Some of the 4 x 6 cards

Hi there, 

Yesterday I talked about my scrap space and the 4 x 6 journalling cards I've been making, so today I thought I'd show you them.  

Remember they're to fill a spot in my album or to journal on - I scrap using divided page protectors.

They were also just fun to make. 

The reason I made them in the first place?

Because when I was scrapping I was getting stuck on the photo, make something, photo, make something process. 

Sometimes I just want to stick a few photos in, journal a bit and walk away. 

Without any 4 x 6 cards made it was impossible because I always had to make something, find something or whatever. Not what I wanted to do basically. 

I decided I needed some 4 x 6 cards in my stash to just pull out when I needed them. 

Ended up making stacks of them over a couple of weeks.  

So sorry for the photos - they're a bit dark. 

There's a lot, hey?

They're so colourful - love 'em.

Some of the cards will be used as is.

Some will have something else added to them if needed at the time.

They were all made with the October Afternoon Report Card and Schoolhouse lines. They worked so well together.

Anyway, enjoy!

Might be time for me to go and slip a photo in or two...need to. Want to. Bye now.

A Scrap Quiz - What's on your scrap desk right now?

It's not really a scrap desk, it's a scrap cabinet - but the name doesn't matter, it's where I scrap. 

I snapped these pictures recently - because I felt like it I guess. 

I like seeing goings on through the lens...it's interesting to me. 

Here's that small cabinet that was only supposed to be there for the summer last year - we're coming up to summer this year and it's still there, so I guess it's a permanent fixture right now.

I like it. It works and I need the space on top to store things on.

The actual scrap space is a bit of a mess - not to me though of course.

Lately I've been taking each October Afternoon collection separately and making 4 x 6 cards out of them to slip in my scrap album as I need them.

Some are for decoration for when I need to fill a spot or want something pretty, and some are for journalling on.

It's been fun to just use the papers I love so much and build up my stash of bits to use at the same time.

Above I'm using Schoolhouse and Report Card together because they're both school-y lines. A lot of the OA lines coordinate.

And I've discovered a real love for yellow and grey. I remember saying that combo would never come into my crafting kitchen, but it has through these collections.

You can't see it very well, but above there's a yellow and grey striped paper - it's on the bottom half of the card with the tartan in the corner.

I love that paper - you can see it here. It's called No 2 Pencil - very fitting.

The whole Schoolhouse collection is here. It came out two years ago? Back then they had six papers per line, but now they're doing nine and 12.

Sidewalks has nine.

Farmhouse and Sasparilla have 12. Holiday Style has 12 too. Nice.

They used to have a die cut paper with each collection, but they've ditched them for more regular papers. Boarding Pass is the last line to have a die cut paper - the stamp one.

I like the idea of having more patterns in the collections, so that'll be fun.

And what I'm most excited about is that they've bought back the journalling cards. I've miiisseed those. Oh, weelllcome back.

They're perfect for my scrapping albums because I either stick them to a 4 x 6 piece of paper from the same collection or just put them in the little pockets in Becky Higgins' page protectors (I use any and all brands).

Looking forward to using some Little Flyers too - so cute.

Anyway, back to the desk as it is - fun, messy and a really, really, great space for me.

Andrew stood there the other day and was impressed. He liked how it all worked and how I could see the telly and everything else all at the same time.

He gave it a thumbs up. So do I!

A little story - custard

I realised the other day that I take weird photos sometimes. 

They're not weird to me because of course I took them for a reason, but still, weird to others that might see them on my camera. 

One of the weird ones is this one...

Yes, that's a custard powder box and container.

The back story?

When I make custard for us, I make it from the packet. I do not like the stuff that comes ready made from the supermarket - never have.

Thus the custard powder.

I've never stored it in anything except for the box until just over a week ago.

We were cleaning out the Tupperware (it's been a year since I moved it all out from the big drawers in the kitchen in an effort to sort it out and it was time to say yes or no once and for all) and I came across this jug, so aptly labelled for my needs.

It's my grandma's container.

I mentioned recently that she passed away over a month ago.

After 16 years of having custard powder in the box, I now have it in the container, thanks to my grandma.

I just wanted to take a photo of it is all.

And I'll put the photo in my album when I get it printed, so when I see it I can:

~ Be grateful for her for just being her.

~ Remember her whistling in her kitchen.

~ Smile.

Again I'm reminded of how good photos are. Printed photos, that is. I like 'em when they're printed, in an album and tell a story as a whole.

Love you, Grandma, love, love, love you. Thought of you the other day when I saw some jelly beans too...ah, the memories. So good.

Christmas 2011

This week's unveiling of October Afternoon's Holiday Style sparked a hunt for what's actually out there (or expected) in the way of Christmas papers this year.

