Weekend and Australia Day crafting

I had a very creative weekend this past Saturday and Sunday, and Australia Day lent itself to some crafting as well.  The rainy, overcast weather may have contributed to that - I always feel like staying indoors (funnily enough!) and doing some scrapping/sewing in that sort of weather. Not the best Australia Day weather, though.

I took some inspiration from Nicole last week and made up two multi-photo collages in Photoshop to display the multitude of Christmas photos I had from a Christmas family gatherin back in 2008.  This will not be the only page/s from this particular gathering either - I have a LOT of photos!  I then printed them out at Harvey Norman, and a fairly quick double page layout was completed!

I plan on doing quite a few more Christmas pages in this sort of style over the coming months - I've just got sooo many photos from various Christmas gatherings (and we generally have about three family celebrations each year) - anyone who knows my family will know what I mean!  I've set up some different templates that I'm using for this purpose, and just adding to them as I need them.

I also did these pages:

A page of the family celebration we had when my cousin got married.  The photos are so busy, that I think I should have used a more subdued, subtle paper, but oh well:

A page that I'm sure Mum will be stoked I posted on the internet, of her when she was pregnant with each of us three girls:

One of the first family photos of our complete family (after my youngest sister was born).  I've had that little clip (and some other colours too) for such a long time, and have never used them on any pages! I challenged myself to use it this time:

And one of my favourite family photos from when I was growing up, on my 12th birthday.  Love these papers (from My Minds Eye):

I just love scrapping some of these older photos - and with some of them, there are just a few little words that need to go along with them to take a trip back down memory lane.  I'm making a conscious effort to include a little bit of journalling on most of my pages - where there is something to journal about of course.  I've got quite a few more photos printed out that I intend on scrapping over the next few weeks.

I've also been working on a secret project:

I'm so happy with how this has turned out so far (and you probably don't need to Einstein to work out what it is) - can't wait for the next stage of this project.

I also began (and completed) this little dear yesterday.  Her name is Penny:

I know, I know! I should have waited until she was actually finished (ie has some eyes!!) before I posted pictures, but I couldn't wait that long! I'm still not sure what type of eyes I'll give her yet - the pattern suggests some little beads, but I'm thinking some embroidery eyes would be better.

I've had my eye on this pattern from Funky Friends Factory for a little while now, but just nevery really got around to buying it.  Well, at Spotlight before Christmas they had a sale on patterns for VIP members, and I bought the pattern.  (It also has the lamb and the horse in the same pattern. Bargain!) I just used some calico that I had in my stash, as well as some pretty corduroy-type fabric (also from my stash) that was originally bought in 2006 to make a cover for my sewing machine (which I got for my birthday that year).  Needless to say, it was never used for that purpose, and my new (much, much better Elna) came with a hard case. Anyway, I think she turned out pretty good for my first ever effort at something like this. And the pattern was a little more involved that I thought it would be - lots of fiddly sewing! 

I definitely have to work on my hand sewing though - sewing up the opening at the back is a little more noticeable than I had hoped, but still a respectable effort!

I don't know that I should have ever made this - it's not as if I need more hobbies! And now I think I'll try another one using some different fabric.  Now that I know the process, and which little areas to look out for, I'm hoping that the next one will be a bit better. I might even give her a tail next time, which the pattern doesn't include.

That's about it for my weekend crafting, and my morning tea break is almost over. I'll be back soon to post my December round-up (better late than never), which will be closely followed by my January round-up.

Photo club meeting for January

I know it's been soooo long since I posted (was Christmas really only a month ago?) and I've got a heap of photos to share and catch-up posts (including my monthly round-up for December that I've had finished for a while and just haven't posted...).  I've also had a really creative weekend with lots of pages and some other crafting finished, but those photos are yet to be downloaded onto my computer.

So first of all, John and I are proving to be a great team when it comes to photography! John has lots of creative ideas, and I used those ideas to come up with these photos, which won some prizes at the photo club January meeting:

1st place (pure talent) - Sunburst

2nd place (pure talent) - Daisy in blue

2nd place (enhance it) - Car  (I know, an imaginative name!)

 So, now that I've got a heap of '50 free 4x6 prints' cards from Harvey Norman (the prize for winning places in the above competitions) I've been madly editing my photos that have sitting in my 'to edit' folder for a long time! I've gone right back to 2007 for these photos!  Most of the 'events' that I'm yet to scrap have lots of photos, so I've used the opportunity of free 4x6 prints to print numerous photos on one 4x6 so that I can fit lots of photos on one layout (or doubles in some cases).  Photos of those layouts to come.

I will definitely try to post my December round-up shortly, because the end of January will be here very very soon!

