Always on the lookout for a good shadow......but been sooo long since I have played along.
Originally only going to post the second pic until my daughter spotted the "bird-like" shape in the top shadow. Interesting how even though the shots were taken one after another, that a slight variation in position can result in such a different shadow!
Or is it only us that can see the bird, lol??!!
Check out the other Shadow chasers at Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.
Happy Sunday
A :0)
Well any hopes of getting my BAS done and lodged by the 28th (yesterday) were definately out of the question!! So head down and bum up today to get it somewhere close to being finished to take to the accountant for lodgement "later" were going along pretty well until my hubby decided to go and visit son number 2 at work (baker/pastrychef apprentice) to bring home something yummy for smoko
And of course what is a delicious big piece of cheesecake without a nice big cup of coffee to go with it, and a leisurely chat on the verandah soaking up the sun just for good measure!!
I must say it really was lovely, we went halves in one piece which was plenty, not too sick and sweetly.
Back to work, only to then be pestered by the kitten, who did everything she possibly could to attract my attention. She came in through the window and danced around my keyboard.
She then proceeded to walk over the piles of paperwork and explored the filing trays, I actually thought they might have become a comfortable place for her to have a little sleep!
The printer was the next place, sitting on the paper tray, luckily she is very light and not heavy enough to do any damage!!
She then thought if she sat and looked fairly well behaved she might get the attention she so desperately wanted ;0)
and of course she won out in the end!!
Miss Shrimp @ 5mths old.
So then it was back to work again until it was time to watch the Lady Gaga Monster Hall show on TV, and that was the end of my working day!!
Bas NOT done :0(
So, so, so LOVED the Lady Gaga show - I think she is just awesome, I love her songs and her creativity, do you?
Have a fantastic weekend
A :0)
Well hello, how long it has been since I have blogged!! What can I say....life has been ridiculously busy, something had to give and without realising just how long it had been, 9 months have passed!!
Lots and lots has inspired me of late out there in blog land and its got me feeling the creative buzz again. :0)
I have been on a bit of a mission this year to get lots of colour into our home, mainly through my crocheting, which I have been plugging away steadily at. I do have a few (maybe more ;0) WIP's) but the one I thought I would share is my progress on my very colourful big blanket.
Last time I shared it looked like this, 5 different sizes squares to be joined together.
But when I started joining, I was not a happy camper, it just didn't look how I imagined, and so after many months of crocheting I piled it up and plonked it all in a basket feeling a little peeved! Whilst I pondered what to do, a post over at Lemonde de sucrette's blog last year on her big monster granny blanket, got me to thinking that maybe I could change my blanket to something similar. So I set about making my squares all the one size, and that was 8 rows, with the 8th row being my joining as I go round. So now it looks like this and I am very happy with how it is coming along.
It is a whopping 12 squares x 12 squares, big enough for a queen size bed with overhang, and at last count I have 57 squares to go.
I love that I can do anything, any colours I like.....no rules!! No 2 squares are the same, I don't give a lot of thought to it. I just sit and crochet and crochet and crochet!! It was on the back burner a bit while i was working on another blanket, but I was inspired once again by Lemonde de Sucrette and her Monster Granny challenge that she has running at the moment and I have been kick started into getting stuck into it again. Even though it doesn't really fit into the challenge guidelines, its given me inspiration to get it finished once and for all.
I look forward to sharing some other creations with you soon.
thankyou to the lovely ladies who have been concerned about my missing in action, its lovely that you think of me :0)
bfn
Annette :0)
Hello, hope this finds you all well and having a happy day:0)
I'm pleased to say quite a number of things made me step outside my comfort zone on the weekend and try some new crocheting tutorials. For anyone wanting to try crocheting or coming back to it after many years like myself, the internet is a haven of ideas and inspiration and a place where some fantastic souls take the time to photograph and explain patterns in easy to understand terms - I for one am very grateful for this and am sure I am not alone!
Now while my blanket I showed you HERE is well on the road to being sewn together, aghhh what a job :0(, I wanted something else to go on with in the meantime, something that is transportable that i can take away to the caravan or to the river, or camping etc, cause lets face it, a heap of granny squares pinned onto an old chenile beadspread and rolled into a big sausage isn't the most favourable thing to be lugging around!!
I also wanted to use 8 ply cotton as it is starting to get hot up here and i didn't want to be mucking around with wool. I vaguely had a thought that i would try hexagons that were white on the outside with coloured centres and that I could join together as I go. (this join together as you go idea is very appealing to me at the moment!!;0). I also was very taken with these squares that I came across HERE
So I toddled off to Cairns on Saturday, (childless, which is much easier as everyone has an opinion on what colours i should use which is fine but can result in confusion at times!) and I came home with some lovely Heirloom 8 ply cotton that I am very happy with.I probably did things a little bum about cause at this stage I really didn't have a definite plan nor did I know how much to get - big guess, but I wasn't coming home without it!!
So when I got home and was checking my emails, a new post from Alice at CROCHET WITH RAYMOND had these gorgeous African Flower Hexagons in it, and with all the links to the patterns!! (Definately a sign don't you think ;0)). So off I go to follow the links and after 2 unsuccesful tries I managed to pull it off on the 3rd one and was extremely chuffed with myself!! These are my attempts below.
and another one in my new cotton....
This wonderful lady from Heidi Bears Blog has put a tutorial on her blog with wonderful pictures and easy to understand instructions, you can check it out HERE.
Well I also like Lucy's hexagon pattern from attic24 you can check them out HERE again with a wonderful photo tutorial and instructions on how to crochet them together as you go.
So now my dilema, which ones to do - i like them both and I have done one of each and am thinking maybe I could do a mixture of both of them. They do measure the same and I think I can crochet them together as I go using Lucy's instructions. What do you think? There are no hard fast rules in crocheting are there?
Oh but then there is THIS WHICH I ABSOLUTELY ADORE, so now I am wondering whether I should mix up my colours.
Oh the indecision of it all is doing my head in!! I have spent the morning crocheting instead of folding the bloomin neverending supply of washing, LOL!!
I also have had in the back of my mind for quite some time that I want to do some squares for Sue over at the SIBOL blog. When opshopping the other day I came across a whole bag of acrylic wool that the lovely man gave me for $3.00 so I have decided that this is what I will use for my SIBOL squares and so I have made a start on those as well this weekend.
I have also seen where you can make the African Flowers into squares, so I thought I might try and do that with my samples and then I can also send them over to Sue at SIBOL (Sunshine International Blankets of Love).
So now I really must go and be domestic :0), thanks for stopping by and for the encouraging words from my last crochet update post with my blanket, they are very much appreciated.
bfn
Annette x
:0)
Hello!! :0)
I cannot believe that almost 2 weeks have passed since coming back from the school holidays, the old feet haven't touched the ground!
Apart from a few seriously wet spells, (6 inches of rain one night) we had glorious weather at the beach. One of my favourite pics is on the last night when we were sitting on the beach for the traditional "cocktail hour" and we had this amazing sky to stare at.....
The sky was a mass of lines from the horizon up and as the sun disappeared the lines became more defined - it was just beautiful.
