About me & Christmas

Here's a Christmas meme I thought I'd do:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both - depends on the shape!

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial.

3. When do you put up the tree? Varies - this year was early November.

4. When do you take the tree down? January 6th

6. Favorite gift received as a child?  Trampoline, Roller Skates & Walkman

7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes a sweet little one I bought last year - it's in my daughter's room

8. Hardest person to buy for? All males I find hard to buy for.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Kids

10. Worst Christmas Gift you ever received? A Yothu Yindi Tape

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Definitely mail - but I'm usually pretty slack & end up hand delivering them

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Love them all really!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? If I see something during the year I get it and pop it away for Xmas

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not yet - don't think anyone wants the Yothu Yindi cassette

15. Favorite things to eat at Christmas? I love the Pavlova!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear

17. Favorite Christmas song? I enjoy them all - much to my husband's dismay

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Donner, Dasher, Prancer, Dancer, Donner, Dixon, Rudolph? - I vaguely remember a song in Primary School that named them - obviously failed that test

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Can't really think of one

23. What is the “silliest” family tradition you do, or miss doing? Don't have one - at least I don't think we do - maybe everything we do is a little strange & I don't know it!  One thing I miss doing is decorating & cooking with my grandmother in the lead up to Christmas - she passed away 10 years ago.

24. Ugliest Christmas Decoration ever invented? Not sure  - I've found that if you have kids around they can usually show you the beautiful chrismassy side to even the most tacky or garish decoration & make it seem wonderful.

25. Which looks best, theme trees or homey trees? They are all wonderful.

26. Gingerbread or sugar cookies? Don't really eat bikkies - probably gingerbread.

27. Do you like Fruitcake? It sounds really bad but I think it depends on the fruit & alcohol content. 

My Grandma used to make a wonderful cake & several years ago I found a recipe that requires for the fruit to be soaked in 4 different types of alcohol.  After the long wait I finally tasted it and it took me right back in time to those Christmas spent at her house when I was a child.  Most of the time I don't really eat cake.

I wonder did you notice that there's a number missing? - I copied these questions from another Blog & couldn't be bothered fixing the numbers.

My house has been really busy this week with the Dancing Christmas Party on Sat nite - we were entertained by floorshows by the Junior & Teenage dancers & The Darryl Cotton Band.  Darryl made me laugh introducing himself to the kids by saying "I used to be a rockstar. You know Shannon Noll? Well I'm him in 20 Years". 

Sunday was the day My Sweet Little Miss turned 8 years of age! She had a little party with friends following by one with family.

I was also a lucky winner over at Helen's Hugs:

I've been a lover of Helen's work for many years - these are her new "Tempters" which are easy Iron On Transfer Designs for stitching.   Gotta love it when there's no tracing - just iron on & stitch!

Bye for now

Corinna

Shabby Christmas Surprise

As I said earlier, I was swap partners with Linda from Lilly Cottage in the Ornament swap organised by Kerryanne.

Today my parcel arrived, inside the post bag was this lovely parcel

Complete with beautiful card featuring a bird (which I particularly love at the moment)

Unwrap the parcel & there was a beautiful Christmas Boot/Stocking to place on my tree

Lucky me - I wonder if Linda has received her package yet?

Corinna

Homespun Surprise

I'm a regular reader of the Willow Valley Store Blog, by Cathy Baynes, and am lucky enough to sit & stitch with her on occasion.

I was very excited to see she's been published in the current issue of Homespun Magazine.  This is one of my fav publications & this issue is devoted to kids - Cathy's Baby Bag is one of many great projects. 

Run down to your local newsagents & grab a copy before they run out - then come back & check out her Blog.

See you later - I'm off to read mine now  . . . . . . . . .

Deck the Halls with boughs of Holly Fa La La La, La La La

Phew - hard to know how to punctuate those La's - but I'm sure you get the gist of what I'm singing!

I participated in a Handmade Ornament Swap over at Kerryanne's Blog.  Lucky me!!! I was partnered with a wonderful partner - Linda of Lilly Cottage & her ornament has been sent - she may even receive it today.  I can't show you my creation yet - that would spoil the surprise.

Christmas time is closing in and gifts need to be ready so I'm making a few more:

Here's LA - Actually it's A for Amy & L for Liam (my niece & nephew) - (hopefully their parents don't read my blog).  If they do that's OK they are far from being finished - lots of ideas & not sure how I'm going to embellish yet but will post another pic when done.

Steph's got lots of teachers at dancing - so what to give?  I decided making these Bag Tags would be a fab idea.   Against all my Bomber's loyalty, Steph convinced me Sarah (her after school carer) needed a Collingwood (Black & White) Bag Tag.

