I think I have a problem?!?

Hi everyone
My name is Michelle and I think I have a problem, an addiction, I may need to go to a meeting. Previously this love was reserved for chocolate! A moments silence please for the joy of chocolate!! I have an idea of what to make with all the empty packaging - but enough of that - back to my current problem.

Can you see what my problem is? These are my current projects!! Ok, I admit it, not all my current projects - it is too embarrassing to show you them all - and I don't think I have a table big enough!! Included above are three mini albums, a birdcage mini, a birdhouse mini, several mini boxes and an altered book and lots of flowers - I don't know what I am doing with all those flowers - I just can't stop making them! I was doing well with the three main minis that I am making for sale until I had a thought - an altered board book!

This is it so far - one junk shop childs board book, one old book used to cover and create all the flowers and leaves and some paper doilies - I don't know where this is going but I love it so far.

So, do you think I have a problem? How many is too many?

Please make me feel better -

how many projects do you have on the go at the mo???

have fun

xxx Michelle

Happy Birthday to me - Leibster Blog Award

What a fabulous present I got for my birthday - the Liebster Blog award. 
I was awarded this from the fabulous Kit of PaperKitz.

The Liebster Award takes it's name from the German word
meaning Beloved, Dearest or Favorite.

It is given to bloggers who have a small following - under 200 followers.

As part of the tradition it is passed along to 5 bloggers that have
motivated and inspired.
To accept the award you must:
1. Link back to the person who gave it to you and thank them
2. Post the award to your blog
3. Give the award to 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers
that you appreciate and value.
4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know that they have been offered this award.

I am so flattered and thrilled and will be trawling through my favourite blogs to find my absolute favourite five - this could take a while... alot of research and inspiration is required ... no housework possible until this mission is completed!!

I found Kit on You tube and love her channel so much I tracked down her blog - you will love her too
visit her at ...

http://paperkitz.blogspot.co.nz/
http://www.youtube.com/user/Paperkitz

I have been distracted inspired by her channel and have made a couple of her gorgeous little books from one sheet of 12 x 12. Photos to follow - apparently my camera is exhausted - that is seriously what is says!!!! I am recharging all batteries and will be back in full production shortly!!

I am so behind on my videos and blogging - I will try and update daily to catch up! We have been experiencing technical difficulties and I will explain more in my next blog.

Hope you are all well and having fun playing!!!
Thanks for stopping by - see you soon
xxx Michelle

Graphic 45 Design Team 2012 Audition

Hi Everyone
It has been a crazy week in my house since I decided to try out for the G45 design team. Not only did I decide to try out - I thought (why??) that I would create all new projects with the items already in my stash!
I love repurposing items and I had some goodies from my local charity shops.

My vintage inspired collection.

This was a wooden cutlery drawer - love it as wall art!

The plastic cotton reels were inked to look old and covered in G45 paper.

Another charity shop find - a photo frame restyled.

I created the flowers on all the projects from G45 papers and Kraft paper.

A restyled letter rack - love my charity shop!

Mini books featuring the tags from the Transatlantique collections and the G45 sticker sheet.

Notebooks altered with the Curtain Call collection and more fabulous stickers.

Tag Book created with recylced card and black and creme papers from various collections.

Everyone needs a secret drawer!

I love the little secret inside the love letters - it is tiny. Approx 1" x 3"

My new Paper bag mini - vintage inspired on the outside.....

Full of fabulous graphics and colour on the inside!

I created this tag tree fom a coffee mug tree. Love this idea and I am hunting for more of them. Wouldn't this look great decorated for the various seasons - and if you find them at your local charity shop it is great for the budget too!

I love TPR mini books - I created this with 1 sheet of G45 stickers, 1 pack of G45 chipboard buttons, and 1 pack of G45 chipboard flowers.

My first altered book - fabulous to make. Vintage style on the outside...

And the gorgeous steampunk debutante on the inside.

I hinged all the doors and added lots of hidden pockets and movement.

Door after door!

Love all the movement on this page - flick to the next photo to see it swing!

Gotta love a leg with a kick to it!

See through window

I loved making these projects. I have used many different paper lines from Graphic 45 with vintage treasures from my family. They will be enjoyed in my home for a long time to come.

Thank you for looking and Thank you to Graphic 45 for the inspiration to create these treasures.

I hope you like them  - I do!!

xxx Michelle

Fabulous Freebies

Hi
I am back with a quick blog with some links that you will definitely want to visit.
I love vintage ephemera and these are my favourite places to visit.


