The Crafty Nomad

A little bit of sewing...

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000+01:00

I recently made these special gifts for my sister's birthday. It was sooo good to get back to sewing. I just loved these so much I didn't want to give them up!

First up a Union Jack Pillow.

With a button up backing - love that almost as much as the front!

And secondly a tea cosy!

OK so for some very strange reason this keeps flipping upside down when I put it into Blogger! Anyone help?

Here is the back.

Belated card

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000+01:00

I made this very belated card for my Brother in law. I totally card lifted it from Karen Baker! Thanks Karen it was just what I needed!

Have a lovely day!

Case Study Challenge

2011-10-18T22:06:00.000+01:00

Just a quick post. I made this card for my sis to match some items I sewed for her (will share those soon!). I used the inspiration from Case Study Challenge.

Sory for terrible photos, relying on my phone at the mo as I left my camera at my Dad's!

Wonder Woman!

2011-10-04T12:25:00.000+01:00

Just a quick one to let you know I am alive and well!! We survived the move back to the UK and have enjoyed the unusually hot September/October. Although today it seems to have sprung back into autumn!

I haven't been crafting at all due to the fact that I am living in a building site! However yesterday hubby went back to work so after spending yesterday cleaning up, this morning I set about unpacking my one box of crafting materials that came back airfreight. It looks a sorry sight in the room that will one day be my craft room, but at the moment is a store room with all the wallpaper removed but not yet replastered, holes in the ceiling where the spot lights will go, wires hanging out of the ceiling and wall, cavities chased out of the walls for wires. Not pretty at all. But in the midst of all this I made a card this morning for a friend.

Now there is a story behind this card! My lovely friend Lisa and her hubby Jon came over for dinner one evening. My daughter had left some of her dress ups laying around, as kids do! And Lisa spent most of the evening rotating between wearing the Super Girl headdress and the Wonder Woman headdress! Oh and by the way just so you know she is tee-total so not a drop of alcohol was involved!!

I used this weeks Clean and Simple sketch, but turned it upside down.

I'm now off to research tiles and glass!

SALE

2011-07-29T14:47:00.000+01:00

[Edited to add:

Sorry these are no longer available.]

Just to let you all know I'm having a bit of a sell off of all my pre-made onesies and t-shirts that I used as examples at Markets and for photos for Made It. Most have names on, some don't. They are all priced at AU$15 plus postage. This is a good deal, about half price on most. You can check them out here. Have sold alot of them locally already but these ones still have homes to find!

There are also a few not listed on Made it as follows:

I have a boy's white t-shirt with a green dinosaur and the HARRY on in a Size 3.

And a girl's grey t-shirt with a bright pink dinosaur and the name CHLOE in a Size 3 also.

Will send a photo as required.

Nomadic No More?

2011-07-28T13:43:00.000+01:00

It seems that the Crafty Nomad is going home, possibly for good! It's true we are leaving Western Australia next month and are homeward bound to the UK. This blog may be a little empty and lonely for a while whilst I tackle the move. It might also start to include a few home renovation items too in the future!

As for now I just have one little card to share for a friend who just had a beautiful baby girl this week.

I made a onesie with the baby's name on it plus a butterfly using the spotty fabric for the letters and the flowers fabric for the butterfly. So I wanted to make a card using the same fabrics. I added a bit of crochet trim (thanks Bianca) and some thickers to spell out 'baby'. And completed the look with a bit of stitching and embossing. I'm entering this to the Ribbon Carousel Challenge for their 'A Stitch in Time' challenge.

I love how this turned out looking so clean and simple. I forgot to photo the onesie!

Well I guess I'll see you when I see you! When things gets back to 'normal' whatever that is!

Just a little bit saucy!

2011-07-21T14:57:00.000+01:00

Well it's no secret that I love Kenny K images, but I've never before bought any of his more risque images. But I had such a suitable occasion this week (Ha!) that I decided to bite the bullet and get one!

This is the sexy, sassy Jessi Jane!

I was inspired by two sketches that were strikingly similar, I reversed both of them though and came up with this!

I have alot of texture going on in this card: black velvet paper; red velvet ribbon; crochet trim; embossed metal; plus the buttons!

This is also for two other challenges:

Ribbon Carousel - Use buttons
Kenny K Crafty Girlz - Anything Goes

Have a lovely day.

Just so you know...things might get a little quiet around here for a while...we have a big move on the horizon. Watch this space!

Luck of the Irish & some more Bunting!

2011-07-14T12:11:00.000+01:00

So this week I was asked to make a custom design with an Irish theme. I decided to do a Leprechaun's hat with a four leaf clover on it. I loved how it turned out! Very Green!

I've also made a boys version of the bunting onesie. Love how these are turning out!

Have a lovely day.

Cute Bunting on a Onesie!

2011-07-10T11:45:00.000+01:00

Just recently I have started making bunting to sell at local markets, which inspired me to combine two products into one! Bunting on onesies! This is my first onesie with bunting as the design and I LOVE it!! It's in the shop, you can see it here. Happy to do other colours too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you Teacher

2011-07-08T12:34:00.000+01:00

As it is the end of the first semester here in WA I decided to do a little thank you card to accompany the gift for my daughter's teacher. I used some Kaisercraft paper. And had my daughter fill out the report card label! We did write her name at the top after we photographed it.

This is for the following challenges:

Clearly I Stamp - Punches (Scallop border) and Diecuts (A+ scallop square and report card tag)
Card & Stamp - Punches/Dies (Scallop Border)
Inspirational Card Sketches - You pick the sketch from the past #57

Thanks for stopping by!

Jade's Creation: Leaving Card for a friend (Age 7)

2011-07-08T11:55:00.000+01:00

My daughter who is 7 made this card for her friend who is leaving town, with no help from me. Oh apart from using the Big Shot to cut the circle in the middle and the scallop circle - forgot about that! But she did EVERYTHING else, she even sketched out the layout before she did it! How cute is that!

She chose her friends favourite colours.

She is entering this into the following challenges:

Stamps R Us - There was a little Girl
Card and Scrap - Use Punches/Dies
Clearly I stamp - Punches/Diecuts
Stampavie - More than 3 layers

Unscripted Sketches and Case Study

2011-07-06T06:45:00.002+01:00

Two cards to share today. First one is for the Unscripted Sketches Challenge.

And the second was for the Case Study Challenge but alas I was too late to upload!

Back with links later!

Collapsible Pet Water Bowl

2011-07-06T00:00:00.001+01:00

I followed a tutorial that I originally saw on Sew Mama Sew last year to make this origami water bowl for pets. You can see the tutorial here on Craft Stylish. You use oilcloth and simple folding, plus a little bit of sewing! I made it for my Dad and his wife who look after other people's dogs when the owners go on holiday. And of course for their own dog, Frodo, as well!

You can fold it up as much as you want it still springs back into shape!

Think I might make some of these for the next local craft market:

Cossack Art Award Family Day 17th July 2011

CAS-ual Fridays: Kraft-men

2011-07-05T03:32:00.000+01:00

I have a card to share today made for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to create a clean and simple card using kraft for a man.

I made this for my Dad who is into motorbikes. I like clean and simple cards for men.

The motorbike stamp is from Stampin Up. The tyre tread is from a Digi kit called Beep Beep from Jen Allyson, available here at Two Peas. The Sentiment is computer generated.

Have a lovely day.

Card Patterns #122 - New Baby

2011-07-04T04:26:00.001+01:00

Hi All just a quick post today. I made a card for a friend who just had a baby boy. I used the sketch at Card Patterns.

The image was a freebie a long time ago from Meljens. I embossed the word baby in white.

Have a lovely day!

JUGs #91 Sketch Time

2011-07-02T08:45:00.000+01:00

I needed a card for a christening this evening so I used the sketch over at Just Us Girls. It's a bit modern looking with these papers I suppose, but I like it this way!

The stamp is from Unity and the sentiment is computer generated.

Have a lovely day!

Final DYSU as DT for me!

2011-07-01T00:22:00.000+01:00

Well firstly Sorry this is late! I had heaps of problems with blogger yesterday, couldn't even log in!

Well this week is week 26 of DYSU. It is the end of my six month term and as I have quite a lot going on here at the mo, I decided to bow out now. I have had such fun and at times it has certainly been challenging. I am so glad I did it as it has made me get outside my comfort zone. A big Thank you to Alison, Janna and the team for including me in this venture!

Today's Challenge is:

SQUARES

I used a Spaceship image today from the Stamping Boutique.

I used some lovely black sparkly paper/card that a friend gave me. The blue matting was some packaging saved from something!

I addedsome square bling to the corner and covered the dome of the spaceship in crystal effects with added glitter.

