Ohh Long neglected blogger..... Laying the honesty card down right now, I have been a very bad scrapbooker and have become a collector of paper craft supplies rather than an avid user of said products. Part of the problem that I have is with the house that we are currently living in and the space that my scrapbooking area is housed, I will make a post on that a bit later but at the moment I am in between behaving as a sane normal person who has serious reservations about the storage of her precious hobby goods and the flactuating weather and insect colonies and of being a princess about the whole situation and downing tools. Anyways just a little post of some of the goodies that I have picked up in the last few months to get me back in the hang of this blogger thing.

Pretty little card for a special little ones first birthday, used ctmh and maya road stamps #ctmh #closetomyheart #mayaroad #tsukineko #papercraft #cardmaking #birthdaycard #watercolourpencil #stamps #clearstamps #acrylicstamps #stamping

A photo posted by @erinjoffe1 on Mar 21, 2015 at 12:45am PDT

$8 craft haul for the win, thank you Big W. #fiskars #fiskarsaustralia #washi #washitape #brads #cardkit #ladedah #ladedahcraft #merci #bigw #grantstudios #grantaustralia #gracetaylor #scrapbooking #papercrafts #haul #scrapbookhaul #craft

A photo posted by @erinjoffe1 on May 6, 2015 at 8:04pm PDT

Thank you spotlight with your 40% off deals and I finally got the gold Heidi Swapp color shine. #scrapbooking #spotlight #spotlightstores #spotlightaustralia #americancrafts #amytangerine #heidiswapp #colorshine #kaisercraft #bella #patternpaper #scrapsupplies #scrapbookhaul #crafthaul #papercraft

A photo posted by @erinjoffe1 on Jun 5, 2015 at 2:48am PDT

Finally took the plunge and got some Gelatos, looking forward to some messy experiments #gelatos #fabercastell #fabercastellgelatos #fabercastellaustralia

A photo posted by @erinjoffe1 on Jun 10, 2015 at 9:30pm PDT

Bargain basement scrapbooking goodies. I have been finding amazing bargains at riot art and craft lately...all these goodies, only $9 😄 #scrapbooking #scrapbook #scrapbookbargain #scrapbookhaul #makingmemories #mambi #americancrafts #glitzdesign #glittertape #riotartandcraft #riotartandcraftaustralia

A photo posted by @erinjoffe1 on Jun 27, 2015 at 2:33pm PDT

Thank You cards

I love making invitations and cards, the card thing is a fairly new hobby of mine but really there is nothing better than getting an unexpected card or letter in the mail, I will openly admit that a hand written envelope makes me rather giddy and excited for what may be inside especially as these days everything seems to be done via the digital route.

 Seeing as I had to make a few of these I decided to go for the most simple yet effective design that I could muster.  The paper was a no brainer, it was pink and orange I already owned it so no extra costs and the print tied in with some of the fabric that I used for my party.  Quick, simple and stylish, perfect....well almost perfect.

I ran out of paper :(

Actually I finished the first sheet and then could not bring myself to use the second sheet as I know they no longer sell this paper and I figured it would be perfect for a scrapbooking layout of my party, so what's a girl  to do?

I dug around to find an orange that matched the Kaisercraft paper and I actually had something that was very close.  I used a damask stamp and although I did not have any pink embossing powder I did have a metallic purple so I used that, I LOVE how this turned out, win!

Okay so I had one more to make and I really could not be bothered to emboss the rest of the paper just for one card so I came up with idea of a collage.  This is possibly my favourite one out of the lot and it reminds me for some reason of serendipity squares from waaaaay back in the day, now that's showing my scrapbooking age right there LOL.

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.

Crafting to report

I have finally had the time to get some much needed scrapbooking time in, seems like forever since I last played crafty.

First up a card.  I do not celebrate Halloween, something to do with living in Australia, American tradition not ours, grumble grumble...

As a kid Halloween was some kind of magical concept as it was never a part of my childhood era in Australia, these days it is becoming much more widely accepted but I don't celebrate especially as I now have kids of my own and the thought of them with a bag full of lollies scares me a bit if I am honest, LOL.

