Birds on a wire wall decor

I have recently been hooked on Pinterest. I t’s a place where you can collect all your favourite ideas and likes. As a person who has just moved into a new home and looking for great renovation ideas – its just a great place to store all images for inspiration.

So one of the things that I saw and absolutely fell in love was this wall decal someone had made and thought I’d give it a go as well.

It was a little tricky to make as each bird had to cut out individually at varying sizes, but it looks great and I am really happy with the way it turned out, it really makes the room come alive.

Lots and lots of bookmarks (450 to be exact!!)

I was I initially asked to make an invite to my mentor President Daisaku Ikeda for the Women’s Division Commemorative Meeting which I was an abosolute pleasure.   I started with a photo and thought I 12″ x 12″ scrapbook page would be good, but then I was lost and couldn’t work out the layout (since I am a little out of practice) so while searching for embellishments I came across some unused explosion cards, JACKPOT!! and the inspiration came flooding over.

Then I was asked to help make a bookmark that would be handed out to all the women attending the meeting.

So this is what I came up with:

The bookmarks where based around three themes – Hope, Courage and Life.  Something we all face on a day to day basis.

This was a simple bookmark (so I thought) that could be made reasonably quickly and easy to teach.  Initially I wanted match cardstock to the pattern paper, but when your making such a huge amount that rule went out the window!!

But the end result was very pleasing to the eye and the person that received would be have enjoy the wonder message that was printed on it.

Hope:

No matter how long the cold, bleak days of winter may continue, the key to all change is in our inner transformation–a change of our hearts and minds. This is human revolution. We all have the power to change. When we realize this truth, we can bring forth that power anywhere, anytime, and in any situation.

Hope transforms pessimism into optimism. Hope is invincible. Hope changes everything. It changes winter into summer, darkness into dawn, descent into ascent, barrenness into creativity, agony into joy. Hope is the sun. It is light. It is passion. It is the fundamental force for life’s blossoming.

Even places that have been shrouded in darkness for billions of years can be illuminated. Even a stone from the bottom of a river can be used to produce fire. Our present sufferings, no matter how dark, have certainly not continued for billions of years-nor will they linger forever. The sun will definitely rise. In fact, its ascent has already begun.

Courage:

The courage to challenge and triumph over one’s limitations is what defines a victor. The door to victory opens only when one gains control over their own tendencies toward weakness, cowardice, laziness, avoidance, and resignation. By bravely training oneself and making an earnest effort while young, a person can build a strong, unshakable foundation for victory in life, upon which they can construct a great bastion of human revolution

Don’t let the present moment slip by. Like throwing the windows wide open, open your lives to the fullest and manifest the joy-filled wisdom and power of the Buddha. Faith in the Mystic Law enables us to do this. Every moment is a challenge; every moment is a win-or-lose struggle. ?It’s a waste to limit your potential by locking yourself away and letting yourself be ruled by fear. Summon up your courage. Challenge yourself with an eager and optimistic spirit.

The courage to challenge and triumph over one’s limitations is what defines a victor. The door to victory opens only when one gains control over their own tendencies toward weakness, cowardice, laziness, avoidance, and resignation. By bravely training oneself and making an earnest effort while young, a person can build a strong, unshakable foundation for victory in life, upon which they can construct a great bastion of human revolution

Life:

The worst mistake you can make is to give up on yourself and stop challenging yourself for fear of failure. Keep moving forward with a firm eye on the future, telling yourself, “I’ll start from today!” “I’ll start afresh from now, from this very moment!”

Life is a struggle, and ultimate victory is only decided in its final chapter. That is why it’s important not to grow conceited in victory or become disheartened in defeat. Those who keep pressing onward toward a goal with tireless patience and persistence win in the end.

Become like the sun. If you do so, all darkness will be dispelled. No matter what happens, live confidently with the conviction that you, yourself are the “sun.” Of course, in life there are sunny days and cloudy days. But even on cloudy days, the sun is still the sun. Even when you are suffering, it is vital that you strive to keep the sun shining brightly in your heart

 

 

 

 

Bunny Bunting

I needed something simple for a project to take with me on holidays.  I wanted to create some bunting for Hugo’s room.  I have painted one of his wardrobe doors with chalkboard paint and wanted to add something on the top (where he couldn’t reach to draw on).  I found this bunting design on Etsy and thought perfect!!  great inspiration and such a simply project.

