Introducing my teenager... she has finally hit the age of thirteen and her world is changing rapidly. I love that she is developing her independence but a little sad that I'm not needed quite as much. She did tell us the other day that she doesn't plan to leave home... EVER! But I told her there would probably come a time when she can't wait to leave and perhaps we'll be ready for her to go.

Now, I always love the impending arrival of the Greatest View release products because Gail creates the most adorable items that are 'bang on' trend in colour and theme. And making a choice as to which of the flair badges I was going to share with you for the countdown was a difficult one because there were so many yummy new designs. In the end I chose one badge from three different collections.

And here's a first... sequins! I have been admiring the use of sequins on layouts from Kim, Leanne, Kerryn and Gail, however I've never dabbled with them myself. At first I was a bit uniform in where I placed them so had to let go of my inhibitions and just let them fall wherever and stick them down where they landed. In the end I had a great time working with them!

Now, in case you are wondering, the gorgeous patterned papers are from another Teresa Collins design - Spring Fling. I fell in love with the butterflies and flowers the moment I saw it because they could be fussy-cut without any overlap which is a real bonus for someone like me who loves to hand cut most of my embellishments from the paper. However, I was spoilt with the 12 x 12 die-cut sheet of cardstock embellishments as they were all pre-cut... such a time saver.

Okay, there is very little time left to enter the give-away over on the Greatest View blog so don't forget to pop over and leave a comment to be in the running.

Greatest View Giveaway

For details on how to win, head over to the Greatest View Blog HERE

Entries will close 9am (AEST) on Monday August 27th

From farm to you...

Every year Halloween rolls around and my daughter pleads with me to let her do something to celebrate the day even though we don't celebrate the event here in Australia. Well trick or treating would be out because we are on a farm and don't have enough neighbours close enough to visit in hope of being given sweets. So perhaps this year I might have to succumb and have a Halloween party of our own with goulish treats and spooky decor... might need a trip to Pinterest for ideas.

The approach of Halloween also means a plethora of black, orange, purple and lime coloured pattern papers with bats, ghosts, spiders, pumpkins and more. This year Doodlebug are proudly sporting the ever so scary Haunted Manor collection and it's a hoot!

This week on the Doodlebug blog is the Haunted Manor Launch party and to celebrate I made some cards to show how super cute this collection really is!

I'm not a big fan of spiders but these little eight legged creatures are adorable.

Products Used: Haunted Manor - Gallery of Ghouls; Hopscotch Cardstock Stickers - Lily White, Limeade; Mini Doodle-Pops - Spidies; Doodle Twine - Halloween Assortment; American Crafts White Cardstock, Circle Punch.

Lime, black and white is one of my favourite colour combinations, however I'm fairly partial to Orange and purple too so I made a second card using this traditional Halloween colour combination and the cutest little Mini Doodle-Pop owl.

Products Used: Haunted Manor - Spook-A-Dot, Spooky Type; Doodles Cardstock Stickers - Happy Halloween Multi-Colour; Mini Doodle-pops - Owls; Shin-Dig Cardstock Stickers - Beetle Black, Tangerine; American Crafts White Card Stock; Circle Punch and Hand held Circle Compass.

Doodlebug are celebrating the Haunted Manor Launch Party with a give-away so pop on over to the blog HERE and leave a comment to be in the running, as well as spying all the creations from the rest of the team.

From farm to you...

The past couple of weeks I've been partaking in a Trendspotting course over at Studio Calico and it's been a rather intensive look at the latest trends and incorporating them into your style. The first class was all about triangles and to be perfectly honest, I can't ever remember using a triangle on my creations!

Now, let me just say I spent quite some time trying to conjure up a triangle that would work with my style... nothing came to mind! So I was immensely relieved to be given the opportunity to use a supplied cutting file from the class. However, I don't have a cutting machine that worked with the file so I used my other cutting machine... ME!

Instead of using the spiral triangle file with a cutting machine I printed it out onto A4 paper and hand cut each little triangle so I could use the paper as a mask. Using Pan Pastels I created a gradient of grey around the mask.

I took this photo of my daughter at our local park and she was inside a bright yellow pipe, however the shape was perfect for using with the spiral so I printed the photo in black and white and simply used the cut out shape of my daughter minus the pipe.

Products Used:
Studio Calico Classic Collection - Tiny Chevrons
Studio Calico Heyday Collection - Ethereal, Dew
Studio Calico Wood Veneer - Butterflies
Mist Huey's Color Mist - Water Cooler
American Crafts Sunset Chipboard Thickers
Pan  Pastels - Neutral Grey Tint, Paynes Grey, Neutral Grey
MFT Stamps Die-Namics - Royal Leaves, Mini Rolled Roses
Doodlebug Mini Pearls

From farm to you...
 

It's birthday time on the farm and we are gearing up for my daughter's party... the wood is piled up high for the bonfire, the larder is full of yummy's to eat and I've started the rainbow cake which is now in the freezer and waiting to be iced. Now even though my daughter is turning 13 she still asked if I could make some goody bags for her friends. So in keeping with the rainbow theme, I used a pack of Doodlebug Create-a-Cards as the colours were perfect.

