Abandoned? Not really.

I feel I have abandoned my blog... but really, I still consider it a hiatus.

My blog has always been about my crafting projects, not about my "real" life.  Real life has taken some interesting and unexpected turns over the past 18 months or so, leaving very little time for craft projects.  Also, I don't share my personal trials and tribulations in the public arena.  Thus, nothing to blog about in this space. And blog-hopping only makes me feel like I'm missing out :(

I need to immerse myself in a project to enjoy it.  I need to surround myself with supplies. I need the time and space to clear my mind and just let go and create... and I haven't had that luxury for, well, it feels like forever.

On the plus side, I have been involved in some other wonderful things - volunteering in my local area, gardening - taming the wilderness just a little bit, and attending my daughter's school activities - which have taken up time and energy and also generated some great photographs!  So when I get back to scrapping (and I believe I will) I will have no shortage of subject matter.

So, not abandoned.  Just set aside.  For now.

Handmade flowers

We're focussing on handmade flowers this week at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge. I made some fabric yo-yo flowers to adorn a cheap little tank top:

Catching up

I've a few personal issues to overcome lately and I haven't had a lot of time or energy to devote to crafting or blogging.  This is a layout I completed for C.R.A.F.T. Challenge last month:

 

Just a quick, fun 8x8 layout using some leftover bits and pieces, based on the sketch provided.  Memories of Harriet Jersey Caramel, who is no longer with us...

No designer paper...

When I first started scrapping, I tended to shy away from patterned paper, but now my collection is so huge and varied that I rarely make anything without it. So, this week's theme at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge did push me a bit to look beyond my papers and use NO DESIGNER PAPER:



I used: Cuttlebug 'Jules Jewells' EF, and Affirmations quotation card

I'm also posting my card in the following challenges:

# Allsorts ~ Free & easy February
# Crafty Cardmakers ~ Monochrome magic

Jasmine's card

Jasmine loves joining in as a Junior DT at CRAFT Challenge.  This week she made a Valentine's Day card for her best friend, using NO DESIGNER PAPER:

Jasmine used Bazzill cardstock and some foam hearts, which we found in our local craft store.

This card is also for:
#  Dream Valley ~ Valentine
#  Hooked on Craft ~ Hearts

Love, love, love...

All you need is love...

I've had a break from crafting over the past little while, due to some events beyond my control.  I really missed the peace and relaxation that creating something brings me, and it's fabulous to be able to return to something I love.

This week at CRAFT Challenge, we have a Valentine's Day theme.  I wasn't able to create a card in advance or to use any of our fabulous sponsor images, but I did alter a little gift bag to use for the occasion, using some fabric scraps.  Here it is:

 

I'd like to submit my gift bag for the following challenges:

# Hooked on Craft ~ Hearts
# Crafting for all Seasons ~ Love is in the Air

Grateful

 

"It is easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks."

I don't know the author, but the words resonated very clearly with me, and I wanted to share them.  The photograph is mine.

Today I am thankful for the obstacles and lessons of the past month, for the gift of life, and for the blessings I find in my life every single day.  I'm ready now to move forward.

Here's the full poem:

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something

For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations

Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge

Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.

They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary

Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they can become your blessings.

Another card

This time of year, I'm finding it so hard to fit in crafting time.  But I still managed to make one more Christmas card for C.R.A.F.T. Challenge.  The theme is "Christmas card with removeable item".  I made a double pocket card and added some flavoured teabags, for my husband's aunt: 



Our sponsor this week is Bows and Berries, and I used the adorable Warm Penguin image.  I also used:  Fancy Pants patterned paper, Echo Park patterned paper (for the paper piecing) and Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type alphabet stickers.

To make the card, I followed this tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers.

I'm submitting my card at:
# My Mum's Craft Shop ~ Cute and funky Christmas
# Paper Sundaes ~ Anything Christmas

A card sketch

This week at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge we have a sketch.  We have two wonderful sponsors and so I've made two different cards.

