Christmas cards 2008 – ahead of the game!

I finally found time to finish making this year’s Christmas cards, and, believe the hype, they are nothing short of sensational (alright, I’m exaggerating a bit here; they are just OK).

It’s always a strain coming up with ideas, and this time was no different. Especially since 2008 was the year I discovered online scrapbooking shops (hence lots of unused purchases) and my friend Lin Mei became a Stampin’ Up demonstrator (pressure to make something presentable). Which is why I motivated myself with a Ferrero Rocher chocolate after completing every 3 cards.

I settled for the same basic idea for all the cards: stamping on acetate using stazon ink, then embellished with cuttlebug card, ribbon, and stamped image. I didn’t end up using much of my scrapbooking paper (hello Doodlebug velvet embossed, you are still pure and uncut), which begs the question, what the heck am I saving it for??!! (that’s a rhetorical question, no response required).

The Perfect Weekend (part 2)

Here is the craft and cards part of last weekend, when we visited the Sydney Paper Crafts Festival, held at Canterbury Racecourse. Obviously, all the horses were resting up for the Melbourne Cup, so the track was deserted. Not so inside the function centre where the usual crowd of ladies and their fed up men were milling around the paper crafting stalls.

This was a smaller fair than, say, the craft fair at Darling Harbour, which was a good thing, since I only had limited time to visit all the stalls before getting back on the bus to the Zumbo café. I also wanted to see my friend Lin Mei, who doing demos was at the Stampin’ Up! stand. The SU! stand was the most enticing, with the demonstrators’ creations adorning the wall. It looked really good. LM also did a great job showing off her wonderful stamping and colouring skills.

My highlight was finding some of the new KI Memories Sheer Delights transparencies, which are semi-opaque thick plastic sheets in modern prints with die cut edges. They are lovely enough to use as placemats. I think I should have bought more. I also got some Doodlebug Designs flocked paper (red design in the photo) which will work well on Christmas cards, and a Hambly Screen Print transparency.

And then we topped it off with hot chocolate and dessert at Zumbo. What more could I ask for? (Maybe a win in the office Cup sweep, but that was not to be).

What I ate last week

Ali Edwards Creative has introduced a craft project where you take photos of your life for a week and then scrapbook them. Great, I thought, that’s just the kickstart I need to get my scrapbooking going again. Well, that was the idea.

It was about the 2nd day that I realised that i) nothing much is happening this week, and ii) gosh, this is such a boring week! Essentially, my week consisted of getting up, going to work, having lunch, going home, having dinner, going to bed, and so on and so on.

So my photos last week were not very interesting and I have yet to scrapbook anything. So I’ve decided to highlight the highlight of that week (and most other weeks), ie. What I Had For Lunch.

The week started on Sunday, when I got a tasty sausage roll from Simmone Logue. We went to Adriano Zumbo first, but they had sold out, and SL’s ones are better, in my opinion. It was delicious, and I’m sure I had several neighbourhood dogs following me down the street as I carried the sausage roll home. Then, the bf, who knows that I am partial to a good finger bun, got me one from Baker’s Delight. It was awful. Lurid pink icing that smelled of bubblegum and a flaccid white roll that was dry and tasteless.


On Monday, I had a chicken Caesar salad from the chicken place at the MLC foodcourt. Nice and fresh.
Tuesday was lunch at harbourkitchen where I had goat ragout with stracci. Perfection.


On Wednesday, I went to Officeworks, and when I came out, what did I see across the road but Bertoni’s Clarence St offshoot. The service there is just as charming as the Balmain branch. The mortadella roll was delicious, with lovely bread wrapped around tasty mortadella, cheese and capsicum slices.

Thursday saw me at MLC again, this time with the excellent roast beef on Turkish bread from Zupano. I could eat this every day.

Friday was so busy that I didn’t have time for lunch. So at 3.30pm, I went for a muffin at the café downstairs from work. It was almost as appalling as the Sunday finger bun. The muffin was dry and had an unpleasant odour of banana oil (if there is any such thing).

To wipe out the memory of it, I stopped by at Simmone Logue on the way home because Friday night is chicken schnitzel night. SL does a really good schnitzel, accompanied by salty roast potatoes. I got a serve with roast veges as well, and they were pretty good too. Add a Daim bar for dessert and it was a nice end to the week.

So that was my week in food. Hopefully next week will be more interesting so I can start documenting My Life That Is Not So Boring.

Not a chook raffle, but better...

I was - lucky /fortunate /in the right place at the right time /all of the above - to win a prize in a Hero Arts challenge. Titled ‘about me’, you had to present a page about yourself that featured Hero Arts stamps. This was my entry.

I hardly ever win anything, so I was thrilled with this. Thank you, randomizer!

