Christmas Treat Gift Packaging

Hi friends ~

A short and sweet post from me today. I've got an assortment of bags and bits to show you that I've been stashing away the past few days. Most I've found on the web in one form or another, and one is a Becky Roberts tutorial. None have been embellished with tags yet, as I'm not sure where some of these will end up :o)

It's trying really hard to storm here in Canberra this afternoon so the bright sunshine of earlier has been replaced by dull and darkening clouds, therefore hampering my photographic skills - yeah right like that's a factor lol.

Most of my items look a bit bland without their ribbons and tags and funky little embellishments. I hope to have time to take more pics once they're dressed up and on their way to their new homes sometime next month.

Above is a cute little baggie made from two of the Scallop Envelopes. Fits a few choccies perfectly.

Another couple of the Tucked Away boxes in Old Olive and Real Red. Love these for Lindt Balls.

This little bag isn't in Christmas colours because I was using scraps to test it out for size. This will fit all sorts of girlie things - hair clips, lip gloss, choccies...and it's fastened with velcro so can be used over and over.

Those of you who follow Inking Idaho will have seen this cute little bag before. I love how vibrant it is in red! I have some 60ml bottles of Body Shop goodies to pop in here.

This one holds a few cards and envelopes - 4-5 in fact with room to spare. I had to adjust the length of the box slightly to be sure it would fit the Australia/New Zealand A5/C6 card size. It's all one piece with the base and lid attached so it flips open.

Above is a fantastic Christmas Cracker (or Bon Bon) that Delys Cram designed. Delys made a tutorial for the Helping Hudson Christmas Bundle a few months back. You can fit all sorts in here, and how gorgeous to decorate your tree with a few of these.

Speaking of trees, Gorgeous Kid has been champing at the bit and at me constantly about putting the Christmas tree up early. I must say I'm not so keen to drag it all out and make a big mess so keep putting him off with "you know we don't do it until 1 December". He very righteously comes back with "well that's a school day". So we've bantered back and forth and negotiated that tomorrow is the day! He's still going on about it ... I'm sure it's the same in most houses at this time of the year. I do love the excitement he shows so I shouldn't be fussed with the 'chore' of it all really.

Right now I need to rescue my washing from the line before it starts pouring. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Just For Fun - JAI ... Sketch #45

TGIF ~

All of a sudden I realise how close Christmas is and I've gone into panic mode - I'm sure many of you can relate lol. I was up late last night fiddling about making Christmas treats and gift packaging. These little pillow boxes are perfect for stacking and tying together and can hold all sorts of little bits and pieces.

I've followed the fabulous sketch over at Just Add Ink this week.

My two stack uses Crumb Cake c/s and Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, along with two of the images from Snow Swirled stamped in Versamark. The single pillow box is Sahara Sand c/s and Chocolate Chip ribbon (now retired). My little flowers are made using the 5 petal punch, I've scored each of the petals and folded slightly then sponged Real Red ink on the edges. The layering is pretty self explanatory, but if you have questions just shout out :o)

Make sure you go over to Just Add Ink and check out all the lovely DT inspiration for this week.

Have a fabulous Friday and enjoy your weekend!

CASEing Danielle

It's a happy happy day for me ~

I'm officially addicted to my internet connection. I know this how? Because I've been five days without it and totally LOST. Sad but true! The courier man delivered my modem first thing this morning - yes absolutely first thing, his knock on the door dragged me out of bed - such a pretty sight. No time for plugging in as had to get off to work. I was champing at the bit to get home ... now I'm wireless and speedy again. Love it!

I made these cards a week or more ago now. Totally CASEd from Danielle - love her style. While I didn't actually set out to use the same stamp set DD had, the image lent itself nicely to some copic practice for me :o)

Forgive my lousy pics, the camera battery was dying and I was too impatient to wait until I'd recharged so they are snapped on my desk toward the end of the day in poor light. The thread I've used was a gift from BFF, a little something from her last PTI order.

I've made a few Chrissie cards that I'll show you next time. Right now I've got some gorgeous blogs to catch up on ... enjoy the rest of your evening!

JAI#44...Colour Challenge & It's going to be quiet on the blog front...

Hi there ~

A quick little post to let you know my modem died a few days ago and I'm having a few dramas with the courier company who is to deliver the replacement! In the meantime I've been absolutely lost without my beloved internet so I purchased a portable broadband USB modem - ahem I can tell you it's SLOWER than dial-up! Pages continue to crash and it's not even worth thinking about checking in on my favourite blogs! Soooo disappointed in it.

Hopefully I can at least upload my JAI submission. This week was a colour challenge ... and challenge it was for me! Individually I like all of these colours, but together I had a hard time making them work. Anyway here it is ... hope you like.

The boxes are Lauren Meader's 'tucked away'. So versatile and perfect for giving little treats at this time of the year. The larger box holds 5 Lindt balls perfectly while the smaller holds 2 - I always line my boxes with tissue paper! Head over to Just Add Ink and check out what all the other DT girls have come up with this week - look forward to seeing them myself!

If you have any questions about items used do shout out and I'll get back to you at some point over the next few days. To those of you whose blogs I follow religiously forgive my lack of comments ... I'll have plenty of catching up to do soon :o)

Take care!



