Dad's 80th Birthday

It was Dad's 80th Birthday back on the 22nd February.  So that weekend I was busy with visiting family. It was so nice to catch up with my sister and her husband as well as our son and his girlfriend.    My Aunt was in town too and our cousin and his family came over for the family party.  

Of course, had to have something a little special and different for a card so I had been checking out Pinterest for the past month or so.  I saw a couple of cards like the one above and thought it was a bit of fun.  Sorry can't share any links as all the Pinterest ones I find just go to a photo.  Everything was printed on our computer and then I just layered it up.  The card I made from two manilla folders joined together.  I needed the large size for the inside.

I saw this idea all over Pinterest and adapted it a little for the chocolate bars that we have available here. Again, I printed this all out on the computer then I punched out each word with a variety of shapes.  It reads all the way across.  Yep, the card received a smile and was shown off to others.

Thanks for dropping by.

Ribbon Storage

More of my craft room re-organisation.  Note the curtains to the left have now been replaced with those in the photo below.  I have updated my ribbon storage from these two plastic drawer holders to…….

First I will share photo of pattern on the curtain up close.  Not sure what the pink tinge is that shows in the photo but they are a grey with a nice satin shine on the embroiled flowers.

These are the boxes that I bought to store my ribbons in.  They are 'Bits and Bobs' drawers from Kmart.

When I put my ribbons in I was wondering how would I know which colour is where.  I decided to add a bit of colour to the room and cover the front of each drawer with corresponding colour of Graphic 45 paper.  Had to search a little harder for pink, brown, gold and silver.

Tadah! All done.  The pink and brown finally arrived and the gold and silver I could not find anywhere in Graphic 45.  So I decided to put to use some embossed pieces of card stocks in appropriate colours that I had received years ago for a Craftmad swap.  I am really happy with the look and all the space I now have for my ribbons.  

New Home

I made this quick and simple card for our son and his girlfriend when they moved into their first ever place together last year.  A square and a triangle which I have doodled around the edge with a fine tip pen.  Added a little heart and finished withe the peg and new home sign.

Joy Craft Magnetic Folder Die Storage

At Christmas I was given a Joy Craft Magnetic Folder.  At the time I thought I don't really need this as I had all my dies stored in their original cases to which I had adhered magnets for the dies. The magnets are the black strips you see in the photo above.  Then I thought I might as well try it out and was surprised at how many dies this folder could hold.  So I ordered another three from Blue Edge Crafts.  The photo above shows all the packaging from the dies that now fit nicely in four of the magnetic folders sitting at the rear of the pile.  How neat is that.

Now I have words and nature etc folder.

Octagon and Border Folder.

Circles, Flowers and Leaves Folder.

Ovals, Labels Folder.

Now they sit neatly on my bookshelf with labels from my labelmaker making the dies easy to find.

Quilt Blocks and Tea Cosy

Tidying up my photos today and found another group of cards etc that I have not shared with you.  So I am busy uploading and scheduling now.   When I saw this block I knew this was the post for today since it is Valentines Day.  Hope you are all enjoying your day although it is just like every other for my husband and I as we don't tend to do anything special.  I believe it's a big marketing ploy and I have 364 days or 365 days in this year to tell my husband I love without waiting for Valentines Day.

Now these blocks are all from 2015 and I have sent them off to my partners for the Craftmad Quilt Block Swap.  Sadly, I can't remember what the block pattern names are.  This block headed to Beth down in South Australia who requested pastel pink, green, lilacs and cream.

Mrs A in the UK should have this in her collection.  Mrs A asked for shades of pink, burgundy and cream.

This one headed to Mandy down in South Australia.  Mandy asked for Jungle and Tropical Brights.

Cathy in South Australia asked for black and white with a splash of one bright rainbow colour.

During 2014 our local museum had its Inaugural Tea Cosy Competition which I had great plans on entering but of course ran out of time.  2015 our second Tea Cosy Competition and once again I was determined to enter however, left it till the last moment but did whip this patchwork quilted tea cosy up.  These photos show both sides.  I should really start on another for this year now. 

