Thanksgiving

This year we had four guests over for Thanksgiving dinner.

This Ausmerican expat insists on celebrating 4th of July and Thanksgiving. (If we lived in the US, I'm sure my husband would insist on celebrating Australia Day and Anzac Day!)

Just for fun I made these place cards and a sign for our window. Thanksgiving is in autumn in the northern hemisphere, so this was my way of putting a little autumnal flair into our table decorations.

These were super easy to whip up. I used chocolate, honey, and colonial white cardstocks, chocolate and bamboo inks, my surecut trimmer, versamat, bone folder, nonstick scissors, quatrefoil embossing folder, 2x6.5" block, EZDots adhesive, gold polka washi tape, gold shimmer trim, Glamour upper and lowercase stampsets, swirls stampset (nla), my spritz and scrubber.


For the place cards:
- I cut my chocolate cardstock to 4x6" and folded in half to make 3x4 tent cards.
- I cut the honey cardstock to 3.75x5.75", folded it in half, unfolded and ran through my cuttlebug with the quatrefoil folder.
- I folded it in half and adhered to chocolate card with EZDots adhesive.
- I cut the colonial white cardstock to about 3.25x3".
- I stamped the swirl in bamboo ink on each white card.
- I stamped each name in chocolate ink overtop of the swirl.
- I stuck all the card pieces together and used some gold shimmer trim to up the sparkle.

For the sign:
- I used off cuts of chocolate, honey, and colonial cardstocks.
- I stamped a large swirl in bamboo ink, then Thanksgiving in Glamour uppercase alphabet in chocolate.
- I ran the honey card through my cuttlebug and stuck a turkey sticker (from my stash) on the side.
- I used a bit of shimmer trim and washi tape to finish them off.

Voila! Some quick and easy and pretty place cards for my Thanksgiving table.

The Davies - Glenn Kara Julia and Evan

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Mini Album #3

I just whipped up my third Picture My Life mini album. This time I used Balloon Ride cards, Slate and Gold polkadot washi tapes. I haven't used any shimmer trim on this one but I have used a few glitter dot stickers. This is a sneaky peek as it's a wedding gift.

Isn't it cute?

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New project - mini album

I have stacks of Picture My Life™ cards here, just waiting to be used. On the suggestion of Monica Wihongi, I decided to try my hand at making mini albums from my stash of cards. here's what I came up with!

I made two mini albums using Skylark and Surf's Up Picture My Life™ kits, Non-Stick Micro-Tip Scissors, Gold Polka-Dot Washi Tape, Lagoon Houndstooth Washi Tape, Gold and Teal Shimmer Trims.

Making the albums was pretty easy. I chose a couple 4x6 and 3x4 cards, laid them out and figured out which order I liked best. I ripped off pieces of washi tape and used that to stick the cards all together. Once all the big cards were bound, I added the smaller cards to the mix. I lined up the gold washi tape dots and trimmed as needed. Some are pages in their own right, some are stuck down as embellishments or photo mats.

The Skylark version:

Front cover embellished with shimmer trim and a bronze dot.

Inside pages with a 3x4 card and more delicious shimmer trim.

Space to stick photos or to journal.

Pretty easy huh?

Back cover with a 3x4 card stuck down with washi tape.

The Surf's Up version.

Front cover embellished with a 3x4 card and gold shimmer trim.

Inside pages with lots of room to journal.

I might have to use this for our stop over in Hawaii photos.

So cute!

Lots of room to add memorabilia and embellish.

Great section for storytelling.

Front and back covers.

See how I've lined up the gold dots? Pretty easy.

I've already got plans for more of these mini albums. They make great quick memorable gifts! There are 8 Picture My Life™ kits, and 8 washi tape designs to choose from. Each Picture My Life™ kit contains 122 cards in a mix of 2 sizes. The options for customizing and personalizing your mini album is crazy fun. The sky's the limit!

Love this idea and want to make one of your own? Come along to my New Product Party on August 19! Let me know that you're coming so I can prepare!

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Brand new project

So... yesterday was our monthly Consultant Fun Day in Brisbane. Lots of extra table spaces made for plenty of room to spread out.

I wanted to finish up my haul of Ivy Lane pages (from the WOTG kit) and get started on my National Scrapbook Day II prep. I finished my Ivy Lane pages and a brand new project...

My view for the day, inside The Carson Room, overlooking the Bowls Club greens. A beautiful sunny day, perfect lighting for scrapping!