The first card uses 'Funky Flower' from Floppy Latte Designs:



What I did:
1> I resized the image to create several different sized flowers.
2> I printed the flowers onto patterned paper (Echo Park 'Victoria Gardens')
3> I cut out the flowers, crumpled them, then layered them.
4> I secured the centres - a Basic Grey brad for the big one, and a button for the smaller one.


The next card uses 'Asia' from Glitterbabe:



What I did:
1> I printed one image onto cardstock, and fussy cut around the edges.
2> I printed a second copy of the image onto patterned paper.
3> I cut out the patterned image and paper-pieced the kimono onto the first image.
4> I added some extra colour with gel pens, then assembled the card with embellishments.

I used: Scenic Route paper, Limetree Creations doily, Kaisercraft tiny alphabet stickers, and my own fabric yo-yo flowers.

I'm submitting this card at:
# Crazy Challenge ~ Anything goes

Guest designing

I'm guest designing over at ARTastic this month, and I'm also providing a RAK prize for one of the winners.

The December challenge is inspired by Thomas Kincade's painting 'A Blessing of Christmas'. The other criteria are: include a snowman, include a Christmas tree, include 'Christmas' in the title.

I have to say, I did find this quite challenging on a number of levels. First, I have hardly any Christmas photographs remaining unscrapped. Next, we don't have snow at Christmas in Australia, so combining the criteria was a little tricky!


Click to enlarge

I took inspiration from the soft lighting in the painting, which gives a kind of ethereal 'blurry' effect. I chose a blurry Christmas photograph from last year, and some dark papers. No snowmen for me, but I thought that the white spotty patterned paper did give a kind of 'snowy' effect... maybe? And the Christmas trees - I made them myself from some offcuts and added a little machine stitching and pearls:



I used papers from 7 Gypsies and Bo Bunny 'Mamarazzi', Lily Bee Designs alpha stickers, lace, Kaisercraft pearls, and some upcycled product tags from a recent shopping trip.

Something different

This week at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge our theme is 'Christmas Present' - perfect timing for sharing our Christmas gift crafting projects!  One of things I love about the C.R.A.F.T. Challenge blog is that any project is okay - it can be a card, layout, or any kind of hand crafted item.  We encourage young crafters to join in too - everyone is welcome.

I made something a bit different - it's a beaded bookmark:

Not so easy to photograph - in real life it looks pretty cool :)  This is how it's used:





The pictured book is How to Guzzle Your Garden - a non-fiction children's book by Australian author Jackie French.

Unusual Christmas

The theme this week at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge is a little unusual ~ "Unusual Christmas". I'm sure it can be interpretted in lots of different ways. I made a Christmas card using non-traditional colours (orange and yellow, with a touch of pink) and I also used a non-Christmas image. The image is Umbrella - Closed from our sponsor, The Stamping Boutique. I cut off the handles and turned the image into a Christmas tree, then resized and used two images. Hopefully that's unusual enough to fit the challenge!



I also used: Crate Paper (Emma's Shoppe), Bella gems, Glitz Design alpha stickers

I'm submitting my card at:
# The Stamping Boutique ~ Holiday
# Creative Craft ~ Free for all
# Craft Your Days Away ~ Embellishment bingo ~ gems, ribbon, buttons

Seeing stars

Thursdays seem to be coming around SO fast... where has this year gone?  This week the theme at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge is 'Stars in your eyes' - and we'd love to see projects featuring stars.  I was lucky to receive a fun image from our sponsor Bugaboo Digi Stamps, and I made this card:

I used: Echo Park 'Victoria Gardens' papers... and that's it!! I  made the stars with auto-shapes in MS Word.  With the busy papers, no other embellishment was needed, though I couldn't resist a touch of K-style doodling around the edges.

I'm submitting my card at:
# Challenge Up Your Life ~ Friendship
# Paper Sundaes ~ Digital images

Jasmine's got stars in her eyes too

Jasmine has participated in another week at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge. I'm so proud of her!  She's taking her Junior DT role very seriously and has been trying so hard to stay ahead with her homework to allow for some dedicated craft time each week. The theme this week is 'Stars in Your Eyes', and she made a thank you card for her teacher:



The image is from the challenge sponsor, Bugaboo Digi Stamps, and Jasmine coloured the shirt to match her own school uniform colours.  She also used Bazzill cardstock, stars from her sticker collection, and twine.

