Sunday 22 December 2013

Peg Christmas Ornament Tutorial

 
 
I made this pretty Christmas ornament after seeing something similar hanging on display at a local craft store earlier this week. I didn't have my phone/camera with me that day so I tried to recreate what I saw, from memory. The reason I liked this ornament so much was that it was cute (always good) and also because we just happen to have over 200 wooden pegs sitting in a draw in my sons room. Why so many pegs you ask. Well Ben, my 10 year old, wanted to make something he saw on the internet and needed a few pegs. Dad took him shopping for pegs and thought buying 200 would work out a lot cheaper than buying a smaller packet and surely Ben would find a use for them. Well he didn't but I sure did.
It takes 26 pegs to make this ornament - well the way I made it anyway. I have seen similar peg ornaments on Pinterest but they are made using much fewer pegs and they are a lot more sparse. Turns out that the ornament I spied at the craft shop was the sparse type but to be honest I prefer mine - it's much more festive. Because I was going from what I remembered I figured this was the way to do it but in actual fact you are meant to glue the pegs at the rounded/fat end using far fewer.
In addition to using a whole lot more pegs I also decided that this ornament needed sparkle. I bought myself a heat gun and a whole lot of embossing powder sometime last year and I love to emboss things. So using silver glitter I embossed the whole thing. Of course if you don't have that available to you then a plain wooden ornament would be fine or you could paint the edges any colours you like. Gold or silver is nice but then you could do alternating colours of green and red or candy cane colours. The sky is the limit I guess.
Now this ornament is pretty big so it can be used in place of a wreath on the front door or added to the centre of the wreath. It can also be used to hang on the tree as a central focus.
 
 

Here's how to get started. Simply take your peg in your hands and twist the two sides in opposite directions and the metal clasp/spring will simply pop off. You can throw this away.
 
If you are going to emboss like I did or paint then now is the time to do it. I have
to say that after heat embossing 26 pegs my fingers were getting pretty warm so
you might like to alternate between embossing a few and gluing for a few.
 
 
 
I glued the two pieces of the peg like this. OK, to be truthful I got Ben to do it
for me and he loved being helpful and part of my crafting.
 

Once you have a few or all 26 pairs glued together it's time to glue them to
one another to form a circle.
 
Because I did this tutorial after I actually completed the ornament I am using
the left over pegs (the ones that weren't well embossed) to show how it's done.
 
 
Here is the back view. I found the circle to be fairly solid but just to keep
things extra well stuck together I did hot glue a circle of cardstock to the back.
 
 
 
Once all the pegs were glued together I made a banner from white cardstock, heat embossed in silver, and then hot glued that to the front.
 

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Scrap the Boys and Heidi Swapp

So this months challenge at scrap the boys is "Man's Best Friend". I have gone with boy's best friend with one of my all time favourite photos of the year. My son and I took our dog to the park on the weekend and I happened to have my phone handy. I snapped a few pics and this one stands out to me as the best. I love the expression on both the "boys" and I am so happy I captured this moment. Ben and Cooper do have a close relationship and Ben loves coming on walks with us. I will admit that my journaling is pretty weak to say the least but I loved this layout so much and wanted to share it here. When I'm feeling more creative (writing wise) I will update the text.




As for my Heidi Swapp component of my post title I was fortunate to be one of those that attended the Make Pretty Things session here in Perth. Wow, what a great location and terrific food. As for the classes run by Heidi and also Kim Jeffress; double wow. All participants got so many terrific products to play with and take home. In addition we all got taught by both these amazing and talented women. I had a great day and learnt a lot.
Here is a layout I created using lots of products left over from the day. I entered this in the final Make Pretty Things Challenge on Facebook.

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Stuck Sketches October

This layout came about because of a couple of techniques I want to try out and the fact that I had this older photo of Sophie on my desk.
This picture is from 2010 and was on my desk because I had to submit some photos of Sophie for her Year 7 graduation book that they are compiling at school.
I have always loved this photo and have already scrapped it once before but I wanted to play and why not scrap it again with all new products.
The first technique I wanted to try was from Elsie Larson's book My Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book. Elsie shows a cute idea of drawing on your photo with a paint marker (just happened to have a yellow one handy) and then outlining it in black to make it stand out. Yep that was fun.
The next technique was something I saw on Two Peas in a Bucket video of making a triangle border. I loved the rainbow scarf in Sophie's hair so I ran with the idea of using a bright pp for the triangles. I used Amy Tangerine 6x6 pad that I have been hording for a little while. So this is a just for fun layout that turned out super fun and cute.

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Scrap the Girls - October

Here's my entry for the current challenge at Scrap the Girls. There is a recipe to follow which includes the use of: hexagon, squiggle, circle, rectangle and strips.

