The reno..... nearly over

Hi everyone, I'm back after such a long long break (said more than a little sheepishly). The last 12 months have been consumed by living through a major renovation which, if I had written this post last week, would have delightedly said is all behind us now. 

BUT at 2am earlier this week some loud cracking sounds woke us and we realised that part of our bedroom ceiling had given way (think Chicken Little). Today we welcome back  the tradies to remove and rebuild our ceiling. A shame the room had only been painted 7 weeks ago. Sighhhh....

 The best part about the reno for the whole family (and not just me!) is that finally all eating surfaces are now clear of my craft "crap". I have been totally spoiled and indulged and have my very own retreat at the far end of the house (with its own key lol).

Unsurprisingly, my new craft room rapidly lost it's tardis-like qualities as I collated nearly all my stashes into the one room. Heaven forbid my husband try calculating the monetry cost of my long term obsession - I could see him watching (with some amazement, or was that horror) the significant quantities of paper, rubber, canvases and the like proceeding past. 

However my long suffering younger son will have to suffer a tad longer whilst my mixed media collection overstays its holiday visa in his wardrobe until I free up some more room (I  have "generously" left him 1/4 of his wardrobe for his own use!!!).

I have also managed to spill over into half the adjoining rumpus room which the younger generation foolishly expected to be theirs 24/7. This is where I will be holding my classes. Now in case your wondering, the colour scheme in the new wing looks remarkably like Sahara Sand and Real Red! That's me, rather chameleon-like in red in front of the red doors. You could say I am in a red phase at the moment.


My creative therapy wasn't entirely neglected over the last 12 months, just my blog posts. Over the next few weeks I look forward to sharing some of last years creations with you (and hopefully inspire you). I participated in 2 rounds of ESAD Secret Sister Swaps, and am involved in an ongoing monthly ATC swap. I certainly enjoyed making (and receiving) them. Of course there will be plenty of new creations too!


There we go - it wasn't hard to post at all! Let's see how long until my next one. Many thanks for visiting and I promise my next post will have some inspiration for you AND in the very near future!
Cheers, Jenn

Sale-a-bration Play

Hi everyone

Had a bit of time this weekend to play with a new box of goodies which arrived earlier in the week, including my sale-a-bration freebies (sprung! - put in a $400 order and got 4 free sets, in addition to a hostess level 1 set and another $40 of free product sighhhhh).

25 January to 31st March is a great time to purchase Stampin' Up! items as it is "Sale-a-bration time". You earn a free stamp set exclusive to the sale-a-bration for every $100 you spend on anything in either the 2009-10 Idea Book & Catalog, or in the current Summer Mini (also available until 31st Mar). The more you spend, the more you get free! If you host a workshop generating $600+ sales during this time (excluding gst, p&h), you will also get a free set. You don't even need to host a workshop - I accept orders via email or over the phone (I will ring you for your credit card details - don't put them in your email). There are 4 exclusive sets to choose from. Click here to check them out.

I personally wasn't particularly excited by them until.... I saw Danielle Daws' stunning crayon resist cards using the flowers from the Happy Moments set, and I can assure you I have had a long happy moment playing with this set all weekend! It was the colours Danielle used which grabbed my attention first, and from there I was inspired to create some cards a wee bit different to hers. I made up one A4 sheet using the method outlined in her tutorial and the same colours - So Saffron, Baja Breeze, and Mellow Moss. Then I punched out 2 different sized squares of flowers using SU's larger (3.5cm) and smaller (3.2cm) square punches. I mounted 3 of the larger square flowers onto a 6x10.5cm strip of Basic Black cardstock, and punched the 2 longer sides with the Spiral Punch to turn it into a film strip. Mounted that onto A6 textured Baja Breeze base card.

Not being one to waste lovely colourful paper, I filled some of the empty areas around the stamped flowers with "Happy Birthday" from the same Sale-a-bration set using Basic Black ink. I used the Word Window punch to punch them out. I mounted one of these onto the base card using dimensionals to give it some height. Finished it off by trimming an extra flower head attached to some leaves from the remaining scraps and mounted it with dimensionals on top of the same image so that the leaves slightly overhang onto the black film strip. Too easy!

