Australia Post - 70kms in 12 days

Hi all,


Just had to tell you a funny thing that just happened to me.


I needed some silver heart buckles for some wedding invitations I am doing, so I rang a place on the other side of town. They had them in stock, but I was too lazy to drive the 140 km round trip to get them, so I got them to post the items on the 9th of September. 


Normally it takes just overnight for something posted in Perth to arrive here.... NOPE .... about 10 minutes ago I was on my way out to my car to drive to another shop on the other side of town who also had them in stock and I looked in my letter box. Finally they arrived!!!!  It took a record 12 days for this parcel to travel 70kms from their post office to my letter box. 12 blinkin' days!!! aaarrrrggghhh. I have had parcels travel from America to here in less time.


But hey, now I can get to making these invitations.


Have a good one,


Lisa

My finger problems.

Hi all,


I have been doing some playing around with Cricut Craft Room. I have to say that for my Expression I love it. I have done a few projects that I'll show you next week and I love how they turned out and how easy CCR was to use... especially for finding the images I want to use.


But, of course then I got too full of myself! I was so excited on Friday night when I was trying to design a card for my niece. I worked out a few things with the Imagine functions on it and was so chuffed ... then I tried to print/cut it out ... apparently I am not nearly as smart as I'd like to think I am!

I cut and pasted, divided images and deleted parts, mixed around the little girl and gave her  a different dress .... but somehow it all went wrong. The yellow around the Happy birthdays - not supposed to be there. The extra arms on the girl - not supposed to be there.... and my poor old Imagine machine could not take the pressure. It printed, then spat the mat out the back and did not cut it.


I started all over again and tried different things and pressed buttons a little more carefully. I also learned how to get rid of the border around the girl. Unfortunately CCR is not working right now so I cannot find out whether I got it right the second time, but I have learned a few things not to do!


Hope you are all having a great weekend. It is raining and very windy here at the moment and at 3:10 am this morning I heard the loudest clap of thunder I have ever heard - the pictures on my bedroom wall shook!! Poor Jessica came running into our room and stayed until morning. I am a bit of weirdo though - I love rain and storms - we have too much drought in this country and so rain always cheers me up.


Well, I am on a roll creatively so I'd best get back to it. I only have an hour before I have to pick up the little one from her Nanna's house. Have a good one,


Lisa

Map of Australia on Cricut Cartridge

Hi all,


I have just been playing about with Cricut Craft Room and I found a map of Australia (ummm, minus Tasmania)! 


It is on the Phrases cartridge and under the label "Canada Day". There is also an "Australia Day" icon.


Nice to see a bit of Australia on a cricut cartridge... OK, most of Australia (poor Tassie is always left out).


The rest of the cart looks pretty good too ... Oh dear, another cartridge I "must" get... I was very naughty and bought anther couple of cartridges the other day from Mandy - Flower Shoppe and Sweet Tooth Boxes. The Boxes one will be great for the wedding invitation/papercraft business and the flower one will hopefully help me out with the flowers (I do not seem to be very good at making them). I keep saying that I will not buy any more carts until I use all the ones I have, but I cannot help myself - craft is such an accessory sport! 


I have really been making such an effort to use my carts though, especially for cards. One day I will get back to scrapbooking, one day. I am really focusing on the invitation side of things first, to get that up and running, then I can get back to other things.


Yikes, it's 11:35pm, best get to bed.


Have a good weekend,


Lisa

Nothing to show yet

Hi all,


I've been working away at a whole bunch of birthday cards (I may get ahead yet), and a wedding invitation prototype ... unfortunately since the birthday cards are for people who know about this blog I cannot share them just yet.


I am very happy with what I have been doing so far - it looks like I've got my mojo back. 
Yay!


Unfortunately I was looking at my list of things to do last night and oh.. my.. dear.. me.. I have a lot to do.


I am looking after one 13 month old and two five year olds today, so I am guessing today is not looking good for getting things done. Tomorrow, however my daughter is going to play for the morning with another child's grandparents so I can get on with things then.