So now I've just got the other teacher's presents to organise.  A student of mine that used to be a teacher told me that she has collected an amazing array of Christmas Decorations received from Children she's taught in the past.  Each year she remembers them fondly as their decorations are placed on the tree. 

What's your tip for a great Teacher's gift?  or Kris Kringle for an unknown recipient?  Now the time to share any hints we have only 19 sleeps left!!!!!!

Til next time - happy crafting

Corinna

Long time no post

Gee time seems to be running away from me.  I feel as though Christmas is creeping up on me & I’m not prepared.  I’ve starting organising Kris Kringles, and I need to begin making Teacher’s Pressies.  OMG It’ll be here before I know it! 

.

Anyway decided it was time for another post & didn’t have anything really exciting to say so I decided to join this meme:

.

The rules are: Answer the following on your blog and then let five other bloggers know that you have tagged them to complete the meme.

.

1. When did you start to create and make craft? 

I was lucky enough to have grandmothers who taught me many things:  cake decorating, sewing, embroidery, tapestry, latch hook rug making, oil & china painting among other things.  I was exposed to & enjoyed all these crafts at the ripe old age of 7

.

2. Why did you start creating?

I think it may have been the thrill of creating & making something with my Grandma’s – oh and because it’s fun.  Still is.

.

3. Why do you create?

Quite often it’s simply because I love the thrill of the process, starting with a pile of fabric, or a heap of papercraft items, or a blank canvas & my paint collection and then ending up with a creation.  

Sometimes the creations aren’t quite as wonderful as expected, but they’re still fund to make. Generally I enjoy learning how different mediums work. 

Other times I just fall in love with a design or something pops into my head as I’m going to sleep & I just need to make it.  

.

4. What do you create?

Well, it all depends on the day.  One day it’s all about Papercraft, the next jewellery, the next sewing & quilting, the next painting, all the above – the list goes on and on.  I don’t have any boundaries set & I create what makes me happy!

5. Has this changed since you began crafting?

As an adult I have a better budget & can buy better craft supplies

As a child (before I was old enough to participate in my Grandmothers crafts) I was mainly restricted to the use of some manilla paper, a blue ballpoint pen & some stickytape.  I can’t tell you how many different creations I made from these 3 things, but I recall quite fondly when I was 6, making a 3D Doll house, complete with paper dolls, tables and chairs etc. I was (and still am) pretty proud of that creation.

I am supposed to tag 5 people which I find really hard as most of the people I would have tagged have already been tagged - I am leaving this open for anyone to join in. (But please let me know you’re joining in by leaving a comment)  There is one person who I know hasn’t been tagged so I tag you Julie

.

Thanks look forward to your answers

.

Love

Corinna

PS If you are wondering about the stray full-stops, I tried repeatedly to put spaces between the paragraphs & for some reason they just wouldn't behave so I had to put full stops in.

Dancing with the Stars

My daughter has been dancing for many years now.   Yesterday the students from her Dancing School had their chance to strut their stuff in front of the judges.

She was pretty nervous but her hard work paid off & she received a Bronze Medal for Latin Dancing.  The dances she performed were the Samba, Cha Cha Cha & Jive.

To quote the judge she "looked beautiful".  I can't show you her dancing but here's a pic:

 

After I took this photo we went to the Awards Nite where all dancers perfomed an Honour Dance & received their Medals. The teenage class also performed a floorshow of Michael Jacksons Thriller which was sensational.

Love Corinna

Didn't have that when I was a kid!

It's funny, you promise yourself you won't say things like this to your own children, but you do!

In this case I wish that when I was a child I went to a Spotlight Demo Nite where children can do "Make & Takes".  What a fab FREE nite out!

Last night we went along & my daughter spent 3 hours creating & making!  Her favourite project was this tree:

She also got to make several cards, a Disney Pixies notpad, play with the new Jewell Tones Foils, do some stamping, gluing, glittering, and then she received heaps of freebies as well.  What a lucky girl - she's even got her own Sculpy now!

She was tired this morning but it was all worth it!

I got to have fun too, seeing demos on lots of new products, trying out the Xyron design runner & watching Wet & Dry Felting techniques.  There were heaps of others but too many to name.

So watch out - hopefully you have a Spotlight nearby that planning a demo nite that you can go to.

Have a great day,

Corinna

Christmas is coming early at my house!

I love getting ready for Christmas.  For me the lead-up & preparations for the day are just as exciting as Christmas itself. 

Don't get me wrong - I can still get rather traumatised by the whole shopping for presents experience.  It all depends on the names I get for my Kris Kingles and how early I start shopping.  This year is looking rather good, however as of today's news it looks like I need to find something else for those kids who were going to get Bindeez!

