As promised, punches etc.

So tonight I'm home alone.  Husby is gaming with mates.  I've already cleaned the house head to toe, and now have the laundry processing.  I was feeling a tad bored so decided I should actually update my blog properly.  I have been unforgivably slack since I got home from the USA.  I guess I broke my 'blogging habit' and even feel a tad disinterested.  But I am going to change that!

Here are the punches I bought in the USA that I have been promising photos of for a month now.

My favourite is the top white one, which is unfortunately a Martha Stewart punch (that woman annoys the crappola out of me).  It is just so delightfully doily-ish.  And the bottom smaller one was a must buy.  Stampin Up have stopped making their version of this punch and they are such a good punch to have so I was determined to get this one! (luckily for me it was on clearance for $8).

I have been doing plenty of other little things too.  Like making cookies, and putting them in bags with sweet little gift tags (that I got husby to help with since they were for his work mates!).

I also did up some choccie bags for my work mates.

And I did up the gift tags for the gifts we (me and the other leaders) gave to our girls at church.  (They actually took FOREVER cause those snowflakes are all embossed and I had to do 17 tags!)

Let me see, what else have I been up to...  ahh yes, introducing my Waterproof camera to the pool :)

The niece - Brooklyn

The husby

And I've also been brave trusting and teaching my 3 year old nephew how to use the camera - in and out of the water. (he still has issues with covering the lens with his fingers)

He just LOVES having ownership of the camera.  I can't not trust him, he's too cute.

Two day's after Christmas is my sister's birthday.  I have always made an extra effort to make it special and non-Christmassy.  So the night before I madly took down all my decorations except for the Christmas tree, cause I simply could not be bothered :)  And then I set the table...

  ...with my dinner set I bought as a 16 year old for my glory box!!  It took me almost 10 years to use it but I'm glad I finally did cause it's such a sweet little set.  Sad that it's only a setting for 4 though.

I even did little place settings to make it sweet.

She also got the bestest birthday cake ever...

I also am now the proud owner of SIX SU ink pads.  To some this is no biggie.  For me this is amazing.  No more cheap nasty ink pads from the $2 shop.

Most of you should know what I got for Christmas.  A sewing machine & overlocker/serger.  Santa was VERY good to me this year.  So I broke the girls out of their boxes yesterday and am working on re-organising my craft space to make room for them.

Now, I must warn you that I am strange.  I have to name everything.  And I need your help with this one.  I don't have a name for my sewing machine yet.  What does she look like to you?

There are rules to naming things though.  It has to be catchy and fun.  Not dorky.

Luckily my overlocker has a name.  Edna the Elna.

I am currently off work for a week for the Christmas/New Year's period and I've been trying to use that time to get the annoying jobs done around the house.  So I cleaned out the wardrobes, and put skinny clothes into Space Bags, scrubbed the hell out of my bathroom... and organised my fabrics!!  Yay!  A friend of mine gave me these fantastic drawers - she was going to throw them out!!  Husby is going to cut me a piece of wood to put on top so I can stack more crap on top of it hah!

And last but not least, this week I went over my friend's house.  She is a Stampin Up demonstrator so has ALLL the goodies.  Every so often I'll go over and we'll just make cards and things all day long.  It's fun and she always gives me great ideas.  Unfortunately this time round my brain was on holidays and had a bit of a creative block, so my first card design was a little boring...

But I got my brain into gear for the second design...

I love this card.. and did you notice the brads?

I bought them off Craftumi before Christmas.  They are just so adorable!

Well, I think that pretty much brings me up to speed.  I was thinking this afternoon I might wing making a quilt for a pram.  I don't know who it's for, but I need to give this sewing machine a work out and get a feel for it.  So I might just cut up some random bits of fabric and sew them together and see what I end up with!

Tomorrow night I'm off to a 60th for New Years Eve... what are your plans?

Have a fun night and don't go to bed too early!

Proof that I'm a good girl

Can you see what it is? 

(check out my hilarious nephew.. I gave him that swimming suit for a gift and he had to put it on IMMEDIATELY and of course 'help' everyone open their gifts)

It's a sewing machine and I love it!!

But wait, there's more...

With my sisters.  We were told we had to open them together at the same time...

We all got overlockers!  I knew about it and had to keep it a secret from both of them for like two months which was super hard.  Check out my older sis Alicia.. she was ecstatic.  Bethany suggested to not eat lunch and just sew haha.  

