Still plenty to choose from, but some items are gone gone gone - don't delay!

Stampin' Scrub Replacement Pads
Peach Parfait ink refill
Dotto refill
Concord Crush ink refill
More Mustard Marker
3/16" Gold Brads
Pear Pizzazz ink refill
Poppy Parade ink refill
Stack & Store Containers
Circle cutter replacement blades
Christmas Greetings stamp
Confetti White CS A4
Blushing Bride ink refill
Blushing Bride CS
5-petal flower punch
Color Caddy Extender Kit
Stampin' Around Wheel Storage - Standard size

Super dooper bargains - Selected fabric packs - Candy Cane Christmas and Deck the Halls are just $4.99 each - save 75%!  Make a quilt, make pencil cases, make a twirly skirt for a little girl in your life!  Lots of fun projects out there - just like the stamp sets you can even google with the fabric name to get ideas galore - here are just a couple of ideas I found in a super quick look today.  Shh, supposed to be working right now, but given I was up until midnight making beautiful lesson plans, I think 5 minutes is warranted!!

The finished quilt unfurled - quite inspired to quilt with paper now...

 

A while back I posted about the quilt I have been making for some 12 years and finally finished in January...  One of my lovely blog visitors asked to see it spread out, and here it is on my bed.  No sooner had I finished, Kimmi the Quilt Blending cat decided it was a good spot to have a schmooge and ask for a tummy rub.  Wish granted, photo taken.  I hope the red/blue and tan colourway shows up better this way Sam!   You still can't really see the borders, but the first is the slate blue pinspot peeking out from behind the watermark, then the William Morris dark red Cherry Cobbler! print, and the outer border is a darker blue than the blue/white swaggy spot on the tan and blue triangle squares.  It's got woollen batting, and is quite pleasant to snuggle under.  I've even signed it now, since I've been nagged by every quilter who has seen it to date.  Who knows, maybe in 100 years time someone will wonder why on earth it took so long to make(snort!)

Happy New Year!

Groan!  Yes, I know it is already nearing the end of January before I have gotten around to a Happy New Year post on my poor blog.  School holidays must have some kind of time-sucking vortex function, feels like it anyway.

I hope all my readers have enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing break over Christmas, or if not, at least nothing too stressful!  We have been pretty busy, doing the long-awaited exterior paintwork on our house.  Looks great, but not much time has been had for fun stamping stuff.  Luckily, I have managed to squeeze in a couple of crafting days masquerading as play-dates for my kids - Thanks to fellow demo friends Amy and Nicky for the inspired locations and great company.  I have taken some pics of what I made on those days, but still have quite a backlog from before Christmas to show you, so I'll get to that first :)

But, before anything paper-based, I feel compelled to show off my finished scrap quilt!  It's been a while in the making, given that I started it in the year 2000...  Here's the epic story.
When I was writing my science PhD thesis, I worked in Australia's biggest patchwork fabric shop for a mentally un-taxing income.  I've always sewn, having had a dressmaker mum, but I'd never made a quilt.  I figured that would be a good time and place to learn, and would provide a little light relief while writing.
Obviously, I haven't been working on it constantly, and the top was finished not long after my first child was born in 2001.  A while later, I added backing and batting, and basted it.  Then it sat, meanwhile I went back to work and then had child # 2, and did quite a few other things, like getting stuck into Stampin' Up!  I ummed and ahhed about the actual quilting, wanting to do it myself but not quite having the skills to do all that funky freemotion stuff.  Eventually, I just whizzed all over with nice straight lines of stitching. Phew!  Bundled away for a while longer.
Then, I thought I'd be brave and try some nice border patterns.  Every available different type of marking pencil/spray/chalk/paper pattern later, and quite a bit of unpicking, I've decided freemotion is something that I suck at.  So, it was decided at last to stick to simple, straight lines of stitching.  Decision made, and it was finished completely, bound and all, in a matter of the last few of days.  Did I mention that I stupidly decided to tackle 'something useful' like a king size bed cover for my first quilt?  No? (insert rolling eyes/facepalm smilie here).  I love it to bits, and am looking forward to dressing my bed with it, and passing it down to my kids as an heirloom one day.

