my ramblings

a little catch up

We've all been a bit under the weather around our house over the last week. We're feeling better this week, thankfully.

Some non-crafting news: A friend of ours has started embracing life in the slow lane and has started a blog to reflect on his finds. Take a look at the Slow Lane blog.

And there's just a few things to share from me from the past week.

Made this little fabric bookmark as part of a present for Phoebe's friend last weekend. It is inspired by a a m s' work over on flickr, here are some of her bookmarks. My bookmark is more "rustic", shall we say, and could be a good one for the kids to make - hand stitch the felt monogram to the fabric and straight machine stitching around the edge.

A quick card I made last week....

I've been back at school this morning playing working with Phoebe. It is Education Day. My tasks were to paint the sun and make a find-a-word. Loved sitting with the kids painting and chatting.

That's about all, short and sweet today.

Thanks for visiting.

Cheers

Fiona x

Pursuit of Craftyness blog tutorial

It was my turn to write a tutorial on the Pursuit of Craftyness blog. I've created these little magnets and the steps can be viewed HERE.

I've used Maya Road Blossom chipboard, Ranger Distress Crackle Paint and fabric.

Thanks for visiting, have a great week.

Cheers

Fiona xx

Ribbons Galore

These Ribbon Bundles are now on their way to Italy...

Lory from Scrapbookiando asked if I'd send some ribbon goodie bags for the upcoming Paper & Co Show in Italy at the end of this month. This looks like such a fun event with great tutors. I think I'll start saving for next year... mmm Italy in May... perfect, who wants to join me?

I've added Dolly's Ribbon Bundles to Ribbons Galore this week. Here's a few of the bundles available.

I also receive enquiries about international postage for Ribbons Galore. The postage costs, as well as the bulk discount policy, can be found on the terms and conditions page. The international postage charge from Sydney, Australia starts from AUD4.00.

Hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for visiting.

Cheers

Fiona x

Maya Road projects

Maya Road is exhibiting at the National Stationery Show in New York. The design team has been creating some new projects to display at the show. Make sure you check the Maya Road DT girls blogs (they are listed in the left column) to see their projects.

Here are my projects, using lots of the recently released products from CHA-W. One of my favourite new products are the MR Johathan Chipbaord Alphabet Set. They are such a great sized chipboard alphabet (small than the other MR alphabet sets).

Thank You Card materials:

• Maya Road Johathan Chipbaord Alphabet Set
• Maya Road Trinkets Ribbon - Forest
• Maya Road Trinkets Textured Knit Blossoms

Love Card materials:

• Maya Road Stamp Seals Set
• Maya Road Microchips - Hearts Chipboard (both neutral and brights sets used)
• Maya Road Las Vegas Ribbon - Avenue

Journey Card materials:

• Maya Road Travel Keychain Set
• Maya Road Trinkets Buttons - Grass
• Maya Road Air Mail Rubons

The Girls Frame materials:

• Maya Road Scroll Frame Chipboard Accordian Album
• Maya Road Microchips Neutrals - Hearts Chipboard
• Maya Road Stamp Seals Set

Nature Girl album materials:

• Maya Road Sheer Butterfly Coaster Album
• Maya Road Jonathan Chipboard Alphabet Set
• Maya Road Trinkets Crochet Shimmer Butterflies
• Maya Road The Cubicle Rubons

Thanks for visiting.

Hope you all have a great week.

Cheers

Fiona x

birthday wishes

Yesterday was the big day....

Paul, my DH, turned 50. It's a big number, but he coped very well :-))

We had a busy day, lots of running around, but we managed to celebrate in between the busy parts. The girls cooked bacon and egg rolls for breaky. The carrot cupcakes were iced with a cream cheese and ricotta icing, and were really, really yummy. We fitted in a netball game and a basketball game, and a few other committments. We had drinks at friends and then we went to dinner at China Doll on Woolloomooloo Wharf.

It was a good day.