Last year at the Kmart sales I picked up a heap of "Shabby Chic" Xmas decorations at bargain prices & I've been hanging out to see what the tree looks like with all my new ornaments!  You might think it's too early to put up the tree, but I've been waiting over 10 months!

The tree doesn't actually look as green in the picture & popping the lights on for a short time each night while we sit in the lounge really creates the atmosphere of Christmas - all my childhood memories of anticipation & excitment come flooding back.

There's a beautiful shop in Main Street Croydon (VIC Aust) called Bountiful Home.  It is simply gorgeous and carries many treasures - if you are ever in the area I recommend you pop in.  This year I decided to indulge & bought myself some Xmas Bird Ornaments - see if you can find them.  Here's a close up of one:

The one thing I am not so good at is writing out & posting Xmas Cards.  This year I vow to do better.  In fact I've even begun making them.  Here's the Shabby lot:

And since not everyone can understand my dream of a shabby christmas, I'm making some more traditional ones too:

When I was a young girl, I used stay at my gradmother's for the few weeks leading up to Christmas & help her prepare the food, cake & tree.  She passed away 10 years ago but I have many special memories of these times together. 

What do you do with your family at Christmas? Do you have any family traditions? I love to hear about them.

Love Corinna

PS - A special visitor - Steph announced it's presence by yelling "Look Mum - there's a really big bug"

Time to catch up

Finally my bear is finished - thanks so much to Rhona for all her help!

I've also had a lovely surprise & received these lovely items in the mail from the wonderful Lynette Anderson.  She's been madly working  on a new BOM that looks fantastic - check out her blog for a jigsaw puzzle style preview: http://www.lynetteandersondesigns.typepad.com/ 

I helped a friend with some scrapbooking stuff & was surprised to receive a lovely Thankyou gift from her in return. How lovely & sunshiny? This is one of three flowers in a pot - so hopefully I can look after them well enough so they'll come to cheer me up next spring too!

Also been doing some scrapbooking - love adding those flowers & bling!

Neil gave me some of the new Prima Flowers & Embellishments to play with & I came up with this.

Check out www.nerinnasnest.com.au if you want some of these yummy flowers!

I've gotta run again so I'll catch up again soon!

Have a great day

Corinna

Isn't it annoying when. . . . .

You have typed a lovely post - well composed and full of interesting stuff & then you go and DELETE it by accident?

AAARRGH!  Oh well - will try again later - have to go meet some friends now.

I love spring

The sun shines, the flowers are beautiful & the smells wonderful.  Well except when they keep you sneezing I suppose - sympathies to those who suffer badly from hayfever.  I do, but not too badly thankfully.

Today I was tidying the single room of our house that acts as Study, Craft Studio, Junk Storage.  I came across some of my beads and can't help myself but lay them all out - they are just so yummy. 

Such a beautiful rainbow of colours:

 

They look great already (except for the blurry photo) but one day they may turn into this:

 

(This is a lovely design I made for my best friend's wedding.  As one of the bridesmaid's I wore this set with a black dress & the bride had a pale green pearl version that matched her dress perfectly.)

More for the to do list.

It just keeps getting longer.  Bear is still a WIP - having trouble with nose & can't go any further at this stage - will need to beg Rhona for help.

Have cut fabric out for Freya - now just need to sit down & sew.  Perhaps tonite?

Til next time - have a happy sunshiny day!

Corinna

 

Sorry I didn't come back earlier

I'm a bit slack with my Blogging, but I've finally got around to it.

The last week has been hectic.  The lead up to school breaking up was unusual - first we planned a farewell for my daughter's Grade 2 teacher (who had been filling in for Term 3) only to find out at the last minute it would become a "Yippee Mr Jones is staying party".  I was lucky enough to be invited and all had a ball. 

I took Steph & her friend Monique to see Hairspray yesterday which was a lotta fun.

I did get back to my bear although she's not yet finished!  I will get there - I need to there's show n tell due first Tuesday of term.  At the moment she looks like this.

Unfortunately/fortunately I get really distracted - so many things to make so little time.

Popped down to say Hello to Marg & Linda at Missy Moo's and now I've finally got the patterns for Freya & Messenger Birds by Melly & Me.  I've also gathered these fabrics to make them from.

I've joined an ATC (Artist Trading Card) Club down at Heaven Scent It's a wonderful stamping and paper craft shop owned by Deb that just happens to be at the end of my street.

Is so much fun, quite nice to do something purely for art's sake. I also love that there's no rules with these cards - absolutely anything goes so long as the size is 2.5 x 3.5 inches.  Oh & the cards can only be traded, not sold.  The first class I attended we learnt the Paper Peeling Technique.  Here are my finished cards:

We literally had to rip up pages from old books.  My grandmother instilled in me a large amount of respect for books and I found this quite unsettling, but I must admit the effect created is something I'd like to try again.  I've been op-shopping for old books & think I may have to find one that is falling apart before I can tear pages again. It just seems so wrong!

