Baby Girl Card

Hi all,

Finally ... I used my Imagine machine! I whipped up this baby girl card for a friend yesterday. I used the Nursery Tails cartridge. Very simple, very easy.

Once I get time to play again I will do something a little more ... well, just more.

Have a good weekend,

Lisa

Stampin' Up! Convention Swaps

Hi all,


I attended the National Stampin' Up! Convention in Melbourne last week. I had such a wonderful time (even though Melbourne was sub-arctic cold and wet the whole time), and I really enjoyed spending time with my oldest friend who attended the Convention with me (not OLD as in old .... you know what I mean!). Mauz is actually setting up her own blog as we speak so I am keen to be able to link to her in the near future - she makes lovely, lovely cards.


I made 153 "swaps" to take with me to Convention and I swapped every one of them. I came home with an absolute bag full of new ideas. My word those ladies all made such an effort - there were brooches, earrings, notebook holders, cards, etc... just fabulous stuff.


Here is what I took with me...

The acetate cards. Almost exactly the same as I made for the wedding. 

These seemed quite popular as swaps so I am really glad I made them.

A couple of little handbaggies made out of the Scallop Envelope
Bigz Die and Hostess In-Colour patterned paper.

Bookmarks ... one with butterflies

... and one with a flower

I am still working on my display for the wedding expo this coming Sunday. I have a business name and business cards, now I just need to finish off the examples and I am all set. One of my friends is coming with me to the expo bless her cotton socks. I am still a little wary of this new venture, but a new road has been placed in front of me and I would be silly to not head in that direction and see where it takes me...


I hope everyone is having a good week so far. 


Lisa

The Wedding

Hi all,

So, going back over the last couple of weeks I will start at the beginning ... the wedding.

We all had a great time. Hubby was the best man, J was the flower girl, and I made all the paper stuff. We had such a lovely day and the function place - Peel Manor House - was wonderful. It all looked so gorgeous and the day flowed really smoothly ... and Miss J danced until 10pm (she was having an absolute ball so we let her stay up just this once) 

Here are a couple of photos of J and the tables all set out. I made heaps of butterflies to decorate the tables, but they decided to only put three on each table and lots of silver heart sprinkles, which did look nice.

I am quite impressed by how it all turned out. One thing I did find out and learn from was that the white butterflies on the acetate name cards do not show up as much on a white tablecloth. 

Lisa

Home again

Hi all,


Sorry I have been MIA from the internet ... I went to the Australian Stampin' Up! Convention in Melbourne. 


I made 153 swaps and "swapped" them all, coming home with sooooo many awesome crafting ideas. 


I will blog my swaps and other whatnot during the next couple of days ... I now have to get ready to display my wares at this Sunday's wedding expo.


No rest for the wicked!


See ya,


Lisa

The wedding card - Explosion Box

Hi all,


We are home again after having an awesome time at the wedding (we stayed overnight there). The bride was beautiful, the function place was wonderful, much champagne was consumed and everyone had a great time.


Miss Jessica was flower girl, so I will have to show you some pictures of that too.  


So, to the "card" I made the bride and groom. I was so excited that this worked out. It was much simpler than I thought. I got the idea from many places, but took the most inspiration from Tammy Tkach at My Inking Place, she did such a great version of this card/exploding box. I also used YouTube and watched various instruction videos.

I finally tied a bow that looked pretty good - that does not happen very often.

I used Stampin' Up! paper and ink for this project, cuttlebug embossing folders, and ribbon from my stash.
Butterflies on the cake are made using the Butterfly Wings Embosslits Die from SU! The other butterfly is from the Hannah Montana cricut cartridge.

I made the cake by cutting three strips of 1" white paper, popping them through the
Sizzix Big Shot using a couple of different embossing folders. I made three different sized
circles, then cut out the circle tops with the cricut using Sure Cuts a Lot 2
basic shapes and embossed them. 

The Function place - Peel Manor House - is having a wedding expo in a coupe of weeks and they actually asked me if I would like to show my wedding invites etc... at the expo. It would mean getting business cards and professional fliers done and deciding on pricing - and it would also mean I would have to commit to making cards for a living for a while (if anyone employed me that is). Going to have to think about this one.


Now I need to go off and have a nap - too much party not enough sleep!


Lisa

I made something special - sneak peek

Hi all,


Just a quick one as I have to get ready to go out soon ...


I made a "card" for the bride and groom. I have been looking at lots of examples on the internet for ages, but doubted I was going to be able to do it. I gave it a go yesterday (always better to leave these things to the last minute!). I will show you the proper pictures tomorrow, but here is a sneak peek...

Another cool thing is that the bride has asked the photographer to take photos of all the bits and pieces I have made. Once I get the pics I can change the ones on the blog for the better ones.