Have a good weekend,


Lisa

Home again

Hi all,


Sorry I have not posted for a while. We have been doing some sorting and re-arranging here at home (a massive spring clean if you will), then I went to Canberra to help my Dad sort some stuff in his new home. 


I have not crafted for a while either. I am hoping to get some things done this weekend so I will have things to show you soon. The list of craft things I want to do/promised I would do for others just seems to get longer! 


Ah, my poor husband ... I am such a list person. He will tell you that I have "lists of lists"... how rude! :) My excuse is that if it is not written down it just does not happen, my memory is just that bad. I am hopeless too - I write a list for the shopping and forget to take it - and of course I then buy nothing we need and a whole bunch of stuff we don't, then I have to go back a second time - sigh!


Are you list person? Or do you have a steel trap mind?


Lisa

Got my Kathy's Cozies

Hi all,


I just received my Kathy's Cozies in the mail.... my machines are going to look so good and be dust free ... yay!!

Covers: Big Shot, Gypsy, Cuttlebug, Expression and ...

Imagine

I also got Kathy to make me a cover for my old Expression, but it is in a cupboard right now, so no photo.


I am also hoping to ask Kathy to make me a cover for my paper stacker in the same material --- as soon as get off my backside and measure it.


Check out her blog at http://kathyscozies.blogspot.com/. You will love her stuff.


Lisa

Cricut Craft Room

Hi all,


Oooh, very exciting email today - I have finally been invited to be a beta tester on the Cricut Craft Room. This is going to be fun!


I have been wondering how long it was going to be before they finally release Cricut Craft Room to the general public and have been logging in hoping they would invite me to play.


I shall let you know how I go - I shall do my next few projects with the CCR and see how they turn out.


Have a good one,


Lisa

Bright Birthday Card

Hi all,


Here is a bright cheery birthday card I just made for my Aunt. I had these flowers in my stash and they were just calling out to be used....

I am now up to date with my card making ... until Saturday. If I do not get the next card made ASAP I will be behind again, sigh.


Lisa

First Birthday Card

Hi all,


Well, it was a super busy weekend. 5th birthday party and swimming lesson on Friday, another 5th birthday party and gymnastics lesson on Saturday, then a first birthday party on Sunday ... way too much junk food and cake in just three days! Jessica had a fantastic time at each party, but we were all tired by bed time last night.


Anyway, here is the card I made for the one year old. I used the Create a Critter cartridge. I used my Design Studio to join two kennels together to make a card, then cut out extra parts and did some layering. I have seen a lot of layering lately on the blogs and I thought I'd give it a go. It really does make a difference to the look of the card - I was quite chuffed with the result.

I am now late with two cards and have best get my act together on another two to get them to the people on time -- I keep saying each year that I am going to keep ahead of the birthdays -- but it has not happened yet. I have never been know for my organisational skills, but you never know.... one day.


Have a good week,


Lisa

Butterfly birthday card

Hi all,


This is something I did a while back. Just a cute little birthday card. 


I have had to go back through all my books just to remember which cricut cartridge I used. The answer is Picturesque.

I used Double Mates paper for the card, and used patterned paper from
my stash to back the butterfly cut outs.
Stampin' Up! birthday wishes stamp and a bit o' bling finished it all off.

Hope you are having a good week,


Lisa

Discontinued Paper

I swear it is a conspiracy against me ... everything I like in the supermarket or at the paper shop is discontinued in the blink of an eye... my FAVOURITE blue toilet paper, the BEST pad thai sauce, the YUMMIEST salt reduced corn chips, the most GORGEOUS Cristina Re patterned paper ... sigh...


As you know I did a whole bunch of wedding paper craft for a friend. I fell in love with the patterned paper (and butterflies for some bizarre reason). Anyway, I have just had a couple who loves the stuff I did and wants the same ... but of course the paper is discontinued... as always! 


I have chased enough paper down to do the wedding, and I understand the need for designers and manufacturers to always change their product and have the next best "new" thing ---- but why is it always my favourite thing?


Have you had this problem? What is it that you love that has been taken off the shelf?


Lisa

Place Cards

Here are some pictures of a recent job I did for a bride. 52 place cards for her wedding.


