day 212: a bunting for valentines day

LAST DAY FOR COMMENTING TO WIN THE MY MEMORIES SOFTWARE

so get busy my friends and i will have a winner late tomorrow nz time :)

ready to hang at valentines :)

day 212 and the weather outside is dreadful, it's our wettest summer, bar three, on record ... the up side is there is plenty of time to be creative inside and today i am making a banner in preparation for valentines day :)  i loved this one from the girl creative, especially the fact she used denim as the basis for her flags.  while i won't be using that part for inspiration today, i definitely will use the denim for an easter bunting as it will fit in nicely with the autumn decor i am planning .... planning, she says hopefully ;)

for today's creation i am using a kit from the my memories range called my funny valentine.  i bought it yesterday and downloaded it for making today's bunting.  i thought i would print it out on something different today, i am using canvas sheets that are pre-gessoed and normally used by artists for painting with.  i figured it would have the same look as fabric hanging but, because of the gesso, would still be able to go through the printer ... here's hoping anyway!

the bias binding and canvas i printed on :)

making the flags using the my memories software

i started with the triangles then added some of the embellishments to each triangle before printing them onto the canvas.

the finished flags, printed on canvas :)

then i used the bias binding, pinned all the flags in place and used fabric adhesive to adhere them all together.

the finished bunting for valentines

a close up of the bunting :)

outcome:  happily stoked with the outcome of this little project (especially after an afternoon of painting the new school room).  it was really easy to create on my memories and the printing on canvas is so COOL!  didn't expect that part to work so well and am already busy thinking of all sorts of different projects i can use this new found printing knowledge on ... heehee :)

my sincere thanks to the girl creative, i loved her bunting for valentines day and her instructions about how to create one without sewing will definitely come in handy for those who don't have access to a machine, for example, when your machine is covered in paint drop cloths ;)

day 211: summer is slipping by and it's time to start some school organising!

getting all these done was a big task!

day 211 and as some of you know i home school my two little peeps ... i love it, didn't think i would, but it is hands down the best decision we have made since having children.  one of the things i LOVE the most about pinterest is the amount and quality of education resources that are pinned every day by so many people.

today's creations are using some of these amazing education finds from pinterest and using them in my home classroom for the coming new school year (school years in nz run from feb to dec to coincide with our summer).

today i concentrated on inspiration for the walls, it's one thing to teach but without the right attitude no learning will take place so i wanted the walls to reflect some of that.  all the below posters are available at the vintage poster.   the posters can even be individualised so i am going to order some personalised posters for my niece and nephew's walls, tidbits that are special and individual to them.  the vintage poster, has awesome designs and its SO cheap to have them printed and sent from her, even internationally!  i also laminated the ones i printed because i love my laminator i want them to last the entire year!  here are some of the inspiring ones i found on the vintage poster

dr seuss was so before his time!

one of my all time favourite inspirations and one of the hardest things to achieve  

every good scientist should have this on their wall!

amazing man, inspiration for my boy peep

the one below is all from ubersuper and will also be heading for my classroom walls :)

picasso so had it right :)

and stylised by sacremento's children's museum, is this wonderful quote i have printed and will be putting on the wall first, it's my favourite :::

this is why i home school :)

once the walls are painted and the new carpet goes down in the classroom i will be able to get into their and show you where we learn ... our classroom is moving into a new space for this year and i can't wait until the boring stuff is finished so i can decorate!

last three days to add some comments to win the fantastic my memories software, so get commenting my friends!

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 :)