I hand drew a bunny with a thick permanent black marker (it took a few attempts to get it right. I then cut out the bunny shape as close to the line as possible to make a template of the bunny.

I then traced this bunny onto some white cardstock and cut each out leaving some space between the bunny.  I punched a hole in each of the bunnies ears, and then using some leftover scrap scrapbooking papers trying to keep the colours in the similar families I used a large scallop punch on these to make the bunnies tail.  I edged the scallop with brown ink to give it a bit of texture and stuck the onto the bunny with pop dots.  Then all you need to do is string them all together and presto all done, to easy!!

Christmas Gift Holders

Yes I know Christmas is over, but during the silly season I had no time to do any blogging and this one I thought was worth showing.

This Christmas gift holders were made for all the pre-school teachers at Willoughby Community Pre School.  I can’t thank the teachers enough for all they have done for Hugo’s growth and development.

So thank you Di, Libby, Jan and Helen in the Blue Room I am sure Hugo will miss you all immensely.

The stamp is a 4 separate Mo Manning digistamps.  This would be the first time I have ever used a digistamp but was very happy with the result.  The best thing about digistamps is that you can manipulate them to whatever size you like and line them up nicely and print out.  You can see on close up the each of the characters in time out it’s quite funny.

For colouring I used both copic sketch markers and prisma pencils.  I hadn’t used pencils before but they really do add more detail than just copic alone.

The copic were great fro blending shades of colours and the prisma pencils to add details like blush I thought was fantastic.

Inside I used Unity Stamp Co and Stampin Up! stamps and covered it with dazzling diamonds.

A Pretty Birthday Box

This box I made as a present for a little girls birthday.   The inspiration came from a friend who made something similar and I thought what a great idea.  Inside I filled it with lots of hair accessories, necklaces,  a little finger puppet Barbie doll and the crazy pink mobile phone and key toy I found at a kids shop.

The idea was to fill it with all sorts of little girls trinkets and they can keep the box to store all their favourite items.

It was a lot of fun to make and took me ages only because I kept wanting to try new products on it.  There was so many choices of what to use but I guess you can only use so much…***sigh***

The little dress came from Scrapware who purely make chipboard products and is a good old Aussie company too!   They come in a pack of 6 and is called dress garland and you can actually make a lovely banner with it as well.  Here is a image:

The bling heart was made from the I-rock tool and I used the flower stencil at an angle .  The tu-tu was made of organza ribbon cut and folded over as I didn’t have any tulle at the time and was sprayed with tattered angles glimmer mist in Pink SWAK.  This put a hint of tiny glittery speckles all over the chipboard, it was also used on the circle behind the “V” for Victoria.

I used the I-rock tool on the box sides as well, this created a textured and eye catching box.  I had a request from a customer to review the I-rock tool and I must admit at first I found it fiddly to use, but once you get the hang of it and I highly recommend the little jewel setting stix or a one of the glam rock packs as it has the stix in it and this really helped set the rocks in place.  Also you do need to be a little patient to get the tool hot otherwise you will find you need to go over them again.

I used the Martha Stewart Scoreboard to make the flower embellishment, the right tools always make lighter work and this is one tool I do love using as it makes your “beyond the page” project SO easy!

2 x Imaginary Friends by My Little Shoebox  12 “x 12″ papers, I-rock tool,  –rock flower stencil, Glam Rock Rhinestuds, GCD Studios – Glitzy Alphabets, 1 piece of the Dress Garland Chipboard, Vintage Distress Ink, Basics White Ribbon , Basic ribbon doilies – Basic Grey mine came from the Studio Calico Add On Kit Free Range, Happy Birthday Rub On – Imaginisce, tim holtz blending tool, Best Ever Glue- this stuff is awesome!!,  Glimmer Mist – Pink SWAK by Tattered Angels

**Please note not all the products are available at the shoppe but I do have the products (just no time to put them on as yet) so if you are interested in purchasing any of the items to make this box shoot me an email and I will endeavor to work out the pricing and availability for you***