anita meade - simple.creative.life

"Making Merry" Monday #1

Well everyone, today is the 25th of May which means that it is 7 months until Christmas Day! Now you may think 7 months is a long time, but if you're anything like me, those months fly by and before you know it you're counting down in weeks, and wishing you'd made a start on your handmade Christmas cards and gifts. I always have the most ambitious plans of all the beautiful things I'm going to make to give to family and friends, to show my love and appreciation for them. But almost every year I run out of time and only get to a fraction of the projects I have in mind.

So.......this year I have decided to launch into Christmas production super early. I am committing to making at least one (preferably 2, 3 or 4!) Christmas card(s) a week so that I have a healthy stash ready to spread joy in December. I figure if I tell you all about it, and commit to posting my Christmas cards here on my blog, I will have to honour my promise. So how about it? Anyone else want to join me for "Making Merry Mondays"? Leave me a comment or send me an email if you'd like to join in and I'll put a list of "Monday Merry-makers" in my sidebars so we can all check out each others progress. (No need to stick to Stampin' Up! products. Any Christmas card creations are welcome - it is all about inspiring each others Christmas creativity).

Here's my first card (I actually whipped up two of these while I had the supplies out):

RECIPE:

Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla

Ink: Always Artichoke, Encore Silver, Versamark

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Warm words,

Other: Silver Embossing Powder, Silver Hodgepodge, clear rhinestone brad.

I have just placed an order for some more Christmas stamps from the 09/10 Idea Book and Catalogue so I will have some lovely new stamps to get me in the Christmas spirit very soon. Hope you feel like joining me in gradually, consistently building up your stash of stunning cards. Banish the stress of a last minute card making frenzy by starting now.

Thanks for visiting today. Hope you had a lovely weekend. Jayden is feeling, and sounding much better today.....thankfully!

Take care and have a Merry Monday :) Love Anita. xxx

Autumn glory

Hi everyone, and happy Friday to you all! My Friday started very early - 4am to be exact - when my big boy Jayden came running down the hallway barking "Mum, Dad.....I can't breathe properly!" Instant action! You don't mumble and roll over when you hear something like that. He was home yesterday with a sore throat and a bit of a cold. Overnight it turned into a terrifying bark, rattly wheeze and the panic of not being able to breathe properly. I can relate to his fear as I've been asthmatic since I was 3 years old (very mild now luckily). Anyway, I gave him some of my ventolin inhaler in a spacer, and I gave him some panadol (to ease his 39 C fever) and he has steadily improved since then. We are off to the doctor at 11.30am. Hopefully he will improve over the weekend. Poor darling. :(

I wanted to pop up some photos of the tree in our front yard today. It is a maple called "October Glory", as I'm sure it is at it's full glory in October in the northern hemisphere. Anyway, here in Australia it should be called "May Glory" - it is spectacular at the moment. Take a look.....

 

 

 

Of course, the boys saw me with the camera out and wanted to be in a photo!

 

I did HEAPS of research when choosing a tree to plant in the front garden (about 5 or 6 years ago). I really wanted a striking feature tree, and I'm so happy I chose this tree. When we finally bought it (bare rooted) it was literally nothing but a single, skinny stick. Our friends all laughed at me for being so excited about my beautiful new "stick" tree. But who's laughing now?! And it gets better and better every year. Imagine how spectacular it will look when it is fully grown. I just love Autumn. It is my favourite season by far. What is yours?

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy this lovely Friday, whatever the season is where you live. :)

                       Love Anita. xxx

Lucky.

Look at what my beautiful husband brought home with him last night.

 

Aren't they just gorgeous? And why did my husband bring me red roses last night? To be honest, I had no idea, until he gave me the handmade card to go with them.

