Golden Moments

Technical Difficulties

I want to apologize to all of you that have been checking my blog...I've had internet access twice now and both times wasn't able to finish my post - we were in the Brisbane Airport waiting for our flight to NZ and I was just about to post when we heard the final boarding call for our flight...luckily we just made it in time. The B&B we are at today in Haast (West Coast of the South Island of NZ) has access and I spent some time early this morning writing this long post and then I made the mistake of trying to use spell check...something went wrong and it wound up crasing the system and my post was lost. Now we are off and most likely I won't have access again until we get home on the 7th.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the photos I've taken on a big monitor - so far I've taken over 50 GB of photos and we still have a week left...I have such great memories of living in NZ fifteen years ago, but had forgotten how truly spectacular the scenery is - if you ever get a chance to visit this beautiful country be sure to take it. This morning the kids and I got up before sunrise  and went on a little hike out to the coast so I could take some photos - the colors in the sky are so bright and the air is so clear, I'm looking forward to seeing these enlarged - it was very cold though - I think we've finally reached winter.

Check back in a few weeks and I will try to put together a photo album of my favorite photos from the trip.

Have a happy July 4th!

what a day!

Just back from an amazing day on the Great Barrier Reef - haven't downloaded any photos yet, and the seas were so rough that I could barely hold the camera steady to take any - but the snorkeling was just incredible and Jack reconsidered his position of not getting in the water and was able to come with us (his teacher had him doing all this research on Australia and after reading about all the deadly things that live in the water, he had been refusing to go anywhere near the water up until this morning...).

More on the trip later, but a quick "toot" if that is okay...got an email this morning to let me know that a card I did is on the cover of this month's CardMaker magazine. I love Karen Foster Design's Zoo Collection (in fact, one of the classes I taught in Australia was a zoo themed mini album and that went over really well). I also used Technique Tuesday's new Urban Invites set. I think they complement each other so nicely.

Aren't we cute?

Finally figured out how to get my photos posted - sorry, but I am so exhausted that I can only post a quick two...we had a great time in Brisbane visiting with our friends and flew to Cairns today (Great Barrier Reef) . Heading out to some kind of crocodile thing tomorrow ...sometimes it's so much fun having all boys... :)

I am so glad that I bought this camera! Here are two of my favorites from our day at the Australia Zoo - we got to hold koalas and the kangaroos are so tame that we could feed them. The kids spent about an hour just hanging out with the roos - we all agreed that was our favorite part.

Quick Update

Hello everyone! Well, all the classes have just finished - they all went really well and the students who were in my classes were so terrific - I'd love to thank everyone who helped make this event such a success -Alison at Karen Foster worked so hard to coordinate the kits from the UT end - all the folks at Print Blocks were amazing and bent over backwards to help - and in general, people have been so incredibly friendly - made me feel more than welcome.

Joe and the kids arrived safe & sound last night - I got to see them for a whole 15 minutes between events - but now we're all together and more than ready to start the vacation part of this trip. I asked Joe how the flight was...he says "Great, I slept for 10 1/2 hours"...um, what about the kids?? James looked completely exhausted - I'm sure he probably watched every R rated movie available - Jack ate so much junk he threw up - oh well, at least they had a great time exploring San Francisco during their 9 hour layover.

Now that Joe is here with his laptop, I hope to be able to post some photos soon. If you have some photos from the classes, please email them to me and I'll try to post those too.

Joe and I are off to the pub for dinner with Margaret & Andrew - I had forgotten how good the beer is here... :)

ETA: and the kangaroo must be an acquired taste - I ate enough to be polite, but can't say it's going to be something I'm anxious to have again.

Narelle (from Print Blocks) and I stopped for dinner at a local pub in Brisbane on the way back to my hotel one night - I haven't had a beer in probably two years - just seem to prefer wine, margaritas, etc. - but seeing the beers at the pub reminded me of how good the beer is in Australia and New Zealand - and it was just the thing after a VERY long day of putting kits together! ...in fact it was so good I had two :-)

G'Day

Just a quick post to say hello from Australia - I'm not able to post photos yet - but when I do, I think I have a few good ones of some kangaroos we came across during a drive out into the country. It's been so great being able to catch up with my good friend Margaret and her family and spend time in their lovely old "Queenslander" home in Brisbane.

Tomorrow it's back to reality and I'll be moving to the hotel to start working on finishing up the kits and getting ready for the classes. I really hope I can get the photo thing worked out so I can post regularly.

Margaret is starting to cook dinner - she is roasting some kangaroo meat - wish me luck - hopefully it will taste like chicken :-)

Happy Memorial Day!

Just a quick post with a project I made for a recent special issue from Paper Crafts Gifts from the Heart. I picked up this caddy at IKEA for about $5 and the papers and embellishments are from the Patriotic collection from Karen Foster. I used RibbonStiff to adhere the two ribbons together. What hostess wouldn't be thrilled if you showed up with this filled with homemade brownies or fresh strawberries?

Wishing you a day of juicy burgers, ice cold drinks and good friends to share it all!

