Shabby chic Happy New Year card

One of the advantages (and/or disadvantages) of making your own cards is that family members get wind of it and start asking for 'just something simple, for Mabel's birthday'.   I don't mind making cards with this type of brief, because it's so vague that it leaves lots of room for interpretation.

So, on Christmas day, Mum asks for a card to send to friends that she received a Christmas card from, but didn't send one to. Solution: a new year's card!

I went with a shabby chic country theme because the friend is from the country:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Kraft by Stampin' Up!
Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket 'Circa 1934', October Afternoon 'Modern Homemaker'
Brad: Pebbles Inc
Rub-on letters: American Crafts
Scallop and circle punches (for flower): Stampin' Up!
Border punch: Fiskars

Christmas cards for 2010

This year's Christmas cards were finished with a bit more time to spare than usual. Of course, I spent the requisite hours days covered in bits of paper and embossing powder before deciding on a design.

This design was inspired by a card on the Hero Arts site which had a circle cut from the starburst lace on the front with a stamped reindeer peeking out.  I had picked up some little felt reindeer decorations last year from Borders and fortunately came across them, hidden in a drawer, and was able to use them on the cards.

Supplies: Cardstock from Paddy's Market; Stamps and rhinestone by Hero Arts; Ink from Versamark; white embossing powder from Stampin Up!; felt reindeer by Paperchase

Christmas card from Tabitha

Tabitha cat's former owners were kind enough to give her some handpainted cards for her birthday a few weeks ago (which I completely forgot about, sorry, Tab).  So Tabitha, being a polite and well-mannered kitty, asked me to create something worthy in return.

Here is a simple card for Christmas: 

Supplies: Patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket; stamps by Hero Arts; ribbon, square punch, ink and cardstock by Stampin' Up!

The inside of the card is autographed by Tabitha using her former name...  =)

Hello Dora! Big sister owl

 Here's another Craft Schmaft owl for my owl family - her name is Dora.

She's a lovely big sister to little Jet and she happily and efficiently looks after the nest (or barn or roof or wherever these owls live) when Mother off at work.

Since I've started 'sewing', I've been on the lookout for appropriate accoutrements:

The local weekend trash-n-treasure markets are an unexpected source of old sewing needles and embroidery thread.  I love (and miss) that the needle and cottons are 'made in England'.
One thing I do want, though, is some decent woolly felt. The felt that I've been using on the owl wings is too thin - some old-fashioned post-war fabric is what I need!

Hello Dora!

And be good, Jet...

Boo! The Vampire Owl

Boo! flies around at dusk on Halloween

Looking for small children to spook, he's so keen.

But be careful, Boo! 'cos Tabitha cat is on the prowl

Watch your back, you little vampire owl!

Say 'Hi' to Boo! the Vampire Owl!
Just in time for Halloween, this cutie owl has a black cape with a silver racing stripe. All the better for swooping down on unsuspecting little children .... eeeeeeek!!!!

Happy Halloween from Boo! and Tabitha

Woohoo! Hello Toot Jet - junior sock owl

 Recently, I read about Claire Waring, a clever mother, craft blogger and soft toy designer.  She is the one who came up with the idea of turning socks into toys.  Not your old-fashioned sock monkeys, but a modern, delightful range of giraffes, monsters, dogs and owls.  Her company is called Craft Schmaft.

I sent away for a kit with pattern, and in less than an hour, I had created my first sock owl!
Here is Toot Jet, a junior (and founding) member of the Ooh, Look owl parliament.

Hello Toot Jet. More of the owl parliament will be flying in soon.

Hi there - welcome to the neighbourhood

 This card is for a new neighbour - or for someone you haven't seen in a while!

I loved using the American Crafts papers for this card; the bright colours and clean graphic designs are both happy and sophisticated.

Welcome!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Patterned papers: American Crafts - Teen (Debate Team), Craft Fair (Ida Zipperelli), Abode (Shady Lane)

Chipboard stickers: American Crafts - Dear Lizzy

Letters: American Crafts - Apartment

It's a Girl - a new Baby card

This is a card I made for one of my Canadian cousins.  She recently had a baby girl, which calls for an appropriately feminine and pretty card.

The pink and white flower-patterned paper is from the Dear Lizzy line from American Crafts.  I cannot tell you how much stuff I've got from this range, except to say that it is a lot. And I haven't used any of it up till now.

By the way, this is the wedding card I made last year for the same cousin.