Head on over to DYSU to check out the cool prizes and load up your 'square' creations!

Oh dear...

2011-06-28T07:41:00.001+01:00

...it's official....I am hooked on Pinterest! Can't seem to drag myself away! I blame you Bianca, entirely!! If you want to check out my pin boards they are here.

So what have I been making today....and yesterday? Well two little bags based on one I saw a few weeks ago over at SewMamaSew. I think my measurements are different though as I made them to fit the books I had bought for the little ones they are for. And I lined mine, and there is no library card place. So actually they are quite different, LOL! My friend Martine who is leaving has two children and these are for them.

Have a lovely day.

A Happy Rainbow Quilt and card for a sad reason!

2011-06-27T09:26:00.013+01:00

Those of you who know Karratha, will know that it is a very transient town. People come here to work for a couple of years, usually on mining projects and then move on. My very good friend Martine, from Just a little Craft, is moving on this week and I am VERY sad about it. I thought I had hardened my heart to leaving friends after living this nomadic life for 10 years. BUT apparently not! I must be melting with age! Lucky for me she is moving back to The Netherlands, so at least when we eventually get back to the UK we will not be that far away. For that I am glad.

Anyway it was her leaving party on Saturday and I wanted to give her a special present. But as I was in denial about her leaving I put off making the special present. The idea had formed in my head a while before. I knew her favourite colour is blue and so I spent ages looking for some lovely blue fabrics. I was planning to make her a little quilt that would be used as a wall hanging or runner. When I left here last time my friend Lorraine made me a gorgeous wall hanging with thongs on (that's flip flops not g-strings folks! ;-)) and it proudly hangs on my wall in my craft room and I love it! Well I couldn't find any blue fabrics I liked so I came up with another idea! Staying with the wall hanging idea I decided to go for colours that would remind her of me and her time here, it is a present from me after all!

Hence the rainbow idea came about. I knew she loved my Rainbow Pillow so I wanted to create something along those lines. I incorporated lots of the fabric that I use on my t-shirts, some she gave me and some special fabrics relating to travel, Australia, Britain. I wanted it to evoke memories. My original plan was to put all the coloured pieces next to one another, but when I laid it out on the table it was just way too busy so I decided to break it up with the black fabric I was using on the back. I LOVED the result.

And whilst this is about our time in Australia, I also wanted to have something on the to acknowledge that I am British, hence the London bus on the back! The butterfly was on an Australia Day Baby Onesie Martine bought me to make something with as it was on sale! The same for the 'Australia' on the front (Above). Well I thought they would be perfect appliqued onto this project! Love the Aussie flag in the butterfly pattern!

The square on the right is a printed out message from me to Martine. Thankfully the bright sun has glared out the message!

Some closer up shots.

It was a learning process, I did have to unpick some of the quilting due to bunching, but I got there. This is my first proper quilting project afterall, well bigger than a mug rug (!) and a cushion!

Anyhow I think she liked it!

I'm in the green spotty dress

I made a card to match along with the rainbow theme.

I'm entering it for the following card challenges:

Embellish Magazine - Rainbow
Clean & Simple Sketch
Crafty Creations - Let it Shine - Bling
The Shabby Tearoom - My Favourite Things - that would have to be the Rainbow colours!

And I am linking up to some linky parties:

CraftoManiac

DYSU: Mustard, Mauve & Pink

2011-06-23T07:01:00.030+01:00

This week's challenge over at DYSU is a colour challenge:

Mauve, Mustard and Pink!

When I heard what the colour combo was I thought 'Yuk'!! But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I love how challenges get you to work outside your comfort zone. I went for bright colours instead of pastels, hope that's ok.

I used a Meljen image: A Girl and her Kitty, available from Whimsy Stamps one of today's sponsors.

I used this weeks sketch at Card Patterns. But turned it upside down and took a bit of a liberty with the sentiment flag!

I used a luxurious piece of velvet ribbon that is so soft!

Today's Sponsors are:

Whimsy Stamps

Coco Dingo Stamps

Have a lovely day and be sure to link up your creation to the DYSU blog!

Absence

2011-06-23T05:41:00.000+01:00

I know I've been a bit absent from the blog lately, but I have been busy making stuff still!

Some t-shirt orders:

Freebies!

2011-06-17T05:52:00.000+01:00

I just decided to not to charge for any of my digital images, so if you want them just click on the tab at the top of the page which now reads "Freebie Digital Images". The images on there are still watermarked but when you click on them you'll be taken to a download page. I have more that I will load up later.

DYSU: Use a Star!

2011-06-16T07:01:00.019+01:00

This week's challenge at DYSU is:

Use a Star!

I used an image from JLJ Designs called Lighty Duck. Getting ready for Christmas! And I already know who this one is earmarked for!

Today's sponsors are:

Little Musings

JLJ Designs

Pixie Dust Studio

So hop on over to DYSU and load up your project using a star!

Baby!

2011-06-15T09:43:00.000+01:00

I missed my friend's bably shower last week, but this is the card I made for her. I used all these bright colours as a little birdie told me she loves these colours!

The Baby bingo card is a freebie digital stamp that you can get here. And the lady is from Stamping Bella.

Anyway we were due to get together this week for a cuppa and a catch up before the baby arrives. But it turns out we left it too late, as her waters broke last night and she is being induced today! I hope it is quick and pain free!

This card is for the sketch challenge at Inspirational Card Sketches and also for the Sassy Studios challenge to sew on a card.

Jay Gee & Kenny K

2011-06-14T10:10:00.000+01:00

Just a quick card share today. I made this using the inspiration picture over at Jay Gee's, it's a bit similar to another card I made recently based on an old Mojo Sketch, as I used the leftover pieces for this one! It's also for the Kenny K challenge to use your fave colour, as turquoise/teal is my fave colour!

I threaded the twine through holes at the corner of each rectangle and secured at the back. I saw this technique somewhere and thought it looked cool but I can't find where I saw it now, sorry!

Fancy a Beer? Cheers!

2011-06-11T03:32:00.000+01:00

Today's card is for a friend's husband who celebrates his birthday today. I started off inspired by the CAS-ual Fridays challenge but I can't hand on heart say it really looks all that clean and simple to me! But at least it has the three elements of ribbon, diecut and felt.

The image is from Kenny K.

I'm also entering this into the Alphabet Challenge for a male themed card.

DYSU: Birthday!

2011-06-09T07:01:00.045+01:00

So todays DYSU challenge is an easy one!

Birthday

Now looking at the inspiration picture I'm disappointed I didn't add in a little rainbow theme, I'm sure you all know how I much I love rainbows! Ah well next time!

Today I used an image from Pink Cat Studio called Fairy Lily on a Swing.

I used last week's sketch from Mojo Monday. I also took inspiration from the challenge over at Jay Gee's: the colours and the spotty mirror at the top.

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to head on over to DYSU to load up your birthday themed creation. There are three super sponsors this week:

Bugaboo

Pink Cat Studio

Crafty Emma's Store

DYSU #22: Orange

2011-06-02T07:01:00.045+01:00

This week the challenge at DYSU is:

ORANGE

I have to say Orange has to be my least favourite colour! So this was to be a challenge! I used an image from one of our sponsors this week: Karen's Doodles, called Sweep me off my Feet. Which by the way, I LOVED! Just look at the way they are looking adoringly into each other's eyes! There are heaps of other wonderful images over there too so be sure to check it out.

As you can see I'm still really into fussy cutting at the mo, especially since I found my sharp scissors this morning! I just really like the effect of cutting the image out and raising it up on dimensionals.

Our sponsors today are:

Copic Marker Scrapbooking

Karen's Doodles

Inky Impressions

So make sure to load up your ORANGE creation to the DYSU blog!

DYSU: Animals

2011-05-26T07:01:00.022+01:00

Hi all - I'm finally back! After a hectic and exhausting couple of weeks we are back home and starting to settle back into routines and get over the crippling jetlag. Sorry for the absence.

Today I'm sharing my card I made for the DYSU Challenge.

This week's theme is:

ANIMALS

I used a super cute image from one of our very own Design Team members: Miranda!

I've used this week's colour challenge over at the Colour Q. Haven't played along there for a while so that was nice to join in!

Lots of sponsorship fun going on at DYSU this week with Stitchy Bear and Miranda. Be sure to load up your animal creation over at DYSU.

Thanks for stopping by.

DYSU: Purple

2011-05-05T07:01:00.012+01:00

Just a quick post for the DYSU challenge this week folks as I'm afraid my family recieved some sad news this week and so our minds are elsewhere. For all the details please head on over to the DYSU blog.

