Royal Easter Show Scrap Page

Slowly but surely I am working my way through the photos I've printed for Noah's scrapbook. I started his first book when he was just born and somewhere along the line I've managed to fall oh about 2 years behind. I've given up doing the year but instead now do photos of very special events and memories in the hope that I might actually get finished before he leaves home! lol.. Guilt is also kicking in now that we have Oliver as I've got to at least start his first one soon.

This layout is from the Royal Easter show that we actually went to last year (2011). We went with our wonderful neighbhours from Canberra as they visited us here in Newcastle and then we all travelled to Sydney together.  We had an absolute ball, but no one had as much fun as the three boys as it was their first time at the show.

I must admit that I haven't used many of the Stampin Up designer papers to do layouts as I have so many other pages that I've bought over the years but this Big Top Birthday designer paper is so bright I decided it was perfect.  Pinwheels are all the rage at the moment on cards and pages so I thought I should give them a go. Well how addicted am I to making them now.

If you want to try them yourself they're so easy. You simply cut a piece of double sided paper to a square about 9cm squared. Then I found using a ruler the easist way to make sure I had straight lines. Just lie the ruler over the top of the paper (inside paper side) and using a pencil lightly mark diagonally.  Cut along the lines until you're almost in the centre. Start at any corner and bend in to the centre. A brad is the easist way to secure the centres but try using a paper piercing tool to make the hole before you try and push the brad through or else it it too thick.

If anyone is like me - my DH often thinks I was a bower bird in my previous life - others might simply say hoarder of craft items! - I keep the little bits of ribbon as I always say to myself I am sure I'll be able to use that somewhere. Well here I was right - I used some little left over bits to add some coordinating colour embellishments to the side of the photos.

I always mount my photos onto cardstock before I add them to my final layouts, the same as I always cut me dsp slightly smaller and back it onto a 12x12 sheet of cardstock. I does work out a little more expensive but I don't think you can really put a price on memories.

I am so happy with this layout, it captures Noah in his element loving life as he always does.  Moments that we shared with some very special people.  When I'm finished a layout I know how successful it's been by Noah's reaction to it and well this was a WOW Mum moment. So that's made the time it's taken to put together all work it.

Hugs - Julie

Cardstock and Paper: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise cardstocks, Big Top Birthday dsp
Tools & Embellishments: Paper cutter, snail adhesive, dimensionals, paper snips, grosgrain ribbon, paper piercing kit, brads, felt letters and numbers.

Baby boy's baby bundle!

For some time now I've had a number of friends tell me to make the plunge and start a Facebook Page to sell some of the many cards I make each year. Well finally I decided to start one, and I'm so happy I did. I've been able to make some amazing cards for friends and for other people who appreciate my work even though they don't personally know me.

My friend Jo contacted me and asked me if I could make the card on my profile photo in blues for some special little men she'll be welcoming soon so of course I said I would. I made two slightly differently for her to choose from but she liked them both so much she's taken them both!

I've made a card like these ones before when the beautiful Baby Ella arrived into the world, but of course it was pink. I hadn't made one it blue until now.  I love making my own dsp which I have done here using the various stamps from the Baby Bundle set. 

For the instructions on how I actually made the card have a look here. I love, love, love these cards but must admit they are time consuming!

The colours work so well on these cards and I hope they make some very special little people feel even more loved than they already are.

If you haven't been over to my facebook page N-bellish Handmade pop over and like me. I've got some amazing cards for sale, adding more each week, and I can of course do custom orders for special people!

Hugs - Julie

My little bundle of joy Christening invitation onesies

Talk about a work in progress - Oliver's christening invitations have taken a lot longer to complete that I had first anticipated, but I am pleased to say that finally I have them all done and posted.  I had to hold off posting them for a little while as I couldn't get suitable accommodation in Canberra and thought that it would be just my luck to send them and then not be able to get somewhere to stay!

I made them by hand - no dies for this set (but I did end up finding a similar shaped die!!).  They are quite easy to make once you've done the first 20, which is lucky as I needed more than 40 in the end.

To recreate them you need to fold a piece of cardstock to measure 15cm in length when folded in half and 11cm wide.  Textured cardstock works the best but if you choose to use the smooth stuff I'd suggest running it through your Big Shot as they just look more finished.  Using a circle punch you can make the neck hold and the leg holes as well.  It takes a little practise to get the leg holes right.  With the slighly larger circle pumch or you could use the scallop circle you can make the edging for the neck and leg holes.  Three small brads work well for the little closure snap look at the bottom, though if I'd also had enough coordinating buttons I could have used those.

The little giraffe is from the Bundle of Joy stamp set and was selected as that's the animal we choose for Oliver when he was born. He's now the owner of five giraffes. 

