Living my dream

A new card for PaperHaus Magazine

PaperHaus took a wee break over the Xmas holidays but is back up and running now and the first post for the year is a goodie! A sketch by Annelie, tons of inspiration from the DT AND two prizes. To check it out, just click here.

But before you click over that way, here's a look at the card I made using Annelie's sketch 

Inside I've added a cute little pop up from some dies I got in Bay of Plenty last year.

I love having these little surprises in my cards, and being a die, it's so easy to do!

Make sure you pop on over to see what the rest of the team have created....and be in to win.

Giveaway

I'm doing a giveaway on the PaperHaus blog. One of my kits from earlier this year. It comes with full colour instructions and all the product from Prima to make 2 layouts, 1 card and 1 mini album.

You will need some punches and die cuts, but can easily make do without these items.

Check it out over on the PaperHaus blog, leave a comment there and you'll be in the draw to win.

 

9 ways to make your gift wrapping fun, sophisticated and unique

Over at the Paperhaus blog, the 12 days of Xmas blog hop continues. As part of the blog post today, I've shared some ways to make your gift wrapping this season extra special. Let's take a closer look here too......

 

 

A lovely way to decorate your mantle, wrap up some gifts and sprinkle them along it. Or pop under your Xmas tree, or anywhere really! To make it even more special, add some extra sparkle with tinsel and other bought trinkets.

 

 

Two of these gifts have been wrapped with cellophane that has been stamped on. One in a continuously random pattern, but the other with one single image (made of 2 stamps). Add some seam binding, and a little tag and you're done!

 

Here's a close up look at how I prepared the cellophane:

 

 

The third gift is wrapped using some gorgeous scrapbook paper, covered with a book page that has been folded over and over, and then to the side a couple of gorgeous snowflake die cuts from Tim Holtz have been added.

 

 

This gift is very simple. It has been wrapped with brown paper, then two pieces of seam binding that have been twisted with each other. Tie a knot at each end and you're done.

 

 

These ones are super simple too. The large bottom one is some plain brown paper that I splattered with some watered down gesso. Once it was dry, I wrapped the present and added a bow of seam binding to one end.

 

 

The top gift is wrapped with a book page, then wrapped with bought Christmas decorations. The baubles give a real sense of brightness and elegance.

 

 

 

This wee present is so much fun. There are two presents. The one inside and the ones on top.

Just wrap your present with book paper, add some mini Christmas crackers to the top and wrap with white seam binding.

 

 

The final two presents have were particularly fun to make....

 

For the top present, wrap with brown paper, then add a doily, a flower, a tag and trinket, attach with seam binding. Easy peasy and so cute.

 

As for my button packaging, I LOVE it. And so simple. Wrap the present in music paper, then on the top, add a large dollop of glue right across the present. Add in some red buttons and around the edges of these, some teeny tiny seed beads. Wait for them to dry and you're ready to give.

 

I have a ton more ideas that I'd love to share with you but not sure I'll get the time? Perhaps just keep an eye on my blog and I'll see what I can do!

 

Have a fabulous day!

Paperhaus winter magazine release blog hop

Welcome to the Winter Frolic 12 Days Of Christmas Blog Hop! We are celebrating the release of the Winter Issue of PaperHaus Magazine but also inspiring you each day with wonderful holiday projects, giveaways and inspiration! Our blog hop will run from December 1st to December 12th! Be sure to stop each day and leave a comment each day to win some... fabulous prizes by our lovely sponsors! Don't forget to check out the Winter Issue for additional inspiration, holiday cheer and some amazing projects from our contributing team!

You can find the magazine here:

Winter magazine.

It's really quite something! Make sure you take a look. But before you do, here's a look at a wee Xmas card I've put together....

 

 

To carry on with the blog hop, just hop on over to Scrapbook Diaries (a fabulous online shop where you can buy kits from great scrapbook designers).....

Have a fabulous day!