I mean, hello, Holiday Style is definitely top of the list, but I thought I'd check out some other lines too.

It still seems a bit soon, but I'm used to working in advance with these things. I once taught a Christmas class in August!

Anyway, I've been hunting...and finding some fun things. I do love Christmas papers.

This year I'm feeling like it's going to be a traditional year - ie. red and green. Actually, it might be red and cream. We'll see. Sometimes how it goes is dictated by what's available.

Projects I'm thinking of:

1.  Glittery flowers using the Fairy Dust Glitter - need a small pattern on the paper for those.

2.  Projects for PC.

3.  December Daily - I've done one for the past three years and this year I really want to do a Smash Journal type one. I reeeeaallly wanted the Smash people to put out a Christmas Smash book, but it wasn't to be. My plan at the moment is to make the blue one into a Christmas one - I'll make it work.

Okay, onto the Christmas collections...

Firstly, Echo Park.

(They've only been in business since April 2010, but boy, have they made a splash. The kicker has been their kits, I reckon. So easy to just buy the kit. They also sell their papers in 6 x 6 pads now too)

Check out all their collections here. Just saw another new one called Times and Seasons - very heritage/vintage.

This is my favourite of their Christmas collections - I'm really feeling the green/red/cream. That snowman's cute.

See the rest of the collection here. Love the extra bits - the die cuts, journalling cards, stamps - too. Fun.

I especially love that the base is cream. Oh, cream. Luscious.

I'd buy this collection for cards, general scrapbooking and for the glittery flowers because it's got tight patterns that work well for die-cutting. The 6 x 6 pad would be good for that too.

On 6 x 6 paper pads - they've been around for a while, but they've really hit their stride now. Everyone's making them (except October Afternoon who does 8 x 8, which I'm very happy about. OA, don't change...please!).

Check out Nancy Nally's article here on the benefits of using 6 x 6 papers for die-cutting.

And check out this Paperclipping Roundtable episode where Noell, Nancy and Tammy talk about the 6 x 6 paper pad phenom.

Here are Echo Park's other two Christmas releases. The Dots and Stripes collection makes total sense - a basic set. They've released Dots and Stripes in other colours too.

Next, Fancy Pants.

Their Christmas collection is called St Nick - very traditional.

See the entire collection here.

I know I mentioned this above, and yesterday, but it has to go in here too.


October Afternoon.

October Afternoon Holiday Style.

Yep, chevrons are in. I'm seeing them everywhere.

Love the red and cream. Love the Santa.

Next, Webster's Pages...

This line is called A Botanical Christmas.

What I like about this line is the 4 x 6 cards on that page up there. Perfect for card fronts with a big glittery flower in the white space.

(No, you wouldn't post the cards - too expensive. They'd be 'give to' cards)

Check out the rest of the collection here.

Discovered any favourites yet?

Next, My Mind's Eye.

This collection is called 12 Days of Christmas. 

I like the bold stripes and peppermints. The die cuts and bits are nice too. And the base is cream. I'm noticing a lot more of that. 

I'm not into decorative brads, but I reckon I'd buy these - they're nice. You can see the brads and the rest of the collection here. 

They have another collection too - it's Lost and Found Christmas. Very vintage. 

Onto Crate Paper. 

Their collection is called Peppermint. 

My favourite papers are Candy Cane and St Nick (I've blogged about them before).

See the entire collection here. 

Basic Grey also has a collection called Nordic Holiday. You can see it here (on video). 

Graphic 45 has a collection called Christmas Emporium. It's available in stores already (good for them, at least someone's getting it out early). I used this collection for those Christmas cards I did. The ones with the glittery flowers. 

Bo Bunny is releasing a collection called Father Christmas. 

Well, I think that's it for now. Of course other brands are out there...there are so many. 

My favourites are Holiday Style (of course) and Season's Greetings from Echo Park. And I think I'd give the My Mind's Eye one a whirl too. 

It'd be nice to see them in real life, hey? Sometimes that makes a huge difference. 

Anyway, enjoy the virtual shopping - all this stuff is going to start hitting the shops soon if it hasn't already. 

Ho Ho Ho!

PS. Totally off the Christmas topic, but well worth the watch, check out Stacy Julian's 'Happy Colours' episode on My Craft Channel. She's a legend, that Stacy, I totally get her on the colour thing.

October Afternoon Holiday Style

They've put all their images up on their site - woo hoo!

I've just realised that Holiday Style comes from Silver Bells...one of my favourite Christmas songs. 

Lots of fun patterns (see below) as well as the gorgeous B side ones that are useful for anything and everything. 

Chevrons are in!

Two Chip N Sticks! 