Simple but elegant...

I made all the cards and then the sisters of the bride were to thread the ribbon through and tie them on to the gifts the guests were receiving.

Lisa

Baby girl card

Hi all,


I have had such a busy week, but then I look around and I cannot see that I have achieved anything. Hate it when that happens.


Mind you I have been distracted by Miss Jessica's craft .... Jessica had her birthday party at "The Fairies" on Sunday 

Jessica and the Rainbow Fairy (and some spare chocolate on the face for later on)

Many of the little kids bought her craft projects as presents. So there I have been most of the week face painting, helping with foam art gluing, sand pictures and this stuff called Glitter Lava putty. Jessica decided Mummy needed her face painted too - a tiger - she actually did not do a bad job.


I did accomplish one more thing this week --- our home phones have been driving us crazy --- they are 10 years old and we have changed the rechargeable batteries a couple of times, but lately the phones will only stay charged for a couple of minutes, then turn off. I got so sick of it yesterday I went out and bought new phones. Yay! One thing off the list of things to do.


In craft news:
One of the girls who grew up in my street had her first baby the other day (so very exciting) and I have finally sent her this card in the mail (had to buy some little gifts to go with it), so I thought I'd show you all.

I used metallic silver and whisper white SU! paper and Pretty Pink
Double mates paper. Duck and bling from the stash. 

Cartridges: 

"It's a girl" - Holiday Cakes

Onesie - Wall Decor and More

Coathanger and pegs - Straight From the Nest

Inside washing line - Wall Decor and More 

Finally, finally I am starting to use a few of my MANY cartridges. 


I tried my best to go with the bling with the front of this card (ie pink glitter paper) but it was so garish and not baby girl subtle at all so I had to abandon the idea. I am really happy with this result.


Lisa

Birthday Craft

Hi all,


I finally got back into the crafty mood this week --- pushed in part by my daughter's birthday. I got all crazy and decided to decorate her cake (not so crazy as to try to make the cake itself as our oven burns the bottom of things). I have never tried to make a children's birthday cake before so it's not too bad for a first attempt.


As always I learned a few things I will do differently next time I make this style of cake... icing whiter, try something different for the turret cones, bigger/taller cakes, etc... Hopefully she still likes princesses next year!

Hmm ... might need to see to straightening those turrets too!

I also made the card. We gave a similar card to one of her friends and Jessica liked it that much I thought I'd make her one too.

We had some family and friends over for morning tea/lunch... sausage rolls, party pies and cake. All easy stuff.


Now for a little sit down and a coffee then tonight I start making 50 place cards for a wedding ... the crafty fun never ends!


I will post the other things I've done over the last few weeks soon. 


Take care,


Lisa

Home Again

Hi all,


Well, we are home again. It was not just actually a bit of family time with my hubby on leave ... we actually went for three weeks to..... 

Look kids ... Big Ben, Parliament!

Tower Bridge

the United Kingdom!


Hubby was born there but his family emigrated when he was young and they only visited once when he was 7 .. and I have never been there before. 


So much history there, it's amazing. I grew up in a city that is still less than 100 years old (just) and so when we visited all these places and the guides casually would say "this building dates from 1545 or 1127 or ... (something similar)" I was absolutely gobsmacked. We visited castles, museums and seriously old ships (HMS Victory of course). 


23 days is such a short time to "do" England, Scotland and Wales, especially with a four year old, but we soldiered on and saw quite a bit.


The UK ... green, green, green ... after so many years of drought in Australia it was amazing to see so much lush green grass and foliage in the middle of summer.


So, now I am back and need to get stuck into my craft again ... but of course it is now school holidays so it is going to take a little while to get things done.


However, it's good to be back,


Lisa

Family Time

Hi all,


Just to let you know I will not be posting for a couple of weeks. My hubby is on leave from work and we are going to spend some family time together, so my craft will have to take a back seat for a while. 


I will be back soon.


Have fun,


Lisa

First SU! workshop in ages.

