day 210: valentines day card

the finished card ... should have used the flash sorry!

day 210 and i am making a valentines card today using a very sweet card from K Werner Design for inspiration. i found this card on pinterest and thought it was so cute and loved how simple but effective it was.  i pinned it to my paper crafts board for a rainy day.  ok so it didn't rain today but i am having so much fun playing with the my memories software i figured trying to replicate this card using it sounded like a good idea for inside play ... so i pretended it was raining so i could stay inside and be crafty!

below is kristina's original card. isn't it perfect for valentines.  i absolutely love all the little details with the stitching and the offset button.  i became addicted looking at all her beautiful cards this evening and the little details she adds to all her cards are so cool.  as an added bonus she does a lot of video tutorials for card making, which is really helpful for non-card makers like myself!

so on to my memories i went ...

and created this ....

not too bad for someone less than tech savvie!  the actual square was 5" x 5" when printed out.

i then matted it onto some card 11' by 5.5" so it was nice and sturdy :)

outcome:  pretty good, even if i do say so myself!  the software made it super duper easy and while i prefer the more 3D effect, at least i know i can make cute, personalised cards i can print in no time if i need something in a hurry ... which is often the case because i am easily distracted by crafts and pretty things on pinterest, and then all the awesome crafty blogs that i find thanks to pinterest ... yeah, that pinterest eats up a lot of your day ;)

a big thanks to kristina at K Werner Design for the gorgeous inspiration and the ideal excuse opportunity to play around with the my memories software again today!

speaking of which, don't forget to leave a comment so you can enter to win the software free, even if it's just to say hi :)

day 209: coffee milkshakes

coffee milkshake, why doesn't everyone know about these

day 209 and we have only a few more days before the draw for the my memories software give away ... so keep on commenting!  as many as you like, this is a great chance to get some awesome software for nada ... now lets get on with today's creation!

i wanted to make something special for my sweet husband, just for him to have and enjoy at the tennis ... there is no chance he will get the chocolate and zucchini cake all to himself ;)  last night while i should have been sleeping i was looking on pinterest for inspiration and came across these divine looking coffee milkshakes ... PERFECT, steve loves coffee and adores ice cream, bring the two together and he should be one happy man!  so i pinned the inspiration from the foodie with family website to my recipes for the boys board.

you need two key ingredients (cold coffee, vanilla ice cream) and two ingredients for shear indulgence (chocolate sauce and cream).  i used the two key ingredients and whizzed them together before putting the milkshake into a thermos to take to the tennis.  i opted for chocolate dusting to top the milkshake with as the indulgence part wasn't going to work for a day out!  before it went into the thermos we had a glass of it to share so i could let you know what it was like ...

the key ingredients

mix together with a whiz

the end result

outcome: ... so hard to stop at one and it was a real shame to put the rest into the thermos for steve ;)  i could have happily sat there and drank the lot before we left!  if you remember these awesome iced coffee's i made in singapore but found them too sweet this is the real deal for you.  i think i would be happier drinking these for the shear refreshing, amazing flavour, and i used light ice cream ... as steve said " you can't go wrong with with ice cream and coffee together ".

my biggest thanks to foodie with family for this awesome recipe and for making my husband so happy at the tennis ... treating the guy taking you to the tennis should make for a very happy day ;)

day 208: chocolate and zucchini cake

firstly, dont forget the great new years giveaway I have going at the moment.  all you have to do for a chance to win this amazing digital scrapbooking software is leave a comment on my blog this week.........now, on with day 208......

i get to use one of my christmas presents tomorrow, we are off to the tennis! the only professional tennis tournaments to come to new zealand happen this week for the women and the next week for the men.  i have ALWAYS wanted to go but have never been able to so it was a very big surprise from my dear husband for christmas.
i decided such an outting deserved some baking........

the completed chocolate and zuc cake .... yummo :)

mum begged me to make something with zucchini's in it as we having them coming out our ears ... our garden is literally overflowing with them and i think even the chooky's are getting sick of them ;)  off to pinterest i went in search of zucchini recipe and FOUND this DELICIOUS looking cake recipe from a website called chocolate and zucchini!  this website could be getting a lot of attention from me in the coming weeks to use up the abundance of zuc's we have ... not sure how well this site and my goal to lose weight will get on, but we shall see!  the recipe for this cake is also pinned to my recipe must do's board.

start with some grated zucchini

i used olive oil instead of the butter as i wanted to avoid getting any heavy machinery out ... so it was the whisk, me, and two bowls for this undertaking.  apart from that i followed the recipe according to the directions given.

