Tuesday, January 27, 2009

D2U Are You Feeling Lucky - Week 3 Challenge

Another week another challenge at D2U. You should see Marisa's sample layout... totally amazing work. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT !! Loved the other layouts that are already in the gallery too. Well done girls!


Here's the details of the challenge for this week at Direct 2 U Scrapbooking:

So now we are into week 3 of our challenges, so here is the criteria for creating a layout...

1. Painted Background

2. Lace

3. Ribbon

4. Material

5. Lots of Distressing


The close date for this challenge is Thursday 29th, so all layouts must be uploaded by this date.
Good luck!


Hope to get a chance to play with this one tonight... will see how the kids are as to whether I get time.

Cheers M x

Back to the Real World

Well.. today is "D" day.. or should I say "S" Day...lol...
life as we know it has gone back to a new kind of normality..
School Holidays are over and we get back into the swing of things for 2009.
This year though things are a little different and new routines need to be sorted out. With our newest addition the morning mayhem hopefully should get smoothed out fairly quickly... well... I can hope can't I...lol...lol...

Jhane has started back at school today nice and early with school crossing monitor duty. I have never seen her get ready for school so quickly before. By 7.45 she was ready to leave and I had to let her know it was too early. Not sure if this getting ready early thing will last long though.

Nate has one day more before he starts school. He is enjoying the last time he can watch ABC kids and has super glued his bottom in front of the television 'cause it is so hot outside today (39 here down south). Will get him away from the television shortly to take some photos of him in his school uniform. I want to take a few in an unstressed state .. me not him as I am already seeing that the first day will perhaps be a little crazy getting everyone ready on time... IYKWIM...lol..Think it will take a few weeks to get us all sorted into some sort of routine. Just need to remember to take a deep breath and count to 10..lol...lol...

Okay better go... a gazillion things to do while Kiah is snoozing.. and Tarryn is due for a feed about now too.

Catch up again later..

M x

Fiskars "Family Fun Day" Crop Wrap Up !

Wow.. what a day... I am feeling a little tired and all, but what fun we had.. as usual. It was so much fun to get back into the swing of things with our first crop here in Adelaide for Fiskars in 2009.

Unfortunately due to the horrible heat here, 42 degrees, we did get a few cancellations at the last minute.. but the girls that did make the day had so much fun creating with some amazing Fiskars products we had to play with.

Thanks again to Fiskars Head Office and all the help I got from Lyn and Trea in making these crop days work. Without them they wouldn't be as bigger success as they are. Thanks to the lovely ladies who braved the heat to help make this day a fun one for me also. Lastly thanks to my darling husband who battled the heat, kept our four kids entertained or the day and helped where he could with the crop.

So here's a lok at what we created today:
Card 1 - Thank you

Card 2 - Hi

Card 3 - Special Delivery Girl

Card 4 - With Love

Card 5 - Special Delivery Boy

Card 6 - Hugs and Kisses

Woodland - Family Mini Layer Album

Vineyard - Family Mini Layer Album

Love Blossoms - Family Mini Layer Album


TFL... keep your eyes peeled for details of the next crop here in Adelaide.... Fiskars Easter Eggstravaganza on March the 28th.

Cheers, M x

Fiskars "Family Fun Day" Crop Reminder

Hello there all.

Just a quick one to let those of you know that have booked in for our crop this weekend, 31st January 2009, what you will need to bring with you for the day.

Basic Tool Kit:
Pencil
Ruler
Double Sided Tape
Trimmer
Craft Mat
Paper piercer
Stylus
Craft Knife
Scissors

Extra things needed:
Black Journaling Pen - Fine point
Fine Sandpaper - small piece
Corner Rounder
Eyelet Setter

Don't worry if you don't have all the bits and pieces as I always have spares.
We have a few goodies to give away this month to celebrate my little one's arrival,
So bring your New Year's cheer !


Can't wait to catch up with you all again.
Here's to another fun year full if Fiskars Fun !

Regards, Michelle
Wallace Paper Art Designs.

PS. To those who had sent confirmation booking previously I have you spots all waiting for you
If you aren't sure please email me ASAP.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Fiskars Craft Studio here in Adelaide !

Have you seen the latest news on the Craft and Quilt Fair website?

