Rachel's Creations

Daring You To Scrap...

2012-01-08T18:06:00.004+08:00

I headed back to work on Tuesday after a lovely 10 day break at home - so hard to get back into the early morning routine again, and so tired by the time I get home in the afternoon, so I really haven't been doing much since Tuesday! Today however, I decided that I was going to take a bit of "me" time and scrapped a layout for the first ever "Daring You To Scrap" challenge - using paper scraps for your layout background.

I had a pile of scraps on my desk left over from a Tim Holtz Configurations Box I did last week, so I thought I'd stick them all down randomly (normally they're the kind of size I throw out, a bit too small to be really useful, but they were perfect for creating this background!). I then added a photo of my new red pots (love these!) and some gorgeous Tattered Inspirations flowers & buttons (Red & Black Chorus range), and a couple of hat pins. A scrap of cardboard, an old brad, some colour spray, and a few butterflies, and I'm done!

Love how it's turned out!

Will be back soon to share the other things I managed to create last week!

Until then...

Take care!

Rachel :)

I love the Christmas holidays!

2011-12-29T17:15:00.001+08:00

I normally work the few days between Christmas & New Year (unless we're actually away somewhere), but this year I decided to take the time off & have been having a really relaxing break pottering around in my scraproom & spending time with my kids - wish I could be a stay-at-home mum all the time!

I thought I'd share a few things that I've been working on this week...

Tattered Inspirations "Compliments of the Season" Mini Kit

Tattered Inspirations "Down by the Sea" Mini Kit

Twiddleybitz Round Printers Tray, Birds on a Branch & Leaves,
with Tattered Inspirations Milla-Kate & Sassy flowers & buttons

Hopefully will have time to create a bit more before I head back to work next week, and will be back to share when I can!

In the meantime, wishing you all a safe & happy New Year!

Cheers,

Rachel

Tis the season...

2011-12-18T15:25:00.003+08:00

or so I'm told... I've certainly been doing enough Christmasy stuff these past few weeks so I guess it really is coming, whether I'm ready for it or not!

I thought I'd share a little tutorial today - a pretty bauble for the tree! :)

Christmas Bauble

First, gather your supplies - for each bauble you'll need a polystyrene ball, two hat pins (Tattered Inspirations hat pins are perfect!), a length of narrow ribbon or braid, and some fabric scraps. You'll also need a sharp knife, an implement such as a hole poker (very technical, I know!), and a pair of fabric scissors. An extra small pin is handy too, if you've got one!

With your knife, cut around the ball, approximately 5mm deep.

Cut around the ball again to make four even segments. If your ball is large like mine, you can cut around it another couple of times to make eight segments. All cuts should intersect at the top & bottom of the ball only.

Next, cut your fabric to a size that covers each segment, allowing about 5mm around each side. A lighter weight fabric such as satin works best. You can use two (or more different colours) or make each segment the same, whichever you prefer. I've used purple & silver for mine.

Working with one segment at a time, and alternating colours, use your hole poking tool to gently push the edges of the fabric into the cuts you made around the ball.

When the ball is completely covered, use lengths of ribbon to cover the join of each segment, securing at the top with a small pin as you go.

When you've covered all of the joins, use a large hat pin to secure the ribbon at the bottom of the bauble.

Make a loop at the top of the bauble with the extra ribbon before cutting off the excess, and secure it with a smaller hat pin.

Then hang it on your tree for all to admire!

If you have a little time to spare & want to make a few more things for Christmas, check out my Christmas Cracker (and napkin ring) tutorial over at Twiddleybitz..

And if you have a few more gifts to make but aren't sure what, check out the ribbon bookmarks, also at Twiddleybitz...

And while you're over at the Twiddleybitz Ning, make sure you check out all the other things that the Design Team has been sharing in the countdown to Christmas - there are layout ideas, present ideas, recipes - well worth having a look!

Make sure you check out Tattered Inspirations Etsy store too - there's a new sale section there (and I happened to notice some gorgeous hat pins on sale!)... I think you need to do a little Christmas shopping for yourself, don't you?

Just in case I don't make it back for another update before Christmas, I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a very happy 2012. Stay safe, hug your loved ones, and I'll see you back here soon! :)

Cheers!

Rachel

And the winner is...

2011-11-08T17:36:00.000+08:00

... well, I'll get to that in a minute LOL!

Firstly, I want to thank my fellow Twiddley Angels for helping to make last weekend's RAKamania blog hop such a huge success, most particularly thanks & hugs go to Sandra Wallace for organising it all & somehow coping with all the things that didn't go according to plan and getting through it all anyway! Big thanks to Mr & Mrs Twiddleybitz (Andrew & Nicole) for making such a fabulous product for us to play with too. And mostly, thank YOU, for hopping along with us, leaving comments and playing games... I hope you've all left feeling inspired! Remember, most of us Angels update our blogs fairly regularly (some more than others LOL), so make sure you come back & visit & see what else we've been up to!

Anyway, I guess you'd like to know who has won the RAK? (Random Act of Kindness, for those that don't know what RAK stands for)...

I wrote out all the names (minus the DT - we have enough stuff already!), those that mentioned the secret words "to paint" in their comment had their names written out twice... then I chopped them all up & put them into my special purple bucket (which says "pink" - but that's only because it used to store my pink flowers until I had a major cull a couple of months ago!)...

All the eligible names in the bucket...

Then I went & found myself a lovely assistant (who usually looks a bit better than this... but then, when I did the draw she was supposed to be tucked up in bed asleep... of course, I actually found her snuggled up on the sofa watching The Fast & The Furious #4!)...

Miss Andie with her hand in the bucket, selecting a winner...

And the winner is.... come on Andie... who is it?...

The winner is...

Scossie Jane!

And what did Scossie Jane win?

A selection of bits and pieces... some Twiddleybitz (of course!)... a few flowers, bottle caps, lace doiley, hat pins & seam binding from my Tattered Inspirations stash... a Heidi Swapp retro frame kit, and a Pink Paislee Canvas Covered Artisan Album!

So Scossie Jane, please email me your postal address - rachels.creations(at)ymail.com, and I'll get this parcel on it's way to you ASAP!

***If the prize is unclaimed in a week (15/11/11), I will redraw using the random number generator.***

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,

Rachel

Hopping right along....

2011-11-05T16:00:00.000+08:00

I hope you're enjoying the Twiddleybitz RAKamania blog hop so far...

Hopefully you've found your way here from the amazing Carol Thompson's blog - how stunning is her work! I think I've finally figured out her secret... she doesn't Facebook, and she doesn't watch TV... so unlike me, she has heaps of time to create awesome projects! Well, that's my theory anyway! If you didn't happen to find your way here from Carol, then I suggest you head over to the Twiddleybitz Ning forum & follow the blog hop from the start... there are special words highlighted on each blog that you can collect (in order) to make a sentence... send Sandra Wallace a private message through the Ning & you'll go in the running for a fabulous Twiddleybitz prize! And each blog along the way has an opportunity to win more goodies too (we're calling it RAKamania for a reason!).

Anyway, unlike Carol, I watch TV (a lot!) and Facebook (also a lot!)... so when I create (which would be a lot more if I gave up FB & TV!) I tend to throw a few things together & hope for the best... and anything I can do to save a bit of time when creating is my current favourite technique! (FYI, my favourite tool at the moment is probably my heat gun LOL!).

As one of the Twiddley Angels, I'm often faced with a new pile of Twiddleybitz, and the first thing I have to do is to decide how to treat it... TO PAINT, to ink, to emboss - heat or dry?, to colour spray, to cover with dimensional magic... or glitter... so many options... I could even leave it raw if that suits the theme! I thought I'd try and show you a technique that I came up with recently (although I doubt that it's original!), just to give you another idea... using glimmermist & distress inks... I think I've used it on every piece of Twiddleybitz on this layout...

Come Fly with me

A little hard to see in that photo, so here's a few close-ups...

It's quite subtle on this layout, but you'll notice that the edges are a little darker than the middle of the chippy? Here's how I achieved that look...

First up, spray your Twiddleybitz with your chosen colour spray (I used Glimmermist in Deep Plum)...

And wait for that to dry... or grab your heat gun to speed up the process - just be careful not to get it too close or you might burn your Bitz!

Then, choose one or two ink pads... I've used Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Broken China & Chipped Sapphire... also grab a couple of small sponges... I picked up a big bag of make-up sponges from the cheapie shop (or Woolies)... they're great for all sorts of techniques using inks!

Ink up a sponge in your lighter colour, and apply it around the edge of your Bitz... I also went along the centre "vein" of this feather...

When you're happy with the effect, grab your darker ink & another sponge, and go around the edge again to create a shaded effect - you may need to grab your lighter colour again if it doesn't show up quite as much as you'd like...

When you're happy with the effect you've created, make sure it's properly dry, and then add it to your layout!

Here's another layout that I've used this technique on - it's a little more obvious - I was trying to create the look of autumn leaves so I used a yellow for the base, with red & brown inks for the shading...

Destination: Canada

It's really very easy to do - and if you don't like the effect you've created, well, you can always paint over it, or ink it all in the darker colour, or even turn the piece over & start again (believe me when I say I've done that before!) LOL!

Before I send you on your way to the next blog in the hop... I just wanted to share something I created last weekend, which is currently (assuming it survived the trip!) on display at the Penrith Papercraft Festival, on this weekend in Sydney - if you get a chance to go, make sure you call by the Twiddleybitz stand and check out all the awesome work by the Twiddleybitz Angels design team - and say hello to Mr & Mrs Twiddleybitz too (aka Nicole & Andrew). And if you're planning on going tomorrow (Sunday), there's an extra little something for you while you're there - pop back over to the Ning to find out what you need to do to claim it!

Anyway, here's my take on a garden shed... using lots of Twiddleybitz, including some brand new releases... check them out at the show (and if you can't get to the show, don't worry, I'm sure your local scrapbook shop will have them in very very soon... and if they don't, ask them to get them for you!)...

The Garden Shed

Oh yes, almost forgot... a RAKamania blog hop wouldn't be a RAKamania without a RAK... so leave a comment for me on this post and you'll go into a draw for a surprise pack (which will definitely include some Twiddleybitz, and probably some other bits & pieces too!)... and if you can work my special highlighted words into your comment, I'll put your name in the draw twice! Prize will be drawn on Monday night, midnight Australian Eastern Daylight Time (which will make it 9pm here in Perth), and the winner will be announced shortly thereafter... might even have a few more creations to share then too... we'll see how I go!

So, time now to leave you a link to the next blog on this hop, the fabulous Geraldine Pasinati who I'm sure is going to have something incredible for you to drool over... Geraldine's post will go live at 9pm AEDT, 11pm NZ time, 8:30pm in SA, 8pm in QLD, 7:30pm in NT, and 6pm in WA (wow, how confusing is it when half the country has daylight savings and the rest of us don't!)... and if you don't happen to live in one of those time zones, basically, Geraldine's post will be up two hours after mine!

Thanks for stopping by... don't forget to come back soon and see if you're a winner!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. :)

Cheers,
Rachel

Sailing the Seven Seas...

2011-10-07T21:13:00.003+08:00

Over the last school term, the Little Scrapbook Shop has set a series of challenges based on the "Seven Seas" (they've previously done "Seven Wonders of the World" and "Seven Deadly Sins" - for the fourth term, the theme is "Seven Colours of the Rainbow" - first challenge goes up for that on Sunday 16th October. There are no prizes along the way, but someone who completes all seven challenges in the series wins a 50% off voucher for the shop - who wouldn't love to win that!

Anyway, I didn't manage to get any challenges done in the first two series, but by the third series things had calmed down a little, and I managed to find a little "play time" - just for me for once, rather than for a design team (not that I don't love playing with new product in my DT roles, but sometimes it's nice to do something just because I want to, without any restrictions on what I can/can't use!).

So, this is what I got up to...

Week 1, The Atlantic Ocean - the challenge was to use blue, a hole punch, and some paper layering...

The Cable Car

Week 2, The South Atlantic - the challenge was to use a group photo, and only black, white & yellow...

Twiddley Angels

Week 3, The North Pacific Ocean - the challenge was to use three or more circles...

Whale Watching...

Week 4, the Arctic Ocean - the challenge was to use white, very very pale blue, and/or silver, and something sparkly...

Just Married

Week 5, The Indian Ocean - the challenge was to use lots of colour, bright colours, alter or add to a white element, and some bling...

Always Sisters

Week 6, The Antarctic (also known as The Great Southern) Ocean - the challenge was to use something oversized, and to use a technique from the tutorial section of the LSBS Forum - I used one from a "one product three ways" tutorial, using patterned paper...

And finally, Week 7, The South Pacific - the challenge was to scrap your dream holiday - and since you haven't already had it, the focus had to be on the journalling, with a maximum of three small holidays if you could find something suitable (thanks Google images LOL!)...

Destination: Canada

I had a lot of fun doing these challenges, and I'll definitely be checking out the next series when they start next week - a new challenge goes up every Sunday for seven weeks, with the prize winner being drawn after the end of the 7th week. Can't wait to see what the very talented LSBS Design Team has in store for us this time!

That's really all I've got to share at the moment. I did some creating of a different kind last weekend - I painted my bedroom & made new curtains for it! I'm in the middle of revamping the old triptych of canvasses that I had hanging over my bed, will share those when I'm done. Will hopefully have some more scrappy stuff to share with you soon too - I'm off for a crop day on Sunday with some friends, so should get something created then!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend...

Until next time...

Cheers,

Rachel :)

Little Scrapbook Shop Retreat...

2011-09-17T10:00:00.000+08:00

Last month I headed over to Sydney for another fantastic retreat... seriously... this was the best yet... Cath & Nic @ LSBS outdo themselves every year... so much fun to be had... awesome classes... fabulous people... lots of laughs... a totally amazing long weekend away... and I even got some (okay, lots) of creating done! I've already shown you a few of the things I did (yesterday's Tattered Inspirations post)... now I thought I'd show you some more!