The theme this week is:

Purple

I used an image from one of the sponsors and decided to make a garland for my daughter's room instead of a card.

This will probably be my last post for a couple of weeks.

Happy Birthday

2011-05-03T04:53:00.000+01:00

Here is a card for my friend's birthday:

Made for these challenges:

Sorry might be a bit quiet around here for a while, we've just had some sad news this week.

Mother's Day Card

2011-05-01T06:17:00.000+01:00

I started making this card using inspiration from last weeks Mojo Monday Sketch, but a) deviated too much from the sketch to enter it and b) think it would have been late anyway!

It is however for the following challenges:

I paper pieced the bird and leaves and coloured the branch and the little circles around the edge.

Thanks for stopping by!

In honour of the Royal Wedding....

2011-04-29T09:34:00.001+01:00

...no self respecting British girl could not have something special to wear on today of all days! So in honour of the Royal Wedding I made this for my daughter!

We did as you can see twist the colours a bit to make it more girly but I think I can live with that! The measurements are exact at least!

Sorry for the shocking photos, would you believe it is actually raining here!

DYSU: Make it POP!

2011-04-28T07:01:00.079+01:00

Well, what a lot of comments I had last week from the blog hop! Always makes you feel nice, so thank you!

Today the challenge over at DYSU is:

Make it Pop!

I used an image from Stitchy Bear (one of today's sponsors!) called Krizza. I decided to make her a bit wild with GREEN hair! By the way she is on offer at the mo and reduced by 30% to $2.10!

Given that the theme was to Make it Pop, I made it Pop in three ways: Colour; dimensionals (front image); and pop up (inside - we'll get to that!). Despite being urged to make it pop in a fourth way by my juvenile family (!) I refrained! but it did lead to some amusing conversations! Makes you wonder who the juvenile is sometimes!

I took a piece of kraft card and embossed it, but before running it through my machine, I inked up one side of my embossing folder so the ink would transfer to the non popped up embossed bit - oh see I did do four types of popping!! LOL! Then I added a bit more black in on top of some of the embossed bits!

I ruffled a piece of fabric and then sewed it in place on the card. I'm loving playing with the skin copics, still following the Annika's tutorial that I talked about last week in the Strongman post! Loving the results, maybe if you click on the image above you might be able to see more clearly.

And this is the inside. I curled up a bit of wire and stuck it to the card and the sentiment so that now it springs off the page! Added a bit of co-ordinating fabric.

Our sponsors today are:

Head on over to the DYSU website to see more of the DT creations and to upload you Popping Creation!

And the winner is....

2011-04-28T03:34:00.000+01:00

Sorry so slack I just saw that the winners were all announced on DYSU for the Blog Hop and I hadn't even done the random org thing!!!!

Anyhow without further ado the winner of the Windy Day image from Stretch and Bubbles is comment #8:

Julie

who said:

Great cards! I love the lace on the dress
Hugs,
julie

Congratulations Julie, I'll be in touch!

Cute lil' Bow Ties for Boys!

2011-04-27T12:01:00.000+01:00

I know normally you get to see lots of girly stuff on my blog. But today I wanted to show you some cute little polka dot Bow Ties I made last week. I used a tutorial from Christie at Lemon Squeezy Home - LOVE this blog! These two little cuties are for my friends two little boys who are having a circus themed party next month and going as clowns! The polka dot fabric was from the stash I won last month (or before) from Sew Mama Sew. I think it is Queen Street fabric. Will look for a link.

Aren't they just the cutest! Will have to get some pictures of the boys modelling them!

DYSU 16: Easter Blog Hop!

2011-04-21T07:01:00.041+01:00

Firstly a big Welcome to any newbies along for the DYSU blog hop! Pull up a chair and feel free to have a browse around!

"A"

Today I have two projects to share with you for our awesome DYSU Easter Blog Hop! We have four sponsors this week providing prizes for four randomly picked lucky entants. Plus a prize for the Blog hop Winner. Plus I get to giveaway the Windy Day image I used below from Stretch and Bubbles to one lucky commenter! And if you hop along to all the other DT members, they are giving images away too! Yay!

Here are my two cards. The first one uses the Windy Day image from Stretch and Bubbles that I am able to give away to one lucky commenter.

I paper pieced the image, after printing it onto kraft card. This has to be one of my all time favourite colour combos!

Here's a close up of the little metal flower that I made, I'm planning on adding a tutorial for that next week so make sure to pop back or follow along so you don't miss it!

And my second card uses an image from another one of today's sponsors: Amber Ink. The image from a set called Hostess with the Mostess. It comes with a whopping 20 digi stamps! Heaps of things for you to put onto her tray. But given that it was Easter I added my own topping, yummy Easter Eggs! I also used Digital papers from the shop too!

I added some lace trim to the underskirt and gave dimension to the skirts!

The Sponsors this week are:

So just to recap....

Be sure to hop along to all the blogs and comment for your chance to win free images from Stretch 'n' Bubbles - The next one is Marcy
Whilst you're there collect the letters and figure out the mystery phrase, then head on over to DYSU and email the phrase in.
Make sure to load up your card to stand a chance of winning one of our sponsor prizes or being picked as one of our top 3 (or both LOL!)

Cupcake Anyone?

2011-04-20T08:58:00.001+01:00

Oh this is too cute not to share! One of my fave blogs of all time for tutorials has got to be Sew Mama Sew! And yesterday evening this fun free tutorial by Jen of Tie Dye Diva Patterns popped into my blog reader. So I'm thinking ok so what knit fabric do I have that is cute for babies. So after rooting through my stash I came out with a onesie I had come across a while ago and bought because the fabric was too cute! Anyhow I figured there was just enough fabric to make the hat, so I started cutting! My band at the bottom was just a smidge narrower than the tutorial. The tutorial was super easy to follow and fairly quick to put together.

I was very annoyed with myself for not taking the before picture so I put the leftovers together so you could see!!

Also in sewing time today, I made this little train onesie.

So today has been the first day of the school holidays and it has been lovely. Had lunch out with a friend and our girls, and sewed up two projects! Perfect!

Wanna Look Like This?

2011-04-17T03:56:00.002+01:00

Hi Just a quick post today. I made this card for a friend who has just started using Chia Seeds. It's his birthday and I've ordered him a recipe book for using Chia Seeds which hasn't arrived yet, so I made him some Chia cookies in the meantime and made the book cover into a tag for the cookies. Whilst I know that Chia seeds are more for endurance than building muscles I thought the pictures were fun and his kids are having a circus birthday party next month and it has been suggested he go as a Strongman!

Anyway here it is:

And the inside looks like this:

I was really happy with the way the skin turned out! I followed a tutorial from one of the blogs I follow: Annika's Another Messy Crafter. Thanks Annika the tutorial was great!

And here are the cookies:

I started with inspiration from the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge for colour (I added grey) and used the Card Patterns Sketch as a starting point. Also entering this into Kenny K Krafty Girlz Challenge of Anything Goes as the inside image is Kenny K! And it's for Crafty Ann's Raise a smile challenge.

DYSU 15: Scallops

2011-04-14T07:01:00.061+01:00

It's week 15 at DYSU and the challenge this week is:

SCALLOPS

I used a cute bunny image from one of our sponsors this week: Stamp Fairy. Who wouldn't love this cute little character called Clementine!

I made my own scallops by tracing around a diecut on the reverse of my paper, cutting them out and then I just layered them up. I added a piece of brown ribbon under the top scallop to produce a nice straight line to stamp the sentiment above. I rounded the top corners and stitched around the edge.

I then used the same papers to paper piece the eggs and hair ties. Clementine is printed onto another patterned paper and I just coloured the nose and ears.

You can check out our sponsors by clicking on the logos below.

Make sure to link up your SCALLOPED creation at DYSU.

I'm also entering this into:

DYSU 14: Yellow

2011-04-07T07:01:00.061+01:00

Well I was happy to see that this week's them at DYSU was YELLOW. As I love the bright and cheery effect adding yellow to a card can bring!

My card uses a cute Noah's Ark image from The Stamping Boutique, one of our sponsors this week.

I wanted to create some dimesion so I layered the boat and animals up on dimensionals.

In addition I carefully cut the tops of the waves and curled them back. And added some dimensional magic to the windows.

We have a whopping FOUR sponsors this week! Click on the logos to go to the shops!

Have fun with the challenge and be sure to load up your creations here.

So sorry! Forgot about the Giveaway!

2011-04-05T12:46:00.000+01:00

And the winner of the Incy Wincy Rainbow Giveaway is..... as picked by Random Org....lucky number 14!!! Bianca, shoot me an email and I'll mail your prize out!

Congratulations!