Birthday Bash

Here is another little sneak peek of one of the classes I will be teaching in Brisbane - it is based around hosting a birthday party and making your own paper goods. I have heard that there aren't that many party stores in Australia. I thought it would be fun to have a class where we make an invitation, party favor, birthday card and double page layout. It will be pretty fast paced to get it all done in two hours but I'm hopeful.

It's taking forever to upload photos this morning, so I'll try to post some more pics later - there are a bunch of fun techniques that I'm teaching that are kind of hard to spot in this photo.

Giving away one of my all-time favorites!

I know this issue came out a little bit ago - but I was just going through some of my older issues and realized that I had an extra copy of this. If you did not buy this the first time around, here is your chance to get a copy - just leave a comment on this post by 11:59 PM EST on Saturday night and I will randomly pick a winner. (and even if you already bought this issue, this makes a great gift for a new homeowner or any paper crafting friend)

I've been really lucky in that I've had an opportunity to work on most of the regular and special issues that Paper Crafts has produced over the last four years, and seriously, I think this one would be my favorite - or at least in the top 5 :) I love making home decor items - things that you can display or give away and that can be enjoyed on a daily basis - it makes all the extra effort you put into a project seem completely worthwhile and appreciated.

This is a set I made for that issue - an altered Prima trash can and matching wooden magazine holder from IKEA. The papers are from 7gypsies - I just LOVE all of their products, don't you? I think it's fun making gifts or cards that have that homemade feel sometimes, but other times I want something to look like it came from an expensive little boutique - that was the look I was going for with this set.

   

Heading to a graduation this weekend?

I just got my June/July issue of Paper Crafts yesterday and thought it was jam packed with some great ideas - I especially loved some of the travel ideas - Kim Hughes made this awesome World Traveler Game (p. 39) - I'm going to make one for myself one of these days. It's also loaded with Father's Day ideas, Graduation projects - there is an invitation by Pam Talluto on p. 48 that I love - I think the idea of using all the different school photos as a border is just terrific - definitely going to keep that one filed away for future reference. If you are in need of a quick & easy way to spruce up your graduation gift - I'll share an idea with you.

I was asked to work on some projects for a feature called "Graduate Your Design" where the idea is to start with a very simple project and then show how a few little changes can have a big impact on the overall look. I used some fun papers from MAMBI's Sanctuary line to make these gift bags. The stamps are from Technique Tuesday (LOVE their Provence font). One type of project that I love to make is a decorated gift bag - they are so easy to do, and by using an inexpensive plain bag from the craft or party store, they provide a very quick way to customize your gift packaging. I always feel like the way the gift is presented is just as important as what is inside. (and it's also a fun way to use some of those gorgeous papers you've been hoarding away that you feel are too nice to cut into smaller pieces ;)

For the first bag I simply stamped the message, matted on blue and adhered to the bag with foam adhesive. A little butterfly from MAMBI's  Soft Spoken dimensional stickers in the corner and you're done - you could easily make this project in less than 10 minutes.

The second bag is exactly the same except I used ink to color one of Technique Tuesday's Tile Topper frames - I love these because they are white to start with, so easy to just add a bit of color by rubbing an ink pad over the top. I then trimmed the stamped sentiment to fit under the frame (doesn't have to be perfect, just trim off any edges that are showing) - adhere with foam tape and pop on the butterfly and you're done - 15 minutes for this one.

The third version is exactly the same as the second, except I added a resist technique to the frame. Again, I love this technique with the white coaster board TT uses for it's "chipboard". I stamped some of the swirl images from the Whirly Gig set using VersaMark ink (or whatever clear embossing ink you have) and heat embossed with clear powder. Then I rubbed the same blue ink pad over the frame and gently wiped off the ink from the embossed areas with a tissue, allowing the white to show through. This is a fun technique to play around with - looks great with a bright patterned paper underneath and then brayer over the top with a very dark ink - you'll have swirls of fun colors.

Here is the finished bag with the embossed frame - only attempt this one if you have a full 20 minutes to spare - or 30 if you need to hunt around for your heat tool :)

These designs could easily be reduced to work with a smaller gift bag - I love those for dressing up a gift card - which is something that always seems to be a big hit with most teenagers/college grads I know.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Video Game Fanatic (wanna be's)

My kids' friends think I'm one of the meanest moms around because we don't allow our boys to watch any TV or have any "screen time" during the school week other than using the computer for HW assignments. Since we have always done this, my kids are actually fine with it - but other people seem to have a problem - mainly their classmates at school. I'd rather have them outside playing...what a concept, huh? okay, sorry, I'm getting off my soap box now. I digress...

The point of the story is that I was under some tight deadlines to get these projects done for Karen Foster Design and needed some photos of my boys playing a video game - they thought I was joking when they came home from school that day and I told them they could play some PSII...these aren't the best photos, but they were good enough to get my assignment finished in time.

Jack still has this door sign hanging from his bedroom doorknob.

and an idea for a birthday card and gift bag for your favorite gamer -

Thanks for stopping by!