I set out with the intention of doing the classes, maybe the challenges, and then I was going to make cards... lots of cards... lots & lots of cards... I ended up making 59 cards over the weekend, mostly for the school fete that's coming up next month (I would have made 60 cards, just to round it out, but I'd already packed away my stash when I counted!)....

So, anyway... here's what I got up to... there was Carol's class on Thursday night (which I showed you yesterday)... then there was Anna's class on Friday night... this "card" was so cool, unfortunately it got a little battered on the way home, but I have the instructions, so I can make it again (and again, and again LOL!)... also have the instructions to make some variations on this too (just as soon as I find some time!)...

Anna's Card Class - Easel Box Card

On Saturday, we did two classes, one with Lauren, the other with Evelyn - I haven't quite finished Evelyn's class yet (well, I sort of have, but I want to add a bit to it), so I haven't taken photos of it yet... but this is what we did in Lauren's class...

Lauren's Layout Class... The Last Smile before braces

As well as the classes, there were plenty of challenges to keep us busy too... I showed you a couple of those yesterday (45 minute challenges, and the OTP/Kaiser mini album challenge)... here's a few more...

Challenge Pack Sketch Layout - Segway

Travel themed layout challenge - Snow

Heritage themed Layout challenge - Lenny (that's my Dad, aged 3 1/2!)

Challenge to use our WOW name... photo by Lynette van Borrelo

Challenge to use something the "Scrap Fairy" left us (and she left us so much!)... I won 2nd prize for this layout -
River Fun

We had a photo swap "challenge" too - I scrapped a photo for Danni, which I unfortunately didn't get a photo of - can you believe I didn't actually take my camera with me?!) - this layout was done for me by the gorgeous Jay Owen (aka Caspar)

There was also a card sketch challenge which I know I did... but I forgot to take a photo of that particular card! Here's some of the others that I made over the weekend though...

Assorted Cards for the School Fete :)

And before I go... just thought I'd share my trophies with you... I won two first prizes & a second! :) (I showed you the OTP I did yesterday).

The winning money box (currently touring around the shows with Twiddleybitz!).

Right, that's it for now... think I need to head to bed... first I need to find the list of things Little Miss Andie needs to take to her High School placement test tomorrow morning - wow, when did she get so big? Can't believe she's actually off to High School in just a few months time!

Hopefully will make it back with some more to share soon - I do have another 1/2 dozen layouts that I managed to create this week (no, the TV's not broken - although the aerial isn't currently plugged in due to the TV being relocated - there just isn't a lot on that's worth watching at the moment so I've been creating instead!). Need to take photos of the layouts before I can share them... hopefully will do that today if the weather clears up a bit - don't know where all this rain has suddenly appeared from, not that I'm complaining, I love the rain - wasn't quite so happy about getting drenched in it on my way home on Thursday though, but at least I was on my way home & could change into dry clothes before I got too cold!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by - hope you all have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Rachel

Tattered Inspirations...

2011-09-16T22:05:00.003+08:00

You may have noticed that I love playing with Tattered Inspirations goodies... they often appear on things that I do for Twiddleybitz (like the ATC cupboard in my last post)... and sometimes, especially if I don't have much time, I'll grab a kit & have a layout done in next to no time - everything is already co-ordinated, so, apart from finding a suitable photo & maybe some patterned paper, well, the layout is almost done really!

Here's a few layouts & other things I did while at the Little Scrapbook Shop retreat last month - kits are a perfect thing to take to retreats too (and if you didn't have any, LSBS had some in their retreat shop too!)...

Carol taught a layout class to those of us who arrived at the retreat on Thursday... she showed us how to make these gorgeous ribbon roses with embroidery thread & seam binding - definitely going to have another go at those!

Carol's Thursday night class

September's gorgeous kit is called "Garden Tea Party" - lots of gorgeous green & purple - I think it's one of my favourite colour combinations!

Garden Tea Party Kit - as seen in Etzcetera Magazine - Handmade with Love Layout

Garden Tea Party Kit - Card made with some of the leftovers

And some fun with some mini kits (I think I did both of these for 45 minute challenges!)...

Our House Mini Kit - Our House Layout

Lady in Blue Mini Kit - Celebrate layout

Another card, made with leftover bits & pieces...

And finally (for now!)... as part of the challenge kit that we received when we arrived at the retreat, there was a Kaiser mini album and the challenge to use it... no-one actually specified how, and as I'm not really a big fan of mini albums per se, I decided to think outside the square and came up with this wall hanging... I used the Lavender Rose Mini Kit, added a few pieces of Twiddleybitz and a few other odds & ends that were laying around on my table... and somehow managed to win the Challenge Pack OTP prize for the weekend, woohoo!

Lavender Rose Mini Kit & Twiddleybitz Wall Hanging - photo of my parents taken on my wedding day. :)

Here's a few close-ups...

How cute is that little birdcage charm!

I think that's probably enough for tonight - I have a cat here trying to squish himself in here next to my laptop (at least he's not trying to sit on it LOL!) - and it's making things a little awkward - should probably go feed him (and his young mate!).

Until next time...

Rachel

New Twiddleybitz...

2011-09-08T17:15:00.000+08:00

I've got so many new things to share with you that I'm going to separate it into several different posts over the next few days - don't want to overwhelm you all at once LOL!

First up, some brand new Twiddleybitz - if you're lucky enough to be in Brisbane this weekend and can get along to the Papercrafts Festival at the RNA Showgrounds in Fortitude Valley, you'll be able to pick some of this up for yourself (and see my samples IRL too!). The Twiddleybitz stand always looks amazing, so much inspiration there from the amazing Design Team - it's well worth checking it out if you can! :)

How cute is this brand new ATC display cabinet? It's only little - sized to fit a standard sized ATC (3.5" x 2.5") - but if you don't want to display your favourite ATC in it, there's so many other things you could do with it instead - it's about an inch deep, so lots of options! Check out the Twiddleybitz Ning for some other examples. :) I've used some cute Tattered Inspirations goodies with mine - from the Adventures of Alice kit, I think! Love those mushrooms. :)

ATC Cabinet - doors open

ATC Cabinet - doors partly closed

ATC Cabinet - looking from the top

I've also had a play with the brand new Christmas Countdown Calendar - it comes with everything you need to countdown to Christmas in style! I've added the mini houses & the Christmas tree to mine, but all the other chipboard pieces come in the kit. I've teamed it with some Kaiser Christmas papers, covered some I-Top brads with red satin, and had some fun making a cute little "village" to go in the fenced area. Loving these cute little houses - especially now they have cute little doors & windows to go with them!

Christmas Countdown Calendar

Close-up of the "village"

I do have some more projects to share using Twiddleybitz, but they can wait for next time I think... Miss Just-turned-16 is waiting for a driving lesson (she got her learners permit on her way to school on her 16th birthday - a bit keen or what?).

Look out for another post tomorrow!

Cheers,

Rachel

Lots to share...

2011-08-15T22:12:00.000+08:00

Now that the Perth Craft Fair is over for another year, I can share what I've been busy doing over the past month or so! Plus there was a new kit released by Tattered Inspirations yesterday, so I can share what I did with that too. :) You might want to grab a cuppa before you read any further, I'm pretty sure this is going to be a long post!

Almost a month ago I headed over to the Hunter Valley for a four day retreat called Camp Mojo, which was a pretty amazing weekend, lots of very talented ladies there, and some pretty cool classes. I worked on mostly DT projects while I was there, and did all four of the classes - the first one was on Thursday night, with Jane Clark, and I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to make the very cool "rusted" background on these cards...

Jane Clark's card class @ Camp Mojo - Rust Technique

On Friday & Saturday I did classes with Sherry Mendoza and Sarah Gladman, but I'll have to show you what I did another day as the photos I took were blurry!

On Sunday I did a class with Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door, lots of different ideas for using distress inks - she also introduced us to the fabulous Viva Precious Metal Colour paints & a number of them managed to find their way home with me! These are the cards I made in Rachel's class...

Rachel Greig's Card Class - Distress Ink Techniques

There were a number of challenges over the weekend too, but I only entered a few when the project I was working on anyway suited the criteria - I had too much I needed to do! I did however use this little vintage kit that we were given to through a layout together - literally - I wanted to do it, but due to a special visitor & a photo session with the Twiddleybitz DT girls who were at Mojo, I ended up with 15 minutes before the deadline! Happy with the way it turned out anyway.

Beautiful Layout

I got stuck into a lot of Twiddleybitz samples for the Perth show - not all of them were done at Mojo, but I'll show you them all anyway!

Christmas Village (view 1)

Christmas Village (View 2)

Christmas Village (View 3)

Christmas Village (View 4)

Little Treasure Layout - using some new Twiddleybitz baby pieces

"Our House" Shadowbox

Six Quick Christmas Cards

The Boys Life Brigade layout - my Dad is the little fellow on the left
(the other two boys are his brothers)

New Baby Cards - playing with Tattered Angels Chalkboard Glimmer Mist

"Janet" layout - that's my Mum! :)

All of the Twiddleybitz Design Team members were asked to make a personal ATC, which were going to be put together in a special display, which in turn would be displayed at the shows around Australia that Twiddleybitz has a stand at. This is the one I made...

"Twiddley Angel" ATC - for a very special display!

And I made one for Tiff as she had all her craft gear packed away & couldn't get one done in time...

Another "Twiddley Angel" ATC

And once we had all 18 ATC's (I made Andrew & Nicole's as well), Andrew got busy and made this special display stand for me to decorate - I kept it really simple as I wanted the focus to remain on those gorgeous ATC's the the "Angels" made.

A very special "Twiddley Angel" ATC Display Stand

And finally for tonight's update... the latest release from Tattered Inspirations was a kit called "Orange Crush" - as soon as Carol told me about it, I knew it would be perfect for this photo of my siblings & me from the very early 70's - I remember Mum made my big sister & I matching trouser suits - Sheena's was orange & mine was red (and I really wanted that orange one - but with Sheena being four years old than me, by the time I grew into it, I think it was well & truly out of fashion - although I probably still wore it anyway!).

Tattered Inspirations "Orange Crush" kit - "The 70's" layout

Well done if you've managed to get this far! Hope you like what you've seen. :) I think that's pretty much all I've done lately - I'm currently working on some new Twiddleybitz goodies ready for the Paperific show in Melbourne that's less than two weeks away - and I'll be in Sydney that same weekend at the 5th Annual Little Scrapbook Shop Retreat (my fourth time) - I cannot wait! So no doubt I'll have plenty more to show you before too long. :)

So until next time...

Take care.

Cheers,
Rachel

What a slack blogger!

2011-08-15T08:38:00.001+08:00

Ooops, so sorry, I can't believe how long it's been since I last updated! And I have so much to share too... but you'll have to wait for most of it as I haven't edited the photos yet! Maybe tonight I'll get that done? No promises though LOL! :)

Today though, I want to share two cards that I've done for challenges at Card & A Half.

The first is this month's "sketch challenge #3" - the original sketch was for a square card, but not having any square bases with me when I went out for a crop day yesterday, I converted it to a regular A6 sized card. I love how it's turned out - I've used some very old Shakespeare book paper (thanks Anna!), and some beautiful Pink Paislee "Butterfly" 6x6 paper, a very old stamp from my collection - and my favourite Martha Stewart butterfly punches! (And lots of distress ink!).

Card & A Half "Sketch Challenge #3"

I also had a go at the "Extra Challenge #3" - which was as simple as having a flower on my card - too easy!

Card & A Half "Extra Challenge #3"

I've used a gorgeous Prima flower on a flocked piece of paper from Kaiser's Peachy Keen 6x6 pad, added a Prima butterfly, and some Twiddleybitz leaves.

There's still a little time to get your entries in for these challenges, but you'll have to be quick - you have until midnight tonight EST (the 15th) for the sketch challenge, and midnight EST on the 21st for the extra challenge.

While I have your attention, I would just like to say how much Helen (who runs Card & A Half) & her two boys, Jacob & Braiden, are in my thoughts and prayers at the moment - Helen's husband (and the boys father) passed away in a tragic accident last Monday on his way home from a work trip away. I can only imagine what they must be going through right now, and I'm sending all my love to them as they learn to cope with this awful news & embark on a new & unwanted journey without Matt. There is very little we can do across the miles (they're in the Far North of Queensland), but one thing that we can do (and I have done), is to make a donation to "A Jolly Good Cause" which is raising funds to help Helen & the boys financially at this time (and for as long as they need a little extra help). It's being run through a registered charity, so all donations over $2 are tax deductible. Check out the facebook page here if you'd like to make a donation, or email Tracey Shenton at tracey@helpthekids.org.au for more information on how you can donate.

On that note, I'd better get off here, take the youngest Miss to school, and get to work!

Hopefully I'll make it back later with some more to show you!

Cheers,

Rachel

More Tattered Inspirations goodness...

2011-07-05T18:31:00.001+08:00

I love working with the Tattered Inspirations mini kits - it's so quick & easy to put layouts together when all the hard work of matching up embellishments has already been done for you! Just find a piece of cardstock or pretty paper, your photo, and you're just about done!

At the Scrapathon I went to last Saturday, I managed to get five layouts and four cards done (in between chatting & eating!) - four of those layouts used mini kits and I used some Tattered Inspirations products on three of the cards (can't share two of them just yet, the photos I took the other day weren't any good & I keep forgetting to have another go!).

Anyway, here are the layouts I did (I uploaded the other two cards yesterday)... three using new mini kits that just went up in the Etsy store yesterday, and one with an older kit that I had in my stash.