 

It's very nice to have one of my "UFO"s (= Un Finished Object) done and dusted.  What do you think? 

Hair ties with Fun Flowers and Flower Folds Dies + Flirtatious!

These were so much fun to make!!  Another project using our beautiful new fabrics, this time the "Flirtatious" collection that goes with the Delicate Doilies stamp set and Flirtatious specialty Designer Series Paper.  I've used the new Fun Flowers die for the flower in the top photo, simply layering several of the different shapes on the die, cut from each of the three fabrics in the pack.  I've stitched through a Melon Mambo button and onto a thick, snagless hair elastic, so they should last quite well.  I've given them a spray with a fabric stiffener to ensure they don't fray.  Miss 6 and a bit is coveting these, so I'm not sure they'll be mine for long!  The one in the bottom photo was made with the Flower Folds Bigz XL die, in exactly the same way. There are several sizes of flower on this die, and I used the smaller ones - you could make a dramatic race-day statement with the largest if you wanted!  I hope you are inspired to get out your Bigshot dies and discover their versatility.

Perfectly Penned, Perfectly Pink

One of my favourite DSPs in the new catalogue is "Beau Chateau" - and it is another design that has a co-ordinating fabric collection.  The colours are shabby-vintage old pinks and browns, Pink Pirouette and Soft Suede, with soft Vanilla and Marina Mist.  The card base here is Soft Suede, then a layer of distressed Pink Pirouette.  Over this, I have placed a panel of Beau Chateau DSP with a stitched border, with linen thread for a rustic look.  The rosette in the centre is made from a simple strip of fabric, stitched into a circle and gathered on stitching thread.  Although retired, the felt Flower Fusion and large flat back pearl from the Pretties Kit called out to be added.  The sentiment is from another new set, Perfectly Penned, which is in a lovely script style, and has a great selection of oft-needed sentiments.  I've punched this out with the Designer Label punch, and used a layering trick with a second punch for a border. The plain reverse of Soft Suede polka dot grosgrain with a tie of Vanilla taffeta finishes it off.  I also made a set of other greetings from the set, so I can always switch out the sentiment as the occasion arises, for an instantly suitable card!

September = busy!

September in our family is a little busier than the average month, with birthdays for our son, both father and father-in-law, sister in-law, + some friends as well, not to mention father's day.  I've not had much time to post on this here blog, but I have got quite a backlog of pics to show you.  I'm now supposed to be working on some uni assignments due after mid semester break, so we'll see just how many posts I can make over the next few days in the name of procrastination!  There's even quite a bit left over from August, when I attended the 4th Annual Inklings Team Weekend at Vision Valley.

What's up first..... it's almost like a lucky dip as I go a-browsin for images!

OK - here is one I made for a colour challenge at the Team Weekend, using the Timeless Portrait paper colours of Cherry Cobbler, Island Indigo (yummy new In Color!), River Rock, Basic Black and Very Vanilla.  And, what's that!! - ooooooh FABRIC!!  Yes!!  One of my most favourite new products in the new Idea Book and Catalogue are the fabulously fancy fat quarter fabrics!  They come as a pack of three extra wide fat quarters, in several designs to match some of the DSPs for this year,  for a very reasonable $18.95.  I've used a narrow 1" strip here to gather onto a thread, ruffling and pleating before sticking down.  The co-ordinating stamp set is "Forever Young", and features the gorgeous tree silhouette and the frame.  I've embossed the tree in black, and double stamped the frame and mounted a greeting over the top, from Teeny Tiny sentiments.  A bit of narrow black taffeta to finish, and my *17th* wedding anniversary card was done!    It's just as well this was the first card I made at the retreat, because our anniversary actually fell over that particular weekend.... (I have a very understanding and accommodating hubby!)   From this same fabric, I also started making a little purse, maybe I'll get to finish it soon to show you!