computer free

I haven't posted in while because we were hit by lightning a few weeks ago and had no computers.  While I could still scrap, I couldn't  print my photos because they were all on my hard drive. I did manage to find these photos that I had printed a while ago but never got around to using them.  I could scrap at least one page and that made me happy, but I didn't realise how much I have come to rely on my computer while scrapping. Wheather it be editing photos, printing journalling, or just browsing the web for inspiration I usually use my computer at some point while scrapping.  Well I overcame that challenge and completed this page completely computer free.

I used MME Abbey Road whirly bird papers and accentls for this page, and added my usual finishing touches with some hand stitching.

some more Tuncurry pages

I've been using the last few weeks of the school holidays to catch up on some of the photos needing to be scrapped and added to my albums. As I search through my computer files I have been finding sets of photos that I have missed so I have been trying to get those ones done first.  All these pages were from past trips to Tuncurry.

I purchased some new MME Breaking Free papers  and a cute set of cuttlebug dies last week which I got specifically for these photos. I'm getting low on my supply of patterned paper so getting some new additions was nice.

The little fish is from another cuttlebug die.

I finished this page of Timbertown really quickly.  Some snaps for the corners of the photos, some little wheels and cogs and some die cut lettering for the title and that was it.   There were a lot of photos I wanted to include in this page so a lot of embellishing wasn't nessessary.

The letters were cut using my shaddow box alpha dies, and with adhesive backed fabric.

This is the last page for now.  Some nice photos of our afternnon drive to Port Maquarie last year. I used Stampin' Up! stamps for the little waves and the sun is actually a flower stamp. 

I added sequins and stitching to make the waves look pretty.

and some more MME accents finished the page off nicely.

another new year already?

Well Christmas and the New Year went by in a blur and I find myself thinking about the year ahead. We went away to Tuncurry again after Christmas and although the weather was not good, the kids had a swim nearly every day.  Now that we a back home and the weather is super hot - too hot to be out doors for long -  I was inspired to dig out some photos of past trips to Tuncurry and get them scrapped.

I found some old supplies for this page which I was happy to finally use up.  I think I have become less fussy with my scrapping now. I am finding that I'm not worried about getting the perfect colour combination or the perfect embellisment anymore. I tend to just find something to put on the page and see what it looks like. And digging through all my old supplies and finding something I have forgotten about is like getting something new to to use. It also seems to be saving me a lot of time.

farewell dinner

Just complete this page on Erin's Yr 6 farwell last year. It doens't look quite so cluttered in real life. Lots of bright busyness in the photos so they weren't the easiest to complement with paper and embelishments.  I decided on the butterfly paper simply because I loved it and that it was blue and matched Erin's dress.

To give the page some dimension I cut out some of the butterflies and layered them over the photos.

                           

I also roughed up the edges of the cut-outs and added some much need bling with rhinestones.  Then I added a simple title with some stiched letters.

                           

Quite a pretty page in the end.

how did this happen?

While adding my recently comleted scrapbook pages to my albums today, I stumbled across something that made me gasp!

This page was in my album unfinished!

How did this happen?.

How?

I  never put incomplete pages away in my albums...I just don't.
 
And I just loved these photos of Lochie and Bella so much at the time, I remember being so eager to scrap them and make such a wonderful page to showcase them. What on earth happend that distracted me so much, that I let this page get into my albums unfinished?

After sitting on the floor pondering this question for a few minutes. Then arguing with myself about how this happend, (because no one else here seemed to be as concerend about this travesty as I was...) I realised that no matter what I thought I did, it was obvious I needed fix this NOW.

So instead of doing all the other things I had planned for this afternoon,  I sat at my desk and loving completed this poor forgotten page.

Just loving the results.

the things that make summer, summer

A new page for my album.

I decided to work on this page today becuase I needed something to get me into Christmas mode. Even though we have put up our Christmas tree, done nearly all our Christmas shopping, and put up all our Christmas lights, I've been thinking it doesn't quite feel like Christmas. 

