Hi!

Phew!  It sure has been hot here in Adelaide for the past 2 days. Both Wednesday and Thursday have been 40 C or hotter (that's 104 F), and the next two days are looking to be the same. There's nothing else to do but close the blinds, crank the air conditioning and try to stay cool. At least the kids are on school holidays now, so there's no school run to do in the scorching heat. It's also a good excuse to get some crafting done. I've been busy creating for the new Just Add Ink challenge.


This week Kim has challenged us to make a Gift Card Holder. It can be for any occasion you'd like, not necessarily Christmas.  Having said that, I've made a Christmas themed holder, mostly because that's the DSP that was lying on my craft desk and I was too hot to be bothered looking for different DSP.


This is a really simple holder.  I took a piece of Pacific Point cardstock that was 4 1/8" by 5 1/2" and scored it at 2" and 4 1/2". I rounded the corners and then folded along the score lines.


I cut a piece of Rel Red cardstock to 4" by 1 7/8", rounded the top corners and then adhered it to the bottom flap.  I then took a strip of DSP cut to 1 1/2" by 9" and wrapped it around the folded cardstock, adhering as I went. The top flap was Real Red cardstock cut to 4" by 7/8" with the bottom corners rounded and then Whisper White cardstock cut to 3/4" by 3 7/8", also with the bottom corners rounded.  Stamp and decorate as desired!


I had to borrow a card from Rob's wallet to show what it would look with a card inside the holder. To hold it closed I will use a glue dot.

This challenge will run for 2 weeks, and will be the final challenge for Just Add Ink for 2015. We will be back in 2016 with a Blog Hop to kick off another year of fun challenges.

Bye for now,

Tina

Hi!

One of my favourite things in December is doing a December Daily album.  This year is my 4th year doing one, and I still love doing it as much as I did the first year.  I've got a little smarter along the way though - the first year I tried to document everything we did every day and I very quickly got bogged down in it.  Now I just pick one thing each day to document.  One photo, one story - easy!

This month the MKPLxSU Design Team have a Blog Share that highlights the Hello December 2015 Project Life Collection.  This collection makes it super easy to complete your December Daily album, and it's so very pretty!


The thing I struggle the most with on my DD Albums is the wording on the front page! I usually leave it til last, which is why the card on the bottom right is blank.  The right words will come to me eventually!  I used the gold alphabet stickers to write 'twenty fifteen' on the top card.  Part of my DD method is to get the photos and cards into pockets each day and then come back once I've finished to pretty up the pages.


I quite frequently start my DD with a page or two from November. Adelaide has a huge Christmas Pageant in November, which traditionally starts the Festive Season in South Australia.  We didn't go to the big Pageant this year, but I marched in our smaller, local pageant so I've started my DD with that.


Quite a lot of the earlier pages have nothing to do with Christmas! School is winding up for the year and there are a lot of events to do with that.  On these pages is Alex's last flute lesson for the year, and also his High School transition visit.


Alex and Ada have signed up for the local library's Summer Reading Program. The theme this year is Lost Worlds, which includes Star Wars and Dr Who.  They are both big fans, so they are keen to go to the themed events.  On the 5th we went to the library to see the Tardis and watch a Dr Who episode.


Of course, we had to include the Santa Photo. The photo I've put in my DD album was not the one we had printed.  The 'official' photo had all three smiling at the camera.  However, I loved this photo more than the smiling one.  Hudson really doesn't like sitting and having his photo taken. His missing tooth just adds a touch of humour to the photo.


Ada had an excursion in the last week. They went to the pool and the movies.  I forgot to get a photo in the morning (we are usually rushing out the door at the last minute) so I got one after she returned home. I try not to stress if I don't get the 'perfect' photo, sometimes it's just not possible.

So there's a little look at my DD album. I hope you've found some inspiration in my photos.

You can also check out the blogs of the rest of the MKPLxSU Design Team to see how they've used the Hello December 2015 kit.

Hi!

Woo Hoo!! It's school holidays! My big kids finished school for the year yesterday and Hudson has his last day today.  Boy, has that year flown by! I say this all the time, but I love the holidays - plenty of time to relax, fewer appointments and lots of time with the kids.  Oh, and heaps of time to get some crafting done!

Speaking of which, it's time to show you the latest Just Add Ink challenge!


This week Nikki has challenged us to use these gorgeous Christmas images to inspire our creativity. Aren't the colours stunning? I didn't think I was going to get an entry in this week, but then I realised that I'd used Christmas trees on the kid's classmate gifts so I was actually all set!


Looking at them now, I can't quite believe we made 90 of them! It took us a few days, but the end results were worth it.


I made Hudson's for him while he was at school one day.  They were my prototype batch to show Alex and Ada - luckily they liked them! I used a 1.5" by 5" piece of Whisper White cardstock, scored at 2.5". Ada, Alex and I stamped and coloured them in a production line and then the back was stapled to the cello bags.  The front was stuck to the other side of the bag using a bit of SNAIL.


I had previously filled the 1"x8" cello bags with Christmas M'n'M's while watching TV at night.  The trick to it is using a 'chute' to feed the chocolates into the bags.  I cut a strip that wasn't quite 2" wide and 8" long, folded it in half and then inserted it into the bag.  The lollies rolled down the cardstock and into the bag very easily.

By all accounts the children who received these were very excited to get them.

I hope you can find time in your busy week to play along with us at Just Add Ink this week!

Bye for now,

Tina