Now I have the set up and I'm ready to experiment!

The day before the day.

What did you spend your day before the day doing?  I had a busy yet fun and relaxing day somehow all mixed in together.

- slept in half an hour
- finished gluing my nephews Christmas gift
- vacuumed up and down stairs
- cleaned the whole house thoroughly.. put everything back in its place
- tidied my craft room.... which is always a huge job
- scrubbed the hell out of my bathroom.  goodbye scum mould mildew and whatever else was there.
- made a ribbon flower clip to wear in my hair tomorrow
- played a buttload of Frontierville & Cityville on Facebook :P
- had a meat pie for breakfast at 4pm... I forgot to eat again
- had a shower and shaved my legs, and even used shaving cream! (trust me this needs to be noted cause it only happens once a quarter)
- played Lego Star Wars on the Wii and received instruction from the husby how to play :P
- gathered everything I need to take to Mum & Dad's tomorrow for Christmas Day, as we are leaving the house at 6.45am and won't get home until about 9pm!!
- took garbage out to the wheelie bin to discover about 5 million maggots all over it (I'm leaving that one for the husby to take care of)
- folded and put away laundry
- watched an episode of Glee
- went over to my sisters house and put up a trampoline in the pouring rain with my husby, bro in law, bro, and friend.  we were all goofy and it was funny.
- wrote my 100th blog post whilst laying in bed with dry pj's on.

Enjoy your day tomorrow.  You've only been waiting all year for it :)  Don't forget to decide what your gift is to the Savior for the upcoming year.  It's probably the best gift we can give! :)

zzzzzzzzz......

retromummy's sweet giveaway!

You need to check this giveaway out ladies....

So up for grabs are 2 fat quarter packs of the lot.....that is 20 fat quarters of the gorgeous Flower Sugar range from Lecien as featured in this lovely picture.

Make sure you pop over to retromummy to enter this giveaway!!!!  Thanks Corrie!

More bits about me

I just realised I never finished that 30 something days about me doovey.  Here are a few more...

Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days

I've stopped drinking Soft Drink.  MUST break the habit.  I drank FAR TOO MUCH in the USA and got totally addicted to the stuff.  Back to water!!!



Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad

I don't really listen to music.  But I can tell you two songs that MAKE me feel sad... no wait, I can't even remember what they're called.  Nevermind.



Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends

My SIL and her fiance.  Our trip to the USA was great because we got to know Wes really well and he is super awesome, and got to know my SIL a little more cause we've never really spent time together in the past. 

Day 12- How you found out about Blogger and why you made one

How do you expect me to remember that kind of stuff.  I made a personal blog years and years ago and wrote random stuff on it and then forgot about it and then remembered it again about a year ago and started a craft one after realising everyone did it!!

Slack/Busy/Lack of Creativity/Distracted

Well here is another boring photoless post.

But it's Christmas right?  I'm supposed to be really busy!  But I don't think I can really use Christmas as an excuse cause I did all my Christmas shopping before I went away!  But I am actually still getting my house back in order after our trip.  Finding new homes for our purchases.. which will probably be ongoing for a while cause we accidentally bought about 30 DVDs... ooopsy!  So now we have nowhere to put them and the hunt for a DVD shelf will be happening in the January sales.

I have laundry everywhere too... it's been storming a whole lot since we have been back.  I don't mind though.  It's stinking hot and so far all the rain has brought cool breezes!

But the real reason there is no crafty fun posts, is because I don't know what to make.  I think I have a crafters block.  No inspiration is coming!  I guess I didn't do craft for a whole month so my creative brain has gone on holidays early.

Well tonight I HAVE to make some gift tags because I've run out for my own presents and I need some for church so maybe I'll take piccies of what I come up with and post them on here. 

I'M BACK!!!

After 30 LONG hours travelling I am back in the motherland!!  Husby and I had a great time relaxing, visiting, laughing, shopping & eating in the USA over the past month, but reality has hit and we are once again home.  Home to the heat and humidity and the reality of life.  The time went by super fast (of course) but we were able to unwind which was the main goal we wanted to achieve whilst away.  I missed bloggy land and doing craft but at the same time it was awesome to sit back and do nothing.

