Emily's 18th birthday party

At the end of January, Emily celebrated her 18th Birthday with about 30 girlfriends.

Originally supposed to be a Garden Party, (for which we did considerable work on the garden), the party moved indoors at the last minute after a few  intermittent showers. Emily decorated the living room with the streamers she'd made for the front garden, and made tissue paper flowers, thank you favours and cute drinks labels.

That's my girl.

I can see she will make a great wedding planner one day :)

Laura and I worked hard while the girls chatted to provide a feast with vegetarian, nut-free and vegan options, while Steve was off playing quartets at music camp. At the end of a great party, we three girls tidied up and then collapsed on the sofa for a TV dinner.

Lately ...

I haven't posted lately, but I have ...

... picked flowers from our front garden for a posy

... made a belated birthday card for my sister 

photographed Emily as she headed out to a high tea

... been preparing for a Christmas Cardmaking Night at church,
this was my photo shoot for the advertising.

... had gastro that strangely hit 5 members of our bible study group simultaneously

36 hours after we met, and spread from there, but lasted longest for me :(

 (fortunately no photos of all that)

... bought a lovely old secondhand mirror

(which prompted another reorganisation of the study)

... dressed as femme fatale Fiona Volpe for a James Bond 40th birthday party

(such a fun night!)

... tried to support Steve as he helped his parents as they move in and out of

hospital, respite care, another hospital, and home again - a busy time for him

... been getting up at 6.00am, which is much earlier than I used to get up

and finding I have more time for a whole lot of things, such as walking

... been feeling very well and energetic most of the time, now that my diet is

basically Paleo - meat, fish, chicken, eggs, fruit, veges, a few nuts.

... celebrated Laura's 15th birthday yesterday

Fifteen! More in another post ...

... been influenced by Japanese sewing books and food lately:

making paleo eggrolls, and starting sewing this dress

  

... made plans to welcome a Japanese student into our home for 5 nights from this Friday.

... started thinking about Christmas and noticing signs of its approach

... and watched Emily dance beautifully today in her annual concert.

What have you been doing lately? 

Rainy Day Craft - Spiral Flower Die

It's gloomy outside

but inside Emily and I are 

crafting happily and listening

to beautiful guitar music.

Today I had a box of Stampin' Up! goodies arrive,

including the Spiral Flower Die,

with which I made these roses.

Good to do some real hands-on girly craft

with my big girl,

while the Little One is at the movies.

Kaisercraft Swap Card Photo Display - Goodbye Gift

Once upon a time

there were four women

who met while demonstrators with a direct sales craft company.

Although some of them later moved on to other things

(even to the competition)

the four women stayed firm friends,

and met together on a Monday night

every month for over 10 years,

to work on their individual scrapbooking

and stamping projects,

and share the ups and downs of life.

The initials of their names were R, A, L & F

and so they started to call their group RALF.

As in "I'm going to RALF tonight".

But one sad day A. announced that she had

to move across the country.

A. has been through some very hard times

but has stayed a faithful friend to us.

Now she and her family are going to have a fresh start

in another city.

So R, L & F planned a little goodbye gift for A.

F. found a frame at the local craft shop

and a beautiful Kaisercraft 12x12 paper ready to fit behind.

She quickly painted some black paint on the frame,

aiming for a distressed look;

and found photos of her friends,

although despite those years of crafting together,

few photos have been taken.

(so thankyou, facebook, and picmonkey cropping tool)

R. & F. got together to work on putting it together and making it beautiful.

(L. was interstate at the time).

They had so much fun using the coordinating products

plus adding some trinkets from their stashes.

They didn't want any more friends to leave,

but thought they might make something similar for themselves,

... just because!

Soon they had created a beautiful piece of art.

Last night, at the last RALF, they presented the finished frame to A.

She was touched.

We shared some more craft, 

more laughs, 

more tears,

and said  our sad goodbyes.

We wish A. every happiness for her future

and look forward to hearing about her new life.

(Meanwhile we will continue as RLF 

and if your name starts with 'A'

please feel free to apply).

* * *

I've always steered clear of off-the-page projects

because they always looked so time-consuming.

But this was so fun and easy,

thanks to the paper being designed to fit

with this frame.  I used two sheets of the Pickled Pear 12x12 paper

and the Take Note Sticker Sheet, (products by Kaisercraft)

and Sticky Strip and Glue Dots (both Stampin' Up!).

If you've ever wondered about trying something like this,

I say, just jump right in!  

* * *

(I am not affiliated at all with Kaisercraft, btw)

Colouring Days

As often seems to happen in January,

I am captivated by the art of colouring.

Perhaps because there is time at last to slow down

and enjoy the process,

the feel of pencil on the tooth of the paper.

In the last week I've coloured stamped images 

(the very cute Gorjuss girls);

created the 'happy' art using stencils

(the girls coloured their names);

and even dug into a colouring book.

My tools of choice at the moment

are Prismacolor pencils on any surface;

and Stampin' Write markers

on heavy watercolour paper.

It always takes me a while to remember good techniques,

 and what does and doesn't work,

these were all experiments. 

And just when I remember everything ...

it's time to stop.

Just one full week left of school holidays -

I'm hoping to keep my pencils close by

for that time, at least.

Off to a Royal Wedding

Tomorrow I am going to a Royal Wedding!

The weather forecast is looking good,

I've planned my outfit and organised the gift,

and I've made a card for the bride & groom.

* * *

What's that?

You haven't heard of any Royal Wedding?

Well you'll just have to stay tuned ...

Cakes & Cards

 

Most of my creativity lately

has centred around birthdays,

in particular, a combined birthday party

with my family last weekend.

Loving my Stampin' Up! dress dies

especially with a bit of texture,

roses and pearls.

A masculine 40th card for my brother,

 and some cute daisy cupcakes,

using this tool.

Fiddly, but worth it in the end.

 

Lots of fun.

(Just had to watch out and warn that 

one particular niece

who would definitely reach for the one cake 

with the wooden ladybird on it!

Some of you know the one!

You'll be glad to know I got to her in time, 

no harm done.)

Spring Blossoms

 

The first day of Spring.

Which I have celebrated by making  a string of paper blooms,

using the Stampin' Up! Blossom Punch.

A good activity for a somewhat miserable afternoon here.

Overnight the weather was very wintry 

and our house is still oh so cold.

Emily spent the cold wet night under the stars

at the Great Guide Sleepover at Taronga Zoo, 

overlooking Sydney Harbour,

with 1100 other girl guides.

Brrr!

Just being home was enough

to give me a cold.

So she and I are having a quiet afternoon together,

I am crafting,

and she is sewing her textiles project,

which is looking more and more 

like a real dress every minute.