Happy Christmas.... a family chat and a couple of cards

  Hi all, its been a while since I posted on here..... since Madaleines formal life has been hectic. Ben is still in South America we heard from him up until a few weeks ago. At this stage of their mission trip he has no wifi up the Amazon river building toilets for villages so prayers would be great, a few pics above.... hopefully we will hear from him just after Christmas. Beth did her bit in Bali for red frogs as team leader but unfortunately this year spent a short stay in a Bali hospital with the flu, thankfully she was cared for very well and successfully passed that on to us all when she got home..... not so fun. I am thankful God had His hand over her!

We have been busy moving three rooms around in our home to accommodate Beth living with us after her Graduation as she starts her new primary teaching job next year so that meant sacrificing my craft room for a bit.... but hey you do that stuff for your kids. Beth's Graduation weekend was such a great time together and we are so very proud of her finishing well, we did miss having Ben there as a family.  At the same time I have been helping our youngest daughter clear our her room and put things in storage/ pack as she has found a lovely family to au pair in Ireland with for 12 months. Go Mad!! you will have the adventure of your life!

 I must say their has been many proud parent moments this year with many mile stones and achievements. Sharing with our kids as they grow, mature and work toward their our adventures has been awesome and we can say with Gods guiding help we did it as parents! thankfully this is not the end just the beginning of many happy family years to come. We are so very proud of you all... Beth, Ben & Madaleine xxx

 This year my husband has found a hobby in his GoPro and what he can do with the editing. We love to take it everywhere now. He has made his own YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbnfm79RS3AIg8Jy6MfFMgQ?feature=watch so if you'd like to see what we get up to in our spare time please subscribe to his channel he would love that! 
 So you can imagine now why my crafting has been pretty much on hold. Family def comes first here and precious time together. My tiny play this year with some Christmas cards produced these two.....

you can go to this link of a previous post and read more on how I made the mustaches
http://valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/making-mustache-from-dies-and-punches.html
and Ive really been enjoy my shell collecting lately so I bought these beautiful sets of dies from Impression Obsession... shell and sea gulls. Instead of putting on the red holly berries i replaced them with white pearls. Happy Christmas to all, enjoy your holidays and most importantly cherish every family moment together. xx
Blessings to you


 

and a last thought

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Happy Christmas 2012

Happy Christmas for 2012!!! just thought we'd do a quick video for you all , enjoy the snow!! we have spent all week at the beach!
 thank you to all those who have purchased my instructions, subscribed, left lovely comments & emails they have all been so appreciated though the year and helped me more than you realize. Have a blessed holiday season with family or whatever you may be doing.
Jen's blog link to the origami star http://origamiwithatwist.com/
Blessings to you

and a last thought

In the same way, let your light shine before others,

 so that they may see your good works 

and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

Recycling your old christmas cards with ornament dies

wow its so hot here today...... just got back from the beach and the water was glorious! so this house is crazy busy with everyone home. We enjoyed our local carols by candle light last night with our extended family which is always fun :)
A last minuet Christmas card idea!! I'm probably not the first to do this but hey lets give it a go! Do some card recycling from Christmas's past using your ornament dies. Cut off the front flap of your old card and position the ornament die of your choice over the pattern, run through your machine. Make a new card similar in size from contrasting card stock and glue the old card front onto the new one. Punch a hole at the top of you ornament cutout and thread in a ribbon hanger. Write on the back of your ornament so it can he hung on the Christmas tree. Use a tiny piece of a glue dot to re-stick this back onto your card front. Decorate the pattern using glitter, jewels, holly leaves or whatever would suit your card and then send in on as a new card :)

Hope you can get some use from this idea .... enjoy!
 Blessings to you

and a last thought

For you, the righteous God,

looks deep within the hearts of men 

and examines all their motives and their thoughts

Psalms 7:9

a little birdie told me it's Christmas ;)

Hi all, Beth came home yesterday!...... it is sooooo great to see her home safe from all her traveling. She had a beautiful glow about her and soon spilled out all the amazing things shed seen and done in Bali. We are so proud of the volunteer work she has done to help keep partying school leavers safe in Bali this year....all praise goes to the God of heaven for many answered prayers over that week alone. Such a nice feeling to know we are all under the one roof together for a little while, I'm gonna have fun clucking over all my kids.Thankfully my ear is feeling a little better..... still cant hear much...
Today's card inspiration came from a card id seen on the internet of a bird made with material and stitched on so I though this could work with punches! just some simple quick gift tags that look fun!
 here is my punch list and I hope you enjoy the video :)

Blessings to you

and a last thought

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,

 for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, 

which God has promised to those who love him. 

