even different creating

I seem to follow many roads. Today I was helping my mother in law with her family history. It was really odd, because as I looked up one of HER relatives, I found her (ancestry.com) in a tree called "Butler Family Tree" which is odd because that is my first husband's name. Even odder is that I ran across people in that Butler tree with a Spiegel in it that also had some familiar names from the Mills family tree, MY family. I know we are all related not that far back but it's strange to run across it in three families, that as far as I knew were not related at all... hmm.. No I am not going to pursue it, just to find someone that may be my 7th cousin and also my husbands 8th cousin and also my ex husband's 5th cousin.

I don't want to know that badly. :) I just want the Spiegels today.

a different kind of creating....

I have to admit this is not my usual type of creating. I got the cat this cube and can't believe how much she likes it... and how much I enjoy teasing her to pop out of it. This was fun to do. :)

Happy Australia Day!!!

A long time ago, we celebrated Waitangi Day. We didn't have any idea what it was, but we were going through a rough time and decided we needed an excuse to celebrate...

Today we are celebrating Australia Day!

I've decided to enter a very unusual challenge. I'll try not to make a proper galah of myself but I can't promise anything. I thought about this long and hard, but decided that I might as well give it a burl... crikey, this is tough!

I think of myself as a creative person, but with PAPER, not words. It's getting late, so I'll go like the clappers and get this done...and Bob's your uncle!

(In American English.... I've decided to enter a very unusual challenge. I'll try not to make a fool of myself, but I can't promise anything. I thought about this long and hard, but I might as well give it a try.... OMG, this is tough! I think of myself as a creative person, but with PAPER, not words. It's getting late, so I'll move quickly and get this done... and there you have it. )

a few phrases and "my" meanings...

* Well I’ll be buggered! --

My dad had a saying this reminded me of.... "I'll be cow kicked by a mule! which meant something like, I'm amazed....

* Fair dinkum--

a fair chance?

* Buggerlugs--

rain boots?

* Ningnong--

egg nog?

* Good Onya!--

good omen?

* Rough end of the stick--

bad end of the deal?

So here's what inspired this unusual post....

http://www.makeitcrafty.com.au/news/happy-australia-day-lets-play-a-game

I'm playing the game because it sparked my interest-- it's a fun challenge!! I already love Make it Crafty, I enjoy reading the posts and getting ideas.

Bella's birthday

Eight year olds are different than they were when I was eight. I was running around skating, climbing trees, and playing with dolls. At birthdays, I got dolls, coloring books, books, and little girl things.

Bella's eight. Her party invitation is red and black. The theme is "Eclipse"... now I've never watched that, but from the previews it seemed rather more grown up than eight. Bella even has a "boyfriend" according to her mom... I don't remember being interested in boys at that age. Kids seem to grow up so much faster now.

I started this card after I watched another Gina K demo... and of course since I don't have the spellbinders circle dies, I had to make do... and since I was making valentines, I thought maybe red would be good. Of course when I was finished it didn't fit on a standard card. So I did a large folded card stock card instead.

When I started to make Bella's card, I was going to go pink and girly... but then I remembered this frame I had made, and I thought it would be perfect...so instead of a valentine, it's a birthday card...

So here's the card... I like the way the border turned out. Image from The Vintage Moth again... I love that site. The sentiment is computer generated.

Hope Bella likes it!!

distressed valentines...

Making Valentines for my daughter's shop today. I was watching Gina K Designs video, on distressed newsprint. I wanted some more "masculine" cards than the really sweet pink and brown ones I had been making. So I distressed newsprint. The first one is newspaper, and the second one is actually a page print I got from The Vintage Moth. I printed it 4x6 and trimmed it, then distressed it using Gina's method. The sentiment on the first one I got from quotegarden.com .

The flower on the second card is from Susan Winget. I bought a pack of pre cut images at Michael's, lazy girl that I am sometimes. Most of them are sort of fall-ish colors, and I will love using them.

Hopefully Valentine's Day isn't distressing for everyone... my daughter calls it "Single Awareness Day"... but I'm going to use it as an excuse to spread a little love around, to more than just my sweetie.

To see some of the rest of the valentines I have been making today, see the album here.

Going to make some more tomorrow. It took me half the day today to actually get in the mood to do it, but once I got going, ideas kept coming. Still think my cards look sort of amateurish, but hey that's what I am. Practice, practice.