Merry Christmas

Well it is time to take a break from blogging until the 'silly season' is over. 

Firstly, we want to thank all our lovely followers and everyone else that 'pops in' and reads our posts.  We want to say a huge thank you to our 'scrapping friends' here in Newcastle for all the support, humour and friendship you have shown us throughout this first 6 months we have been established.

We have lots planned for 2011 and will start blogging about this very early in the new year - so please come back and visit us then.

For now we wanted to leave you with a final Chrissy project that Lizzie had been working on....

 A Christmas Canvas

I recently purchased a predone canvas at Go-Lo (one of our many 'cheapie' stores here in Oz).  It caught my eye as it was very large, had a Christmas feel to it and well it was only $9.99.  I wanted to have something I could use year in - year out to display my DD's Santa Photo on - not just a frame, but something I had 'fussied up' and would compliment the rest of our Chrissy decorations....

Yes I know I have a theme going with 'clusters' and that Tim Holtz birdcage die cut is getting a serious workout - but can you blame me???!!!  Check out how nice this cheapie canvas came up with some 'kindy glitz', kaiser pearls and bling and what would a  canvas be without some crochet flowers.

Now another thing I got a 'fetish' for this year was Chrissy decorations I could use in my projects... so check out how nice this word Joy looks on the canvas - just lovely I think and, well the fact that it cost me a whole $1 at Spotlight, I was even more thrilled!

Now let's take one last look at the cluster - some extra Chrissy decorations and a lot from my stash made this come together nicely.  I love the peg idea as this means I can take off my photo and scrap it after Chrissy (pinky promise to have this one in the album before next year) and, well this canvas will be a lovely way to display DD's Santa photos for at least a few more years (not sure when they decide they are too big for this tradition - never sounds good to me).

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season with friends and family. 

See you all in 2011.....

Lizzie

Gift Ideas to Share

I love being able to share my love of craft with 'non-crafting' family and friends.  I especially love it when you know they appreciate the time and effort you have gone to. 

As my gorgeous niece now has two 'kidlets' of her own and is not likely to take up 'scrapping', I decided that I would start a new family tradition and complete a scrapbook page of her 'bubbas' each month so that when her birthday rolled around I had a completed album. 

As it was her birthday this weekend,

I presented her with the first of her albums with the pages I had completed (well nearly all my own pages - Miss Lisa had a hand in some as we often used the pics I had on hand as Workshop samples).

I had searched for ages to find a nice cloth album, but nothing jumped out at me.  So I decided to stick with a very 'plain jane' and 'fancy' it up... I just love how this came up and thought I would share this with you.  I will now continue to scrap the beautiful photos my friend Jen Hall from Generations Photography did of my great- niece Reshani and complete this first baby album - and get started on the blue version (I am a bit of a traditionalist) for out newest 'little prince' Brendan John.  As Mr Brendan's is a Chrissy present, I can't show how lovely the 'blue' version has turned out... especially with the felt characters, but will upload this in a new post once we have done our pressie's... so stay tuned... so excited as it is a real challenge to do boy stuff after so much girlie-girl....

Hope you enjoy......

A Christmas Poem for all Scrappers....

A couple of years ago I came across a great Christmas poem just for 'scrappers'.  If my memory serves me correctly the original was on the Helmar Blog and the author was unknown... but I loved it so much I kept a copy in my archive of all things wonderful aka the 5 lever arch folders on my bookshelf.  

My copy is not what I originally found, but my version of it....can't remember the original wording. So for you enjoyment and, maybe to use as a fun thing with your Scrapping friends... here is it to share:

T'was the night before Christmas,

presents are under the tree.

I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me.

Could it be new sissors or chipboard or lace?

Or a Cuttlebug, I said, with a smile on my face.

And that's when I heard him,

"Hi Santa", I said

"You know....good little girls should be tucked up in bed".

"I know I should Santa, and now I've got caught.

But I was just so excited  to see what you've brought".

"Well, let's take a look  in this room where you work".

