More December challenges

Just a little catch-up and sharing some more December creations:

My second-last guinea pig calendar creation! (Can't upload the last one yet ~ I made that one for a January assignment!)



# Design Dollies ~ Trifecta!!
~ Colour combination: Kraft, light blue, orange
~ Elements: at least nine buttons
~ Sketch: using Kristy's fabulous sketch


And a card:





# That's Just So Cute ~ layered birthday card

I used a digital image for this one, a freebie called 'Cup Cake Tilly" from Digital Doodling. Still working on my colouring - I find it very tricky with printed images because I only own watercolour pencils and Twinkling H2O's - and water-based media doesn't go well with home printer ink!!

December creations for Scrap Pile

I was so lucky to be able to create with the Basic Grey "Nook & Pantry" collection this month at Scrap Pile! I love the colours and also LOVE the double sided patterned papers.

Here are two of my layouts, and a few little detail shots too:









I'm entering this one over at:
# That's Just So Cute ~ birthday project in 'layered' style

Maintaining sanity

December 2009 has been such an insanely busy time for me, with lots of things happening in our family life. And I don't just mean the rush to be organised for Christmas! I appreciate the encouraging thoughts from my friends who know the full story. One thing keeping me sane is stealing a few moments of creative time in the wee small hours of the night, when it is cool, calm and quiet.

Here are a few more creations I finished this week:

This one is yet another layout for the guinea pig calendar - so I just HAD to scrap this week so I could finish it off before Christmas!!



# Design Dollies ~ Sketch challenge


Next is another card caddy - this one is for my Mum. She saw the one I made for my mother-in-law a few weeks back, and although she didn't come out and say it, I got the impression that she'd like one too! I used lots of pink in this one:






And last, a fun layout for Em's challenge over at Scrap Boutique. Using lyrics from Eurythmics' 'Beautiful Child', a stamped title, and bright colours:

Christmas projects

Just a few more!!

The first one is a layout I did for the Scrap Boutique cybercrop on the weekend. It was a lucky dip, and my criteria were: green and red, paint, and the word "Santa". My paint is on the inside doiley - thanks Leone for letting me play with your lime green Glimmermist :)




Another Christmas card (oops, excuse the crocus leaf in the foreground!)



# Papertake Weekly ~ Sketch #30


And another last minute Christmas gift, to go with the book I bought for my Mum:



# Secret Crafter ~ Challenge # 63 ~ Last minute Christmas gifts
# Humble Pie ~ Tag or bookmark
# Polka Doodles ~ Week 31 ~ Free theme

Ijust love the Bella 'Sarah Jane' paper, and I used a borrowed bird stamp for this one, I think it is Stampin' Up?? If someone could let me know what it's called I'd really like to get one for myself :)

More cards

Just a few cards to share today. I've *almost* finished my Christmas cards. This is the first year I've made 100% of my cards. Usually I make half a dozen and just send shop-bought for the rest. Next year, I'm starting MUCH earlier!!



# That's Just So Cute ~ Music sheet




# Quixotic Paperie ~ Challenge #7 ~ Lace
# Method Playground ~ Challenge 56 ~ Cute as a button
I altered the button with a rubon in the middle.




# Simon Says ~ Merry Christmas

Christmas layouts

I'm still working through my photographs from Christmas 2007. This is my sample layout for my Inspiration Challenge over at Scrap Pile:



The challenge runs till the end of December, and full details of the criteria can be found in the forum :)


The next layout is a scraplift of Amanda's layout for her challenge over at Scrap Boutique. It isn't exactly a Christmas layout, but I have framed it for my Dad to give to him for Christmas:



Thanks Fiona for your gift of the Stampin' Up ribbon stack. The green was just perfect for this layout xx

Some cards

I've been slowing down with my cardmaking lately, but this week I made two more:



# Humble Pie ~ Dry Embossing
# Cuttlebug Spot ~  Merry Christmas
# Sophisticat ~ Challenge #15 ~ Xmas Theme
# Simon Says ~ Merry Christmas
# That's Just So Cute ~ Music sheet

Materials list: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey 'Infuse' patterned paper, Boss Cut 'tag' die, EK Success punch, Cuttlebug 'Moroccan Screen' embossing folder, rubons (unknown), ribbon (unknown).