Hi all,


I have been so busy doing other things that I have not done a Stampin' Up! workshop in ages... until this last Saturday. My friend Lynn was gracious enough to be the hostess and we all had a lovely time.


This is Lynn's thank you present for being a hostess... and of course I put chocolate in it. 

I used the Box #2 Bigz Die, Chocolate Chip and Real Red  paper and ribbon. Stamp set is  "Eat Chocolate"

And this is the project we made. Many of the girls changed the design around - punched a hole in the top of the box and threaded the ribbon through the top (I had not thought of that, will do it next time - it was a great idea). I love craft, everyone can do their own thing and it all looks fabulous!

Fancy Favour Bigz Die, choc chip and real red paper,
"Eat Chocolate" stamp set, whisper white grosgrain ribbon.
Also, Decorative Label XL Punch and Basic Rhinestones.

I've had a few people come over and discuss Wedding Invitations, so fingers crossed they come back and want me to make them. 


Have a good week,


Lisa

40th Birthday Card

Hi all,


I made this card for my cousin today. Her birthday is Saturday. I am hoping the express post envelope arrives at her place tomorrow - I know, not going to happen, but hey, I can dream.


I used heavy black cardstock for the card base and reverted to type with the glitter (the red and both layers of the 40 - the picture does not show it well) ... oh how I've missed my glitter!


40 is from Birthday Bash and "over what hill?" is from Life's a Party. I tried to use my Imagine for this card, but I wasn't happy with what I chose. I am going to have to trawl YouTube and other blogs for instructions and ideas for the Imagine.


I am going to do my best from now on to do a design inside the card as well. I've seen some absolutely awesome cards lately with this feature and I think it's such a great finishing touch.

Have a great one,


Lisa

An imagine card and a confession

Hi all,


Well, another busy week in the real world. I did get the chance to do a little craft this week - I made a card for a friend ... OK, well two cards. I made this card first, but it just did not seem right for a grown-up.


I used the best friends imagine cartridge for the front and the card from Plantain Schoolbook (p79) as the base. I used dimensionals to lift the picture and the balloon. I am really having trouble making things I really like with the Imagine. Half my trouble is that the images on the imagine cartridges are just not my scene. I am going to have to do more with images from the old cricut cartridges and the colours and patterns from the new imagine cartridges.


Anyway, in the end I made a tried and true design for my friend's card and gave that to her. I will keep this other card for someone younger. We went to the pub to celebrate yesterday arvo. The kids played on the grass outside and the grown-ups socialised and supervised from the patio. Lovely time had by all and we were home by 7pm.

Now for my confession ....

I would love you all to think that my craft room looks like this all the time...

But unfortunately some of the time it looks similar to this...

My area

Jessica's area

So now you know what I will be spending today doing!!


I really do need to tidy again because I don't seem to work very well when the place is messy. Probably why nothing much craft wise got done this week.

Hope you all have a good week,


Lisa

Wedding Expo

Hi all,


I thought I'd tell you how I went with the Wedding Expo the other week....


I took my friend Lynn with me - if the invitation thing takes off we might go into business together. Lynn is going to make some "medieval wedding" invites too as that is something she is interested in and also a popular wedding theme here. 


We only had a small table in one of the marquees outside as we are only beginners. Here is a picture of our display.

I already had examples of all the items I made for Beck's wedding, so I made a few matching invite/boxes/place cards and a couple of "paper cakes" to add to the display. I am actually a bit disappointed that I did not take individual photos of everything before the event ... the ground and the marquee were very wet from the cool night we'd had so all the invitations curled up -- arrggghhhh. They flattened out as the day wore on but I was disappointed by the look. Not as pristine as I'd like.


The pink explosion box at the front was a hit. Every time a group came over to look we whipped the lid off - a little bit of wow factor for the day.


I was very happy with the number of people who took business cards on the day. We haven't had any people contact us yet, but hopefully when time comes that they need invites or other paper wedding doodads they will think of us.


Right, so the month of May is done:
the wedding is done, 
SU! Convention is done, 
Wedding Expo is done


hmmmmmm ... what now??!! 


Time to crack on with some new projects - I've got a list a mile long here somewhere......


Lisa