Take a peek here to see what are up to this year......we shall be having our own


FISKARS CRAFT STUDIO at the following Craft and Quit Fairs in Australia....How darn exciting!!!

Newcastle - Perth - Sydney - Melbourne - Canberra - Brisbane - Adelaide

Crafters can come and purchase a Kit for $10 and then sit down at a table with one of our talented team of crafters and create one of two projects on offer.......

1)Love You Card(designed by Lyn Dwyer)....suitable for Beginners

.....OR

2)Notebook(designed by Cathy Bodini).....which takes a little more experience.


FISKARS CRAFT STUDIO

In this interactive area of the fair, you can see, learn, try and create! The FISKARS experts are here to show off their new products and tools, share their knowledge and inspire you to create!

You can choose to stroll in and watch the action or sit down and get hands-on to make a funky papercraft project.


There are two projects to select from:


For beginners
Make a lovely Greeting Card, it takes just 15 minutes.



For more advanced papercrafters
Create a unique Note Book, allow 20 to 30 minutes.



Your intimate hands-on papercraft session with a FISKARS Expert will only cost $10 and all this is included:

Individual instruction in a small group – pick up lots of great tips and learn new, clever techniques.
Use of an amazing array of Fiskars tools. Try them all – you know you want too!


The Heidi Grace Orchard Scrapbook Kit which includes an incredible 323 pieces! The kit includes a gorgeous array of papers and embellishments – use some of the pieces to make the project in class and keep the rest.
Step-by-step project instructions so you can keep creating at home!

The Program applies daily at the fair – no bookings are required; there are no set starting times – get started when you arrive. Note: Payment is by EFTPOS or credit card only (no cash).

For Quilters! As an added bonus, you can check out the latest range of Fiskars quilting tools and the new collection endorsed by well-known USA quilter, Donna Dewberry.

Cheers M x

A quick pic just because I can...

Okay... have had many emails asking to see a recent picture of our new addition. So thought I had better update you all.

Spent the morning two days ago armed with the camera and a cheery baby so was able to get a gazillion photos taken... lol... Ahhh the joys of digital cameras and being able to take multi shots in a row....Now to find the time to scrap some of the good ones. Still need to get a layout done of Tarryn as yet... have sorted photos in a file on the computer to play with and scrap.. just haven't gotten any further.

Okay.. enough dribble.... here she is:


And "YES" she is as "dreamy" as she looks. I true pleasure to have around. She tolerates the noisy hoard here well, eats like a horse, and sleeps for 4 -5 hours at a times during the night... what more could we ask for.

Better go and feed her now.

Cheers M x

More scrap time found !

Manage to get some scrapping done in this mad house...lol...

Gave the Week 2 challenge at D2U Scrapbooking a go. Had heaps of fun playing with this... Wanted to try making some tissue paper flowers that I had seen. They were heaps of fun to do and sooo much easier that I had thought they would be. Must give them a go again for sure.

So here is what the challenge for this week was and what I did with it:

1. Use monochromatic colour scheme - chose to go with a coral red colour.

2. Use 4 or more different patterned paper - Used the American craft monotones range for 3 of them and then stamped my own patterned paper for the 4th onto an American Crafts base colour.

3. Make a handmade embellishment to use on your layout - My take on tissue paper flowers that Steph Casey Devlin has made. Added some ink and Kindy glitz to give it that bit extra.

4. Use only one word for your title - Eat !


Here is my Layout - Eat !:

Close up of the flowers I made:


Don't forget the closing date for this challenge is Thursday 22nd.. So why not give it a go. Head over to the D2U Gallery to see what everyone has come up with so far. There is some amazing work in the gallery already.

Had some bits and pieces left over, so had a play around and got this layout done also :

Layout : Bathe


And another one from my WIP folder that was done just because I could :

Layout : Slide


Better go... DT work to finish off and Bubs due for a feed any minute now.

Cheers M x

Thursday, January 15, 2009

D2U Are You Feeling Lucky - Week 2 Challenge

Another week another challenge. This one looks like another fun one to play with too. I just can't wait to get started. Here's the details of the challenge for this week at Direct 2 U Scrapbooking:

So now we are into week 2 of our challenges, so here is the criteria for creating a layout...

