Postcard

My penpal Stephanie sent me a blank postcard and asked to me to decorate it in a style that was "me".  After lots of procrastinating I finally sat down and created this postcard.  I decided to use some scraps of my favourite pattern paper, DIY enamals, wood veneer, chevron and a camera - all things that I think are my style :)

July Card Swap

This month's Simply Crafty card swap theme was Christmas.  

My card

Cathie's card

Katie's card

Tanya's card

Layout

I had a lovely day at Simply Crafty on Sunday :)  We had our annual Christmas in July party with a lovely lunch and Secret Santa.  I got a lovely bath set - smells divine!

I wasn't there all all day, but I did manage to get my card swap done and get one layout started (I added the finishing touches yesterday).

Cathie's 40th Birthday

Saturday night we had a girl's night out to celebrate Cathie's 40th birthday!  We got all glammed up in cocktail dresses and hit the town!  We started off with dinner, drinks and LOTS of chatting, then did a bit of bar hopping.  Lots of cocktails were consumed, more chatting and dancing throughout the night.

Zippered Pouches

Well I finally stopped procrastinating and decided to make something using the zippers and fabric I have been hoarding :)   Because I had never sewn a zipper before I watched a few You-Tube tutorials and decided to use this one.  It's was easy to understand and great demonstrations.

Once I worked out the pattern on the first one, I quickly whipped up 2 more!  I think these will be a good present to pop in with gifts this Christmas!

I made this horse theme pouch first.  It was originally a cushion that I brought for 50c at the op shop last month.  I had to unpick the zipper, remove the rocking horse motifs on both sides and unpick the ribbons from down the sides.  

Next up was these 2 smaller pouches, using more op shopped fabrics and zippers.

Everyday Moments

Another crazy week has flown by - it will be Christmas in no time!! LOL  I seem to be playing catch-up with my "moments" this week - Craig has started a new job and our change in routine has left me too tired to do my usual night-time blogging.

We recently spent a wonderful afternoon at the park with our niece BP :)  Lots of fun watching her run around and play, plus lots of cuddles and chatting with her xo

Craig and I enjoyed a picnic lunch by the river.

I've been using some older papers in my stash to make envelopes.  

My pen pal is heading to Australia for a visit soon - we are going to meet next month!!!!  I popped this cute cello bag of travel themed die cuts into her recent letter.

It was a crazy day on Saturday - my friend Katie popped over for morning tea and a catch up before she has her bub.  Then Craig and I headed off to a party for our nephew's 13th birthday.  From there (even though it was freezing) we spent the night around Kylie & Mick's new home-made fire pit  - very nice & warm!  We had hotdogs and roasted marshmallows - lovely and relaxing!  We're looking forward to the next one :)

Thrifty Thursday

I hadn't planned on op shopping this week (surprise!), but had to duck into town to do some chores so thought "why not?!? - good decision :)

More cookie cutters / presses - $1.  I am a bit addicted to these and am getting a collection! Keeping my eye out on a large bottle / jar to store them in to decorate my kitchen.

Birthday cake book $2 - I already have a copy of this book, but this one is in a bit better shape, so I will keep it and pass my other copy onto family / friend.  Book 3 in the "Girl with the dragon tattoo" series $2 - brought book 2 last week!

Some crafty / storage items.  Ceramic dish $2 - will hold small bits & pieces in my scraproom.  Ribbon storage box $2.    Zippers 50c, crochet hook $1 and thread holder 50c.

Pyrex Spring Blossom teacups 25c each!  I usually don't buy teacups (I'm not a big tea / coffee drinker), but I have some Pyrex in this pattern and they were soooo cheap!!  

Bag of lego for the collection $2

Dip bowl and spreader set $2.  I have one set like this and use it every time we have a party - since we plan on having more parties / gatherings this Summer seems like a good idea to have another one :)

Not a bad haul considering I wasn't going to go op shopping this week :)  Did you find anything?

Linking up with Thriftasaurus.

Layouts

Another scrappy week :)  I went to a midnight crop at my LSS on Friday night with Cathie and Kylie and got 3 LOs started, then finished them over the weekend.

Around the House

Slowly, but surely we are getting the house organised and decorated :)

I have planted some fake plants into my thrifted planters - I already had the succulents and brought the 2x bamboo plants.

We finally organised the garden shed - it had been a bit of a dumping ground when we first moved into the house and just kept adding to it.  I forgot to take before photos - sorry, but imagine a big mess and you will know what it looked like LOL  We purchased the shelves and then just had them sitting in the middle of the shed - not really useful.  We put everything on shelves and had a bit of a clean out of some junk.  We still need to buy a few more shelves / boxes for storage and hang some hooks to store our garden tools.