A few days before we left we had Christmas with husby's family.  My SIL gave me an awesome Martha Stewart border punch.  When I found out how cheap it was, I begged husby to take me to Michael's craft store to see what else they had.  He complied (happy wife happy life) and we went to crafters paradise, and bought me some goodies.  Luckily for me there were some sales on too!  I got 6 tubs of brads, some gem stickers, 4 border punches & a handheld punch all for $90.  I couldn't get over how cheap everything was.  It took everything in me to not start throwing it all into my basket and buy it all and bring it home!!

So I have gone from having NO punches to 6 and I'm super dooper excited to use them!

I'm also super dooper excited to get stuck back into my crafts because I have missed it so much.  And I'm also thinking of starting up my own online store in the New Year, either Etsy or Madeit.  Just looking into the pros and cons of each.  If you have stores through them I'd love to hear feedback from you.

I'll have to upload pics of my punches soon... I just don't have the energy right now.  I still have SO MUCH unpacking and organising to do.  Thank goodness all my Christmas shopping is done!!

Happy weekend and crafting!

I now have a reason why I love it.

Those who live in the USA, or have visited the USA (like myself) know the beauty of Michael's.  It has everything a craftaholic could possibly dream of ever needing.  I have a headache tonight and have hidden myself in the quiet bedroom with only the internet for company.  I of course found myself on the Michael's website looking for inspiration.

Now let's rewind a week.  My MIL is a bit of a collector of things.  These things are mostly without purpose.  We were cleaning out the closet in the upstairs game room and there are 10 sheets of polystyrene in there.  Without a purpose.  I think I just found a purpose for them.  And I might just even make it for my SIL.

Project Instructions

Step: 1

Referring to cutting plan, use straight edge and pencil to mark cutting lines on 12-inch x 36-inch x 1-inch sheets of STYROFOAM brand foam.

Step: 2

Cut out pieces using a utility knife or a serrated kitchen knife (wax the serrated knife blade with an old candle for easier cutting).

Step: 3

Paint all edges, including the 12-inch x 12-inch square, with acrylic craft paint. Let dry.

Step: 4

Cut scrapbook papers to fit foam pieces.

Step: 5

Spread a very thin, even layer of craft glue on foam piece and adhere corresponding paper; if needed, secure corners with craft pins until dry. Repeat until all foam pieces are covered. Let dry. (Note: Papers may appear wavy at first, but will smooth out as glue dries.)

Step: 6

Using low-temp glue, assemble the sculpture following the assembly diagram. For additional reinforcement, glue craft sticks to reverse side to connect the pieces; be sure craft sticks are not visible from the front.

Step: 7

Affix hook and loop hangers to the back for hanging.

See here for the full instructions and further tips.

Oh how I wish you were international Michael's.......

Creativity in many forms.

Some of you may not know about some of my skills.  To learn more... read here.

I've been a Hairdresser for 10 years.  Whoa I feel old typing that.  It's now the side job but I still enjoy it on occasion.

Thanksgiving

Well even though it's not officially Thanksgiving here yet, our family had it a week early because the Sis-in-law is away this week in Hawaii (lucky duck).  So we had the family dinner last Friday night.  I was in charge of two things.

1.  Decorations & setting the table
2.  Finishing off and presenting the desserts.

Mom had bought the table clothes and placemats and plates, and the rest was up to me.  A trip to Walmart, and $30 later this is what I came up with...

I did the leaf deco on the name tags, the napkins & the floral arrangement.

And then we got to eat all of this...

For the desserts, I had to do three things.  First was the little chocolate cakes.  They were cut in half and we put a chocolate ganache in the middle, then whipped cream on top with chocolate shavings.  Second was the Raspberry Cheesecake squares which is that huge platter.  We put them in the patty cases, and drizzled them with raspberry sauce and put a raspberry on top.  And then thirdly was the pumpkin tarts on the other side of the table, we just had to put the filling in, squirt it with cream and drizzle some butterscotch sauce on top.  Everything tasted amazing.

It was nice to do a little bit of crafting, and to finish off the desserts. 

That's all for now!

Cleanup & Update

I've been having trouble keeping up with all the blog posts.  You see I'm one who likes to read them, cause you're my inspiration and I love seeing how clever everyone is out there.  But lately I have had trouble keeping up.  And I noticed that my blog reader list was beginning to fill up with bloggers whose crafts and creations don't really interest me so much anymore.  So I did a BIG  cleanup of blogs I follow.  I think I "unfollowed" about 50 blogs.  Hopefully now I'll be able to keep up better now.

