enjoy!

Hello, Early Bird!

I'm excited to share some Early Bird cards with you today. The people at Cosmo Cricket really nailed this line.

The paper and chipboard stickers were so fun to use. I'm happy to say too that I've still got some left for some more cards in the future. Nice.

I made this first. It's one of the borders with the toaster chipboard sticker on it. Went straight on my fridge. I'm not a morning person!

This one is my very favourite. Love that toaster with the toast. Very cute! Used the Fiskars Apron Lace punch for the striped border.

The photos don't really show the sizes of the cards very well. This one is an A4 folded, so it's an A5 front. Nice and big. And fun.

Love how the Cosmo people have added the vintage element to everything lately. I love artwork from the 40s/50s/60s era.

And some simple ones to finish. Cherries are everywhere right now. And the scallops are still going strong.

A bit of hand-drawn stitching, a bit of double matting (haven't done that in a while) and a bit of paper piercing. I like easy techniques that help finish a card.

And just a note on that. If a card needs finishing, and I can't figure out what it needs, it's done. Simple.

I've decided it's not worth agonising over those cards that just aren't working. Yes?

Dahlias

Hi fellow crafters,

Have been making few different flowers lately that I thought I'd share with you.

I've blogged about these Dahlia Nestabilities before. I used them for the clown's collar, and as flowers themselves. They were cream with a blue background. Check the list on the sidebar under cards if you'd like to find them.

On the card below I added hymnal paper as a layer. It adds a different touch, don't you think?

And that's glitter on the button too.

These other flowers are similar to the one on the card except they've been cut between the petals, so each could be pinched for a more 3D look.

There are six flowers, back-to-back. They twist in the bottle, so I wanted them to look good from both sides.

Something easy and fun for the middle of the table when you next have people for dinner?

Bye now.

Early Bird cards coming up next...

:o)

Randomness

Just some random bits and pieces for this very hot Monday.

Let's start with the weather, shall we?

1. This weather is weird. 33c and it's still winter. Very weird. My washing was dry as soon as I put it up. If you don't believe that, I don't blame you.

2. She has gone home. Got to keep her for an extra few days, so I'm grateful for that. Til next time, Smiley.

3. Drove under this bridge again recently and realised it is very wirey... if that's a word. I still don't mind it, but don't be asking my dad what he thinks. Or my husband. Just don't.

Another thing I realised? I've probably been yakking about something a lot of people haven't seen. I drive happily (unless stuck in traffic, then I just drive) all over the city, but a lot of people in our fair city don't.

Oh no, we don't travel to the Southside!

Oh no, we don't go to the Northside, it's too confusing!

Sound familiar?

If you do cross the continents, have a look at the bridge. That is unless you circumvent the city altogether, then no looky at the bridge for you. :o)

4. This is what my vaccum cleaner cord did by itself this morning. Hey, that's a treble clef! Well, almost...it's a bit out, but it's close. I've read a bit of music in my day. And played a bit too. A bit. That's it.

5. The I-wanted-a-photo-of-the-double-rainbow anecdote.

Firstly, it's a double. Lean forward... See it?

Photoworthyness.

So, I was trying to get a photo while driving in the car. Hey, I wasn't driving! The fella was driving. I was photographing, thank you.

Click. Check. Nup, powerlines.

Oh, this looks like a good one. Nup, more powerlines.

Click. Check. Nup, random cars and too much road. And powerlines.

Try again. Click. Check. More powerlines. More random cars. More road.

"The city is destroying nature!" Andrew yelled. Well, he didn't really yell, but he emphatically used the words "destroying" and "nature".

So I took about 11 shots. They weren't great.

In a last ditch effort to get the shot, I leant over towards Andrew, aimed the camera out his window and pressed the shutter.

Hey, not bad. And no powerlines!

And then Andrew noticed the rainbow was above a church. And that it went through the cross on the top. Very fitting in our opinion. Very.

It turns out we got a random shot that's so not.

6. A random card.

An intentionally placed random card.

Decided to slot this one in here since I've been talking about driving, bridges, travelling and circumventing, and the card uses map paper (actual map paper from a road atlas), and that's a coefficient correlation if I ever saw one.

Yes, that's what we're all about here at Punch Art Fun...Life and Craft - Living in Harmony Together. :o)

Random facts about the card:

The blue background cardstock is Arctic from Bazzill. One of my often-used cardbase colours. Besides cream. Cream is my most-used. And most-loved.

The scallop is this big fella from Sizzix. It's 4" high. Nice. I've showed you it before, haven't I?

The lined paper is just lined paper. I used some lined scrapbooking paper, but you could rip a page out of a notebook and just use that. If it's too thin, just add another layer of white card behind. Easy. And cheap.

And because it's thin, punch a couple of layers at once to avoid ye olde paper jam in ye olde punche.

The paper is Sundowner Motel Road Map from October Afternoon. I call it Esky paper because my grandparents had a metal esky with that pattern.

The button has Dimensional Magic on it. Hey, did you see the Esky paper at the top? Told you today was random!

And the card front is 5" square.

Well, I think that's it for Random Monday!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to my normal, non-random self. Must be this weather, I tell ya.

Have a great day and stay cool!

:o)