A hard day at the office! A rainbow tower of Exclusive Inks and a Carmel Iced Coffee... ;)
My cup is in a tray to catch dribbles and drips. Don't drink and crop!

All my odds and ends. Double stick tape, foam sticky dots, assorted ribbons, bakers twines, shimmer trim, scissors, extra blades for my trimmer, glue dots, my stamp scrubber, stamp spritz, liquid glass, baby wipes (you never know when you'll need em!), my range of Picture My Life cards - see here, glitter gems, pens, stamps.

Page 3 of Ivy Lane WOTG kit, part of my Mother's Day pages.

Pages 3 & 4 of Ivy Lane WOTG, laying out which stamps I wanted to use and which ink colors! Glamour Upper & Lowercase alphabets, Swirls Around, I Adore You (nla), Smokey Plum, Desert Sand, Hollyhock.

Hmm... what to choose for lunch?

My usual, chicken parmy!

I finished this page and stuck down the picture. This is one of the pages I'm teaching at NSD II!

This is the other page I'm teaching at NSD II. Have you booked in yet? Spaces are still available!

After dinner, I started on the off the page project we were challenged to make. I was determined to use May's stamp of the month: You’ve Got a Friend.

Products used Ivy Lane B&T paper, Hollyhock and Colonial White cardstocks, Hollyhock ink, May Stamp of the Month, Gold shimmer trim (only available in the Ivy Lane cardmaking kit), glue pen, and a 3x3 MyAcrylix block.

How cute is this repurposed DVD storage case?

Inside is a covered notebook, a pen and pen loop, and a pocket full of little 3x3 thank you notecards. Perfect for keeping your petrol receipts in your glovebox, a grocery list and pen safe in your purse, keeping little ones entertained, or just for doodling. I'm teaching this at my next evening workshop. Keep an eye out for more details!

Products used: Whisper and Colonial White cardstocks, Ivy Lane B&T paper, Gold shimmer trim, Outdoor Denim ink, glue dots, May stamp of the month.

May SotM is only available til the 31st. Make sure you don't miss out! It's a really cute and versatile stampset. Just look how I've used it multiple times in this one off the page project. :)

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Organizing Your Supplies

Now that I've been using and loving the scrapbooking and papercrafting ranges from Close To My Heart, I'm running out of space to store things. I've seen other sister consultants using the various sizes of organizer boxes at events and I've been drooling ove them.

Did you know that Close To My Heart has a range of organizers for your supplies? A marker tower, stamp pad tower, small/medium/large boxes, foam inserts? Well, we do!

Currently I have the entire range of mini pigment inks in the matching foam insert. (I need the small organizer box for these inks.) I have two of the stamp pad towers. I didn't get the marker tower as I already have a marker storage solution I love.

My old "other company" pens and pen cups.
They still work just fine after 6+ years!

Next up on my wishlist is the small and medium organizer boxes. Holy moly, these babies are ALL OVER the web!

Source: pinterest CTMH Small, Medium, Large organizers. Great storage!

I didn't think of using the small box for storing my washi tape. Now I really need to get one! :D

Pocket scrapbookers of all lines love the medium boxes for storing their 3x4 and 4x6 cards. I've got only 4 of our Picture My Life card kits and I'm storing them in plastic sandwich bags.

PML kits seen L to R: Surf's Up, Balloon Ride, Laughing Lola, Skylark.
I've got nothing else on hand at the moment that will keep them corralled! I need to fix this.

Are you looking for something to keep all your Picture My Life, project life, Becky Higgins or other brand of pocket scrapbooking cards in order? Consider the medium organizer from Close To My Heart. It's stackable, portable, only $25AUD + postage. You can purchase them directly from my website and have shipped straight to your door. Bargain! Once you have one in your hot little hands, you'll probably wish you'd gotten two.

Why not order an organizer box or two today and get all your crafting goodies safely organized and stored. Crafting is so much easier (and enjoyable) when you have everything you need at your fingertips. You'll be supporting a small business and getting a fantastic selection of exclusive products.

I really really really appreciate your business! Thank you!

Decorative Coffee Cup reveal

Did you have a guess on my off the page project I showed a couple days ago?

If you were thinking "that looks like the insert for a coffee cup", then you are right!

From this:

 To this!

This is a very quick and simple project. All it takes is one sheet of your favorite B&T Duos paper, washi tape, shimmer trim, adhesive tape or glue, scissors, and a pen.

Simply bring along your favorite coffee cup (that has a removable decorative insert) to my next workshop and learn how to jazz it up!