Kylie gave me this gorgeous wind chime for my birthday :)  Craig hung it up on the front verandah for me.

I painted this pot a few months ago and was going to plant herbs, but decided to re-pot my succulents into it and put it on the front verandah instead.

I brought this gorgeous handpainted ceramic handle for the laundry cupboard - just something pretty to add colour to the room and make me smile everytime I look at it :)

Die Storage Folder

Today I'm sharing how I store my metal dies.  Originally I was storing the dies in their original packaging (and my embossing folders) in a carry case.  It soon became obvious that this wasn't suitable - I had to rifle through all the packets to find what I was looking for and then the dies started falling out of the packaging.  

I had to change my method to something that would allow me to see my dies better, keep die sets all together and be portable for crops / retreats.  I searched online for some storage inspiration and had a few options, but then Cathie came up with the idea of storing dies in plastic zippered pockets in a binder.  This was perfect - I already had a heap of the pockets that my Kaiser embellishments came in and a A5 binder.   

The pockets were different sizes - so I just cut the backing sheets down to fit.  To keep the dies more organised in the pockets I used magnetic tape to keep them on the original backing (so that I knew the manufacturer and also be able to see at a glance if any dies were missing).

Everyday Moments

Just some photos of everyday moments.  I'm loving these posts - it allows me to record those random photos / events that aren't "big" enough for a whole blog post.

Craig & I were going to make jelly cheesecake slice, but a a search of the cupboard found a forgotten tin of chocolate condensed milk, so it evolved into a choc peppermint cheesecake!!  Soooooo good - the middle part had a consistency of thick mousse - yummmm!!!!

Craig and I had a date and went to see this at the movies :)  It wasn't as funny as we thought it would be, but still an enjoyable movie. 

Mid-week girls night with Cathie & Kylie - delicious meal, a few wines and lots of chatting :)

Cathie & Andrew organised to run a jumping castle at the Homemade Expo on the weekend to raise money for the Sam Ross Foundation, so Craig and I went down to help.

2nd Cataract Surgery Update

I had a check up for my 2nd round of surgery today and once again the results exceeded my doctor's expectations!  The quality of vision in my right eye has improved significantly.  It won't ever match the level in my left eye, but compared to what I have been living with it is an amazing difference!!  Then to add to the amazing news, I was told I didn't need to buy prescription reading glasses, I can just use magnifying glasses - woo hoo!  Words can not express how happy, excited and grateful I am for the changes these operations have made for my life :)

Layouts

I was still feeling creative over the weekend and managed to get 3 more layouts scrapped!  Printing out some new photos always seems to inspire me :)

Scraproom Tour

While going through my photos, I realised I hadn't shared pics of my scraproom!  I took these in March when I had friends over for a scrap room warming / SU party - while my room was nice and tidy for a change LOL  There have been a few changes / additions since I took the pics - my creative space is still a constant process of change to suit my needs.   As I have mentioned before - I have the whole converted garage / granny flat for my scrap space - spoilt :)  I have a TV unit, lounge suite and bookshelf in the front section.  I also have a trestle table set up that I use to scrap on while watching movies.  

The back section of the room is where I have all my scrap storage.  I was lucky enough to be given the kitchen cupboards from a friend (she no longer wanted them in her scraproom and I didn't hesitate to take them - they are perfect!).  The left side has a desk area.  In the cupboards / drawers I have a whole lot of random-ness - boxes of dies, embelishments, OTP projects, tools, embossing powders / glitters, etc.  On top I have store my cardstock, punches and alphas - all storage was thrifted.  To the left of the cupboard I keep my tool box which I take to crops.

Close up of the  DIY storage / decorative frames on the wall that I painted to brighten things up.  I made the chicken wire embellishment frame years ago - Kylie made one and I thought it was the perfect idea for me too.

On the right side is my cube shelving that I brought when we moved in.

The shelves mainly store my stamps, Cuttlebug, washi tape, adhesives, magazines, etc.  I find I am a visual person - if I see it, then I will use it.

The thread holder I painted a few months ago (saw the idea over at I Heart Organizing) - lovely & bright and great storage idea!

On the left side of the back area is a built in cupboard - I have LOTS of storage :)   Left side of cupboard - scrap paper, card bases and 12x12 containers for paper scraps.  I put another shelf in the "hanging area" for more storage - that holds, paints, pens, decorative scissors, tins of flowers, etc.

On the right side of the cupboard is my sewing stuff - sewing machine, fabrics, sewing tins, buckets of buttons, etc.  I also have some wool stored in a basket and a shelf for the kid's craft stuff.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of my scraproom :)