Well much to the amusement of my friends I managed to get LOTS of crocheting done, it was pure bliss......sitting up the end of the beach under the trees watching the kids play and hooking away ;0)
and I am very excited to say that after lots of ends to finish......
I got all of my squares done, complete and ready to sew together!!
Because of all the different sizes, 5cm, 10cm, 15cm, 20cm and 30cm squares it was a bit hard to sew or crochet together as I went. So last night I finally got around to lying it out on the bed and pinning to a sheet the way I want it to go together - a bigger task than i thought!!
So now I have it rolled up in the sheet and unravel and sew as I go. Being the virgin crocheter that I am, I couldn't think of any other way to do it?
I can't tell you how thrilled I am with the "out there" colour combinations, in fact i would do it again tomorrow with no problems at all!!
I am a little concerned about it going together "easily" as even though all the wool was the same brand and same ply (8) I found that some colours crocheted up a lot thicker or fatter, and coarser than other colours which I really found quite frustrating. Again, being a virgin crocheter i am not sure whether this is normal or not but I am sure it has made some of the squares slightly different in size than what they should be. I counted the rows of crocheting for each size square rather than measuring each one with a ruler.
I would have liked this to be quite a lot bigger and haven't decided yet to leave it this size or to add more, so I will make that decision after I have got this sewn together.
Last day of the week tomorrow, have a lovely weekend.
I am off now to sew while I wait for a chocolate mud cake to cook.
Thanks for stopping by.
Annette :0)
and this will be where we are for the next 2 weeks
at the beach in our caravan - yay!!
I took this photo from our patio with my polaroid sunglasses in front of the lense to see what it would look like and i kinda like it i think!! As you can see its only a hop, skip and a jump to the beach and if you don't want to walk that far you can just sit and look at it all day!!
Perfect ;0)
My laptop will be coming with me but last time I couldn't get any reception so not sure what will happen this time. I may have some serious catching up on blogs to do when I return.
thanks for stopping by,
Annette :0)
A Shadow Shot Courtesy of my sister today!
For more shadow shooters head over to Hey Harriet for fabulous shadow shots all around the world.
Happy Sunday :0)
Some published work to share
A project generously sponsored by Kaszazz.
Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend .
Annette :0)
We have been trying out some new recipes over the last few weeks that I thought I would share.
You can find the recipe for Honey Mustard Chicken and Mash over here on The Hanigan Family Recipe Blog.
Enjoy.
Annette :0)
Hello, hope you are having a happy Sunday :0)
I have just learnt after catching up on the Crochet with Raymond blog that it is in fact International Crochet Day, so thought I would do a post on how I became inspired to get back into this craft and with some links that helped me understand and remember how to crochet as I hadn't done it since I was in year 6 at Primary School and that is a long time ago!!
When this issue of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine came out I knew I just had to give crocheting a go again and decided that I wanted the patchwork crochet blanket as the top throw for over our queen size bed.
Its the one that is in the basket at the front of the couch. (Mind you I love all the patterns in this issue!) It just so happened that the wool used was on sale at Spotlight, so Chris and I toddled off to purchase what was required, 13 balls and a hook and all coming in under $20!! I was very happy :0)
So home we came, straight through the door to the lounge, magazine open and straight into it!!
Now the pattern said to make 40ch and join with a sl st to form a ring. Now that makes a HUGE ring and just didn't seem right to me and after much frustration at trying to follow the pattern and not being able to do it :0( I decided to go looking of the internet for help.
That was when I came across Attic24 a delightful blog with the most wonderful crochet creations and even better, step by step with close up photos of how to make all sorts of wonderful things. It was then that I decided I would follow the general pattern from the Better Homes and Gardens magazine, ie use the same size squares and number of squares but with a different pattern.
So I was soon on my way to beginning my crocheting again, sitting in front of the computer with hook in hand and wool ready to go I began using this wonderful Summer Garden Granny Square Tutorial from Attic24. I cannot tell you how excited i was to finish my first square - the kids were pretty chuffed too!!
This was my first square finished, the one in the middle
I know how time consuming writing tutorials are, but when you can see closeup pictures with simple instructions that make sense to people who are only beginning, it really is very much appreciated :0) So thankyou to Lucy from Attic 24 for helping me get back on my road to crocheting!! If you missed you can see my blanket pic update Here.
I was so determined NOT to stray from making my blanket but just could resist no longer and had to have a go at This Bunting Tutorial from Crochet with Raymond, and although it isn't finished I couldn't wait to show you, it is nice to do a different shape other than squares!!
You can see what it will look like Here.
For lots more crochety inspiration go check out i-crochet blog and i can assure you, you will want to go out and start crocheting immediately, so many wonderful links :0)
For a great recycled crochet project check this out at KooKoo, I so want to do this for a big floor rug! I have an idea starting to come to mind.
I really want to give these Teeny-tiny-flowers a go from Attic24, as well as These crochet flowers and leaves and This hexagon how to as well!! Go check them out they are so sweet :0)
I hope your Sunday evening is relaxing, thanks for stopping by and leaving your lovely comments :0)
Annette x
Much to Maddison's delight (well all of us really!) she found this on the tomato vine at this mornings picking :0)
A love heart tomato, cute huh?!
I was going to put some new and old recipes up on my recipe blog today but didn't get around to it and then thought I would tonight, but I can't bare to drag myself away from my crocheting!
I have got the bug really bad, instead of reading in bed every night, I am even lying back on my pillow and crocheting lying down instead of reading!!!
Nearly the weekend yay!!
bfn
Annette :0)
Was the perfect canvas to take some progress photos of my colorful crochet blanket......
I'm really happy with how its coming along, the random colours and sizes. Because i have changed the original pattern and done my own thing, I'm sure when the time comes to join the squares it is going to be a right pain in the *^#!! But I will cros that bridge when I come to it!
Off to do some more now :0)
Ax
A quick breeze in and breeze out at the newest Lifeline Store in Cairns, always lovely, pleasant, welcoming people to greet you:0)
Don't know why but just couldn't leave these buttons behind...
Instantly these became little flowers for me, stitch some pretty little beads in the middle and put them on something....somewhere...sometime, (i will!!)
and these, from the days when we had 2 & 1 cent pieces, how long ago was that? 22 cents each. And we also have 1 more number in our phone numbers now than we had back then. (see on the bottom of the container...am I rambling?)
and the last lot, which are probably my favourite and a little bit bigger than the other floral ones.
They were all supposed to be 5 cents each button but the man didn't want to count them out so he gave me each canister for 20 cents each!! That was only after I insisted that 10 cents for each canister buttons included was far too cheap, and he wouldn't take more than 20 cents!!
and with my current crocheting addiction i just couldn't leave this behind.
the frilly edge and the big flowers sucked me in, i should be able to copy them, love a challenge!! but I would make granny squares and put a flower in the middle of each....and i had better stop thinking about this until I finish the one I am doing now!!
and today was my lucky day, half price on the green tickets and the crocheted blanket had a green ticket.....$5.95 reduced to $2.95! all that work by someone for $2.95, I just had to give it a home!