He shook his head quickly,

And left with a jerk.

I heard him exclaim

As he put it in gear.

"You've got enough crap, I'll see you next year!"

Cheers

Lizzie

On the 6th Day of Christmas....

I hope you have all been enjoying the wonderful projects being shown over at the Scrapbook Divas - 12 Days of Christmas Workshop.

Today the Embellees Team have added a project just ready for you to take up the challenge!

On the 6th day ... a Table Setting for Six

When it comes to making multiple/repeat projects it is important to keep it simple or you end up wanting to put the whole thing away and never finish it.  So the idea for this project was to make it real!

As my niece had asked me to organise the 'table scape' for our Christmas Lunch and her only request was that I incorporate Hot Pink into the colour scheme, I thought this would be the perfect project to challenge Head Diva Michelle's lovelies who follow over at Scrapbook Divas. 

 I knew I wanted to add a shabby chic/vintage feel to this and also raid my stash for those bits and pieces that would give it that special 'handmade' look ... nothing like a few crochet doilies, string, book paper and Dymo labelling to get that happening.

Here is a

sneaky peek

... but please do pop on over and visit the Divas workshop.
here is a link to take you directly there!!!  http://divasfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/

A Very Beary Christmas

There is so much happening with Christmas this year and it has kept me (Lizzie) busy and not dwelling on the fact that my beautiful Mum will not be here this year with us ... but I thought I would share this with you all as it made me smile and I hope it will also bring a smile to your face!

As I was taking photos of the gorgeous garlands I had made for the 12 Days of Christmas over at Scrapbook Divas - early morning, still in PJs (noice not), bed hair and a knock came at the door... oh no (yep I can all feel you cringing with me).

At the door was the courier man (he must see it all - 'cause he didn't seem to notice my very glamorous look)... in his hand was my annual Christmas present from my very dear friend Kirsty who lives in London.


Many years ago, Kirsty started a tradition of sending me the Harrods Christmas Bear, they are just so beautiful and not at all like the Department Store ones we see here in OZ.  This tradition now sees us with a collection o 16 bears at last count.  Kirsty knew that Mum loved the bears as much as me, actually she loved them heaps more as Mum collected bears (I have boxes to sort of these in the new year).  Mum would get very excited to see the new addition to our 'family' that arrived from Harrods each year.  Mum and I would check the bear from top to toe as they come beautifully attired ... the outfits are just amazing!

Now comes the part that made me sink in the chair and craddle this Bear like none before....

My beautiful niece, Erasha is Sri Lankin by birth and the Sri Lankin name for Grandmother is Archie.  Last weekend at a family BBQ, it was agreed now that Mum had passed that the title of Archie would now be my sister-in-law's as she has two new grandchildren.  Mum and Fay had discussed this and it seemed just to be the right time now that Miss Rehani (15 months) is starting to talk.

Well ... yes, I am sure you guessed it... the Harrods Bear for Christmas 2010 is named ARCHIE!!

I know that Harrods probably plan this name years before they are released, but to me it was a sign... I had planned to ask Kirsty to end the tradition this year as I wanted the last bear in our collection to be marked with the year Mum died - but to think he is also called Archie really made me think she had a hand in this.....


This gorgeous boy will take pride of place as I 'reinvent' Mum's bedroom into my new sewing space in 2011!

Thank you for letting me share this with you all......
Lizzie xx

A Christmas Garland to Share

The Embellees Team have been very excited to share in the 12 Days of Christmas that is happening over at Scrapbook Divas with the lovely head Diva 'Michelle' and her talented team of lovelies.








Day 3 sees us presenting some great ideas on making those very popular Garlands.  Now I know these are being a 'bit done to death' at the moment, but I have to say they appeal to me as they have all the elements I love about a craft project:

• Quick
• Not too many destructions...ooopps I mean instructions
• Using up your stash - BIG plus is when it uses up lots of different stash
• Shouts out 'handmade' to anyone and everyone
• Multiple uses
• Functional and pretty at the same time
• The 'kidlets' can help
• Get to use lots of different tools in my aresenal.. there I go again, I mean toolbox

So pop on over and check out all the other great ideas 'popping up' at the Divas Blog!!
http://divasfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas.....