And this one:



# Daring Cardmakers ~ Going Dotty

Playing with Dollies

Another sketch layout, and another one for the guinea pig calendar:


# Design Dollies ~ Sketch challenge


And this one is for my Book of Me:



# Design Dollies ~ Elements challenge ~ drink of choice

I love Sarah Jane

Last night I finished off some layouts I created at the retreat last month.  They've been sitting on my scrap desk just waiting for me to add titles.  I procrastinate on titles SO much!





 


The Bella 'Sarah Jane' papers and journalling pages are from Scrap Pile, and I used some delicious Basic Grey 'White Chocolate' alphas that Leone got me for my birthday.  (Thanks Leone!)

A Christmas Quiz

... swiped from Miss D's blog. She's right, Christmas is all about sharing **sweet smile**

1. What 5 items are on your Christmas wish list this year?

Well, let me start by saying that what is on my wishlist vary rarely has any resemblance to what appears under the Christmas tree!! I've got a little wishlist over in my sidebar, mostly scrapbooking items. What I usually do is save up my vouchers and spare cash and purchase things off my wishlist throughout the year.

Some non-scrappy things:

* A tripod - I haven't chosen my ideal model yet, but something sturdy, lightweight and reliable.
* A restful holiday - I know we can't go away anywhere this year, so I'm hoping for at least two days where I don't do "house stuff" on my very precious time off from work.
* A bathroom mirror - The bathroom in our cottage has absolutely no bathroom fixtures except the taps.

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?

Some crocheted handkerchiefs, handtowels etc that my paternal grandmother made for me.
And a gorgeous paperbag album made by my friend Liz.

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?

A quilt... but now I'm scrap-obsessed that has gone on the backburner.

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?

I can't think of any memorable Christmas presents, although our childhood Christmases were wonderful times spent camping next to the beach.  I suppose that just shows that it's not about the gifts, it's about creating special memories.

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?

Usually she writes a letter to Santa with three requests, and Santa brings at least one thing from the list.  This year she only wrote two things - a rat (as in a real, live rodent) and a Nintendo DS.  I'm feeling a bit sad about that, because Santa is not bringing any pets, and I'm not sure Santa will manage a DS console either :(

6. What is your favorite holiday food?

Lots of summer fruits - mangoes, cherries, plums, nectarines...  We don't eat a lot over Christmas, it's just too hot to think about food!!  Usually on Christmas Day we have prawns, cold chicken and salad. My mum makes the most amazing rum balls too.

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?

I'm not making any Christmas-themed projects, except for finishing off the last of my Christmas cards.  I've almost finished making a 2010 calendar for my daughter for Christmas, I've made some other handcrafted presents too.

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?

 I love the old black and white classic Christmas movies - especially "It's a Wonderful Life" and various versions of "A Christmas Carol".  I don't like any of the Christmas comedies (Tim Allen etc) - they just don't appeal to me. 

9. Favorite holiday song?

"Little Drummer Boy"
"Do you hear what I hear?"

10. Favorite holiday pastime?

Spending time with family.

Floral creations

# Design Dollies ~ Sketch challenge
This was for last Thursday's sketch, and in my nightwork-induced stupour I lost track of what day of the week it was and totally forgot to upload this one in time, oops!!
# Allsorts ~ Challenge #30 ~ purple
I used Kaisercraft 'Lilac Avenue' papers




# Design Dollies ~ Colour challenge ~ all white
I used: Cuttlebug embossing folders - Victoria and Swiss Dot; Spellbinders Nestabilities Blossoms 2.

Just another catchup

I'm not creating a lot this week. It's so HOT here, and I'm doing some yuk shifts at work, and it's adding up to being all too hard!!

So, today it's just another brief catch up with some November creations.

This is another one I created at the Scrap Boutique retreat, a speed scrap challenge:



The gorgeous butterflies were part of a gift from the very generous Aud, loving those so much and I'm going to be sad when I've got none left. They are a perfect match for the Kaisercraft 'Flutterby' paper. I can't believe that's stayed hidden in my stash so long either!

The second layout is from a challenge at Scrap Lounge. This one had to use three patterned papers, three different flowers, and three words in the title. It's also another contribution to the 2010 calendar that I'm making for my daughter for Christmas, featuring her pet guinea pigs:



I won a prize for this one, which should be arriving some time next week :)

November catch up

Somehow I missed uploading these projects in November.