I do however have a friend in England and apparently the sweets over there do not compare to our down under goodies so a Halloween parcel must be sent.

 Next up is a layout that has kind of been a bit of a hassle to get finished.  You know the ones, you have all these great ideas and nothing seems to work, yeah that was the Happy Birthday layout, probably did not help that my daughter did some impromptu pencil artwork on one side of the layout before everything was glued down limiting my choices, but perseverance paid off and I now have a finished layout.

 After I started this layout I saw that Big W was selling the DCWV Celebration stack so I bought it and got all my embellishments and title from it except the banner sticker, totally LOVE this stack.

And finally I scrapped a layout of one of my best friends weddings that I was in from 6 years ago and, I actually watched a tutorial and made a layout from it. 

I have never, ever taken a layout class and I have never done a tutorial.  All I can say is it was awesome and I love the finished product.

I am most certainly going to do another of the 4x6 Photo Love by Shimelle.

I can honestly say that I would never have thought to do a layout like that and I would never have done it before but I love the results and it has opened up a whole lot of new options on how to scrap all those events that I have multiple photos from and that I have been putting off for years.

 Makes me so happy to see these wedding photos finally scrapbooked.

On a loved up card making roll....

Recently I made a layout with some old Heidi Grace for Fiskars paper and had it laying around on my desk, I was also gifted a couple of old packs of Cristina Re blank cards from my old boss, what happened was a whole lot of Valentines day inspired loved up goodness.

 (Paper: Kraft base, Grant Studios, Ki Memories, Lexel)

(Stamps: Fiskars-Punch Love, Kelly Pannaci/Sandy Lion-Borders)

(Other: Brilliance & Versacolor Ink, lace, Kaiser gems)

(Paper: Cristina Re base, Heidi Grace/Fiskars, Lexel, Bazzill)

(Stamps: Grant Studios)

(Other: Versacolor ink, embossing powder, buttons, Anchor thread, Souffle pen, Nestabilities die, scallop scissors)

( Paper: Kraft Base, Heidi Grace/Fiskars, Love Elise, Grant Studios, Lexel, Bazzill)

(Stamps: Fiskars-Baby, Kelly Pannaci/Sandy Lion-Borders, Grant Studios)

(Other: Sticko- Ticket Love, Brilliance, Distress & Versacolor ink, buttons, Anchor thread, Cricut Doodle Charms) 

(Paper: Cristia Re base, Heidi Grace/Fiskers, Bazzill, Lexel)

(Stamps: Grant Studios)

(Other: Kaiser pearls, scallop scissors, Staz On & Brilliance ink, embossing powder

This Last card was a little different for me.  I decided to cut the base short and put a strip of pattern paper on the inside of the card.  It looks good but I doubt that I will do this again, made for a nice change though.

30...

Last weekend J turned the big 30.  Seeing as we only got married a few months ago a not so big fuss was made of his birthday just a teeny tiny group of very close friends, a few helium balloons, pizza and a Nigella approved chocolate fudge cake.  Normally I would go all out and do lots of handmade decorations  and make all the invitations and food, not so this year as I feel like I am still recovering from the wedding and I have a big birthday for Teela coming up and a Hens night to help plan, he did however get a card.

  (Paper: DCWV- The Green Stack, Bazzill, Grant Studios, Kraft Base)

(Other: Glossy Accents, Kaisercraft Jewels, Assorted Punches, Cricut) 

I don't own all that many stamps especially sentiments and I just could not get anything that I did own to work so, I fiddled around in Microsoft publisher till I had a design that I liked and I printed the Happy Birthday onto the die cut scallop, it takes a little bit of mucking around but it is worth it as I got an image that I was happy with rather than just using what stamps I had that may not have gone as well.

