Tuesday 16 December 2008

Time to craft

Are you a traditional crafter or one for the modern collections? I like both but ultimately I am for the modern styles. The last few years I've just loved bright fuscia pink for Christmas, and through my magazine work I've been asked to use a few weird and wonderful colour combinations!

This pink card is pretty simple, a stamped image (stamped twice so that the second tree can be cut out and raised, decoupage-style), with a scalloped edge, stitching inside and pink eyelets.

This second card was part of one of those colour combinations - black, green and orange! I love this card. It's black Bazzill card torn for effect, orange thread used to create simple tree shapes and black ink around the outside with a black stamped message. Just a couple of green mini brads in the corners too.

I don't like the fact that now I'm working full time on a regular job again, I don't have time to blog anymore! And more importantly, because of that, I don't have the enthusiasm either. I like to blog and miss it, but now I don't have my days to think about crafts and taking photos as I go along of things, I just seem to forget. Since moving house a couple of years ago, I started the bases of some canvases to put on my bedroom wall. Two years later I got so fed up of looking at blank walls and not having finished them, that i finally brought myself a headboard so brought some canvases to match. Well, you can't wait forever to have the time to create, can you? I'm sure everyone has lots of half-finished projects.

Monday 1 December 2008

On the first day of Christmas...


As it's the 1st of December, I thought I'd kick start it with inspiration for Christmas cards! This one seemed to be one of my most loved cards last year, although its just so simple. It is a black square card blank made from textured Bazzill card, with thick lime green organza ribbon tied into a present design on the front (make a slit in the spine to thread the ribbon on the left). I made the tag by hand and rounded the corners, and added a Blonde Moments Christmas stamp design in black ink to the centre. Voila! I could make this as my card this year as its so simple, but I have lots of others to use up so I won't.
I had a day of wedding invitation-making on Saturday with my girly friends, it was great fun. Photos are to follow!

Friday 4 April 2008

Surprising the girls in Sydney...

Finally! I have just taught myself how to compress videos to put onto my blog so... here is the video from when I surprised the girls (Stacey, Katie, Debbie and then Julie) in Sydney. If it stops and starts the first time you watch it while it is loading, play it through a second time and it should run smoothly. If they say buffering, let them do that for a while before you click play again, though it should start again itself.

**If you are at work, you might want to make your volume low for this**

I think this is by far the best secret I've ever kept and surprising them was so much fun, though I was shaking before I even got to them. I had text them all during my 1.5hour changeover in Singapore asking them where they were and what they were doing as I was missing them, my cunning plan to work out where to find them. But not one of them replied!

So after I got out of my shuttle bus, I decided to go and check in at reception, then find my camera to video it and go up to our room, hoping they would be there. This was a long shot as it was 8pm, and I knew Julie had flown in a few hours earlier so I figured they may well be out having a good few drinks and rolling in drunk in the early hours. Luckily for me, it was perfect timing as I walked into the hostel to find this... (you will see in the video in a second)

I jumped back behind a post, didn't bother with reception but dumped my bag to find my camera. I then walked towards them...

It was just the best moment as none of them had any idea I was really joining them. If you can understand a word we say in this video (strong accents and screaming excitement aren't a good mix!) then you can see Stacey had an inkling but didn't really believe I would be flying out. It makes me all emotional every time I watch it!

Then surprising Julie...

You may want to almost mute this one haha

So, the girls had met Julie earlier, been out for dinner and were back already. Julie was upstairs supposedly in bed as her jet lag was kicking in, but as we went up to our floor (I'd secretly re-booked my bed in their dorm without them knowing) we found her on the phone to James so I had to jump back and hide. Poor James, needed to see an ear specialist after this...




It was actually even more fun having two surprises instead of the one and they are both so different. The girls sat there stunned and not saying much, Julie did the complete opposite.

Fun times.

When can I do it again next?