Supplies

cardstock: bazzill

patterned paper: American Crafts dear lizzy; Basic Grey urban prairie

rub-ons: American Crafts kate sidekicks

butterfly punch: Martha Stewart

border punch: Fiskars

round punches: Stampin' Up!

corner rounder: Corner Chomper

rhinestone: Prima

ribbon: anon 

I'm just a Show girl

Call me old-fashioned, but I love the Royal Easter Show (Sydney).

I love how it's the same every year. I love the district fruit displays, the fruit cakes, the scones, the jams, the paintings and art works.

I love the dagwood dogs and corn-on-a-stick and over-priced chips. I love the crowds of happy families (to some extent). I love Sideshow Alley, the rides and the Showbag pavilion.

Most of all, I like taking photos of everything!

I only bought 2 showbags this year: the Twisties bag, and the Red Rock Deli bag. Both good value ($4 and $6 resp.)

The Power Surge ride looked unreal.  Note that I said 'looked' - I'm not silly enough to go on it, especially after lunch.

Other showgoers didn't have any such qualms.

It's not a Show without the creepy, open-mouthed clowns, or games where 'every child wins a prize'. PS: Can you spot me in the above picture?

Lunch consisted of a plate of Twisted fries smothered with cheese and salt.  See the amazed kid passing by.

We missed seeing Robosaurus in action, but it looked massive as it was towed back to its enclosure. That's a small pony (or a giant man).  I am pleased to report that I did not encounter any farm animals this year except for these pretty chickens and an inflatable cow.

As usual, the district fruit displays were impressive, especially Northern District's 'Dawn of Agriculture' display, complete with a mummy in a casket.

Fruit cakes chock full of fruit.  And delicious lamingtons.

The decorated cakes were amazing this year.

None more so than this Alice in Wonderland 'mad hatter'-style cake. It's by Anna Maria Roche, who was an instructor at the Planet Cake cupcake class I did a few years ago.

Even though I deliberately avoided the cattle, sheep and goats, I could not leave the Show without checking out the dogs and cats.  The cat judging was on and this magnificent white (ragdoll?) cat with one blue eye and one green eye won a few ribbons.

At the dog pavilion, the samoyeds were fluffy, the Cavalier King Charles spaniels were cute, and this blue-shirted famishus spectaclii (juvenile) got lots of attention.

It was a fun day, with quite a bit of walking around.  I can't wait for next year's.

You may also want to take a look at my visit last year.

A Chocolatesuze Wedding

I wasn't going to post on this event, especially since the 'official' photos haven't been released yet.  So I hope no one minds if I just show these couple of pictures.

Yes, it's from the wedding of Sydney's lovely foodblogging princess, Chocolatesuze, and her Noods.  It took place in a garden on a blazingly sunny day, surrounded by family, friends and well-wishers.

The bride and her attendants carried lollipop bouquets, and the groomsmen had lollipop boutonnières. Suze looked absolutely beautiful and was also dressed for comfort with wedding sneakers and an iPod.

Food was thoughtfully provided after the wedding ceremony. My favourites were the fairy floss and the Krispy Kreme donuts.  Wouldn't you love to have your own personal fairy floss man on call?

Everyone loves a wedding...

And just so I can put something under the 'Craft' tag, here is a picture of the card I made for the happy couple:

Details: Acetate card with American Crafts patterned paper and rub-ons; KI Memories ribbon

The old 'Butterflies in a Frame' trick

If you're a visitor to markets and craft shows, you may have noticed how popular are paper butterflies stuck into a wooden box frame.  There are so many different designs around these days, and they've always appealed to me because of their simple, clean style.  In fact, part of the appeal of the butterflies (or birds, or whatever design is chosen) is that they are sometimes handcut from vintage papers - very delicate yet bold.

So of course I think to myself "I could do that!".  This type of decoration has been around for years, and I first thought of making my own about 2 years ago.  However, with one thing and another (aka 'procrastination'), I've only just completed the project.  As it was, both pictures took less than an hour to make.

The box frames are from IKEA (bought, er, 2 years ago).  The butterflies were cut from various scrapbooking papers and from an old crappy novel I was about to throw out (Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, if you're interested).  To save time, I used a Cuttlebug machine with a butterfly die cut - so much quicker than handcutting, and less prone to error and frustration.
The butterflies are attached with 1/2" quilting pins on foam core board.

The final effect looks pretty good, I think.  The feeling of relief at finally getting them out of the way is... priceless!

Butterflies cut from an old yellowing novel, attached to black foam core board.

Butterflies cut from scrapbooking paper, on white foam core board.

Getting a bit of a craft display going on the upstairs landing.