It's also exciting for Jasmine to have her card featured over at the Bugaboo blog this week.

Jasmine is submitting her card at:
# Crafty Cardmakers ~ Recycle (recycled book page)
# Fussy & Fancy ~ Be Thankful (handwritten sentiment)

Fabulous fabric!

How gorgeous is this 'Garden Patchwork' fabric?? I love the vibrant colours and of course, a bit of red in my life always makes me smile :)   I've started sewing some Christmas gifts already (shhhhh!) and I can picture a super cute skirt for Jasmine using this fabric - and maybe with a matching carrybag too. 

Fabric Traders are giving away some fabric grab-bags (Australia only) - CLICK HERE for details.

Cuteness

This week is all about the 'cute factor' at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge.    Here's my card, using the adorable Penguin Fun image from one of our weekly sponsors, 2Cute Rubber Stamps (this one is a digi stamp):



I used:  American Crafts 'Pearl' cardstock, Spellbinders Nestabilities 'Labels Sixteen' die, Adorn It tiny alphabet stickers

I'm also submitting at:
# Charisma Cardz ~ Cutesy projects
# Allsorts ~ Anything but square
# One Stop Craft ~ Three is a magic number - Three scoops of icecream, three pieces of trim

Cuteness - Part 2, Jasmine's turn

Jasmine got creative this week for C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - who can resist a "CUTE" theme?? 



Jazi used:  Cupcake Kitty from 2Cute (digi), Bazzill cardstock, Kaisercraft patterned paper, and a sentiment stamp (possibly Grant Studios)

She's also submitting at:
# Charisma Cardz ~ Cutesy projects

Scrapping Everyday Miracles

In September I entered a challenge at Scrapping Everyday Miracles, and I was thrilled that my layout was selected as one of the top three.

I was honoured to be invited to be a Guest Designer this month. The theme is 'Nature' and you can read all about the scrap twist HERE, as well as see the lovely contributions of the design team.  This is my layout:



The layout title Jacksonia is the name of this beautiful tree - it is an Australian native species that grows in the wild on my property.

I used paper from Echo Park 'Victoria Gardens', Glitz Designs alphabet stickers, Lime Tree Creations crocheted trim, and a re-purposed waffle-weave tea towel to make my own lollipop flowers and background accent.

I'm also submitting my layout at Lime Tree Creations November challenge - Becci would love to see some of her product used on a creation, and this month the criteria requires using another handmade item.

A bookmark

Jasmine is joining in at C.R.A.F.T. Challenge again this week. The theme is 'Family Activities' and she chose sewing because it is something that the two of us do together. I have been teaching her to sew and she has her own little sewing machine too.

Here is her bookmark:



The image is 'Pin Cushion' from Bows and Berries, our lovely sponsor this week.  The ribbon is from Maya Road, and Jasmine made the buttons herself from Bazzill cardstock.


Jazi is also playing along at:
# Paper Sundaes ~ Bookmarks
# Dream Valley ~ Anything goes
# One Stop Craft ~ No sentiments 
# Bows and Berries ~ Clean and simple

Some sketchy goodness...

It's my turn to host the sketch challenge at Scrap Pile this month, and I also broke open a new package of Echo Park papers to create my layout with.

This is the sketch:



Digital credits:  'Grunge' papers by Toucan Scraps; 'A Delightful Day' journalling card (kit possibly retired) by Chelsea Parsons 

And this is my layout:



The layout is also my contribution to C.R.A.F.T. Challenge this week - with a theme of Family Activities.  Thank you Robin at Bows and Berries, who generously provided the 'Sewing Machine' image for me to use:



I used: Echo Park 'Victoria Gardens' papers and stickers, American Crafts foam Thickers, Prima 'Gatsby' flower (Myrtle) and packaging, and baker's twine. I'm probably the last scrapper in the universe to use baker's twine - I'm a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to trends!

I'm also submitting my layout at:
# Dream Valley ~ Anything goes
# Paper Playtime ~ Anything goes