anita meade - simple.creative.life

So much to blog about.....tomorrow....

It's late; I'm tired; I'm heading for bed, but before I go I wanted to put up a list here of things I want to blog about in the next day or two......a) so I don't forget and b) so I've made a committment to share them with you.

1. The most exciting news, a new member of our family! Canine, not human for those of you who just got over excited. She is gorgeous. Pics coming soon.

2. Garden update. What we're harvesting and how it is all going.

3. Some fantastic book purchases.

4. Op shopping finds.

5. New goodies going into my Etsy store The Making Merry Shop this week.

6. Uni girls Christmas pics.

7. Health update - what's working and what's not......hmmmm

8. A visit from my gorgeous cousin and some pics of her AMAZING patchwork quilt (still in progress).

9. Ummm, I'm sure there's more but I'll get to it tomorrow.

Come and visit again for all this and much more (I think!). Here's a Christmas card I made last year since todays Making Merry Monday has come and gone without any productivity whatsoever. Just as well I've already got a good card stash! Hope you like this one.

Sweet dreams, and I'll see you tomorrow. Love Anita. xxx

My creative space - I made a skirt!

This week I made my first ever home-sewn piece of clothing. As I've said, I'm truly a beginner when it comes to sewing, but this wrap skirt was quite simple and didn't take me too long. I love it! I can see lots more of these in different fabrics coming to life this summer. It's so comfy and cool. 

For more creative spaces, hop on over to Kirsty's blog Kootoyoo. Thanks for visiting my creative space today. Have a good one. Love Anita. xxx

The postie has been and look what he brought me!

Look at what my postie just delivered, all the way from Lisa in Tassie!

 

It's my handmade Christmas tree ornament and matching card. This ornament is just DIVINE! I love, love, love it!

 

Isn't that angel just adorable?! And how cute is the snowman on the card with his button ear-muffs?! So much work has gone into making both of these. I will treasure them always and remember the making of a new friend through a swap in "blogland".

Thanks so much Lisa. I posted yours off yesterday, so it should arrive in the next couple of days. While I'm not sure it's as fabulous as your ornament, I hope you like it :)

Free mags available to pick-up

Me: Hello, my name is Anita and I am a magaholic.

All: Hi Anita.

Yep, I have a problem. I am being overrun by my magazine collection. Just look at these! And these are just the ones I've decided to part with - I have just as many that I'm keeping!

 

 

So if you love to scrapbook, or if you're just starting out and you need some ideas and inspiration, come and get some of these mags - FREE!(sorry, no postage - you have to be able to pick them up from my place in Lilydale)

There are copies of Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbooking Memories, Scrapbook Creations, For Keeps and others. They are dated from 2006 - 2009 so the ideas and materials are pretty recent.

Email or phone me if you're stopping by to pick some up. Whatever is left after next weekend (by November 30th) is going in the recycling bin! (What a waste! I can't believe I said that!) Please come and get some and save them from their awful fate :)

Making Merry Monday #26

Good morning everyone and welcome to Making Merry Monday number 26! Can you believe that we've had 26 MMM since I decided to make an early start on the Christmas cards this year?! That's half a year of MMMs! It's just as well though, because Christmas is screaming towards us very quickly now. Today I will post out the invites to our annual "Uni Girls Christmas BBQ" which is on this weekend. That will be the start of the Christmas celebrations. We are also contemplating putting up the Christmas tree this weekend. I figure anything after November 25th is acceptable - and let's face it - I just can't wait :)

Onto today's MMM cards. As promised, I have a couple of embossed creations to show you today using my newly purchased Cuttlebug embossing folders and also some Spellbinders cutting and embossing dies (the vanilla snowflakes). I just love the effect of embossing. With these fabulous designs you don't need a whole lot extra - a little bit of bling, a sentiment and/or some shiny ribbon (or in this case gold-coloured cord) and you've got a beautiful effect.

The cardstock I've used in this first card is Soft Sky (retired) and Very Vanilla. The sentiment stamp is from the retired hostess set "So Many Sayings". I've added some rhinestones for a little glitz and voila! Only a few materials but you get a really gorgeous result.

This second card uses Bravo Burgandy and Very Vanilla Cardstock and I've just added some gold cord and a single gold brad in the centre of the die cut snowflake. Again, the embossed background is so lovely you don't need much else. And with this one you don't even need a sentiment stamp, as the greeting is embossed into the cardstock!

Both of these cards will be available (in a pack of 2) in my online Christmas store "The Making Merry Shop". Pop over to see these, and lots of other Christmas goodies. There's sure to be something you like. And please pass on my etsy shop details to your family and friends. I'd appreciate your support and I'm sure they'll like what they find there :)

Thanks for visiting on this very Merry Monday. Hope you have a fabulous week.

                               Love Anita. xxx

Been making cards....

On Wednesday I was lucky to spend some time with my lovely sister-in-law Laura. We enjoyed a few hours of uninterrupted card making time. The Cuttlebug got a workout as I tried a couple of new embossing folders. Here are some of the cards I made (although this first one was finished off this morning).

This one is for my beautiful friend Emma and her soon-to-be hubby.....

 

These were just for fun and to add to my card stash.....

 

 

    I also made several Christmas cards which I'll save to show you on Making Merry Monday.  I will be listing some of these at The Making Merry Shop, so pop on over there regularly to see what's new.

    That's all my show and tell for today. Thanks for visiting. Hope your day is turning out to be a great one. Love Anita. xxx

Making Merry Monday #25

I shall ask you to just pretend that I didn't miss a MMM post last week and carry on as normal! lol!