Do any of you out there make Wedding invites etc for a living? I've been asked to do another wedding and maybe show my stuff at a "wedding fair" (good grief and freak me out). I did this lot for a friend so I would not know what to charge or if I'd make any money out of this sort of thing.... does anyone have any advice for me? Is it something I really want to get into?


Off to have some fun,


Lisa

The Wedding - all the rest

Hi all,


As promised here are the photos of all the wedding day items. I made Favour Boxes (to be filled with three chocolates, menus, butterfly table decorations and place cards/thankyous. 


With all the items I used Stampin' Up! Not Quite Navy cardstock, Christina Re patterned paper, and thin & thick SU! vellum.


Favour Boxes
The box designs are from SVG cuts - Charlottes Favour Boxes. Maybe I am blind, but I could not find a simple box with a separate lid in any of the Cricut cartridges I own (and I own quite a few). The butterfly is from Spotlight.

Menus
The menus are based on the 'Save the Dates' I made way back, with the writing printed on the thin vellum. I have already decided what I am eating for dinner ... yum! 


The menus are just under 1/3 of an A4 piece of paper each so that we did not waste any paper.

Butterflies
These are to scatter all over the middle of the tables. The bride will also put little silver hearts all over the place as well. The butterfly is the same one we have used all along and is from the Hannah Montana cartridge ... I love this butterfly. If you had told me even a year or so ago that I would get a thing for butterflies, and would spend quite a bit of time imagining all the designs I would like to use them on, I would have called you nuts.


I used the thick SU! vellum for the butterflies as they will 'stand' better. The layers are the shadow base in dark blue, then patterned paper with design and vellum cut the same on top. Finished off with pearls. I cut all the butterflies at 2".


I  ruined a few sheets of both the vellum and patterned paper getting the pressure and depth just right... note to self - cut those particular butterflies upright on the mat, do not use Design Studio to spin them around to get more to fit on one page as this trashes your paper and your sanity!!  

I am going to have to get a better picture of the butterflies on the day.

Place card/Thank you 
I am most proud of these place cards. I was messing around one day with ideas for swaps for the Stampin' Up! convention and the bride saw them - they were so much better than anything else we had thought of up to that date. The bride asked that a Thank you be placed on the inside of the card so that all the guests were thanked on the day of the wedding.


I used the thick Stampin' Up! clear window sheets (acetate) as the base, then stamped the butterfly on with white StazOn ink. The butterfly is from the SU! 'For Everything' stamp set. After each step in the process I covered up the acetate with the blue "skin" packaging that comes with it as the acetate is very easily scratched and finger print smudged.


The acetate is 3" x 6" folded in half and the blue matting is 2.5" x 2.5". The patterned paper just smaller. 

Is it clear that these are made of clear acetate, not blue?

To cover up the messy glue on the name card and the thank you that can be seen
through the clear acetate I placed a blue square the same size on the back.

So, basically this is what I have been doing in my spare time the last few weeks. As I stuffed up the first sixty of these I now have my first lot of swaps for the SU! convention - only about 90 more items to go (and I have to think up two more different designs for them) ... aaarrrggghhhh! 


I don't HAVE to have the swaps, but I am really keen on swapping ideas with as many people as I can.


Hope you are all having a good weekend,


Lisa

Finished!

Hi all, 


Well, I've finally finished ALL the wedding stuff ... yay! I have now started on the swaps for the National Stampin' Up! convention in two weeks. I am hoping to make 150 swaps in three designs, but we will see. I have already made 60 swaps due to stuffing up the wedding name place cards, so I'm doing OK.


I will post the pictures of the wedding paraphernalia tomorrow - I've been busy watching the Royal Wedding. The bride looked stunning, but my word the bridesmaid - WOW. What a gorgeous dress (and I'd kill to be that tall and skinny)


Have a good one,


Lisa

The Wedding Invitation

Hi all,


I haven't posted for a week as finishing off the wedding stuff and doing family Easter things took up all of my time.


Here is the invitation I made for the wedding. The pictures do not do it justice in my opinion. I used all the same materials again with the addition of Christina Re Luxury Invitation Wallets. Love these things, so handy. I also used the Christina Re "Paper Style" wedding stationery ideas book for my inspiration. If you live in Australia and need to make wedding invitations this is the book to get.

Invitation with "white side up" glued to invitation wallet and RSVP with "blue side up" popped into the pocket for future reference. Yet again I kept the reject so it is not perfect - note to self: take pictures of things before you give them away. Might steal original back from bride and take better photos. (I have also blurred details)

Outside of wallet. Such a lovely design.

Horrid colour photo but you get the idea .... Finished invitation with ribbon. Buckle is from Favours by Vivaldi.