 

Paperhaus Blog Hop - day 11, giveaway here!

Hi everyone. Welcome back to my wee part of blogisphere for the PaperHaus blog hop! I'm thrilled that you are here.

As mentioned on the PaperHaus blog, we're having a hop around the internet to visit inspirational blogs to celebrate our 1st anniversary and release of the Fall Splendor magazine. It's an exciting time for PaperHaus. Being around for one whole year! I hope you enjoy the magazine each time it comes out as much as PaperHaus loves putting it together for you!

Anyway..... here's a look at the kits that I'm giving away today.....

This first one is from a class I taught in Sydney, Australia earlier this year, using gorgeous Prima product! You'll need a bit of paint and texture paste a border punch, but otherwise, everything is in the kit for you to create this layout, including full colour instructions.

The second kit is from the recent event I helped organise down in Nelson, NZ. It was a luxury scrapbooking weekend and we had a wonderful time (I must do a blog post soon!)....

As per the above kit, you'll have everything in the kit to complete this layout. You'll just need a bit of texture paste/paint.

Please leave me a comment to be in the draw to win these two kits (yes, one person wins both kits). And YES, this draw is open to internationals.

And don't forget to visit PaperHaus again tomorrow for the next hop!

I LOVE Books - an 'Off the page' project.

I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. In fact one of my most vivid memories from childhood was being taken off for a reading test which I remember being incredibly stressful and fun all at the same time.

For Scrapfest by the sea, I decided to put my love of books into a project. I popped up to the local
op shop and brougt a cheap book (just $2), then set about to alter it. I knew the idea I wanted to go with, but wasn't entirely sure how it would work out. So I just gave it a shot. Here's what I came up with.

I am in love with stencils/masks at the moment, so it only made sense to give the book a little texture using Prima's checkerboard mask. I used both the large and small masks to give different sizes of squares and the white texture paste and clear. Again, for a different look and to see what the clear looks like....

Although I used 'mostly' Prima products, I also threw in some transparency's from Collections and some tags from Typo.

To get the rounded pages, all I did was work out how many pages were in the book, then divide them roughly (I divided into lots of 5 pages). Then I folded them in a half circle and glued back to the spine of the book. I was surprised at how quickly I got through doing that! It didn't take long at all!

I also wanted to include some teeny tiny bottles that we were selling at Scrapfest. They are so darn cute!! So I filled them with glitter to match the colour theme and glued them on.

I LOVE Prima's vines. And they worked perfectly here. Adding a sense of cohesion to the project that clusters of flowers may not have done. I especially love the green leaves and tendrils.

Once all the pages had dried, it was simply time to embellish. I added the vine first as my base, then worked around it adding in additional flowers, transparencies, bottles etc until I was happy. I didn't want it to be 'overdone', but also wanted to have something pretty and enduring.

As usual for this type of project, I used my all time favourite glue - Helmar 450 quick dry. It's brilliant. Strong, quick to dry and rubs off if you get it in time. Also for a project like this, it's not brittle, so if the pages move, you're not going to get pieces 'popping' off.

Setting clear, it is also great for the transparencies I attached.

My project can be found in the latest release of PaperHaus magazine which was just released on 1st September. It's a fabulous fall inspired free online scrapping magazine. Just click on the cover below to visit it....

PaperHaus Blog Hop

Hi! Are you here from Frank Garcia's blog? Then it means you're in the right place for the PaperHaus Blog Hop!

Welcome!!!!

I'm thrilled to have been part of this amazing journey with PaperHaus in the last year and so excited to share a little bit of fall wonder right here right now. Let's see what it's all about shall we?

.....We are celebrating the release of the new FALL edition of PaperHaus Magazine but also celebrating the 1 year anniversary of PaperHaus Magazine! I am excited to be part of this amazing celebration! Click HERE for the magazine link! The Fall Splendor event is filled with inspiration from PaperHaus and our blog, so make sure you click through every blog for inspiration! Also comment on every blog to get a chance to win an amazing daily prize! We hope you enjoy this blog hop! Remember the Fall Splendor Blog Hop runs from September 1st to the 15th so you have plenty of time to be inspired!.......

