Free printable images

From the very generous Lisa Vollrath. Follow the countdown here for some daily delight.

Some more houses

These are some houses I did using Collections chipboard houses. It's for a swap with some girls overseas. I thought I'd stick to the one design this time, instead of making each one different as I have in the past (see here). Time is at a premium this close to Christmas!

Not sure if they are quite finished yet - I will stare at them

for a few more days before sending them off.

A new technique and a key chain

Howdy! I tried out a new technique this week. It's called Packing Up After You Have Finished. I'm always telling the children to do it, so I thought I'd give it a try. It went really well, and it saved me time in the end. I could actually find things towards the end of the evening! Plus it's such a nice feeling to start a project with a clean workspace. Hooray for me!

Anyway, this is one of the things I finished using the new technique. It's a keychain thingo with keys, locks and keyholes on it. I used largely Collections chipboard products, and once I started, it was hard to stop. The only thing that stopped me was running out of room on the little ball chain. It's for the very talented Ness, and I hope it puts a little sunshine in her day.

(Front and back views)

First Kiss

This is an ATC I made for a swap on ArtyOz. We had to use some paper from the Basic Grey Periphery range.

I also used a Tim Holtz stamp, little pieces of various ribbons, a couple of brads, a paper flower, a Collections chipboard corner, and some of the new Tim Holtz crakle paint. It gives a beautiful finish once you go over it with some Distress Ink to highlight the cracks. Speaking of cracks, must get onto the plumber again.

Summertime strawberries

We bought the most delicious strawberries at a market on the weekend - little bright red sweet ones. They were delicious!

This is a card I made using the strawberry row and sentiment from justjohanna. I used watercolour on the strawberries after embossing them. They look so juicy, I want to go to market and get more strawberries!

Adored

This is a door hanger I decorated in pink for a girl's bedroom. Our house is looking a bit too white - except for all the dirty handprints on the walls! A decoration like this will help detract the eye from all the dirt. (It's all part of my cunning plan to cut down on housework.)

I used justjohanna stamps, Basic Grey paper, Making Memories acrylic paint, a Collections heart and some tafetta ribbon I bought from a store that was closing down. All that on a wooden door hanger I bought for 79 cents. What a bargain! *Ding-Dong* How easy would it be to run up a few of these for Christmas presents? Woo hoo!

LouLou LO

This is my 2 year old LouLou.

If you can't tell from the photo, she's really cheeky. We went to Sorrento on the weekend (that's a little town by the sea for those of you who don't live in Melbourne). Three surfie types - sun bleached hair, tattoos on beautifully toned sun-kissed bodies, barefeet - you know what I mean, walked past us wearing just shorts. Lou pointed at them, and said "ha ha - boobies". Even the surfers laughed!!

Anyway, that's an 8x8 layout I did of the cheeky one using the November A la Tarte kit from Lime Tart. The gallery and blog have been updated now - there's some beautiful work on there even if I do say so myself!

Germination

My husband has a new baby. He's been looking after it every night, secretly, and with recycled water, because of the drought and the water restrictions, and some nosy neighbours (who wants to answer to an inquisition, right?). Here's a pic:

It's only 3 weeks old - can't wait until it all emerges. This growth is one type of seed, he's also mixed in another one that will germinate in another 2-3 weeks. Maybe by Christmas we'll have green out the front of our house instead of just dirt. Hooray!

Bright

These are some ATCs I made for an ArtyOz swap. We had to make something using bright colours - hope these are not too gaudy! I just love red and aqua together.

I made the background some texture with Impasto medium and painted over it with acrylic paint. I used a Collections heart on some text from an old book, a Paperbag studio stamp up the side, and the little B&W word is also Collections.

Fun with justjohanna

I made a simple card in one of my favourite colour combos - B & W. I embellished with some little self-adhesive mirrror tiles.

I also love black and cream:

Lime Tart November sketch

Here's the card I made using the Lime Tart November card sketch. That's some gorgeous Basic Grey paper and my first ever justjohanna stamp. I'll be adding a sentiment as soon as I decide who the recipient of this card will be. It looks kind of Christmassy doesn't it?

By the way, the Lime Tart blog has been updated with a Step-by-Step from yours truly, as well as some beautiful samples using justjohanna stamps. Check it out here.

Lime Tart LouLou

Here's a layout I did of my cheeky LouLou using supplies from the Novmeber A la Tarte from Lime Tart. Check the Lime Tart gallery in a few days to see the full pic, as well as other fabulous projects from the other DT members.

New Images from justjohanna

Just in time for Christmas - a bunch of new images! You can see them here

And here are some cards I whipped up with them:

Apologies for the poor pictures - the digicam and I are not seeing eye to eye these days.

Jeepers - all this reminds me I had better get started on this year's Christmas cards, or they just won't get done!

The Delightful Jenny C

I had the absolute pleasure of attending a couple of classes with Jenny Crossley. She's an amazing more or less self-taught artist. Her blog is amazing - wander on over and check it out sometime. Gail kindly opened her home to us - thank you Gail!!

The first thing we made was a house pendant, like the ones Jenny made for Paperific this year. I still can't believe she made more than one of these to give away! **Happy Dance** Now I know how to make a wire nest! It's so easy (when you know how!).

The second thing we made was this junk bracelet:

I couldn't believe all the stuff that Jenny puts onto one of these masterpieces!

The last thing I did was some soldering. I was so excited to finally have a go at this. It's a bit rough (and the photo is even rougher!), but this little piece holds so much value for me. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and to be taught to do it by a talent such as Jenny, well I was stoked. I will be doing more pieces like this in the near future (well, maybe after Christmas when I get a soldering iron). Sally Jean Alexander - look out!!

Cupcake canvas

I've just finished writing the instructions for this little baby - a cupcake canvas.

They should appear on the Lime Tart blog in the next week or so. I used bits and bobs from the November A la Tarte kit. In the meantime, if you squint........

Hey cupcake!

Here are a couple of cards I made using one of my favourite stamps - the strawberry cupcake by justjohanna.

Actually - that's put me in the mood for cupcakes. I might go bake me a batch now. Mmmmm.

November A la Tarte Kit

There's only one word to describe this month's kit, and that is DELICIOUS! Beautiful pastel patterned papers, which to my surprise are double sided - I love that!

Also in the kit are some delicious buttons, chipboard scrolls, and a couple of my soon-to-become-favourite justjohanna stamps!

Here are some sneak peeks. You'll have to wait until the photos are up in the Lime Tart gallery to see the full picture.