I am now on the home straight. Bonbonierre boxes, menus and name/thank you cards made, done, finished. I am just finishing off the butterflies for the tables and I am done!! Hooray. 


Lisa

The Wedding Part 2

Hi all,


Well, as with lots of weddings involving two Navy people - the wedding date had to be changed (our wedding had the same problem).


So I made "Save a different date"s. 

I made them 10.5cm wide and  10cm high. I used Stampin' Up! paper, Christina Re patterned paper and a butterfly punch from my stash. Excuse the fact that the patterned paper is not sitting exactly right on the backing - this one was one of the rejects. I am soooo very pedantic when it comes to placing everything on just right (or as best I can).




Oh no .......


Just to add entertainment to my day - I just realised I made the name place/thankyou card combos slightly incorrectly ... drat!! On the lucky side I can use the mistakes as some of my swaps for the National Stampin' Up! convention in mid May. On the down side I have to start again and do another 60 from scratch, and I'm waiting for a shipment of the blue paper - please come today Mr. Postman I have to have these finished by Thursday!


See ya,


Lisa

The wedding part 1

Hi all,


I am close enough to finishing all the wedding stuff that I can start showing you all that I have done ... starting with the "save the date". Because a lot of people are coming to the wedding from interstate these were sent out quite early to allow people to save up and organise their holidays.

I used Stampin' Up! Night of Navy for the base, Christina Re Patterned paper (so, so nice), and vellum over the top. It is one third of an A4 piece of paper. I printed on the vellum, added a butterfly from Hannah Montana and some lovely little Scrapbooking Bitz pearls. 


Simple, simple as I normally do. 


Hope you all had a good weekend.      


Lisa                                                                                        

Yes, I am odd - I follow F1 racing.

Hi all,


Well, it is time again for another Formula 1 race this weekend .... huh? I hear you say .... Yup, my hubby and I follow F1 racing (and the Aussie Mark Webber in particular). We started watching it when we finally got a free to air sports channel about two years ago and amazingly the races are on live and it's usually prime time (8pm) on a Sunday. F1 used to be shown in the dead of night here in Australia and I am not THAT keen.


It is not really even just the races that I enjoy -- it is just a whole "boy soap opera" thing. The rivalries, the tactics, and a few new rules each year just to add a little twist to the game. 


... and yes, all my family and friends think I'm nuts... but hey, it's fun and something hubby and I can enjoy together, and my brother follows it so I can chat with him about it too.


Hubby and I also love watching Iron Chef (the original Japanese version with dubbing/subtitles) and no one can understand that either. 


So do you have a sport you watch or an activity you participate in that makes everyone you know think you're a little silly/crazy/weird?? I really love to know I'm not alone out here!


Lisa

My excuse - my husband owns a boat.

Hi all,


OK, so after months of tossing the idea around in my head I have finally purchased an Imagine machine from Miss Mandy. 

It all looks a bit stark now sitting on my desk but I took some time yesterday to watch some Youtube videos about the Imagine. I also calibrated and updated the Imagine, and updated my Gypsy and my new Expression... and finally linked all the cartridges I bought in the last six months to the gypsy. (I have dreams of getting more comfortable using my Gypsy instead of Design Studio)


I had a project planned to show off my new machine but after my first project cut I realised I had not quite got the calibration exactly correct ... so I will try again today. Hopefully I will have something to share tomorrow. 


The reasoning I always use to excuse buying more craft paraphernalia is that my hubby owns a small fishing boat, and lots of rods, reels, and lures for said fishing ... unfortunately with the recent upgrade to my craft room and new equipment I may have made us almost equal in the hobby stakes (in HIS mind) - ooops. Now I have to pump out some serious projects to justify my hobby. My dear hubby has been catching (and releasing) some really big bream lately ... bless his cotton socks. 


Hmmm, maybe I can butter him up by doing a fishing scrapbooking layout! I just saw a great fish image on the Twinkle Toes cartridge .... hmmmmm. 


 ... I am now off to play.


Lisa

Mother-in-Law birthday card

Hi all,


I took a break today from the wedding stuff and made a birthday card for my MIL. She goes to bingo every week and I tried to make a card that reflected this ... I am not too sure if I was too subtle though ... find out tomorrow when I give it to her I guess.

I used Stampin' Up! coloured paper and soft suede ink, and Simple Stories "Life Documented" patterned paper. I used my new black cricut expression and Beyond Birthdays cartridge to cut out Happy Birthday, and then used a Gelly Roll glitter pen to bling it up. The ribbon is from a Bo Bunny wraps pack I bought from my local scrapping shop yesterday. I am trying to use items out of my comfort zone more often and ruffled ribbon and buttons are up there on my list.