Sewing Stella!

2011-04-01T06:46:00.000+01:00

I made this for my friend Lorraine who is celebrating her birthday today! Happy Birthday Lorraine. I actually made this using three challenges but just realised that two have already finished! Doh! Never mind!

She is popped up on dimensionals.

I used a sentiment I saw on a card made with the same image on Splitcoast, you can see it here. I just added in Dining room too as that is where my friend sews.

It was meant to be for the Cards Blog 'grid' call. And I used the sketch from Cardabilities, last week! The one challenge that is still open that I used was the colour challenge at the Colour Q. The image was a freebie from Bugaboo Stamps quite a while ago but you can buy it now here.

DYSU 13 - Clear, Light Pink & Mauve

2011-03-31T07:42:00.002+01:00

Today the challenge at DYSU is:

Clear, Light Pink and Mauve

Well I decided to look up what colour mauve actually was on Wikipedia as I wasn't quite sure. Once I was there I realised it provided the actual numerical combination to plug into my computer to get the colour. So I did that and made my own paper! I used the first main type of mauve (incidentally I would have called this lilac!) as the background and Old Mauve (what I thought was mauve) as the polka dots! To incorporate the 'clear' I made an acetate card. Scroll down to the bottom for the links on where to get the paper for free!

My hubby came up with the inspired sentiment! So I made a little pocket inside to hold a gift card.

The image is from one of this week's sponsors: Digis With Attitude.

I printed her twice, once in reverse, so I could hide the back through the acetate inside, same for the sentiment.

And here it is with the gift card.

There are three fabulous sponsors this week:

Added to this the Top three this week get 2 images from Alison's Shop Stretch 'n' Bubbles.

Oh and just in case any one wants it, my two types of polka dot paper is available for download here and here.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-30T03:44:00.000+01:00

Not really feeling like chatting today, so just some pictures to share!!

Inspired by Erin at Two More Secs during the Mug Rug Madness feature I have made one!

Have a lovely day!

Made It Friday Focus - Diggers!

2011-03-27T12:11:00.005+01:00

I know I am late again with the Friday Focus! But here it is! Today I am introducing a new product to the store: My 'Digger' design! Perfect for all your little construction workers! I can put this on a onesie if you prefer. The one in the shop is white but I have also made this on a green t-shirt too!

And here are some Digger goodies I found on the Made It website. There are links below.

Personalised Digger t-shirt or Onesie - The Crafty Nomad (me!)
Crayon Activity Wallet - Sweet Georgie Pie
Personalised Cushion - Tiges and Weince
Construction Bib - Aisling Milis
Construction Party Invites - Duck Duck Goose Invitations
Fabric Notebook - Natty Gai

Week 12: Do You Stack Up - Shine on!

2011-03-24T07:02:00.014Z

Today's card is for this weeks challenge at DYSU.

This weeks challenge is:

SHINE ON!

I have used a super cute Christmas Nativity image from Heather Ellis' Etsy Store; Digi Stamp Characters. Heather is one of our sponsors this week.

I printed the image out twice, once on the white card and once using a piece of sparkly card rescued from an old commercial birthday card, so that I could paper piece the dress, halo and star.

That lovely spotty paper was free with a magazine a few years ago and has been sitting around gathering dust! But when I decided to use a pink colour scheme this was perfect! The sentiment and buttons are SU. And I used white dimensional paint for the sweet little lamb!

So happy to have another card ready for Christmas! I was aiming to make 5 per month, sadly that has not happened but every little helps! Right?

Our two sponsors today are:

Can't wait to see all your shiny, sparkly creations! So what are you waiting for! Load up your cards at DYSU.

Remember I'm having a little incy wincy RAINBOW themed giveaway! Check it out HERE.

Welcome New Baby!

2011-03-24T06:54:00.003Z

Two posts today! My DYSU one will be up next. But first a new baby card to share.

This is for the following challenges:

Clean and Simple Sketches - Sketch - I used three people instead of three flowers!
Cupcake Inspirations - colours I added brown in!
BloggaBella - Polka dots

Remember I'm having a little incy wincy RAINBOW themed giveaway! Check it out HERE.

Card Case, Tutorial & a Little Incy Wincy GIVEAWAY!

2011-03-22T05:41:00.002Z

You know how sometimes your mojo leaves, it departs and runs away, you think never to be seen again. Well for my cards that has happened to me, it does this occasionally and I start to have a mild panic. And then I remember what to do to kick start it again....I case a very talented cardmaker!! When I saw Kelly Marie's pretty and colourful rainbow birdie card yesterday I knew it was just the thing I needed to make to get me back into my card making. Slight problem though...I had none of the materials that Kelly Marie used! Doh! ......so I improvised! I made those clouds from scratch and if you scroll down I'll show you how! I love Kelly's style, the stamps she designs are awesome, you can see them here. I wish I could have them ALL!! Love the Say Cheese range! But alas all my crafting spending money is going on fabric at the mo!

And the inside.

And just in case you're wondering why I did the inside...well I stamped the sentiment for the front before I embossed and unfortunately I messed it up! So as I hadn't actually made the outside of the card at that point, I simply folded it the other way and used the other side of the card for the front and decided to cover the messed up bit on the inside up with something. When I had finished the card I decided to make more little clouds to cover it up with!

So how to make the clouds. You will need some white card, a thin black marker, some colour markers, a background stamp (mine is Unity) and some pale blue ink.

Randomly draw a cloud shape with your black marker.

Now roughly go over it using a colour marker, make sure you are not on the actual lines.

Now stamp the image with your background stamp using a pale blue, or other colour that matches your project.

Cut the cloud out and you have a lovely custom made cloud!

Don't get me wrong I did LOVE the paper Kelly Marie used I just didn't have any of it, and I just love the way these turned out. So much so that I made up a rainbow set to giveaway, along with some pretty twine, about 1.2 metres of each colour in the picture, enough for a few cards I'd say. Some buttons all the colours of the rainbow, some scraps of Rainbow ribbon, (about 20cm each) and a small piece of Rainbow fabric. I've used the ribbon and fabric on cards here, here and here.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS!

To be in with a chance to win my incy wincy giveaway just leave me a comment with a way of contacting you. Tell me one of your favourite crafting blogs that you visit so I can go visit too! Entries close 31st March. Might add a little surprise into the package too!

Have a happy day!

Week 11: Do You Stack Up - Add a Bow

2011-03-17T07:01:00.009Z

Hi there! We are onto Week 11 at the Do You Stack Up Challenge Blog!

This weeks theme is:

Add a Bow

Our sponsors this week are (Click on the pictures to take you to the shops):

I made my card using an image from Jellypark called Dinosaur Boy. As I didn't want the card to be too girly I added a bow tie instead of a regular bow. I think he looks really smart!

I stamped the sentiment in black ink then took a black marker and drew the outline by hand, then smudged some black ink over the top and edges to give it a more roughed up look!

You might have noticed that the dinosaur is printed onto fabric. I wanted to use the fabric I use on some of my dinosaur t-shirts so I cut a piece adhered it to a piece of iron on fusible webbing. This has a peel off back that reveals something akin to doublesided tape. I then stuck this to a piece of printer paper and fed it through the printer like any other normal piece of paper. It worked perfectly. I ironed over the top just to make sure the ink was dry and then cut it out and stuck it on my project!

Looking forward to seeing all your creations! Load them up at DYSU!

Two cards to share

2011-03-15T03:18:00.002Z

Just a quick post today with a couple of cards as I'm meant to be sewing! First up is a fun card. This little Beer Monster is from Pollycraft. Their challenge this week is teenager cards, not sure this should really qualify for that - although the legal drinking age in Englad is 18 I think it's pushing the boundaries of the idea of the challenge! ;o)

I used last weeks sketch from Clean and Simple as I loved it and hadn't gotten around to using it!

The second card is for my Mum who recently lost her uncle. I used the sketch at Card Patterns and colour inspiration from Jay Gee's. The image is from a Unity kit. I'm also entering into SPCC this week and Creative Craft Challenges who are asking for Lace.

Paper is from Fancy Pants, I really struggled with the layout of this card. I'm really not sure about that diagonal line!

Thanks for stopping by.

A couple of Sewing Projects

2011-03-13T23:00:00.013Z

Hi there

Still catching up on some sewing projects from the last few weeks. My first attempt at a patchwork pillow! Still inspired by the pillow contests happening on the blogs lately. I decided to have a go at patchworking a pillow together. My friend Lorraine bought me some gorgeous fabric a while ago and I decided it would look pretty teamed with a brown border. This is one side.

And this is the reverse.

Then a couple days ago I appliqued a flannel (face washer/wash cloth) for my daughter!