James 1:5

heart Christmas pudding card

Hi all, sitting here in humid hot weather :( with an ear ache that dose not help much. Anyway I'm off to the doctor in and hour so I wanted to get this up and survive the heat for the rest of the day. Beth comes home from Bali on Thursday and Ben has been home now for a couple of weeks. Madaleine finishes school for the year next week and plans so far for Christmas is to spend some time with my Mum and Dad. I've also finished a few doily's. You can find all the links to those patterns on my Pinterest board http://pinterest.com/valitareynolds/crafts-i-ve-made/

 I got the inspiration for this tutorial from a little felt Christmas decoration in the shape of a heart but made to look like a Christmas pudding. I think its come up pretty cute as a gift card. See all the supply's needed in the pic below to make a whole bunch for yourself, they were supper quick to put together and you could also try this same concept with different size hearts on a regular shaped card. Enjoy!

 Blessings to you

and a last thought

A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light 

and my salvation; whom shall I fear? 

the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 Psalm 27:1

Ive been published! & a Glittery Santa

Hi all, some exciting news.... my work was featured in the November 2012 editions of Paper and Pixels magazine click here to get your copy http://www.papersnpixels.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/just-released.html  there's a little write up about me and also a special offer on some of my instructions.
thank you also for all the lovely comments from my YouTube Channel
Here are some details for my Glittery Santa made with the 2012 heirloom ornament die.

sit back now and watch the video tutorial. :)
Blessings to you

and a last thought

And God was pleased, for Christ's love for you

was like sweet perfume to Him. 

Ephesians 5:2

Introducing my Christmas Orchid

 Hi all, I'm excited it introduce my Christmas Orchid punch art instructions! I really enjoyed creating this stunning Orchid which could be changed up by using different colour combinations for any occasion not just Christmas. This flower uses just one punch ( blossom petals punch from stampin up) and is a must in your collection of punch art projects.

UPDATE: please note, Stampin up no longer sells the bolssom petals punch used for this project so to get around this problem and continue for you to enjoy my projects I have designed some replacement petals which are very similar and will allow you to make the same projects. This will be included with your purchase download.... the up side is you don't need to buy an expensive punch! You can refer to my instruction video as to how to use my template, thank you for your ongoing support. Valita

Christmas Orchid $5.95
Don't forget to check out my corner folding patterns too!
Check out four more of my Orchids all made with just one punch!  http://valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/introducing-my-orchids-4-set-punch-art.html
 Blessings to you

and a last thought

Today when you hear Him calling 

do not harden your hearts against him.

Hebrews 4:7

simple flower pot die cards

Hi all, we have been flat out working to get our front garden finished and its finally there !
 we did it all ourselves to keeps costs down and are pretty happy how its come up.... here's a before and after pic :) we also got heaps of gardening done in the back yard so its all looking great now for summer. I love working on projects like this with Dave, we make a good team.

Anyway in between I've been working on some cards using the flower pots die set from spellbinders

 

I've made one into a pocket card and the other I've tipped the pot upside down and turned it into a bell. For both cards I used the largest pot die and placed the die just over the fold of the card so it wont cut. Two circles for the ringer and Martha Stuart punches to decorate. Quick easy gift cards! The poinsettia card was made a little different, I glued the edges closed to create the pocket, cut the next size die down for an insert and glued my flower to the top of it. The poinsettia flower was made the same way as the giant one in my last post just using smaller petals.
If you can't afford to buy the dies there are lots of template on the net for pot shaped cards

So sit back and enjoy my video tutorials.
Blessings to you

and a last thought

For every child of God can obey Him,

defeating sin and evil pleasure by trusting

Christ to help him. 1 John 5:4

2012 Heiloom ornament die Giant Poinsettia flowers

Hi all, Christmas is just around the corner again! wow where has the year gone... Beth has booked her flights to Bali, she is doing Red frogs over there this year and is really excited.
Mad is well into her first term of year 12 and Ben is busy getting hands on with his Uni course... all full steam ahead for the kids :)  we have almost finished or front garden, just need to get the rocks now! looking great! Ill post some pics when its all finished. To the papercrafting.... I purchased the 2012 heirloom ornaments dies from spellbinders as I loved how they had a flower petal shape to them and wondered how some giant flowers would go..... so here is what i made with the two largest dies from the set, Giant Poinsettia flowers! these would be great Christmas decorations. Table centers, attached to a candle stands, door wreath etc.

I used red and green card stock, inks to match for sponging, gold coloured diamonds for the center, glue, a piercing tool and soft pad for shaping. The two largest dies were used to make this flower.

Really easy to make!!! so sit back and enjoy the video :)
Blessings to you

and a last thought

And I am sure that God who began the good work within you

will keep right on helping you grow into His grace

 until that task within you is finally finished

on that day when Jesus Christ returns.

Philippians 1:6

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