An accordian spine mini coaster book...

Once upon a time there was a boy who went to a cartooning class. The boy loved it, and wanted to spend almost every moment after that, designing, creating, and mass producing comic books, which he intended to sell to his family.... I am guessing that is just the first chapter of that story, rather than 'The End'!

For my part, I decided to make Hayden a special little coaster book, that he could turn into a limited edition Hayden Jones comic. These little books are easy to make, and a great way to use up those scraps. Some of you have done them in a class or workshop with me before.

When it came to decorating the covers, I wanted to keep them simple (not knowing what story Hayden would be telling), but not completely blank. One of my favourite stampsets in the new catalogue is the 'Once Upon a Time' set. This set may not be quite as versatile as some of them, but it was one of my must haves (and I cannot quite explain that myself!) This was the perfect project to get some ink on it for the first time...

The verse on the front cover - Once upon a time - is actually one long stamp. I used sticky tape and my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp it in two shorter lengths, so it would fit the cover better.

Why sticky tape? Use it to cover the part of the stamp that you do not want inked up, ink the entire stamp, remove the sticky tape, and stamp as usual. The part of the stamp that was under the tape will remain 'clean' and will not leave an image. As for the back cover? 'The End' of course!

This is what the inside of the mini book looks like (pre-cartooning). The spine of the book is an accordian fold - the number of pages in the book depends on the number of mountain folds, and can be adjusted to suit. A length of ribbon sandwiched between the double coaster covers prevents the accordian spine opening out too far, and also doubles as a way to hold the mini book closed.

These little books are great for mini scrapbooking projects, and make wonderful gifts. The colour used in this one is Baja Breeze (card, ink, ribbon, and patterned paper).

My little girl's birthday card

This week we have been celebrating Bridie's birthday. She is officially three, and although I still like to think of her as little, she tells me she is a big girl now. I don't know about that. What I do know, is that she knows what she likes. Pink and Purple. Glitter. Dancing and music. Her dolls. Did I mention Pink and Purple? You can be sure that if I didn't she will have!

When it came time to make Bridie a birthday card the boys decided to go with a store bought card instead. Mum didn't have any Barbie or Disney Princess stamps in her stash, and they had seen a little card (Snow White, Cinderella ... all the Disney favourites) at the supermarket that they thought would be perfect. Who am I to argue with a big brother or two? Turns out they were right - she loved it.

I on the otherhand decided to go Mummy made. That said - this little dancing girl was the original creative genius of someone else - sorry - not sure who made her first, but I was introduced to her by the lovely Karen Rogers. (I am not sure if Karen has featured her on her blog before - she shared her on our demonstrator team forum - but you should go visit her anyway, as she has some lovely stuff over there).

So anyway, after that rather lengthy introduction, here she is - pretty in pink, with added sparkle - Bridie's dancing girl birthday card...

Isn't she pretty?!

Punches used to make her were the scallop circle, word window, heart to heart, 3/4" circle, and I used my cropadile to punch out those little blue eyes. Sponge a bit of pink ink around the edges, add some glitter to her skirt, stampin dimensionals to give her some lift, and a stamped greeting from the 'Occasional Greetings' set, and you have one happy little birthday girl.

Giftwrapping on the cheap

Confession time.

Although I love seeing the excitement of presents being ripped open, a part of me is always thinking 'Oh no, don't rip the paper!!!!!!' It always seems like such a waste. I could use that pretty paper again!

Lets face it though, carefully unwrapping a gift so as to save the paper, just isn't as exciting as ripping it open.

Since it is probably going to just get ripped anyway, we started wrapping gifts - especially for children - using plain paper, which could then be decorated (read stamped) as desired. Stampin' around wheels are especially handy for this - and I am pretty sure I have photos somewhere of Peter in charge of decorating Bridie's birthday gift last year.

For our most recently wrapped gift, I decided to have the birthday card do double duty and decorate the present as well. Plain brown paper has never looked so good! A simple band of card - crimped - to match the card - in place of ribbon, and we hung the card from the band. That will save the envelope getting ripped up too!

So there you have it - wrapping gifts on the cheap!

Birthday Cards for Boys

Both of my boys had birthday parties to attend this week, so we got to work, whipping up some birthday cards suitable for boys. For the first card the colours came straight from the latest Kristina Werner challenge which was just perfect for boys.

I used Taken with Teal, Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie, Green Galore, and white. As always, I decided to go with a pretty simple design, and have my punches do a lot of the work.

The stamps are from the Bugs and Kisses stamp set - a favourite of my boys (and girl). To add some interest to the card squares, I added coordinating brads to the green squares, and used the crimper and mat pack on the teal and baja squares respectively. These tools are both great for adding interesting to boys projects, without making them too 'girly'.