Where has the year gone???
I can't believe it is the 1st December and I have to drag out all the Chrissy Decorations.... Not really a chore as I love remembering all the gorgeous 'bits and pieces' we have collected over the years.  I was not sure I (Lizzie) would be up for Chrissy this year now my beautiful Mum has gone, but I remember with such happiness how hard she always worked to make sure we had a great Christmas and, no matter what we didn't have I don't ever remember a Christmas where Mum and my three older brothers (yep the luck of being an only girl and the youngest) didn't make it such fun and ensure I had such special things all wrapped under the tree. 

One of Mum's favourite things was to always wrap the presents in boxes or items that in no way resembled what you were getting.  She taught us all this trick and it was still bringing much laughter last year when my 'wheelie esky' I had asked for was wrapped up in my brother's recently purchased/discarded 'Dyson Vac' box... as I had madly cleaned up the house on Christmas Eve I chucked the biggest 'hissy' (and I wonder where my DD gets it from??) because I could not find new vac bags... I opened the present from Mum on Christmas morning and, although we laughed because I thought...'oh my goodness she got me a Dyson' and remembered my hissy fit of the night before, Mum felt terrible that her plan to surprise me with my 'wheelie esky' had not gone as planned - this memory makes me smile because I wonder what she would have planned for this year?

Oh well enough reminiscing time to update you all with some creative ideas and, well what would Christmas be without some shopping tips....


Scrapbook Divas - 12 Days of Christmas

The Embellees Team are very pleased to be part of the Scrapbook Divas - 12 Days of Christmas.  There are some gorgeous projects planned and lots of inspiration so please hop on over and check out the 'free classroom' that started today with a beautiful creation by the talented Natalie http://divasfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/

A Beautiful Thing

December Stocking - Opens Tonight

While the Embellees Team have been busy finishing up their yearly Workshops, our 'sisterhood of creative minds' at A Beautiful Thing have been holding down the 'fort' and loading lots of beautiful stock to all their shops.  There are some absolutely gorgeous handmade items that would be just perfect for Christmas so please support our local 'work at home mums' and all things 'handmade' and head on over and buy yourself some gorgeousness at.....
http://www.abeautifulthing.com.au/

 

We look forward to sharing lots throughout December as the creative juices are flowing and as you know we just love to share!!!

Cheers

Lizzie

A Frame and Flowers

Miss Lisa was recently inspired to play with some of her 'stash' - funny how that inspiration hits when you have just the right photo in hand.

Searching out an old frame she has removed the glass, painted the photo mat border and used some gorgeous flowers she found at one of our local 'cheapie shops' to give that 3-dimensional 'pop'.

Adding in some handmade flowers, some Tim Holtz hardware and yep you guessed it, that gorgeous Tim Holtz birdcage diecut  - it really has turned out beautifully.

I don't know about you, but I would be delighted to get a beautiful gift like this in my 'Santa Sack' - hint, hint!!!

More Workshop Updates - What is Old is New Again!

I have finally found time this week to start to catch up and so wanted to share more updates from our most recent Workshop - 'What is Old is New Again'.  So let's take a look at what our day was like .... so many great moments and so many great 'creations'.....

Workshop Kits

For those that have attended an Embellees Workshop our favourite feedback has been about our Kits and the packaging. 

All our participants get so excited to arrive and see a different package of goodies awaiting them on the registration table. 

For this Workshop we wanted to honour the theme and when we were creating our 'theme'  - Lizzie kept going back to that beautiful lyric 'brown paper packages tied up with string... these are a few of my favourite things'... inspiration hit and this is what we presented... simple but fitted so nicely....