 

Yep, we have been married for 100 months! I have to admit, I had no idea about this important anniversary. But that's the kind of guy Danny is......he remembers the little things and always tries to find ways to show me I am loved. Lucky me huh?! He had also booked a table for us all to go out for dinner to celebrate. Love that man to bits. Apparently he worked out when our 100 month anniversary would be several months ago and has been counting down to the big day to surprise me. I just love the card, even more than those magnificent roses. Note that it is made from corrugated plastic board, with cable tie hinges, hardware numbers, electrical tape border and he rounded just one of the corners for artistic effect! Can you tell my hubby is a tradesman?

MWAH Danny! Don't know what I did to deserve a guy like you, but I'm sure glad that you came into my life. Thanks for our 100 months of wedded bliss. I love you.  Neet. xxx

In a wintery mood.

Well, we are definitely right into winter here in Melbourne now, and of course that means we are right into footy season. I have created a layout today about my boy's first experience of an AFL game. These photos were taken at the end of last season and I have been meaning to scrap them ever since. We had such a fun day at the footy....it certainly helped that the Tigers actually won! (they were playing Melbourne you know!). Here's my layout - very simple and clean. The laser cut shapes are from Remember When Paper Company. I coloured them using a sponge and Stampin' Up! Riding Hood Red ink. (Sorry about the glare on the left had side photos!)

 

Speaking of footy, I have been out to buy a Geelong footy jumper for my nephew Jack, who is having a birthday next week. It's actually a present from my Mum and Dad to Jack, but Mum had trouble finding one locally, so I popped out this morning and picked one up for her. I also bought some iron-on numbers for the back. I chose number 29 - Gary Ablett Jnr......who else would you choose? Jack will look so gorgeous in the navy and white stripes. I'll have to get his Mum to take a photo so I can post it here on the blog. By the way, he has chosen to follow Geelong after some persistent coaxing from his Papa (my Dad). I guess they are doing pretty well at the moment, so it is hard to argue with his choice!

I also dropped in to Officeworks to buy a new memory card for my camera as the other one is starting to play up a bit. I spent about an hour there just wandering around. Ahhhh stationery! I just love it! Is anyone else as obsessed with Officeworks (and stationery supplies) as I am? I think it has something to do with the potential that is represented by blank paper. It has so much potential....it is just waiting to be used for some creative purpose.......hmmmm....do you think I'm nuts?

Well, I promised myself I'd sort out my craft room a bit more today, so I'll sign off for now. Perhaps a cup of tea and a flick through my new copy of Creating Keepsakes magazine should be my next move though. Only two hours until school is out....don't want to waste them!

        Thanks for stopping by. Love Anita. xxx

Something lovely to inspire the artist in you

Saw this while blog surfing this morning - hope you enjoy it!

I scrapbooked!

Yes, I know it's been a while.....but I rediscovered my scrapbooking mojo this afternoon. It is amazing what can happen when you're trying to avoid doing housework! This page is inspired by a layout in the current issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine by Ali Edwards. I just love her free "arty" style that really documents her life. She calls herself a "life artist" and I think that's a fabulous way of describing what we do as scrapbookers. I thought the memories of my Mother's Day this year needed to be scrapbooked. It was such a lovely day with my boys. So here is my layout "Life is Good". (sorry the scan chopped off a little bit on the bottom the the page - it has the same amount of Kraft border as the other sides).

 

   Just a quick one for today. I really do need to pay a bit of attention to the state of my house......it ain't pretty right now! And only an hour until I have to go and pick up the boys from school. Better get cracking. Thanks for stopping by. Love Anita. xxx

PS. Just realised this is my 150th post! Wow! It has been a blast......I love visiting blog-land and sharing a little piece of my life with the world (or at least the crafty blog-loving population). Thanks for making it so much fun. xxx

"Show and Tell Tuesday"

    Thought I'd upload some "show and tell" pictures for you today. Firstly I wanted to show you my latest creations.....they're made from wool. The first one is a beanie which I knitted for my hubby. He has been after a beanie for a while but couldn't find one he liked. Hopefully this is what he was after. I have started on a second one for him in a different style and colour, so he has a couple to choose from.