PS: This post took about 30 minutes by the time the silly portable modem uploaded and saved! Pathetic!!!

Colour Throwdown #118

Yay it's Saturday ~

I've had a busy few days and today is no exception unfortunately. Late last night I wanted to make a quick card because I knew I'd have limited time over the weekend. While checking in on my regular haunts I came across a really great colour combo over at Colour Throwdown - check it out!

I really loved this layout of Danielle's so followed that ...

... the only thing I wish I'd done differently was perhaps thread some ribbon or twine behind the flower to add a little something. It's a bit flat I think despite my love of all things CAS. I also wish that I could colour better! I can't seem to get the shadowing right and put the depth in the right places - if that makes sense lol.

I stamped my rose on watercolour paper and coloured using my aqua painter. I've popped the layers up on dimensionals. If you have any questions please feel free to ask :o)

Have a terrific weekend!

A Catch Up, A Card From BFF - and a CASE

Wow, Thursday already ~

I said I would tell you all about why last week was so busy for me. On the Wednesday my beautiful BFF flew down from Brisbane for a few days. We went to dinner at Hogs Breath in the City (gorgeous kid's choice) and pigged out totally. BFF has piccies but I made her swear never to share - you know that massive dessert for two (8 scoops of ice cream, mud cake ... you get the picture) suffice to say we did NOT look so good digging into that. And I'm complaining about my weight gain ... go figure.

Friday night we had planned on crafting together but after a spot of shopping we decided to vege in front of the tv in our pjs! Bliss!

Saturday morning I headed off to Sydney with another friend for the Jersey Boys show that night, while BFF stayed in Canberra for a wedding. The fun started with us arriving at our hotel in the City with no wrong turns, it was a perfect trip through the mad Sydney traffic - which incidentally I love. Cracked a couple of bottles of bubbles, went out and did the girlie thing and had our hair done. Dressed ourselves up beautifully and headed off to The Ivy for dinner before the show.

Bit of excitement now ... heading out of one of the bars or restaurants near The Ivy, or perhaps The Ivy itself was Ronan Keating. We three girls stopped and chatted with him. He was very gracious and looks and sounds exactly as he does on tv - he's quite a small guy. So dinner was had then off to the show. WOW - it was great, terrific story, fabulous music, love love loved it. If you get the opportunity to go then do! I highly recommend it.

A wee tad more excitement on Sunday, whilst shopping near Pitt Street my friend and I literally bumped shoulders with Guy Sebastian. He was trying to look very low key I think - he had that knitted beanie thing happening, daggy baggy trackies ... we didn't stop him for a chat :o)

Now back to reality ... today I'm off to have an MRI on my wrist. Not looking forward to it at all, but it has to be done. Next week I see my fracture Dr for the results and where to next. I'm noticing less pain less often now that the weather is warming up. It does feel strange on rainy days though, and normally that wouldn't be much of an issue in Canberra but we've had more rain than usual this year - that's a good thing of course.

Bit of show and tell now ... BFF made me this lovely card and inside wrote the most beautiful words - as she does.

I rather liked the simplicity of her card and CASEd it in different colours. I don't think my bow is nearly as neat lol. This bright and cheery card is going to a lovely friend who took care of my pets while I was away last weekend.

That's about it, I'm sure you're over reading all my news :o)

Have a happy Thursday and I hope to be back sometime soon with something else to show you. Take care!

Just For Fun - JAI ... Sketch #42

Happy hump day peeps ~

Last night I told you I had no plans when I sat at my desk yesterday afternoon ... and I didn't. That's the beauty of a hobby, you can come and go, pick it up, put it down ... while I was doing a nice CAS card for the CASE Study Challenge, I did a second CAS card for this weeks JAI sketch.

I've had my cute little Owl punch out again. He's layered on Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake and Soft Suede. Again, very self explanatory. I've put my sentiment on the inside of this one :o)

Today a dear friend of mine is celebrating her birthday. Happy happy birthday Fiona!

My Swaps

Good Tuesday morning ~

If you've been reading any of the JAI design team blogs lately you'll know that we participated in a 'swap' recently. Paula made the suggestion and I'm soooo glad she did because yesterday I received all my cards and they're totally fab!!!

Here is a quick pic of mine all packaged up ready to go back in September - it was a last minute decision to photograph them so there is a bit of shine from the cello bags - I was too lazy to take them out again :o) You can't see the detail in them but hopefully all the girls are happy to have received one.

I've shown you these little gift card holders before here and here.

I've got a busy line up today so best be running... have a fabulous Tuesday everyone! If you've taken a little punt on the horses today, hope you're a winner.

My First Monster

Good morning ~

Blah I'm not very impressed that it's Monday, but I suppose the only thing to do is make the best of it!

Here's a bright little guy to do just that. The Make A Monster set was the first I ordered when the new IBC was released back in September and this is the first time it's seen ink! I now have a few little images cut, coloured and ready to make into cards one day.

I coloured him with copics and layered him on Daffodil Delight and Peach Parfait c/s. Using a few of my circle punches and some scraps of Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz and my white gel pen I made that bright background. The sentiment is from Fun & Fast Notes.

Super simple and when the right kiddie birthday comes up I think I'll add a big number to the inside.

Enjoy your day!