A Mothers Love mini kit - "It's a Girl" layout

Heaven Sent mini kit - "He's my brother" layout (my nephews - weren't they cute - still are really, just a lot bigger now!)

Twinkle Toes mini kit - "You" layout - based on the current Twiddleybitz sketch

Shabby Roses mini kit - "Meeting IRL" layout - with the gorgeous Tarrah MacLean at the Little Scrapbook Shop Retreat last August.

With everyone's lives getting so busy these days, the Little Scrapbook Shop has decided not to run monthly cybercrop weekends anymore, which is a bit sad as I always used to enjoy them... of course, I'm one of the ones that got too busy to do them (don't think I've been able to particpate in one at all this year!), so when they announced that there'd be two challenges each month that we'd have the whole month to do, I thought I'd better go check them out! A layout sketch was one of them, and I decided to scrap these photos of Andie laughing her head off after sand tobogganing down the sand dunes at the Te Paki Stream, Northland, NZ just after Christmas...

LSBS July Sketch Challenge - "Laugh" layout

The other challenge was a couple of cards, which I did, but need to take better photos of, so you'll have to wait to see them!

Just before I go, those who receive the Scraptivate newsletter - or read the Scraptivate blog - or are friends with me on Facebook! - I have, after much thought & soul searching, decided to step down from the Scraptivate DT. I've loved being on this DT, but life is getting busier (I think I've already mentioned that!) and with my contract up for renewal, I decided it would be a good time to take a break. Still love the shop though, and my work will remain on display there for a while yet!

Anyway, that's about all the news for now...

Hope you're staying warm if you're somewhere cold - and staying cool if you're somewhere warm! Personally, I'm currently freezing, and need to head out to the kitchen to warm up - and cook dinner I guess!

Until next time...

Take care. :)

Rachel

Card & A Half Sketch Challenge #2

2011-07-04T18:26:00.000+08:00

I went to a fabulous 12 hour "Scrapathon" on Saturday, and got lots & lots of creating done! Some I'll share later in the week, but for now I want to share a couple of cards that I made for the current Card and a Half challenges - sketch #2, and extra challenge #2.

I loved Helen's sketch, and used some pretty Prima paper & flowers to create my version.

Card & A Half Sketch #2

I also had a go at the "extra challenge #2" - which involved using a creature of some variety on a card... I just happened to pick up this cute Twiddleybitz chipboard giraffe at the scrapathon and thought it would be perfect for a new baby card - these giraffes are made especially for the Caitlyn Anne Trust, who were the benificeries of the day (would link to a website so you can find out about them, but they don't seem to have one!).

Card & a Half Extra Challenge #2

I didn't have any suitable patterned paper with me, so I made my own with a blue ink pad & a Kaisercraft bubble wrap stamp - I think it turned out quite well! I used a bit of seam binding from Tattered Inspirations too - such versatile stuff!

Speaking of Tattered Inspirations... a new kit was released yesterday - Parisian Chic - I'll leave you with the samples that I created with it...

Tattered Inspirations "Parisian Chic" Kit - "Dance" layout

A few close-ups...

Pretty black & white bow & a bottle top!

Gorgeous lace motif

Hat pin, pretty pink doily, tickets, and a gorgeous metal shoe charm!

I even had enough left over in the kit to make a card!

Tattered Inspirations "Parisian Chic" - Missing You card

That's all for today... will be back soon with some Tattered Inspirations mini kit samples - just waiting for Carol to load them in the shop!

Have a great week!

Cheers,

Rachel

A couple of cards, a layout or three... and a few other things as well!

2011-06-18T22:02:00.000+08:00

I've been busy doing lots of creating over the past month or two, but haven't been able to share much... at least, not until now! Hmmm... you might want to grab a cuppa, there's a lot to share!

First up, an extra Card and a Half challenge... a man's card... using punches or embossing folders... I picked punches - a binder? punch & my favourite Martha Stewart butterfly punch - added some corrugated card from a box, a couple of old chipboard alphas, a few buttons & some string... and here you have it... an all purpose man's card!

Card and a Half - extra challenge :)

Also managed to make a card for a gorgeous little girl who turned one... ummm... maybe a month ago... very belated birthday card now I'm afraid, but I promise I'll get it in the mail this week! How cute is that hippo stamp from Kaisercraft!


Birthday Card for a special little girl :)

Also been busy working my way through some Tattered Inspirations kits - one I can't share with you yet as it won't be released until early July (I think!)... but this one is in the Etsy store now... it's called "At the Seaside" and is really rather gorgeous!

Tattered Inspirations - At the Seaside mini kit - Beach Babes layout :)

Here's a few close-ups for you. :)

Gorgeous crocheted doily & hat pin

Pretty buttons!

Bottle cap. :)

I've also been busy working on some Twiddleybitz items, some new releases, some old ones that required new samples - all for the Brisbane show that was on last weekend - sounds like the lucky people that got to go to it had a fantastic time - I think I might plan to go to this one next year - better start saving now!

Celebration layout

Down on the Farm layout - check out the new Chicken Mesh & Barbed Wire - I hear it was very popular!

Tabbed book - Recipes for Fairies - bound together with some Tattered Inspirations seam binding :)

Fantasy Frame with some suede paper covered hearts. :)

Ornate frame with family word, heart & winged heart - sold as a kit at the show. :)

A pair of ATC's - the first one's I've ever made! (and I suspect, probably not the last!)

And finally... the card I made for our recent Twiddleybitz card swap - I hope the recipient has received it by now - and that she likes it!

Twiddleybitz Card Swap card :)

Well, hope you enjoyed what I've shared tonight... I certainly had fun creating it all! Of course, I now have another huge pile of goodies to play with - and more on the way - so tomorrow will hopefully be spent at my scrapdesk getting creative again!

Before I go, if you're in Perth & want a fabulous day out scrapping, while raising funds for a great charity, the Caitlyn Anne Scrapathon is being held in Jandakot on the 2nd of July - would love to see you there - you can find more information about it on Facebook, and on the Twiddleybitz ning forum.

Think that's about it for tonight so....

until next time....

Take care. :)

Cheers,
Rachel

Purple Passion!

2011-06-11T18:28:00.000+08:00

I just love this new kit that Carol from Tattered Inspirations has just released - called Purple Passion - limited numbers are now available in the Etsy store - and when they're gone, they're gone, so get in quick!

I've used one of the gorgeous photos that we got of my young Miss Andie at Mum & Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary in January - can't believe how grown up Miss Andie is looking - can't believe she'll be 12 in a couple of months too!

Purple Passion Kit - "Adore" layout

Purple Passion Kit - Close up of Hat Pins & knitted flower/doily

Purple Passion Kit - close up of flower

Purple Passion Kit - Close up of butterfly cut from backing sheet

I did a major clean up of my Tattered Inspirations bits & pieces, they were starting to get a bit out of control (Carol is very generous - every parcel comes wrapped in brown paper, tied with string, with a few extra bits & pieces slipped in as well!)... and I discovered an older mini kit that I hadn't yet played with, called "Rendevous in the Garden". I don't think Carol has any of these left in the store, but there are plenty of other similar kits to choose from. :) The bits & pieces I found, both in the kit & the other little things in my Tattered Inspirations stash, along with some brand new flourishes from Twiddleybitz, were perfect for creating this layout for the current Twiddleybitz sketch competition - not only were we asked to use the Skissedilla sketch for inspiration, but we were asked to use a "She" quote as well... the one I used was pefect for this photo of Sophie that I snapped at Easter. It might be a little hard to read in the photo here, so this is the quote I used... "She just has this way of brightening the day - celebrate her radiance" (Kobi Yamada).

Rendevous in the Garden mini kit - "She..." layout

And speaking of Twiddleybitz - don't forget, if you're in Brisbane this weekend, the Scrapbooking Expo is on at South Bank and Twiddleybitz is at Booth 60! Make sure you check it out. :)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend - a long one for a lot of Australia, but not for us in WA - we had ours last week (and actually have our Queens Birthday weekend in October!).

I must get a bit of housework done & some dinner cooked... so until next time...

Cheers,

Rachel :)

Card and a Half...

2011-06-07T23:32:00.000+08:00

Just a quick one tonight, I just wanted to share my entry for this month's Card & A Half challenge. For those of you who don't know, Card and a Half is a new challenge blog specifically for cardmakers, started by my gorgeous & extremely talented friend Helen Jolly... you can find it here.

Helen gave us a sketch to play with and I decided to use it to make a card for my daughter Sophie's 14th birthday a couple of weeks ago, using some Kaiser La-di-da papers that I had, and a few bits & pieces of Tattered Inspirations goodies that I found in my stash.

Sophie's Birthday Card

Nice & simple & very girly, just perfect for Sophie! Why not head over to Card and a Half and have a play with this sketch too? You've got until 14th June to get your entry in. :)

And just before I log off for the night, if you're lucky enough to be in Brisbane this weekend and are heading to the Scrapbook & Papercraft Convention that's on at the Convention & Exhibition Centre, South Bank from 11-13 June, make sure you check out the awesome Twiddleybitz stand - #60 - there'll be lots of inspiration from the design team on display, fabulous products to buy - including some brand new items that are just being released this weekend - and you can say hello to Mr & Mrs Twiddleybitz (aka Nicole & Andrew), and some of the wonderful design team ladies - Mel Forbes, Tiff Sawyer, Jennifer Hodge and Lisa Kamphuis - will be there too! There's also an ATC swap happening if you want to join in the fun - check out the post on the Twiddleybitz Ning forum for all the details!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with another update - but right now, my nice warm snuggly bed is calling me!

Good night!

Cheers,
Rachel

It's Sunday... again!

2011-05-15T10:26:00.000+08:00

And that means it's high time I did a quick update!

I've been busy playing with some gorgeous new Tattered Inspirations kits (with a few bits of Twiddleybitz thrown in for good measure!).

First up, this months Tattered Inspirations kit release:

Birdsong Kit - Great Grandmother Cox - Layout

Then a few gorgeous mini kits...

Baby Wrote Me A Letter - sweet baby girl - layout

Enchanted Mini Kit - Little Miss Andie - Layout


Fairy Tales Mini Kit - True Beauty - Layout

And finally... one I had a lot of fun with...

Woodland Fairy Mini Kit (and lots of Twiddelybitz) - Woodland Fairy Canvas

I've used some gorgeous new Prima papers on these layouts & the canvas - they're available right now at Scraptivate!

That's about all I have to share right now... I have lots of Twiddleybitz sitting on my desk waiting to be played with, ready for the Papercraft Expo in Brisbane next month - make sure you check out the fabulous Twiddleybitz stand if you're lucky enough to be going!

I also have a few more Tattered Inspirations kits to play with - and there's more on the way - wish I could quit work & stay home to play all day! Alas, we didn't win the lotto this week, so I guess I'd better stick with the job for now. :)

Time to head out the door and take my in-laws out for lunch - hope you all have a wonderful week! Oh, and if you're into card-making, make sure you check out this brand new card challenge blog that the gorgeous Helen Jolly has just started - first challenge was posted today! You'll find it here.... Card and a Half. :)

Until next time...

Take care. :)

Cheers,
Rachel

Back to the regular programming...

2011-04-25T16:29:00.000+08:00

Actually, you might want to grab a cuppa, this could be a long post... I think it's about a month since I last shared some of my creations with you! Although to be honest, I haven't done much creating in the past month (and very little that I can share)... but I've got plenty that I couldn't share last time that I can now!

Let's start with this cool money box that I created for a Camp Mojo challenge, using a Twiddleybitz 6x6 shadow box, inchie frames, Tree, some German Scrap from Scraptivate, and corrugated card... love how this turned out - but don't really want to use it now as I'd have to pull it apart to get the money out!

Money Box - Front View

Money Box - showing the top :)

I finally got around to trying out the last die of the Woodland Folk set, and made this cute "Hedgie" card for one of Sophie's friends...

Hedgie Card (with German Scrap border)

Last month's gorgeous Tattered Inspirations kit release was Peacock Blue... I don't know if Carol has any of these left as I can't see them in the shop, but there is a lot of other gorgeous kits that are well worth checking out here - I've got a few of them on my desk ready to play with soon (I've just printed the photos to go with them!). This is what I did with the kit (along with some pretty Prima paper and some gorgeous photos of my girls that I took at Mum & Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary celebrations in January)...

My Beautiful Girls - Tattered Inspirations Peacock Blue kit

Hmmm, what else? I know, some Twiddleybitz! Nic & Andrew have been outdoing themselves lately with some fabulous new releases, and I have a lot of fun playing with some of the new goodies!

First up, this gorgeous 12x12 frame, with doiley borders, fence, fern leaves... and lots of other stuff... check out the Twiddleybitz Ning site to see more details, including the complete product list (that goes for all the Twiddleybitz stuff I'm sharing now!)...

12x12 Twiddleybitz Frame

Then just for fun, and to check out the new mini houses that are the perfect size for the frames (this was an 8x8)...

Boat Houses at Mana

The tree was covered with flower soft in an attempt to make it look like a Pohutakawa tree (the photo being taken in NZ, just after Christmas). Love these new Twiddleybitz Itty Bitty Alphas!

A very simple card, using the new Eiffel Tower Twiddleybitz, and a "night-scene" technique by the very talented Deanne Stewart-Mills...

Paris Card

Another great new Twiddleybitz item - a name tag - you can either attach it to a pin, or a lanyard (I've used some Tattered Inspirations seam binding for my lanyard)... lots of embossing on this one! Also some new "Rainbow Drops" that Twiddleybitz is now stocking...

Name Tag

And finally (I think!)... a gorgeous new mini album - I've used some fabulous papers from TPC Studios to cover this, along with a fair bit of embossing, and some gorgeous old photos (copies, of course!) of Dad & his family when he was a young lad... oh, and some more seam binding from Tattered Inspirations too!