Thanks for passing by, wishing you a beautiful day.

Saturday Morning Walk and Coffee

Home from our walk and coffee this morning. What a beautiful start, clear skies and so much cooler than last week it was a pleasure to be out there. Breakfast now followed by housework and then I think some crafting in the air conditioning before heading out to the garden late this afternoon. Lets see if that is what happens. Have a good one everyone.

Townsville and road trip home

Our view from the barge as we were leaving Townsville.  The huge rock is Castle Hill - info here.  Although we didn't take a car across to Magnetic Island we took the barge across as it was a cheaper option and not as crowded.

Heading towards Magnetic Island - info here. 

We hired two of these little cars to zip around the island the other was blue trim.  So much fun.  We arrived at Nelly Bay and headed over to Horseshoe Bay where we swam for a while then back to Arcadia beach for some lunch.  

After lunch we found some Rock Wallabies across the road.

Sunday, we drove up the top of Castle Hill.  This is a good spot for running, walking which we had planned to do but early in the morning.  But it was way too hot then.  Crazy people were walking up there in the middle of the day as we drove up.  Isn't the view amazing.  Townsville is so green at the moment……green is not something that Townsville is known for.

Looking out to Magnetic Island.

Our trip home, there a storm with lightening over to the left.  We pulled over here to get that magic picture of a lightening strike.  Of course, not one strike while we waited….minutes not seconds.  So continued driving, of course more strikes.

So pulled over again to get that elusive photo which remained elusive.  Of course more strikes as soon as we took off.

So I will just show you photos of the impressive clouds.  The colours were amazing and in my head I was singing - This is Australia by GANGgajang  - hear it here.  Funny thing is this song played on the radio when I was heading over to my parents to pick up our dog when we had gotten home.  So then I sang out loud.  :-)

Now we are heading into the storm.

Yep, we caught up to it.

Wind and rain.

The other side.

More of the other side.

Now we know we are home - Walsh's Pyramid.

Have a great day.

Happy Birthday Jan - Starburst Card

This starburst card I sent off to my Craftmad friend way back at the beginning of January.  The papers are all stamping up scraps I had collects.  I roughed up all the edges and then added ink.  The sentiment is computer generated.  Finished with a little bling.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, we are off visiting our son and his girlfriend.

Craftmad November Swap - Funny Saying Card

Another catch up post.  These cards I sent off to my Craftmad partner for the November card swap which was all about funny/comical cards.  I found this one hard to do and think I was late sending them to my partner as I struggled so much.  In the end I had fun creating this upside down sheep out of a cottonball and free hand cutting the legs and head.  I added a 'Get Well' sticker and then handwrote the sentiment.

Both card designs I was inspired by cards on Pinterest. This was fun to create and used up a lot of googlie eyes that I don't seem to touch these days now that the kids are no longer kids.  The monster itself I made by adding blobs of copic refill colours.  Sentiment is computer generated.

November Craftmad Quilt Block Swap

Time for something different.  This is the final block I sent off to my Craftmad partner for the 2015 block swap.  Mandy had requested tropical, blue, yellows and green.  I got to choose the design so went the Card Trick block.  I really love the brightness and how well the fabrics went together.

I am still sorting through my craft room.  Everything went back in its right containers yesterday after a couple of years of quick clean ups and putting gear where it could fit. So nice to know everything has a spot.  Now the labeller will be working hard so I remember where the right spot is. :-)

Good news came out of my cleaning and tidying yesterday.  After cleaning every room in this house from top to bottom I finally found a small brass sign that went missing after our renovations, two and a bit years ago.  I so knew it was here but it was not any of the places I had been looking over those two years.  

This brass sign is very special to my husband as he served in the Navy as a Victualler and a big memory is that he served on HMAS Melbourne the last conventional aircraft carrier for Australia.  It was decommissioned in 1982 and he grabbed the Victualling Office sign which we have had attached to a wall in our kitchen ever since.  Until the renovations where I removed it and put it somewhere safe. :-) As a Victualler my husband dealt with all the food and clothing orders for the ship along with others in the office.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful week.