Graphics Fairy - gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous blog
http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/vintage-french-graphic-amazing-paris.html


Lilac and Lavendar - Fabulous tags and other beautiful images
http://lilac-n-lavender.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/english-perfume-spring-gift-tags.html



Magic Moonlight Images - lovely vintage photographs and other wonderful goodies
http://magicmoonlightfreeimages.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/collage-image-for-you-free-images-for.html

I hope you enjoy these blogs if you haven't already visited. What are your favourites?
Have fun
xxx Michelle

Marion Smith Hybrid Journey Journal - Blue 21st Present

Hi Everyone
I have been busy playing with the fabulous downloadable kit from Marion Smith.
This is the link to view the kits available from Marion
http://www.marionsmithdesigns.com/marion-smith-designs.html
I have made several of these in different sizes, and with different colours and themes. This book I printed on A3 size paper which gave me a book of 81/4" by 51/4". It is a great size and fabulous for a smash book style journal. A Smash book is a great way to keep and remember all the bits of emphemera that we collect in our daily lives, movie tickets, beautiful packaging, or packaging from a favourite store, little notes from people we love, all those 'treasures' that we can't quite throw away but don't know what to do with.
This journal was made as a 21st present. I included tags with ideas of things to remember from a special party - the food, the people, the decorations. You could have guests sign it autograph style or add quotes of things people said. It is a great place to keep all the memories together.
I created a box to match and in my excitement I didn't take one photograph!! I can't believe it, but I did remember to video it and you can view that here

I have created another couple of these books as presents and will upload the photos in the next couple of days. I must remember to take photos before I give them away!

This book was so well received that I have orders to fill - that will keep me busy!

I will be adding a seperate blog for the links of all the fabulous places I visit for free graphic images. Some of those images are included in this and my next few journals.

Wishing you all a fabulous day

xxx Michelle

Shabby Chic Bags

Hi Everyone
I thought I would also show you these quick and easy bags I made to wrap some pressies in. They are made from cream cotton, and stamped with Timber Brown Stazon Ink in a variety of images. I used tea dyed ribbons and lace to wrap and tie the parcels. If you haven't tried tea dye, it is really easy. Hot Water in a bowl with a couple of tea bags, pop in the lace or ribbon and swirl it around. Play around with the length of time you leave the lace etc in for different depths of colour. I recently tea dyed some paper as well and the patterns and colours it made are gorgeous.

Lots of fun and easy to make. They could also be bound together to make a fun fabric mini book - I think that is now on my list of projects to do! It's a long list but I am having so much learning and playing, hope you are too!

Wishing you all a fabulous day.

xxx

Michelle

New Zealand Junk Journal

Hi everyone
As you may know I am a member of Life on the Scrapbeach. It is a really cool site for meeting and sharing and learning with and from other crafters. Last November I decided to push myself and join a swap called Let's get Creative. I was really nervous as I am a beginner and was not sure if I could make something good enough to swap. The previous post shows my Kathy Orta Paper Bag Mini which I made. My swap partner was a lady called Rose from Texas. Rose had never been to NZ and was really interested in my country, she asked if I could use packaging and things from NZ that didn't cost money. I really wanted to use Tim Holtz paper for my mini so I decided to make a Junk Journal as an extra.

I made a simple charm for the cover with a rugby ball  to celebrate

the 2011 World Cup, a Silver Fern and a Koru charm.

The Silver Fern is a special emblem to Kiwis.

I added some maps to show our place in the world and made collages of photos of our beautiful country.

One of the best things about making this fun book was looking and appreciating where I live.

Some of the images I collected, have been added to my own Must See List!

I have lived in Wellington all my life and had to include our beautiful harbour. It might be windy here occasionally!....but we do get incredibly clean and clear days.

My journal used packaging in the simplest way as pockets. I sealed up one end, trimmed off what I didn't need and retained the images as even though they are found in my everyday life (some of them are just at Christmas time! I do love Scorched Almonds) they will be different for Rose and her family in Texas.

Our family are all mad about the movies, and we all loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy. No visit to NZ is complete without a view of the talent that is here in our Movie Industry.

I found some vintage NZ ephemera that I had forgotten I had collected... it was a long time ago! Some of these things were collected on holidays with my family when I was a child.

Some more vintage ephemera that will be fabulous for use in future projects. Old vintage images, old stamps and Health stamp envelopes.

If you would like to see the video for further photos and information on this journal, please click on the link below.

I hope you will think about making a journal of the place you live, it can be as easy as mine, and I promise you will have fun and look at your place in the world with fresh eyes!

Take Care until next time

xxx

Michelle