A snapshot of the past month (or so)...

I've got a fair hunk of a catch up post here - a lot of pictures in it, my favourite type of post!  Some of the photos are ones that I took trying some new things. (I think I've worked out bracketing on my camera - now to try to use it to create some HDR images.)  Others are just to document events.  I'm finding that I'm so much more comfortable with my camera now, but I do still need to try to remember to think about all the different settings when I'm taking photos.  I can get too caught up in the capture, and forget that my ISO (for example) is too high or too low, and should be changed!  Oh well, I'm still learning.

Some pictures from the last month or so:

Bits and pieces from our trip to Rocky to see my parents, and out west to see John's parents:

Who could resist those faces?

And some animals of a different kind (taken through the windscreen as we were driving to John's parents):

Can you see them all? Just waiting for us...

And some more enjoyable scenery from the trip:

The current topic for the photo club challenge is 'full moon'.  I've tried a few different ways of capturing the moon, with most of them not really turning out how I'd planned! This is one of the more successful shots that I got, and I've got plans to get some more at the next full moon:

I've been working on a fair bit of Christmassy-goodness.  I can't really show most of them yet, but here's some sneak peeks:

And my little craft room buddy, keeping herself busy with some ribbon:

On the back of my chair is one of her favourite places to be, funnily enough.

Oh, and something very exciting: a surprise that is yet to be found out about by some important people (who will find out soon)!

I've taken to sewing and crafting a fair bit lately.  I've needed a pincushion for ages - I've been using this horrible magnetic thing that I got for free from Spotlight during one of their demonstrations.  I've taken inspiration from these:

(http://lovetocrochetandknit.blogspot.com/

http://memoriesandcreations.blogspot.com/

http://www.imaginefabric.com/

http://www.imaginefabric.com/

To make this (horribly sub-standard):

I was just playing around to see how it would work, and whether my left over bits of wadding would work as a filler.  I've discovered that it will work, but that my handstitching (to close it up after turning it the right way around) needs some work, and that left over wadding probably isn't the best filling!  So I bought some poly fill and will try again after Christmas.  I also made this little one out of fel to stick to my sewing machine for placing pins in during sewing:

Absolutely nothing special, but functional.  It was this one that got me thinking that I could make a 'nicer' pin cushion after whipping it up out of felt and wadding scraps.  This one might be replaced by a nicer one too...

With all the sewing I've been doing, I'm starting to accumulate a nice little fabric stash.  So when I came across these photos, I've put the thought away for future reference.  How lovely does it look!

http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/

http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/

I've also taken inspiration from these lovely items:

http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/

all from

http://memoriesandcreations.blogspot.com/

http://www.lovelydesign.com/

I've bought some material to make a Christmas wall hanging, after seeing this one.  It won't be anything like it though (I'm thinking much much simpler)! I've also got some things to make an advent calendar (the little felt squares in my Christmas collage above will become part of that), so my aim is to have them complete for next Christmas!

I also saw some gift tags by Ali Edwards and Cathy Zielske, and decided that I could do them myself rather than buying them! So I did.  I used photoshop and made these:

 

 

I printed them out on my inkjet printer (just onto plain cardboard) and used my nestabilities scallop die cut in my cuttlebug machine to cut them all out, and they look really great!  (You can sort of see them on one of the photos in the Christmas collage above.)  If by some miracle anybody is interested in them, just leave me a comment and I'll post the full size (A4) version here so you can download it.

I think that about brings me to the present day (well, everything that I can show anyway).  Only 3 more sleeps until Christmas, and my work Christmas party is on tonight.

I may or may not post here again before Christmas, so I hope you have a good one!

Long time, no post!

Well, I've certainly been very slack lately, and I'm itching to post some of the things that I've been working on. There is so much to update on and sooooo many pictures on my camera to download and post too!

I'll start with the November round-up (although very belated):

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Books
• Robert Muchamore – ‘The General’, ‘Mad Dogs’, ‘The Sleepwalker’ (all books from the ‘Cherub’ series, really meant for teenagers, but a fantastic series!)
Magazines
• ‘Australian Photography’ July, August, September Issue

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Movies
• None that I can remember

Favourite TV shows
• Survivor – Tocantins (this series started and finished this month – an intensive Survivor month!)
• The Amazing Race
• Border Security

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
• The Creative Shots Christmas break-up meeting
• The Northern Engineering Conference and associated outings
• The Get Scrapped Getaway!
• Four days in Rocky/Baralaba to visit my parents in their new house and see John’s family
• Family bbq at Mum and Dad’s

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
• A housewarming present for Mum and Dad – a canvas print of a photo of the family taken at a recent (well, June) photo shoot
• Nothing else that I can remember – a quiet month as far as birthdays go

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
• Again, nothing that I can remember – serves me right for leaving the round-up so long after the end of the month!
• Oh, some Christmas fabric in preparation for some Christmas crafting

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
• -

What were my accomplishments this month?
• Won a macro photography book at the photo club Christmas break-up meeting. Well, ‘won’ is a relative term – I was the only entrant in that particular competition!
• Staged a successful Get Scrapped Getaway (and the accompanying 55 pages that go with it).
• November was so long ago that I can’t really remember anything else!