Too cute! She loved it!

Simple little Pin Cushion

2011-03-12T23:00:00.024Z

Whilst teaching some basic sewing projects over the last few months, I noticed that many of the ladies in the lessons didn't have pin cushions. So I started thinking I might add that in as a lesson next term. I have begun looking for inspiration on line. Wow there are some very pretty ideas out there. Anyway it was this delightful one on flickr from Vintage Fairytale that pushed me to actually make one! I decided to make one along the same lines, except I didn't make a bow and instead I added one button to the top and one on the botton, plus I also wanted mine to be a bit flatter. I love the way it turned out.

Anyhow now I'm thinking maybe doing a different shape.....hmmm...what next...

This and that...

2011-03-11T23:00:00.024Z

Just thought I'd share a few other bits and pieces I have made!

Here is a card I made for a friend to go with the taggie blanket.

I'm entering this into:

I was recently asked to make a tractor shirt for someone. However instead of the green they requested blue as their tractors are blue! I love doing custom orders, it makes it even more unique! So here is the blue tractor:

Sorry about the quality of the photos, not sure what was going on with the camera!

And finally here is a variation of my Spiderman shirt, for my friends little boy.

Have a lovely day.

Made It Friday Focus: Princess Crowns

2011-03-11T01:31:00.000Z

Do you have a perfect princess in your life? If so then this post is for you! Today I am focussing on my Princess Crown Design available in the shop here.

Having searched on Made It I found some cool things as usual which would be perfect for your little princess! I know the sellers sure would appreciate a visit! Links are below the picture.

Personalised Crown T-shirt - The Crafty Nomad (me!)
Personalised Printed Canvas - You Name it Creations
Party Invitations - Baby Blossom
Charm Bracelet - Megsy Jane Jewellery
Crown Earrings - Faith Hope Love
Baby Shoes - Miss Poppitt
Solid Perfume - TwinkieTwink
Wooden Princess Sign - Lolly and Moo Moo

Week 10: Do You Stack Up - Layers

2011-03-10T07:02:00.025Z

This week's challenge at DYSU is:

Layers

I used a cute spaceship from Limited Runs Digis who is one of our sponsors this week. I really wanted the spaceship to be the focal point so I used the whole thing as the card! Popped some little monsters inside and layered it up so you can see them inside when you lift up the top flap!

I think you can see some of the layers here. I paper pieced the whole thing, including the monsters.

You can see those little critters better here.

And here is a peak at the inside. I know that technically they should be aliens as they are in a spaceship, but this is what I had to hand and I think they look cute in it!

I printed one in reverse for the back of the card and stamped some extra 'monsters/aliens' for the birthday boy or girl to colour in, cut out and play with!

As I said one of the sponsors is Limited Runs Digis and the other one is Lily of the Valley.

There are some great prizes up for grabs so head on over and load up your layered creation at DYSU.

A little bit of sewing

2011-03-08T15:27:00.000Z

As promised I'm sharing a couple of things I made last week, just trying to catch up! Busy making and no time to blog!

I have been wanting to try zips for a while. Back before Christmas I managed to reposition one in a skirt, I've put one in a cushion that I'll be sharing later in the week (that was a bit hap hazard though!) and so I thought I would follow a tutorial on how to do it properly! I followed one written by Florence over at Flossie Teacakes.

It was pretty easy to follow, just wish my computer was next to my sewing machine! The only part I had trouble with was sewing over such a bulky bit wear the zip end and tabs and seams all joined. I had to do that part twice!

In general though I was pretty pleased how it turned out.

I popped one of my labels in!

The second project I'm sharing is another thrift store upcycle. I found a skirt there that I just loved the fabric of but it was a Aus size 8 adult, so no chance I was going to be fitting into it anytime soon! So instead I made it small enough for my 7 year old daughter, I didn't adjust the length. Then used some of the leftover fabric to make some binding which I then ruffled and attached to a co-ordinating t-shirt in a heart shape.

That's all for now! Have a nice day!

CPS Sketch Happy New Baby

2011-03-08T06:57:00.000Z

I made this card for some friends to match a onesie I appliqued for their new baby. I scanned the fabric and printed it out onto cardstock to use as background paper. I used the sketch from CPS and I think the colours loosly fit the challenge over at SPCC. Crafty Creations are looking for Baby blue cards and I think this fits the bill.

The little train is popped up on dimensionals. I was happy to be sewing on a card again!

And here it is with the onesie.

Have a lovely day. I will hopefully be getting around to posting some more things I've been making lately!

So Excited!

2011-03-04T09:04:00.001Z

My Rainbow pillow got third place in the 'Words to Live by' Pillow Contest over at Sew Mama Sew. Thank you so much to those who went over there and voted. I'm so glad Sew Mama Sew had this contest as it prompted me to make a cushion cover, that I might not have gotten around to otherwise! Thanks Sew Mama Sew!

I promise this is the last time you will see this pillow posted on my blog!! You must be getting sick of it now!!!

I was excited to see that I have won an awesome prize too! Some wonderful fabric, a cube shaped cushion and a Sew Mama Sew Gift Certificate! Yay!! And added to that I got picked out randomly for another prize for leaving a comment on their site, so even more wonderful fabric!!!

Friday Focus will be a bit late this week! Sorry folks!

Week 9: Do You Stack Up - Green

2011-03-03T07:01:00.002Z

Here is my card for week 9 of the Do You Stack Up Challenge.

This week's challenge is:

Green

I tried something new with my paper piecing this week. First I paper pieced her clothes and coloured the ribbon on the top and the flowers on the trousers with Copics. I then used my Aqua Painter and Pastels to add some shadows to the clothing. It's pretty subtle but I love it!

The paper is Fancy Pants, the sentiment is from a Unity kit, the buttons were cut off an old pair of my daughter's trousers! And the image is a digital from one of the sponsors this week: Tickled Pink. The image is called Willow, she is a peace-loving Gal and you can get her here.

If you click on this one you might be able to see the subtle shadows!

So as I said Tickled Pink is one of the sponsors this week and the other one is Fanyella Design.

Can't wait to see what lovely green themed cards you come up with this week, so head on over to DYSU and link up your creation!

OH Wow!! I made the Top 20!! Please VOTE for me!!

2011-02-28T23:21:00.002Z

OMG!!! I made it to the Top 20 in the Sew Mama Sew, 'Words to Live by' Pillow Contest!!!! If you loved my pillow and would like to vote for it just go here!! How exciting is this!!!

Wow wow wow!!! Can you tell I'm excited!!!

Well who would have thought it....?

2011-02-28T14:39:00.005Z

It seems my rainbow pillow has captured the imagination of quite a few.

I have been amazed to see it popping up all over the place: here; here; here; here; here; here; here; and here. WOW! Oh and here! And here!!!

Feeling pretty humble right now. Thanks everyone!

I have been making plenty of stuff lately just too busy to post! But I will soon I promise!

Made It Friday Focus: Birdies!

2011-02-26T09:03:00.000Z

Sorry it's a little late! But here is this week's Friday Focus. Today I'm focussing on my Birdie design. This one is on a 'Big Sis' t-shirt in the photo, but there is also the option to have it personalised and have 'Big Sis' at the top and then the child's name under the birdies. I can obviously make this on a onesie instead with 'Lil Sis' on. Incidentally if you love the birds and just want a name instead then that can be done also!

In fact the same goes with any of my designs. If you like the picture but want different words, maybe you would prefer a fun word instead of a name or vice versa that is possible. Fancy an image in a different colour that's possible too, just feel free to ask.

Now onto the fab Birdie items I found on Made It. Wow I was overwhelmed with all the pretty birdie things on Made It and it was really hard to narrow it down to 9! But here they are!

Big Sis T-shirt - The Crafty Nomad (me!)
Compact Mirror - Trink Arts
Nursery Mobile - My Red Bicycle
Bunting - Zippy Zippy
Baby Shower Invites - Baby Blossom
Pendant - Iszle
Height Chart - Katy K Designs
Baby Shoes - Clumsy Kittten
Hair Accessories - The Clip Cafe
Card - Imaginart

Week 8: Do You Stack Up - Anything Goes

2011-02-24T07:01:00.002Z

Here is my card for week 8 of the Do You Stack Up Challenge blog.

Today the theme is:

ANYTHING GOES!

I used a frame from one of our sponsors: Black Leaf Studios, to create this card. The quote is from Unity and the paper and ribbon are Fancy Pants.

I changed the colour of the frame to brown to suit my project and elongated it into a rectangle to suit the shape of the quote.