The second card I have for you is actually the first one I made, a couple of days ago, so it doesn't use those challenge colours. The stamp set I used has not yet appeared in the NZ/Aust SU catalogue - I have my fingers crossed for a mini appearance some time soon, but was disappointed to see it just listed on the USA retiring list. My boys LOVE dinosaurs - and don't they all? Here's hoping we see it again soon!

The colours I used here were Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, and So Saffron. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to get all those dinos lines up right where I wanted them. Once again, a super quick and easy card. Reports back were that Mr 7, the birthday boy, and a dinosaur fan himself, was suitably impressed. Whew!

Saying Goodbye

The past few days have been sad ones in our house. Not only did we have to say goodbye to our visitors yesterday (and I have to say, although they weren't exactly noisely, it sure is quiet around here today, and we are missing them a lot!) we have also been saying goodbye to our Gran, who passed away on Thursday.

One of the things that I enjoy most about this hobby, is sharing it with friends and family. Not only by giving cards etc, but also sharing the opportunity to create stuff, especially with my children. I love that they enjoy and appreciate what I do (craft stuff anyway, not so much the laundry etc!) and that they can join in. I wanted to suggest to them that perhaps we could make Gran some cards, but Bridie beat me to it - asking if they couldn't please draw Gran a picture. Better and better. Something they really wanted to do, and not just to make Mummy happy.

They all sat down to their creating, and Hayden and Bridie were soon happy with what they had done. Campbell on the other hand, surprised us with the time and care he took over his picture, first carefully drawing it with pencil, and then colouring it all in. He was at it a long time. He asked me to write a message on the back, and then added some more drawing there.

The thing that struck me the most about his drawing was the fact that Gran - who he had drawn first, had something in her hand. Since the rest of the drawing involved planets, and rockets and the like, I feared that what Gran had might be some kind of laser, or gun, or other favourite boy accessory. When I asked Campbell what it was, he told me it was Gran's walking stick (with a 'how can you not know that?!' look on his face).

Of course. Gran's walking stick. It was a relatively recent (past couple of years) addition to Gran's life, and is not really something I think of when I think of her. For Campbell though, that walking stick is a major part of Gran's identity (He and Bridie both were quite partial to that walking stick!) - so much so - that it was right there with her in his picture.

I have been thinking about this a lot since then. The different ways that we see, and remember things. It occured to me that this has huge significance when it comes to scrapbooking. Most of my scrapbooking is about my family - especially the kids - and milestones big and small, that they are experiencing. Things that I think are important, and with the exception of perhaps this layout, where Hayden had some input, all are entirely done from my perspective.

I am thinking I might need to change that.

I did have a couple of projects rolling around in my head already that were going to involve the boys creative input. I am thinking that I need to get them out of my head and into the 'box' and really make them happen.

Vague, I know. Once they are out of my head, I will share them, I promise.

The Waterlily Gardens Layout

Wow - I think this is the longest I have gone between posts. I feel like a slacker! We have been so busy exploring with our visitors, taking LOTS of photos, but other than that, not really being so creative. Except of course, the baking of 231 butter cookies for Hayden's cultural fair at school yesterday, and the recreation of 'cool belts like the Indians make' for Campbell and Bridie (did manage stamping, embossing, and eyelets on those!)

So here is a layout from a while ago. We had had a family trip to the very lovely waterlily gardens in Waihi, and I decided to try to recreate the waterlilies on a layout...

At the time 'Bodacious Bouquet' was the stamp set I had that was most likely to resemble waterlilies (if you squint your eyes a little!) and I was quite pleased with how it turned out. The lily pads were just flowers (I am thinking from another stamp set?) with a cut up the middle. Attached in random fashion, with some of the 'leaves' and flowers raised up with stampin dimensionals. The block of photos (6 photos, punched into squares) is also raised from the celery and blush mat, using dimensionals (having first attached the photos to a piece of hidden card to make life a little easier!)

Of course no waterlily garden would be complete without a dragonfly, the perfect 'DIY' embellishment. I first stamped it in place using celery ink on the celery 12 x 12 card, then stamped again on vellum, cutting out just the wings, and attached them over the dragonfly that was already stamped on the card. I added another card body over top of the wings using a dimensional (partly to hide the adhesive showing through the vellum) and added a couple of brad eyes. Because the wings are slightly offset, it kind of gives the impression the dragonfly is actually flying...

With only two days of school left for Hayden, we are in need of more teachers gifts - that promises a good chance of another post soon. If all goes well! On the other hand, Rocky Mountain National Park is calling us!

Expecting guests...

We are expecting guests - in fact, if all has gone according to plan, the plane has just landed. Excitment is high in our house! We had to go to the supermarket earlier to pick up a few things, and came home with these beautiful roses to greet our guests with.

