Craft Classes with Blumars

Have been having fun learning new ideas & techniques with on-line craft classes. This is excellent for me as I can work at my own pace & not have to go anywhere to do the classes.

I have learned how to make flowers & little boxes for Christmas treats. Plus have made two great little mini albums. One using coasters & the other with old cds. Very clever ideas.

This is the one done with cds:-



























The coaster one:-






























My layout using the flowers & the Christmas pudding box.

Crashed This Week

Well I haven't done a great deal the past week and a half. I usually manage one graphics project every 5 or so days but seem to be falling behind with them. Had a go at Blumars weekend workshop challenges last weekend & this week have just finished the monthly challenges as well. Today I also finally finished the Blumars class from the weekend. I get so frustrated with myself though as there is sooooo much I want to do & if I just go over a tiny bit I end up with a flare up. I only set myself one thing every few days whether it be a LO, card or graphics project. Melbourne Cup week saw me have a friend around for lunch on the Tuesday, phyiso on Wednesday, Dr appointment Thursday morning, out to lunch with friends on Friday & my sisters birthday bar-b-que Saturday & then I CRASHED. Since then have only been out for a couple of appointments - GRRRRRRRRRR - I just needed to vent my frustrations.
Feel better now.

The challenges for this months workshop where to make a Christmas decoration (rag angel), a bright & bold card & a LO with a summer theme.

Enjoyed the last graphics project too. We learnt to make a plaid frame using colours from the photo.

Pay It Forward

Pay it forward...
This is a fab idea! I found out about this via Maria's blog.

Here are the rules:

The first three people to comment here (who would like to be involved in the Pay It Forward Challenge) will receive a handmade gift from me.

All you have to do is keep the fun challenge going by agreeing to create three handmade gifts for three more people...

So, if you would like a gift hand made by me, just be one of the first 3 to pop in a comment!! :) EASY PEASY! And then you post the same thing on your blog (just copy and paste the rules) and keep paying it forward!!!!!

More Scraps from Shaddie

This months challenges were a mix of fun (using a pringles container to make something & challenging (make a heritage themed card) - particularly when I'm not really into cardmaking.
The template to use for the layout was great though - had so many different ideas going through my head. Ended up using a beautiful sunset photo from Rainbow Beach.

Little Sister's Birthday

On Saturday we had a wonderful bar-b-que lunch for my 'little sister's' 40th birthday. The few days before had been showery & quite cool but Saturday dawned lovely & sunny. It was even warm enough to go for a swim.

We took photos of the eldest girls in each family sitting on their Dad's knees.

My Week in Review

Well another quiet week for me. Still trying to get over our holidays so taking things very easy. My 'Melbourne Cup Luncheon' consisted of myself & a good friend having our own private luncheon at home - still a lot of fun. Wednesday was physiotherapy & Thursday a Doctors appointment. But on Friday my friend took myself & another friend to a lovely tea-house for lunch at Storey Brook Cottage in Woodford.

I managed to complete a couple of graphics projects during the week. I am finding them getting more interesting with each tutorial.




































Last week we had over an inch of rain which has brought the garden on beautifully. My 'Fire Lillies' or 'Christmas Lillies' are all flowering now as well as some different Daylillies.

My Daylillies

I am thrilled with my daylillies this year. They are a mass of buds & have been flowering now for a couple of weeks. We are so fortunate that even with the drought we have been receiving enough water to keep our dam & tanks topped up. I started out a few years ago with just a few varieties but each year hand pollinate to get different colours. I seem to spend half my day in the yard just wandering around doing a bit here & there - it's good therapy........

Some More of My Cards

I'm starting to enjoy making cards. Mine used to be just something I threw together when I hadn't had time to buy one but now I'll be able to make them properly. These are some more that I have done so far.

My Graphics Course

Am really enjoying my course using Photo Impact - had never realized just how much can be done with drawing & editing. We are really starting to do some interesting projects now & it's great to be able to just work at my own pace - no pressure.

This week's project was to make and decorate a plate which was interesting. I was able to use the daffodils which I had made for a previous tutorial.

I have had a lot of fun with masks as there is so much that can be done using them in different ways.