Toilet roll pillow box

HI all, more than a week solid of rain here with lots of local and coastal flooding along NSW and today its finally stopped and come out hot humid and steamy! very draining weather.... a lot of work outside the home and family coming and going to summer camps etc. I also got to see my older brother and my twin sister which was nice. Happy belated Australia day to all my Aussie blog readers it was so rainy that day we just ducked (pun not intended) out to visit some friends and give then a cake and lamingtons... no BBQ this year :(

Madaleine started back at senior school yr 11 only this and the next year and all our kids will have finished their schooling .... where dose time go! have a happy day Madd we will miss you... she worked almost all holidays and her bosses gave her a $50 gift voucher in appreciation of her working hard without complaining. Good on ya darl!! very proud.

Beth and Ben are relaxing before they start back at Uni, Beth goes straight back to another prac at Cessknock primary teaching grades 1 & 2 towards the end of Feb. Ben has bought himself a cool little sports car ..... still not sure how he's going to fit all his stuff in to go back to Uni though! Dave started back at traffic control just before all this rain and received in the mail a $50 appreciation gift voucher from the company thanking them for the great work they did at a bad truck accident site last month, that was nice :) anyway enough of my ravings .... here's the link where I first seen these great toilet roll pillow boxes http://bellsinspires.blogspot.com/2011/07/tutorial-tp-roll-pillow-boxes.html
I though I'd put a comparison up of the sizzix die compared to the toilet roll box, not that much difference in size. This is recycling at its best!


and a step by step of how I made mine :)

Decorate these any way you wish..... cover in designer paper, paint it, glitter it, etc. To decorated mine I first ran it through an emboss folder keeping in mind there will be an emboss and emboss side to your box. I left the colour of my box the natural toilet roll look, I then cut a grapevine wreath die and wrapped it around the box added a few diamonds and lastly tied on a hand made crochet heart. These are so easy to make here's the link http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-crochet-heart.html
I can't read a crochet pattern all that well but I could follow this very easily, plus there's a video YES, love those instructional videos!
You can also follow me on Pinterest lovin this site for all sorts of DIY crafts etc

So not my original idea here but I was keen to share what i had done with mine... enjoy!
Blessings to you

and a last thought
Psalm 149:5 "Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds."

"Joy doesn't have anything to do with happy circumstances, rather it has everything to do with looking into the face of Jesus and knowing He's all you'll ever need."

Making a bird nest with your grapevine wreath die

Hi all, well its been a strange day here ..... the weather has been strangely cool for mid summer which I guess it's good to have some relief from the humid days and nights.....I watched the Australian movie called "Jessica" with my girls, good movie but it left me feeling really strange about the whole issue of injustice for the rest of the day...... extended family can be a strange thing too, the first two I can figure out but not so sure on the family one, a little wake up call for me today to show what really matters I think. sigh.......

well I'm still playing here with my grapevine wreath die from memory box, just love it! I know I'm not the first to make a tiny bird nest like this but I thought I'd show you how I went about making mine. Using the grapevine wreath die cut I basically wound it up like you would a rolled rose. I had some mini fake bird eggs (bough ages ago from a cheap shop not real sure where you can get them now) but though I'd go with a couple of pearls as eggs. These would look great for Easter, Valentine or even a baby shower card. I finished my card with a new die that came in the mail today called Branches from QuicKutz or I think they now call themselves Lifestyle crafts. (bought mine on eBay) you get three different branches on the one die. I tore a piece of card stock for the tree trunk and added the branch using small hearts for leaves and adding the nest i reckon it came up pretty cute! anyway enough talk watch the video for all the details and enjoy!
Blessings to you

and a last thought
“The tongue has the power of life and death...” (Proverbs 18:21, NIV)

Making roses for weddings / Valentines with one circle punch

Hi all, Ive been playing with my punches again and come up with theses cute roses all made with one circle punch, pretty cool hey! I am always aware that some people don't have lots of different punches to make flowers but most have a circle or can easily buy a circle punch.
My written instructions only $3.95


Another little cool trick I did on this card was to use my round grapevine wreath die from memory box to make straight borders. I cut the wreath in half and thread them through my Xyron sticker maker making sure you keep the going through the machine fairly straight then added them to my card. Another cool use for that wreath die. In my next post I'll show how to make a birds nest with the same die.... for now the rose and wreath details are in the video below!

I hope this has given you another fresh idea and use of those many craft gadgets we have sitting around.
Blessings to you

and a last thought

“Jesus looked at them and said,
‘With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible’ ”
(Matthew 19:26 NIV)

Altering a round wreath die into a heart for valentines day

Hi all, first thank you for all you lovely emails and comments as we celebrated our houseboat Christmas and our marriage re-commitment its was all a very special time for us.
So my first post for 2012 is a valentine card. I bought a grapevine wreath die from memory box and it came too late to play with for Christmas, I got to thinking how to use this for other occasions and came up with this heart idea. Very easy to alter just by making 2 cuts at opposite sides and gluing then back together at different angles. To finish the card I added a rolled rose covered with glitter and a heart leaf, I also coloured with a permanent marker some diamonds and placed then around the wreath...... the video shows all the details...enjoy!

Blessings to you

and a last thought

I have written to you who are God's children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God's word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.
1 John 1:14

Our house boat Christmas, marriage re-commitment & Happy new year for 2012

Hi all, we were very blessed to have a whole week together on a house boat over Christmas on our local Nambucca river, we seen some amazing things from glo in the dark plankton, dolphins 2 feet from the boat, some amazing sunsets & yummy fish that we caught and ate. we finished our week off with our marriage re-commitment with Dave and I spending the last night on the boat. It's all been such a special time for us all. Ive done a video of the house boat if you'd like to check that out below and the links below will take you to all the photos. House boat...
t http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2946933316953.2149025.1369917144&type=1&l=c1e8eee319
our marriage Re-commitment
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2952749862363.2149174.1369917144&type=1&l=97119f4486
I'd like to thanks all my blog and YouTube subscribers for all you support, interest and amazing encouraging emails over 2011 you have blessed me in more ways then you know and may God bless you all richly for 2012.
Blessings to you

and a last thought

We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.

Colossians 1:9-14