Let's take a look at the front cover shall we?

Yes, definitely something to get the creative juices flowing!!!

So what do I have to share with you today? A beautiful 'welcome' sign I made for a recent event I Co-Own/Found. It's called Scrapfest by the sea and I'll be doing a full blog post all about it asap. For now though, here is the welcome sign......

You can see I've used some beautiful fall colours to compliment our registration packs.

The papers and flowers are from Prima. The gorgeous chipboard shutters are from Dusty Attic.

To carry on the blog hop, just hop on over to Peg Hewitt's blog. If you've come here and find yourself half way through the hop, then feel free to start from the beginning. Below is a list to get you going...

PAPERHAUS - WWW.THEPAPERHAUS.COM

Frank Garcia - www.hausofw.com

Trina McClune - www.trinamcclune.typepad.com  ** You're here now**

Peg Hewitt - http://pegsplaytime.blogspot.com.au/

Heidi Swapp - http://www.heidiswapp.com/blog/

PINK PAISLEE-http://www.pinkpaislee.com/?page_id=596

Have a fabulous hop! Enjoy the inspiration, and don't forget to go back to the PaperHaus blog tomorrow for the next part of the hop!

Been a while, a quick update..

Gosh, I didn't realise how long it's been since I last blogged. I even missed Sunday Shake up. Well, that could be because I've been laid low the last week or so. First migraines, then a cold. Nothing major, but enough to cut out the stuff that doesn't 'have' to happen.

Anyway, thought I'd do a wee update...

Scrapfest by the sea - not long now!! It's been forever coming. But we've got a wonderful community going on facebook with regular challenges and ideas and sharing of all sorts. I can't wait to all hang out together over the weekend.

Lyn was here last week and we got a ton of work done. Lots of product ordered for the shop. Ideas formed and put into action. It's a wonderful thing.

There is a new sketch on the Prima blog. I decided to give it a whirl. Here's what I came up with for Paperhaus as part of their Remember Me post each month....

The photo was taken in bad lighting so please excuse it!

I love creating layouts about my own past. It somehow makes things a bit more real. I always try to encourage people to make more layouts about themselves. So I'm going to do it again now. Make your next layout about you! Ok?!

For prompts (if you get stuck), just google 'book of me prompts' and you'll get a ton of ideas you may not have thought about.

For more close up shots of my layout, take a look on PaperHaus.

Hmmmm, what else? Create for a Cause is only just over a week away. I'm excited to be meeting up with new friends and old down there and of course teach my class. It's a gorgeous PINK layout. We've had such a great response that the class has been split so we can fit more people in. Awesome!

If you want to come, there are still spaces. Join us on facebook or get in touch with Janine. I know that the classes have been very popular and due to demand we're splitting my class into two classes to fit everyone in.

Ok, that's about it for now. Take care out there NZ. I can feel it getting colder already.

A new paperHaus sketch...

paperHaus have released their sketch a couple of days early as their latest magazine will be coming out on 1st June. Uh huh! So thought I'd show you a wee card I made using Jules sketch.

I used the gorgeous 6x6 Prima Lyric paper pad which is perfect for little accents on your layouts, or a card like above....

As usual I've left the sentiment off so I can add it at the last minute when I have an occassion to use it for.

Oh, and you'll need to see a version of the sketch, right?!

Don't forget to pop by the paperHaus blog to see what the other designers have come up with and our fabulous guest designer Nicole.

 

A bright and beautiful tag

Recently I've had a couple of projects up on the paperHaus blog. The following is one I haven't shown here yet....

A tag is a wonderful thing to make. It's quick, it's small, it's easy and yet, it can still be creatively challenging. I love to work with these smaller sized items and had fun making this. I wonder if the colours helped me smile the whole time I was creating?!

