Australia Day

Happy Australia Day eve lovely people!

We hooked up the caravan this morning and have set up camp for the long weekend. I've already hit up a local oppie and did not leave empty handed (pretty sure I've never left an oppie empty handed though).

I just wanted to share my Aussie Day pants with you all. I used a pair of jeans I picked up on sale from k-mart to whip these up. We just didn't have enough Australiana happening - well apart from the caravan and the snags on the barbie. I simply embroidered a Union Jack on one pocket and the Southern Cross on the other to Aussie them up a bit.

If its warm tomorrow, I'm going to cut the legs off, even toddlers need a pair of cut off shorts, am I right! Because we're camping this post is coming to you via iPad and iPhone so excuse the pics and the fact that there all at the bottom of the post.

Hope you have an awesome Australia Day/long weekend x

Noel

I seem to be whipping up Christmas decorations left right and center  Never mind that I still have a gazillion other things on my to do list to finish before the big day. I whipped up this banner to fill a blank spot in our lounge.

I printed Noel on fabric using this method. Then  I ironed the sides over so I could run a hem around it. I didn't fold the hem twice or overlock the edge to prevent fraying. I figured since it wouldn't be washed it wasn't that big of a deal. I used triple stitch to hem each letter because it's more decorative then straight stitch and pops a bit better.


I even saved my work so you can make one too! Does it count as a free printable?.. Just click this link

Use a 10mm hem at the top and top stitch as close to the edge as you can on the sides. Cut off the excess fabric from the point, thread your finished letters onto string using a small safety pin and you're done! I think this idea has so many possibilities. Could whip up personal banners for birthdays or it would be a really cute addition to a wedding or photo booth.

P.S Did you know Noel is another word for Christmas? I didn't till I googled it.

You've still got a bit of time to enter the giveaway here

Snowflakes

I have always dreamt of a white Christmas. It is seriously high up there on my list of things to do and goes hand in hand with traveling given I'm an Aussie!

To bring a bit of the winter wonderland into our Christmas I created these little snowflakes. Super simple and quick to create I thought I'd quickly break it down for you.

I used the Graphics Fairy to find my snowflake image. I could (and have) spend hours trawling through all the gorgeous images.Then using an ordinary, everyday printer and using ordinary, everyday ink I printed it onto fabric.

So simple and easy. All you need is-
:: fabric (I have used calico in the past - for this project I used a thrifted sheet)
:: Computer and Printer
:: Paper
:: Double sided tape
:: Embroidery hoop and threads
:: hot glue gun

So first you're going to want to track down an image you want to use. Then prepare your fabric for printing. Grab a piece of printing paper and stick double sided tape along each edge and a cross through the middle like so:

The cross is important - it stops your fabric bunching up in the printer and causing a jam.

Before you print I recommend finding out which side of the paper your printer prints on. To do this I wrote up on the side of the paper that was facing me and then did a test print of my image - this also helps you figure out if you've got sizing right. If the image prints on the side with up written on it, you'll put you're fabric paper in with the fabric facing up, if it doesn't you'll put you're fabric in facing down.

Then simply put it in your embroidery hoop and embellish. I used satin stitch to fill the gaps. There are lots of awesome tute's on embroidery out there so Google it!

When its all embellished run hot glue around the rim of your hoop to secure the fabric, then cut of any excess.

I love how they look like baubles when they're framed in embroidery hoops.

Here are some other projects I've made using this technique...

It's a Pug Life - Gifted to a pug lovin' friend.
Image::Graphics Fairy
Fabric::Vintage

                                     

Image::Graphics Fairy
Fabric::Calico
Blogged::Here

Notes::

~The image will not be water tight - it's purely for decoration.
~Think about your hoop when printing - it takes more fabric then you think to fit it into your hoop securely.

Let me know if you give this a whirl! Or add it to my Flikr group here. Also am I the only one with a love\hate relationship with metallic thread!? So pretty, but the devil all at the same time!!!

Also don't forget to enter the Giveaway here

Santa Clause is coming...

