Happy New Year!

I would like to wish everyone a wonderful and prosperous 2012.

For me 2011 has been full of ups and downs, with the downs seeming to last far longer than the ups. One of the few bright patches has been starting this blog. I pray that this coming year will be the best one so far :-)

So wherever you happen to be and however long you still have to wait for the new year, enjoy tonight's celebrations!!!! If I am lucky I might even still be awake at midnight. :D

Chipper

A productive Christmas break

Over Christmas we closed our shop for three days. We really needed the break! Today we have spent part of the day reorganizing the house. As we are hardly ever home we just don't get alot accomplished so today was the day :-)

The best area that was reorganized was my craft space. The kids and I share the only spare space in this house. The house is at least a third smaller than what we have been used to and we still can't fit everything into it. This room combines storage (in wardrobes that we don't need in this house. They store all our photos and memorabilia that we can't hang on the walls in our rental), the kids playstation and my craft space. The room was a bit of a mish-mash before as it was all unpacked in a rush. The kids couldn't even sit on chairs to play!

So we have set up two separate areas with my craft space getting the best of the natural light. It would be terrible to not take advantage of THREE windows! The best part is that the kids area is closest to the door. They don't have to squeeze past craft stuff to get to the TV. It is a little tight but I get to keep my sewing machines out now. I am teaching The Princess to sew and this means she will be able to use them when ever she wants.

I am too tired now to even go in there to use my room, but it is all ready to go :-) Enjoy the photos.

Chipper

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have had a safe and enjoyable Christmas. Love from all of us.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!  14 years ago on the 21st of December we tied the knot.

Boy how time flies and neither of us look like that any more!  It has been an adventurous 14 years and I am sure the years to come will be just as exciting.  Last night was the only night we could finish our Christmas shopping for the kids so we spent most of the evening shopping and when the shops shut we went to a late night restaurant.  I had very yummy fish and chips while The LOML had ribs.  Now you can't go out for an Anniversary dinner without having dessert :) so here is my HUGE banana split.  It was very good even without the cherry on top (I did sulk just a little when it came out with strawberries!).  The LOML had pancakes with ice cream.

As you can see we always have a very busy December!  Now to turn the focus to Christmas :-)  How are your Christmas plans coming along?

Chipper

Birthday Boy!

Party food!

Last week The Thinker turned 13!!!  Hard to believe that I now have TWO teenagers in the house.  He had a party with his friends at a laser battle place on the Friday night.  After two games we gave them all dinner in the food hall and had some cake.  They all had a GREAT time!  We didn't opt for the official party at the game place as it was way too expensive and they only get a tiny meal.  Definitely not enough  for a pile of teenage boys!  The boys all thought it was wonderful as they ate a HUGE meal each from the turkish place.  It is a very small and quite food court and I think the owner of the Turkish food place thought it was great that we were buying lots of dinners.  We were originally going to get pizza and bring it into the food court as it was cheaper.  But while they were playing their games we were beginning to feel very guilty ... we know very well what it is like to be a small business in this day and age and we just couldn't bring in food.  In the end I am glad we didn't as everyone was happy all round and the guy who owns the food store was so appreciative he gave us PILES of chips and some turkish delight as extras.

Present time!

Birthday Breakfast Waffles.

On Saturday morning the teenage gene kicked in :-)  The Thinker slept in .... he NEVER does that!  By the time I had to wake him up, I had showered and dressed, set the table, AND made the waffle batter!  He was supposed to help me with that.  But the waffles were delicious and for once everyone was too full to finish them all.  Good thing cold waffles make a nice snack :-)

Then is was time for presents.  We gave him a gold chain.  A special present to commemorate turning 13!  All up he scored lots of iTunes cards, money, gadgets and clothes.

Happy Birthday to our Thinker!!!!!  Love you lots.

Presents from us

Chipper

Spa mini album

I decided to make a mini album of spa treatments for my niece whose birthday happens to fall on Christmas Day. I wanted her birthday present to be completely different to her Christmas present. It took me a very long time to pin all those recipes and I wondered who else I could give it to. So I am halfway through her album, plus one for my mom and this one that I made for a friend. She is leaving in the new year to travel around Australia with a tent trailer. So I had to rework this one to make it smaller. It is a 6x6 album but I made the cover from scratch to keep it as thin as possible.

I cut the back to fit the page protectors along with a front from chipboard. I then cut a thin strip out of the front where the hinge is on the page protector. I used a wide satin ribbon to make a space that would fold so that my cover is hinged. It is the black strip in the cover photo. I then covered the rest of the album with papers. I made this one with a new Teresa Collins range.