1. Use monochromatic colour scheme

2. Use 4 or more different patterned paper

3. Make a handmade embellishment to use on your layout

4. Use only one word for your title


The close date for this challenge is Thursday 22nd, so all layouts must be uploaded by this date.
Good luck!


Look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.

Cheers M x

Woo Hoo ! I finally got to scrap !

You could have heard a pin drop in our household on Tuesday. I was so excited I almost called Troy to get him to listen to the sound of silence...lol.. bit sad I know. But after a few days of the kids being stuck inside due to extremely hot days here in Adelaide (40 degrees plus) going potty I couldn't believe the silence that had fallen over our household.
After spending the morning ducking to the shops quickly with Mum and leaving the kids home with Dad, all but the baby that is, to avoid the heat, Jhane ducked off to the movies with a friend. After Mum and Dad had left, I fed Bubs and put her and Kiah down for a sleep in their room upstairs. Nate stayed and scrapped for about half hour before following the other two down for a nap... so from about 1.15pm till about 3.30pm silence fell over the house. I really didn't know what to do with myself at first. But then the urge to scrap took over ! I managed to get a layout done for the challenge Marisa has happenening over at D2U this month.

Here's the details:

Well do you feel lucky?

I have a prize to the value of $135 to give away to one lucky customer/member.

This is how this competition works.

1. For every $30 you spend in store you will receive one entry.

2. For every new member you introduce to the forum you will receive one entry. Please make sure you introduce them so I know who gets the entry and your friend has to reply to your introduction. Then your friend can introduce a new member and get entries as well, so the more friends you introduce the more entries you get.

3. For every two projects uploaded to the gallery you will receive one entry. These can be layouts or OTP, but it has to be two different projects to qualify, not two images of the same project. So the more you upload the more entries you receive.

Also to add to your entry tally I will be holding weekly challenges, which will be announced each week in another thread.

Now this competition will commence on Thursday 8th January and go through to Saturday 14th February, so that is 5 weeks of challenges.

I will tally up the points on Sunday 15th February and announce the winner.

Now I suppose you want to know what you will win?

Major prize is a Quickutz Squeeze which includes a Stiletto Unicase Alphabet Set, plus a Quickutz Tote.

Weekly prizes are $10 instore gift vouchers.

This competition is only open to Australian residents.


So here's the criteria for week one's challenge and the layout I managed to get done for it....

Create a layout using:

1. 5 different alphabet fonts and sizes

2. Lots of buttons

3. felt

4. metal embellishments




Off to try and get some more scrapping done this afternoon. Just gotta go and fill the hungry hoards bellies to make them sleepy. LOL>..

M x

The Fiskars Love for Sure !

WOW !! Just thought I would share with everyone the lovely arrangement that arrived on my doorstep the other day from everyone at Fiskars for the arrival of our newest bundle. Now this certainly made our day for sure.

Would like to send huge thanks to Fiskars, our Lead Ambassadors and the amazing Ambassador/Demonstrators across Australia that have sent their well wishes and congratulations. Everyone at Fiskars certainly makes you feel like part of the family and are just so supportive. I am very lucky to be part of such an amazing team.

Here's is the surprise we received:


and "Yes" I kept the white lace look plastic and the pink tissue from the flowers to add to a layout I am planning do do of our new arrival. I just couldn't resist keeping it to scrapbook. It was just so nice. Plus have plans to scrapbook a layout about the flowers too. A pleasant memory we all here want to remember. May seem a little strange but the flowers arrived on a day of mayhem in our house.
Let me explain...
I had been out of hospital from having bubs for only a day and a bit. My five year old son Nate, was in silly mode and due to go and have a nap. I was sitting with my husband feeding the baby and watching Nate and Kiah (my 22 month old) play when Nate decided to get sillier and run around in the lounge. I warned him to stop as someone was going to get hurt and sure enough to cut a long story short... we ended up in the emergency department of Noarlunga hospital waiting to get his head looked at. He had had a collision with the coffee table.. and not the one in the middle of the room.. but one that is nicely tucked away when they aren't normally able to get to... so after discussions in the car on the way to the hospital of whether he had hit all the way to his brains, tears that he didn't want to stay in hospital and surely a bandaid would fix it, special glue to avoid having stitches to a 1cm cut above his eyebrow, and an icepole.. which I ended up eating 'cause he really didn't want it, we finally arrived home to finally be able to relax. So when the flowers arrived it was a really nice "cheer me up" surprise for sure.