To finish the cards, you just need to snail the stamped image onto a matching piece of cardstock and then snail it to the mail onesie suit.  So cute!  For the invitation part I used vellum which I simply ran through my ink jet printer and then cut out using a template I'd made by cutting down one of the onesie suits so that it fitted within the middle neatly. 

I can't wait for the Christening as we are holding it in Canberra which means that we'll really be able to catch up with many many friends and introduce our little Oliver to everyone for the first time.

Hugs - Julie

Stamp Set/s: Bundle of Joy

Inks: Bermuda Bay, Bashful Blue
Cardstock and Paper: Bermuda Bay, Bashful Blue, various Bazzill Basics
Tools & Embellishments: Paper cutter, bone folder, snail adhesive, paper snips, clear block D,  circle punch, vellum, brads.

Taggies for Oliver and Gracee.

For those who know me well they know I'm not a sewer, but I can sew a straight line which came in handy this week. 

Oliver who is now 4 months old and putting everything possible into his mouth is in love with his taggie that someone gave him on his arrival into the world.  Of course we learnt from Noah that one of something just does not work and especially as it's constantly covered in slobber I decided Oliver needed a couple more.  Well search I did and there was not one I really like or if I did they were over $25 and then postage.  Nuts.  So you know me I'm up for a challenge and can at least do those straight lines so decided to embark on a little project and made my own.

The household now has 6 taggies as of course Noah needed to have two as well.  I'm really pleased with how them turned out especially as I was able to use up a whole lot of ribbon bits and pieces that otherwise would be going to garbage heaven shortly.

As always I did end up with left over material which I thought I'd put away for another project to which DH said make some more and either give them away or sell them - don't store more stuff!  So alas I remembered that tomorrow is the start of a wonderful auction for little Gracee who was born way too early and is still in America where her emergency delivery into the world was. Due to a bungle in insurance the family are up for the costs of all the medical treatment she's had which is hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The taggies are made out of either flannelette or 100% poly cotton fabrics and are backed with minky fleece - which is so soft.  The ribbon tags have been sewn on three times to ensure they don't fall off and then the blankets are again stitched twice - so they're strong - but aren't meant to be bitten into - most little people just like rubbing the ribbons as they like the different textures.

So people get over to the Gracee's Appeal Facebook page and put some bids on my taggies to help bring Gracee home.

For those popping over from the auction I had hoped to get a couple others done as well and if I can get them done tonight or tomorrow I'll add them. If you would rather a girly one or like the cars I would be happy to have you bid on one of the ones on the page and then let me know out of the fabrics below which you'd rather.  The minky backings for these will be either red for the cars or a soft pale green for the other two. If I can track down the pale pink it too would be an option but please email me before you bid if this is what interests you as I would want to make sure I have the materials you're after. 

Enjoy - Julie

Congratulations Penman's - Neighbour Wheel - SUO challenge #42

Our lovely friends the Penman's whom we meet in Canberra some years ago recently posted to Queensland.  They had to move into a DHA house, but a few weeks ago they found their own house to buy and make their own actual home. 

Their girls can now paint the walls in their rooms and hang whatever wherever! It does sound strange to those who've not lived like we have for some time but even the event of wanting to hang a picture comes with the added thought of 'oh no, we might end up having to fill and paint that one."  Let me tell you it's not a way to choose to live for too long.

We've seen some photos but just can't wait to plan a trip to visit them so we can see their new home.

I wanted to make a card to celebrate this fantastic event and it just happened to fit perfectly into the SUO challenge which was to make a congratulations card. The problem was I couldn't decide which style of card I wanted to make the most. A DL size or a smaller square one.  So here's both.

The house images come from one roll of the jumbo wheel - neighbourhood - and I did this in Basic Black ink on the cardboard that backs onto the dsp packs. It's a really thick cardboard and is glossy which gave the final card a nice finish.  I used the 2011-2012 In Colours - Island Indigo, Coral Calypso, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder - markers to colour in the houses, cardstock for the base and a mount and dsp as well. The ribbon is white grosgrain which I attached around the mount for adding it to the card base and then tied a bow which I attached with a glue dot.

To give a little more of a 3D effect I rolled another house which I coloured and then cut out by hand.  It's attached with two dimensionals.  The scallop edge is made using one of the circle punches and then cutting them in half before attaching them.  Lastly on the outside the sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments and stamped in Island Indigo before being pucnhed with the word window. It's also attached with dimensionals. 

For something a little different I cut out two more houses that I'd also coloured and added them to the inside of the card.