I had been watching a video recently on Two Peas in a Bucket and saw a technique I wanted to try for my background. That's where I have incorporated hexagons with a white on white background. With a bit of scrapping around the edges of the hexagons to make them pop a little.

As for the squiggle I had a little difficulty interpreting that one but went with a squiggle of twine around the "medallion" on the top right hand of the photo. The photo is on a rectangle backing and the circles are in the paper and the shape of the little clear clock. As for the strips they are on the top left had corner in the form of a mini banner.

For one reason or another I usually don't do many birthday layouts - I guess because I always feel compelled to do a themed page but this time I just used the recipe and went with the flow. I'm happy with the result.

Friday 11 October 2013

Anna's Craft Cupboard - October Sketch Challenge

I've been feeling very half hearted about scrapbooking lately for some strange reason. I think I'm lacking in good photos but also miss the fun of actually going to a shop to buy new supplies. After all the local scrapbooking shops closed down over the last couple of years it's a matter of buying on-line. I miss the excitement of seeing all the beautiful papers and being able to pick up and touch the embellishments. I really like being able to see things in real life and seeing the actual size of the products etc.
Anyway I can't complain it has saved me a bit of money. When I'm lucky they do have some American Craft, Dear Lizzy and Amy Tan products available at Spotlight from time to time. I do love those ranges so that does pep me up a bit.
What I'm really looking forward to is the upcoming Heidi Swapp and Kim Jeffres "show" coming to town. I'm going to get the day to play with a whole heap of products and be taught techniques by these two amazing scrapbookers. That's in November - I'm so excited.
As for today I have scrapped a page on my little angel Cooper. He turned 13 a couple of months ago and he is my constant companion. He's as fit as a fiddle and insists on being walked twice a day. I love him so much. The sketch for this layout came from the October challenge on Anna's Craft Cupboard.


Sunday 15 September 2013

Jot - Mood Board 8

Edited to add: this layout has been accepted for publication at Scrapbooking Memories. Not allowed to have this up on my blog until it has been published.


The beautiful colours of the current mood board enticed me to play along with this challenge as I had just the right photo and papers to work with.

It's funny that this layout has another picture of me in it as I rarely scrap layouts about myself or even appear in front of the camera. However this pic was taken when Stephen and I took the dog to the local beach at around sunset for a walk. This also rarely happens as Stephen usually works late.
Anyway I digress, the colours in my photo looked a lot like the colours of the mood board with the pinky/orange sky and my pink complexion and Stephen's green shirt.

The papers I used were from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan collection. I fell in love with the colour combo when I spotted the collection for sale at Spotlight. It's not often you get a chance to see scrapbooking papers in real life anymore due to the fact that there are no scrapbooking shops anywhere in Perth.  So it's nice that Spotlight now carry the American Craft range of Dear Lizzy and Amy Tan.

I had planned for a little while to put our picture in a drawn camera because it's a selfie that we took. I love all the little camera embellishments that you can get from various scrapbook brands.  So this is my handmade/drawn version. I guess it should have been black but it's a line drawing so I figure it can be on white cardstock.

I always feel weird writing long posts because a)who knows if anyone cares less about what I have to say and b)can anyone be bothered to read it. I figure however I love it when I see that someone has taken the time to write a decent amount when I visit other bloggers and also if someone visits and finds it dull - they don't have to read it.

Here's my entry: This one's a keeper.


 

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Jot Mood Board - Challenge 7

I love the mood boards that have been set up on Jot Magazine. I have however, been feeling a (lot )intimidated by the amazing layouts that have been popping up on the Jot Facebook page over the last few weeks.
This week however I was really drawn to the mood board colours and textures and felt that this was the time to throw caution to the wind and make a page. I had just the right photo for the corresponding colours and went with the flow. It may not be a show stopper but I love blacks and white and sparkle and silver so I really went for it. I'm pleased with the results and have a precious memory saved. Yay! Thanks Jot.
I also had heaps of fun sifting through my stash and using new and old products that I have been hording.


Thursday 8 August 2013

Scrap the Boys - August

Monochromatic layout (one colour), twine and chipboard are the criteria for this months challenge.

I came across this photo on my computer the other day. I don't  recall seeing it before. I was drawn to scrapping it and yellow just seemed to fit the bill. I love the way the photo colours pop off the yellow page.

It was great fun searching through my stash for yellow. I was surprised by how much I found. I did find that I kept wanting to add some darker colour so I went with the darker shade of yellow in the paint around the pic.

The twine and chipboard requirements I fulfilled in one go by tying yellow twine to my deep yellow chipboard buttons.



The yellow dots I have scattered are actually nail polish which I dripped onto the page. I really like the look. I got the idea from an article I read in SMB by Georgia Heald. OK I'm fairly certain it was written by Georgia but if I'm wrong I apologise :)

Anyway here he is in all his yellow glory, my boy Ben.

