It's a WOYWW Birthday

Hi all,
Thankyou for taking the time to visit my space on this particuarly special day... my 28th birthday. I've taken the day off work so I could sleep in and relax. It was all going well until my phone started going crazy with messages, but its a nice thing to wake up to.

So today's work desk, isn't quite the usual... its more focused on preparing for my niece's 18th birthday on Friday and my brother in laws 21st (which is actually today, but party on Saturday). The youngens have far more exciting birthdays than myself this year.

We ended up getting them a signature frame each, which everyone can sign at the parties. So for Shannon's we are using a lovely photo of her from our wedding morning. For Sebastian, its a funny photo from our engaegment party. His mother picked that one over the serious one, and I tend to agree, its more his style. We have already been around there to put together a mammoth photo board for his party, but I am hoping to put together a smaller one for Shannon too. She is very shy and will be horrified but thankfully I have none of the really embarrassing photos of her extreme chubby baby stage.

Otherwise I will probably work on making her a card today and then perhaps get into some scrapbooking layouts. Today is the offical day that I can use my Cuttlebug... not that it matters, as I've already given it a good workout :-) I have also been trying to come up with storage solutions but will keep working on that. The best idea would probably be to clean out all my psychology notes from the filing cabinent. I haven't referred to them in years so they are probably ready for a different storage location.

OMG my house is a mess. I may have to do some birthday housework. How depressing lol You just have to look at my craft/computer room to see how bad it is!

Ahh well... be sure to check out everyone else's space at Stamping-Ground.
Anyway, Happy WOYWW everyone!

Happy Valentines Day and a Love Layout

So its that day of the year most of us either love or hate... Valentine' Day. A day filled with love, romance and possible gifts. Personally I enjoy the extra chance to do something romantic with my husband... and this will be our first Valentine's day as a married couple so certainly a signficant one. We tend not to make a huge deal out of it, but always try to go out to dinner and get each other at least a card. For us, its off to an Indian resturant for dinner this time around. My husband has actually never been to one so its something different.

I completed a layout last night for the Scrap Our Stash 'LOVE' challenge so its perfect to share on this particular day of the year. I'm not really a pink fan so it has been something new to be using a bit of it in my last couple of layouts, but it suits the romantic wedding theme.

Of course, its another wedding layout. I absolutely love the photo in this one. I softened it using an online editing software, which only made the photo even better. I think its just a very simple and romantic photo and I especially like the way we are looking into each others eyes, as the wedding day is a bit of a blur but those simple moments we shared have been captured on film.

The journalling is actually our first reading from our wedding ceremony, which was Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient, love is kind.... etc". At our wedding, we had this reading read by each of our mothers. My husband's mother read it in Polish and my mother read it in English, as a representation of a joining of cultural backgrounds.

The layout also shows a few of my early experiments with my cuttlebug, such as those flowers, created with a sizzix flower die and my favourite cuttlebug embossing folder - stylised flowers, to create some extra depth to the strip of white card down the side. There are also chipboard and metal embellishments added, a vellum sticker and a love rub on.

Here's wishing you all a very happy and romantic Valentine's Day!

Lots of New Goodies For My Cuttlebug

Just wanted to share some fun purchases with you all. Today was a fun day of mail, which is nice after an ouchie blood test. I got my parcel ordered from http://www.scrapbookinghaven.com.au/ which consisted of 2 sets of sizzix texturz...12 designs plus the rubber mats. Also 4 tim holtz texture fades embossing folders & a sizzix bigz flower die & a sizzix storage case. It came with free gifts - several Kaisercraft magazines & some buttons & a lollipop.



Last week I also subscribed to their monthly $10 embellishment & stamping kits which are below. Very happy with the goodies that were included.




Then more ebay goodies...more stamps, some chipboard letters & 2 sizzix flourish dies. No pics of these ones but what a fun night I'll be having. Just have to work out how everything works in my cuttlebug and I'll be set.

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WOYWW

So not a lot happening mid week this week. Got busy on the weekend & ran out of energy. I am trying to work out an 18th birthday card for my neice. Yep, with my early birthday present...Cuttlebug!

Can anyone suggest ideas for an 18th birthday present for my neice & a 21st present for my brother in law. We are having trouble with ideas for both so suggestions welcome.

My workdesk this week moved to the loungeroom floor. Oops. I've been putting wedding proofs in an album & its a big job with over 1300. But also experimenting with my bug.

I also have some new stamps, rub ons & embossing folder from ebay. Lots more goodies expected this week too.