 

    The second thing I have to show you is a Richmond Tigers (AFL) scarf which I crocheted for Corey. He has been nagging me to make him a Tigers scarf for a while (despite that he has a store bought Tigers scarf which he never wears). This is my first real attempt at crochet. It turned out pretty well I think. What I'd really love to learn is how to crochet fancy patterns and flowers and shapes. That was beyond my "How-to-crochet" book's scope! I even went into Spotlight and enquired about their "Learn to crochet" class, but unfortunately it is run on Saturday mornings, which are taken up by kids sports in our family. I will have to keep my eyes open for another opportunity to learn. Anyway, here is Corey's scarf, beautifully modelled by Corey's beloved mate, Big Ted.

   

    My next "Show and Tell" item is the birthday card I made for my hubby, who turned forty-something last Monday. I also made a second card while I had all my bits and pieces out (The top one is Danny's). I had fun making some fabric covered buttons which I made into brads. I've only used one on each card, but I think they make a great focal point. I don't think fabric covered buttons are going to use up much of my fabric stash however! Lol! They don't take much fabric at all. They are fiddly but worth it I reckon.

    

 

Here's the birthday boy and his little helpers.....

 

   

    Speaking of my lovely husband, look what he made me for Mother's Day!

   

Here's a closer shot of one of the shelves......

   

    These ink pad shelves took him AGES to make. I am so grateful for the time and effort and love he put into them. I am one lucky crafty-girl! Don't they look just fantastic with all my colourful Stampin' Up! ink pads in them? Now I just have to rearrange my craft space a bit to sort out the best place for them. Thanks Dan, you are a complete sweetheart. xxx

    Finally, my last "Show and Tell" item is a photo of my littlest boy Corey with his Student of the Week award at school assembly yesterday. He received it for working out a very tricky maths problem. He was so very proud.....and so were we, of course! This comes on top of his Student of the Term Award which he received for Term 1. Jayden received a Student of the Week award on the same day as Corey's Student of the Term award. We were just about bursting with pride :)

 

    Well, that's all my news for now. Hope you enjoyed "Show and Tell Tuesday". Come back and visit again soon. Love Anita. xxx

"Where have you been?" I hear you ask....

    Where have I been? Well the truth is....nowhere! I've just been having a quiet week, trying to spend a bit less time on my computer. I haven't made anything from paper for about a week (shocking, I know). But I haven't been completely craft-free.....I've been knitting and crocheting. These are two crafts at which I am a complete novice. In fact, I even borrowed kids "how-to-knit" and "how-to-crochet" books from the local library to teach myself. And it is going along pretty well I have to say. So far I have crocheted a scarf for myself, a Tigers scarf for Corey and yesterday I completed a beanie for Danny. Not too shabby either. They look pretty decent! I'm surprised actually! I don't have any photos of these creations to show you at the moment. I'll take some during the day and post them here for you to critique.

    Every now and then I go through a phase of wanting to do something different cratft-wise. I have regular phases where I want to use something more textural than paper....I want to play with fabric and threads and wool. I am completely ok with this. I don't get stressed that I am "over" papercraft and feel like I'll never scrapbook again. Creativity, for me, goes in cycles. I embrace all the creative inspiration what comes my way. It is a means of growth and development. I just go with the flow and see where it leads me. Having said that, I think tomorrow I will play with paper for a while.....I'm getting the itch.

    I have something awesome to show you tomorrow too. My hubby built me something fantastic for Mother's Day. I will take a photo for you tomorrow and post it so you can all check out his handiwork. Clever boy that Danny is!