And of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity for a few other little welcoming goodies (these are our first guests afterall!) One of the things we really noticed when we first arrived here was how dry the air was. It is DRRRRY! So we put together some little packages of moisturiser, lip balm, a water bottle, and some tissues etc. I did think about the old chocolate on the pillow routine, but, to be honest, a chocolate left on a pillow in this house, would not last long. Definitely not long enough for the guests to enjoy it that is for sure! So what to do? Something childproof was needed, so I decided to whip up a couple of 'sourcream containers' to make sure the yummies would be safe!

They are super duper easy. I just used a spare scrap of paper - didn't cut it to any particular size (but maybe could have made it a little smaller). All you need to do is roll it into a tube and attach the edges.

Tape together one end. Fill with goodies, then tape together the other end - making sure to squeeze the tube in the opposite direction to before, to make a triangle shaped package (should have taken a photo of that bit - sorry!)

To finish it off, you can use a crimper to add a few crimps to each end of the package, where it has been taped. And there you have it - a childproof package for yummy goodness.

Actually, technically it is probably not childproof. But it should slow them down for a minute or two, and at least this way you will know for SURE if they have pinched anything out of it!

We put all the goodies into paper sacks that we found at the supermarket, crimped, to make it a little more exciting, and used paperclips to hold them shut (which, handily enough, can double as bookmarks). I hope they like them!

So now the plan is to have kids dinner and dishes done before our guests arrive, so I had better get on. It is likely that I may be a bit quiet here over the next couple of weeks, I am sure you will understand! Of course, it is also possible that I will be busy creating lots of fun stuff with some new goodies that will be arriving with the guests (yay!) I have plans for roses, stamped ones. Just in case it's a while between posts though, here are some real roses, to keep you going!

Gifts for Campbell's Teachers

We have had a crazy few days here - with the usual goings on, end of school activities for Campbell's school, and a bit of exploring too. Craft time this week has been taken up with a little gift for the two lovely teachers from Campbell's class. After much umming and ahhing I decided to go with a little folder of cards each - inspired by one seen on Mykeesha Byl's blog. Not forgetting, a matching pen...

As mentioned in the previous post I decided to stick with the very lovely, and retired, ginger blossom papers and matching (retired) in colours - groovy guava and river rock, with a bit of vanilla and rub red thrown in.

The front of the folder was decorated with a piece of the patterned paper, layers of cardstock, and some punched out, layered flowers. I love how, with different combinations of colours and positioning of the punchies, you can get so many different looking flowers. Some of the petals, punched from river rock, were cut off, folded in half, and then attached with a stampin dimensional to give a bit more of a leaf look. That middle flower was also popped up on dimensionals.

I kept the inside of the folder unadorned. I decided that when it is filled up with all the cards it is busy enough. The ribbon works, not only as a closure for the folder, but also to keep the cards and envelopes in place, inside the folder.

The teachers really seemed to like their gifts, and were suitably impressed that we had gone to the trouble to make them ourselves. It really does go to show how a simple hand made gift is better than a bought one (almost) every time!

The card that inspired the shells card...

Over the past few days I have been working on some little gifts for Campbell's teachers. This is his last week of preschool (for the second time in his life!) Although all the families pitched in and got both teachers something from the children, when you have a stash of craft stuff, it is hard to pass up the opportunity to make a little something too.

I think I have already mentioned the fact that the NZ summer mini catalogue was all but missed by me - something about renovations and relocations, that just don't allow for a whole lot of craft time! Apologies in advance - the next couple of posts will be featuring product that came and went with that mini, and the coordinating, and now retired, in colours. The Ginger Blossom papers worked so well for the gifts for Hayden's teachers, that I had to pull them out again.

Here is one of the cards I made. It was the layout inspiration for the Shells card in the previous post. A little bit of 'rock and roll' and stamping off, to mix up the colours on the stamps, punch them out, and that is about it.

As mentioned, the colours are retired river rock, and groovy guava, with a bit of vanilla and ruby red thrown in. Apart from the greeting, all the stamps are from the also retired 'Live your Dream' set. That set includes the quote 'Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams - Henry David Thoreau'. What could be more perfect than that for someone who's job it is to help shape our children?

Missing the Beach...

We had a warm day here today - high 20s celcius - and when I saw the colours for Kristina's latest colour inspiration - it really did make me think of the beach. A walk along the beach would have been nice today (but it helps that our apartment complex has a pool!)

So anyway, here is what I came up with. I made a card with this kind of layout at the weekend. I really liked the finished look, and it came together so easily (making use of those ever handy punches!) so I decided to try it out again today...

The card colours I used for this challenge were baja breeze, more mustard, so saffron, sahara sand, and of course, white. These colours do have a lovely fresh feel - and I think this would be good for a masculine card.

The ink was all baja breeze. Sea shell stamps from the 'seaside' stamp set, and the greeting from the 'A little Birthday Cheer' set - using that one a lot lately!