I think this year has gone by so fast and the weather has been so un-summery that the thought of Christmas only been a few weeks away seems bizarre.  But looking at these photos gives me a sense of summer. What else could be more summery or Christmassy for that matter, than back yard cricket?!

These photos were taken in October last year at our house in Tuncurry. The weather was so warm and summery....not like the weather we had in October this year.

                          

Here are some close ups of the embelishments on the page. I cut the tree and birdie from felt and simply stitched into place. The fluffy brad that is the dot on the the letter 'i' is supposed to resemble the fluffy cricket ball in the photos.

I'm feeling a little more Chrismassy now...

an apple for the teacher

Every year I give my kids teachers something handmade. Every year it's getting harder and harder to come up with something new and orginal. 

Not this year though!

I made Johnny Apple for Lochies teacher, and I think he's just the pefect gift for a teacher.  Johnny is a little smaller than Missy Strawberry, but I think its because I made him with a super tight tension and this is what made him smaller.

Well at least that's one more chrissy present out of the way, I don't want to think about how many more I need to get organised.

play

I got the urge to get some photos out and have a play with some scrapping supplies yesterday. These photos are over a year old and they happend to be the perfect ones to play with after such a long break. The title seemed perfect too. This is quite a simple page but it was very satisfying to complete.

christmassy stars

I've been working on thesse stars for a week or so. I was hoping to have a lot more completed by now, but as I mentioned in my previous post the weather has not been kind enough to allow me to.  Anyhoo I saw these stars on Sarahs blog and I knew they'd be perfect for Christmas decorating.  The colours in this photo came out a little brighter than in real life, the pink is more redish, and the turquiose is more greenish, but I guess you get the idea.  I will post more pics when I decide how I am going to use them. 

Its still very hot and windy here, but with the A/C on I am able to avoid it a little. THere is quite a large bushfire nearby so the air is full of smoke. Just the kind of day to stay indoors and chill I think.

the joys of these summery hot days

Its been too hot these past few days.

I've been struck with one of the worst bouts of hay-fever I've had in years.

I really want to create but I just cant...My eyes and my nose has been running so much that if I tried to start work on anything creative it would have got quite wet in no time.   My eyes have been so itchy that I have scratched them red-raw. Not a good look. 

I have however fallen in love with this new little creation over at Salihan Crafts

Isn't he gorgeous? 

I cant wait for the pattern so I can make one myself.....hopefully this heat will be gone by then.

I have also fixed my glitch with the comments on my blog. You can now see the comments link on the posts so feel free to leave a tid-bit if you wish.

still crocheting....

Oh so adorable....

While making all the little creatures for the fete (which all 15 sold in no time), I digressed a little and had at go a something with more of a challenge. This little doll was the first time I had tried crocheting with colour changes. I found it a little tough going in some places as the pattern called for colour changes and decreases all in the same stitches, but with a little extra concentration I got there in the end. I am so pleased with the finished doll. She is so sweet.

                                    

I also added this cute ceramic flower button to pretty her up a bit. I bought three of these buttons years and years ago, and this was the last one that I had not used. I was saving it for the perfect project and when I finished my little doll I knew this was just that project.  It matches perfectly.

                          

I also managed to get this cute little hippo done on the weekend. I bought a little pattern book from spotlight last week with a bunch of easy amigurumi animal patterns.  The yarn in this pattern is the Palette My Friends yarn again. The cotton blend is perfect for these little toy projects. I managed to get a few more colours on my last visit to Kmart at $1.50 a ball....bargain! 

I have so many more crocheting projects that I want to get stuck into, and I have quite a stash of yarn now too.

I know I seem to have neglected my scrapbooking lately but I after 12 years of only doing one craft I have found it refreshing to get excited about creating things with a completely different craft. I have still been taking lots of photos and storing them all carefully on my computer so that when the scrapping urge hits me again (and I know it will, especially now that it's really getting a bit too hot to crochet) I can jump straight back into it.

cuties for the fete

I've been very busy hooking this week.  This cute little guy is one of a bunch of little birdies I made for the craft stall at Lochie's upcomming school fete. 