I coloured each of the statements a different colour with markers before stamping onto the patterned paper, this caused much laughter amongst friends as I huffed and puffed and heavy breathed over the stamped image before stamping to activate/remoisten the ink!

I also decorated the inside a little bit with matching patterned paper.

Our two sponsors today are:

So head on over to DYSU and upload your creation, dead easy today as ANYTHING GOES!!!

Silver Lining Rainbow Pillow

2011-02-23T08:59:00.009Z

Thanks for voting for me if you did - I am so excited to say that I came third in the voting process! Thanks so much.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon two pillow contests whilst blog hopping. One here at Stitched in Color and one here at Sew Mama Sew. An idea began to form in my mind and then sat on the table until two days ago when we were stuck indoors whilst a tornado hit my small town and a cyclone swung by to say hi!!

My idea was born out of several things I had seen on the net. A ticker tape dolls quilt, and this pillow and this pillow. I wanted to try the technique and decided to combine it with my love of rainbows and the words to live by challenge from Sew Mama Sew.

I'm cutting it fine for the contests I thought I had til the end of the month! I loved making this quilted cushion cover and will come back and put a few instructions on.

[Edited to add instructions] Ok so to start with I sketched out my design on large drawing paper the same size as the pillow cover I was going to make. I then used my light box to trace the shapes onto fusible webbing. Attached these to the back of my scraps of fabric and the cloud shape to some white fabric, then painstakingly cut them out! The lightbox came in handy again when I wanted to make sure I placed them all in the right spots. I just placed my fabric over the light box and stuck the pieces in the right places.

Once they were all in place I printed my 'words to live by' on printer paper and traced them with the aid of my light box onto the cloud fabric using my friends vanishing ink pen (Thanks Martine!). I then hand stitched over that using embroidery thread.

Next came the 'quilting', I sewed the little pieces in place mainly with a matching colour thread, although one on each colour stream is stitched in silver. And of course the cloud has a silver 'lining' (!) two rows of silver stitching around the edge. I just used a fairly think batting for this project.

The other thing I was pleased with was the binding. I borrowed one of those gadgets that helps make binding from another friend (Thanks Lorriane!). Well it was amazing! It made it so easy and no burnt fingers! I will definately be investing in one of those babies! And the best thing about the binding was that one long strip from one edge of my fabric (think it was 74 inchs) did the whole cushion, which made it super easy!

Anyhow apparantly it passed the hugability test!

Thanks for stopping by. I'm off to check out the other entrants at the Stitched in Color Pillow Party. Not sure when the Sew Mama Sew ones will be showcased. Have a great day whatever you do.

Happy Mail!

2011-02-23T01:54:00.001Z

Today I recieved some beautiful bunting in the mail. Last month I entered quite a few of the Queensland raffles and I was lucky enough to win one! Yay!

Anita from Bake and Sew made this totally cute bunting which is now in my home waiting for it's spot to be decided upon!

Don't you just love getting lovely things in the mail!!

Made It Friday Focus - Super Heros!

2011-02-17T23:48:00.027Z

Todays Made It Friday Focus is the Retro Superhero Design.

Check out these fun things on Made It!

Retro Super Hero Onesie or Personalised T-shirt - The Crafty Nomad
Superhero Cape - My Little Hero
Birthday Invite - Princess Pirate
Bib - Cook You Some Noodles
Dummy Clip - Mollydag Made
Stickers - Sissy Sparrows
Mask - My Little Hero
Finger Puppets - Imagination Shop
Softie Doll - Cook You Some Noodles
Wooden Heros - Twinkle Kids

I know they would love to see you browsing through their stores!

Week 7: Do You Stack Up - Dots

2011-02-17T07:01:00.011Z

Wow can you believe it is week 7 of the Do You Stack Up challenge blog already!

Today the challenge is:

Lots of Dots

And our sponsors today are (click the pictures to take a look at their stamps):

I used an image called Hello from A Day for Daisies that you can buy from her Etsy Shop here. So here is my card. I paper pieced her dress so it matched!

Hop on over to DYSU and upload your Spotty Dotty loveliness!

Rainbow Dress Transformed

2011-02-12T00:45:00.016Z

So you may remember the Rainbow Dress from before Christmas. Well yesterday it was transformed into a Rainbow skirt with matching ruffle t-shirt.

Before:

After:

I think it looks altogether more grown up now don't you think?

Selling Cards

2011-02-11T05:10:00.000Z

I have decided to sell some of the cards I make for challenges. Many of you who know me, know that I don't normally sell my cards. I used to but found that I was spending way too much time on them to make it worth it and so now I only really make them for friends and family. However I am developing a bit of a stack and so decided to sell some! You will find them here on the blog if you are interested. There is a button at the top of the page which says 'Cards for Sale'.

There are drop down boxes for the prices. For each item there will be two prices one for Australia and one for Worldwide. These prices include postage and packaging. If you live in Karratha, then the postage element will be refunded to you when I deliver it to you!

So far these are the items that made it for sale:

Made It Friday Focus: Owls

2011-02-10T23:09:00.046Z

Today's Friday Focus is on the new Owl Design I recently added to the shop.

When I was doing my search on Made It for lovely Owl items it became clear to me very quickly that I might have been a bit late in jumping on the 'Owl' bandwagon! Oh there was so much pretty owl cuteness out there - 25 pages on Made It to be precise! It made it really hard to narrow it down! So you know that these are my absolute favourites!!

Personalised Owl Onesie or T-shirt - The Crafty Nomad (me!)
Wheat Heat Pack - Choochie Bubble
Zippered Pouch - Mish Mash Designs
PDF Sewing Pattern - Angel Lea Designs
Hairclip - Lilliput Loft
Pocket Watch - Oh Deer
Mobile - Birdy NumNum Design
Key Fob - Mish Mash Designs
Hair Clip Holder - Little Pipika
Owl Softie - Plushka

I know these little shops would love you to stop by and take a look at their wares! Go on, make their day!

Week 6: Do You Stack Up - Ribbon

2011-02-10T07:01:00.058Z

Hi there, today's card is for this weeks challenge at the Do You Stack Up Challenge Blog.

The challenge this week is:

Ribbon

The sponsors today are: Kristen Powers Ink and Bugaboo.

I chose to use an image from Bugaboo which just makes me laugh! It's called One Person to Annoy and you can get it here.

I thought I'd find a spotty paper to match her dress. Our challenge was to use ribbon. I decided to make a ribbon flower. First I sewed a running stitch down the middle of the burgandy ribbon and pulled it to make the little flower. Then I ran a running stitch down one edge of the grey ribbon and pulled at that to make the main layered flower. I added the burgandy to the top and secured them to the card with a vintage looking brad from Stampin Up. I love the pretty delicate nature of the flower teamed with no-nonsense Stella.

This is the inside of the card!

And another close up of the flower.

I can't wait to see what fun ways you come up with to use ribbon in your projects. Link them up at DYSU!

VW Camper vans

2011-02-08T23:50:00.013Z

I made these for a friend. I have to say that whilst I love them, I certainly won't be adding these to the shop! Oh boy they were fiddly! Lots of little pieces to sew!

We decided to go for initials instead of names as one of the boys is 8 and we thought he might not be keen on a name on his shirt.

Have a lovely day.

Baby Taggie Blankie

2011-02-07T23:00:00.030Z

I keep seeing these lovely taggie blankies around but hadn't made one til yesterday. Mainly because there is another girl locally who makes wonderful ones to sell at the local markets, and it's always nice to provide something that's not already there right?

Anyway I have friends popping babies out left right and centre at the mo! So baby gifts are being cooked up in my house at the mo. This one is for one of my oldest friends (not oldest in age you understand!), a girl I went to school with. Her and her partner are both musicians so when the idea began to take form and I was stood in the fabric shop choosing fabric I was VERY happy to spot these two musical black and white fabrics. I wanted to go with the black, red and white theme as I remember reading when my daughter was little that it helps with brain/eye development. She had a little cloth book in these colours and she loved looking at it intently!

As you can see I patchworked the front block. Seems Lorraine has finally gotten me interested in patchwork. Still think small projects are the way forward for me though!

I just love the minky fabric on the back it really is so soft!

I can see me making one or two more of these as gifts for friends.

I'm linking this up to:

Papertrey Ink Tag Download Challenge

2011-02-07T05:15:00.002Z

I just spotted that Papertrey Ink have a little contest going on. You download a file with nine cute little digi images on and then make a card using one of them and upload it. Here is mine. I couldn't resist the little rainbow image. Too Cute!

I used a tiny rainbow and cloud stamp from Stampin Up to make the background 'paper'. I used a variegated thread for the stitching.