add dry ingredients

mix in some wet ingredients

pop in the oven and out comes this cake, it is really lovely and moist

outcome:  mmmmm, very nice you don 't even know there is zucchini is in it!  actually my husband had his first bite and then said "just to warn you i'm going to have a second piece but that piece i am going to have with ice cream ... and he did ... and i had to have a taste ... AND it totally worked, so very very good with vanilla ice cream :)

the second piece with ice cream

my thanks to chocolate and zucchini for this cool recipe for using up some of our zucchini's ... love the website, not entirely sure my scales will love it as much as i do though ;)

day 207: 52 weeks to an organised home

this is where taking a "before" picture would have been helpful, sorry for today there
is only an "after" photo!

 day 207 and today i wanted to put organisation into plan for the year ... i think it's probably a great time to start anything new and hope that some things will continue, while others will give way to the daily chaos.  i always find the things i start fall into two categories ... totally awesome and easy to continue or will work but requires too much work to make it happen consistently.  i am hoping today's creation will fall into the first group as it's 52 weeks to organise your home.

i follow lots of people on pinterest because so many people have cool ideas for pins!  most people that i follow appear to have pinned this 52 weeks for an organised home as i have seen it floating around SO often i had to take the hint today and sign up :)  the challenge is pinned to my ideas for organisation board and comes from home storage solutions.  i love their motto "a place for everything that matters".  so true and words to live by ... well for when i'm organised in a years time anyway~!

the first week is all about organising your kitchen bench tops and sink.  the idea here is that you declutter everything that isn't in use daily, thus, making plenty of space for the common kitchen use, ie: cooking.  i started today with this job and got so motivated i finished it as well.

i even cleaned the top of the fridge off :)

i even scrubbed the sink till it shined!

outcome:  week one was a breeze, i can see further down the track that this will need to be continued to have total success but bite size portions of organisation are a much better approach for me.  it is definitely working with the emergency kit from day 98, which continues to get its weekly item :)  i love that it didn't feel overwhelming to start this organisation drive.  being a new year, it felt right to start this challenge now ... wish me luck for the next 51 weeks!  i will try and update and let you know how things are going each week to help motivate me (and anyone else who has signed up!).

my thanks to home storage solutions for this great series and the fact you will also email me each week to let me know where my organisation is heading next.  the handy tips are fantastic and i love that you explain "why" to totally reinforce the changes i am making :)

don't forget this week's give away ($80 worth) of my memories digital software to one lucky reader just for commenting this week ... and let me know which kits you like so i can download them and show you the results ... i have some awesome ideas for later this week ... i'm thinking it might be time to start some valentines day goodies :)

day 206: happy new year and a give away from my memories

happy new year

wishing all my dear readers the warmest of wishes for the coming year, may it be full of surprises and may it bring peace and happiness to you and your loved ones.


and perhaps the chance to win some awesome goodies from pinterest 365, starting with ....

day 206 and the first day of the a new year is always exciting, especially when you are surrounded by loved ones, relaxed, and planning for all sorts of good things to do for the coming year!  today is even more exciting as i have a wonderful give away from my memories  (digital scrapbooking company) to draw at the end of this week. they are going to give one lucky person their my memories suite!  the my memories software suite allows you to create your own scrapbooking pages, cards, albums, and so much more as you will see this week :) all you need to do is leave a comment and let me know which my memories kit you would like to see me make something with over the weekend ... that's it, easy aye!

for those of you who can't wait or don't want to take the chance on winning, my memories has also provided me with a code that will give my readers $10 off the my memories suite AND $10 to spend on additional kits ... although i have to say you get HEAPS of goodies with the actual suite, which was a real bonus i hadn't expected :)  the promotion code to use is STMMMS12847.

the finished 2D button monogram .. totally happy with this cute
little trinket box for polly

on with today's creation, which is something i have been wanting to do for AGES!  its's a button monogram, i have seen so many of these on pinterest and really wanted to make one but never seem to have enough buttons to make one worthy for the project :)  lucky there are plenty of buttons available for FREE on my memories so i thought i would give a digital one a go! 

this lovely green one i pinned to my general crafts board on pinterest is from jen at little adventures.  she described it as an awesome stash buster, so i figure one of my resolutions (along with learning to crochet and quilt) for 2012 is to get better and having more stash ;)  i'm betting my husband will think this resolution is unnecessary but he and i butt heads differ with regards to the need for a certain level of stash!