O.K. so don't shoot the messenger but ... Christmas is approaching rapidly! You may have felt safe and secure in the knowledge that Christmas is ages away, but the countdowns on. Any moment now decorations and fruit mince pies will be appearing in supermarkets. Christmas carols will start to feature on their P.A systems. Toy catalogues are already reminding us that the giving season is approaching! Arghhh where has the year gone? Sorry for the cliche but it seems like just yesterday we were getting ready for Layla's first Christmas, and here we are barrelling towards the second. I hadn't given much thought to Christmas until I spotted this hiding underneath a Spotlight table.

Cute right! It's vinyl and not overtly Christmasy, a lot of Christmas fabric is garish, and it was on sale! I grabbed 3m's and when they zapped the little sale sticker it came up even cheaper again! Don't you love it when that happens! It ended up costing a measly $2.45 a metre.

So I have a lot of ideas running round my head for this fabric. First off the rank is a Christmas Binder, perfect for organising all of my Christmas plans.

Its so straight forward -

First lay your binder on the material, then figure out what size "pockets" you want. The pockets are what the front and back cover of the binder slide into. My pockets were 10" for the front and 6" for the back. I made the front pocket large so I could slip things behind it, or add a pocket to the front. I cut a 1" seam allowance top and bottom.

Second hem the short ends. Just fold the vinyl over once, run your finger nail along the crease so that you don't need to pin the hem in place - any pins will leave a permanent mark. Sew down the edge. I found that the bottom stitches were a bit wonky because the vinyl is slippery, but the top looked fine. Just make sure you sew with the right side of the fabric (the side that people will see) facing you. That way the neater stitches will be visible and the ugly stitches will be hidden.

Third lay your binder back on the fabric and mark the corners, the binder spine and where your pockets end when folded over the binder. Fold one pocket right sides together and sew along the top and bottom edges. Then trim the seam allowance and corners before turning the pocket right side out. Vinyl's a bit stiff and can mark easily so do this carefully. If it does mark up, a little bit of heat can help it relax and look perfect again. Before repeating this process on the other pocket, cover the binder and make sure the second pocket mark you made still lines up - mine didn't any more. Make a new mark if needed, and then make the second pocket.

Cover binder to ensure a good fit. My seam allowance ended up being smaller then 1" on the top and bottom due to wonky cutting. So my plan to top stitch the bottom and top edge got thrown out the window! In true make do fashion I've stuck the seam down with double sided tap. For a make do fix it's lasting pretty well!

I then created some Xmas bunting out of felt and vinyl off cuts for the front. I sewed the bunting triangles on using French knots. Do not be intimidated by French knots- I know they have a bad rap because I used to be scared too! They really aren't tricky, they just require two hands.

Because it makes me want to pull my hair out that page dividers for binders are never wide enough - you know how they become invisible if you use plastic sleeves rather then putting pages directly in?! I bulked mine up with vinyl off cuts. I cut two pieces and then used double sided tape to attach them. I love how they turned out!! A vinyl cover like this would be PERFECT for a recipe binder, you can just wipe it down. Will be keeping my eyes peeled for more cheap vinyl!

So now I'm ready to get Christmas organised. And I'm starting to hunt through Pinterest looking for printabales, and recipes, and crafty ideas, and decorations and.....

Little Golden Book Travel Journals

Do you ever have last minute creative inspiration? It comes at a really inopportune time, can't be ignored and usually has a high pressure deadline. This happens to me all. the. time. I have had a stack of little golden book covers that I've been trying to find a use for. The pages were used to make roses for Cystic Fibrosis' 65  Roses Day (you can read more here).

I was thinking of all the travel memorabilia I have shoved in boxes and bags (big fat hoarder remember) and how soon my friends would be travelling to Queensland as part of the Make a Wish program. Their daughters wish to meet a dingo had been granted so the whole family were going to Australia Zoo and would then be spending a week in Queensland hitting up the themeparks etc. What an amazing trip, right? And what a bunch of precious memories were going to be made. This inspired me to create something for the girls to record all the amazing moments in, that included lots of little places to store treasures and tickets. Something they could both look back on and remember this trip. 

The Little Golden Book covers were the starting point of my travel journals. The deadline was pretty tight - I  was struck by inspiration Thursday afternoon and they were flying out Saturday afternoon. Throw in some computer issues and a needy baby and things got interesting! I finished them, quickly snapped some photos ,  spent a frantic 10 minutes hunting for my keys (which I had with great foresight already placed in my bag) before rushing out the door with fingers crossed we would get there in time!