Some more spring-inspired craft

It's been a productive weekend craftwise, because I finished these 2 pictures and also put them into frames (the finishing touch). They are chipboard trees and birds (Maya Road) and a strip of flowers (Buzz and Bloom) that I painted with chalk ink and acrylic paint or covered with patterned paper or stamped. They are mounted onto black cardstock and are hung, I like to think, so they add an air of 'class' to the upstairs landing.

...a mini Travel album...

I enjoy doing scrapbook pages that are smaller than the usual 12 inches because a) I can never think of what to put on such a large page and b) it allows me to cut those gorgeous patterned papers so that they can be used on more than one page.

This is a mini album that I made using chipboard covers cut to size and a couple of pages strung together with jump rings. It is 17x17 cm and it was a lot of fun to do because I could experiment with different looks, including ripping off - sorry, 'scraplifting' - designs from magazines. I stopped when I ran out of ideas, which was after about 10 pages!

The album covers our trips to Melbourne last year, so it's mainly of eating and shopping. I still have heaps of photos from these trips, so another album is in the wings...

Statistical analysis of monetary spending

Theory: That the relentless purchase of scrapbooking supplies has a positive effect on creativity.
Analysis: As the graph below shows, there is some correlation, but not in the anticipated direction.
Spend is trending in a positive direction while Creativity trend is slight negative with a tendency towards an indefinite plateau.
Action: Spend more. Creativity has to go up eventually…


It hasn’t all been bad, though. In a rare one-night window of artistic imagination, I made a page with a photo taken at the KISS concert. I tried to make it a little bit grungey and rough, in keeping with the event (or, rather, the crowd), but I couldn’t get away from being kind of naturally neat and structured.

Kids of the world - all coming together

Here is another take on the international kiddies, this time with a far eastern feel. I used these clips because the picture will be a present for my mother, who has a few oriental-themed things in her house, so this frame will look good amongst it all.


I had a lot of fun deciding on the colours and backgrounds for this piece, not to mention the embellishments, because the frame is 12 x 12, so lots of room for bits and pieces.

I tried to match the girls’ nationality to the boys, but as you can see, they are a bit of a multicultural mix. The Japanese dude with the cup of tea seems to be chillin’ in his yukata, while his compatriot is ready to take on the Last Samurai! The girls are taking it all in their elegant stride…

The clip art (thanks again to Stampinwhenican) was coloured using Tombow markers. The lace cardstock is from KI Memories, and the metallic bronze paper (Lincraft) was embossed using a Cuttlebug (Bloom Dots design) - doesn't it look like pressed metal?. Felt flowers from Maya Road, brads from Kaisercraft and Queen and Co, rub-ons by Cloud 9. Crane stamp (on China girl’s dress) from Hero Arts. The ‘sword’ is a toothpick covered in aluminium foil (making do with limited supplies!).

Crafty Girl Power!

As soon as I came across these super cute clip art pics I knew I had to do something with them. The pictures are from Allison at stampinwhenican and they are just begging to be made into something vibrant and lovely.

I coloured the girls using Tombow markers, added some glittery rub-ons and mounted them on cardboard over some scrap paper. They are set into shadow box frames that will eventually be placed up my staircase (when I get around to putting some hooks in the wall).

Here is a closer look...

...being artistic pays off

I'll admit I didn't think of this on my own - it is 'scraplifted' from an idea by Polly Maly in Scrapbooks etc. magazine Feb 2008. But I hope you'll agree that the effect of the lace cardstock set into a shadow box frame, with red accents, is pretty special. It didn't take long to do, either.

Just the thing to brighten up a rainy day (of which we have had lots of lately).

…I’m getting inspired again

I used to be able to whip up a handmade card or something imaginative in no time at all. These days, it takes a couple of hours to even come up with an idea. Yes, I’ve lost my creative groove.

Luckily, my friend Lin Mei has become a Stampin’ Up demonstrator and has introduced me to a whole range of goodies via some colourful catalogues (online shopping is great, but poring over catalogues with a cup of tea can’t be beaten).

As a result, I managed to put together a couple of scrapbook pages with some old photos that have been lying around. Can’t wait to order some new supplies so I can take advantage of this creative streak! LM, get out your order book!

…not another Scrapbooking magazine

With some trends, I’m a late adopter. But when something piques my interest, then I’m all over it like a rash. Like scrapbooking.

I’ve been into cardmaking for years, but imagine my surprise at discovering the mouthwatering designs that paper and embellishment companies have come up with. Lincraft was my second home for a while. Then I discovered photoshop. Beginners like me can have a field day/week/month trawling the www in search of tips and tricks.

As usual, US sites and magazines seem to have the best ideas and elegant designs. So far, I like creating keepsakes, simple scrapbooks and hero arts. Any others? I’m sure there’ll be another new magazine at the newsagents next week.

This is my first scrapbook page, before realising that digital was the way to go (for me at least)...

Of course it has to be of a cake! Macaron Marie - c'est magnifique!