Name Tags

Like our Kit packaging, we also love to try and theme our name tags for each Workshop.  Many of our participants have told us they have used their Workshop name tags at other events because they are always so unusual and beautiful... so thank you ladies for this great feedback.  For this Workshop you will see we have been having a real 'love affair' with the Tim Holtz Birdcage diecut... look at the gorgeous way that Miss Lisa incorporated these into our packaging... they really did look so lovely on everyone!


The Tea Party

 Lizzie had an image that no one could get her to let go of ... (Miss Lisa nearly wanted to wring her neck a couple of times ..hehehehe). She wanted a 'tea party' setup to showcase all the stash for the Workshop Participants to have access to... well it came to fruition and here is what our Participants were presented with on the day... thank you to everyone who commented on how lovely this was and how excited to see the details we had gone to...

Beautiful tea cups filled with goodies to share

You have gotta just luv Miss Lisa's ribbon stash - she has several of these great vases in her studio just filled with all of this gorgeousnessssss!

Denim pockets to share, paint to get messy with, fabric to cut up, gather, diecut ... so many choices!!!

More buttons in little glass jars, a cupcake stand with you guessed it - our trade mark cupcake wrappers ... mmm so many options for these... lots of flowers that got repurposed with embossing, stamping... eyelets and frames (go on admit you still have these in your stash!)... brads made an appearance and lots of metal embellishments... the list goes on!





Some Fun to Share

As part of our Workshop we organised a 'Scavenger Hunt'.  All our participants were sent a list of items to source from their stash... we wanted people to feel good about using stuff they 'already' had and see it finally on a page ... yes we are all guilty of buying that 'special something' and years later ... yes I said years... it is still too precious to use on a layout... they say 'keep it long enough and it will become fashionable again'... so check out the fun we had with some gorgeous prizes we awarded to our participants and their stash...

Our gorgeous Cassie 'the Stampin Up Queen' won the prize for the best Button Stash - you got to give her credit for carrying along her 'gold fish bowl' full of buttons... that was dedication and it sure made us all laugh - thank you Cassie and Congrats again!

The very lovely Annette took out another one of our prizes for the 'brad stash'... a whole bag of these and so many different varieties... 'you can never have tooo many brads or joes, or sams or peters' ... I say!

Some of our other lovely winners on the day were:

• Brenda for her 'doona bag' of ribbons... yep you know one of those big plastic carry bags you get when you buy your winter doona... it was full of reels and ribbon of all sorts... made Miss Lisa's vase collection pale in comparison!
• Kerry S for her win in the category of most coveted piece of patterned paper.  Kerry pulls out the whole collection of a brand of paper she had been keeping for just that special layout... we all shook our heads ... yes we could admit to the same beautiful pieces still languishing in our paper stash... ah, but this is where she pulled out the Ace... she admitted to making her hubby travel to some small country scrapbooking store in the 'downtown' English (yes I did say England) countryside... yep she not only had it in her collection, but we had to give it to her for the 'international' factor... that is dedication - bring it home in a suitcase and through customs... thank you for 'outing your story' Kerry it made us all laugh!

Bonus Layout Kit - Vintage Goodness

Hope this week finds everyone gearing up for the onslaught of Christmas.  I find myself making lists to make sure I haven't forgotten what I need to purchase and what I have already purchased - if you are anything like me I forget and some of the family end up with multiple 'pressies' because I 'forgot I had such & such put away'.  I am finding it a bit harder this year with my 8 year old is wanting more of the 'big girl' stuff - lots more money and not a lot to show for it... the Santa Sack might now have to be a Santa Stocking.  Well enough of my gabbing on... down to business!

At our last Workshop - What is old is new again, Miss Lisa showcased a gorgeous layout.  As an early Christmas treat for all of our lovely Workshop participants they left with a 'Kit in hand'.

We promised we would publish Miss Lisa's layout on the Blog and FB so that everyone had a 'visual' if they wanted to follow Miss Lisa's inspiration using the Kit.

You will see we are still having a 'love affair' with the Tim Holtz birdcage die cut, handmade flowers, fabric and stamping.... considering Miss Lisa has 2 boys - she sure knows how to make her 'girlie' pages 'sing' - we hope you like it.