Girly Cards

I generally don't make all that much in the way pretty girly cards but over the last couple of weeks I have made a few that fall into that category

 (Paper: Grant Studios, Lexel)

(Stamp: Melissa Fances, Fiskers-Baby)

(Other: Velvet Ribbon, Satin Ribbon, Versacolr Ink, Kaiser Pearls, Kindy Glitz)

Do you have scrapbooking paper that just wont work for you in a layout?  This paper was exactly that, I loved the design but I personally just can't fit paper with a big print into my style so instead of giving the paper away I decided to make a card from it, yes it is much taller than a standard card but I was lucky enough to have a matching envelope from a card that I was given that was the perfect fit.

(Paper: Grant Studios, Lexel, Cristina Re)

(Stamps: Kaisercraft- CS707 & After Five)

(Other: Kaisercraft Gems, Ribbon, Satzon, Adirondack & Brilliance Ink, Kindyglitz, Foam Tape)

This card was made using some left over scraps from when I was trialing my wedding invitations.   A fairly simple card the only thing that I did a little different from normal was stamp the pink background with white flourishes.  The plain pink was just too harsh so I added a contrasting pattern to make it softer.

 (Paper: Kraft Card Base, DCWV, Grant Studios, Bazzill, Lexel)

(Stamps: Bella Blvd- Flirty Clear)

(Other: Paper Mania Glitter, Zing Embossing Powder, Versacolor & Brilliance Ink, Pearl Ex, Teresa Collins Blingage)

I visited a scrap store I had not yet been to last week and manged to pick up the Bella Blvd Flirt stamps for $3.50 and I could not wait to play with them.

Ohhhh shiny Card.......

How lovely is that tinsel glitter, I have only used loose glitter once or twice before and it was not a good expeience, the Papermania glitter seems to be a bit more user friendly than the last lot I tried, can't wait to try the others I have.

Stash friendly cards....

I am generally pretty good when it comes to purchasing scrapbooking supplies and I do try to keep the spending and the amount of product that I have to a sensible minimum.  I have been a tad naughty in the last few weeks buying a few little bits and pieces here and there and seeing as I am trying to lower the amount of supplies that I buy till after we move and I have not actually crafted all that much lately I took it upon my self to use something from the stash.

A few years ago I won a competition from Scrapbooking Memories and the prize was a huge pack of Avery stickers, there was so many packs in that prize that there was no way I would ever be able to use them all so I kept what I thought I would use and I donated and gave away the rest.  That was three or four years ago and I have still hardly used a thing from what I kept, I decided that I was time to use something from my Avery stash.  

I Picked a pack of glittered flower stickers

 (Paper: Kraft base, DCWV, Bazzill, Unknown)

(Stamps: Creating Keepsakes KOTM, Melissa Framces)

(Other: Avery sticker, Grant Rub on,, ranger inks)

 (Paper: Card Base, DCWV, Bazzill, Grant, Unknown)

(Stamps: Kaisercraft, Melissa Frances, Fiskers)

(Other: Avery Sticker, Kaiser brads, Distress ink)

(Paper: Card Base, Grant, Bazzill)

(Stamps: Melissa Frances, Kaisercraft)

(Other: Avery Sticker, Grant Rub on, American Crafts ribbon, Paper Mania Glitter, Brilliance Ink)

I was so happy with the way that the first card turned out that I decided to keep going with the same look and until the whole pack of stickers was gone.  Goal achieved, used up one whole pack of the Avery stickers. 

Blog version 2.0

So sometime last year I decided to delete the old blog and start again.  I just had the realisation that I wanted a bit of a change plus I felt that I had outgrown the old blog which I had been merrily contributing to for the past four years, bit of a big decision for me but one that feels right. 

I have taken a few months off from blogging after I deleted the old one as the reality is that I really have not had the time to dedicate to a blog.  The last few months have been a whirlwind of planning a wedding (which is pretty much almost here, eeep), working and running a household with two small children and just general life responsibilities.

So what have I been up to in the last few months?  Here are some projects that I have been working on:

So there is, a few months of creating right there.  I actually wish that there was more to show but another thing that suffered during the past few months was my creativity which is silly really as I was working in a shop environment that sold pretty papers & embellishments.

TFL, Erin