Already Maddison has curled up and fallen asleep on it in her bed :0)
Off to crochet MY blanket and not think of a new one ;0)
ni night
The guys at Fiskars very generously sent up a couple of the new lever punches to have a play with. I have to say these new lever punches are a great design, very, very easy to push and a great little flap underneath that keeps all the punchouts in a little cavity so they don't end up flying all over the place!
These are the 3 cards I have made so far.
Maddison was adding some stickers to her school book and left the negative part of the sticker sheet lying around, so a perfect opportunity to make some little butterfly stickers!! and I turned them into a card for a girlfriends birthday.
Even half butterfly's can be used on the edge of the card.
Draw some little black dots so they look like they have been flying around.
I also included a couple inside as well.
The next card I started by punching my butterfly's out of the thick silver foil that comes on the top of a milo tin when you first open it. Added on a bit of thick double sided tape in the middle allows the little wings to be lifted up for some dimension.
I used the photo corners to layer the cardstock. The flower is made by using the circle squeeze punches layered on top of each other and secured with a big white brad.
The next card is also using the corner punch but by taking off the corner guide it allows you to punch side by side along a line to create the notched pattern and then using the positive and the negative to make a pocket type card to slide a ticket or some scratchies in.
And this is what it looks like close up, I added a swipe of ink around the edges as well.
I still have some plans for some more samples.
These are another great tool made by Fiskars, thanks guys for the opportunity to play with them. :0)
Annette
Hello, well I was determined to catch up and finish my month for the Fiskars Photo a Day Challenge. As I said in my post yesterday, I have taken pics just not had enough hours in the day to upload etc. And I have followed Kims prompts more than I thought, it seems I did that till the 25th then went off the rails, LOL!! So here are are my last 9 pics for the month.
Day 23 - Home Sweet Home. I have been painting part of our "home sweet home" at the moment so I decided to use a pic of the colours and the inspiration behind the colours which was a set of cards I had published in Stamping and Papercraft magazine using Heidi Grace Paper and Fiskars tools.
It is actually Maddisons room and she would dearly have loved me to paint big stripes in ALL those colours, in fact she came up with all sorts of creative ideas!! BUT we, or more to the point "I" have painted it in the soft lupin, (the Mauve) with very glossy white on the ceiling (I LOATHE FLAT WHITE CEILING PAINT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CLEAN IN OUR CLIMATE!!) and white glossy architraves. The men at the paint shop look at you like you are insane when you tell them you are putting gloss on the ceiling!! Not them doin the cleanin ;0)
Day 24 - Your Favourite Fiskars Tools.
Most of my tools are Fiskars, but ones that I use over and over are my squeeze punches and my clear acrylic stamp blocks as well as my big guillotine......and the list goes on!!
Day 25 - Faces
I just couldn't go past this piece of artwork by Maddison, it sits on my desk, I love all the faces and the bright colours, makes me smile :0)
Day 26 - Clothing, okay i haven't done this one so I have slotted in a pic of my crocheting instead, its sort of like clothing, sits on my lap and keeps me warm while I am doing it ;0)
Day 27 - Your Indulgence. Okay first thing that sprung to mind here again is just sitting at the end of the day with my feet up and crocheting while watching television!!
Day 28 - Your Weekend. For me as well as painting this weekend most of it was taken up preparing my class for Jamiks....
Day 29 - A photo of your choice. For this one I chose a pic of a science experiment the kids bought home from school, they have wrapped soil and birdseed in chux wipes which sit in a cup of water and grow!! They have been sitting on our windowsill and our cat Paris thinks they are a great way of getting her daily grass intake!!
Day 30 - Your handbag. At the moment I am using this beaded vintagey looking hadbag that I picked up at the op shop for $6.00!! I love it, its warn in and soft and just the right size, not everyones cup of tea but i have had so many comments with people asking where I got it from!!
Day 31 - Winter. Funnily enough after hearing on the radio on the way to work this morning that tomorrow is the start of Spring I had been thinking how little of a winter we have had. I wasn't sure what I was going to take until I heard the kids splashing around in the pool at 6.00pm this evening!! Definately a sign that winter is leaving us behind!!
YAY!! A whole month :0) Now I am determined to get my monthly calender pages complete!! (5 months worth!)
Have a great week :0)
Annette x
It has been a mad house here, I have fallen off the bandwagon the last week with my photo a day for August that I have been playing along with. I have been taking photos, but not of the prompts that Kim has been giving us for no reason other than I haven't had the time to jump on the computer check what we are prompted and them photograph and upload!! I have been painting Maddisons room, so have been very focused on doing that rather than sitting on the computer, you know, before you know it you are surfing the www and not getting anything else done, so as hard as it was i left the computer off!! Mmmm not sure what I will do there! Might play catch up or just include my pics I have been taking so I have a pic a day to scrap at the end of August. Its all about taking pics I guess and Kim has certainly managed to get me doing that again :0)
Annnnnyway.......I am off to Tully this weekend for a fun class at Jamiks Photography and Scrapbooking Studio.
Here is a little sneaky peak of some bits, we will be painting, stamping, using rubons, using our packaging as elements in our creations and generally having a good time :0)
Karyn always has a generous and very enticing kit to play with and its the little extras that really get your creative juices flowing :0) There is a couple of layouts for the class and when we chose the ribbon for the class Karyn said she would present it on a cute little dolly peg. i just couldn't resist making it into a real little dolly ;0)
A card or two including using our packaging as elements.
Looking forward to it :0)
Annette x
Day 21 of the FISKARS PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE is something that makes you happy. I always get a buzz when I see yummy stuff come out of our garden, so to walk into the kitchen and see these deposited on my sink direct from the dirt definately made me happy :0)
and Day 22 - something that really bugs me.
Yes I know you can relate but what REALLY BUGGED ME was when my dear daughter informed me waaaayy after it happened, that the largest dog of the house had in fact cocked his leg on the side of my washing basket WITH the washing in it......YUK!!!
Normally I wouldn't leave the basket on the ground but I thought because it was so sunny and the washing was drying quickly I would take the next bundle off the line and add it to the first and bring it upstairs all at once. But because the wee had dried so quick and I was none the wiser to what had happened, I had piled the rest of the dry washing off the line and on the top and got son #1 to carry it upstairs for me, ready to fold.
And you know what you can bet your bottom dollar if big dog did it then little dog would have followed suit!!!!
I cannot type here what I said but I am sure you can imagine!!
So I will leave you with that charming thought of my wee'ed on washing, needless to say I am washing it AGAIN!!
Enjoy your Sunday evening.
Annette :0)
It has been sooooo long since i have participated in HEY HARRIETS SHADOW SHOT SUNDAY that I can't remember!! It was back in the day when there was maybe 15 players, LOL!! Now, my goodness usually closer to 100 players.
Even though I haven't played for some time, you sort of never stop noticing the shadows all around you, even the kids are very accustomed to looking for shadows to photograph.
So while in the kitchen through the week, (when am I not in the kitchen!!) I spied these shadows on the windowsill.