Lisa

Easter Tree

Hi all,

Just after Christmas I bought this "holiday tree" on sale. I had thought I'd decorate it for Valentine's Day, but did not get around to it... and I recently realised that I was not going to get around to making/decorating easter eggs to put on it either. So I went to Spotlight and bought some already decorated eggs and let Jessica to decorate the tree. As you can see she enjoyed the whole experience, and so did the stuffed toys!

It is very funny as Jessica is treating it as a kind of Chrissy tree and has put all the easter eggs she won at the school raffle today around the bottom of the tree.

I have become a big lover of decorating for Christmas, but I don't know if I have the enthusiasm to continue decorating the tree for every "occasion" during the year but it might be good fun as we go along.

Do you decorate for all the special occasions during the year or is there one special holiday you focus on?

Lisa

I've been naughty

Hi all,


I've been plugging away at the wedding stuff, I will have to do most of it after J goes to bed at night, but I'm getting there (hooray). Pictures to come. 


I did take a quick break though ... and bought something good from Mandy at Scrappy-Go-Lucky....

It's a black cricut expression!!!

I could not help myself. I've seen all the different coloured cricuts getting around and my old expression was getting old and sad looking. I kept an eye out for a colour that would suit me ---- NOT PINK!! I will be keeping my old E though and using it for various things I have planned for later later this year. I have also ordered something else from Mandy, even more exciting (even more exciting you ask - yes, even more exciting) .... hopefully it will be here early this week.


Do you have a coloured Expression? Or if you don't what colour would you buy if you could?


Lisa

Crazy Weather

Hi all,


Here we are in the second month of Autumn ... apparently! It was 32C here yesterday and we went to a local fair in the morning, then Jessica spent some of the afternoon here....

Crazy, crazy. It is supposed to be cooling down on Thursday  - I will believe it when I see it ;)


I do not have any craft to share with you today ... I am in the middle of doing wedding things for a friend - Bonbonniere boxes, name/thank you cards, menus and table decorations.  I will post photos of all the things I have done soon (including the "save the date", "save another date" and invitations). 


I also have to admit that I have nothing made to show as I have been busy reading a MOUNTAIN of blogs! Momo put up a post a week or so ago and many ladies with relatively unknown craft blogs have put their links on the post (including me). It's been a great way to discover new and amazing craft blogs I never would have found otherwise.


I will make and blog other things this week, as I'm sure I will need a break or two from the wedding stuff.


Have a good one,


Lisa 

Better...

Hi all,


After posting this morning I was inspired to try again with my hubby's card.... this is much more what I had imagined.

I used the following cartridges:
Trees - Camp Out
Boat - Going Places
Pond and grass - Create a Critter
Sentiment - Beyond Birthdays


I used Stampin' Up! paper for the card base and pattern paper. I then used assorted scraps for the images.


As you can possibly see I made two of each image and popped them up on SU! dimensionals. I also used a fish that had been in my stash for ages.


Ahhh, now I feel better. 


Lisa

Birthday Cards

Hi all,


I made a birthday card for my hubby the other week. It's ... nice I guess, but it just was not quite what I had imagined, and I did not put a sentiment on the front so it just looks a little plain. I just do not seem to have a handle on the whole "blokes" card thing. I actually sketched a whole new design on a bit of scrap paper last night so I might end up making him a "just because" card this weekend.


Anyway, here's the original card....

Paper by Stampin' Up! and image from a Child's Year Cartridge. 

I also wanted to show you a really great card that my real life friend Mandy (from Scrappy-Go-Lucky) made me for my birthday. She has used a seriously cute new Stamp she has for sale in her store and and coloured it in with her Copic Markers. As I have mentioned before Mandy and I are both hopeless at resisting any craft bling/cool paper/tools/etc... and she loves my coffee, so she has really nailed it with this card.

Lisa

Liebster Blog Award

Hi all, 


I have had such a lovely surprise this morning. Carrie over at Paper, Glitter, Stamps has given me a Liebster Blog Award. Please go and visit her and check out her creations.

The Liebster Blog award is given to bring new blogs to light. It's a great way to share blogs that might not otherwise be seen or ones you want to share with others. As a recipient of this award you must do the following:

1. Thank the giver on your blog

2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award

3. Copy and paste the award on your blog

4. Reveal your 5 blog picks

5. Let them know you chose them by leaving them a comment

My Blog picks are all lovely Aussie ladies:

1. Tracey at Trace Elementz
2. Shelley at Shelley's Land
3. Tereesa at Up Late 2 Create
4. Chloe at Chloe and Her Clip on Koalas
5. and Mandy my usual partner in (buying too much craft crap) crime over at Scrappy-Go-Lucky

Please go and visit them and check out their wonderful creations.

Thanks so much to Carrie!

Have a great week,

Lisa