We have a couple of these Kits left over and are intending to add them to our next lot of Kit releases through A Beautiful Thing (our collaborative Website where we sell our goodies).

Until our next update - Happy Scrapping!

Lizzie

Workshops & Projects Galore!

Are you ready for a mega post.... as you all know the last weeks have been very 'stressful' for the Embellees Team, so it is time to make up for lost time and provide updates on both of our 'Have You Caught the Bug - Cuttlebug' and our 'What Is Old Is New Again' Workshops.  Lots of 'eye candy' to follow with pics of our projects and some of the wonderful things we have been 'playing' with and producing.

So grab a 'cuppa' and we will get started.....

What is old is new again Workshop

Last Sunday (7 November 2010) saw us host the last of our 2010 Workshops and what a great day it was.  Thank you to all the lovely ladies who attended and shared their 'stash' and 'outed' their bad habits and admitted to more than a few episodes of 'buyers remorse'.  It was such a great laugh seeing some of those early pages, the very dated papers (yeh to Kerry S who even admitted to searching her papers down while in England... ooohh we love a dedicated scrapper who will travel for the right piece of paper and then keep it in the stash for many a year).

Check out our Workshop Photos tab above for all the great pics of the gorgeous mini-books we made by re purposing the 'oldest' Golden Books we could find.  It was so much fun getting participants to 'just go with the flow' and embrace the meaning of an 'ecclectic' album... thank you ladies your books looked great and we hope all your friends and family will love them to bits!

Cuttlebug Workshop

It was full house on 17 October with 25 ladies all embossing, die cutting, inking, painting and spending up big on extras now they had 'Caught the Bug'.  Yes, no one was leaving without a new found love of their 'Bug' or 'BigShot'.  We finished up a lovely canvas and a techniques album that had us cutting and embossing materials that were never thought of.  We have received so many emails in the last month from participants 'raving' about the things they are doing and how much they are enjoying all the extras they learnt how to do.

Check out the Workshop Photos Tab above to see all the great photos from our day. 

Here is the additional layout that Miss Lisa did using our 'kit packaging' - yes for those that come along to one of our Workshop it has become a 'staple' that we try where possible to use our kit packaging 'repurposed' to produce a layout after the event.... it really tests the Embellees Team once they start conceptualising what the Workshop Kits will be like and then how to make the packaging different each time so that a layout becomes the end result.

Just love the use of what was our name tags on the day - the gorgeous Stampin Up 'Top Note' die that Miss Lisa made using strips of 'scraps'. 

This is pic of the canvas that our participants completed (after their techniques album) - this helped bring a lot of the different techniques learnt on the day together in one beautiful project.

In Memory of Pat - Thank You

Thank you to all our Blog followers who have expressed their sympathy regarding the recent death of my beautiful Mum, Pat.  Like all Mums she was my best friend, my confidant.  My love of all things 'craft' and my bad habits of shopping for yet another piece of fabric or scrapbooking paper was all inherited from her. 

Mum became a seamstress at age 15 and her skills with a sewing machine were renowned.  My brothers have asked me what I am going to do with the Bernina Industrial sewing machine(or the boat anchor as they call it behind my back - yes boys I have heard that!).  I still love sewing on the 'Bernina' and the sound of that 4hp motor when I put my foot down.  It reminds me of all those years when Mum worked until the 'wee' small hours to finish a sewing job just to make sure we had food on the table. 

Mum was 83 years when she passed away on the 11 October 2010 and, even in those last weeks she had busily finished up gorgeous crochet blankets and knitted jumpers for her 6th great grand-child (Brendan John Hooper-Smith) born just 2 weeks before she passed away.  In the last days of her life, she reminded me that I must sew-up a cardigan she had finished for Reshani (great grand-daughter #5) for next winter.  As Mums eyes aged, her love of cross-stitch and sewing gave way to her crocheting.  She was so proud to still be able to pick up a pattern and make something 'fashionable - none of this old fashioned stuff ' she would say. 

