VINTAGE STYLE SEWING NOTEPAD

A little altered shoppers notepad...I love taking these really cheap little boring notepads and making them into something a little bit special... The papers are by....I can't remember...but are the same ones I used to make my paper wreath which must have been pre-blogging days as I this is the only reference I can find to it!!! Think they might be Kay and Co (double sided)... The dressmakers form and sentiments are Hero Arts...

the seam bind is from Prairie Bird Boutique...I have just ordered the Marie Antoinette and the Victorian Beauty bundles as it's so lush...

I ventured into stitching it all together and am quite pleased with how it turned out...I can see the sewing machine being used a lot more in the future...anyway I have just added this to my Etsy shop...

Thanks for looking...
Kirsti xx

SIMPLY CREATE CHALLENGE...

If you hop on over to Simply Create you will notice that they have a fab challenge going on at the moment with 100 pounds of stash up for grabs...and if you hurry you still have time to enter...closing date is 14th February...

This is my entry...
I used an SVG template from Dan99 for the Cricut and cut out this gorgeous wee house...it is actually a Christmas house in his description but I have made it a lovely Spring house for my project....

I used some cardstock from a pad by We R Memory Keepers that I picked up in TK MAXX last weekend for about 7 pounds...there are some gorgeous colours in it and it has a white core so is ideal for distressing...

I overstamped the house shape with the Tim Holtz brick stamp and then punched out some mini flowers and drew on the stems...

The roof is actually a piece of the blue cardstock but I coloured it with brown ink and then ran through the Big Shot with the woodgrain texture plate(borrowed from Sonja) and the eaves are made using the Scallop punch from Stampin' Up...

The butterfly is one I had left over from a couple of cards I made last week...It is a digi one from Hero Arts that I have had my eye on in the 'real life' set but wasn't so keen on the rest of the pack so bought this one instead...

Thanks for looking....

Kirsti xx

HERO ARTS AND SIMPLY CREATE SHOP RELAUNCH...

So Saturday saw me, Sonja and Judy meeting up for lunch at the Bistro in Alford - if you haven't tried it...WHY NOT???? Gorgeous food and very reasonably priced... we all opted for the steak pie, chips, peas and gravy....mmmhh and pudding to finish - the sticky toffee pudding was fab!!! Afterwards it was a mooch across the road to Simply Create who were having a Hero Arts demo day and a relaunch of the new shop...and how fab it is...lots of lovely space with shelves full of lush products...what more could a crafty girl ask for...lol.... And here she is the Hero Arts Tart (as she has taken to calling herself!), Kath in full flow - although I have to say we didn't get near enough to see what she was actually up to due to the crowd that was surrounding here for most of the afternoon so we settled with browsing the shelves and sitting relaxing on the sofa with a cuppa....

Some of Kath's gorgeous creations....

A nice close up (well as close as I could get without having an elbow poked in my ribs!!!)

and another couple of lovlies...

I do love a nice relaxing Saturday afternoon with great friends...makes a change from running around after the kids for football and dancing...here's to the next lunch girls...:0)

PARIS MINIBOOK AND SUITCASE...

This is my creations from this month's DT kit...Sonja got hers the day before me and as soon as she showed me it I knew I was going to do a Paris minibook and I still had the mini suitcase from the last kit so thot it would make a great little set... The papers are Glitz by Scarlet Lime and all available from Simply Create....

I painted the suitcase with black acrylic paint and then covered it (apart from the straps) with the Paris map paper which is gorgeous! I then made lots of little flowers from punches and spiral rolls...The Tim Holtz tickets are scrumpled, inked and covered with crackle accents...I wrapped the handle with the orange thread that came in the kit...took ages getting it lined up and then used some gold buff and rub that I found in Jacqui's shed at the Save the Children event she had last year - looks fab...I also did the whole of the inside of the suitcase with this...

I decided on a tag book for the inside and since I bought SCAL the other week I have been having much fun cutting out all manner of shaped...I cut one size for the background from the black cardstock and added some green too and then I cut a slightly smaller size out for the top layer...There are so many photographs I had to collage them in Picasa... Basically the book is about a trip to Paris that Allan and I went on in February 2008...I actually won it!! I was feeling sorry for myself one Saturday night and went to bed early with a Magnum Ice Lolly and my book...there was a code on the stick which you had to text in and since it was only 25p I thot I would have a go (you have to be in it to win it as they say) so imagine my surprise when I had a text back immediately saying I had won....Was so excited...I texted Allan (even tho he was downstairs) and I don't think he quite believed me til I had the email confirming I had won a weekend to either Paris, Barcelona, Reykjavik, Cannes or Rome...we chose Paris as we were allowed to fly from Aberdeen!! It also included all transport, hotel and 250.00 spending money!!!

Unfortunately I lost a lot of photos when my PC crashed and these were some of the best ones that were recovered but I really like my wee memento of this weekend and would love to go again...

Hero Arts Launch Party & Simply Create Official Relaunch

Come along to Simply Create in its new home 59 Main Street, Alford on the 22nd of January between 10:30 am and 3:30 pm for a fun filled day with Kath Stewart in the "Create Station" demoing our beloved Hero Arts stamps and have a play yourself with some of the new stamps from the 2011 catalogue.

And as if that wasn't enough receive 10% discount off ALL Hero Arts stamps purchased and ordered on the day.

Go on, you know you want to...(I really have to stop saying that...haha!)...it promises to be a fun packed day with Kath as she is such a laugh and such a talented lady!!!

I for one am hoping that Morgan's football matches don't start back for a few weeks yet... with him playing on a Saturday now it really scuppers my crafty weekend plans...lol...xxx