Callaloo Soup

Just a little bit extra

In the December kit, Scrapbook Takeout sent everyone a gift of this cute planner. It's just perfect especially since I am trying to be more organised in 2008, and I thought I'd use some of the kit contents and paper from the add-on to pump it up a notch.

On the inside front cover I added a library pocket and tucked in some of the sticky notes that came in the kit. That way I can add notes to myself (or others!) quite easily.

I'm hoping that having such a nice book will help to keep me on track!

Labels: altered, scrapbook takeout

I can create again!

Over the last few days I have slowly cleaned and tidied my little scrap cave. After over a month of creative frenzy it sorely needed it, and so did I, since I had no desire to make anything because of all the clutter. Now it's so clean I don't want to create for fear of messing it up! But that feeling isn't likely to last long since I have new goodies waiting for me on my desk. From now on I plan to try very hard to clean up after every project. Okay, after every two or three projects, so that it never gets this bad again. Now there's a resolution for 2008!

Labels: scrap space

Christmas Day Activity

Call us silly, but yesterday our big activity was making a gingerbread house. Lucas had been researching them over the last few weeks, and we even had a blueprint he downloaded, because of course we had to make it from scratch. First step was baking the gingerbread. We used this recipe (which is in French, sorry!) and enlarged the blueprint by 50%. Once baked it looked like this.

Then the construction began using icing as the glue (and also as a treat along the way!).

After a few mishaps like collapsing walls and pieces of roof (for which we luckily had a replacement since we made a mistake and cut one piece to many), as well as not being able to add the bay window to the front, we had a house!

Add tons of candy to decorate and voila! Amazingly most of the candy ended up on the house and not in our bellies!

Sadly, the weight of the snow was too much for the roof at the front and so this morning we woke up to this.
We had a blast though, and I suspect this will become a tradition!

Labels: Getting Crafty, Holidays

Handmade Gifts I

Now that they have been received I can post some of the gifts I made this year. For my father-inlaw I made this canvas, featuring a photo of him and hubby skiing sometime back in the 90's (neither of them are sure of the year).

I used a black 12x12 canvas. The textured edges were done by pressing a rubber stamp (which was carved by dh) into a thick layer of black acrylic paint. Other supplies: BasicGrey papers, Fancy Pants chipboard, Club Scrap stamp and flea market stuff from my stash.

For my mother-in-law I made this mini album with photos from Christmas last year. I used my latest toy, the Bind-it-all to make the book after doing the cover and all the pages. The papers are from three different BasicGrey Christmas lines: Dasher, Fuitcake and Figgy Pudding. I used Hambky rub-ons and transparency on the cover. Flowers are by Prima, and the ribbons are all from my stash.

They both loved the gifts, which was a relief, since I'm never sure how people will react to handmade items. My mother-in-law kept saying how she had completely forgotten what Christmas was like last year, so the album was a great reminder. She must have looked through it three or four times during Christmas Eve dinner!

Labels: altered, christmas, flea market, minibooks

Merry Christmas to you!

Wishes for a joyful and lovely day from our home to yours!

Labels: Holidays

Merry Christmas!!

From my studio to yours....

Labels: christmas

The Big Push

Tonight we celebrate Réveillon with Lucas' family, so the push is on. Yesterday we cooked up a storm, preparing the dishes we are providing. The house smelled delicious, I'm really looking forward to dinner tonight. Today I'll be finishing up and wrapping gifts, and finishing the topping for the cheesecake I made for dessert. I'll also be trying not to go crazy, since I really should have completed my handmade gifts earlier. But that's all part of it right? I'm wishing all of you as calm and stress free a Christmas Eve as possible!

Labels: Holidays, Life

Holiday House

I'm totally in love with this project! I bought this plain wooden "house" at the 2€ store a couple months ago, and as Christmas approached I realised it would be a perfect little project for the mantel. I used different BasicGrey papers from the Dasher, Fruitcake and Figgy Pudding lines, some AC Holiday house embellies, BG chipboard (happy holidays), Prima flowers and glitter star, Crafty Secrets Vintage Christmas stickers, other random bits and pieces from my stash and loads of glitter! The snow on the roof is batting, and the smoke from the chimney is a chipboard swirl. You can see more views of the house in my Two Peas Gallery

And here is a not so Christmasy tree!
When I saw I didn't have enough buttons to finish the tree, I added the tulle trim at the bottom; and after topping it with the tulle bow, I realised it looks more suitable as a centrepiece for a wedding! This tree is based on the ones made by Tia Bennet which was posted a year ago in the Creating Garden on Two Peas.

Labels: altered, christmas

Alcohol Ink ornament

I forgot to post this one before! I poured in some glitter, followed by a few drops of alcohol ink and blending solution (both by Ranger) and swirled the mix around until the entire inside was covered. Simple and lovely!

Labels: altered, christmas

Holiday Craft Carnival

The Craft Critique blog has been having a Holiday Carnival for the last three days. Lots of links to dozens and dozens of inspiring holiday projects and ideas. So if you're looking for a bit of last minute motivation go check them out!