Mini Album - Front Cover

Pages 2 - 3

Pages 4 - 5

Pages 6 - 7

Pages 8 - 9

Mini Album - Back Cover

Well, I think that's it for now... hopefully will be back before too long with some more to share with you... there's a new Tattered Inspirations kit due for release at the beginning of May, I've just finished my sample for that, and despite my mojo having vanished lately, I am loving what I've done!

Make sure you check out Scraptivate to see the classes that are coming up, they all look pretty fantastic!

And if you're looking for a retreat to head to this time next year, check out Tattered Inspirations "Autumn Escape 2012" on facebook - it should be awesome (and I'm teaching a class there too!). Canberra in Autumn should be amazing... I can't wait!

So, until next time...

Hope you have a fantastic week!

Cheers,
Rachel

A different kind of creating...

2011-04-17T14:03:00.000+08:00

On the 1st of April, I unexpectedly found myself on a plane heading to NZ, in order to spend some time with my Dad before he passed away after a short battle with leukemia (complicated with a bout of pnuemonia). I was fortunate to have two days with him, along with Mum, my brother & sister-in-law, and my sister & brother-in-law, before Dad passed early on the 4th of April. A very sad time, as you can imagine, but we know that Dad is now in heaven with the Lord, which is so much better than being in pain & too sick to do anything here with us.

Dad, 10 May 1932 - 4 April 2011

Sitting around the dinner table talking about the funeral on the day that Dad passed, we were discussing what kind of casket we might choose... Mum mentioned that we could get a plain one that I could paint, if I'd like to. I wasn't too sure if I could cope with that, so had a think about it & decided that I would like to. When we visited the funeral home the next day, we chose a plain white "undercoated" casket - and a calico liner, Dad being a "no frills, $2 shop kind of guy" - and arranged for the empty casket to be delivered to home that afternoon. I popped down to The Warehouse, picked up some acrylic paints & brushes, sketched out a quick design, and when the casket arrived, found one of Dad's old gardening shirts to protect my clothes with, and got stuck in.

I went with a "fruit & vege" kind of theme, with a few garden bugs & sunflowers, and added our old dog Bracken, who loved Dad as much as Dad loved him...

Bracken

Dad & Bracken having a hug :)

I thought today, instead of sharing my scrappy creations, I'd share some photos of Dad's casket...

The "front" (this faced the church during the funeral service)

The "back"

The "head"

The "foot"

A border around the lid

Close up of "Bracken"

A special dedication ;)

Dad was a gardener for most of his life, both professionally when he was a young man in Scotland, and because he loved it he always had a vegetable garden in NZ, in the later years he also maintained the Church Cemetary and had some spare land to use as a garden growing fruit, vegetables & Christmas trees for the community. His ashes will be buried at that cemetary next week.

When arranging the "wreath" for the top of the casket, we took inspiration from a "floral" arrangement that Dad had been given a couple of days before he passed away... isn't this amazing?

"floral" arrangement

And we ended up with an amazing arrangement for the casket that complemented my painting perfectly.

Casket arrangement

And here's the finished casket, with the arrangement on top.

I think Dad would have loved it! We had a fabulous send off for him, lots of tears of course, and some laughs, just how a good funeral should be.

I'm back home again now, after spending a bit of time with Mum (and the rest of the family before they all had to head home), and life is slowly returning to normal - a little different, but normal none the less. I'll never forget Dad of course, and have come home armed with more photos of him to scrap at some stage, and I have lots of memories of happy times spent with Dad - pottering around in the garage with him, making beds for my dolls out of offcuts of wood; long walks with Dad & Bracken; washing dishes after dinner with Dad... lots of little things like that.

So, RIP Dad, you will always be loved. I'm so glad I was able to be there for your last few days, and I'm even more grateful for the time that we all spent in NZ with you at Christmas time - those are memories that will never be forgotten.

I'll be back soon with a scrappy update - I know I have a lot to share!

In the meantime, stay safe, and remember to hug your loved ones & tell then how much you love them - you never know just how much time you'll have.

Cheers,
Rachel

Autumn days...

2011-03-13T16:54:00.000+08:00

After a very hot & humid few weeks, it's finally cooling down a little in Perth (still got a few hot days coming up though!)... at least the nights have been cool enough to turn the air conditioning off at last! I'm really not a fan of summer, so I'm always very pleased to see the first signs of Autumn arrive!

I love the colours of Autumn, and was rapt when Carol at Tattered Inspirations sent me this gorgeous Autumn Days kit... it was just perfect for a couple of layouts I wanted to create this weekend!

Tattered Inspirations "Autumn Days" Kit - available now from the Etsy store.

I started with using the flowers, hat pins, some of the trim, the buttons, and a butterfly cut from one of the little printed sheets, and added some Kraft cardstock, Prima packaging, and AC thickers, along with some machine stitching, to create this layout for one of this weekend's challenges at LSBS. My younger two girls love horses, and while it would be totally impractical to have one in our tiny backyard, we always try to stop when we're out & about so they can pat horses in the paddocks by the road... this one was on our way to Mt Damper Falls in NZ.

Horse Stop

While I was busy being inspired by CC challenges, I decided to have a go at the inspiration challenge, using this old Earth Hour poster both as inspiration for the colour scheme, and also as a sketch (and we were asked to include something from nature - hence the dry weeds from my "garden").

Earth Hour inspiration poster

{St. Pauls}

Thought I might as well have a go at the card sketch while I was busy recycling things... and came up with this one, using card stock that was left over from the Twiddleybitz Living Book that I made for Mum & Dad's anniversary, leaves recycled from the long stemmed chocolate rose that Sophie gave me for Valentine's Day, paper roses made from vintage music paper, and a bow made from seam binding from Tattered Inspirations. A bit more Prima packaging too, Kaisercraft stamp, and a little bling.

Thinking of You card

Then I thought I'd better have a go at Lisa Pate's sketch that she created especially for Tattered Inspirations - there's a competition running on the blog at the moment using this sketch, so make sure you check it out!

I pulled out this old photo of my Dad (taken in 1957 when he was about 25 years old - such a handsome young man!), and used trims & tickets from the "Autumn Days" kit, flowers from "A Little Bit of Country" blooms set, a couple of "Millefiori Hat Pins", and some gorgeous Pink Paislee papers.

This Man - Tattered Inspirations Sketch Challenge :)

I think that's all I have to share today... time to go and play taxi driver again & pick Katy up from her friend's, stop at the markets for some fresh fruit & vege, organise dinner, do the ironing... and then collapse for a couple of hours I think!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend and wishing you all a fabulous week ahead!

Cheers,

Rachel xx

A perfect match!

2011-02-27T23:46:00.001+08:00

Twiddleybitz & Tattered Inspirations, that is! Carol recently sent me her new kit "My Mother's Sewing Box" to play with, which I teamed up with some old dress pattern instructions and October Afternoon paper, a photo of my Mum (and her friend) and a Twiddleybitz chipboard mannequin, square alphabet and my favourite Twiddley butterflies (that I've embossed & coloured with Crafty Notions shake 'n' spray colours - Coco Gilt for the butterflies, the alphas have been sprayed with Midnight Blueberry - the mannequin was left "au naturel"). Mum told me that the dress she is wearing is the second one that she sewed herself, the first one being the same pattern, but in a floral print - she is a fabulous seamstress! Coincidently, the pattern instructions are from my wedding dress, that Mum also made!

Tattered Inspirations "My Mother's Sewing Box" Kit & Twiddleybitz chipboard - Home Sewn Girl layout

Details of flowers & hatpins - and the Twiddleybitz Mannequin

Detail - gorgeous mini scissors & some old "hook & eye" pieces.

Just a reminder that there's a little competition running over on the Tattered Inspirations blog at the moment - if you've created anything with any of the Tattered Inspirations kits, send Carol a photo before 6pm EDST tomorrow (Monday 28th Feb), and go in the running for a $25 voucher to spend in the Tattered Inspirations store... or one of three other prizes that are up for grabs!

Have been doing a little bit of other creating - as always, some I can't share, others I'll leave for another day as I've just looked at the time & realised in should have been in bed nearly an hour ago!

Before I go though, if you're on facebook, make sure you check out the Auctions for Christchurch page, get yourself a paddle number, and bid on one (or more) of the fabulous auctions that are starting next Saturday - all the money raised is going to help those in need after the devastating earthquake in Christchurch last week. Make sure you check out Auction #6 in particular, you could win this cute little handmade bunny (well, one like it, since this one went to a new home a couple of years ago!)... I'll custom-make a new one especially for the winner, in the colour of their choice (subject to availability).

Until next time...

Take care! :)

Cheers,
Rachel

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T19:09:00.000+08:00

We really don't celebrate Valentines Day here, at all (in fact hubby is away for the third Valentines Day in a row, and has probably forgotten it's even today!)... but that's okay... it's still possible to use all the pretty "hearts & roses" scrapping goodies that seem to appear at this time of the year, even if you don't go in for the whole romantic thing!

Carol at Tattered Inspirations sent me a gorgeous kit named "Smooch" to have a play with, and I thought it was the perfect kit for this lovely photo of my Mum & Dad, taken at their recent 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration dinner.

Tattered Inspirations "Smooch" Kit - 50 Years layout

Smooch Kit - Detail

As always, there was a heap of goodies in the kit, and when I get another spare minute or three, I plan to do something with the leftover bits & pieces!

Carol also sent me a gorgeou Vintage Christmas kit to play with... so I went in search of a vintage Christmas photo to go with it, and found this one of Great Grandma, taken in 1955.

Tattered Inspirations "Vintage Christmas" kit - 1955 Layout

Vintage Christmas - Detail

I've had this Twiddleybitz Mini Cupcake Stand for a couple of months now, waiting for me to find some time to play with it! Finally got around to it this weekend, and Andie kindly made some mini cupcakes for me to try it out!

Twiddleybitz Mini Cupcake Stand (top view)

Twiddleybitz Mini Cupcake Stand - side view

And then, just for fun, I popped over to LSBS for the weekend and joined in the Cybercrop - I haven't done that for ages, and really enjoyed the challenges!

Challenge 1 - Live - Laugh - Love - throwing a bit of paint around, lots of fun! A few Tattered Inspirations goodies on this one too - Cabochon, leaves, string, hat pin... :)

Challenge 2 - Cousins (a different kind of love!)... a couple of Tattered Inspirations hat pins on this one too - and a couple of old buttons that I raided from Mum's stash!

Challenge 3 (the inspiraiton challenge) - Family - using Tattered Inspirations seam binding, and Twiddleybitz vine leaves.

Challenge 4 (card sketch) - using a very cute layered die by Woodland Folk (docrafts)... available now at Scraptivate!

I think that's all I've been creating lately... at least, that's all I can share for now! Might just share one last photo with you though... what is it with cats & boxes? This is the newest addition to our family, young Fergus... he's quite a cutie!

Fergus :)

Okay, that's it, I'd better go cook dinner before the kids start complaining!

Until next time...

Stay safe!

Cheers,
Rachel xx

Peaches & Cream :)

2011-01-31T23:32:00.001+08:00

I always love getting mail from Tattered Inspirations, and love creating with the kits that Carol makes, so I was really excited to find a kit I wasn't expecting in the last parcel that arrived here... labelled "Just for fun"!

It was the gorgeous "Peaches & Cream" kit (I believe there's just one left in the Etsy store, so be quick if you want it - once it's gone, it's gone!). For something different, I decided to create a couple of OTP items with the kit, and even had enough bits left to make a cute card too - love just how much you can do with these kits, and how versatile they are!

First up, I picked up this rather cute Scrapware scalloped handbag when I was at Scraptivate the other day, thinking that it might be reasonably simple to turn it into a money box - with two retreats to go to later this year, I need to do some serious saving! An extra piece of chipboard, with a slot cut into it, covered up the opening at the top of the bag - and when I'm ready to open it up before I go away, I can carefully use my knife to cut around the edge of that piece of chipboard without destroying the rest of the bag! Clever, huh?

I think the Basic Grey "Porcelain" paper range is a perfect match for the Peaches & Cream kit, and had some left in my stash from 18 months or so ago, so I pulled it out to cover the bag with, and then added various bits from the kit, and a little extra seam binding for the handle too. Now all I need to do is find some money to put in it!

Peaches & Cream Handbag - front

Peaches & Cream Handbag - you can just see the money slot through the handle.

I had plenty left in the kit, and decided to give an old photo frame a makeover - it was a brown frame with a black base. Some gesso, paint & sandpaper gave it the shabby kind of look I wanted, and some pieces of heat embossed Twiddleybitz & some more pieces from the Peaches & Cream kit, along with a gorgeous photo of my daughters all dressed up, and I had a frame that I now love!

Peaches & Cream (with Twiddleybitz) Photo Frame

There wasn't a lot left in the kit now, but I still had a flower and some broderie anglaise trim, so I grabbed a few bits & pieces from my stash, and made a cute card - I've also used a couple of bits from the backing paper that comes with the kit too!

Peaches & Cream Card

That's about all I have to share today... there are more gorgeous Tattered Inspirations goodies coming over the next few weeks, and tomorrow I intend getting stuck into my Scraptivate DT pack - also need to cover Miss Andie's school diary, it's the last one I'll get to do as it's her last year at primary school - at high school, they're not allowed to do anything to their handbooks, not even doodle on them! We popped into Scraptivate today and picked up some gorgeous sparkly cupcake & lollipop papers by Little Yellow Bicycle, so I'm sure this diary is going to look rather special! Will make sure I take a photo to share, of course!

Anyway, I'd better get moving, it's getting late again (how does that keep happening?)... think I'll put the dog out tonight too, it's my last chance for a sleep-in for a while, and I don't appreciate being woken up before 6am by a big dog licking me, wanting to go outside!

Until next time,

Take care!