I absolutely LOVE Papertrey Ink stuff, just don't have any unfortunately! One of the downsides of living in Australia, wish they had a Australian stockist. If you want to upload your pic or check out all the other creations (there are hundreds!) you can see do that here.

Oh and I used the sketch over at Clean and Simple for this card. Thanks for looking!

Oh Wow I was Featured on Kid Style File

2011-02-05T00:00:00.000Z

Took me a while to realise it, but better late than never hey! Back in late December I was included on the Kid Style File website in their 'I Made This' feature. They featured my 'I'm Super' Onesie! Pretty exciting! I was wondering why it was getting so many views!

Well have a great day. I'm feeling starved of card making time, think I will have to squeeze some in this weekend!

Made it Friday Focus: Tractor

2011-02-04T12:10:00.000Z

As it is the first Friday in February I think we've had enough of a break from Friday Focus, the last one was in December, I thought we'd kick off the Made It Friday Focus' again here on the blog! And today I'm introducing the Tractor shirt.

As some of you may remember it took a while to perfect this little baby, but it's all good now!

My search for tractor goodies on Made it revealed these beauties!

My Tractor Shirt - The Crafty Nomad
Children's Art Print - Elbie Sparks
Farm Tag Blanket - Jacaranda Handmade
Farmyard Lamp - An Element of Style
Tractor Notepad - Paddock Press
Transport Mobile - Turtle Velocity

I know these guys would be thrilled if you would check their little shops out! Have fun browsing!

Week 5: Do You Stack Up Challenge - Red

2011-02-03T07:01:00.060Z

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. The card I am sharing with you today is for Challenge #5 at the Do You Stack Up Challenge Blog.

This week's challenge is:

Red

Our Sponsors today are: TLC and Sassy Studio Designs.

I chose to make my card using a sentiment from TLC. I added a Stampin Up music notes wheel stamp for the background and made some embellishments to go along with it.

Here is a close up of the embellishments I made: a felt 'red hot' loveheart - 2 pieces of felt sewn together using blanket stitch on my sewing machine; and a little zippy flower, love these! Hopefully just sneaking in in time for the JUGs Challenge of creating a 3D flower!

Thanks for taking a look, can't wait to see what you come up with. Head on over to the DYSU blog to add your Red Hot creation to the list!

Some gifts

2011-01-31T12:37:00.000Z

My daughter's teacher recently had a baby and so we made some gifts to celebrate! I decided I wanted to introduce a new image - it's always nice to give a friend a new design before it goes on offer in the shop! So I made a cute little owl.

My daughter outdid herself! She painted a wooden coathanger and added a special message on the back, made a beautiful card and then had go at sewing on my sewing machine! We made a butterfly garland for decoration in the baby's room. We used the Big Shot and Butterfly die from Stampin Up to punch out varying colours and sizes of butterflies. She layered them up and then we put them through the sewing machine - she just needed a bit of help and some direction. We used two colours of thread to match the purple and pink theme, one on the top and one in the bobbin case and it gave a fun look to the garland. We added a ribbon loop to the top and a couple of strands of ribbon to the bottom. I think I might add one of these to the shop too!

Here are her lovely creations. She chose a sketch to follow for this one and chose all the papers, I just helped place one of the papers, measure and tie the bow she stuck it all down.

The coathanger!

The pretty Butterfly garland. You might need to click on this to see it better!

Just one other thing to share today. I made a little dolls quilt from a piece of cheater quilt fabric. This is my first ever go and I was quite pleased with it. The front looks good the back is pretty bad I have to say. I did photograph the back but couldn't bring myself to share it here!

I was more pleased that I finally figured out how to attach the Even Fed Foot that has been sat in my sewing box for almost a year - I thought I had bought the wrong one!

And I was quite pleased with the binding!

Week 4: Do You Stack Up Challenge - Patterned Paper

2011-01-27T07:01:00.024Z

Welcome to week 4 of the Do You Stack Up Challenge. This week we have two sponsors: Black Leaf Design Solutions and Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps.

This week's challenge is:

Patterned Paper

Well I have a tonne of that laying around so no problem there! I used an image from Stitchy Bear called Butterfly Love. I LOVE how this turned out!

I coloured her using the Stampin Up pastels and one of their Aqua Painter brushes, gave such a delicate look to a delicate fairy!

I used papers by Dream Street Papers, so girly aren't they? I used three from the same range, the pink spotty one, a green one for the scalloped circle and I cut the pink flower from a piece of paper too. I printed the image twice, using only the wings and one of the flowers from the second copy. I coloured the wings the same but added some fairy dust (!) to give her some sparkle! I curled the ends of the wings and raised the ends of the wings up on dimensionals and offset them, I really like the look.

A bit more of a close up of those wings.

So hop on over to the DYSU blog to check out all the other creations and then load up your masterpiece!

Look how much we raised!

2011-01-26T08:57:00.000Z

Well my little luggage tags have been posted off to the winning bidder, thanks Angela! And today I found out that altogether our crafting auctions and raffles raised a whopping $99,089! WOW!

It was great to be a part of this!

Auction all finished now!

2011-01-24T15:23:00.001Z

Thanks so much for those who took part in my little auction for the luggage tags. The highest bidder was Angela with $60. I hope you love them Angela! For those who missed out or didn't know about it, make sure to check out Toni's blog tomorrow for all the raffles that are still going on until Wednesday.

Last chance to bid! [ALL FINISHED NOW!]

2011-01-24T12:04:00.001Z

For all my lovely followers out there...and anyone else lurking around....this is just a reminder that my auction closes at midnight eastern australian time (about two hours from now!) 10pm Perth time as on the clock in the sidebar. So if you would like to bid for this lovely set of fabric luggage tags made from fun travel themed fabrics then please click on the picture for details. Current Highest Bid is AU$60.

The winning bidder will pay the money direct into the Premier's Flood Appeal so you know it's safe and going to a reputable charity not a fake one

Quite a lot to share today!

2011-01-21T08:41:00.001Z

A few nights ago I was invited to a cardmaking night where you make a card and then take all the materials for the other ladies to make the same card, they do the same and you end up coming away with quite a few lovely cards and new ideas. I had a great time (thanks Catrina!). The theme was masculine cards.

This is the one I made to take along. The stamp is from Unity. I used the sketch from Paperworks.

I made this one from Catrina's design. Love those little monsters! And such a cool idea for the sentiment, Loved that!

This one was from Bianca's design, love that truck and that you can load it up with whatever!

This one was from Michelle's design. I have loved this little rocket but never bought it, tempting....

I didn't have time to make the others. Love going to that sort of cardmaking night, as I actually get more than just one card made!

This morning Bianca came over and we got a paper pack out (October Afternoon) and this cute little tree stamp from Unity and thought we'd see what we could come up with. As it turned out, not a lot in an hour! Anyway I finished this off this afternoon. I used the inspiration from the Case Study challenge. I just rotated it 180 degrees. Can't wait to see what Bianca's looks like.

I'm really loving this look with the ribbon at the mo, which is why you are seeing it on loads of my cards!

Well have a great day! And just in case you haven't seen it yet I'm auctioning off a set of fabric luggage tags in aid of the Queenland flood Appeal being co-ordinated by Toni from Make It Perfect.

Week 3: Do You Stack Up Challenge - Pink

2011-01-20T07:01:00.006Z

If you are here for the DYSU Challenge, it is in this post, just scroll down. But first I just want to promote the Auctions happening around blogland for the Queensland Flood Appeal. I'm having one on this blog here for some Cute Travel Themed Fabric Luggage Tags. The Master List can be found here and there really are some wonderful items available. Please take a moment to check it out. If nothing else you'll find some truly inspirational blogs to drool over!!

And now onto the third week of the Do You Stack Up challenge. Today we have two sponsors: Bugaboo Stamps and Pink Gem Designs, both are offering up prizes.

The Challenge this week is:

Pink!

The design team were offered images to play around with from the sponsors and I chose to use the Cuddle image from the 'A Kid's View - In Love' range from Bugaboo seeing as Valentines Day is just around the corner.

So head on over to DYSU to see all the other goodies made by the Design Team. Add your pink creation to the list.

First Attempt at Patchwork!

2011-01-19T08:44:00.000Z

My friend Lorraine made me aware of RetroMummy's 'Quilts for Queensland' drive. She is asking for help from fellow bloggers to make blocks that will then be made into quilts by her army of quilters. Well I have never attempted patchwork before as I always seem to think that the end product will just take too long to get to and I'll get bored and give up! I like short projects! Anyway I figured that even I could manage a couple of blocks. And yay I did! I made these two Pinwheels, I believe they are called!

