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

Versatile Blogger Award

Hi all,

Yikes, I've been off line for a while. When I actually had some time to blog last week blogger would not let me in for three whole days!! Argh!!

Anyway, on to much happier things ..... I have been honored with the Versatile Blogger award by Paula from pvcreations2010.  You absolutely must go visit her blog.  She has some really great projects.  Thank you so much Paula!  The rules for the Versatile Blogger Award are to tell 7 things about yourself and honor 15 bloggers with the award.  Well here are 7 things about me.

1. I grew up in Canberra but now live in Perth, Western Australia
2. I am not one of those women who received the ability to perform the "wifely arts" - I am a poor cook and cleaner. I do not sew or knit. Luckily my husband knew this all prior to the wedding so he did not have his hopes too high. 
3. I miss my old job, but I am now so busy I wonder how I ever had time to go to work.
4. I enjoy reading... My kindle is the best present I ever got (and the worst present ever as I now read too too much). 
5. I have two earrings in one ear and one earring in the other ... spent my early years trying to be different.
6. I prefer music of the 70s and 80s ... ABBA, Neil Diamond etc
7. I love the fact that there are no rules with craft - you can do everything in your own 'style' and be happy.

Now here are the 15 fabulous blogs that you have to check out... in no particular order.  You will be amazed by all their work.  Enjoy!

1. Jayne Designs
2. Bling Queen
3. Lauren's Creative
4. Believe Dream Create
5. Going Buggy
   
6. Stamperific
   
7. Paper Punch Addiction
   
8. Under a Cherry Tree
   
9. Paper Maine-iac
   
10. Inky Fingers
    
11. Moe Creations
    
12. Meesh's Pieces
    
13. The Serendipitous Scrapper
    
14. Houses Built of Cards
    
15. Helen's Craft Haven

Thanks again Paula,

Lisa

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