I've also made a few more jelly-fish too.  I'm gettting quite good at these and I now know the pattern off by heart.

The different types of yarn made the finished jellies all different sizes which was a little disapointing, but theres not much I can do about that.   I just hope that people like them enough to buy them.

While making the little birdies I got a bit bored and made these little monsties instead.

Erin said they looked like mutant pineapples, which was kinda the idea I guess? Anyhoo, if they don't sell I can always bring them home because my kids have already claimed the ones they want if I do.

new Jelly-Man

I'm not usually this fussy, but the fact that I made Lochie's Jelly-Man (as he calls him) with loose tension was bugging me, so today I had to fix him.

Instead of remaking the whole thing I just remade his head and stitched it on over the top of the original one. I used a smaller hook too and this made the stitches a lot tighter. 

I also thought he needed a smile....much better I think.

Cool Jelly

Lochie wanted me to make a jelly-fish to hang in his room...

I couldn't find a pattern that I liked the look of so using my new found toy crocheting skills I made this pattern up as I went.  Petty good eh? 

It was pretty easy once I got going and it only took me a couple of hours while watching TV to get him done.  I have been practicing with my tension because I naturally have a tight tension and this is sometimes too tight. With this jelly fish I think I went a little too far on the loose side, but he's not going to be played with that much hanging in Lochies room, and Lochie was happy with him so I guess thats the main thing.

Check out Erins blog where she shows the little birdie I made for her .

more yummy crochet goodness

this is Missy Strawberry, and I think she is so adorable!  She was sooooo much fun to make and she took no time at all.  You can purchase the pattern for download at the gorgeous Salihan Crafts. 

Heres a close up of the cute little strawberry blossom Missy wears.   I can see myself making a lot more of these.

Crochety turtle and blankety goodness

Isn't this little guy cute. I am very proud of my very first attempt at a crocheted toy... Lochie chose the pattern and the colours. The yarn is also something new I found at Kmart. My Firends by Pallet yarns Its a cotton and acrylic blend and it crochets up with a nice soft and cuddly feel to it.  And at only $2.00 a ball it's a good price for all those smaller projects.

And LOOK at my finished blanket! *squeal*   This I am most proud of.  I have never tried a blanket where I had to join all the squares before and I just looooove how all the colours worked so well together.

Here's a close up of the 'fancy' edge I made up as I was going along. As ususal I purchased too much wool so I was trying to use it all up with a really wide edge. I worked out nice and pretty while also making the overall size of my blanky a bit bigger.

blanket progress

57 squares done!

6 more to do...I think

the postie delivered my order from the Bendigo Wollen Mills this morning.  Four big 200grm balls of yummy plum coloured wool. This is the colour I am going to use around all my squares and for the edges of my woolly blanket. It's going to look very missmatched but it will have lots of colour. I so want to finish this and it looks like I am going to get it done sooner than I first thought.

a happy crochet bag

I'm finished!

I am so pleased with the way this bag turned out it makes me so happy.  I modified Lucy's bag pattern on her blog a little to make it smaller at the base but taller overall. I also added a heart motif to give it a more retro feel. This was my first attempt at a heart and I am thrilled with it. I got the pattern for the heart here and I found it really easy to follow.

I used Spotlight's range of  basic 8ply100% wool as it was not as expensive as some of the other brand names, and for a project such as this bag there was no reason to pay the extra $$$.  I found it was a lovely yarn to work with as well.  I also used a size 3.5m hook and kept my tension extra tight

Here are some close ups of the details... 

these big buttons were perfect to cover the heavy stitching where I attached the handles.

a close up of the heart... I added three rows of single crochet stiches around the outside.

now I have also started on these....another project that I just had to start. Although with summer just around the corner I am not putting any pressure on myself to finish any time soon.