Here's how I put the treat bags together:

Step 1.
Using a matching Create-A-Card and Envelope from the A2 Striped Card Assortment pack, gently open the envelope along the seams and cut out two side panels using the template below.

Step 2.
Score along the dotted lines to create the folds in your side panels.

Step 3:
Take the tri-fold create-a-card and score a line half an inch away from either side of the main pre-scored card fold. Then adhere your end pieces (pattern facing down) over those score lines as shown below. Then using double sided tape adhere all your joins together to form the box.

Step 4:
Add layers of border strips on the front of your card and trim off the excess.

Step 5:
Using a hole punch add a hole either side through all layers to thread your handle. I created my handles by plaiting three equal lengths of Doodle Twine in co-ordinating colours then threading through the holes and tying off with knots.

Step 6.
Create some fun tags for the front of each box and adhere in place using foam pop dots. I kept the colours uniform with each box and added a cute little Doodle-Pop creature, Mini Pearls and a Doodles cardstock 'for you' sticker for the sentiment.

Step 7:
Fill bag with goodies.

Well, hopefully these little treat bags last until the weekend as I've noticed a few of the chocolates have gone missing so might need to do a re-count before the party and perhaps a re-stock too!

Don't forget to pop over to the Doodlebug blog HERE to see how other team members have used the Create-A-Cards in unique ways!

From farm to you...

No I'm not getting married again! I was just being silly and this was the first title that sprang to my mind. Now I guess I'm going to have to explain how it got there.

- Something old: Me - the scrapper
- Something new: Teresa Collins (A first for me!)
- Something borrowed: That would be the duck!
- Something blue: The Greatest View ribbon, buttons and bags!

I'm seriously loving yellow at the moment which is the reason why I was so taken with the 'Every Day Moments' collection from Teresa Collins. One of those 'have to have' shopping sprees! So glad I did because the quality is superb, nothing beats that crisp sound when you cut into good quality paper.
   

I just had to create a layout using these photos of Teddy who managed to get some quality time with his big brother's prized posession 'ducky'. It was more slobbering and chewing than actual playing but he enjoyed it immensely. Ducky needed to be given a quick wash and tumble dry before his rightful owner returned home from school.

I used my stash of Greatest View embellishments and was really thrilled that each colour matched in perfectly with the Teresa Collins collection. Gail had even given me a selection of Greatest View chevron ribbon in perfect hues.

Now I do have another 'new' product to add to the collection. Panpastels... thanks to my dear friend Marg who rated these as 'the best things ever'. I am now the proud owner of a whole pile of lovely little pots of pastel paints in yummy colours. So I broke into the grey and re-coloured the little petite doily, another Greatest View staple.

Products used:
- The Greatest View Sentiment and Chevron Badges
- The Greatest View Chevron Ribbon
- The Greatest View Chevron Bags
- The Greatest View Petite Doilies
- Teresa Collins Everyday Moments Sentiments
- Teresa Collins Everyday Moments Yellow Flowers
- Teresa Collins Everyday Moments Flying Bees
- Teresa Collins Everyday Moments Collage
- Teresa Collins Everyday Moments Collage
- Teresa Collins Everyday Moments Blue Scroll
- Teresa Collins Everyday Moments Die Cut Sheets 1, 2, 3
- Teresa Collins Everyday Moments Rhinestones and Pearls
- Pebbles Fresh Goods ABC Stickers
- Doodlebug Teensy Type - LilyWhite, Swimming Pool
- Circle Cutter
- Jo Sonjas Titaniam White Paint
- Kaisercolour Slate paint
- Stabilo Grey Journal Pen

From farm to you...
 

It's amazing how quickly time passes when we are busy! The past twelve months have been no exception to the rule as it has flown by and now my unexpected bundle of joy is 5 months old. It has also been a wonderful 24 months of being part of the Pebbles Inc design team which has finally come to an end. I knew once Edward entered the world I'd have to scale back on my crafting time so it was with a rather heavy heart that I said good bye to Pebbles, the wonderful Lynn Ghahary and the amazing design team.

My final layout!
And the one and only photo of myself as an expectant mum.

    

I'm so glad I was able to play with the beautiful Country Picnic collection for one last time as it is everything you could ask for in a collection... lots of Kraft, beautiful patterns and gorgeous embellishments... yum!

It doesn't happen often... scrapping myself and 'the farmer'!

This layout goes way, way back in February but escaped without being posted to my own blog. Another gorgeous Kraft based collection from Pebbles called With Love.

This is my favourite photo of 'the farmer' as I don't get them very often and when I do he is usually being silly or trying desperately to avoid the shot altogether. Very uncooperative!!!

So that is it! My last share using Pebbles Inc, although I doubt I will be able to stay away from their beautiful collections as the latest reveals from CHA are divine. Also, a little shout out to the wonderful Kim Jeffress from Brisbane, Australia who is now on the Pebbles team... congratulations Kim!!!

From farm to you...