Getting Organised in a Christmas Way

With Christmas creeping up on us slowly I wanted to get organised earlier this year.

Things can get kinda crazy around most households.

So next month on the Fiskars blog I will be showing you some quick and easy projects/ideas to get organised in advance. They will be things that are quick to make, ideas of how to get organised and how to plan for gift giving and making.

In preparation for the month of planning, today I will keep it simple...I want you to write a list of everyone you need to send a Christmas card to. This can be done in a diary or on the computer. That way you have a hard copy of it to work with.


I find by writing it all down I don't forget anyone.

My list looks something like this:

Name:John Citizen
Card Made:
Photo/Letter Needed:
Envelope Addressed:
Mailed:

Name:John Citizen
Card Made:
Photo/Letter Needed:
Envelope Addressed:
Mailed:
etc...

I have it set up like this so I can write their name and other details as you can see. I often include a Christmas photo/letter to closer friends and family I have made up on the computer. By doing it this way I can clearly see how many of each I need to do and where I am at. Also good when my husband wants to help out, as he can see where we are at.

Here's one of the quick cards we made at last years Christmas crop here in Adelaide in preparation to Christmas.


Check back in from the 1st of June for some more Christmas ideas/projects.

TFL, Mx

Butterflies

This month has been a busy one for me on both a personal front and a scrap booking front.

With lots of scrap booking deadlines to adhere to and birthdays/mothers day/ starting preschool and general life with a family time has had to managed well.

This month was my Mum's birthday. Every year it gets harder to work out what to buy her. Not that I don't know what she likes just that she doesn't really like getting given gifts. She is the type of person that gives to others but finds it hard to receive.

This year however she came to me with a gift in mind. I was jumping for joy when she told me that she wanted to to make another canvas for her of my sisters children to go with the other canvases I have already made her (her wedding and one of my children). She was in no rush to get it she said but that was like giving a bull a red rag! I couldn't wait to get started.

I bought a 12" x 14" canvas and got to work. Originally my Mum wanted to use the same paper I had previously and provided me with an old photo of my sisters kids. Well my sister and I got sneaky... My sister emailed me a recent photo and I changed the colours of the paper to suit. The paper also just HAD to be used as it featured my Mum's favourite thing, butterflies!

I had so much fun playing around with the base of the canvas. I used some Helmar Crackle Medium firstly. Then I adhered and layered patterned paper and doilies using Helmar Decoupage Medium. It made adhering the paper so much easier using my Helmar Glue Spreader too for an even surface.

Because of using the Helmar Decoupage Medium when I stamped the music image onto the background it had a slightly glossy look which really makes it stand out.

I also used a combination of Helmar 450 and Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots to adhere the banner and other embellishments down to create dimension. I have used SO many different Helmar products on this canvas that it isn't funny!

Here's the full canvas.

I was full of Helmar Adhesives, glimmer mist and paint that night when I went out.. but damn it felt good to get my hands dirty!

Off to play so more.

Happy Creating, M x

**Crop Reminder**

Just thought I would send out a reminder of the crops for this year to everyone.

If you wish to book in please let me know by email.
Remember also that cancellations MUST be made two weeks in advance

All kits come with full instructions and all that is needed to complete what we are making on the day. (except adhesives and ink if doing it at home).
Each kits contains either 1 Off The Page item or 3 Layouts.

Places are limited and book out fast, so you need to book early to avoid disappointment.

The details are:

Dates:
June 25th
August 27th
September 24th
November 5th

Venue: Sheidow Park
Time : 10:30 - 4pm

Cake, Biscuits, Tea, and Coffee provided.

Please bring a small plate of food to share for lunch (can heat food if needed).

Reminders and emails detailing tool lists for the day will be emailed out one week prior to each crop.

Wallace Paper Art Designs
0414 271 083

Looking forward to seeing you all.