Cheers,
Rachel

Burlesque Beauties

2011-01-29T14:16:00.000+08:00

Have you seen the latest kit to be released by Tattered Inspirations? It's absolutely gorgeous, and when I saw it I knew just which photos I wanted to use - I'm quite sure Carol has been peaking in my daughter's wardrobe again!

Here's the kit... available now at Tattered Inspirations Etsy store here - get in quick, there's only a limited number available!

Burlesque Beauties Kit by Tattered Inspirations

And this is what I've done with it (so far... I still have a few bits to play with!)...

Beautiful Girl

How gorgeous is my 11 year old daughter (and how grown up does she look!)... she was all dressed up for Mum & Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration dinner a few weeks ago. And how well does this kit go with the Creative Imaginations/Marah Johnson paper that I found at Scraptivate! I couldn't believe it when I saw this gorgeous black & red metallic foiled paper, put the gorgeous satin flower on top & decided immediately that that was the one, I had to have it!

Braid, flowers & Cabochon

Gorgeous satin flower!

That's all I have to share at the moment, but watch this space as there'll be some more coming before too long!

Hope those of you with school children have survived the holidays... can't wait to send my three back later this week and get back into some sort of routine around here (which will definitely be including more scrapping time for me!).

Have a great weekend.

Cheers,
Rachel

It's been a while...

2011-01-24T23:11:00.000+08:00

since I last shared the DT work I've been doing for Scraptivate!

I've got quite a few projects to share, so grab a cuppa, pull up a chair, and get ready to be inspired! Well, I hope you are anyway... and remember, pretty much everything I've used on my creations is available at Scraptivate right now... either in store, or online (if it's not showing on the website, just ask Natalie, I'm sure she'll find it for you!).

Cards, with Bo Bunny papers

Card, with Bo Bunny papers

Bo Bunny papers & Scrapware frame & flowers

Cards, with Echo Park paper & German Scrap trims

Card, with Echo Park paper & German Scrap trims

Echo Park papers (I think!) and Scrapware advent frame

Echo Park papers (I think!) and Scrapware advent frame (detail)

Cards, using Prima Jack & Jill paper & German Scrap trim

Card, using Prima Jack & Jill paper & German Scrap trim

Prima Jack & Jill Range, Scrapware Album

That's all for now, but before I go... how would you like to win a $50 voucher to spend on anything you like at Scraptivate - either online or in store? It's easy... all you need to do is become a fan on Facebook (here) and join the Scraptivate Ning forum (here), and make sure you say hello when you join! How simple is that! If you're not on Facebook, you can still be in the running to win a $25 voucher just by joining the Ning forum. :)

Okay, I think that'll do for today, it's past my bedtime (again!)... can't wait for the girls to go back to school next week so I can get back into a routine, much as I've loved these holidays, I'm back to working eight hour days until school returns & it's exhausting - and the poor dog is really missing his walks (I refuse to get up earlier than 6am, and I don't have time to walk him before heading out the door at 7am!). Looking forward to having some more scrapping time again too - have some yummy kits to play with (including new, hot off the press, Echo Park "Be Mine" papers to play with for Scraptivate (it's in store now!).

Until next time...

Take care!

Cheers,
Rachel

Pink Flamingo!

2011-01-15T04:00:00.024+08:00

That's the name of the gorgeous new kit from Tattered Inspirations... all pinks & purples & the absolute perfect match for this gorgeous smocked dress that Mum made for my eldest daughter several years ago (which is now the right size for my youngest!). Couldn't find any photos of my eldest wearing it, or my middle daughter either, so grabbed the youngest, got her to model it for me & headed outside to take some photos! Here's the result...

Pink Flamingo Kit - Hand Made With Love

How was that for a perfect match... if Carol didn't live so far away from me, I'd swear she'd snuck a peak in Andie's wardrobe!

I used quite a lot of the kit for the layout, but as always, there was some left over, and I decided to use it to decorate a notebook - I'm getting quite a collection of pretty-but-practical notebooks now, and they're so much nicer than the plain & boring ones they started life as!

Hmmm... can't seem to upload that particular photo properly... shall add it when I get home tonight (or more likely tomorrow!) - sorry about that! .... home now & here it is...

Pink Flamingo Notebook

That's all I have to share today... will be heading to the airport shortly to start our journey home after almost a month in NZ... and while I'll miss Mum & Dad a lot, I'm looking forward to getting back to my scrapdesk & getting creative again! (Also looking forward to seeing my husband & eldest daughter too - we sent them home last week! - and I'm rather missing the cat & the dog as well!).

Hopefully will have lots of things to share with you soon!

Cheers,
Rachel

Kia Ora!

2011-01-12T16:33:00.001+08:00

As I sit here at my parents' house in New Zealand enjoying the sunshine (and the cooler-compared-to-Perth temperatures!), my heart is breaking at the scenes of devastation in Queensland that are being shown on the news every night here, and I'm praying that no more lives will be lost. There doesn't seem a lot I can do while I'm here, but when I get back to Perth on the weekend, I'll be going through my scrap stash & seeing what I have that I can donate to the Queensland scrappers that have lost their stash through the flooding. Scraptivate is a collection point if any of you Perth girls want to join me, just drop your bits & pieces into the shop before the end of the month & they'll all be parceled up & sent on.

We have been having a wonderful holiday in NZ, visiting old haunts, seeing new things with the kids, and taking lots & lots of photos! Can't wait to get back to my scrapdesk & start doing something with them! Of course, we've also been enjoying lots of time with my Mum & Dad, as well as having a wonderful weekend with my brother Steve & SIL Tracy, and their boys Brodie & Bailey, and my sister Sheena & BIL Len - it was the first time the entire family has ever been together, and it was fantastic!

The Cox Family

Of course, there was a reason why we all ended up at home at the same time - it was Mum & Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary last Friday, and we all went out for a lovely dinner together - and took lots of photos in the grounds of the place we went (Waiau Estate Restaurant & Winery, just north of New Plymouth).

Naturally, I had to give Mum & Dad something special to mark the occasion, so I put together a Twiddleybitz "Living Book" (which comes in a box), and added photos from the last 50+ years to it... I'll share a few of the pages with you, there's too many to share all of them! But it'll give you a bit of an idea what I did anyway, using 7 Gypsies papers and various embellishments.

The Lid of the Box

The Box

The front cover of the album

Inside Pages (note the Tattered Inspirations hat pins!)

Inside Pages

Inside pages - I'd left these two blank so I could add photos from the "big day"

Back Cover

And of course, I needed a special card to go with the present, so I had a look through my stash & came up with this one...

Anniversary Card

Lots of gold embossing!

That's about all I have from the Land of the Long White Cloud for now, better not use up all of the internet allowance for the month with updates (I'm used to a lot more than what Mum & Dad have!). There will be another update on Saturday with the new release from Tattered Inspirations - Pink Flamingo - so make sure you stop by & check that out!

Until then,

Stay safe (especially if you're in the flood affected areas).

Cheers,

Rachel

Wishing you...

2010-12-20T09:58:00.000+08:00

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We're off to NZ tonight for a much needed family holiday, but I thought I'd leave you with a few more creations that I've managed to do over the past week... I have done other stuff, of course, ready for Christmas, but can't share that yet!

My youngest daughter was invited to a last minute birthday party for her best friend, and needed a present - a handmade present please Mum, my friend loves them! So, inspired by Mel Forbes teachers gifts, I dashed up to see Mrs Twiddleybitz, grabbed a treasure box, and came home to put it together, using some pretty Prima papers & flowers. I believe the birthday girl loved it!

Renee's Treasure Box

Renee's Treasure Box - Top

Renee's Treasure Box - Inside

I found these pretty Making Memories papers at Scraptivate, and had a little play with them... (still loving Belle's rolled roses too!).

Smitten Layout

Congratulations Card

On Saturday night I went to the Scraptivate DT & Staff Christmas crop, wasn't feeling particularly motivated, but I did manage to complete a timed challenge using a mystery challenge pack!

Forever in my heart Layout

Wall Hanger

I think that's all I have to share for now... must finish my packing & get this house cleaned up before we leave this afternoon!

Hope you all have a wonderful break over Christmas, and I hope to see you all again soon!

Cheers,

Rachel :)

And the winners are....

2010-12-17T07:15:00.000+08:00

Big thanks to all who've played in the Twiddleybitz Christmas Blog Hop last weekend, and our impromptu Tattered Inspirations Mini Blog Hop this week - was lovely to read all your comments! I'm just about to head out the door to my last day of work for this year, so without further ado, I'll announce the winners!

Drum roll please.... LOL!

With assistance from my lovely (and a little sleepy!) middle daughter Sophie...

In the Twiddleybitz blog hop...

Angels will be winging their way to the following two ladies....

In the Tattered Inspirations Mini Blog Hop... also assisted by my lovely Sophie...

Mystery parcels will be heading to the following lovely ladies (and when you get them, please let me know what's in them, as I have no idea!)...

If you could all please email me at rachmwalsh(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)au with your address asap, I'd like to get these postal before I go away for a month on Monday afternoon!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Check back soon, I do have some more things to share, but no time right now to do so!

Cheers,

Rachel

My Fair Lady... new from Tattered Inspirations!

2010-12-15T04:00:00.002+08:00

How gorgeous is this new kit from Tattered Inspirations - all pinks & reds with a touch of black! I wasn't too sure what I would do with the images when I first saw my DT kit, but when inspiration struck, everything came together so quickly and easily!

My Fair Lady (Sneak Peek)

I started off with a layout of my parents, the photo was taken the day after they got engaged, 51 years ago! The kit went so well with this Prima paper, I didn't need to add anything except the photo and the mini alphas!

My Fair Lady - Just Engaged Layout

And as I had quite a lot left in the kit after I'd created the layout, I set about making some gorgeous cards... these were so quick & easy, and I think are really quite elegant (how could they not be, with this colour scheme, and the gorgeous image of Audrey Hepburn that Carol supplied with the kit!).

My Fair Lady - Card Set

For the first one, I added some red & black card stock, a sweet sentiment stamp, and the string & heart that my parcel was tied up in!

My Fair Lady - Audrey Hepburn Card

For the second one, I've added black cardstock, and the same sweet sentiment stamp...

My Fair Lady - Poster Card

And for the third card, I've again added some black cardstock, a little white paint, a sentiment stamp, and a couple of sweet butterflies that Carol sent me (not included in the kit).

My Fair Lady - Playbill Card

So, what do you think? If you love this kit as much as I do, I suggest you head over to the Tattered Inspirations Etsy store and pop one of these in your cart - as with all the kits, there's a limited number available, so get in quick before they're all gone! While you're over there, check out all the other gorgeous things that Carol has been uploading lately - there's some gorgeous seam binding, and some new hat pins & Christmas kits!

Now, just by leaving a comment on my blog before Midnight, AWST (GMT+8), on 16/12/10, and by visiting Michelle's blog here and the main Tattered Inspirations blog here and leaving comments on both of those blogs too, you'll go into the running to win one of two Tattered Inspirations Mystery Parcels! I have no idea what's in them, but I can guarantee you'll love them! I have them here, all wrapped up in brown paper & string, waiting for a new home!

I think that's all I have to share today... I'll be back on Friday to announce the winners of our mini-blog hop competition, so stay tuned for that!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Cheers,
Rachel xx

Hark the Herald Angels Sing...

2010-12-12T09:00:00.001+08:00

Christmas is coming! It really doesn't seem that long since last Christmas, but apparently it's almost twelve months ago!

Are you following the Twiddleybitz blog hop this weekend? If you are, you'll have come to me from the amazing Carol Thompson's blog and are no doubt still stunned by her gorgeous creations! If you haven't been following the blog hop, then I suggest you pop over to Twiddleybitz and start from the beginning - there is some fabulous inspiration and even prizes to be won along the way - both from some of the individual design team members, and also from Twiddleybitz for visiting everyone & leaving us comments!

For my part of the blog hop, I've decided to show you how to make these gorgeous Angel ornaments - I find they make fabulous teacher gifts... which is why I've made 26 of them! - not all for teachers, we like to include all the support staff as well - from the Principal down to the Groundsman - they work hard too, so why shouldn't they get some Christmas cheer? There's also a few for some special family members (they'd better not be peeking LOL!).

Christmas Angel Ornaments

The back of the Angel

To make each angel, you'll need the following...

Supplies - sorry for the sideways picture, blogger keeps rotating it for me - the wrong way!

2 x Twiddleybitz small ply wings
Crafty Notions Shake 'n' Spray Gold colour spray
1 x 5cm Terracotta Pot
70cm string or soft cord (piping cord works well)
A small amount of gold cord
1 x large wooden bead (dolly peg heads work well)
6 x small round wooden beads
Doll hair (one pack of Dotty's Craft doll hair covers about 12-13 heads)
Metallic gold paint
Hot glue gun & glue
Scissors
Paint brush
Baking paper or silicon/teflon sheet to protect work surface
Bobby pin
Black gel pen

1. Remove any labels from the pot. Paint with gold paint and leave to dry.

Step 1

2. Spray both sides of the wings with gold colour spray and leave to dry. The colour spray doesn't change the colour of the ply the same way it does with chipboard, but it does give it a nice sparkle!

Step 2

3. Cut your string to the following sizes - 48cm for the legs, 22cm for the arms. Knot one end of the longer piece of string and using the bobby pin like a needle, thread on four small round beads, finish by knotting the other end of the string. Two beads should hang at each end. Thread two beads onto the shorter piece of string, one for each end.

Step 3 - Use the bobby pin like a needle to aid in threading beads onto string.

4. Thread the centre of the longer piece of string up through the hole in the terracotta pot and pass the shorter piece of string through the loop. Pull the longer piece back down through the hole to tighten.

Step 4

Step 4 - with string tightened.