When we went op shopping the other day we came across these little glasses that stand about 7 cms high and for some reason they sparked memories of when my Grandma used to pour a nip of whiskey to make a whiskey and milk (aaaghhh yuk!) drink for my Pa. They looked old to me, whether or not they are I am not sure, anyway we got the 4 of them for a $1.00 and Chris made these tiny little gardens in each one and they sit on my window sill - they are very cute and make me smile everytime I see them. With the afternoon sun coming through the window, they cast some wonderful shadows.
He even put tiny little shells in for decoration!
At the same time I noticed the power cord casting another good shadow.
Visit the lovely blog of Tracy AKA Hey Harriet to check out what the other shadow shot chasers have found.
Enjoy what is left of the weekend.
Annette :0)
Its just about that time of the afternoon to have a nice cold beer and for some reason it just tastes that little bit nicer on a Friday afternoon. :0)
Again I am playing catchup for my Fiskars Photo a day challenge, i am struggling a bit to get photos downloaded every day and the posts done everyday, but still managing to snap some pics each day.
So for day 18 we had your mode of transport.
For us it is the trusty Tarago - great when you have a largish family and whenever you have extras or if reli's come to stay, everyone can fit in fairly comfortably.
Day 19 - your computer
Nothing terribly earthshattering here, LOL, we manage on a laptop.
Day 20 is an abstract closeup...
Instructions were to show texture and all the little nitty gritty bits, not sure if this is what Kim had in mind so I just interpreted it in my own way!! I have texture and shape and I love the green of our freshly picked and cut shallots from our garden.
I have also made these chocolate cakes this afternoon for the customary "Election Day Cake Stall" at school tomorrow. They still have to be iced and little tags stating the ingredients. I like when you get muffins or cakes actually presented like this in the cafes or shops, (with the paper that they are cooked in wrapped around them.) I think they look nice and stops peoples fingers all over them, so I am thinking I might present them like this in the morning, we shall see how we go.....
Enjoy your Friday evening and the rest of the weekend.
Thanks for stopping by.
Annette :0)
Day 16 - Housework...basically it never ends does it?
Day 17 - an animal.....
The lovely Miss Paris :0)
I have managed a few more big squares of this......
So wishing I could start piecing it together....no far too early, still lots more to go......sigh, but I am loving its brightness :0)
Back tomorrow to show you some card shares, with some new Fiskars punches.
bfn
Annette
it has been up here in FNQ, in fact the whole weekend has been perfect! Even at this hour of the afternoon (5.00pm) the kids are just about to jump into the pool.
Day 15 for the FISKARS PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE is a photo of you, no hiding behind cameras or the like, it has to be you in the flesh!! So Christopher obliged and after many photos, we settled on this one.
A la naturale, LOL!! No straightening of the hair and just in sloppy weekend mode ;0) Can't believe we are half way through this challenge already.
Hope your weekend has been as pleasant as ours, have a happy week ahead. :0)
bfn
Annette x
Hello :0) Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!
It certainly is glorious weather up here, although some of the coldest nights we have had in a while.
Well i have been managing to take my pics for the Fiskars Photo a Day Challenge that Kim is running, but just not managing to get them posted every night. So I am playing catchup again.
Day 12 - the "Most Fun" thing in your day. Now this one I didn't check until later in the evening to see what the prompt was so I was a little limited. But I did have some "happy mail" turn up so that will be my pic for this prompt....
It was a lovely surprise to receive 2 of the new Fiskars Lever Punches in the mail, and I'm looking forward to getting creative with them :0) Thankyou Fiskars Fairies ;0)
The next prompt for Day 13 was "Tea or Coffee", while I do like a cup of black tea, I am definately a caffeine girl, and far too much of a caffeine girl according to my husband!
A couple of years ago the family got me a cappucino machine for mothers day, and it gets a pretty good work out!
Todays prompt for Day 14 is "Landscape or Scenery" which is perfect for me today. Annually we have a very important race in our little town The Great Pyramid Race and Country Fair up the "Walsh's Pyramid" and as I sit and type it is actually taking place, there are helicopters flying around everywhere filming and we are sitting on our verandah watching the runners go up and down the 922m mountain..... the weather is perfect, a cool breeze and perfect conditions.
So thats it for me today, have a fantastic weekend, we are off down town for a look see as the runners start arriving back.
And just for the record, yes I have walked up to the top and back, and it was very well worth it for the fantastic view!
bfn
Annette :0)
Hello :0)
Well I have been diligent with taking my photos each day but I just haven't had time to post until now.
So Day 9 is your "diary or calender" or how you keep track of the things you have to do through the day. Nothing exciting here for me just a good old diary that i write everything in and I am also a bit of a "write on your hand" girl! This is how my hand usually looks after a day at work!! I might add, I go crook on my kids if they come home and have written all over their hands, maybe I should practice what i preach ;0).
Day 10 - "Your Morning"..... hmmm, probably one of the most full-on times in a household of 6 and what to photograph for this?? There are many things that make up my morning but the one thing I am always looking at is the clock. Everything has to run by the clock to get through all the chores that have to be done in order to get everyone out the door and to where they need to be on time. Yep and by the looks of this photo it is high time I cleaned the clock, LOL!! Amazing what shows up in a photo!
Day 11 - "Black and White" for this one I chose to use the black and white setting on the camera, and i often find myself gazing out the window at the white steam that billows out of the Mulgrave Sugar Mill, so that is my pic for day 11.
yay up to date and after a day at the sports carnival I am ready for bed.
Drop on over to the Fiskars Blog to see what the other participants are coming up with, its interesting to see everyones different takes on the same prompts.
Thanks for stopping by.
Annette :0)
and didn't post my day 7 pic for the photo a day challenge on the Fiskars Blog even though I had taken the photo and was all set!!
Today's prompt was a "Portrait".
Now I did take a pic of me in the true hold your camera out in front, slightly up (so you don't see my chumpy chin ;0) style, because it was my last day of being 43 and a good opportunity to take the once a year pic right!! Birthdays don't particularly bother me, its just a number as far as i'm concerned... so i will show you that one....
But this is my other portrait one that I am really happy with, Christopher with one of our dogs - "Chase" He can spend hours in the yard with him and even though he looks scary cause he's big and brindle, he really is a big softie who loves all the attention in the world and in particular loves Chris.
I snapped this from the back stairs while these guys were down in the driveway and oblivious to me being there.
......................................................................
Day 8's prompt is "Sport or Exercise" which everway you choose to interpret it.
So I chose to interpret it through watching our kids exercise (a bit naughty, not sure if thats exactly what Kim had in mind ;0)? )but it was while the kids were having a soccer match. Now I actually took this pic on Friday afternoon, cause it is such a rareity these days for all the kids to be home at the same time let alone "playing" together! It was so nice to see them having a good friendly, slightly competitive game of soccer ;0) Maddison and Jesse on the left versing Nick and Christopher on the right and me participating from the verandah behind the camera :0)
Here's the mottley mob, wheelie bins for goals and slight sledging on the side ;0)
So now I am up to date with my prompts and I am off to supervise the cooking of my birthday cake - mud of course and being made by Maddison, we are doing it double because tomorrow is Nicks Birthday and normally we have a mudcake each, but I have to work tomorrow so won't be able to cook it. Its a big birthday week in the house, Jesse on the 5th (yes we had mudcake then too!!) and then me and Nick!