One of them is a little bit mis-match but I think it's passable. What do you think? Feeling very pleased with myself, although I'm not sure this is really the thing for me! Might stick to my little projects!

So if you feel so inclined to help out then head on over to RetroMummy's blog and get all the details.

Card Patterns 98 and Jay Gee's Nook

2011-01-19T03:03:00.001Z

Hi There Folks just a quickie today! A quick reminder that I have an auction for the Queensland Flood Fund. It's some fun Fabric Luggage Tags You can find them here.

Now onto today's card. I have three friends all expecting babies within weeks of each other so hopefully one will have a girl! I used the sketch at Card Patterns and the colour challenge at Jay Gee's.

Thanks for stopping by!

Queensland Flood Appeal Auction: Set of four Luggage Tags

2011-01-18T03:35:00.002Z

Scroll down to get straight to auction details.

As I am sure you are all aware, Queensland, among many other places, are experiencing frightening weather. You may have read on my blog last week, that my family and I were there when it was happening and it WAS very frightening and we were relatively 'safe'! To be honest I was pretty shellshocked the first couple of days after we got back, so relieved to be home and safe. The pictures on the TV were harrowing.

We were frighteningly close on Tuesday, we found ourselves trapped at a service station on the Bruce Highway as the road to the south of that junction was flooded. As we came off the highway we found that the roads east and west were flooded and the only options were to either wait there or go north. As our hotel was south and we didn't know anyone north we decided to wait. After a couple hours we decided to book into the Motel that was next to the service station. Whilst there we heard on the news that a town was being evacuated: Caboolture. It was then that we realised the motel we were staying at was the Caboolture motel! People were being evacuated from the nearby town of Caboolture to the Service Station area that we were at! After a few more hours the police opened the northbound stretch of the highway to southbound traffic and we took our chance and got going. Driving back down to Brisbane was a bit scary as all the surrounding fields were covered in water. The southbound part of the highway was 3 foot under at one point and the water was rushing under the bit of road that we were on and was not far from covering that too!

Brisbane at that point was not too bad, our hotel was in the CBD and our apartment was overlooking the river. We saw the pontoons and boats floating down the river with all the other debris and it was going by pretty fast. By the morning the walkways were covered and across the river a pontoon had been destoyed and the area was flooded.

Tuesday evening

The Next Morning (Wed) the boat has been washed away, pontoon damaged and carpark in the top right corner is half covered.

We hurriedly made our way to the airport much earlier than would normally have been required just to make sure we got there safely.

Over the last couple of days I kept seeing blog posts that were having crafty auctions to raise money for the Flood Appeal. I'm hoping I'm not too late to join in. You can read about it all here, it was the brainchild of Toni from Make it Perfect. There are heaps of auctions around for beautiful things, you can check out the master list here.

As my experience relating to this disaster was all to do with travelling I thought it apt that my offering should be a set of Four Fabric Luggage Tags made from wonderfully fun travel themed fabric.

They measure about 3x5 inches apparox (8 x 12.5 cm). They have a clear plastic covering on the front with a pocket for an address label (included) or a business card.

I would normally sell these for AU$8.50 each to give you an idea of value, so the set would be worth AU$34. Bidding will start at AU$15 so dig deep folks!

How this auction works:

1. Bidding will start at $15 (Australian).

2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.

3. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.

4. This auction is open to everyone. Postage is FREE.

5. The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January 2011.

6. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment has been received, I will post your luggage tags to you.

7. Thankyou for participating and happy bidding!

Week 2: Do You Stack Up? Challenge - Distressing

2011-01-13T07:01:00.030Z

Ok I have never been so pleased to be BACK from a holiday! We just came back from Brisbane yesterday. We narrowly escaped being stuck in two places by severe flooding and I am SO grateful to be home, back in Karratha, despite it's high temperature of 39 degrees celcius and with Cyclone Vince heading towards us!

It was heartbreaking being in Queensland surrounded by people who are losing so much. Talking to people there and watching the news clips was heart wrenching. At one point we were stuck with no way of getting back to our hotel, the only road south was closed due to flooding. We were able to get through later when they opened the north bound side of the carriageway it was frightening to see the other side was covered in up to a metre of water and it was VERY fast flowing under the bit of road we were on. I don't know how much longer that road remained open, we were so glad to have decided to go for it and get through before it was closed again. We made it into Brisbane and then out early the next day before it got really bad in the city. Please say some prayers for the people in that area.

Now moving on, if you are here for the Do You Stack Up? Challenge then here we go. This week marks the second Challenge from Do You Stack Up? Today we are sponsored by Whoopsi Daisy

The winner will recieve two sheets of digital stamps. They are so cute and very clear images to work with. The design team were lucky enough to be given some stamps to play with and I chose this cute Christmas stamp of two little cuties waiting patiently to get a glimpse of Santa - too bad they fell asleep heh!?

Our challenge this week is:

Distressing

I have sanded and inked up the edges and on the image and the 'wallpaper', I used my finger nail to curl up the edges.

Also got a lot of dimension going on this week!

What are you waiting for! Scoot on over to DYSU and see what the other girls have created and get crafting!

Baby Thanks

2011-01-10T00:00:00.013Z

My friend Martine and I made 30 of these cute little elephant baby gift thank you cards for a friend who is heavily pregnant and at the time of posting may well have given birth!

Sorry about the bad picture, in fact there almost wasn't one as I almost forgot to take the picture!

If you haven't done so already remember to head on over to the DYSU blog to take part in the challenge this week!

Week 1: Do You Stack Up? Challenge - Buttons

2011-01-06T07:01:00.028Z

Welcome to the very first challenge for the brand new Do You Stack Up Challenge Blog! Drum Roll please! We have heaps of prizes up for offer this week due to the fact that we have heaps of sponsors for the opening week!! All the DT cards were made using images from Di's Digi Downloads. There are heaps of cute images there so head over and check them out.

Our challenge this week was:

Buttons

I made a card and Pillow Box using Poorly Pup. Thought you could stuff the box with tissues, throat lozenges, Lemsips and other useful 'gettting better' items!

I lightly dry embossed the background with pretty flowers. I used some of my new buttons from Stampin Up on both projects.

I added some dimensional magic (glossy accents) to his nose and the thermometer. The sentiment is computer generated.

And here is the little pillow box, I used a template downloaded for free from the internet here.

Here they are together.

Thanks for looking, now hop on over to DYSU to add your buttoned up beauty to the list!

Happy Birthday Mum!

2011-01-05T08:13:00.006Z

Made this card for my Mother-in-law's birthday, hope it arrived on time! I used the Mojo Monday sketch from last week, but I didn't want to post it then in case she sneaked on here to have a peek! Happy Birthday Terry!

Have a great day and remember to check back tomorrow for the first DYSU challenge.

T-shirt Gifts

2011-01-02T08:24:00.012Z

Happy New Year everyone!

Just thought I'd share some gifts I made for some special little people before Christmas.

Finally found some appropriate ric rac! Love this design!

Have a lovely day!

The finished Dress

2010-12-30T07:55:00.018Z

Hi All

Thought I'd let you all see the finished Rainbow dress complete with the happy recipient!

As you can see it is a bit snug and short, so I think soon it will be transformed into a skirt!

[Edited to Add: Ok so it was turned into a skirt and matching t-shirt here.]

Just to let you know I'll be away from blogging for a little bit, but I have quite a few posts scheduled, including my posts for the new Challenge blog: Do You Stack Up starting on the 6th January.

Have a happy day!

Rainbow Dress Work in Progress and Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T13:29:00.000Z

Hi folks

Just wanted to pop on and say Merry Christmas, not sure when I'll be back on here after the festivities. Thought I'd share with you what I was working on at the mo. No photos of my own yet though.

I'm making this beautiful rainbow dress for my daughter for Christmas. I'm worried it will be too small as the size is 2-6 and I have a very small 7 year old. Oh well if all else fails I'll turn it into a skirt! It's looking super cute and is fairly easy to put together, despite me being so so tired!

You can see more info on it here. And you can buy the fabric for it here at Spoonflower.

Late Christmas Cards and a Custom Shirt

2010-12-21T14:15:00.000Z

Hi, I've been busy making production style cards due to the fact that i left it too late to make all different ones this year. [Note to self: REALLY must start to make Christmas cards before last posting dates next year!]

Oh and here is the updated version of the card I made a while back for the Unity challenge, I added pearls to the baubles.

My friend asked if I could make her son a t-shirt to match his favourite book: Meet jack truck. his name is also Jack.

Here is the cover of the book:

And here is the shirt I made. I love how it turned out. I will probably add some sort of Custom Ordering like this to the shop in the new year.

Have a great day! Off to write all my Christmas cards!