Here is something a little different for todays MMM. I've used kraft cardstock, and Ski Slope DSP. The stamp is from "A Holly Jolly Christmas"  and I've stamped it in versamark ink, then embossed it using Heat and Stick powder and red glitter (I think a finer glitter would have looked better, but never mind!). The white embossed sentiment is from a retired hostess set "So Many Sayings" and the silver braid is from my stash. I've also pierced around the top edge and added some "faux stitching" with a white gel pen.

 

Not my usual type of card, but fun to do anyway. I just ADORE that patterned paper. Wish I could buy a whole pack of just that design! Thanks for visiting today. I'd love to know how everyone is going with their Christmas card stash. Started yet? Not making them this year? All written on and ready to post? Where are you up to?.......

Have a marvellous, merry Monday and a great week. Come and visit again soon.

                             Love Anita. xxx

Around my garden

It is fair to say that due to the severe drought, and my health challenges over the last few of years, our garden has been very neglected. Since we put in a water tank this winter I have found a renewed enthusiasm for making our garden beautiful again. It is extremely slow going - most projects in my life are as I continue to live within the constraints of my fibromyalgia - however I am enjoying a few small victories in the garden. Each one inspires to do a little more work and make more improvements.

Here's some pics of our new vegie patch - these were taken 2 weeks ago so things have grown quite a bit since then.

We have planted tomatoes, corn, beans, snow peas, lettuce, capsicum, broccoli and cauliflower, cucumber, parsley, basil, chives, oregano and rosemary. We're already enjoying the herbs and hopefully there will be a lot more to sample by Christmas.

The strawberries are protected from the birdies :)

 

That's the newly planted snow peas (above). The kids love eating these so it will be great to have them home grown. 

Thought I'd share a couple of other pics from the garden. This is the glorious bottle-brush out the front of our home. It really is at its peak at the moment.

 

 

 

 

I planted my very first roses in the colder months this year (see them along the front of the garage there?)

 

I'm happy to report that the very first flower has appeared and I am super excited. I can see how people get so obsessed with roses. This variety is called "Paul Bocuse" and it has delicate apricot coloured blooms.

 

Since I took this photo (above) the flower has opened up considerably and it is just as divine as I hoped it would be when I ordered my bare-rooted roses from the Treloar website. I'll take some more pics when I get a few more blooms.

The English lavenders are about to bloom and engulf us with their heavenly scent.

 

And I'm already enjoying the fragrance of the neighbours jasmine wafting over the fence.

 

 

There really is such joy to be found in the creation and care of a garden. It's a simple pleasure I'm rediscovering. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend. Call in and visit again soon. Love Anita. xxx

My creative space - apron making.

My creative space is a little late today. This afternoon I made this cute, simple apron (from a tutorial I found here called "Apron in an hour". I think it took me a little more than an hour, but I'm really pleased with the result. I only have one question. Why aren't my ties long enough to tie in a bow once I've wrapped them around my waist like the ones in the tutorial? I already know the answer.....I am guessing my waist circumference is quite a bit larger than Jona's! LOL! Next time I'll have to make longer straps (seeing as I don't seem to be having much success in getting a smaller waist!)

Thanks for visiting my creative space today. Lots more to see over at Kirsty's. See you again soon. Love Anita. xxx

Cool cars on a craft blog? What the.....?

Despite what you think, I have not fallen off the face of the earth! lol! We went home to Myrtleford for the weekend, which was great but it throws me out of kilter a bit. Our flying trip was not just to visit my folks, but to visit the huge hotrod show in Bright. My hubby is a hotrod enthusiast. In fact he owned a very cool hotrod when I met him - but we needed a deposit to buy a house so unfortunately it had to be sold. I've felt guilty about getting rid of his "toy" ever since - even though he assures me he's not too scarred by the experience :) Here's a really poor-quality photo of his beloved car, taken many years ago.

Anyway, we went to the Bright Rod Run and, I swear to you, I've never seen anything like it. I have been brought up with an interest in cool cars, thanks to my Dad, and while I don't know anything about engines and the mechanical side of things, I do appreciate a beautiful car. Let me tell you, some of the cars we saw on the weekend were works of art. The amazing colours, shapes, paintwork etc were truly a feast for the eyes. 

 

 

This one (below) was my favourite colour. The paintwork was amazing in real life. I can see why they call this colour "Candy Apple Red"

 

This one (below) was on the cover of a recent hot rod magazine (Cruzin') It was great to see it in real life. Those flames were amazing!

 

 

 

I think Kermit had a great day out at the Rod Run - must have been hot sitting up there though! The temperature was 34 degrees! The kids did really well considering how intense the heat was out in that sun.

This purple car was incredible too. Check out the Marilyn Monroe painting on the boot. How cool is that!?!

 

Even the littlest car fans had hotrods. This little guy was having a blast.

 

I've never been to a Rod Run before and I have to say it was a great atmosphere. Really family oriented. Lots of great old rock'n'roll music. People taking pride in their cars and everyone showing a lot of admiration and respect for the hard work that goes into creating and maintaining these amazing vehicles. Danny has a wishlist as long as his arm now! Hopefully some day we will be able to get him another hotrod. I would love to be able to do that for him. It's fantastic to see someone you love really enjoying their hobby with such passion. 

I promise I'll be back with a more "craft orientated" post soon, but I hope you've enjoyed seeing what we got up to on the weekend. It was lots of fun.