Love both...seriously, look at all the vintage images and I love the first one too. Don't make me choose.  

And the famous Miscellany pack. Vintage bits again. Look at that LP!

Of course they have the journalling cards and the 12 x 12 sticker sheet (LOVE the Santa stamps in the corner) and all the other fun stuff. No rubber charms, two Chip N Sticks instead. 

Anyway, it's all fun!

Love it all and can't wait to get some of it when it comes out....

Check out the entire line here...have fun looking. 

:o)

Videos to check out

Hi there,

Just wanted to point you to some videos today. There are lots more around the place than there used to be.

How to make Washi Tape by Nichole Heady.

2011 Holiday Card Series by Kristina Werner - 25 videos! She started on Monday.

My Craft Channel - Lots of shows on lots of topics. It went live on Monday too - check it out.

Enjoy!

The cute stamps I bought from Etsy

Thought you might like to see them! 

They're so cute...honestly, gorgeous. 

And how dooooes she hand carve them?

Amazing. 

So what we have here is a DSLR on the left and a regular camera on the right. 

The rubber is yellow on the regular camera because I stamped it already and my ink stained it a bit. 

I also bought the heart in the speech bubble too - know how I'll be using it...just to add to the scrap pages. 

Ha ha, was only having a go with them and didn't notice until now that the camera is saying that it loves me. 

I'd love it back if it came to live at my house :o) 

The stamps don't have a cushion in between the rubber and the wood, so I put my paper on some thin foam (like fun foam) and stamped on that. Apparently it gives a better impression when you do that.

It does and it did.

Ah, yes, and just for fun I thought I'd try a glittery camera. 

Stamped it in Versamark and put some Pralines & Cream Fairy Dust Glitter on it. 

So gorgeous!! 

I don't know if it's going to be permanent or anything (I don't know much about these things), but I'm definitely doing this again and putting it in my book (scrapbook, that is). 

SO FUN.

Thanks, Olga, for sharing your amazing talents with us. If you do a typewriter stamp, let me know!

You can check out her shop (called Cupcake Tree) here. It's so worth a visit. 

You can get personalised things too. The dog one with 'Cody' on it would be cute. The kitty one is cute too. And the bacon and eggs! 

:o)

Things I've learnt recently...

....or have been reminded of or have known for a while and just realised again...

1. I'm slow to accept new technology. 

Blogger has just moved over to a new interface, and even though I had the choice to stay with the old one, I forced myself to move to the new one and accept the learning curve that came with it.

2. It's worth paying the money to get your oven professionally cleaned. I will do this for the rest of my life if I can.

3. It's also worth paying the money for sticky tape that actually sticks. Cheap is cheap.

4. I drink more water when I use a little cup. Big cups put me off.

5. You can have all the routines in the world, but sometimes your body just says, "no".

6. I didn't realise how much of a team Andrew and I are until I had to go to a family event on his side of the family without him.

We always do that kinda stuff together, so it was weird doing it solo. On the same day (craft show Saturday) he was on a full day out with his work without me and he said it was a bit lonely at times. Yep, a team. A couple. Us.

7. The only way you'll ever deal with anything is to face it head on, see it for what it is and just walk through the pain of it.

Yep, it hurts, but denying it makes it worse. And as the Lord said to Joyce (Meyer), "Yes, it's the reason you are the way you are, but don't let it be your excuse to stay that way."

8. I am very unimpressed by things that don't do what they should like brand new dvd players that stop working in the middle of the movie you're watching.

9. Real tennis balls bounce a lot more and are more fun for the dog. Thanks, Dad.

10. That I know when things are right and when they're not.

I named our new chooks Hilda, Pearl and Ruby, but days later I knew Hilda wasn't her name. I knew it'd come eventually and it did after options like Jasmine, Rose, Rosie and Rosemary were tossed out too.

I waited and it popped into my mind one afternoon.

(I'll admit that previously I did look at her and say, "What isss your name, girl?")

Queenie...her name is Queenie.

I was going to be Natalie Louise, but Mum and Dad said I didn't look like a Natalie Louise. I looked like a Debra. And it actually wasn't my name until I was 27.

I was Debbie my whole life - and still am to my family and friends (that and Deb) - but when I left school teaching I started to be called Debra as you do by people that don't know you very well and they call you by your formal name.

It stuck and that's how I'm known now. I call myself that, I introduce myself to people as that, I am that. I love the name, it's me. Just took a long time to be called it.

Andrew calls me Debra too - no one else in my family does. He's not allowed to call me Debbie, no way! He gets a big hand slapped across his mouth to stifle it if he does. Just sounds weird coming from him...

So, that's my list. It's a random one, but there you go.

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This post was inspired by Angie's New Things I've Learnt Lately post.