The album is divided into three sections. Body Scrubs, Face, Everything Else. I have also stamped blank journaling blocks for additional recipes. I kept the inside fairly plain as I didn't really want the pages heavily embellished. My friend is not one for unnecessary stuff!!! I should have hinged the back cover too and it would open better as the page protectors aren't double hinged (the extra plastic strip found along the spine of postbound refills). But I will put that down to a learning experience and a serious lack of time :-)

Now to keep cutting the pages of my nieces album.

Chipper

Almost a Birthday

It is almost time for The Extroverts 13th Birthday. Which means it is his turn for a party. I have just now finished his invitations. They are kind of teenagery (not really a word!) with a bit of sparkle thrown in. I cut the card blank on the Cricut and embossed the front with a brick wall. I used coredinations card so I could sand it back. He wanted dark blue and I added a bit of red sparkle with 'Mels Diner' glimmer mist. I cut the inserts to fit and sprayed them with a quick blotch of 'bell bottom jeans' glimmer mist. I then stamped the insides and filled in the blanks.

He is off to a laser battle place with some friends and then we will all have pizza.

I love parties and I can't wait!
Chipper

Busy, busy

Today was possibly my last day off until Christmas. So I spent part of it cleaning (YUK!) and the rest crafting at my house with a friend. I am still working on Christmas presents and have a few in various stages of completion and another two completed today.

Today's projects were sewing!! I made two pillow mattresses that I found on pinterest. I didn't really follow the pattern as at it's simplest it is just a long tube divided into four. I will link to the original post when I am back on my computer (I am typing this from my phone). Below are two photos. One is a completed pillow mattress stuffed with pillows. You fold the top section under to make a raised pillow. The other photo is the one I made for The Princess. When we were fabric shopping she kept asking me if I could make her one too. I told her she was too big. And she is, so I made hers an extra pillow longer. By the time she got home from school I had all traces of sewing packed away!

I hope you Christmas preparations are flowing smoothly,
Chipper

I know, I know ...

I have been AWOL quite a bit lately. But as school is drawing to a close soon The Princess brought home some of her artwork today and I thought I would share. Included in the photos is an interesting self portrait, some beautiful flowers, a pencil drawn owl and a very colourful pillow case!

I hope you like them as much as I do even if I am a bit biased!!!!
Chipper

Happy Thanksgiving

I did get a chance to make those candy turkeys AND I found candy corn. They aren't perfect but still cute. I wouldn't recommend making them in the heat! They melt! LOL

My pies are baked and I have just arrived at my Mom's house to stuff the turkey. Except she forgot something and has had to nip down to the shops :-)

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!!!!
Chipper

This is cool ...

I found this on Pinterest the other day and I am hoping to attempt to make them for our Thanksgiving table on Thursday.  I will have to do a few substitutions as we don't have candy corn :-(  but The LOML suggested M&M's instead so that should still work.  I will have to stop at the super expensive gourmet candy store to get the mini peanut butter cups but we all LOVE them so we need to have them!

Click here for full details and instructions.

I am making the pies tonight as I have to work on Thursday until lunch.  Then I am heading to my mom's to help cook the turkey.  For those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, have a wonderful day on Thursday!!!  For those of you who don't celebrate it, have a wonderful day too :-)

Thanks
Chipper

I am still around :-)

I have had a very busy week and an even busier day. I made 8 more notebook covers today for Christmas, including one for myself. I altered the measurements slightly to allow them to accommodate an A5 book or diary if I so choose. The first three helped me perfect my new measurements and then I made the last 5 all at once. A much faster way to sew, but not a good idea if you aren't sure of the pattern!

The cover at the bottom of the picture is for me. I made it using the left over fabric from The Extrovert's baby quilt.

How is your Christmas shopping going?
Chipper

My first homemade gift of the season ...

Ok, so it is homemade but I won't be using it for Christmas :-)  While looking on Pinterest for things to make as gifts this year I found this pattern at a very nice blog called The Cottage Home.  It is a fabric notepad holder and was very easy to make.  I shall definitely be making more!  I made this one for my mom for her birthday today.  I hope she likes it :-)  I think she will.  I used one of my fav buttons that I have been hoarding for years on the front (sorry the photo is not great) and the solid red will bring back memories.  I wonder if she will remember where it is from?  It was a scrap left over from when we made a baby quilt when I was expecting The Extrovert.  We used it in everything from the bumper, headboard, curtains, diaper holder and quilt.  The Princess and I went fabric shopping yesterday and found the rest of the fabrics.  When we walked into the store they had just marked almost all their fat quarters down to half price, YEAH! 

Cover

Who would have thought that it would be so difficult to find a notebook to put in the inside!  I eventually found one this morning but it had a Disney Fairies cover, opps :-)  So I covered it to match.  No one will ever know if you don't tell them as my mom won't be reading this... shhhhhh.  The top is loose to cover the spirals but still allow it to open easily.