What were my disappointments this month?
• I wanted to make my Christmas cards well in advance so that I could send them out in December – not accomplished.
• Our house in Melbourne that we’re currently building is STILL not finished.

Anything else noteworthy to include?
• Finalised the booking for our overseas trip next year! It’s a reality now!
• Started work on my ‘Me: The Abridged Version’ scrapbooking album (a class with Cathy Zielske has inspired me in this one).
• Mum and Dad moved into their new house!
• Began working on my travel journal for our overseas trip next year!

Things to aim for next month? (Most of these are carried over from last month…)
• Replenish my ‘stock’ card supply with some effective but simple cards that I can have on hand to send when I need (or just want) to.
• Begin and complete my Christmas card making.
• Declutter the laundry and my scrapbooking room cupboard to make more storage space.
• Begin and complete my Christmas shopping (of course, next (this) month being December this is sort of imperative).
• Either join a gym again or go for at least a half hour walk most afternoons.
• Get the business books up to date.
• Continue to work on John’s around the world trip album (from where he went on the trip before we event met, but I’m making a very simple album for him with his photos and little tidbits of journaling). The album is very very simple, using only cardstock and photos, and generally stamping or computer printing for the titles. Each country/region has its own colour groups (ie France is blues/grays, Scotland is greens/white, Italy is terracotta type colours, USA is red/white/blue etc). I have all the photos printed (and have had for probably two years now) and the cardstock is bought and sorted, but I’ve only finished about 8 pages (and there’s likely to be probably 40 when finished).
• Make some Christmas do-dads!

Although I would have loved to include some photos with this post, I just want to get some of this down so that it's done.  I'll be back with some photos and more interesting things soon!

The recent GSG

I know that it's been such a long time since I posted, but things have been quite busy lately, including our recent GSG!

Some of the first posts I ever did on this blog was of the pages that we had recently done at a weekend of scrapping, that we like to call the Get Scrapped Getaway.  Contrary to how it sounds, we don't actually 'get away' at all - it's just a weekend of scrapping put together by myself and Fiona that supplies kits of supplies needed to complete the selected pages.  All the attendees (my mum, auntie and sister) have to bring is their photos (and tools, etc).

I do try to take note of any pages that I see on the internet and use as inspiration for these pages, but sometimes the information just isn't retained! (The weekend is only an informal gathering of my family and Fiona, so there is no profit or anything made from it.) Here are the pages that I completed this time:

Inspired by Nicole Southworth:

Inspired by Kelly Goree:

Inspired by Piradee Talvanna:

Inspired by 'others':

A set of five 'quick' layouts:

All in all, it was a great weekend, and we all managed to finish a LOT of pages! I really love all of the pages that we did, and we're already talking about the next weekend that we do! My sewing machine finally got a workout, and there were no dramas!  I have such a fantastic time with everyone, and the Saturday is always topped off with a bbq at Auntie Karen and Uncle Gary's house which such a bundle of laughs.

I'll try not to leave it so long in between posts, as I've got a couple of other pages that I've done that I want to share. I've also got some absolutely gorgeous photos that I've taken lately, which I'll post about later.

Monthly roundup - October

I saw this idea on Katie the Scrapbook Lady and thought I'd give it a go.  I plan to do this each month, but who knows!

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Books
• Tess Gerritsen – ‘Keeping the Dead’
• Steig Larsson – ‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest'
• Stephenie Meyer – ‘Twilight’, ‘New Moon’, ‘Eclipse’, ‘Breaking Dawn’
• Michael Connolly – ‘The Brass Verdict’

Magazines
• ‘Australian Property Investor’ September Issue
• ‘Digital SLR Cameras’ September Issue

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
Movies
• Twlight (DVD)
• Déjà vu (TV movie)

Favourite TV shows
• Packed to the Rafters
• All Saints (which had its last episode EVER this month)
• Survivor – Gabon (this series finished this month)
• Celebrity Masterchef

