life in another country

What might your life be like if you lived in Germany? or the US?
Stephanie and Katja are finding out, by taking a photo of some part of their morning and posting it each day. You can follow along here

boxing day

We were lucky enough to get to spend Boxing Day with 2 of the grandies (Levi and Isaac) in Kalgoorlie.
Lindell painted their faces, Katie and Levi were both puppies.




It was really HOT so the kids played on the new water slide....




and we celebrated Levis' birthday with THIS fabulous cake, made by Lindell. It looked amazing!

flower power

I have made ornaments with polystyrene balls before, but this has to be my fave so far!

It was REALLY EASY and pretty quick, cost hardly anything to make. I used a whole pkt of 2cm Kaiser paper flowers but they were only $2 for the pkt. The pearls were leftovers from my stash (HOW MUCH do I <3 Kaiser???) and I bought the pkt of balls several years ago, intending to do wondrous things with them :(

Thanks for looking.

Daily in December

Oh, I seriously doubt I will get a daily entry here but never mind, day one is done

We are doing this challenge over at AD...
The idea is that each day I will take at least one photo to document our daily life in December. Daily life here, it has to be said, is pretty mundane. But I'll do my best.
This photo shows the advent calendar, which is likely the most exciting thing that will happen today (unless we won Lotto last night)
Tomorrow is pretty cool though -- our 9th wedding anniversary!!

advent calendar....

Our advent calendar was finished last night (whew!) after a mammoth effort yesterday -- my own fault, I've had the kit for weeks but kept dithering about doing it.
Anyway -- as with ALL Kaiser kits, the frame went together beautifully, the only hitch being that I ran out of burgundy paint and so the coverage isn't that flash. I would like to give it another coat, so I'll have to remember to put paint on the next Kalgoorlie shopping list.
The papers I used to cover the boxes are Kaisers' Dear Santa range, very traditional Christmas colours and patterns.
I also used a Hot Off the Press PP for the background of the mini-LO, plus a KI Memories sticker. The photo was taken last Christmas Eve, using the timer.

I really loved doing this one, except for the dratty paint LOL Christmas is SO MUCH FUN for craft junkies!!

9 years....

It's our wedding anniversary on Wednesday. 9 years. I wish it was 29.

This is us, in Busselton, on the 2nd of December, 2000.


And this


is my anniversary present. It's a frangipani, my favourite flower, and it's mother of pearl... just beautiful! I feel very spoiled and treasured =)

DECEMBER ATCs

WE are running an ATC swap at AD for December.
If you haven't seen ATCs before, they are little cards, measuring 3.5 x 2.5 inches, and you would normally make a 'set' (usually 9) and swap with other scrappers and artists.
Well this month we are doing ours based on the famous Christmas poem -- The Night Before Christmas -- yeah, you know, 'twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse'....
... turns out there are 14 verses!!! so we choose just one verse and then make 14 cards based on that verse (all the same or close) and send them in. Once the swap is over, we will each have a set of 14 cards, depicting the whole poem.
It sounds like a lot of work, but if you get a little production line happening, and do a bit at a time, it really is quite quick and so much fun!
So if you would like to have a go, we have several spots left. Hop over to AD, register (very easy process) and then look up the ATC section on our forum.
I have nearly finished mine and will post a pic later.

more Christmas scrapping.....

Kaisercraft have these gorgeous advent calendars out. They come as a flat kit which you put together yourself, but they are so well-made that it's a very easy process.
I bought these as a kit with the papers (Christmas Carnival), paint, bling etc all supplied, and I have made 2 for the grandkids, and have yet to do the one for our family. And I havent shown the LO in this calendar as it is a gift for someone!
I havent been able to get a good photo of mine, so I'm including 2 pics from the Kaiser website as it shows the raw calendar, and the example made by Melissa Kennedy.

been busy crafting......

I've been busy with Kaiser!
I've had these gingerbread men in my stash since last Christmas but I couldn't think what to do with them. In the end, I decided to try Tim Holtz alcohol inks (caramel and ginger)which worked beautifully though the inks are designed for non-porous surfaces, and the chippie sucked it up like a thirsty man at closing time! I used half the bottle of caramel to do 8 gingerbread men. Still, the inks allow some texture to show through, and paint wouldn't, so I'm really pleased with the result.
The currants are Kaiser bling (black), and the icing dots are Kaiser pearls (Blush)
I used scraps of ribbon as well, and the backs are papered with leftover bits of Christmas papers and I also used K&Co chippie alphas that I've had forever.
These ones are made to hang on the tree, but the men have little holes in their hands so you could string them together as a garland, or join them to make an album if you preferred.