Enjoy your Sunday.
A :0)
Don't you just love a Friday afternoon? I know i do!! The chance to kick back and relax just that little bit more than you do through the week cause you know you don't have to go to work on Saturday, yay, (even though i do like where i work mind you ;0)
Well day 6 of the Fiskars Photo challenge has rolled around and todays prompt is "Your craft space".
At the moment for me i have actually packed away my papercraft into 3 big plastic containers, to have a little break for a while and catch up on some different crafts. I didn't have to think about this prompt very much cause its always lying around on the lounge or in the car if i think i can squeeze in a couple of rows ;0)
Its my crocheting!! Portable craft :0)
And a few more pics, I'm well on the way, but i really still have lots to do.......sigh!
13 Colours in total, mixed up to form any colour combinations. My blanket consists of:
4 x 30cm squares,
14 x 20cm squares,
24 x 15cm squares,
53 x 10cm squares and
104 x 5cm squares.
A total of 199 squares, i have finished 55, about a quarter I guess, oh man I thought i had done more than that!!!!
I had to change the original pattern because it wasn't making sense to me, probably due to the fact that i haven't crocheted since i was taught by my year 6 teacher, who taught the whole class to crochet a doily. Now that I think about it, it was an enormous task to teach a group of 11 year olds to crochet, and it was much more detailed than what i am doing now!! Anyway I can't wait to sew all this together it is a patchwork crocheted blanket but i may have to make it a bit bigger to fit a queen size bed.
When you piece it together you actually show the seam so that it adds another dimension to the finished piece, so instead of sewing with right sides together and hiding the seam, you sew with wrong sides together and show the seam.
Okay I'll stop, i'm sure you are quite sick of looking at my squares by now!!
Tomorrow I will post the links that helped me get back on the crocheting band wagon.
Be sure to pop over to FISKARS and check out what all the other girls are photographing, Kim certainly has her work cut out for her, shes doing a great job collating it all:0).
Have a great weekend all.
Annette :0)
Oooh late tonight, but still made it ;0)
Day 5 of the Fiskars Photo a Day Challenge is "Whats on your Tv". I have done a collage of a show that our 2 younger kids watch, I think it is called "Daisy"?? I just love the pictures, whenever it comes on the kids yell for me to come quick cause they know I love it. I love everything about it, the colours, the characters and the fact that you can see all the watercolour paint marks.
Cute huh?
Short and sweet tonight, my bed is calling. Be sure to drop over to the Fiskars blog to check out everones takes on Kim's photo prompts.
Lastly a big Happy Birthday to DS#2 who turned 17 today.
Happy Birthday Jesse.
bfn
Annette :0)
The road to school that is!!
The prompt for day 4 of Kims photo challenge on the Fiskars Blog is "Somewhere you go everyday" (or almost everyday). The first thing that came to mind is the trip to and from school everyday. This is the 14th year and we have only 2 years remaining until we are finished with Primary School. Its a sight I never get sick of looking up the Mulgrave River Valley as we go over the big bridge.
It used to be a very popular swimming spot but when the new bridge was built last year, workmen spotted a crocodile in the water so since then it has been signposted as "No Swimming, crocodiles Inhabit the area"!! Which is a shame. If you look closely you can see the rocks on the bottom of the river bed the water is lovely and clear.
Thanks for stopping by, pop on over to the Fiskars Blog to see all the other participants take on the prompts, its amazing what a varied array of pics pop up.
I am going to endeavour to update my blog somewhat over the next couple of weeks with some lovely new blogs i have visited, one of my favourite crocheting blogs (Lee you will want to race out to the shops straight away and get hooking, in a crocheting sense that is!!;0).
Hope you have a relaxing evening, i am off to somewhere else I go everyday - backwards and forwards to the bloomin washing machine and clothesline!!
bfn
Annette :0)
Day 3 of the Fiskars Photo a Day Challenge is "In your garden" however you interpret the prompt. So after work - dentist - groceries and home it left me at the time of the day when I do love being outside, when the sun is going down over the mountains. Even if it isn't a particularly pretty sunset with bright colours, I still love the dark silhouette against the fading blue sky. I turn the flash off to keep the palms and folaige quite dark.
I also see it like this from my kitchen window when I'm cooking dinner and find it a very pleasant way to end the day :0)
Its nice getting back to taking pics on a daily basis again.
Have a happy and relaxing evening all.
My goodness, how long has it been? Can I remember how to drive this thing, lol!!! It has been soooo long since I have blogged and I was determined, come hell or highwater that it was going to happen this week!!
I am back into the workforce after being a stay at home mum for 20 years and have been so tired, lol from using my brain again that creating and computers at night (the only time when I get 5 minutes to myself!) were not foremost on my priority list. I must be getting into a bit of a routine now cause after dropping by the Fiskars Blog today I acutually felt like blogging and taking part in the Photo a Day for August that Kim Geling is running, thankyou Kim you have managed to inspire me:0) Kim is posting a prompt a day and there are plenty of girls playing along already, be sure to pop over and have a peek.
So I have just emailed my pics off to Kim tonight and thought i would post them here as well.
Day 1 - food
Pikelets jam and cream that Maddison and I made for smoko. A favourite in this household.
Day 2 - What are you reading?
At the moment I am obsessed with reading anything and everything to do with crocheting!! And at the moment believe it or not, that is my craft of choice!! The pic in the magazine is what I am currently working on and i gotta say I am loving it ;0)
It has been so long since i have done this that i can't even remember how to put the borders around my photos :0( I have deleted the bloomin photo 4 times trying to do it!! So if anyone can refresh my memory I would love to hear!!
I am off to crochet and curious to see what tomorrows prompt will bring.
bfn
Annette :0)
Instead of another layout I have made a little photo stands out of stationery clips (can't remember the correct name?? bulldog clips??? not sure!) using the leftover bits and pieces from tomorrows class at Jamiks in Tully. I remember seeing this idea quite some time ago, but just can't remember where, either bloghopping or reading a mag.
Amazing to think that the flower is made from a piece of paper that started the size of a small dinner plate!!
See you tomorrow :0)
A
Hello :0)
I'm sure some are thinking i have dissappeared off the face of the earth!! Thankyou to those who took the time to email and query whether I was still in fact with the land of the living!! ;0)
I have just been super busy and blogging just took a very back seat.
However I do have some pics to post for the lovely lassies at Tully who are coming to play on Saturday at Jamiks Scrapbooking and Photography studio.
and
this
and
am still playing around with this
hmmm 3 layouts in 3 hours might just be pushing it you think? We will aim for 2 and see how we go ;0).
Hope to see you there?
bfn
Annette :0)
Edited to say: you can check out the tool list by clicking WHAT TO BRING TO CLASS please don't hesitate to email me - [email protected] or ring Karyn at Jamiks if you have any questions. A :0)
ANZAC DAY
by D HUNTER
I saw a kid marchin’ with medals on his chest.