These are last of my Crafting in Style design team layouts, using Rouge de Garange papers:






And another November Design Team layout for Scrap Pile, using Cosmo Cricket 'Nutmeg' papers:

Cybercropping with the CISters

This weekend is the final cybercrop over at Crafting in Style. Lana is closing the store, but the site and gallery and sketch blog will remain open.

I've done up a sketch:



Digital credits:
* Torn paper by Balahai (NezNez kit) * Ribbon by Kalanice (Plasir D'Hiver collab kit) * Swatches by Anita Sturgiou (Krafty Chic kit) * Alphas by FeiFei (Chipboard alphabets set)

And my sample layout:



As always, the extra criteria for the challenge are up in the forum if you'd like to join in the challenge, and don't forget to check out the challenges that  Laura and Kerryn have set too.

OMG... it's purple...

Lana at Crafting in Style gave me some Kaisercraft 'Lilac Avenue' papers and MDF frame to play with, and this is what I came up with:



Purple is NOT my most favourite of scrapping colours, but I'm pretty happy with the result!! The frame will be an end-of-year thank you gift for one of my daughter's teachers. I also followed a workshop tutorial by Leanne (fellow DT chickie at Scrap Pile) to make a matching gift bag, in monochromatic:



I'm entering the giftbag in these challenges:

# Design Dollies ~ Colour challenge ~ monochromatic purple
# Humble Pie ~ One key colour
# Allsorts ~ Week 29 ~ buttons
# Three Clovers ~ Challenge 42 ~ gifts

I used: Kaisercraft 'Lilac Avenue' paper and Kaisercraft stamp from the 'Flora and Fauna' set, Colorbox fluid chalk, grosgrain ribbons and buttons from my stash.

1st December...

Where has the year gone?? December already, with Christmas holidays just around the corner.

Over at Scrap Pile, we are having an Advent gift swap - we sent our swap partner 25 little presents, one for each day of December leading up to Christmas. So exciting!!

My partner Fiona gave me this bag of goodies:



Thank you!!!

More Christmas cards...

A few more Christmas cards:

The first one is an easel card which I made for Liz's challenge at Scrap Boutique, using more Bo Bunny 'Love Shack' papers:



I made this one using up the offcuts of the first card:



# Secret Crafter ~ Challenge #60 ~ Christmas trees
# Whimsy Stamps ~ Challenge #29 ~ Christmas
# Charisma Cardz ~ Challenge 47 ~ Christmas

Christmas cybercropping

Over at Scrap Pile we held our last cybercrop for 2009 on the weekend, and our theme was Christmas...

My challenge was to create a Christmas layout with at least three photographs, using non-traditional colours. My layout:



There's also some free Christmas workshops ~ our Christmas gift to Scrap Pile forum members. Here's a small selection of some of my workshop creations:





The ornaments are made from recycled plastic cocoa lids (because we consume a lot of drinking chocolate in this household *wink*).

I'm entering this last project over at:
# C.R.A.F.T ~ Challenge 27 ~ Christmas gifts
# Charisma Cardz ~ Challenge 47 ~ anything Christmas

Thankful

# Design Dollies ~ sketch challenge ~ 'Thankful' theme
# Design Dollies ~ Elements challenge ~ water
1) beach/ocean photograph 2) blue colour scheme 3) handcut waves

Wishes

Yesterday my daughter was telling me about one of the fairy stories she is reading, and she decided she NEEDS a wish box. How it works (apparently) ~ the box needs to be really pretty and you write your wishes on pieces of paper and put them inside the box so that they can come true.

So, I surreptitiously unearthed an empty boiled lolly tin from the 'someday' craft box while she was at school, rifled through my stash for some funky patterned paper offcuts, and I got creative:






I haven't decided if I'll show her yet, or wait till she brings up the subject again, or put it aside for her birthday next month, or place it in her Christmas stocking...

In the meantime however, I'm entering this little creation in:
# Humble Pie ~ altered item


UPDATE 27 NOV: I won a prize for this one at Humble Pie. I'm holding on to the Wish Box for now and I'll wrap it up for her birthday, which is really, really soon.