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
• Numerous photography outings – none quite as successful as I would have liked (went in search of the kite surfers to no avail)
• Nanny visiting Mackay staying with Auntie Karen – BBQ dinner and breakfast outing with family
• Neighbourhood BBQ for neighbour’s (Linda) 60th birthday (I made caramel tarts, ice cream bars, mini quiches)
• Dinner at Hogs Breath for my birthday

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
• Contributed towards Linda’s ‘pandora’ bracelet for her 60th
• It was my 24th birthday! Received:
   My new Nikon D90 dSLR camera (and accessories) from John (in September)
   Elna sewing machine (using money from John’s Nanna and my parents)
   Wii Fit from John
• Tupperware container set, jewellery set, scratchies, lotto ticket, new Wii game (Sonic & Mario at the Winter Olympics) and casual bracelet from close family

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
• My sewing machine (as my birthday money didn’t fully cover the cost)
• Some new socks (perhaps not worthy of noting, but they’re so pretty and I desperately needed new ones to wear in my workboots)
• A fabric ‘yo-yo’ maker

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
• My gym membership finished last month, and I haven’t yet joined another gym. I have walked home (or most of the way at least, normally a good 6km or so) numerous times. I need to join another gym or set a serious walking/riding/stretching fitness schedule that I need to commit to. (Because magpie season is in full swing, I’ve been too chicken to walk home for the last two weeks!)

What were my accomplishments this month?
• Won a second place prize and a first place prize at the monthly photo club meeting. The photo that won second place is really one of my favourite photos and editing that I’ve done so far.
• Started to get a little organised with my digital life (on my external hard drive). With my original photos, the edited photos, the photos I want to edit, the photos I want to print and the photos I have printed, I’m finding my photography folder getting very confusing and out of sorts. I spent a little bit of time fixing it up and I think I’m happy with where it’s at now. Next stop: trying to get our hard drive at home and my external hard drive somewhat ‘synced’.
• Completed organising my scrapbook albums. I bought a number of new albums over the last few months (mainly American Crafts d-ring albums) with thoughts of replacing my old old old albums that are falling apart, and also creating some new ones so that the albums have the themes that I want. I now have a full chronological set (2004 through to 2009, generally two albums a year), a ‘childhood’ album, ‘high school’ album, ‘dancing’ album and ‘random’ album (for pictures of Mum and Dad growing up, for example).

What were my disappointments this month?
• I haven’t kept on top of the housework as much as I would have liked. I have a tendency to leave ‘stuff’ around for a day or two instead of just putting it away straight away! I also need to declutter the laundry to make some space for some boxes of my old stuff that Mum and Dad have brought up.
• Our house in Melbourne that we’re currently building is still not finished, despite having receiving the final progress claim in August! Needless to say we haven’t paid that yet, as the house actually isn’t finished, and the quality of some of the work leaves a bit to be desired. Hopefully after so many emails and phone calls that I couldn’t even count them, it won’t be long until we’re satisfied and we can finally finish our dealings with this builder.

Anything else noteworthy to include?
• Did numerous scrapbooking pages (probably over 10 when I count them) which I haven’t done for a long time.
• Began organising for the next GSG.
• Began the organisation and booking for our overseas trip next year (a good 8+ weeks worth or travelling, something that I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do, and now we’re finally getting to do it).
• Ellie (my 21 year old Ford Laser) became operational again, thanks to John’s dad getting it going initially in July, and a new battery being put in this month. I’ve been driving her to and from work regularly and she’s running quite well.
• Mum and Dad signed a contract for a new house!

Things to aim for next month?
• Replenish my ‘stock’ card supply with some effective but simple cards that I can have on hand to send when I need (or just want) to.
• Begin and complete my Christmas card making.
• Declutter the laundry and my scrapbooking room cupboard to make more storage space.
• Come up with a list of Christmas presents for family and friends.
• Either join a gym again or go for at least a half hour walk most afternoons.
• Get the business books up to date.
• Finish my half-finished scrapbook pages (I think there’s only one of Roxy from the last GSG).
• Continue to work on John’s around the world trip album (from where he went on the trip before we event met, but I’m making a very simple album for him with his photos and little tidbits of journaling). The album is very very simple, using only cardstock and photos, and generally stamping or computer printing for the titles. Each country/region has its own colour groups (ie France is blues/grays, Scotland is greens/white, Italy is terracotta type colours, USA is red/white/blue etc). I have all the photos printed (and have had for probably two years now) and the cardstock is bought and sorted, but I’ve only finished about 8 pages (and there’s likely to be probably 40 when finished).
• Start thinking about my travel journal that I want to put together for when we go on our trip!

A just a random photo to finish with.  This is from about 1999 I think, a cabaret group 'Austin Powers'.  I've edited it a bit just to try to make it a bit clearer, but nothing special.  (I'm the bottom left.)