He marched alongside Diggers marching six abreast.
He knew that it was ANZAC Day - he walked along with pride.
He did his best to keep in step with the Diggers by his side.
And when the march was over the kid was rather tired.
A Digger said “Whose medals, son?” to which the kid replied:
“They belong to daddy, but he did not come back.
He died up in New Guinea on a lonely jungle track”.
The kid looked rather sad then and a tear came to his eye.
The Digger said “Don’t cry my son and I will tell you why.
Your daddy marched with us today - all the blooming way.
We Diggers know that he was there - it’s like that on ANZAC Day”.
The kid looked rather puzzled and didn’t understand,
But the Digger went on talking and started to wave his hand.
“For this great land we live in, there’s a price we have to pay
For we all love fun and merriment in this country where we live.
The price was that some soldier his precious life must give.
For you to go to school my lad and worship God at will,
Someone had to pay the price so the Diggers paid the bill.
Your daddy died for us my son - for all things good and true.
I wonder if you understand the things I’ve said to you”.
The kid looked up at the Digger - just for a little while
And with a changed expression, said, with a lovely smile:
“I know my dad marched here today - this is ANZAC Day.
I know he did. I know he did, all the bloomin’ way”.
Lest we forget.
Hi there, hope everyone is settling back into the new term with ease :0)
We had a wonderful couple of weeks at the beach and although VERY wet, we none the less had a fabulous time. Its back to work with a vengence this week so to be perfectly honest I haven't had time to get creative, I do however have some cards that I would love to share with you that were published in the latest issue of SCRAPBOOK CREATIONS NO. 76 (Vol 9 No 1).
For obvious reasons I can't give you instructions, but I can tell you LOTS of my fantastic Fiskars tools were put to good use as well as Heidi Grace Stamps.....
So if any of these take your fancy pop out and grab a copy, lots of inspiration to be found - Scrapbook Creations No. 76.
Thanks for stopping by.
;0) A
A quick share of a card i have published in the latest edition of Scrapbook Creations Vol 9 No 1.
I had hoped to get this into a layout but not to be before easter, definately after.
Egg blowing and dyeing has been in full swing in our house this week and the rocky road easter eggs are made, just waiting to be rolled in hundreds and thousands....yum!!
We must remember to leave the eggs out of the fridge next year, to make them easier to blow empty and I have no doubt that Maddison will refrain from sucking in raw egg by accident instead of blowing it out next time ;0) Thats what the yukky face is all about, LOL!
We are off to the beach tomorrow.
Happy Easter :0)
Annette
Busy, busy, busy.....
Square # 15
Is one of my jars of ribbons, its like the old fashioned lolly jar that sort of sits on its side.
Square # 16
I know, a bit sad when you have to stick the iron and ironing board in there as well, LOL!!
Square # 17
My skiens of DMC cotton, now even though they look HUGE on the screen, they are only in the inch square, so quite tiny, and while i like them being little I get quite frustrated that I can't put tiny little details on them, that I would like to, to finish them off. For instance on this I would like to put DMC on each one, fussy i know, but I like the challenge of doing the little bits!!
Square # 18
The trusty old thongs, pluggers, jandals or flip-flops, many names, but in this house - thongs!!
I am going to have to buy a bigger embroidery hoop tomorrow, so i'm not damaging any of the squares when i move my hoop, 18 down 22 to go :0)
Hope your weekend was relaxing.
Mad house here this week, getting ready for school hols, 3 days to go yahoo!!
Stitched lots last night, but had to have a nanna nap this afternoon cause i was tired from sitting up all bloomin night ;0)
Square # 11, my coloured pencils
Square # 12 My scissors, or should I say one of my many pairs of scissors!
Square # 13 Some paint brushes on my craft desk, bit funny looking but when I asked the kids what they were they knew straight away, so a good sign!
Square # 14
My 39 stitches sewing hoop with the grid for the project and the threaded needle.
yay 14 down 26 to go!!
bfn
Annette :0)
Hello, an update for my 39 stitches, square # 8, is inspired by my class down in Tully on the weekend, its the little album we made, i included a pic of the real thing below, just in case this one doesn't make sense. The kids knew what it was so thats a good sign, LOL!!
I love that you can still get lots of dimension with the sitching, like the little "hinged rings" below on the mini album. Btw, "Floss" is my nickname, just in case you were wondering about my spelling credentials, LOL!!
And this one, Square #9, my Dell laptop, which I guess without it I would not have stumbled across this very project. Really wanted to put the letters on the keys, but you know, it was just TOOOOO tiny;0)
Square # 10 is the bowl of bananas and oranges.
I've nearly finished # 11, am just about to go and settle in front of the tele and sew.
A little "thankyou" to Mel Goodsell for her very kind words, thanks Mel :0), It was while browsing her blog and being inspired by her and Bella's stitching that i decided to have a go, and i must say I am loving it. Can't wait to see everyones FINISHED pieces ;0)
okay Survivor is on, (I am addicted!!) off to sew.
Have a happy night all.
A:0)
Hello :0) I'm back to share some of yesterdays class.
Yesterday was no exception, as we always do, we spent a lovely day together down at Jamiks, I took lots of photos this time, which normally I don't get time to, mmm was I not working hard enough, I had time yesterday, LOL!! I decided to put them into a collage.
I have also put them in an album on the left hand sidebar so you can go check them out just click on the link and then if you click on the photos they will come up to full size.
I just couldn't resist showing you these delectable little beauties below, don't they look good enough to eat!! Well I thought so ;0) They are actually soaps!!
We get very spoilt when we go to Jamiks, Karyn always goes out of her way to add a special little touch every lesson, in this case everyone got a soap and little easter eggs on arrival.
Thanks for another wonderful day Karyn and all the girls and a special thanks to the lovely Lynley who bought orchard flowers fresh from her garden for the teacher ;0)
Hope your weekend was a good one, have a great week ahead.
Ax
No time for stitching yesterday and too tired last night!!
Square 6 and 7 I completed on Friday night...
Its my sewing machine!! Its been sitting on the kitchen table in full view of where I sit and sew, what I love about this project is that you can just freehand sew and do whatever you want, no following charts or anything :0).
And this one....
As well as having a golfing son we also look out onto the golf course everyday as we live beside it, so again where I sit and sew it is in full view out the back door.
And so far
I actually have 5 squares wide by 8 high, so i really need to not be lazy and move the hoop tonight so i can finish off 1 full row I think!!
I'm going like crazy today to get all my chores done so I can get onto sewing tonights square, its something to do with the class we had in Tully yesterday!
I will be back later to share some photos from Jamiks yesterday.
Hope you are having a great weekend. :0)
For more 39 Stitches inspiration, go check HERE
BFN
Annette :0)
Yay its Friday :0)!!
I have 2 squares to share today, I am going to be like a bear with a sore head by the time this is finished through lack of sleep LOL;0)
Firstly the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...
if only :0)
And a little set of French doors, we have alot of these through out our home, though not quite as bright as these...
I had originally thought of putting "welcome" down the middle, but i really wasn't capable of doing that at midnight last night, LOL!!