As usual, I have used Prima, Spellbinders dies, lots of layering and a great deal of love.

PaperHaus is a fabulous blog which has a new project to draw inspiration from every day.

Take a look at this post or this one for some gift wrapping ideas.....

Or how about this post on finding your lost mojo....

Or what about our monthly sketches? Out each 1st day of the month. You can check out May's sketch here along with our designers takes on the sketch.

We've also had a series on fabulous designers we're seeing around the web. You can check out the last post by Emeline Seet right here.

We are also starting a new series, where the design team will answer your questions. Feel free to add one here, or on the paperhaus blog. The team will try and answer as best as possible.

Whatever you're looking for, paperHaus has it. Make sure you pop it in your blog feeds so you don't miss out on the next great post.

Gift wrapping for mothers day

We had an early mothers day dinner for Andy's Mum Val tonight and it was wonderful to get together with the family again. It's so nice for the kids to know they are part of something bigger than themselves and to know that whatever happens, these people will be there for them. I feel priviledged to be part of this amazing family!

So as Andy went off to work this morning he asked me to 'make Mum a card will you?'. Sure I said. Thankfully as it turned out as I needed to use it for the paperHaus blog. LOL.

Anyway, here's a quick look at what I did.....

If you'd like to see instructions for the wrapping and card, and a better look at the card too, just click on THIS link to the paperHaus blog.

 

A sketch by moi for paperHaus

I haven't created a sketch in for.eva.

Sooooo, decided that I'd give it a go again for paperHaus.

Every month over at paperHaus we have a monthly sketch. The DT show us their takes on the current sketch and if you want to, you can have a go and could be part of the reveal in upcoming months.

Take a look over here at this months sketch and all the different ways its been used...

Would love to see your take on it!

I love to make little bags

I just adore making little bags. Especially for my classes. I fill them with goodies and give away as prizes.

This is one that I made for my class in Sydney at Scrapbook Superstore.

They are so easy to make and look quite cute. I especially love this yellow one.

I have basic instructions on how I made this bag over on the paperHaus blog.

My take on a new sketch

PaperHaus magazine's blog has a new sketch every month.

Starting last month we are having a sketch challenge for anyone who would like to be a guest designer on the blog. All you have to do is create your take on the sketch and leave us a comment with a link so we can see it.

A person will be chosen from all the entries to be part of a future sketch challenge. Cool huh?!

Here's this month's sketch by the lovely Jules....

And my take on it....

I used a gorgeous 'older' range from Prima called Firefly. It's one of my recent faves. Funny how I like it even more now than I did when it first came out.

I'm loving the resist canvas ranges that Prima are bringing out. I tend to use them on all my projects at the moment. Love em.

I turned the sketch upside down to give a slightly different take on the original sketch, but to see more takes on this sketch by the talented paperHaus DT and our clever guest designer, just click here. It'll take you straight to the post. And if you're into sketches (Raewyn?), maybe you'd even like to give it a go.

A 'green' card for paperHaus

I love that NZ is thought of as 'clean and green'. It's one of the things we pride our country on. Unfortunately our country is looking a little brown right now without much rain, but I helped in the 'green' stakes by making this card by using some Prima packaging.

Of course, that's another reason NZ is thought of as 'green'. We like to recycle, reuse and be environmentally friendly. And I LOVE that Prima is also on this train too. Most if not all their packaging is so pretty is can also be used in your scrapbooking.

In this instance, I used the packing from some new product to create this card for the paperHaus blog. I took off the header, added some paper to the back (so I could write on the inside) and then used some seam binding to connect the two sides of the card.

Then I used some product from packets that were already open and the whole card came together without any wastage. Love it.

It also happened to fit into paperHaus's spring theme with the 'green' concept.

I'd love to see any 'green' products you've created using packaging or reusable products.