Presents!!!!!!

'Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!'

I am so excited this year. Normally Christmas isn't something I'm that into - but this year I haven't been able to wait.

So it was so exciting that my sister and her family were able to travel up from NSW so we could celebrate Christmas together as a family - 11 kids and 8 adults in my parents house - it was awesome!!!!

I decided a little earlier in the week to 'make' some gifts for my sisters (Kylie, Estelle and Lisa) adn procrastinated till the day before (why oh why do I do this to myself???) and made these little folders.

I saw the original idea for these gorgeous things on Amy's Blog in  a 2009 post (can't find it now for the life of me??) and thought they would be perfect!

Aliessa also made one of these - here is her version...just scroll down to the bottom of the post...

Amy did have a template for it which she was lovely enough to share - go to http://www.papertreyink.com/mtt_recipewrapup_webview.html to find it...

For mine, I actually just scored 2 pieces of A4 cardstock at 8cm then again at 9cm twice, and trimmed the end a little so that I had an overlap of 2cm, and then glued the 2cm pieces together - probably a little longer than the one in the template so I could fit more stuff in!

Then you just use some acetate (mine were OHT sheets) and Crystal Effects to adhere the die-cuts - I had already put Dimensionals on them all and the Crystal Effects on the bottom of the Dimensional - so they should just come off really easily...

Then I followed Amy's idea in filling this little folder with pre-made die-cuts! How awesome is that! I would LOVE to have a gift like this - things that you can just pull off and whip onto a card - how quick would that be. 

I'm really hoping they get some use out of them..

So what crafty things are you making for your gifts this year?

Christmas Crafts

I have a fun little project to share with you today - this idea kind of just hit me out of the blue and I'm so glad it did because I LOVE how its turned out!!!! :)

I started with a pile of wood looking like this...

and ended up with them looking like this!

I have been holding onto some remnants of Christmas DSP from two years ago for the perfect project and thank goodness I had enough to do this - they have been my fav set of Stampin' Up! Christmas papers ever so I'm so so happy that I'll be able to look at them every year from now on! hehehhe

So the idea with this Advent Calendar is that under each block is attached an activity for the day. Once we've completed the activity for the day the block can just be turned around so just the paper is showing. I'm still undecided whether to leave them lined up in order like this or to make them a little random and all over the place. It will probably depend on where I decide to place it - its where it is at the moment just until I decide what to do with it - oh - and waiting till the first of December would probably be a good idea too!!!! hehehhe

I'm so excited for Christmas this year and have so many ideas floating around in my mind of things to make - so hopefully I'll have more to show you over the next couple of weeks.

And here are just some close up shots of some of my favourite blocks...

I can't actually tell you where this wordy paper comes from - it was just in my stash but is one of my absolute favourites!!!! I love blue in Christmas things...

How gorgeous is this sparkly green design - yum yum yum!!!



And here's a row of some of the papers all together - they just co-ordinate so perfectly. I LOVE it!!!

The blocks are all slightly different sizes which I am loving too - it all adds to the random-ness of the project.

And just to end I thought I'd pop on a little photo of my sleeping beauty - getting so chubby now and just so much fun with the smiling and little chats we have sometimes. We are so blessed with such a gorgeous gorgeous baby girl...I love her to bits!!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and come again soon! :)

Have the best day!

Smiles

Adele xxx

A Work In Progress

I've started a present for a special someone and am a little lost as to how to complete it, and thought you'd all have some fabulous ideas for me! :)

Its a 9cm x 9cm wooden block and I've covered all four sides with a photo of the kids and my husband and I. I love the effect of the four sides, but have put DSP paper on the top and had thought to put a flower on the top - but it looks a little bit like a muffin and I'm not sure I like the introduction of the colour against the black and white photos. I love the rawness of the wood and black and white images...

What do you think...

I'd like to get some rub-on's to put over the photo's but am stumped as to what to do to the top, if anything?

Can't wait to hear your ideas - I'm sure they'll be the perfect solution...

Thanks for your help!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Wood Blocks Class

Hello lovelies - just popping on to show you a variation of the photo wood block we'll be doing in a class this Saturday evening. Here is the original block...and here is the variation...

I've tried to keep this one relatively embellishment free as I'm still deciding whether its masculine enough to give to my husband for his upcoming birthday??? I've also added the word which I kind of like - it makes it have more of a scrapbooking feel...

If you're interested in making one of these for yourself the class details are

THIS SATURDAY 9th July

7.30pm @ my house

$15 - you will need to supply your own picture obviously :).

RSVP: This Thursday 7th July

I made one of these for my mother's birthday on the weekend and used a colour photo and it worked just as well - I loved the colours and brightness of it. If I can I'll try and get a photo of it before the week is out, so you don't have to use a black and white if you don't want.

Have a great week and hope to see some of you soon! :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

Candles!