Today's creations are these Cupcakes - no, not ones you can eat, but scrummy yummy 100% fat-free ones to display on your kitchen counter or dresser.  I love them, even when you go in the kitchen & the sink is full of dishes they make me feel happy!

 

My hubby Neil launched our on-line business too.  Check it out www.nerinnasnest.com.au - we'd love your feedback.

Hopefully I'll be back with my next post quicker than last time.

Till then,  Happy crafting!

Love Corinna

Nearly better - finally!

It's take some time but I am now beginning to feel better - still really tired & have a rather horrible sounding cough (as do the rest of my family), but on the mend.

It was my birthday last Tuesday.  Yes, it falls on September 11!  I managed to spend nearly all of it in bed, except for lunch spent with wonderful friends down at the shop.  I received many lovely pressies & was treated to a really nice lunch, and even a birthday cake!  How spoilt was I?

Here's a picture of some of the gifts I received - taking pride of place is the gift from my hubby Neil & daughter Steph - a Sizzix Big Shot!  Very spoilt indeed! - I love birthdays!

Unfortunately I was too sick to finish my bear - so hopefully this Tuesday.  Fingers Crossed.

Til, next time, Happy Crafting/Sewing/Painting

Love Corinna

I'm not feeling too crash hot!

Since my last post, I managed to cop the flu/cold/virus thingy - whatever it is from my family. 

As a result I've spent 3 days in bed & 1 day at work, and achieved very little else apart from sanding my nose with tissues until it's reached a very unflattering shade of red. 

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!  I've got the 2nd part of my Bear Workshop at Wood'N'Pots so I should be able to post pics soon.

Corinna

Time for a little D & M!

I can really appreciate those that manage to blog on a regular basis.  I have great intentions however & will continue to try & post more often. 

The last few days have been really busy with work, going out for dinner, meetings a crop nite & a bear workshop Part 1 (next week I can show you the finished piece).

To top it all off my munchkin was home sick for 5 days.  Hubby kindly took Monday off to look after her & now he's copped it.  Not much fun.  I'm crossing my fingers I'll be OK.  I've planned a day of cardmaking tomorrow & the Stitches & Craft Show saturday so hopefully . . . .

Stephs now back at school & was able to have her buddy over to play.  Her friend loves creative arty stuff so I gave them all the bits & pieces.  Look what they designed!  A "D" (for dad) and a "M" (for Monique)

   

Still learning - think this pic is gonna be rather small - but I have to go cook dinner.

Seeya Soon - Corinna

Happy Father's Day!

Hoping all Dad's have had a great day today!

I deliver Avon to my local area & today was one of my brochure drop days.  It was so nice to see so many driveways full of cars - obviously family member's visiting their Dad, Pa, Grandad or Pop.

Last night Steph & I had fun creating cards & wrapping paper for our father's day presents.

We had a nice quiet day at home.  Steph's still really sick and had an afternoon siesta on a picnic blanket under a tree on the back lawn. (It's become quite a habit of her's since last Thursday).  Meanwhile my hubby, Neil popped across to his brother's house to show him some fly tying techniques. 

Upon his return, we finished off the night together with hamburgers & sausages for tea, then sat round the TV with Kath & Kim.

Hope you all enjoyed your day.

Love Corinna

Getting the hang of this

OK have managed to add a few Blogs to my fav list (see left).  I love all crafts really, with the exception of knitting and that's only because I can't.  Still there are some knitting blogs I love reading, so some will probably creep onto this list too.

Today, I have my little munchkin home sick from school with a fever.  She doesn't get sick very often and feels pretty miserable.  Normally she's really happy go lucky & full of beans.  Here's a pic with that beautiful smile that I'm not seeing much of today:

If all goes well you can see this picture. 

Next I'll get links sorted out & there'll be no stopping me!  Well that's if I can get to the PC before my hubby does. 

He's starting up a new exciting venture online.  Sneak Preview details will come soon!

Finally got around to starting!

Ok I've finally started my Blog.  Pink, Flowers & Bling are some of my favourite things that make me happy.  I love all things creative & when I learn a bit more about this Blogging business will list many many favourite links to the blogs of amazing talented people.

Today I had a great surprise in the mail - Country Threads arrived.  The 6th B'day Issue.  Inside was a great feature on Melly & Me (have to find out how to make links).  I love their Blog & can now show my crafting friends their designs.  My fav is Freya.

I guess I betta go and learn all about this Blogging & Posting & linking stuff!

Corinna