5. Using the hot glue gun, attach the large "head" bead to the top of the pot, securing the arms & legs in the process.


Step 5.

6. Knot the ends of a 15-20cm piece of gold cord together, then use the hot glue gun to attach it to the back of the head to form a halo (and also a very handy hanging loop!), and attach a pair of wings to the back of the pot.

Step 6 (without the halo attached).

7. Attach hair using the hot glue gun, being careful not to burn your fingers when you push it into place! (listen to the voice of experience there LOL - ouch!).

Step 7 - front view.

Step 7 - back view.

8. Draw a face on the front of the bead, and you're done!

Step 8. The Finished Angel.

I must give credit to Spotlight's Get Creative magazine, Volume 1, Issue 2, where the original idea for these angels came from - I have adapted it over the years to suit!

These little angels really don't take very long to make - production line style, I made all 26 in just over three hours, and they only cost a few dollars each. I did discover that Terracotta Pots are not quite as easy to find as they used to be (my local Bunnings & Spotlight no longer stock them) - but for those of you in Perth, you'll find everything you need at Collins Craft in Balcatta. For those of you elsewhere, sorry, I can't help, but hopefully your local craft store can!

Oooh, I almost forgot... it seems I don't actually need 26 of these angels so I'm going to give one away to someone who leaves a comment on this post before midnight (AEDST) on Tuesday 14 December (that's 9pm for those of us in WA). I may even give away two... will have to check the list and see how many are already accounted for! I'm happy to bubble wrap & box up your angel and post it to anywhere in Australia or NZ (if you're in NZ, I'll post it on 21 December when we arrive over there for our holiday - I can't wait!). At this time of the year, I don't want to risk sending it through the postal system to anywhere else in the world, sorry, but now you have the instructions, you can go forth and make your own!

Anyway, that's it for me for this blog hop... make sure you hop along to Mel's Place next to see what she's been up to! And before you go, feel free to have a look around at some of the other stuff on my blog - especially the next (or is that previous?) post - there's a whole lot of new Twiddleybitz goodies to see!

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Hope to see you all again soon.

Cheers,

Rachel xx

Brand new Twiddleybitz!

2010-12-06T23:38:00.000+08:00

One of the things I love about being on the Twiddleybitz design team is that I get to play with brand new, not yet released items... they are often so new that they don't even have assembly instructions - which just adds to the challenge! Of course, the down side with brand new, not yet released items is... I can't share until they have been offiically released! So I've had these photos for a week, waiting until they were released tonight so I could show you... keep an eye out at your local scrap shop for these brand new bits & pieces - and if there's something you can't wait to get your hands on, make sure you ask your LSS to get it in for you!

So, in the latest release... there's some gorgeous fairy chipboard - fairies, toadstools, and gorgeous ornate fences... how well does it go with this cute photo of my eldest daughter (taken almost 15 years ago!)... it's also a pretty good match for Websters "Wonderfall" range of papers!

Fairy Princess

I was also given a pack of assorted chipboard pieces - flourishes & scrolls & so on, and was asked to "see what I could do with them"... so I grabbed some Prima paper & flowers, and this photo of Tarrah MacLean, Tracy Wyldman and me, taken at the Little Scrapbook Shop retreat in August... and came up with this layout...

Scrap Buddies

Then it was onto the really challenging items... the ones without instructions, and lots of different pieces that all had to go together in a certain way! Of course, by the time these hit the shops, the instructions will be in the package with the pieces, and you won't have to try & remember what you were told a week ago about how they went together LOL! Having said that though, they were actually quite easy to put together!

First up is this gorgeous treasure chest... you could use it for so many different things... maybe a jewellery box... or a pencil box... or just about anything you like! I decided to make mine a treasure chest, so I grabbed some brown cardstock, put it through my Big Shot with my Tim Holtz woodgrain embossing die, and then inked with Tim Holtz Black Soot distress ink, before cutting into strips to simulate old wood. I also aged the brass hinges & lock with a 50/50 solution of bleach & vinegar (thanks Linda Baldock for you help with that!)... and after adhering the cardstock with a generous amount of mod podge and using brads to attach my fittings... I grabbed a couple of the scrolls that I had leftover from that last layout, embossed them with gold embossing powder, and intentionally "burnt" it to give it an aged look - also threw on a bit of fine brown glitter when I was heating it... I reckon it looks pretty cool...

Treasure Chest - Top

The brass band around the top has been cut from brass shim - I found it in a hardware store somewhere when hubby dragged me out with him... he bought things like bolts, and I found this hidden on the shelves! It's been secured with brads.

Treasure Box - Front

Treasure Box - Back

And finally, I got to the piece that I was really itching to play with... and this one really did have a lot of pieces, no instructions, and definitely needed a "dry run" to make sure I figured out where everything was supposed to go - before I stuck anything down! Again, when it hits the shops, it'll come with instructions... and it really wasn't difficult to put together either.

Gingerbread House - Front

The gorgeous "gingerbread" colour is an Adirondack embossing powder, the colour (funnily enough) is "Ginger". The brick edges, windows & door frame were inked & embossed with white embossing powder, and the "snow" on the base & the window sills was added with texture paste (impasto), I threw a bit of fine white glitter onto it before it dried too. The trims on the roof are German Scrap (available from Scraptivate), and I've used some Kindyglitz and Kaiser bling as well. The roof section of the gingerbread house comes off so you can fill it up with lollies if you want to!

Gingerbread House - Back

That really was a fun project to do, and there are so many different ways you could decorate it... I might have to grab a few more to play with!

Anyway, that's all that I have for you tonight... don't forget to pop into the Twiddleybitz Ning on Friday from 7 pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time) - or for those of us in the West, 4pm here! That's when our Christmas blog hop kicks off, and there'll be lots of awesome things on display all weekend... and lots of chances to win some really cool prizes too!

Hope to see you all then.

Take care!

Cheers,
Rachel

French Inspired Mini Kits

2010-12-04T16:56:00.000+08:00

I've been busy playing with a couple of the gorgeous French Inspired Mini Kits from Tattered Inspirations... I think one may already be sold out (La Rouge), but the other, Bebe - Beau, is still available in the Etsy shop here.

I love these kits as there is so much in them (even though they're mini kits!), you really don't need to add much other than your paper/cardstock, and your title - and that makes for a quick layout as you aren't spending time looking for co-ordinating bits & pieces - all the hard work is already done for you!

So, first up, this layout of my gorgeous middle daughter, Sophie... the photo was taken by one of the Mum's at playgroup about 10 years ago. I've added a sheet of music paper, AC Thickers and an old paper doily to a sheet of Bazzill cardstock and the contents of the kit.

La Rouge Mini Kit - You Make My Heart Sing :)

This second layout was made using the Bebe - Beau kit, and features a photo of my big brother when he was tiny! He was so cute then! I've used My Minds Eye "Love Me Do" patterned paper & Bazzill cardstock for this layout.

Bebe - Beau Kit - Love Me Do

I really think these kits are great value for money, and I'm really enjoying playing with them! I've also been busy working on my January DT Kit, and finished the December DT Kit yesterday... but you're going to have to wait to see what I've been doing with those! The December Kit will be released on the 15th, so check back then for that.

Time to get on with the next thing on my scrappy list... recipe books... or maybe I'll decorate some plain gift bags ready for the teacher gifts to go in this year... the gifts are all made, and if you check back here next Sunday (the 12th), you'll be able to see what I've made... there'll even be a step-by-step so you can make your own... it's all part of the Twiddleybitz blog hop that kicks off on Friday night. Hope to see you then!

Lots more to come this week though, so keep an eye out!

Until next time...

Take care. :)

Cheers,
Rachel

Happy Birthday Mum!

2010-12-03T08:00:00.015+08:00

I've been having a really busy creative, but I can't show you anything yet! What I can show you is the birthday card that I made for my Mum, who turns 70 today - Happy Birthday Mum!

I used Lauren Bell's instructions at LSBS to make this pop up gift card holder card, and made it pretty with Prima Papers, Tattered Inspirations Hat Pins and Flower, and a Websters Journalling Spot. Hope you like it Mum (hope it's arrived too LOL!).

Mum's birthday card - front

Mum's Birthday Card - Inside

As for everything else that I've been creating, you're just going to have to keep checking for updates! Hopefully will have a few other things I can share soon, there'll definitely be some on Tuesday, and next weekend (10 - 13th December) we're having a Twiddleybitz Blog Hop, so make sure you pop in & see what we've all been up to then!

Hope you all have a great day - especially you Mum! Love you!

Cheers,

Rachel

Tattered Inspirations, Twiddleybitz, and a few other things...

2010-11-15T13:05:00.000+08:00

Carol sent me this gorgeous vintage kit for my first Tattered Inspirations DT project, and I've had a lot of fun playing with it!


Tattered Inspirations "My Mothers Favourite Recipes" Vintage Kit

First up, I grabbed some gorgeous Prima paper and a photo of my parents, taken at my Mum's 60th birthday party - the colours were perfect for this kit!

Celebrate

Celebrate - close up

Celebrate - Close up

There's so many goodies in the kit that I couldn't fit it all on one page, and rather than finding another photo, I decided to alter an A5 notebook so I can write all my favourite recipes in it - this is certainly the perfect kit for the job! I found a red hardcover notebook at Big W, with the elastic closure already attached, and set to work... firstly by scrunching, glimmer misting, and distress inking the brown paper that the kit came wrapped in, to use it as the cover for the book (kind of like when I was a kid & the school books were wrapped in brown paper, rather than the contact we all battle with now!). I used mod podge to secure it, and then arranged various bits & pieces from the kit until I was happy & stuck it all down. I think these altered notebooks would make the perfect Christmas presents - might have to get a few more!

Recipe Book

Recipe Book - Close Up

I have lots more Tattered Inspirations goodies to play with - and more on the way! Might use some of the gorgeous flowers on some cards this afternoon (if I get off the computer long enough to make anything!).

Twiddleybitz have been busy coming up with new releases, just in time for Christmas, and I've had some fun playing with them too! Love this little cottage, and although it didn't work out quite how I planned it, I'm still pretty happy with it!

Twiddleybitz Cottage

Twiddleybitz Cottage - Close Up

These new chipboard pieces are perfect for quick Christmas cards...

Christmas Cards with Twiddleybitz Chipboard

And while you could use this wreath on a layout, I thought it made quite a cool photo frame!

Twiddleybtiz Wreath Photo Frame

And now, for the other stuff!

Last month's Camp Mojo challenge, which involved using at least three punches... and we had to make a card as well as a layout!

My parents-in-law celebrated celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary last week, so it was the perfect chance to make a card for them!

Golden Anniversary Card

And I've done another couple of Seasoned Scrapper challenges at LSBS...

Trick or Treat?

Happy Birthday Dear Sophie

Eeyore

And one last thing before I go... I wanted somewhere to store my selection of Cuttlebug & Sizzix dies, embossing folders, cutting plates etc, while having them still easily accessible... and decided that this Kaisercraft Desk Organiser might be perfect for the job... it works pretty well too - still need to label the drawers & put some kind of false bottom in the back section, as it's designed for 12x12 papers but my dies mostly aren't that long!

I think that's all for now... might get off the computer & make some cards!

Cheers,

Rachel

Let's see...

2010-10-29T18:22:00.000+08:00

If my blogger issues are over now that I'm using my new laptop! I suspect it was my old dinosaur of a desktop computer that was causing me problems, as I've already been able to upload my photos... question is, can I now put them where I want them? Guess I'll find out in a minute LOL!

Once again, I seem to have been busy creating, and have another pile of creations to share with you (and a few that I can't share just yet, as always... you'll just have to watch this space!).

First up, the LSBS seasoned scrapper is into it's final season, Spring. I've managed to complete the first two challenges, and am hoping to find some time to complete Week 3 before the Sunday night deadline!

First up is week 1, all about "treasures" - both a photo of our most important treasure (had to be my girls, didn't it!), and also we were asked to include a "treasure" on our page... I've been waiting for a suitable opportunity to use my Nana's brooch on a page, and this seemed like the perfect time - makes a pretty cool flower centre I think. Have to say I'm loving this new Websters "WonderFall" range of papers!

My Treasures

Week 2 challenge involved using a baby photo taken outside in the sun, and flowers on the page... so I've used this photo of my big brother Steve with my Mum & Dad, taken back in (I'm guessing) 1963. I've used some gorgeous Prima papers for this one... and a cool Twiddleybitz flourish too!

Our Little Man

I can now also share some DT work that I've done for Scraptivate over the past couple of months...

Natalie gave me a pack of Kaiser "Hippy Girl" papers to play with, so I had some fun with it... made a few cards...

Card - For You

Card - Just For You

It's probably not a range of papers that would have you thinking - "that'll be perfect for my wedding photos" - but looking at the colours in it, I decided that it might just be perfect for the photos that we had taken at the beach - and some of the bolder papers were great for making some of "Belle's Roses" with - you'd never know what the pattern was like now!

I do.

Close up of Belle's Roses

Obviously Christmas is getting closer, since last month Natalie gave me a range of MME "Noel" papers to play with... Really enjoyed making some cards, and a matching box to put them in...

Card - Noel

Check out the cute little Christmas tree charm on this one... Scraptivate has heaps of gorgeous charms just like this (and lots of others too!).

Card - Noel

Card - Making a List

Card - 'tis the season

Card - Merry and Bright

With the aid of my Martha Stewart Scoreboard (available at Scraptivate!), and some instructions from Split Coast Stampers, this little box came together really quickly, and is the perfect size to hold a collection of cards...

Chritmas Card Box

And of course, there had to be a layout... using a pretty cool Scrapware frame that I've inked, then covered in Dimensional Magic & sprinkled with fine glitter, and a cute photo of Andie, taken at last year's Christmas photo shoot... currently trying to come up with a new idea for this year's Christmas photo, but haven't come up with anything yet! Feel free to leave me a suggestion or two!