The second card - the square one was made the same way as the first, wheel rolled in Basic Black and coloured in the In Colour range.  Then using the 1" square punch I punched the strip in random spots. I needed nine in total so choose the most colourul ones to use.  After laying them all out I attached them to a piece of Pool Party cardstock with my snail which is then stuck onto the Island Indigo card base.  Using a black felt tip marker I freehand drew squares to outline each little picture square.  The sentiment is the same as in the first card only before attaching it with dimensionals I mounted it onto a little piece of Coral Calypso.

 

I really enjoyed making these cards as I know whichever one I end up choosing it will be well received and treasured for some time to come. 

Enjoy - Julie

Stamp Set/s: Neighbourhood - jumbo wheel

Inks: Basic Black, Island Indigo, Coral Calypso, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder
Cardstock and Paper: DSP backing card in glossy white, Island Indigo, Coral Calypso, Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade dsp
Tools & Embellishments: Paper cutter, bone folder, snail adhesive, dimensionals, paper snips, clear block D, word window punch, circle punch, square punch, basic black marker, grosgrain ribbon.

Easter Mini Milk Cartons for School

Noah started Kindy this year and I can not believe that it was 10 weeks ago. Tomorrow sees us begin the first of three weeks of holidays. Easter is wrapped into the holidays in NSW this year so he really wanted to give something special to his teachers to say not only Happy Easter but thank you for teaching me this term.

These cuties also fit perfectly into the Just Add Ink - just add Easter Challenge #111.

Normally I'd grab a few eggs and wrap them in some cellophane but as I've got those extra hours at home when Oliver's sleeping during the day I decided to experiment with my lastest SU die - the Mini Milk Carton.  It truly is as cute as I thought it was going to be!

In no time at all using the die and my Big Shot machine I had 10 little milk cartons in Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and Daffodil Delight cut out. Assembling them was another story - this took a while longer than I had thought it might mostly due to not going with my gut feeling that using the Sticky Strip tape would be best and using the snail instead. DON'T do it - go straight with the Sticky Strip as in the end I had to go back and re do some of them as the snail just isn't strong enough to hold them.

For the decoration I added strips of the designer papers from the Brights Stack - Pacific Point, Melon Mambo, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie. I cut them to 15.5cm strips, wrapped them around and stuck them on before forming the cartons as I found this easier than after. The edging strips are just off cuts of 5cm again stuck on with Sticky Strip.

 As I wanted something to go on the tops to close off the taped side of the carton and couldn't get my order through SU before I needed them I used some office clips which work just as well.  Baby bull clips would be super too as you can decorate them with paper and ribbon.

The bunnies were a bit of an after thought as I needed to make them look like Easter gifts. They're made using two circle punches and the large flower punch is used for the ears.  The buttons are randoms that I had lying around. They're obviously the backs of the bunnies!

The Happy Easter sentiment is a part of the Teent Tiny Sentiment set, which for those of you who follow my blog know I use a lot. It's stamped in Pumpkin Pie, punched using the word window and then mounted onto the label punch.  I used a glue dot to attach it.

I can see that I'm going to get so much use out of this particular die - lolly bags in particular for parties for my boys.  I'm now wondering how I can used them and will I have enough time to make 60 of them to give out to all the children who'll be attending Oliver's Christening... I'll let you know what happens with that.

Enjoy - Julie

Hoppy Easter

I'm so disappointed this was an ala carte stamp in the just retired Summer Mini Catalogue as I am  sure there's going to be a lot of disappointed SU stampers out there when they realise they've missed this bunny. I hope that he makes it into the nxt Idea Book & Catalogue.

He's so cute and was so much fun to do and he fits into the make an Easter card challenge over at Card Crafter's Circle.

I used the SU markers Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso and Pacific Point to colour the individual parts of the Easter eggs and the bunny clothing and used the Early Espresso for the bunny himself.

The image was stamped onto Whisper White cardstock, then cut and mounted onto a square of Old Olive, and then a large scallop square in Close to Cocoa (which is retired but I had some left over. The Early Espresso would be the alternative as this was actually the ink used). To add some highlights I added the strips of cardstock to the top and bottom of the image.

This was then all attached to a base card of Pacific Point which I had already added a strip of the Daffodil Delight designer paper to as well as a featured strip of Old Olive grosgrain ribbon.

It was a fast card to make and one we made for Noah's Nanny and Poppy. He was so and as he started Kindy this year was keen to write the card himself. For someone who wasn't able to write much at the beginning of this year I'm thrilled.

I rarely do just one card at a time as I figure I've got all the bits and bobs out so here's the second one, very similar expect it's got some twine and a scallop edge on it as well.

Enjoy - Julie

Stamp Set/s: Hoppy Easter (ala carte)

Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Early Espresso
Cardstock and Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Close to Cocoa
Tools & Embellishments: Paper cutter, bone folder, snail adhesive, dimensionals, paper snips, scallop border punch, ribbon, twine, paper piercing kit.