So I have JUST finished this little project of mine in time for Church tomorrow, and its night time and my night time photo's suck, but I just HAD to jump on here and share a photo or two with you...

So why am I so excited you ask??? Its just a stamped candle? We've all seen these before right? Well - you probably can't read the words on these candles because the photo's are (pretty) bad, but they don't come from a stamp. They are a scripture that goes with the lesson I am teaching tomorrow and I just had to figure out a way of getting it on to that candle.

So how did I do it you say? You may be clever enough to have already thought of my method, but for me it was a lightbulb moment.

I typed up my words on the computer, and then got an OHT sheet and printed it on that. As soon as it came out of the printer I whipped it on to a waiting piece of tissue paper and used my bone folder to moosh the ink onto the tissue paper. It comes out backwards (do you get me - looking at it from the printer the words are the right way round, but when you place it on the tissue paper you want the inked side to go down, so when the words are 'stamped' they're backwards). Then I proceeded with the normal method of decorating a candle. You can find an awesome tutorial here from Splitcoast Stampers.

Fun hey. I'm really really happy with how they've turned out and think they make really cute hand outs. Best part yet - they were on sale at Target so I got them for next to nothing. Got to love a bargain.

Now that I've done it I will DEF be doing these again. Wouldn't they make gorgeous gifts? And now I know I'm not limited to the stamp sets I own - I can type out anything I'd like!!!!! YAY!!!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Presents!

I needed to make a present for a very special someone during the week and this is what I came up with...

A Box of Roses...

This is the box - a paper mache box I purhcased and decorated the front of - I was inspired by the gorgeous little box on one of the first pages of the current catalogue - I love how this turned out...

And then once you open the lid this is what you see - a first layer of tiny little flowers all pre-made, ready to go...

Then a second layer which has stacks of hand cut leaves to go with what was in the bottom of the box...

Which was stacks of these roses! My favourite flowers of the moment - the same ones that I made to use on this card here. I didn't attach the leaves myself because as you can see from my original card sometimes a flower doesn't need leaves to look gorgeous! :). So I just had them all ready to go should a particular flower be in need of some greenage...

A close up of the first 'drawer' - just a shallow box with a ribbon handle so it can be pulled in and out of the box. I'm not very clever when it comes to designing things and this was the best I could come up by way of getting layers into my box - hopefully its not too annoying to access the other contents?

A close up of some of the flowers - these are all made using the Circles #2 Die cut from the Big Shot - just run out a whole heap of coloured circles, spritz them with water and scrunch, leave to dry a little, then assemble. Simple but effective - I think anyway? :)

The card I made to go with it all. Its so easy to make things when you've got a theme going. Not sure if its over-kill or not, but I made the card to match the tag to match the box? All the same but different?? Is that what you do when doing packaging and gifts?

And a close up of the tag. I loved this tag - so cute and so easy to make - and re-usable! I only wrote in the card so this tag can be used again and again. Cant wait to get started on some Christmas tags!!!

So there you have it - a Box of Roses for a Special Someone! Lots of love went into this box - I hope that shows through...

Thanks for stopping by,

Don't forget our last class of the year is this Saturday night - see here for further details!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Stamps: Word Play, Vintage Vogue

CS: Crumb Cake, Assorted Current Colours( for small flowers), Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Pear Pizzaz,

Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede

Other: Big Shot, Circles #2 Die, Three Blossom Punch, Two Way Bird Punch, Dimensionals, Vintage Brads, Circle Ice Brads, Assorted rhinestone gems from personal stash, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Trim Punch 

Just Add Ink Challenge Take Two

So - I made some Peg Magnets and a matching chipboard Top Note Bag to go along with the birthday card I made earlier this week. Thought I might add it to the Inkspiration Colour Challenge and the Just Add Ink 'Think Birthday' Challenge...this little bag and Peg Magnets are gifts for a friend's birthday (to go with the card) so that qualifies right??? :)

I'm really happy with how these all turned out - again not colours that I would necessarily choose by myself, but now I really like them!!! AND I have successfully used all 4 sheets (or however many) of Poppy Parade are in the In Colour Pack and am going to need to purchase a new pack, because YES I LOVE this colour! :) :) :)

Thanks for stopping by,

Smiles

Adele xxx

Peg Magnets

So these are the sweet little things I was spending my time doing yesterday - seriously, they took all of 10 minutes to do 2, and I really like them. Possibly because I LOVE Greenhouse Gala papers - they are just so so pretty and make me happy inside - and there's Poofy Flowers which are another love of mine - and I'm in desperate need of some fridge magnets so, I am very happy! hehehehhe

Do you like them??? I do! They have grown on me though - at first I wasn't sure, and I added the leaves to make sure they definitely were flowers and not just weird growths on a peg! hehehehe

I glued the paper onto the peg, then sanded the edges. I added paper to the inside of the back peg as well so from the top you don't see any ugly peg? Then I used a hot glue gun to glue on the magnet and the flower and the leaves, so hopefully these babies should withstand some normal family behaviour! :)

I am thinking these are going to become my go-to gift, sweet, simple yet useful. So don't be surprised if some of you get these for Christmas!!! :) I'm very excited to give these a go in different colours too - and maybe with something other than poofy flowers...

