Happy 18th Birthday...

On Wednesday we celebrated my daughters 18th birthday.  It was such a wonderful day which started with going out for breakfast and ending with a dinner for friends and family at her favourite restaurant.

Several weeks ago I ordered "HB2U custom mini flair buttons" from Feed Your Craft because they would be the perfect addition to add to some projects that I wanted to do for my daughter.  These mini flairs are the best because you can have any age added.  Here are the projects that I made using these mini flairs.

This was her present - I cut some purple wrapping out to make two long strips. I then added some tissue paper which I cut a fringe into.  I used a paper doily plus a scalloped circle cut from a Stampin Up punch and cut the horseshoes out using my silhouette cameo. I put them all together to make a ribbon similar to the ones given out at horse riding events as my daughter is right into her horses.  The little acrylic heart is from Colorcast Designs.

My next project was to make her birthday card.  I decided to keep to the same theme as I liked the way they all looked together.  I cut the 18 card out using my silhouette.

Then I moved onto the cake topper.  Again I kept to the theme.

This project was very close to my heart so I wanted to make sure that it was personal and beautiful.

One of the best things about these mini flairs is that they stick to glitter paper really well.  I did not have to apply any extra glue which is what I usually have to do when using this glitter paper.

I couldn't have been more happy with they way they all came together.

But in the end, it was all about my daughter and she loved them so that's what really counts.

Now to go and sit, relax with a cuppa and flip through all the wonderful photos of my daughters special day.

Love me :-)

I think it's time for coffee...

I have been waiting ages to be able to share this fun project that I did for a very special friend of mine.  My dear friend Linda is a coffee addict just like me and for Christmas I wanted to make her something special.  I used these digital templates from Paislee Press and then added photos from my huge collection of coffee photos on Pinterest.  You have a choice of 4x6 or 5x7, both come in the package.  I chose to print them 5x7 and then added them to a A5 clipboard.

Not only was this a fun project to put together but it was also very easy.  So easy in fact that I made about 8 more for my daughter to give away as gifts to her friends and I made another one for a friend of mine who loves quotes from a particular company.  For my daughters friends I just chose photos that related to each individual person.

These templates are so easy to work with and make such a wonderful gift as you can personalize each one individually.

Enjoy your week.

love me :-)

PL - Week One...

This is my first attempt at using the PL App which so far I am liking.  I ended up adding a few more embellishments than I probably needed to (note to self) but as far as getting my week completed, I am happy.  

I still have a lot more to learn about the app but that's ok.  I was worried that using the app might make me feel a little less creative but I like the fact that once my photos are printed all I have to do is pop them in a pocket as is, or add an embellishment or two.  The big advantage though, is that I can pop them straight in the album and add embellishments later, but at least the stories and photos will in the album.

Looking forward to see where this type of memory keeping will take me.

love me :-)

Hello there 2016...

After giving a lot of thought as to how I would tackle PL for this year (see previous post) one of the things I wanted to do was a 12x12 cover page instead of the usual pocket style. One of the reasons I chose to do this is because I wanted my first page in  my album to be a 12x12 layout of our first few minutes of 2016.  I specifically ordered these mini flair buttons from Feed Your Craft just for this project and they have been sitting on my desk waiting to be used.

I always take a group shop after we have counted in the new year, popped poppers, wished everyone a Happy New Year and sent kisses all round.  This year our NYE was going to be a quiet one with just four us.  But during the course of the day it grew to 14.  I took this selfie and so glad I did. The photo is grainy and blurry but  it really reflects the mood and the high spirits that everyone was in.  I was going to add to much more to this layout but the photo and just a few embellishments was all that was needed.

How did you NYE celebrations go, truly wonderful I hope.

Love me :-)

2016 & Project Life...

I have quite a bit of catching up to do for Project Life for 2015 which I am ok with but it got me thinking.

How do I want to tackle Project Life in 2016?

My first thought was to take a break.  I have been doing PL for 5 years and maybe taking a break would give me the chance to do something else.  I will be honest here, I came very close.  But the reality is that I would probably miss it, then try to catch up and fail - and then be upset because I didn't do I right from the beginning.

So I made the decision to do it again but I needed to find a way to do it differently as I was getting a little bored.  I know that sounds awful.  The product is brilliant and the concept truly wonderful but for us creative people, sometimes we need to change things up.

I decided that 9x12 would be a great idea.  It wasn't 12x12, so that was different but the shocking truth is, to find albums and page protectors here is Australia is impossible.  Yes we can purchase them overseas but with the exchange rates and the postage it just isn't worth it.

I then gave 6 x 8 some serious thought.  I love the size and Stampin Up has Kraft 6x8 albums that I just love.  But that gave me another problem.  I would end up with a heap of albums (not much storage is my house) and I wouldn't be able to add layouts.

So back to 12x12 I went. So how could I make this different to any other year.  I also needed to make it simple because half the reason I fall behind is I have made it too complicated.  In comes the Project Life App.  I have had the app since it began and  I liked the idea of being able to put together 12x12 pages on my phone and get them printed.  Although the app was great, getting 12x12 photos printed here in Australia is expensive.  In the last week I went back to playing with the app and started playing with the 4x6 collages.  Once I had completed the collage I just saved them and then exported them to my dropbox.  From there I can print them at home or just upload them to a USB drive and take it down to my local print shop and they are done.

The photos above were all done using the PL App.  I will admit that on two of them I did the journaling in photoshop  as I wasn't sure what I wanted to write when putting it together in the app.

  

Tomorrow I will be putting them into my PL album for 2016.  Week One done!!

Lets see how I go!!

love me :-)

OLW2016 - Focus

I spent quite some time choosing my OLW2016.

Sometimes my word comes easy and other times is takes a bit longer.  I had originally chose a different word and although I liked the direction that it would send me in, I felt that it also may limit me.

In the last few days something happened, and word kept coming up and each time it did I could feel it was trying to tell me something.  So I stopped, listened and spent time just being with this word.

I loved how it made me feel and I loved how it got me excited.

I wrote a list of some of the things that I want my word to help me with...

(one)

Acknowledge bad days, learn from the lesson and then FOCUS on making tomorrow better.

(two)

Accept bad food choices, then FOCUS on making good choices for my next  meal.

(three)

Look beyond the negative experience and FOCUS on the positive.

(there is always a positive, you just have to look)

(four)

Splurge every now and then and continue to FOCUS on good spending habits and saving goals.

(five)

Listen to your body and FOCUS on making it healthier, fitter and stronger.

(six)

When the road ahead is foggy, take a breath and wait - give yourself time to FOCUS on what you need to do, never rush.

(seven)

Everyday FOCUS on the little things that bring Joy.

... where will this little word take me!

Love me :-)