Once again... a huge thanks to everyone at Fiskars for everything them have done for us. It really has made us feel like we are part of the family. A true blessing to be part of such an amazing team.

Cheers M x

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

All the details...and Baby makes 6 !

After a much awaited arrival...
Baby No. 4 ..
our precious little Tarryn finally arrived. Another Fiskars Scrapbooker in the making...lol....

Here's all the gossip about how things went....
I woke up as per usual at 6.30am to have a shower and prepared breakfast. Had planned to have a shared brekkie with the kids and get some housework done during the day so that everything was perfectly in order for the next day when I was going in to be induced as we were overdue and over it all. Well... Tarryn had different thoughts. I had just woken Nate and moved into Kiah's room to get her out of bed when I felt a really bad urge to get to the toilet QUICK! It seemed that my waters had broken.. After what seemed like forever I managed to get down stairs and change. Nate thought it was most funny commenting that I was on the toilet AGAIN !!! and that I had only just been !! Gotta love 5 year olds !! So I woke Troy and told Nate to get Jhane up as she was still asleep....Nate came back to tell us that Jhane wasn't getting up. We told him to go up and tell her the baby was coming and I have never seen an 11 year old fly out of bed and downstairs so quick before... I swear !!..LOL...
So we called my parents to come down and then called a family friend to watch the kids until my parents arrived. We left the kids after they had finished their brekky to head for the hospital.. I was admitted and the long and the short of the labour process was that our newest bundle arrived safe and sound at 1.34pm on January the 4th 2009.. beating the whole induction process... much to my great pleasure. All went very smoothly and I was able to leave the hospital to come home 48hours later. All is going well here at home... settling into a routine so far nicely.. 4 to 5 hourly feeds.. plus she is a very placid baby and seems to tolerate the noisy household we have here.. with the other oh so quiet...LOL....NOT !!! other kids who are besotted with her.
Okay... will leave you with a few pictures that I have managed to get off the camera in the short space of time that I have been home...Stay tuned for more photos as I get myself in the gear here.

Being weighed...weighing in at 8 pound 8.1/2 ounces...


All wrapped up for a cuddle with Mum...not long after my arrival into this world...


Woo Hoo ! Going home ! In the car seat all ready to go.. Heading home at just over 48hours old. 7 January 2009


Thanks to everyone for their kind wishes...Looking forward to catching everyone soon.
Stay tuned for future scrap projects of of our new arrival and our new family.

M xx

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Baby News

Peek-a-boo!
Guess Who
(Baby No. 4 is finally here)??!!

Baby Number 4 .... A Bouncing Baby ....GIRL !!!!!

TARRYN LOUISE ANTONIA WALLACE

Born = 4th January, 2009
At Flinders Private Hospital, Adelaide SA
Time = 1:34 p.m.
Weight = 8 pounds, 8 1/2 ounces
Length = 52cms

Mother and baby doing well.

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and thoughts.

Stay tuned for more photos soon of the whole family with the newest addition.
Cheers, Michelle and Troy

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Still Waiting for our New Arrival

Just thought I would fill everyone one in as to where we are at wih the arrival of Bubs no. 4... as per usual this baby has decided that it is too comfortable where it is and that it isn't coming out. Our Due date has come and gone on the 30th of December and I haven't even had an niggle! So in true Wallace fashion this baby has decided that it wants to be fashionably late.

Had a check up last week on the 29th of December and discussed with the specialist what would be happening. I had already decided that I didn't want to go over too much. Especially considering Kiah was overdue and arrived at 41 and a bit weeks and weighed a whopping 9'12oz ! So I doubt that this one will be tiny! With much reluctance from the specialist she has aggreed that if nothing happens by the 5th of Janaury that I will be going in that morning at 8.30am to be induce.... Much to the relief of my back and constant swollen feet that I can no longer feel!

Thanks to those who have sent message through telling me to take it easy and rest. Ha Ha Ha... Most would know that they would have to tie my down to get me to do nothing. Also to those who have rung or emailed to find out if bubs was here yet. Will keep everyone posted as to what happens when it happens. As yet we are STILL waiting.