Cheers, M xxx

Oh So Busy

OMG!!!! I have been SOOOOOOOOO busy both scrapbooking wise and family wise that it is nuts... I am totally not with it at the moment and time just seems to be flying by it is crazy.. so much so that I thought it was going to be the 1st of July on Monday !!!

Okay .. so I have pulled myself together after a freak attack yesterday about applications do in and deadlines I thought I may not meet to finish editing what I have been madly scrapping for the past two weeks.

So things I can share.. something I can't either yet.. or till unknown..hehehe... secret squirrel work!!! lol..

What I can share in this post is the challenges for this month at The Scrappers Outlet.

Inspiration challenge :




Card challenge:
- Create a Tri fold Card
Card 1




Card 2




Lastly...

Ready Steady Cook
- Recipe

Plus Bling, Fabric and Rubons


Why not head over and see what everyone else created for this months challenges.

TFL, M x

A little bit of inspiration

Our recent trip over Easter provided lots of scrap booking inspiration.

I love to camp and the great outdoors here provide plenty of opportunities for getting out and roughing it.

Our Easter trip was to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Plenty of good food, wine, great company, camp cooking and open areas to photograph.

When we got back from our trip it was nice to feel refreshed and revived from getting back to nature. My scrap booking mojo flowed like crazy when I started editing some of the photos from while we were away.

The photo in the layout below especially got me thinking...I wanted to create an inspirational piece for one of my eldest daughter's friends to keep her motivated this year at school. So with a little help from Helmar and FiskarsI got creating.

I love creating dimension and this layout was no exception. I printed the photo out twice (once in a very vintage look and one in full vivid colour) onto A4 Matte photo paper. My first help from Helmar came in the form of Helmar Zapdots. The vivid photo was cropped to feature just my daughter friend. I then adhered it with the Helmar Zapdots over the second print where the image was the same (in real life it almost looks like she is jumping out of the page!)

!)

Then I layered patterned paper and border punched strips, punched with my NEW favourite Fiskars border punch
(hahaha!!! to my crop girls that know what I mean about my border punch favourite.

I even included some of my handmade book page flowers which I adhered using Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots.. YES!! for those that know me I have an ever ready supply of Helmar Liquid Scrapdots on the go all the time!



Here's the full layout.


The quote reads:
"Reach for the stars and you can accomplish anything"

I popped the layout into a 12x12 Scrap booking frame (bit hard to not glare photographing it in the frame, hence why no frame photos) and gave it to my daughter's friend the week after we got back.

I hope that it gives her time to reflect throughout this year when things may get a little tough for her in her first year at high school.

Don't forget to see what the rest of the Helmar Design Team have been up to on the blog.
TFL, Mxx

A Card made with Love

With Mother's Day last weekend a homemade card was necessary.

I don't buy cards and haven't for ages. I love being able to create that something special and personalised for family and friends.

This time round I had to create a card for my Mum for Mother's Day. When Amy Mattes sent me these cute flowers to play with this month, I just knew I had to use them on my Mum's Mother's Day card.

Close up of some of the flowers I hand cut.

A little help from Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots for dimension and kindy glitz for a bit of glitz and the card was done.

I still have quite a few flowers printed out to play with. So keep your eyes peeled later this month for what my little boy got up to at the farm.

TFL, M x

Playing around with Helmar and Fiskars again

Finally got to finish a layout I started while at Escape 2 Create.

I loved making my own background paper to mix things up a bit and this layout was no exception.

Love stamping onto the cardstock and then going over the image with Helmar Acid Free Glue to highlight parts of the image. It is a little bit of a process with colouring in the image with my glue pen full of Helmar Acid Free Glue. However I am impressed with the results that you can achieved so have repeated this process several times on other layouts.

Here's the stamped image after I had then wiped it over with some irridescent white paint and then wiped off the excess paint. Looks quite amazing in real life. Just a little hard to photograph


I then added some dimension to the layout by adhering the embellishments to the page using my Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots I rave about.


And the full layout.