Mum's beautiful crochet rugs were made for not only family, but many friends and even those she never met will be warmed by her creations. She would hear of someone unwell or just doing it tough and, she would immediately be crocheting a rug to bring a smile to their face. 

At Mum's Service, my brothers spoke but, sadly I could not bring myself to speak publicly of my love and pride in this fantastic and talented woman, it was just too painful.  It is now a month today since I last told her I loved her and would see her the next day and, too not do anything silly that night (she was not well) as 'I didn't have time in my busy week for such things' (always was our humour that got us through when it was tough).  I rest knowing that my last words to her were that 'I love you very much' and her response was 'I love you too my darling girl'.  I hate that I will never hear her call me that again and, that she is not in the house every afternoon when I walk in to ask, 'how her day has been'. 

She loved that my scrapbooking and craft not only brought me joy, but surrounded me with many new and true friends, she herself had made life-long friends through her TAFE courses and the Embroiders Guild.  She always told me, that the 'life stories' you share around a craft table (no matter what that craft is) will be the best therapy you can have in life.

Rest in peace my beautiful Patricia Mary Margaret xxxx

Thank you ....
Lizzie

Embellees Kits - are you interested?

We have been up to some 'secret squirrel' stuff behind the scenes and are getting ready to launch some great 'Limited Edition Kits' and Embellishments very soon. 

To do this we have teamed up with a beautiful group of talented ladies from all around Australia to launch a new Website called: 

A Beautiful Thing. 

The Website will be launched on 6 October, 2010 but, for now we have a Fan Page on Facebook that has seen us grow a fan base of over 650 fans in less than a week - just shows that we all love beautiful things!

Check out the Facebook Fan Page - A Beautiful Thing - remember you have to be a Facebook User to do this - if your not, take the leap - so much happening on the creative front with this social media taking the lead these days!

Above is a 'Sneaky Peek' of one of our Limited Edition Kits - 'Very Vintage' and to the right a very appropriate Kit for the Season - 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas'.

Stay tuned so much more to 'show and tell' over the next week as we prepare for the launch.

What can be created with an 'Embellees Kit'

We just love that the Embellees Kits are being used to create beautiful layouts - please check out some of the great things being done by our fans/followers/customers - and now friends.....

Introducing the lovely Miss Cassie McCumstie (our very favourite 'Stampin Up' demonstrator). 

Cassie attended our Field of Flowers Workshop and undertook the challenge to use her Kit packaging to finish a gorgeous layout.

Cassie also completed this beautiful layout with the 'give away' Embellees Kit from our recent Newcastle Fundraiser Crop - Just love what she has done with this!

Please visit Cassie's Blog: Pieces of Me and check out what Cassie has to say about the Embellees Workshops (thank you Cassie). While you are there see the beautiful things she makes as she is one very talented Scrapbooker, not to mention stamping expert!

At our Fun with Fabric Workshop this past Sunday the lovely Natalie Bright showed us the beautiful layouts she had completed with Embellees Kits and the layouts we have posted on our Blog for inspiration.

 

Thank you Natalie you sure do our Kits justice and these layouts are just gorgeous - we are so glad you like them.

Workshop Updates - So Much To Share!

Fun with Fabric Workshop

Thank you to all the lovely ladies who joined us last Sunday for our Fun with Fabric Workshop.

It is great getting to know you all and seeing you enjoy the day with us!

Thank you to our lovely Dianne who took some 'pics' of the day so we could share them with you.


Above is a what the kits for this Workshop looked like laid out on the registration table - we love that our kit packaging is incorporated in a layout or two... nothing like recycling to get the creative juices flowing.

Inside our kits were six packages of layout 'goodness'.  Where possible we try to avoid lots of measuring and cutting - afterall the day is about creating and we want to get as much done as possible - it was a push but we love that the kits offer so much and all our ladies tell us that it great value for the $50 Workshop fee.

Here are the gorgeous layouts we made on the day - so much to choose from!