 
I can't get the colours right on this layout. It is all shades of cheery yellow but looks a lot darker because it's an icky day and I took the photo by a well lit window. I could lighten it more in Photoshop but really I can't be bothered. So if you think this might be an orange monochrome layout rather than yellow, so be it. LOL


 




Sunday 28 July 2013

Stuck 15th July

Finally some freedom to scrap. My kids went back to school last week but after two weeks off school I had a lot of housework to catch up on. Hoping to catch up on some creative pursuits now that the kids are back at school.
I've started to sew a messenger bag for my daughter and would love to finish that soon. I also have an almost complete quilt to finish up too. Better get that done soon because this beautiful cold weather  we are having in Perth at the moment surely wont last too much longer.

Thursday 27 June 2013

Scrap the Boys -June

This month the challenge is to create a layout that is about 'SPORT' it must also have a photo smaller than 6x4, include Stamping and at least one of the following colours:
Red - Teal - Orange or Yellow

Oops, I didn't notice the requirement to include stamping. Too late. Never mind. Tee hee hee!

Sunday 26 May 2013

Because she is beautiful to me.

Wanted to share this photo/layout. I'm certainly not a great photographer but once in a while I get a lucky shot and this to me, is it. I love this photo of Sophie taken at the beach in the 'golden hour' around sunset. Beautiful.


I have used American Crafts products by Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy. My current favourites.

Stuck Sketches May 15




I was so thrilled when I spotted this sketch as I actually had an oversized butterfly added to my stash recently.



Saturday 20 April 2013

Stuck! Sketches April 15

Yay, I have finally managed to get both sketches done in the one month. The time always seems to slip away before I get to one or the other.
My ten year old Ben is mad on Nerf guns. He loves using me as target practice from time to time. Litte cheeky ****! He also likes to modify his Nerfs making them faster to load and to shoot harder. Ouch! He's been warned to only shoot at the walls etc.

Tuesday 16 April 2013

Stuck! Sketches April 1st

It's a rarity for my little family to have a group photo but here we are. We all went to our local beach for a walk and stopped along the way to admire the view. We tried several time to take a selfie but it was proving impossible (to many to squeeze into one shot I guess). Fortuantely a friendly stranger coming by noticed us and offered to take our pic. He was lovely actually and even suggested to pic up the dog to be included. He took some great snapshots and I chose this one to scrap.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Anna's Craft Cupboard-March Sketch Challenge

My take on the sketch challenge.
This is my Ben posing with the big cardboard 10 that I made him for his birthday. I made one for Sophie when she turned double digits and Ben insisted that he need his own. Fair enough :)

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Stuck! - yep I sure was

Yippee, I have finally started scrapping again. Well yippee for me anyway. I haven't done anything craft for several months now. No sewing (did start a couple of things but didn't get far) and no scrapping. I guess it's a combo of the weather (bloody hot) and lack of inspiration, oh yeah and me being plain lazy I guess.

Anyway this is an entry for Stuck Sketches February 1st sketch. Here's the sketch. I knew these recent pics of Ben fishing were just the ticket for this layout. I have done mine on a 12x12 and swaped the elements a little but it's all there. Ok you may need a magnifying glass to spot the little bitty fish Ben is holding but it's definately there. As the journaling points out it was fun just spending time together.



Wednesday 9 January 2013

Christmas/New Year Bargain

Hey there, did you manage to snap up any awesome bargains in the Boxing Day and/or New Year sales. I love the sales  and I did manage to buy myself a couple of lovely dresses reduce from $100 down to $40.

My favourite bargain was this cardmaking kit from Kmart. I got it for $7 in the new year sales. I'm not too sure if it was even discounted but at that price I thought I'ld grab one. It comes with 3 super cute washi tapes (3 metres per roll), some twine, diamontes, lots of cards (rectangle and square in white and kraft and red envelopes), some xmas themed felt shapes and some chipboard xmas themed shapes and some flimsy die cut frames. Considering the washi tapes alone would usually cost at least $3 each  thought it was quite the bargain.

Tuesday 1 January 2013

Happy New Year

Whooohooo...happy new year.
Hope you've had a terrific Christmas and new year.
Our family certainly have.

My kids went to town with decorating their gingerbread houses for Christmas. This is a tradition we started about 4 years ago. The first gingerbread house we made the kids decorated together but by the second year they wanted their own house to add their own finishing touches too.
Here's Ben with his "work of art".
 Demolition followed the day after construction.

Here's Sophie with her creation.


As is typical of most peoples Christmas and new year celebrations we ate to much, went to the beach and watched lots of movies. Since it's been hitting highs of 39 degrees plus here in Perth for the last week or more there hasn't been much else to do.

Hope to start scrapping soon but this heat isn't too inspiring. Best wishes for the new year and thanks for stopping by and reading. Below pics of me and my kids. Thought I should show my face. Cheers
Natalie