Sunday, December 11, 2011

Posing, Dancing, Twirling....

Ohhh guess what, I finally have a layout to share.

I have been working on this layout on and off for a couple of weeks now just doing little bits and pieces when I get a moment of inspiration or time.



Inspiration for this layout came from here- 4x6 photo love March.
I absolutely love just how simple Shimelle makes her layouts to look and how straight forward her instructions are.  I have never really got into the whole online class or challenges, I did try a few years ago with a now defunct challenge site but I just could not find that place or class that clicked with me, until now.
I am trying to go back through the year and do the ones that I have missed and I like and luckily for me I had 3 portrait 4x6 in my to scrap pile, awesome :D

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Christmas Cards

This year I was really slack and it was finally December and guess what, no Christmas cards. 

Whaaaat how did that happen?

Normally I am a good girl and start the process in about July and do little bits and pieces here and there using all my scraps up, this usually means that I usually have a multiple number of  different designs and I am all done by the end of November.  This was an exceptionally busy year and to be honest the whole craft thing has been a bit neglected this year. 

So cards, I finally got them done, it took me two days but it was a bit here and there in chunks of time that I could get away from the kids without fights breaking out and the total destruction of our house, such spirited children I have, sigh....


Christmas card design 1, all of these were exactly the same in design, the only difference was the paper was different, the reason for this is that I am so serious about using each and every scrap so rather than cutting up new sheets of paper it came down to using up what was already used and cut into.


Christmas card design 2, this was a again a really simple way for me to use up the paper that I have already used.  The idea behind the patchwork look is really simple, when I left my old work I got given a few packs of Cristina Re blank cards and these metallic lavender cards where in there.  I have never used cards with cut out windows in the front and I was having an issue finding a use for them, the patchwork look solved that problem.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Pinterest picks of the week....


1. Frozen Choc Strawberries.  How simple just put some strawberries in an ice cube tray and add melted  chocolate and freeze, bliss and I am so doing that this festive season.

2. Glue.  This is using Elmers glue but you could just use PVA glue.  Just trace over the image on a canvas with the glue and dry, that simple, I would paint over it but such a cool idea.

3. Tardis tea pot.  Seriously why don't I have this and where can I get one?  I am a huge Dr Who fan and I NEED this stat.

4. Pallet garden.  We have access to as many pallets as we want and Jase has made stuff from pallets in the past but not a garden, it is something we have talked about doing but seeing how simple and beautiful this is just makes me want to make my own now.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Pinterest inspired peg advent calander....

So last week on my Pinterest picks of the week I posted this little gem
This week I decided to start making my own version.  I already had two planks of wood in the garage and a huge pack of wooden pegs that have been floating around for years doing nothing so it was time to make some advent calenders.









 I am so happy with the finished products.  The best part of these is that I only had to purchase a few small and cheap things to get them made.  The whole project was time consuming there is no denying and it took a few days to get all the components done but what a finished project.

The wooden planks were spray painted white using an aerosol can of undercoat white, I am not into gloss finishes and unfortunately all hardware and auto stores near me only seem to sell gloss so undercoat it was.

I had painted the pegs using acrylic paint from the cheapy store, they are a mixture of Chromacryl, Jo Sonja and Kaisercraft.

The paper on the front of the pegs is a mixture of new and old scrapbook paper, I only purchased four sheets coming well in at under $10 and attached using double sided scrapbooking tape.

The string was some kind of crochet stuff (I don't crochet and have no idea what the actual name is) bought from the cheapy store for $1.  I dyed the string buy rolling it onto spare pegs and dipping it in a mixture of regular food dye and water in a coffee mug for 24 hours, I did not rinse just squeezed the excess and left it in the sun to dry for a day, I love the imperfect colour effect that it has, almost like tie dye string.

The pegs were attached to the board using a hot glue gun ( the hot hot type, not the cool one), you could possibly use some kind of heavy duty glue but the gunis something I already own.
I did number all the little parcels using my cricut and some glue, next time I will be using a xyron adhesive runner to make the cut out numbers like stickers or I might just buy pre made number stickers, in actual fact the wrapping of the little parcels, the tying of the string and cutting and adhering the numbers was the most time consuming aspect of this project.
I attached the calenders to the wall using these Command velcro strips, we are about to move so don't want more stuff on the wall and these will only be up for 24 days of the year.  Why bother drilling holes and attaching hooks to the back of the calenders when two of the largest sized strips holds the whole thing up mess and fuss free.

At the end of the day I am more than 100% happy with the finished project, it took a lot of time but it was something that I could do in little bits a little at a time over a few days.  The kids LOVE them and the best thing is I can change the paper for a new look if  I want, I can reuse the calender every year from now on in and I have just created a Christmas memory for my kids and that is the most important thing to me.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Sassafras Lass Warehouse Sale

A few weeks ago I bought one of the Sassafras Lass warehouse sale boxes, I was waiting by the door everyday for my box to arrive as I had no idea just what was in it.  I have seen a few pics on Two Peas from the past sales and I had seen a few haul videos on YouTube but everyone seems to have been getting different stuff so the question was what was in that box?

 Sunshine Broadcast.  This pack was an extra/add on and in hindsight I probably would not buy this had I the option again, don't get me wrong I don't regret buying it it's just that it is very different patterns and colours to what I normally use.  I have no doubt that I will use them and it is nice to have a few bits and pieces to help you think outside the square but I could have gone without.
 The embellishments.  I am so happy with what I got in this pack, I know that in some of the earlier packs people were getting quite a few of the entwined blooms, the in a stitch blossoms (I got one of each) and felties (there was none), sure there was less embellishments this time but you know what I am really over the moon with what is there, the other stuff would have been amazing but I am not complaining with my fill.
 The sticker and foldies.  WOW, what can I say I am really pleased with this lot.  I got so many more sticker sheets that I thought I would and I am in LOVE with all those border stickers, will take me forever to get through them all.


The paper.  There is close to 50 sheets of paper in this lot, there is a couple of double ups and multiples which is fine but out of all the paper there is only one sheet that I absolutely will not use, way to go on great paper choices.

The verdict: Seriously there was so much stuff in this lot that I have no need to buy anything in a while.  The price was high almost $100 with the international shipping but there is way more than $100 worth of product in there and I will use everything.  Would I buy another warehouse sale box again?  Yep, obviously I wont be getting the Sassafrass as they wont be operating as they used to but I am keen to try other companies in the future even with the huge shipping fees it is worth it 100%.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Bargain of the week...

I love cosmetics, hate creams and lotions and hair goop and all that stuff but I love cosmetics especially eyeshadow and nail polish. 

Polish can change your mood, the look of an outfit, it can be natural and understated or it can loud and wild, there is millions of brands and colours and types you can get pretty stickers to go with it or you can paint & decorate with images and all kinds of different techniques. 

I love pricey brands of polish, not the highest end stuff like Dior or Chanel but the salon stuff like OPI, Essie, China Glaze and Orly.  I often get them reduced from a little salon around here and I have found an amazing US seller with really cheap prices and I have also been known to use the L.A Girl stuff but sometimes a bargain is just too good to pass up.

Take these for example, all Rimmel makeup $4 off, these little guys then came in at the princely sum of $1.75, what $1.75, yep awesome huh.  I have never thought to buy nail polish with those sales and I generally don't buy cosmetics from Target or Kmart.  I didn't get many as most of the colours were similar to ones I already own but it's not a bad haul for the price.