And today was Mothers' Day. A lovely day was had here with my gorgeous girls. Breakfast in bed. Watching Phoebe's fabo soccer game. Phoebe made Chocolate Kisses for afternoon tea (recipe from Better Homes and Gardens). Visiting my mum and dad. And dinner cooked by the girls Paul.

Bring on Monday so we can all have a rest!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there.

Fiona x

Carrot Cupcakes

We have a very important birthday in our family this weekend. After subtle (and not so subtle) questions from the girls as to the type of cake that would be enjoyed by this birthday person, it was decided that carrot cake would be well received.

So here I am cooking today. We are running out of time to prepare the cakes, and tomorrow (THE birthday) is already full with sporting matches and plays, so I thought I'd make the cakes today, so the girls can decorate in the morning.

Something occurred to me this morning as I was enjoying my cooking - BY MYSELF. One of the very few negatives of having children (apart from the cost of running them) is that you create cake spoon and bowl licking competitors. I love licking the spoon, the bowl and anything else that has a dollop of uncooked cake mixture. But these days I rarely get to indulge in this pleasure. I have little people who, as soon as they hear the cake tin going into the oven, suddenly appear in the kitchen. And that's if they weren't already there, "helping" with the actual cooking.

Today I was able to enjoy a little bit of cake mixture, uncooked, by myself. And this mixture in particular was delicious and rich uncooked.

Here's the first batch out of the oven. The mixture was huge. I've made 28 muffin sized carrot cupcakes from this recipe. Looks like there'll be some left over for Mother's Day on Sunday :-))

The recipe I used is the Church Picnic Carrot Cupcakes (page 49) from the Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook. Great book, full of beautiful ideas for cupcakes.

OK, I've finished my cup of tea, better keep going, I've got a mini book to work on and some ribbon orders to pack. I'll share some photos of the finished cakes when the girls have worked their magic on them tomorrow.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Cheers

Fiona x

Good service

I thought I'd mention a few stores which, over the last few months, have provided great service. I think in the world of online shopping, good service can still be provided. We don't get a friendly smile or greeting as we do when we walk into a physical shop, but service can be provided in a few ways by online stores. I think having the product in stock when you order is important, receiving the goods in a timely manner is important and receiving goods in top condition (that is, the goods have been packaged well) is very important. Here's a few stores which I've had good shopping experiences with lately.

• Emma's Paperie in the US. I ordered some Scenic Route papers plus some extras from here and my order arrived a week from it's departure in the US. I was so surprised to open my box to find my goodies wrapped so beautifully by Cindy...
• Scrapapple. Prompt service and my parcel arrived safe and well. Scrapapple has a great range of both new and some not so new papers (not that they are old, they are just not THE latest release - IYKWIM). It was this that appealed, as I was after some papers which had been around for a little while. I was able to get all I needed in one spot.
• Craftainers. I am fortunate to live very close to the Craftainers warehouse, which does open to the public sometimes. I loved visiting here, picking up some things to help organise my life. One favourite was a small DMC mini travel bag for my embroidery threads. This has changed the way I store and organise my threads, and I'm no longer buying more pink threads when I already have plenty at home (and just can't find them). When I do away and I want to do some sewing, I can now just grab my little travel bag and run. I keep my needles in there and a small pair of scissors, so I have everything together.
• Karen's Scrappin' Kupboard. Karen's is responsible for my stash of Ranger products, particularly my Ranger Distress Crackle paints. A great range was available, great service was provided, and my goodies arrived promptly.

Completely off the subject of craft, I was surprised to find this little bit of brightness in our front garden over the weekend. We've only just started getting cooler here in Sydney. It is not even winter yet and already my jonquils are appearing.

Better run. Have a good day. Thanks for visiting.

Fiona x

New Maya Road website

The new MAYA ROAD website is up and running. It looks so good, make sure you visit soon.

I'll be back with a longer post soon, we've been busy with school holidays and projects (me and the girls - LOL).

Also, Emily's Cupcake competition cut off date has been extended (see previous post). She's received a couple of entries which she'll put in the gallery soon, but wanted to let you know you can still send her your projects for another week.

Have a good weekend.

Fiona x