Christmas Photo Shoot

Think that's all I have to share today. Blogger is playing nicer than last time, but still doesn't seem to like me moving my photos from where it put them! I guess I should probably just upload them in the order I want to see them, rather than try to rearrange them all once they're here... will try to remember that next time!

One last thing before I go... for those of you lucky enough to be in Sydney next weekend, make sure you head along to the craft show at Penrith Panthers and say hi to the girls from Scraptivate, and the girls & guys from Twiddleybitz! Make sure you check out the fabulous DT work at both of the stands too... I know there's going to be some fabulous things on display (and some of my stuff too LOL!).

Got my first DT pack from Tattered Inspirations today, and can't wait to get started on it, Carol has sent me some beautiful things to play with! Will share when I can, of course!

Right now though, I guess I should think about cooking some dinner, then I'm going to curl up in front of the TV for the evening & watch a movie with the kids. :)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Cheers,

Rachel

Here it is...

2010-10-22T10:06:00.000+08:00

Well, it seems it's my computer that's the problem, not blogger...snuck on at work & it's uploaded my photo just fine! Will have to look into that a bit more when I get home I think.

Anyway, here's the layout I did for my Tattered Inspirations DT application... a gorgeous old photo of my Nana, using Prima papers & flowers & Tattered Inspirations hat pins.

A Moment In Time

Hope you like it... and I hope I can sort my computer problems out before I do my next update!

Better get back to work...

Have a great day!

Cheers,
Rachel

Exciting news...

2010-10-21T22:10:00.001+08:00

The wonderfully talented and gorgeous Carol Mead has asked me to join the new Tattered Inspirations Design Team, which is very exciting for me! Tattered Inspirations specialises in gorgeous handmade & vintage scrapping items - things like cabochons, hat pins, and vintage themed kits with lace, old adverts, book pages, etc. I'm going to have so much fun playing with these awesome old things, and scrapping some old photos as well (watch out Mum, I'll be checking to see what other old photos you & Dad have that I can scan at Christmas time!).

Check out the Tattered Inspirations blog here, and the Tattered Inspirations Etsy shop here. While you're checking out the blog, make sure you sign up for the monthly newsletter, it's full of fabulous & fascinating information (and will also feature some of the DT work!). Joining me on the DT is Michelle Lark (aka Shelee) - so excited to be working with this lovely lady too! You can check her blog out here.

This is the layout that I submitted to Carol for her consideration when she advertised for DT members... using some gorgeous Prima paper, and a couple of Tattered Inspiration's gorgeous hat pins. :) Okay... so blogger is not playing nice tonight & is not giving me the option to add a photo... very very frustrating... think I'll be looking at moving my blog host to something else, need to do a little research first I think. Hopefully next time I try, I'll be able to share that layout with you!

Back soon for another go with that picture!

Cheers,

Rachel

My Scrappy Space...

2010-10-16T18:50:00.001+08:00

Eight months on... some of you may remember that about eight months ago I had a major clear out in my scrap space, painted & re-organised... (take a look here if you want to see it again!). Well, thanks to a little competition currently running on the Twiddleybitz Ning forum, I'm sharing some more up-to-date photos so you can see it now that I've been using it for a while!

If you would like to be in the running for a package of Twiddleybitz, then you must leave a comment on each person's blog who leaves a link on the Ning in the relevant thread. Then by the end of this month or maybe a little longer, depending how many have entered, Tiff will draw a random winner from the people who have left comments on the blogs... check out the Ning for all the information! The prize is a fabulous pack of Twiddleybitz, of course!


From the entrance... my scrap desk, with shelves above.

My Ikea Expedit Storage unit, on the left hand side of the room, and my computer desk in front of the window.

Looking back at the entrance, my ribbons hanging by the doorway - and my sewing machine is nice & handy too!


The shelves above my desk - the jars have buttons, spice jars have brads & other little bits, buckets house my flower collection!

So, there you have it... my scrap room eight months on... not as nice & neat & tidy as it was, but definitely well used! And to be honest, it took nearly a month after I'd tidied it up for me to want to start using it again, it was just too nice to mess up LOL - don't have that problem now!

While I've got your attention... the girls at Scraptivate have been busy painting & moving things around, and to celebrate the new look, they're having a massive 15% off everything this weekend only (16 & 17 October). The fine print... No loyalty stamps. Discount on product only, no discounts on class fees. Only while stocks last, no rainchecks. For online purchases use the code 15off during checkout to receive your discount! So make sure you pop in (either online, or in person) and pick yourself up a bargain or two!

Right, I'm off to organise dinner... apparently there are some kids here that want an early night... not sure what that's all about, but I'll go along with it LOL!

Cheers,

Rachel xx

Twiddleybitz-ing and Cyber-cropping!

2010-10-11T20:54:00.001+08:00

Wow, you might want to grab a cuppa... I just uploaded everything I've done since I last updated and it looks like it's going to be a long post! Must update more regularly I think... :)

So, lets pick up where I left off... with the last few LSBS Seasoned Scrapper Winter challenges...

Week 9... a little bit of heritage...

Slide

Week 10... winter hobbies....

I {heart} 2 Knit

The New Bridge

Then I snuck in the September Camp Mojo challenge... not really happy with how this layout turned out - love the photos (thanks to my SIL Tracy for these... via Mum!), just not happy with how I scrapped them... will use that as an excuse to scrap them again one day!

Then there was last weekend's LSBS "Weekend Warrior" challenge... really enjoyed doing this one (and got an Honourable Mention for it too!).

Passport

This past weekend, with hubby away and the kids all doing their own thing, I got stuck into the LSBS "Spring" Cybercrop... and managed to get all the challenges done!

Challenge one, as always, was a sketch challenge... how gorgeous is this photo of my sister & her hubby on their wedding day... 10 years ago this week (Happy Anniversary Sheena & Len!).

From this day forward...

Used up the scraps for Challenge 1A - the card sketch...

Thinking of You Card

Challenge two involved getting a very rare & elusive photo of my gorgeous eldest daughter, Katy - with me! - for a before & after comparison - first photo was taken at my brother & SIL's wedding reception back in 1996, and the new photo was taken yesterday - can't believe Katy is now officially 2 cm taller than me - she's loving that!

From little things big things grow

Challenge three... the inspiration challenge... we had a beautiful passionfruit flower as our inspiration... so I used the colours & the shape to create this layout - photo from my wedding this time!

Just Married

Challenge four... the step-by-step... Nic showed us how to make pretty realistic looking leaves to go with all the gorgeous flower we've been learning to make with the Wednesday night tutorials...

Flowers - for me?

And finally, challenge five... we were asked to scrap a garden that we love (whether our own, or someone elses - I picked Mum's, seeing as mine is more a dirt patch these days!)... and also to create a flower or two using one (or more) of the Wednesday tutorials... I picked these shaggy paper flowers that Tracy showed us how to make a few weeks ago...

My Mother's Garden

Somewhere along the way, I decorated this Kaiser Trinket Box for Miss Andie's friend Angelina... crackled, glimmermisted, and made more of those gorgeous "Belle's Roses"... I think Angie likes it... I know Andie does!

Trinket Box

And in no particular order... some Twiddleybitz that I've been working on...

Gorgeous new clock, tree, and ornate fence/gate...

2 geva 4 eva

Clock Close Up
A shadow box with another new ornate fence... just love this!

Shadow Box with Ornate Fence

Shadow Box Close Up

Apparently Christmas is coming... so I've made a couple of cards...

Peace on Earth Card

Seasons Greetings Card

And scrapped some very old Christmas photos (my brother & sister, probably around 1970)...

Believe

And I've made a table centrepiece tree...

Christmas Tree Centrepiece

And finally, last, but by no means least... Miss Sophie, who made a rather cute pirate for book week a few years ago... perfect for the new pirate themed Twiddleybitz! (I added the date to the signpost after I took the photo).

Ahoy There my hearties!

Right, I've had enough of fighting with blogger to get my photos where I want them... I'm off to watch some TV! Hopefully will be back before too long with some more to share....

Until then,

Take care!

Rachel xx

A very productive week...

2010-09-16T18:20:00.000+08:00

I actually managed to catch up on eight LSBS Seasoned Scrapper challenges last week - three cards & five layouts! I'm never that productive in a week, but scrapping with the Scraptivate girls on Saturday night (for Mel Connell's birthday) really helped!

Hopefully in the correct order... here's what I've been creating!

Week 1 - based on this LSBS sketch is my card in cool wintery colours - had some fun playing with Angelina film & fibres too!

Week 2, a favourite winter recipe (and it's a Weigh Watcher's recipe, so I can eat it without feeling guilty LOL!)

Week 3 involved using some lyrics from The Doors song Wintertime Love...

And Week 4 was another card, this time using warmer winter colours (thinking, cosy fire, oranges & reds etc)... I made this one for Mel for her birthday! (and used a gorgeous Handmade Daisy by Sandie).

Week 5, winter comforts... I can't get through winter without my winter woolies (which is supposed to be spelt with two "L"s apparently, I guess I've been shopping at Woolies too many times & forgot that - never mind!

Week 6 - winter sports... Andie is the only one who's really played sport this winter, which is fine with me - not a great fan of getting out of bed on a cold Saturday morning to stand around at the freezing netball courts watching kids play, but it's not so bad now that it's only Andie, and her game isn't until 9:45 am! This photo is from a few years ago though...

Week 7, it was coming up to Fathers Day, therefore the challenge was to make a masculine card... we don't really "do" Father's Day here, so I made mine a bit more "general purpose". Loving the new Tim Holtz woodgrain embossing folder, especially used with Core-dinations cardstock! And the yummy new Prima butterflies. :)

And finally, week 8 - another Father's Day theme, this time a layout about a special man in our lives... I picked my Dad for this one... and a very old photo!

I can also now share what I did with my first Scraptivate DT kit - Natalie gave me one of the older Fancy Pants ranges (Dancing Girl) to play with, along with some other goodies... and I came up with a couple of layouts and a set of three cards (which featured in the newsletter the week that I handed them in!).

Think that's all there is to share this week... so far! Have a photo printed for LSBS Seasoned Scrapper week 9, just haven't done anything with it yet! Will have some Twiddleybitz goodies to share with you next week I think, might even add to that pile if I get a chance to scrap this weekend (hope I do!).

So until next time...

Stay safe.

Cheers,

Rachel xx

The best retreat ever...

2010-09-05T19:23:00.000+08:00

Was last weekend at Merroo, NSW! I joined 60+ lovely ladies for the 4th Annual Little Scrapbook Shop Retreat for four fantastic days of fun, classes, and even some creating! Can't share a lot of what I did though, I spent a fair bit of time working on my design team commitments, but I promise I'll share those creations as soon as I can.

I do have quite a few other things that I can show you though, so grab a cuppa & settle in for a read!

I got stuck into the August Camp Mojo challenge soon after my arrival at the retreat, and Sherry Mendoza kindly took it away and photographed it for me as the entries were due in that weekend - nothing like leaving things 'til the last minute! Some of you know that I've been working on losing weight for quite a while now, and this layout is kind of a celebration of the fact that I'm getting pretty close to my goal (I've lost about 18kg, and have about 10kg to go). The journall tag reads "I bought these jeans when they were on special, thinking that I'd fit into them one day, when I'd lost a few more kilos. No-one was more surprised when I tried them on & found that I could do them up & wear them out only a couple of weeks later!" I'm guessing there might be quite a bit of stretch in these jeans, but I don't care - a year ago I didn't have a hope of fitting into anything with a size 10 tag on it!

On Thursday night, the wonderful Carol Mead (aka Honeywine) gave us a little taste of mixed media when she taught us a mini-canvas class - mine is now proudly displayed on my fridge! Make sure you go and check out Carol's gorgeous blog and see what else she gets up to... then run over to her Etsy shop & buy some of those fabulous kits & pins she's making! I have to admit I bought home quite a number of those hat pins from the retreat, and I'm looking forward to adding them to all sorts of up-coming creations!

On Friday, we had the day free to work on our own projects, so I spent the day working on fabulous new Twiddleybitz goodies... just waiting for permission from the boss before I share... but might just give you a little sneaky peak at one of the things I worked on... I couldn't help myself, I had to buy heaps of the gorgeous new Prima flowers, butterflies & papers!

Friday night saw the beautiful Belinda Comerford (aka Belle) teaching us how to make paper roses using some of the new Sassafrass papers... love these flowers so much... they're now appearing on almost everything I do! This was probably my favourite layout of the weekend too...

A close up of the flowers...

And then with the leftover papers, we made a gorgeous card...

Saturday saw the fabulous Kerryn Leworthy teaching us, a couple of gorgeous layouts this time... love both of these too! Using the new Basic Grey Olivia range of papers... and some Twiddleybitz!

And in the afternoon, the awesome Sherry Mendoza came and showed us how to put together a Twiddleybitz "Dates 2 Remember" calendar, using October Afternoon papers... now I just need to remember all the dates to write on it!

Carol also organised a photo swap while we were at the retreat - we handed her a photo, which she then passed on to someone else to scrap for us... lots of fun... and a little nerve-wracking! I scrapped this photo for Gill (aka Owl), using the beautiful bright new Prima that literally was delivered to the retreat while we were there!

(I had to go back & buy more of that paper for myself!).

Karyn (aka KforKaryn) had the dubious pleasure of scrapping my photo, and I love what she did with it!

On Saturday evening we were all entertained by the fabulous acts at "Belle's Ball", and then sat down to a 45 minute challenge after an hilarious game of bingo (which featured live "LOL Cats" - too funny!).

I also managed to get some Scraptivate DT stuff done... only a sneaky peek at that for now too... oooh, look, more of Belle's flowers!