Well we've been in the USA for a few days now.  I am still jet lagged but my body clock is starting to relent and adjust.  We have been doing little bits of shopping each day.  Husby and I have been saving and have budgeted to buy new wardrobes.  New everything.  Problem is, I can't find much that either fits, or I like!  So we may not have full wardrobes to take home with us, but I suppose something is better then nothing. 

I have itchy fingers.  I haven't crafted for over a week.  I'm going to try and break into the M-I-L's sewing boxes tomorrow.... cause I'm starting to get bored.  When I am on holidays, I relax by doing the things I enjoy.  Sitting around watching DVD's and talking is fun for a day or two.. but then I wanna get my craft on!  I might even see if I can duck down to Michael's tomorrow to check out that 80% clearance basket out that I was eyeing off from a distance today.  I might find some little treasures.

Maybe I'll have piccies for you tomorrow.  But as for now, there's only touristy ones which aren't really too exciting. 

Touchdown!

Well, after about 28 hours after leaving my house in Brisbane, Australia, I MADE IT!!  Husby and I are in Houston Texas visiting with his family.  We'll be here for the next 27 days.  I am jet lagged like I have never been jet lagged before in ANY of my overseas travels.

What I have learnt over the past 48 hours period:
- turbulence is not my friend.
- turbulence makes you feel sick after about 20 mins
- food inside your belly does not like turbulence
- one cannot sleep through turbulence
- turbulence makes you want to pee, even though you just peed
- turbulence hurts your back after a while
- turbulence makes you want to burp
- turbulence is scarier when you're in the BACK of the plane - quite literally the back two seats.
- when turbulence lasts for 3 hours, it can make you mad because you want to be sleeping...


I think you get the message.  We had alot of turbulence.  Husby and I decided we would sleep the last 6-7 hours of the flight so we could try and start to adjust our body clocks, as we landed in LAX early morning.  The turbulence ruined our plans and neither of us slept, so we actually went for a good 36 hour period without sleep.  Today we have been walking zombies saying strange things.

We did manage to buy a few items of clothes.  Much needed clothes.  We only brought with us one set of clothes apart from what we were wearing.  So yeah, we really needed to buy clothes.  But it's really exciting cause there is lots more clothes buying to happen!!  I also hope to sneak into some of the craft stores around here and hopefully find some small treasures to take home.

Anyway, it is super late and my jet lag is being annoying and keeping me awake so I need to go pop some sleeping pills and try and get some sleep :)

I should have some fun things to show you soon!

Giveaway

Check out this giveaway.. full of fabric goodness.  Check it!

6,7,8 & 9

#6 - Favourite super hero/why?

Do the Incredible's count?  "we're deeeaaad, we survived, but we're deeeaaaaad".  I love that movie.  It just makes me laff.

#7 - A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

Pretty self explanatory I think....

#8 - Short term goals for this month and why.

Well, my goal for this month is to RELAX for the first time in YEARS.  I'm going overseas to visit with my husby's family for a WHOLE MONTH.  (If you break into my house I will kill you!)  I will be shopping, crafting, playing tourist, driving, exploring, visiting, laughing, taking loads of piccies, and it is going to be bliss!

#9- Something you’re proud of in the past few days.

I stood up for myself in a way I never have done before.  It absolutely destroyed my nerves but I did it and I don't regret it AT ALL cause I did nothing wrong.  And let me add that I am non-confrontational.

I promise I will have more crafty things to be blogging about soon!!  For now you're stuck with  mumbo jumbo all about me!!

(2 more sleeps till I fly away in a jet plane)

I'll have this in green thanks.

I'll have this bedroom, but in green instead of yellow. 

My Wonderful WIP

So here is what I'm working on.  Remember these guys?...

Well, they're still sitting in a stack and I haven't made them into a wall hanging yet.  Maybe when I get back into the country.

And then there's the music box...

The handle is still not actually screwed onto the lid..

And then there's the magnet pegs..

Yeah, they're still not finished.

Either is the flower clip I asked your advice on the other day..

Whoopsy!

Check out more Wonderful WIP's over at The Clip Cafe.