Inside with notebook on the right

Inside with notebook moved out of the way :-)

I stamped on a scrap of twill to make a name plate for the back.  It reads 'My Mom'.  I really need to get myself a tiny alpha stamp set so that I can stamp out longer messages.

The back

I really like the way it turned out and I can make more quite quickly.  If any of you like to sew I would recommend The Cottage Home as the instructions were very easy to follow and the cutting guides were explained properly.  I will modify a few parts for my next one as I have an overlocker/serger which will make the finished result neater.  But I always follow the pattern the first time :-)  Saves on mistakes!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!!!!

Chipper

P.S. Do you like my new music????  Does it feel like Christmas???  :-)  If your sound is off, please turn it on or you will be missing out!

Christmas Album pages

I sent the early hours of Tuesday looking on Pinterest via my phone while laying in bed relaxing on my day off.  There are a few modern gadgets that can be wonderful, especially when it comes to wasting spending time on the world wide web!  After some inspirational browsing I felt like finally tackling some Christmas scrapping and I made the pocket page on the previous post followed by the pages below.  With the exception on the title page the rest will be completed when I add the photos as I have no idea what will go on each page.  It is quite relaxing scrapping this way especially on the smaller size.  You may notice that there are occasional gaps in ribbons and cardstock, these will be covered by the photos.  A4 card is frustratingly smaller than 8.5in so my metallic cardstock is just a tad too short width ways!

Two of the above pages can even be turned, so who knows how they will turn out!  I then spent the afternoon of my day off sorting out all the sites I had found in the morning and pinning to my new board.  Who knew one could lose oneself 'pinning' for 5 hours!  But it was a lovely way to spend a day to myself :-)

Happy Crafting,

Chipper

Pocket page Challenge

I made the first page today for my Christmas album.  I also used it to complete the pocket Challenge over at Shimelle's for her Christmas crafting weekend.  I used an acetate sheet from a Making Memories journaling book to make my pocket.  We are back in the land of HOT Christmases and I REALLY, REALLY miss the thought of snow at Christmas.  I am going to use this page to write down some of those thoughts.  But first I will wait for it to get really hot as that is probably when I will be most honest!!!  I also added some buttons, stickers, punched snowflakes and Cricut snowflakes.  Along with some stitching and the obligatory bling, cause it is Christmas after all!

Thanks for stopping by,

Chipper

Thank you :-)

Thanks for the comments left on my previous post.  Sometimes gift selecting can be a challenge ... especially when I don't like to just give a gift certificate.  I took your advise and looked at Pinterest.  I had looked there before but I think I was looking with blinkers on.  I never thought to actually click through to the original sites and that they would have even more info.  What a few days I have had!

Well I have found some things to make and now I have to go off and price the needed materials.  If any of you are interested I have pinned what I have found so far HERE.  I shall keep adding to it as I am still looking for more beauty product recipes.  Instead of making all of those beauty products, which would kill the budget, I think I might compile them all into a mini book for my teenage niece to make herself after Christmas.  Sort of like a recipe book for beauty :-)  My favourite find of the day was THIS for the small people in the family.  Lets hope I can find some great value fabric, even better if it had a Transformer print!

Thanks for the pick me up :-)  I really appreciate it.

Chipper

Need some help please ...

For those few special people who read my blog :-) I would like to know if any of you could lend me a hand.  I am feeling kind of low at the moment and struggling to really get into the Christmas spirit.  I am looking to make as many presents as possible this year but have limited time and funds.  I had thought to make up a few hampers with some baked goods and other craft things.  They can't only contain baked goods or I will be baking like crazy every night for the few days leading up to Christmas!  So it is the 'other crafty' things that I need a bit of help with.

Do any of you have any ideas that could make special Christmas gifts for both men and women??  Or have you possibly seen a good blog that you can recommend which has some gift ideas?  Any suggestions would be great :-)

Many thanks,
Chipper

Pretty Paper Party Prompt 4

Lets get rebellious and mix dots with stripes!!!!!  Funnily enough I have always done that in my scrapping, but it is not something I would do with my clothing!  So to begin with I went to my multi coloured paper box and selected a stripe and a matching large dot (which I didn't use).  I then found matching spots and stripes in the other colour boxes.  I am finding this way of scrapping so much faster and I LOVE having all my papers organised by colour.  It was so much quicker finding matching papers and funnily enough NONE of them come from the same collection or company!

Here is the layout I made mixing spots and stripes.  Both of the blue papers are patterned with the top one being spotty and the bottom one a chevron.  The photos were taken in 2000 so it is about time they got scrapped!