i used a monogram "p" inserted onto a digital page that i sized to A4 then added HEAPS of buttons and brads to the top of it before turning the monogram p white so you couldn't see it.  i then printed it out the size i needed to attach it to a gift box i had.  button monogram done!

started with a monogram

then added buttons and brads of all shapes and sizes to
over the original initial. 

printed it out ...

and attached it to the top of a gift box ...

before adding so ribbon ... because all girls who have
trinkets also love ribbon ;)

outcome: so so cute and while you could use this as a gift box with the recipients initial on top, this one is destined to be used as polly's trinket box.  she is a typical little girl who has little "jewels" she wants to keep safe and out of sight of everybody (including the kittens!) and this box will certainly do the trick :)   as a bonus for today's creation, i didn't burn my hands with the hot glue sticking buttons down!  i think the my memories software is a bit like photoshop in a lot of respects as you can manipulate and design all sorts of cool things OR take the cheats, but ever so practical, way and use all the ready made goodies to make bits and bobs in no time.

my thanks to jen at little adventures for the fantastic inspiration, one day my stash of buttons and brads may be big enough to do a 3D one, in the meantime i am absolutely stoked with the 2D version ... so my thanks must also go to the my memories software for making this creation so easy to achieve :)

day 205: happy new years eve, the perfect night for a midnight treat :)

happy new year goodies :)

day 205 and i am so looking forward to the new year ... but am also happy to celebrate a wonderful year and reflect today on all the goings on for 2011.  we have had a great year with highs and lows and all the in betweens  that count just as much if not more.

we have a lot going on today so i wanted something easy but new years related to do today.  these midnight treats from angela at secrets of a super mommy fit the bill perfectly :)  they are pinned to my holiday goodness board at pinterest.

i used some piping bags and filled them with sweet treats including a hot chocolate mix.  as i am typing, i just thought this would have been the perfect place to use the cocoa spoons i made on day 197 next time :)  the ones i made for adults had a coffee mix and a mini baileys in them instead of the cocoa items ;)  then i made a VERY simple tag using word, printed them out and attached them to my cones of goodies.

the kids version goodies :)

the adult version :)

the finished midnight snacks for adults and peeps :)

outcome: we shall wait and see at midnight, but judging by this little face she looks pretty pleased!  a really special little gift to welcome in the new year and would be fantastic to gift to people if you were having a new years party for ALL ages :)

one of the happy recipients

my thanks to angela at secrets of a super mommy for this inspirational idea for new years, i definitely think this will become a tradition in our house :)

day 204: garden storage for the boy's bedroom and a lego minifig storage update!

today's storage solution from pinterest, the bhg idea
for garden planters as storage!

if you are new or a treasured follower to my blog, WELCOME and THANKS for stopping by.  one of my creations is getting a lot of traffic at the moment and thats the lego minifig storage frames from day seventy ... if you haven't seen them you can see how to make them here.  they were such a favourite with my niece and nephew i made some for my own peeps when we returned to singapore.  below are a couple of photo's of ben's as today's pinterest creation is hanging right next to it as you can see above!

day 204 and i am in FULL post-christmas, pre-new year sorting mode (and my husband thought he was on holiday ... ha!).  i am firstly tackling the peeps bedrooms because after christmas it became obvious they needed some serious cleaning.  i had pinned these garden flower planters to my kids bedrooms board on pinterest ages ago and really wanted to give it a go.  the idea comes from bhg! i went round and round in circles trying to find the original source but couldn't but am pretty sure they are the guys behind it!

in ben's room i needed to add some additional storage solutions, the planter idea seemed perfect because it would provide off the floor storage in a place i couldn't put any drawer or bookcases because of the door.  i found the planters at nz's big red sheds for $13 each ... brilliant as this wasn't a pricey option either.

the planters ready to hang

the hung planter ready to fill

the first one is filled with caps that no longer live on
the FLOOR ;)

the second one is stuffed with toys :)

a closer look

ben's lego minifigs that are removable
thanks to the white bricks that are
adhered to the frame glass

outcome:  cool, they work well with the colour scheme in his room and are perfect for the larger things that lived on the floor or his bed.  so easy to hang and they work so well i am going to find some cream ones (or spray some black ones) for her room.

my thanks to bhg for this awesome, cost effective storage idea that brings thinking outside the square to a whole new level ... and that saying bringing the outside in, never rang so true ;)

in other news i have a BIG, HUGE give away for the first week of the new year from my memories

and a newly designed blog to bring in the new year :)  see you tomorrow for the last day of 2011!