Below I've listed the supplies and steps I used to create my Little Golden Book travel journals. I think they would also make cute adults travel journals - just leave out the activities..... maybe throw in some sudoko for those long flights!

Supplies:

Sharp craft knife (Stanley knife), stickers, markers and other embelishments, glue stick, double sided tape, photo album screws (aka brass binder screw set-photo below), Little Golden Book (I thrifted mine) , coloured and white paper for printing and scrapbooking paper to make pockets etc. Finally a selection of snacks. I have found that one can not study or create without a range of tasty little snacklets. On this occasion I covered all the major food groups - Savory (Pringles), Sweet (chocolate covered liquorice and a block of Snack) and Gelantinous (Party Mix). 

I just want to make clear right from the start that I am not a scrap booker or a graphic design artist! So some of you may know better ways to do things (Please Share!!) and others will be able to create much more awesome page layouts then I did. If you do make a Little Golden Book travel journal make sure you share! I'd love to see it!!

  

Run a Stanley knife down the side of the golden binding. Seperate the back cover from the front by locating the staples under the golden binding tape (they're pretty easy to feel). Make a small slit in the binding tape where you feel the staple on the front and back covers. At the back - lift the staple "legs" straight (circled in the second picture) and pull the back cover away from the front. Then push the staple "legs" against a hard surface so that they push out of the front cover. Your covers should now be separated and staple-less.

Punch holes for the photo album screws were the staples used to be (excuse my dodgy Iphone pic-tight deadline remember). I also punched a hole in the back cover for a ribbon book mark. I used a hole punch, which was not ideal. My first book is really wonky. I thought next time I might use a drill or a punch and hammer. If there are any paper crafters who have a better idea how to do this I'd love to hear them!

I then wrote the girls names on their journal using a paint pen and stickers. I just used what I had on hand.

    

         
           

I used publisher to design the pages of my journals. I made pages to write what they did each day, funny moments, their favourite things, what they bought etc. I also designed some activities. I've included these as a free printable above-just click on the image. If you'd like my original files so you can see all of the pages, or because you want to change colours just shoot me an email.

I also included lots of activities so that they would have something to do when on the place or waiting for connecting flights. You can find lots of free colouring pages and activities here, here, here and here. I printed off some of these journalling pages from here on coloured paper so the girls had lots of room to write about their holiday.

To cut the pages down to size I used the front cover as a guide for my Stanley knife. I then traced the position of the holes from the front cover to a piece of paper. In order to make sure I'm not about to punch a hole to close to the edge I usually line up my hole punch, squeeze gently being sure not to actually punch through. This way I can move the hole punch and make sure its positioned well - do this! Trust me! Also don't punch to many pages at once, the bottom pages tend to shift, again trust me!!

Next put the pages in the order you want, place them between the covers and add your photo album screws.

Then you can complete it however you like -  I went through and glued in the journalling pages, added lots of pockets using scrap paper and double sided tape for all their little mementos. I left some pages blank so they could exercise their own creativity and on other pages put stickers that may guide their writing or drawing. All of my pages had one blank side. This is because A. I couldn't be bothered faffing around and figuring out double sided printing and B. The papers thin enough so that you would see the other side from the front.

So they'd always have a pen at hand, I attached a couple of pens to ribbon, which I tied onto a bulldog clip. This just clips to the journal and has the bonus purpose of making sure things dont fall out!

I wanted these to be a special gift and easy to use while travelling so I also purchased these cheap pencil cases  that I made pretty, because they weren't. I included some pencils and stickers that they could use in their journals as well. Now they're easy to keep track of in luggage and easy to yank out should boredom strike!


Now I can't wait for them to get home so I can see all the amazing things they've done!


Some notes:


Separating the books is fiddly because I wanted to preserve the golden binding tape. It is so identifiably Little Golden Book and I have always loved it. It would be simpler if you just ripped the binding tape off so you can access the staples easily and then replaced the tape with washi tape once the covers were separated.


Also if I was to make this project again I would use sturdier paper. I would still want it to go through the printer, but it needs to be a bit tougher so it doesn't tear where the holes are punched for the screws. I know I'm going to have to do some repairs when the girls get back!