For my 2nd card I used a So Saffron A6 base card. I mounted 3 of the smaller punched square flowers onto 3 larger punched squares of black cardstock which made a 25mm border. I think black makes a terrific border colour. I always arrange (and rearrange) the elements before sticking them down to ensure I like the look. Just as well, as I thought this card looked a bit stark with just the 3 squares on it. I inked up my favourite background stamp - En Francaise - with S.Saffron, and stamped the front of the card. I made a mental note to use my stamp positioner next time as it was ever so slightly not quite straight (no one else may notice but I can - even from 50 paces!!!). Then I stuck down the 3 squares, followed by the same birthday sentiment used above.

I had lots of leftover black mounted flower squares, so I whipped up a couple of really simple 7cm gift cards using a 14x7cm piece of Mellow Moss cardstock. Quick, cheap and easy!

I also punched out some butterflies using the new Butterfly punch in the Summer mini. Easy! I wrapped a 10cm piece of hemp twine twice around the butterfly, tying a knot at the top, and trimmed the ends leaving about 1cm - these ends become the butterfly's antenaes. I stuck it onto a 7cm square card of Basic Black cardstock using 1cm orange sticky strip under the hemp twine (catching the knot to hold it down more securely), and 1/2 a dimensional under each wing. Added yet another pithy birthday sentiment and voila - another easy peasy gift card. I do like my gift cards - I make heaps for school fetes. You get 6 per A4 sheet

Would you believe there were still some empty areas left to use from that one A4 sheet of paper I decorated earlier? Leftover pieces were getting smaller so I used the 1.3cm circle punch to punch out some button sized circles. These I will turn into matching buttons another day. Oh, you can see how to make matching buttons from yet another brilliant Danielle Daws tutorial here! Ok, ok, you know I'm a fan - that's why her blog is listed in my "Places which inspire me"..... One thing to note when making these buttons is to complete them the same day. Each layer is stuck together using a glue stick. After it has dried you pierce 2 holes so it looks and works like a button. I found that it was fine to pierce even when it was still slightly damp. But when I returned to complete the rest of the buttons the following day when they were really dry, I found that the pressure of pushing the piercer through the layers caused the glued pieces to come apart. Of course this may just be a reflection of me not using enough glue........

Well that's enough for today. Had better go and think about feeding the hordes.

After dinner I am going to play with the my other Sale-a-bration stamps. I can't believe I wasn't very excited about them. LOL! Stay tuned for more, and thanks so much for dropping by.

Cheers
Jenn

First Post - card storage tote

Hello everyone,

It is still January and I can tick off the first item on my "to-do" list for 2010. Good start to the year.

I can't post and not show you something creative. Here's what I made last weekend - a Card Storage Tote. It is for those of you who are very organised and actually make your birthday cards ahead of time (or maybe like me have good intentions to do so!!!). There is a separate section for each month, plus a place to list your nearest and dearests birthdays for that month. There is a handy pocket on the front to hold stamps, and a pen holder as well. All it needs is to be filled by the end of each January with all your birthday cards for the year (ok, just joking!). It took me all weekend to construct as the acordian folds are a bit tricky the first time, but the end result is oh so worth it. And yes, the family was fed a little late on Sunday night - but hey - it's still school holidays ;-). I purchased this tutorial from the very talented Lynda Moss: http://stampinkins.blogspot.com/2009/09/card-storagetote.html, who informs me that it can be made in 2 hours once you have a few under your belt! If you are interested in attending a class to make this (in Melbourne), please drop me a line.

This year I will be holding Technique Classes as well my Monthly Thursday Stamp Clubs. More details to follow.

I hope you will pop on to my blog from time to time, and find much to inspire your creative selves.

Cheers
Jenn
cardsbyjenn@hotmail.com