Gotta love my eldest DD eyes !!! Yes I am bias!

AND YES !!!!! the flourish on the page WAS HAND CUT !!! I am a sucker I know.. but everyone kept asking me while I was at the retreat if I had handcut the flourish! With a little bit of help from my Fiskars Fingertip knife the job was done rather quickly !



Can you tell that my scrap trolley was full of lots of Helmar goodies while I was away !!!

TFL, M x

Digi Kits fun

You gotta love digital scrap booking supplies!!!

Love how flexible they are and last kit I got to play with from MyGrafico was no exception!
I was sent some Dilek Designs paper

and some LA.LA. Studio digi stamps

to work with this time round...

I printed the paper onto textured card stock that I had here and it turned out amazing. The paper was so yummy to play with and really lends itself to all sorts of creations.

Here's a close up of the embellishments

Lots of stamp and hand cutting for this layout.. but SOOOOOOO worth it. Great therapy too! LOL!

Here's the full layout

Why not pop over to MYGRAFICO and see what they have in store. I know you will like what you see as I did. So many yummy things there to play with.

TFL, M x

An old one I found...

Haven't shared this one yet.. been busy creating and found it in my album of layout to photograph with a few layouts thats still to have photos added to.
This layout is about the chores that are involved with being a parent.. which I am sure we all know about!

Played around with my Helmar Acid Free Glue on the stamped image for this one.. loved the dimension it gave to the image.
Back to the grind stone..

TFL, M x

First Lot of TSO Layouts

Have been extremely lucky to have become a part of The Scrappers Outlet Design Team this month. I am extremely excited to be working with a truly amazing team.

When I came back from our trip away to the Flinders at Easter I was lucky to find my Design Team pack sitting waiting for me on the porch.

My fingers were itching to get started because of all the yummy goodies that were in the pack.

Thanks again guys for the pack I LOVED it all and had so much fun creating. I managed to get 3 LO's created and have a little left over that I am hoping to get a card made with at a later date.

I was sent this to play with -
PP = Imaginisce - Live Loud
American Craft Ribbon
7 Gypsies 3 in 1 parentheses trio stamp
MME Magnolia Serene "Letters"

From my own stash -
Cardstock
Material scrap
Floss
Own Alphas
Glimmer Mist
Kindy Glitz

Here's what I created.

Layout 1 - Zoo Doo


Layout 2 - Rockstar


Layout 3- Friends


Why not check out the gallery to see what the other design team members have created this month.

TFL, M x

Toot Toot !!!

Check this out !!!

We wish to thank everyone who submitted a design team and guest designer application. The amount of applications along with the creativity was mind blowing. We are proud and excited to announce our 2011 Helmar USA/AUS Design Team!



Tracy Weinzapfel (Design Team Coordinator)
Erika Taylor
Leanne Garner
Jen Erickson
Carisa Zglobick
Sarah Mullanix
Julie Walton
Carrie Ferrier
Carole Stirrat
Jessica Morales
Letitia Grace Lauer
Cherry Nelson
Connie Mercer
Jessica Diedrich
Jimmi Mayo
Lydell Quinn
Alicia Barry
Michelle Wallace
Beck Beattie
Julianne McKenna-De Lumen
Jenny Burns
Mandy Collins

We are so excited to have these wonderful designers work with our adhesives!! Stay tuned for a ton of creativity and inspiration on our Helmar USA Design Team Blog!

Congrats to our new 2011 Design Team, Guest Designers and our Adhesive Ambassadors!!

Very excited to be able to be on this team for another trem. Cannot wait to get my hands dirty and play.

M xx

Chocoholics Challenge for May

Looking for a fun challenge this month ??

Why not head over to The Scrappers Outlet.

I have been given the opportunity to set the Chocoholics Challenge for the month of May.

The colours for this month are:
Chocolate, Pink and Black

And here's my sample..


and a close up


Why not pop over and join us for this months challenges.

TFL, Mx