And I think the last thing I did for the weekend (apart from the stuff I can't show you yet!) was this quick Thank You card that I made to give to Katrina, who picked me up at the airport at 6am on Thursday, took me back to her house, gave me breakfast, coloured & cut my hair, let me use her shower, and then took me shopping & kept me entertained until it was time to head to the retreat! I really appreciated that!

I used up some scraps of Prima paper that I'd used on one of my Twiddleybitz DT projects, and made some more of those flowers... and was stunned when I won the prize for "best card" of the weekend! Have to say that I did rather like this one! (I think Katrina did too!).

I had a fabulous time away, and was sad to say goodbye to everyone when it was time to head back to the airport on Sunday afternoon... and I was dreading checking in as I knew my suitcase was going to be overweight... just didn't know how much by! Turns out I was 4kg over, but I think it was worth the extra $40 that I had to pay to bring home all my yummy new goodies, that I spent most of Monday evening drooling over again as I unpacked!

I'm really sad now that I won't be able to go to next year's LSBS retreat, unfortunately it clashes with a 50th birthday, and a 16th birthday party - and I really have to be here for them! Happy though that I will at least get to catch up with some of my LSBS friends at Camp Mojo in July - don't know what I would have done if I didn't have that to look forward to!

Was going to share another couple of photos with you, but Blogger has decided to start playing up... it was old stuff anyway, so will save that for another day!

Hope all the Father's out there have had a wonderful Father's Day - especially my Dad - love you!

Will hopefully be back soon with some more to share.

Take care.

Rachel

Time...

2010-08-16T12:16:00.000+08:00

For another update! I somehow found myself with some time off work, and as Des is away, it means I've been able to have some uninterrupted scrapping time! Unfortunately I've also been sick with a nasty cold, so probably haven't done as much as I would have liked! And as always, there's some that I've done that I can't show you just yet... but you'll see it soon enough I'm sure!

In the meantime, I'll show you what I can LOL!

I thought I'd try out for the Bo Bunny design team, didn't make it, but had fun playing with the products & am happy with what I did create anyway... they wanted two layouts, two cards, and an OTP/home decor item - or another layout if you're not into OTP...

So, here's the layouts...

And the cards (I've been having some fun with acetate!)...

And I decided to go with a piece of home decor for my final item (and Sophie was very happy to see the back of the "ABC" lampshade that used to be on this lamp!

I also managed (thanks to an extension & an unexpected day off work!) to get Camp Mojo's first monthly challenge done... this was a sketch challenge, so went together pretty quickly once I'd picked my photos...

And then there are my entries in the LSBS Cybercrop this month (you've got until Midnight tonight - Monday 16 August) if you want to play too!

Mum sent me some old photos to scan... love this one of her & Dad way back when... July 1959 in fact! Perfect for Nicole's black, white & one other colour challenge...

And I had a play with some new stamps (that came free with Docrafts Creativity magazine), and made this card using the sketch that Deanne chose for the card sketch challenge...

(In case you can't read the sentiment... it says "Whoever says money can't buy happiness doesn't know where to shop".)! Do you love Sandie's Handmade Daisy on the card... check out her blog to see all the latest releases - you're going to want to get your hands on some (or maybe all?) of these!

And finally, I spent most of Saturday making this rather cool calendar for Katy's BFF Miriam, who's birthday is next week - she loved the one I made for here, and asked if I could make her one. Love how this one turned out! And the corrugated card was a great way of covering up the messy edges of the canvas I used!

I think that's all for now - I really should be sorting photos & getting organised for the retreat I'm off to next weekend... I'm getting so excited, only nine days until I head to the airport & take the red-eye to Sydney (actually, I'm not really excited about that particular bit!)... it's going to be so wonderful getting together with the LSBS girls again! Expect a big update when I return, I'll hopefully be able to get a lot created while I'm there!

Until next time...

Take care!

Cheers,
Rachel

And the winner is....

2010-08-09T20:21:00.000+08:00

...I'll tell you in a moment! First, I'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone who visited my blog over the weekend and left me comments, I really enjoyed reading them all! I hope you come & visit again sometime soon!

I'd also like to say a huge THANKS to the beautiful Tiff Sawyer who organised the blog hop, and to all my fellow Twiddleybitz DT girls - everyone had something fantastic to share & I picked up lots of cool tips along the way!

But now, without further ado... the drawing of my blog prize winner... assisted by Miss Andie (of course!)...

I know I could have used the random number generator, but I thought I'd do this the old fashioned way... all the names ready to go in the "hat"...

Miss Andie drawing out the winner...

And the winner is...

Yes DANIELLE, that's you!

Danielle, please email me your snail mail address & the name you'd like to put on your hanger so I can get it in the post for you (if you can't email me through my blog, PM me through the Twiddleybitz Ning!).

Thank you all, and good night! Hope to see you again soon. ;)

Cheers,

Rachel

Hop...Hop...Hop...

2010-08-08T10:01:00.000+08:00

Have you been enjoying the Twiddleybitz blog hop so far? Have you picked up some new ideas, some inspiration? I certainly have!

Being somewhat time-poor, my Twiddleybitz (and other!) scrapping projects are probably somewhat simpler than the amazing creations you've seen so far, but I hope you'll like what I've come up with anyway!

I thought I'd share a step-by-step with you, using two pages from a freestanding butterfly board book to create a door plaque for your daughter/niece/grandaughter/neighbour's kid - or even for yourself - it would look great hanging on the scraproom door! I've made two now, one each for my younger two daughters (the oldest being "past" the stage of wanting to hang something on the door LOL!).

First up, gather your supplies... You'll need two pages of the Twiddleybitz Freestanding Butterfly Board Book, a 6" x 4" piece of chipboard, patterened paper, a piece of chalkboard card (I made my own using a can of Chalkboard spray paint that I bought at Bunnings, and an A4 piece of flat white card), strong adhesive (dimensional magic is perfect), double sided tape, paint, ink, Crafty Notions Colour Spray, white flowers, Twiddleybitz leaves, Twiddleybitz butterfly, and Twiddleybitz Alpha's to spell your words (I used my favourite TwiddleyGroove Aphas). You might also like to grab a small stamp, stamp pad, embossing powder & a heat gun.

1. Start by tacking the two halves of the butterfly together side by side, and glue the chipboard to the back.

2. Paint or colour spray in your colour/s of choice - for this version that I've made for Andie, I decided to use crackle medium, with a base coat of candy pink & a top coat of blossom (lilac) paint. For the version I did for Sophie, I used Meadow & Coco Gilt Colour Sprays.

3. Colour spray the leaves, butterfly and alphas (I've used Meadow, Coco Gilt, and Lilac Lustre). If you spray onto a non-porous surface such as acetate or a baking sheet (I found a teflon sheet in a kitchen shop), you can mop up the excess with your white flowers to make them pretty too! (Thanks to Tiff for this tip!). Don't mix the colours up though, or you'll end up with flowers in a colour that resembles mud! Or you could just spray the flowers with a green colour spray (preferably a different colour to the leaves!). Set them aside to dry. Of course, you could use flowers that are already the colour you want!

4. (Optional). When your butterfly is dry, stamp around the edges of the butterfly with a small stamp and heat emboss with embossing powder - the central section of the butterfly will be covered with paper, so no need to paint or stamp there (I painted mine out of habit!). For this version I used Kaiser's Flourish background stamp, versamark ink and black embossing powder. For Sophie's version, I used a couple of stamps from Kaiser's La Di Da collection, with pink ink & clear embossing powder.

5. Cut your patterned paper to 6" x 4" and distress the edges. Cut the chalkboard paper slightly smaller & distress. Adhere both pieces of paper to the butterfly.

6. Attach the leaves to the lower left corner of the papers. Attach a flower over the top, then your Twiddleybitz flower on top of that. In the top right corner, attach a larger flower, and the butterfly on top of it. Then attach your letters - check for fit first! You might like to cover the flower, butterfly & letters with dimensional magic for some added gloss.

8. Finally, turn the project over & glue a piece of ribbon to the back so that you can hang it up when it's dry.

9. You can then ask the lucky recipient to write a message on the chalkboard, hold it up for a photo, and don't forget to pop into the Ning & share it with us!

And there you have it - one butterfly door plaque!

I'm guessing little Miss Andie likes it LOL!

As an alternative to the chalkboard, you could use another piece of patterned paper, or create a whiteboard effect with a piece of laminated white card, or attach a piece of acetate over the top of a piece of white card, using brads or something similar.

I have a kit with everything* you need to make your own plaque to give away to one lucky blog hopper this weekend, just leave me a comment before 10 pm AEST on Monday 11th August & I'll ask Miss Andie to draw a name out of a hat before she heads to bed on Monday night! I'll include whatever letters you need for the name you want to use too, and I'm happy to post overseas!

*except the paint, ink, colour spray, adhesives, stamps & tools!

The next Twiddleybitz DT Blog on the schedule is Lisa Kamphuis - make sure you hop along and check out her blog at 2pm AEST!

Thanks for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Cheers,
Rachel

Let's get hopping...

2010-08-03T21:49:00.000+08:00

Blog hopping that is! Twiddleybitz is having it's first ever blog hop this weekend (6 - 8 August 2010)!

Shouting out a big hello to all our valued Twiddleybitz members, you are all invited to join us this weekend for our first ever Twiddleybitz blog hop. There will be a weekend of inspiration from our talented designers, chatting and some fabulous RAK'S and prizes to be won. So if your stash is low, join us for a chance to win some Twiddleybitz. And don't worry, if you have never done a blog hop before, all you need to do is check out the Ning forum at 6.30pm AEST this Friday, Aug 6th for all the details. Hope to see you there for some fun and happy hopping! :):):)

This past weekend was the WA Craft, Quilt & Stitch Show at the Claremont Showgrounds, and I was lucky enough to be able to help out at the Twiddleybitz stand, helping with the make & takes on Saturday afternoon, and teaching classes on Sunday. Totally exhausting, but so much fun! The stand looked totally awesome, with lots of examples of the amazing creations the design team has come up with. I took a few photos of the display to share with you...

Anyway, that's about all I have to share today... make sure you join us over at the Ning on Friday night and get hopping with us!

See you then... :)

Cheers,
Rachel

Twiddleybitz Classes... and some more exciting news!

2010-07-26T15:01:00.000+08:00

Just a reminder for those of you who live in Perth, the WA Craft, Quilt & Stitch Show 2010 is on THIS WEEKEND 30 July - 1 August at the Claremont Showgrounds... you can find more info about it here. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I'll be teaching three classes on Sunday 1 August, if you'd like to book in to do one (or more) of them, leave me a comment here & I'll reserve a spot for you - or alternatively, email Nicole at nicole@twiddleybitz.com and she'll put your name down. All classes have a kit cost of $15, the teaching is free! Each class will last around an hour.

So, to save you scrolling back through the old posts to see what I'm teaching, I'll show you again...

10am – Set of three Cards – See how quick and easy it is to put together three very different cards with minimal supplies, while learning different ways of altering Twiddleybitz, having a play with Colour Sprays, and seeing what results you can get with dry embossing in this card class. All tools and embellishments supplied.

11:30am – Mother and Daughter Class (Menu Board & Door Hanger) – Mum’s can make a fabulous menu board that incorporates a blackboard for writing “what’s for dinner” on, and features several ways of altering Twiddleybitz, while their daughter’s can get busy decorating their own butterfly door hanger with a butterfly, flowers & leaves, and personalize it with their name. It also features a blackboard for writing a message on to personalize it even further. If Mum is on her own, she can choose to make either the menu board or the door hanger. All tools and embellishments supplied.

1pm – 12 x 12 Layout – Autumn Beauty - learn how to use Twiddleybitz as a mask while you play with Colour Sprays and created this 12x12 layout with an autumn feel. You’ll need a 6” x 4” photo (preferably portrait orientation) that will suit the “Autumn Beauty” title for this class. All tools, papers and embellishments supplied.

The Twiddleybitz stand will also have make & takes running each day throughout the show, a display of some of the latest DT work, and you'll be able to purchase all your favourite Twiddleybitz to take home with you - and there'll be some bargain bags, seconds and show bags too! It all sounds like a lot of fun. :)

What else have I been up to since my last update? Hmmm... I've been playing with some more Twiddleybitz... and using some of Mum's old photos - my brother & sister were very cute (forty-something years ago LOL!)...

(and yes, Barney did get up the tree all by himself - he's just too cute!)

I know I've scrapped this photo before, but I love it & couldn't resist scrapping it again, using that gorgeous swirly bit from Twiddleybitz!

Now, I did promise you some more exciting news (the last exciting news being that I'd joined the Twiddleybitz Design Team!)... some of you already know about this (me being the slack blogger that I have been lately!)... but for those who don't... I'm now a member of the fabulous Scraptivate design team! Very excited about this, it's a fabulous store (in Joondanna, Perth), and they also have an online store here and a "ning" forum here. I've picked up my first DT pack, and the mojo is flowing (the time, not so much!).

Would you like to see what I submitted when I applied for the DT position? No? hehehe... I bet you would, really!

So Natalie asked us to create two layouts (one featuring a photo of yours truly), and a card - the card had to include some of Scraptivate's own German Scrap trim/embellishments... this is what I came up with...

(okay, not a great photo of me, but I do mention that in the journalling - as a general rule, I hate photos of me!).

Just love doing "white" cards with a bold splash of colour! And how cool is the new Cuttlebug quilled daisy die?

That's all I have to share today - I have done a few other things, but can't share them yet! And I've just looked at the time... better go pick the girls up from school!

So until next time, take care... and if you're in Perth this weekend, make sure you come along to the Craft Show & make sure you stop by the Twiddleybitz stand to say "Hi" - I'll be there on Saturday afternoon as well as all day Sunday!

Cheers!

Rachel