The other day when I was reorganising my embellishments I spent ages sorting all of my buttons and I used a few of them on this layout.  There are buttons at the bottom but I only had three of each colour in that size and so I made a bigger embellishment and used a number 2 button as well.  I also used a balloon button and some word ones!  So I think it is safe to say that I went a little button crazy :-)

Ribbons also came into the mix with the red ric-rac (a variation of a stripe!) and the twine in the buttons and on the balloon.  There were a few more photos taken of this birthday tent so I used the scraps to make a second page to keep them all together.  I don't think this group of photos needs more than the two pages in the album as they are only a small part of The Extrovert's 2nd birthday.  I can't believe how many papers I am using.  Some of these I have had for YEARS!  The orange on the page is from a 6x12 Cricut paper pad that I got when I bought the original Cricut.  That is 5 years ago now!  But because I took all of the papers out of the pads they were in and organised them by colour I am now using them.  Amazing!

The two pages together.  The one of the right made with the scraps.

Sorry about the poor lighting in the photos but it is still early and it is over cast.  I am off for a drive to my Uncle's farm today to collect half a cow.  I have to tell the butcher how I want it cut up :-)  By the end of the day I am going to have one very full freezer LOL  But the meat taste sooooo good and it is far cheaper that the supermarket, plus I know exactly where it came from.  So I have no idea if I will get my usual dose of Sunday scrapping as I will probably still be bagging meat for the freezer.

Until next time,

Chipper

Journal Your Christmas 2011

Over at Shimelle's she is asking what your favourite size is when it comes to Christmas scrapping.  Well to be honest with you I haven't scrapped very many Christmas photos in the past but I want to change that RIGHT NOW!  I can however tell you what my favourite scrapping size is ... 8x8.  This is currently a very unfashionable size where I am living right now, but I love how fast it comes together.  I am not a scrapper who believes that every page must be a masterpiece that takes days to come together (I do however know lots of people who do LOL) and 8x8 pages can look like a 'masterpiece' without taking so much time.

All of my earlier scrapping was given away to the multiple sets of Grandparents and Great-Grandparents that my children are blessed to have who live all around the globe.  I can't even remember what most of the albums looked like now.  So this Christmas album is going to be for us to keep just like everything else I have scrapped so far this year (no more whole albums for Grandparents, just pages here and there!).  When unpacking my stash earlier this year I came across this kit by K&Co's Tim Coffey and put it aside thinking that I really need to use it.  So I shall use it for this years Christmas album.  It is an unusual size of 8.5x8.5 but that is close enough to my favourite size :-)  When I opened the box the album is quite luxurious as the red is flocked!

It came with 20 page inserts (thank goodness for that as I don't think I would find refills anymore for that size!), a pack of Grand Adhesions, a pack of Epoxy stickers, and a pad of 8.5x8.5 patterned papers.  So this is a great start for me to add to.  I have added some brads, HOTP brad buddies, ribbons and buttons so far to my kit.  I am off to get matching Bazzill today and I think I will limit this to a co-ordinating red, green, purple and white/silver.  Purple you may be asking? One of the pages has a hint of purple and I think a little of it will contrast nicely.  There are also a few blue pages, but this time around I don't want to add too much blue.  The page below is one of my favourite from the stack.  I think that is because I love traditional Christmas colours and I LOVE candy canes!

Now that I have the basics put together I am ready to go!  I am not actually doing Shimelle's class as it isn't really in the budget especially as I have yet to finish the last two.  But I will be making a Christmas album and documenting our Christmas this year.  It won't contain daily entries, just the events that make Christmas one of my most favourite times of the year!

Chipper

Remembrance Day

Today the boys are selling poppies with the local RSL. I am so glad they are happy to help out in this way. They even read through all the info on Remembrance Day that cadets emailed them.

I am proud of my boys.
Chipper

The Thinker

The Extrovert

Pretty Paper Party Prompt 3

I finally finished the third prompt, well almost.  I still have to go find photos and do the finishing touches!  I had a friend come over today for some scrapping time and I got so much accomplished!  I am glad I tackled this prompt properly and didn't let myself get worried over falling behind.  I learnt quite a bit about what I do and don't like and even made a few pages that are NOT my normal style.  It is going to be just as interesting finishing them off!

I initially found this quite a challenge as I often use a patterned paper as my background. So to cut them all up at the start was a SHOCK!!!! I struggled in the beginning but once I got in the grove the rest flowed really easily.  I was very surprised at the results especially as I was using almost all papers that were very old (only two were even double sided!) and many of them had come from books that I pulled apart when I did my big re-organize.

I started with the papers in the first photo using the multi-colored stripe as my inspiration. I did have to add one more patterned and a few more plain as I went on. Some of the layouts are more embellished than others as I have photos in mind for a few of them and others I will embellish later. I made a total of 10 layouts and 6 cards. The last two cards still need to be finished but I can't find the right stamp for them at the moment.

You will see at the end that I had very few scraps left!!!! And these ALL went in the bin/trash!!!!!!!! I hope these photos go up in order as I am using the Blogger App for iPhone.

Party hard :-)
Chipper