Okay off to catch up on some other computer work and then possibly to scrap.

Cheers M x

Friday, January 2, 2009

2009... here we come...

Wow... hard to believe that a new year has started.
Where did last year go?
Can't we just put time on hold for a bit and rewind?

This year is going to be a big year for us for sure. Both exciting and scaring all round. Some of the exciting things that we have to look forward to this year are:

* The arrival of our new bubs... sleepless nights and night time feeds here we come. Lets hope that were blessed again this time and have a very good baby... will have to wait and see.

* Nate starting school... yes... our little boy is growing up soooo fast and I know that I will miss having him home. Though he is definately over being ready for school and would love to have started yesterday!

* Jhane starts year 6. Still hard to believe that she will soon been going to high school. Definately a scary concept for us all to imagine.

* Kiah will start going to playgroup. I think she will go nuts starying at home all day without the company of Nate so I have decided to get her to socialise with other kids. She makes friends easily already and is a very personable kids so she will have a ball. Plus the fact it might take her a bit to adjust to not being "it and a bit" of the family anymore with the new arrival.

* Finally being able to enjoy our house and yard with the back yard finished. No more excuses not to socialise or go away for short holidays. Any free time we have now doesnt need to be spent of completely things around the yard. Certainly a milestone for us and one we didn't think would happen for a few more years yet. But after much saving and sacrificing it has happened.

* Hopefully a few more short holidays. We are in much need of family holiday time and looking into taking short trips withing our state to keep us all happy. The kids love to camp so why not take the opportunity when we can.

So.. I hope that everyone had a great Xmas and New Year period. We had a very quiet one here due to my current state. Much enjoyed though and nice to spend Xmas at home for a change. The kids were able to open and play with all their gifts without having to rush off anywhere. Santa certainly spoilt them all very much. Kiah finally worked out this year what Xmas was about. Mind you she still loved playing with the boxes more than the parcels..lol...Nate was so excited that we thought he would pop. He loved leaving the reindeer food out on the lawn and racing down to see if Santa had been to leave parcels in the morning.

This year we started a new tradition with Jhane. It was her first year at being able to buy gifts for other famliy members. I gave her some money and told her she was to spend a set amount on each person. She did so well and loved being able to do it. She certainly showed that she knows her family very well with the gifts that she had bought.

*For her coffee loving Dad she bought a coffee mug / chocolate set and a block of dark chocolate (his favourite)
*For me she bought a block of Belgian chocolate and a very large box of Ferrero Rocher chocolate (what all Mum's dream of)
* For Nate she bought Lego (his current addiction), and a lollie stocking
* For Kiah she got an angel tooth fairy teddy and Xmas teddy and a teddy bear ornament
* For Toffee the cat she bought a cat toy stocking pack

She also bought a beautiful hand painted ornament for Opa and Oma too with her own money to thank hem for having her and Nate over the holidays so far. Such a sweetie.

Well had better get back to it. Hoping to possibly get some scrapping done... though a little reluctant to start something that I may not be able to finish... Plus feeling a little sore and tired at the moment....mmmm... maybe time to pull out a book to read to fill in the time.

Till later, M x

Kids School Holiday Fun with Fiskars

Have you visited the Fiskars ANZ Blog lately ? Have you got kids at home that are going nuts during the school holidays ?

Then why not pop over to the blog and check out the challenges that they have set for the kids to keep them busy and perhaps you can even have a bit of time scrapping yourself then ! I know that I will be pointing my kids in this direction for sure. They love to scrap and have been madly gluing and sticking all my scraps together lately.

Here's the details of the challenges for you:

We would love to encourage the Kids to Have-a-GO at crafting during the entire month of January so we have come up with the following Challenges just for the Kids......so let's say Children up to the age of 16!

Children love to sit and create with their hands and they usually don't need that much encouragement if given some punches, safe scissors and some papers/cardstock......

Here are the Challenges kids....just choose which one that interests you and go for it....you have until January 31st to get your entries in.