For more stitching lovliness and inspiration check out 39 squares blog and all the other participants.
Hope you have a lovely weekend planned.
bfn
Annette :0)
oops forgot i was going to share how it all looks so far
I can't stop looking at it, i'm so happy with how it is turning out, LOL.
Thanks for stopping by.
Ax
I finished another square last night....
A little pile of books with book ends, and a pair of specs, which i think i will definately be needing with this teeny stitching and stitching into the night!! It is a bit hard on the old eyes ;0)
Amazing what you can fit into a 1"x1" square!
I also started another square in my quest to catch up, so onto that one tonight, if not before ;0)
For more inspiration check out the 39 Stitches Blog, for some peculiar reason i am unable to leave comments on the posts there, which i find quite frustrating!!
I spent a fair bit of time yesterday getting my 365 twenty ten photos organised, i had started this at the beginning of the year Here, and here and got snowed under and was going to abandon the project :0(. But even though I have missed a few days and some of the pics are a bit ordinary, I think I will continue.
Not sure what I will do with the days I have missed, whether to slot some other pics in that aren't "authentically" (is that the right word) from that day or whether to leave them blank? mmm what do you think?
Okay off to work.
Have a happy day
A:0)
Hello.... hope this day finds you all well :0)
Well i have been a little fidgety lately in the craft department, while certainly not tired of papercrafting, i have just really been itching to get back into some sewing. So after doing some bloghopping earlier in the week and being inspired by Melissa Goodsells gorgeous sewing as well as her daughter Bellas's wonderful Alice in Wonderland Stitchery, and checking out her link to what she was taking part in.
I became obsessed immediately and went to check it out!
You can check it out for yourself - 39 Squares
![[badge.jpg]](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kkBPu23zfIs/S4h_feRxguI/AAAAAAAAIK8/c3y1HHs-aHk/s1600/badge.jpg){kind=icon}
To celebrate her birthday this month Amy is stitching a grid type sampler of 1 inch squares, 1 for each of her 39 years and therefore 39 Squares.
Needless to say, I was instantly smitten!!
To cut a long story short, I went to the local craft shop yesterday and sat up until midnight stitching away.......
Now i am just a tad behind, (Amys square #16 went up today) but thats okay, I will just keep plodding along.
I'm so happy with how the first 2 turned out and have been getting lots of inspiration just from daily life.... its a good thing!!! I've sketched some pics, just so I don't forget and am very keen to get back into the next square, mmmm washing/ironing/bookwork verses stitching!!! I had better behave and not touch it till tonight!!
If you would like to stitch along, you can find all the details RIGHT HERE.
Have fun :0)
Ax
Down to Jamiks Photography & Scrapbooking Studio for a fun filled class of crafting :0)
We are making 2 little books to do with as you wish. One staying within the confines of the little Kaiser book blanks and the other going outside of the confines.
We will be punching and inking and altering our little flowers, of course using the faboulous Fiskars tools, which i will bring with me. you can see a few in the top right hand corner, and just looking at them while i type, i realise i have left out a few more important ones, border punches, zig-zag scissors and twist and flip corner punch. Mmmm think i had better write a list so i don't forget!!
Thanks to American Fiskars Lead Ambassador Rebecca Peck I will also have one of those cute little Fiskars scissor pins that you can see in the bottom right hand corner for each class participant. Rebecca very kindly sent a little package over to the Aussie Ambassadors with all sorts of goodies inside.
We would love to see you, so if you are down that way and looking for a crafty Saturday, give Karyn a ring at Jamiks on 07 4068 0808 or email her [email protected] to book your possie :0)
I hope you are all having a good week.
Ax :0)
Well I do, waaaaaayyy to much for my own good!!
And when you have a son who is doing a baker/pastry chef apprenticeship it makes it even harder to resist temptation!!
Especially when this is what he is bringing home 3 days out of 5 from Tafe....
Thank goodness tafe is only for a month and we are half way through. The above pics are a selection of what has come home, there has been a few others that I haven't photographed.
The bakery that Jesse works at doesn't bake bread, they specialise in pies and pastries so baking bread is a big change for him, needless to say he is doing a FINE job, and I think he has every intention of trying to talk his boss into baking bread when he gets back to the shop!! ;0)
Each student makes between 10 - 15 loaves of whatever it is they are baking on the day and they eat some for lunch, Tafe sells it and they bring home whatever they like.
It tastes as good as it looks :0)
Hope you have had a relaxing weekend, enjoy the week ahead.
Ax
Hiya :0)
Every year our school has a huge trivia night, it is our main fundraiser and raises between $8000 and $10000 profit. A fantasic bunch of dedicated parents and kids put a huge amount of planning and work into the event and thanks to the support and generosity of our wonderful surrounding community our tiny little school of 83 kids reaps the benefits by way of resources for their learning.
This is our 9th or 10th event (can't remember, LOL!!) and this years theme is "Flower Power" and back to the 60's.
So it was out with the Fiskars tools, my 12x12 guilotine, no 8 scissors, microtip scissors, 1" circle squeeze punch and flip and twist corner punch to make some nice BIG FUNKY FLOWERS!!
This one is our donation basket to entice our generous school families to donate goodies for the night. Each round has a winner so we need lots of goodies to stuff some big flower pots full for our prize winning recipients.
We now have to make another 10 flowers to decorate our prize packs with.
Lots and lots of 1" circles for the centre using the squeeze punch.
The petals are made by segmenting a full circle into into 8 pie pieces and then rounding the wider corners with the flip and twist corner punch.
My middle circle is the size of a dinner plate, unfortunately my circle template and shapecutter just wasn't quite big enough, so out with the trustee old no 8 scissors.
and a close up of the middle, i popped the black ones on dimensional tape which is a bit hard to tell in the pic and added some kaiser bling to top it off.
So now its onto the next 10, lucky we have some keen helpers :0)
Have a happy night all.
Annette :0)
Hi there again, well as promised yesterday, here in this post, I have used my layout to inspire a card and thought you might like to see how its put together.
(and no there is NO FELT Lee, LOL!!)
This is a fairly photo heavy post, but I have found in the past that if people get to see the little nitty gritty bits of how something comes together visually, then it is often easier for them to get a grasp on.
okay here we go ;0)
What we are creating, layout on the left from yesterday and the card on the right.
The card measurements are 21cm x 15cm folded in half to form your card. I have used kraft coloured card, you might prefer a different colour. And just a 12"x12" piece for the layout.
The main tools we are using are - The Woodland Shape Template, Utra ShapeXpress with the Fiskars Craft mat, 2' squeeze punch, lace border punch, fingertip control craft knife, you will also need your basic tools, steel ruler, black ink pad micro tip scissors and a sewing machine with white thread. Now if you don't have any of these, don't panic, there is always an alternative, and I will make some suggestions in relation to this as we go through.
1. Use your stamp to stamp on the top and bottom of the card/layout. Below is what the stamp looks like in its entirety. Simply ink up and position on the edge of your page, be sure to put a piece of scrap paper under the edge of your work so you don't end up with ink everywhere.
