do I look THAT bad?

On a recent VEEEEEEEERY long drive, I was telling the kids about the time my dear friend Rose and I (with 6 kids) were in a rollover that totalled her car, squashed the drivers' side roof down onto the headrest, and left all of us without so much as a scratch.
Katies' eyes were huge.
"Mum!" she said.
"Did you DIE?"

No, sweetie, Mum just needs a good nights' sleep.

why all the little pictures?

I have long loved dollshouses. I had a couple as a little girl, and got interested in making miniatures about 14 years ago. I used to have a lovely Georgian style house, complete with lighting, but I gave it away when we moved to this teeny little house we live in at the moment.
I still have the furniture, and lots and lots of stuff I've made or collected over the years, so I'm all ready for the day when the kids grow up enough to not fiddle, and a room to keep the house in.

hats and hatboxes....

A Victorian mourning bonnet, a straw boater (I plaited strands of raffia together to make it) and a funny looking hat.

various special things....

I made the chair from wood scraps -- before I knew how to upholster -- so bit hard on the bottom I think, but it looks OK at least.
The rug I stitched from a pattern, and I thought of and made the bunny slippers myself.




I made the wreath from twigs of a peppi tree in my garden, dampened and twisted together. The apple slices are Sculpey clay, painted. There were more dried flowers on too, but they have succumbed to the years of storage :(

tiny toys....

The dolls are made with an armature (pipecleaner bent to shape and a wooden bead for a head) then dressed with scraps of ribbon, lace etc -- embroidery thread for hair.

The bear is handmade -- not by me I hasten to add -- and JOINTED, can you believe it?

The rubber ducky used to live in the nursery, ready for bathtime -- he's made from Sculpey clay.

Monopoly, anyone?

This was a template that I printed out and put together. The funny thing is -- I dont even really like Monopoly!
I stitched the rug myself.

so much for the scrapping diet....

So yesterday I walked into the local shop and the man with the van full of Kaisercraft-y goodness was RIGHT THERE. What's a girl to do???
I'm sure you can all guess what happened next.... I left $70 poorer but loaded down with all manner of lovely things....
But the guilt got to me. As soon as my poor hard-working husband got home, he said "How was your day, Beautiful?" and I leaned my head on his chest and confessed.
"I was naughty."
He laughed. "How much?" he said.
I told him... and he laughed again and said "Well, you held out for weeks, so it doesn't matter."

BEST. HUSBAND. EVER.

EXTREME scrapping

Check out these FUNKY old burned flowers! Maria is going to LOVE this technique, I can tell.




I saw this over at Little Birdie Secrets, and it looked pretty easy but with enough danger to feel quite adventurous! I've often said scrapping is a bloodsport (it is for me, anyway) but truly you can't do much damage with this technique as long as you take it slowly (OH and don't work under or near the smoke alarm *winks*)
You simply rough-cut some circles or flower shapes from your fabric scraps (tulle, taffeta, satin, organza etc), then wave the edges quickly through a candle flame so that they melt. If you like the grungy look, keep the black bits, but if you're after something a little softer, trim the edges with a sharp pair of scissors. Experiment with different layers and sizes.
Stitch the layers together with beads or buttons to finish off.
Some of mine are waiting for some buttons I bought on eBay -- but the black one uses a button I got in a swap from the lovely MareeG.

feb CC at ART

We had our usual mayhem last night, lots and lots of fun but I dont believe any actual scrapping got done!
Here is my challenge for the CC, which is to make a masculine Valentines' LO, use a heart, but NO RED on the LO.

the MAGICAL MUSICAL TOUR competition

Hey Scrappers! come join us as we tour the magical world of MUSIC in our new comp. You can find us at www.artisticdocument.com

storage....

Storage is a problem we all have.... for me, out of sight is truly out of mind,; if I can't see my stash, I forget I have it. Because I have only a small space to scrap in, I have to be careful in how I store it, making sure that it's accessible as well. Having to move boxes and ferret around under the desk isn't the ideal!
So when I saw these storage drawers from Kaiser, I thought of about a million ways to decorate them.... and a million things to store in them!
In the end, this is what I came up with:

One box is still un-claimed -- I will probably use it to store my charms in.
The TOOLS drawer holds my corner rounder and CutterBee piercing bugs.
I have my T!m metal stuff all in one spot (word keys, metal corners etc)
and finally a spot for my iPod so I know where to find it!
The drawers are surprisingly large, and I would love to get more! Katies' room definitely needs a set, and Jacks' room, and Gages' room, and ......

i heart you

Kaisers' Shaken Not Stirred line again -- did I mention I really LOVE this range???

KISS YOU

I have been naughty lately. I spent WAY too much on scrap stash, taking advantage of both the post-Christmas sales and my husbands' good nature!
But one of the smartest things I bought was the new Q3 Shaken Not Stirred range from Kaiser. I love these papers and the embellies are so gorgeous, especially the poker chips! (wish there had been more in the packet!)
So today I used the range to make a Valentines' Lo for my man, and here it is.

changes....

Sadly, this week at ART saw both Ann and Maria step down from the DT. This was a great loss to us as both are very talented ladies.
We have had to make some changes and one of those, I am happy to say, is to appoint Terri as a DT member. Terri has been a very valued forum member for a long time, and her work is gorgeous. She is an inspiring scrapper who isnt scared to try new things and I think she will do us proud.
We are also advertising outside the forum for 2 additional DT members.
It should be understood that at ART, our focus is on building a community of friends who scrap together. DT members are expected to encourage and support the girls, and so fitting into the family atmosphere is paramount.
If you, or someone you know, thinks they might like to apply, please contact me through the comments or my e-mail addie.

free!

For the last couple of weeks, I've been making wedding invitations for my sister. I so wanted them to be utterly perfect and have stressed myself out a lot trying to live up to my own ideal. Don't get me wrong, I loved making them, but I am very glad they're done.
They are ALL FINISHED and POSTED so I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Australia Post does the right thing and keeps them safe to be delivered into my sisters' own two hands.
In the meantime, now I get to SCRAP!!!!
I have some gorgeous new Kaiser to play with, the Shaken Not Stirred range, plus s lovely set of Kaiser storage drawers to make up.
Time to have some FUN :)

my Feb challenge at ART

This is my new challenge at ART, to use 3 T!m techniques on a LO (masking & stamping)
The pic on the LO is of Gage, when he was a little tacker, 'surfing' on a picnic table in the park next to my house. We'd had some flooding, and people were canoeing around the streets etc. I think it was about '98 or '99 but not sure.