Have a great day!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Frames Class next Saturday Night

 How early am I to have a post up for a class a whole 1.5 weeks before!!!!!! I am very impressed with myself!!! hehehehhe. Desperate mostly after having to cancel our last class for lack of attendees??? I'm allowing myself to believe people are just busy rather than our craft being crap...I really hope that's not the reason anyway...:)

Anyway, onto our next class! We're making frames! I have a love affair with frames as you might have noticed on our this blog (check out here, and here, and here, and here and here and finally here). I find them a really striking yet quite simple gift to make that incorporates something useful (in that it can be home decor) with something that I love, therefore allowing me to give more of myself through my gift.

Blah blah, ANYWAY!!!

Onto next weekend's class... we will be basing our frames on the ones below or on this frame here. You can do the exact options that I have here or play around a little with different colours when you come along...

DATE:     Saturday 30th October

TIME:      7.30pm start

COST:     $20 to be paid prior to class in order to secure your seat.

RSVP:     by emailing me on adlewiess@yahoo.com.au. Address and bank details will be supplied on reciept of booking.

Thanks for stopping by,

Really really hope to see you soon! :) :) :)

Smiles

Adele xxx

New Frames

I made a few new frames for the Launch party and was really happy with how they turned out, although the photo's leave a lot to be desired...

This frame uses the Butterfly Punch and the Butterfly Prints stamp set from the new catalogue and the GORGEOUS Greenhouse Gala papers!! How effective are all these papers together - I LOVE THEM!!! Seriously - I really really like all of the papers in this collection.

You can't see in the photo but the backing is a piece of Baja Breeze cardstock and I've inked the small damask image from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments set in a pattern all over the back in Versamark for a subtle hint of pattern...and the gorgeous saying in the middle says 'Love is like a butterfly, it goes where it pleases and pleases where it goes', which I think is really really sweet!

Sorry for the bad photo!!!! This frame is essentially exactly the same as the one I made for a friend in this post - although now that I'm looking at the two of them on the screen I can spot a few differences...

The colours in this frame are baja Breeze and Soft Suede - that delicious spotted ribbon is no longer available (so sad)?? These colours together are so soothing to me and I am in love with this style of frame - so vintage looking - I love it!

So I am more than happy to sell these frames to anyone that wants them. They will be $20 each plus P&H if you're not in the local area. Better yet, why not have a go and whipping up your own!!! If you need any help with purchasing supplies just let me know! (wink wink!!!!)

Thanks for stopping by, come again soon...

Smiles

Adele xxx

More Blocks

I've been working on some new blocks to showcase/sell at our up and coming Open House (this Saturday!!!!!! Really hope to see lots and lots of you!! :)). I LOVE these blocks - at first I thought they were too small, but I've since come to think they're really great for that subtle statement in the loungeroom, on the book shelf or the nursery.

These are 4x4 cm each block so quite small, but when placed out to spell a word they make quite the statement. I've used some of my most favourite papers of all time - the 'SWEET' and 'HOME' blocks use paper from the local scrapbooking store, but the 'DREAM' uses Baja Breeze DSP (soon to retire in this form) and the 'FAMILY' blocks (which are my FAVOURITE and are going in my living room if no one wants to buy them!!!!!) use some DELICIOUS new paper from the NEW catalogue! So excited!!!!

Hope you enjoy looking at these little blocks - if you have a go at doing your own be sure to send me a picture and I'll add it to this post so everyone can see your creativity!

Smiles

Adele xxx

Chipboard Top Note Booklet

Old title I know but very apt!!!! I have a couple more gifts to show you today - these were both for super special people who mean a lot to me - needless to say I had a BLAST making them!!!

Unfortunatley, for this first project I haven't used Stampin' Up! product much - I did use the bigshot, some ribbon, the Scallop Circle Punch and the Stampin' Up! Glue Stick, but other then that the paper is from K&Company and the embellishments from the local scrapbooking and craft store...

And this is the matching card...I did use Kraft as my base....

The 'Friend' panel is from the Vintage Vogue stamp set, and the small flowers are actually the Blossoms Three punch layered up with a stick-on jewel in the centre - they are very cute.

These top note die books are very easy to make - I've just purchased some chipboard sheets from the local scrapbook store and cut them out on the bigshot with the die and presto, you have your very own littl book to cover and decorate as you will! Love it!

Smiles

Adele xxx