Now if you don't have this stamp don't panic, try ruling the lines using a black fine tip marker, or doing little dashed or dotted lines, use an alphabet stamp to spell out "life", better still mix and match different alphabets to get the same or similar look. You could even use sticker alphas if you wanted. Parenthesis are easy to draw and colour in or cut out of a piece of black card, or again you may have a stamp, chipboard or sticker that will do the same job. Get my drift, anything goes, you can make it all work by inking it black to pull it together.
Below is what it will look like on your folded card.
2. Next sew around the outside of your card front, be sure to open your card out flat, "duh" you may say, but yes it is easy to sew it together ;0) and yes i am speaking from experience!!
Don't have a sewing machine, you could do it by hand or do faux sewing using a white gel pen and if you want to be really authentic you could use a paperpiercing tool to put your little needle holes in and join them with the white gel pen. I know that is pretty extreme but you know anything is possible and you might not use it here, but one day it will be just the tip you are looking for to finish off a little project ;o)
3. Okay next,tear a couple of pieces of PP from your scraps and sew on the top and bottom give the edges a bit of a sand first and rough them up, soften them with your fingers so they curl as seen in the photo.
4. Next take a piece of dotted organza ribbon and sew it to your card front, just gather it up as you go all rough like.
5. It will look like this below.
6. Now we are going to make our yellow/blue border embellishment. Cut a scallop border using your woodland template side.
Use the ruler and fingertip control craft knife to cut it off into a strip as seen below.
Next use your 2" round squeeze punch to punch out the little notches in each scallop as you can see in the pic below.
Alternatively you could cut with scissors. Give all the edges a light sand.
Cut a thin strip approximately 1cm out of dark blue
Attach to the back of your yellow scallop and secure with tape, give the edge of the dark blue a light sand also. Pop this aside for now and we will get the other pieces cut.
7. Use the Lace border punch to punch along the edge of your floral PP, trim off to about 1.5cms.
Use the sewing machine to attach it to your card, just sitting on top of your organza ribbon as seen below.
8. Now we are going to make our little bunting chain and our bird. The pieces you are going to use are on the woodland template. For the layout you will use the bigger leaf shape for your bunting and for the card you will actually use the birds wing to make a smaller version of bunting, more suitable to your card.
Cut them out using the cutter and template, and then cut them in half as seen below. Cut your bird and assemble him using thick double sided tape to give him dimension.
Note that there are 2 birds on the layout and only one on the card. To get your 2 birds to face each other, you will have to cut one bird on the right side of the PP and flip the paper over and cut the other bird on the wrong side of the paper, that way you will have a little birdy facing each other.
To make your bunting you simply feed through the sewing machine leaving a gap in between so it looks like rope. Alternatively you could attach it to a piece of ribbon with tape or a quick hand stitch, or you could staple the bunting pieces to ribbon.
9. Now that you have your last few elements made you can add them to the card.
After your ribbon and lace border you can add your yellow embellishment on thick dimensional tape to lift it up above the other borders. Then sit your little birdy on top, be sure to add a double layer of thick double sided tape so he sits up nice and proud ;0)
10. Your bunting can be draped across as shown and again adhered with thick mounting tape. Note on the card I had some extra little bunting pieces left so I added them just under the birdy as well, didn't want to throw them out after all that hard work, LOL!!
I also cut a flourish from the yellow paper, a bigger one for the layout and smaller for the card and just poked it under securing with tape.
To finish off just add your pearl rhinestones and journalling in brown zig writer in your stamped journalling block and above your bunting if you are doing the layout.
The one thing i didn't photograph was the word "talk" on the layout, I simply drew the word onto the PP in pencil and cut it out using the microtip scissors, gave a light sand around the edges, voila!! Instant original title!!
If you want closeups of the layout pieces you can check out the post HERE.
Goodness, are you still with me LOL!!
Well hope you find the time to have a play or that you may have learnt a little something new.
If there is something i haven't made clear enough or you have any questions at all, be sure to shoot me an email or if you have time to have a play we would love to see. My email addy is [email protected] .
bfn
Annette :0)
PS. forgot to mention that the paper pack I used was Finleys Estate, by Cloud 9, you may still be able to get your hands on some.
THE WOODLAND SHAPECUTTER TEMPLATE IS AVAILABLE IN LINCRAFT IN MARCH, SPOTLIGHT IN JULY AND AT WHOLESALERS NOW!!
Ax
This is what I have been playing around with the last couple of nights, photographed this morning as promised :0) If you want to read more about what its about you can check it out over on the Fiskars blog HERE.
With the wonderful tools that we crafters own, making our own individual embellishments really is very simple and quite theraputic ;0)
So if you are curious on how I made the bits and pieces on this layout, pop by the blog tomorrow and I will show you how. I thought I might just adapt this layout down to a card, so i will photograph some steps and you can have a go to if you like. I will post on the Fiskars blog as well as here.
Have a lovely weekend all
Ax :0)
Yes i know it has been a while, thankyou all for your emails and concern, all is well as a whole, just ridiculously busy, you know how it is right? Gina, M.Kate, Brigitte and The Tully girls, I will catch up with you all soon, sorry I have been slack!! Lee, your comment last night made me finally pull out my finger ;0)x
So I am engrossed in the winter olympics, love seeing people be the best they can at something and man these guys and girls are GOOD, no they are GREAT!!! We spoilt ourself on the weekend with a nice new 106cm plasma screen, which after watching TV on a little tiny portable is really quite a thrill for us!! So I can sit at the table and play with paper and watch and see everything at the same time - even better, everyone else has fallen asleep on the lounge, so i can channel surf at the same time and even better than that - I can eat my chocolate without having to share ;0)!! (well one block of chocky doesn't go far between six people!!)
On a creative front, I have just finished a project for Stamping and Papercraft and it is in the mail today - a huge relief for me, it was proving to be a struggle, but in the end i was very happy with it, unfortunately I can't share yet.
I created a layout last night and just finished it, will photograph tomorrow and share with you over the weekend, it was nice to do something for me and I didn't use any photos, just wanted to have a play.
Next is on to creating my class for Jamiks Photography & Scrapbooking Studio in Tully. In fact I might just pull that all out for a little look tonight to get the creative juices flowing.
If you a in the area we would love to see you for a class, just give Karyn a ring to book your seat, the next class will be on Saturday 20th March 2010.
I have been lucky to have quite a bit of work published of late and will share some with you...
This card was one in a set I taught at Paper Possibilites last year and was published in Scrapbook Creations, just recently.
and this one was for Ngaires Top Ten in Scrapbook Creations, you were to gain inspiration from your favourite artist or style of art, so I chose grafitti or street art, whichever way you like to look at it. Had fun doing this, lots of paint and ink on the credit card to smear it on and a favourite photo of our eldest son Nick and his mates Steven and Ross, they were born 10 days apart and have been great mates throughout their lives.
I might call it a night, i have more to share but you are probably all falling asleep by now ;0)
Have a great weekend everyone and thanks again for taking the time to stop by, for those of you who blog, I promise i will stop by real soon and say hi.
Ax :0)
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