Happy woyww and pop over to http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ to see what this is all about ;-)

Next time round, it'll be my birthday!

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Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Hi everyone,
This is the second challenge layout I have completed this weekend. Unfortunately the photographs are terrible. I have no idea how everyone else manages to photograph their layouts so well. Mine turn out terrible and this is with my 10 mega pixel camera... barely any better than with my phone :-( But hopefully you can still get the idea.

This layout was completed for The Studio Challenges current challenge. The sketch for this month was just perfect for showcasing my wedding day accessories. There was an extra challenge within the challenge, to include a hand made embellishment. As you can see in the close up photo, I have hand made a flower accent. This is centred with a metal heart. I have also used my Cuttlebug a bit with this layout, by embossing the paper beneath the photos, as well as the cardstock under the sentiment. This was a vellum sticker which I stuck to a piece of embossed card and then bordered in the matching pink used for the other boarders and flower.

Although on this page you cannot see anything blue, it represents my accessories. Unfortunately my photographer never took a photo of my garter, which was my something blue. Nor did he take a photo of my something old, which was a necklace hung from my bouquet that my father gave my mother on their 40th wedding anniversary. They just celebrated their 40th! That's got to be good luck.

This layout goes together, despite not being very matching, with my other layout of the weekend, "Something Old, Something New".

Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear some feedback :-)

First Ever Card

It may sound strange to all the experienced crafters on here, but until tonight, I had never made a card. My paper craft skills were instead focused on scrapbooking...and the diy for my wedding (invites, place cards, order of service, etc), so I am proud to say that is no longer the case.


It's very basic but that comes with little experience. It's a valentines card for my husband.


I created the card from red card stock, in a tri-fold style. I used a leather look white paper, which was embossed using the Victoria folder of my brand new Cuttlebug. I also created some die cuts on the bug. Then, as a final touch, a flourish stamp up the side.


So there you have my first card attempt and they can only get better from here. What do you think?

Since I'm proud of having tried something new that wasn't a total disaster, I am going to enter the card into some themed challenges for Valentines day. There is a tri-fold challenge on at The Cuttlebug spot... coincidence since I found that after I did my card.
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Advice Needed For Cuttlebug

Hi all,
As you might have noticed, I am now a proud owner of a Cuttlebug... and it's standard colour even happens to be my favourite colour... GREEN!

So last night I had a bit of a trial run with the Bug. Did a bit of embossing and die cutting, with no real purpose in mind. It is pretty easy to operate. The one thing that did concern me was the fact that the die cuts, even with a thing piece of card for protection, left marks on the cutting plate. I have read this is quite common but are there other suggestions on how to avoid this, to prolong the life of the plates? Are there any other maintenience suggestions anyone might have?

Can anyone please tell me what other types of dies and embossing folders work with the Bug, as google responses can be a bit inconsistant, so it would be good to hear it from some experienced Bug users. I currently have 2 Sizzix Sizzlets dies, which came with the pack. I'm guessing this means they are compatible but have no idea about any other brands or types. Could you also tell me if any extra items are needed to make the different products work.

Finally, are there any other tools and gadgets that are useful when owning a Bug? Or any other pieces of advice you may be able to offer.

I look forward to some helpful responses and hope to have some new creations to show over the weekend :-)

CUTTLEBUG

Yay it's here & feeling a lot like xmas...or an early birthday. So many awesome accessories. 3 alphabet sets. 9 dies. 7 embossing folders. I also have 2 more folders & a couple of sizzix dies from ebay. Exciting!

Just have to work out how to use it lol

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I'm Getting a Cuttlebug

I have always said upon starting this blog that as much as I love crafting, scrapbooking and all that stuff, I am a total newbie. It was not until I started meeting and visiting lots of others who share these interests on here that I realised exactly how much I do have to learn and already I feel like I have done so.

I had read something about a Cuttlebug and had no idea what it was so did a bit of investigating and realised it was awesome and I had to have one. Lucky enough its my birthday next month so I ordered it this morning and it will technically be my birthday present from my hubby. So excited! I ordered it from Oh My Crafts. http://www.ohmycrafts.com/ and the postage was pretty steep to Australia, but overall with their current special and all the extras I am getting, it worked out better than it would if I'd purchased it here. The current special is $59US for a starter kit with accessories. So hopefully in a couple of weeks my Cuttlebug will arrive and I will be able to create far more with my scrapbooking and other DIY!

Stamping is also something I've never tried so I've also ordered a stack of stamps off eBay this week. Overall its been quite the craft shopping frenzy. Cannot wait to receive my new goodies!