1) Create a Card .....using some punches,cardstock and some hand journaling

2) Create a Layout.....this could include Christmas pics if you want....or any theme

3) Create a Mini Album....."ALL ABOUT ME"

4) Create any project you wish but you must use at least 2 Fiskars Tools and some Journaling

5) Create an "ALL ABOUT ME" layout

We would love mum,dad,grandma,grandpa,aunts,uncles,cousins,carers to all help out by encouraging your Kids to HAVE-A-GO at one or more of the Challenges these School Holidays!

Can't wait to see what the kids come up with......REMEMBER kids.....you have 31 days to get crafting!

FISKARS shall award prizes in all Sections! How exciting!!

We'll also have a KIDS GALLERY set up on the sidebar for all the entries to go into and be showcased! So kids.....just go for it.....ask your parents for help if needed.....and remember to take care when using sharp tools!


Look forward to seeing some amazing creations from the kids.

Happy Scrapping, M x

Thursday, January 1, 2009

January D2U Scrapbooking DT Work

Welcome to 2009.... and so starts another exciting year on the Direct2Scrapbooking design team. I had so much fun last year with the amazing kits that were sent out to us and this year I can see is not going to be any different. Marisa has excelled again and sent us out some amazing products to play with the kick this year off with a real bang.

So without further ado... here is what I was able to create to start this year off from the January D2U Design Team kit.

Layout 1 - Adore U = layout made using the DT kit for this month and my own stash. Loved mixing this one up a bit with all different scraps of paper and the Heidi Swapp tapes.

Products used: DT kit - Co-ordinations CS - St Valentino, Heidi Swapp tapes - Preppy
From my stash: Heidi Grace pp - Baby Girl - Glittered, Heidi Grace Chipboard Scroll, Heidi Grace Clear Scroll Stamps, Stazon Ink - Black, MM Noteworthy Journal Block, Heidi Grace Chipboard Shapes,Kaiser Pearls and Gemstones, Acetate, Journalling Pen, Kaiser Flourish Journal and Mixed Clear Stamps,Cloud 9 quote sticker, Heidi Grace Alpha Stickers.

Layout 2 - STUCK ! = layout made using the DT kit for this month and my own stash. After hand doodling a title for a LO challenge set by the girls on the forum I couldn't resist doing another hand doodled title.

Products used: DT kit - White CS, Metal Rim Tag
From my stash: Heidi Grace pp - Love Blossoms - Glittered and Mono, Heidi Grace Clear Stamps, Stazon Ink - Black, Kaiser Gemstone, Acetate, Journalling Pen, Autumn Leaves Journal Clear Stamp,Eyelet.

Layout 3 - I Luv U = layout made using the DT kit for this month and my own stash. Love playing around with these colors. Got to pull out the trusty faithful Kindy Glitz too.

Products used: DT kit - Co-ordinations CS - Bluebell, Autumn Leaves pp - Spring Grass, Gemstone Flowers
From my stash: Gin X pp -Say What? Say Anything, Index Card, Stazon Ink - Timber, Date Stamp, Journalling Pen, Kindy Glitz, Brads, Chipboard Book Plate, Heidi Grace Alpha Stickers, Heidi Grace Ric Rac and Ribbon,Cloud 9 Raindots, Eyelet, Foam tape.

Layout 4 - Unique = layout made using the DT kit for this month and my own stash. Loved the pattern on this paper and the colours were so vibrant. Really mixed it up for this one.

Products used: DT kit - Autumn Leaves pp - C'est Magnifique,Flowers
From my stash: EK Success pp- Toile/ Pink Faux, Cardstock, Stazon Ink - Black, Journalling Pen, Diamante Brad, Prima Paper Flower, American Craft Thickers Alphas, Heidi Grace Clear Scroll Stamp, Kaiser Journal Stamp, Other Flower Clear stamp.

Layout 5 - B.F.F = layout made using the DT kit for this month and my own stash. Love this paper. Had the perfect photo of my DD and her best friend all waiting to be scrapped in this paper.

Products used: DT kit - Autumn Leaves pp - Polka Border, Gemstones Flowers, Pale Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Autumn Leaves pp - C'est Magnifique, Heidi Swapp Tape
From my stash: BG - Blush - Admire, Stazon Ink - Timber, Journalling Pen, MM Noteworthy Journal Block, Staples, Dimensional Magic, Heidi Grace Clear Stitching and Scroll Stamp, Cardstock, Versamark Ink - Pinecone.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers M x