    Speaking of Mother's Day, I have had the most wonderful Mother's Day with my boys. I was greeted this morning to a trail of notes from our bedroom to where my presents lay waiting in the lounge room. The boys had each bought me a special gift from the Mother's Day Stall at school. And I have to say, they know me so well. Their choices were perfect. From Jayden I received a gorgeous red and white striped coffee mug, filled with chocolates and a bookmark -he knows 3 of my favourite things are coffee, chocolate and reading (and my favourite colour is red)! And from Corey I received a gorgeous little pink journal and a beautiful pen in a little case, as well as a twirly thing that spins in the breeze (not sure what you call it) - Corey knows how much I love to write in notebooks and journals. Both boys gifts were perfectly ME.  Of course they were accompanied by beautiful handmade cards which had had so much love and effort put into them. How lucky am I?!

    After breakfast we went down to visit Danny's Mum Margaret. We took the opportunity to take a few snaps of her and the boys. Here they are:

 

          

    I really like that last photo of Margaret. Notice she's wearing her brooch frm the Mother's Day card I made for her :) After we said goodbye to Nan, we picked up some lunch and headed to a nearby park with a great playground. We lay out the picnic rugs and settled in to enjoy some fun in the autumn sunshine. What bliss! My three gorgeous boys and I having fun together on a sunny autumn Sunday. 

                                                                                                        

    

  

  

    We had so much fun playing together. Then we headed home and I indulged in a delightful 2 HOUR(!) "nanna-nap" on the couch. Ahhhh, life is good.

    Happy Mother's Day to all you blog-hopping Mum's out there. Hope you had a fantastic day. Please come and visit again soon - I promise I won't leave it so long between posts next time. :)

                                 Love Anita. xxx

                                                                                                     

Mother's Day Brooch Cards Blog Candy

  In honour of all the Mum's out there, I'm giving away some handcrafted Mother's Day cards today. These cards have been lovingly made by Yours Truly, and they each have a handstitched fabric heart brooch attached to them. Yep, that's right, the hearts on the card become a wearable symbol of your love for Mum.

 

 

 All you have to do to win one is to leave me a comment before 10pm tonight (AEST) telling me what you'll be doing this Mother's Day. I have three brooch cards to give away (two pink heart and one burgandy heart). (Aussie blog readers only sorry, as I'll need to get the cards in the mail tomorrow if you're going to get them by Mother's Day.) 

                          Love Anita. xxx

ETA: 7/5/09 - Cards dispatched to lovely recipients. Happy Mothers Day girls. :)

Market Day and another Trendy Tree

    I have had the most lovely day with my little boys today. Today Jayden, Corey and I went out to Yarra Glen Market, while Daddy stayed home and did some work hooking up our new water tank. It was a glorious day weather-wise so we enjoyed a relaxed meander through the markets, picking up a few goodies along the way. I bought a beautiful hand bound journal (I'll take a picture of it tomorrow if I remember), and a mother's day present for my Mum (can't show you that yet!). The boys enjoyed doing a painting at the kids easels and devoured some (actually a lot) of their favourite Yarra Glen Market popcorn. 

    I was really sad to read the notice that was handed to me as we drove into the carpark which said that this would be the second last market at Yarra Glen. Apparently the Yarra Glen Racing Club has not renewed the markets license, so there will be no more :( This has been such a wonderful place to visit for our family and we have enjoyed many fabulous Sundays exploring the homemade wares on offer. We will really miss this regular outing....I'm really hoping the Racing Club will reconsider or another venue nearby can be found.

    Speaking of homemade wares, I have another Trendy Trees card to show you today. Have I mentioned that I just adore this set, and also the combination of Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss and Kraft? Hmmm, yep, thought I might have already mentioned that! lol! I'm also smitten with the new In Colour Double Striped ribbon in the new catalogue. I'm a bit of a ribbon addict all-round actually....can't get enough of it. There is almost always room for a little (or a large) ribbon accent on a card or scrapbook layout. Anyway, here's the layout. The sentiment is from the "Warm Words" stamp set.

 

    Thanks for stopping by today. How was your weekend? Did anyone do anything interesting? I'd love to hear about it. Come back and visit again soon. Love Anita. xxx