Cute santa box / card

Hi all, well the hype of Beth's formal is over and life goes on .....Beth has been doing a lot of sleeping since then and letting her brain have a rest!. Our son Ben has just finished his year 10 school certificate exams and work experience with a glass company so he's at home too also doing a lot of sleeping but i love there company at home they are constantly asking "what's for dinner mum?" but i don't mind ........i love this little triangular box its so quick and easy to make and can be decorated in so many ways. We did this with the ladies at my classes on Monday....

the instructions for the box can be found here. the tree was just as easy layering colours. and here's our second card.....

I used oil pastels to colour the Holly....go here to one of my older posts and see how.....and a close up pic of the bauble... just 3 different size circle punches and a swirl punch for the hanger...easy!

so there you go get your teeth into some quick ideas this Christmas.......Valita

and a last thought

So thanks be to God! for through
what Christ has done, he has triumphed
over us so that now wherever we go
he uses us to tell others about the Lord
and to spread the gospel like a
sweet perfume. As far as God is concerned
there is a sweet, wholesome fragrance in our lives.
It is the fragrance of Christ within us,
an aroma to both the saved and unsaved
all around us.

Beth's Formal pics

The night was fantastic, Beth was awarded for first in Music plus a book called Ultimate leadership, 100% attendance Plus a medallion, school service award (school church time and outreach) plus a CD of Rebbecca st James. Teachers parents and relatives etc were invited and the food was great! such a proud moment for all of us and such a great school that is training our kids to love and trust God through all they do. It was raining all day so we didn't get to take pic's where she wanted but we made the best of our back yard.....enough of my rambling here's some pics isn't she gorgeous !!!
I can' explain how proud and blessed us we are, i hope you enjoy ..........Valita

and a last thought from Beth

God has made everything beautiful
for it's own time. He has planted eternity
in the human heart, but even so, people
cannot see the whole scope of God's
work from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11

Christmas box / Formal preperations

Hi all, ill be flat out busy later today with our daughter's Formal so i thought id post Mondays cards while i have a quiet moment. We made this cute little gift box that was snack easy!! you can find the step by step instruction here. I used the wreath cuttlebug emboss folder and die set to do the wreath for the front and circle nestabilities to create the hole to view whats in the box. we covered this with clear plastic. Have a go because they were so unbelievably quick to make. here's another view.

Our second card was a corner folding design. you can buy these patterns from my pattern blog

The ladies at card class are so lovely they presented me with this card for Beth to congratulate her... a very talented lady called Chris made this beautiful card thank you Chris and all the ladies this means alot....Beth loved it!!

Today is very exciting for Beth she's at this moment fluffing around for her Formal dinner tonight. I finished her necklace ....take a looky!!


and she's booked in to the hair dressers to have her hair done up and then later at the spoilt rotten beauty salon to have her face done. I made her this card for the occasion...the pattern was made by a lady called Ingrid from New Zealand.

Can't wait to post more pics after tonight...........Valita

and a last thought

Take care to live in me,
and let me live in you.
For a branch can't produce fruit
when severed from the vine.
Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.
John 15:4

Christmas pudding/ Pattern

Hi all, wow what a week.....weve had Beth finish all her exams and her schooling!! woo hooooo ! we took her out for dinner ....heres a pic. I made here a chocolate mud cake. to celebrate. We would like to thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes for her during this time.

and then we were off to Cooranbong ( a 5 hour drive each way with our learner driver!) to a Youth Rally where our church's youth group band played for the rally...that's Beth in front doing the lead singing. They did such a great job and God really blessed the day.

So here's Monday's second card. This was a wreath stamp and i added in the pine cones, leaves and flowers, then the cuttlebug tree dies. and the pattern for the pudding. These are both easy cards to do.



So i hope you enjoy and once again thank you for all your encouragement to Beth. And my friend Bev has been cleared of her breast cancer praise God!!

and a last thought

Overwhelming victory is ours
through Christ who loved us
enough to die for us.
Romans 8:37

Christmas cards / Sydney Papercrafts Festvial

Hi All, well were back from the Sydney papercraft Festival. It was a hot 2 days we spent away with our son doing most of the driving on his L's to get some more hours up.....the normally 5 hour drive took us about 6 and a half!! :0 But i was proud of how he drove. This year's festival had been moved from Penrith to Canterbury and i must admit it wasn't as good as in years past as there weren't as many stalls, but still had the same atmosphere. here's a pic of one of the stalls and the goodies i ended up getting...............I got those big stamps for just $5 each!
So i was pretty happy with the day.


So here are the 2 cards we made on Monday with the ladies....Both fairly easy. In the second one the holly leaves were hand cut and the berries are a 1" punch.


We also had our daughter gain her silver award from school this week and are so proud of her. To get these Bronze Silver and Gold awards they have to work hard to receive compliments slips from teachers concerning their behaviour and school work, school service and also community service. here's a pic of her.........

Please also continue to remember the year 12 students in their exams ....Beth has her last one tomorrow, Chemistry. And also my friends Judy and Bev who are not well.

and a last thought that i found encouraging this week.

My soul claims the Lord as
my inheritance; therefore i will
hope in Him.
Lamentations 3:24

Cool starfish Christmas

Hi all, i designed this card with an Australian Christmas in mind. it's meant to look like a star/starfish with a Santa hat at the beach....mmmm i wasn't quiet happy with the gold paper i chose ...it seemed to sit too flat. When I showed the ladies in class how to make this one we used a thicker textured Gold wrapping paper and it worked better. Instead of fold 1 i used the word window punch from Stampin up. Ive been Buying some of these great little QuicKutz dies and the glasses die was the perfect size for this project

We glued some shiny foil paper to the back of the glasses. The nestabilities dies worked perfect to create the bauble look and saved a lot of careful cutting!!
Our next card was a quick one using the idea of a smaller card on the front tied up with a ribbon. This stamp Ive had forever and is always a cute one.

Well I'm off tomorrow to the Sydney paper craft festival ....I'll fill you all in when we get back....enjoy...Valita

and a last thought

For God has not given us
a spirit of fear; But of power
and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7

10 Corner fold Christmas Patterns

By popular request these are some of my older Christmas corner fold patterns. there is no step by set instructions with these just a pic of the card and pattern....2 patterns are not pictured here made up into cards ...so you see 8 cards but get 10 patterns! you can find these for sale in my pattern blog
enjoy....Valita

Christmas cards have started

Hi all, we've settled in now to make Christmas cards till we finish up for the year with our card making group. so heres last weeks cards and pattern hope you enjoy them and gain a few more ideas.....the card above I used the nestabilities circle die to cut the circle for the bauble which made cutting a breeze.

This poinsettia card was so easy i cut free hand petals for the flower.

and the pattern to try......
Beth and I spent Friday afternoon in the garden weeding etc and it was so nice...we found this little frog ...he was so cute!! we took heaps of pics....enjoy your day and as we prepare for the busy Christmas season i pray we all at some time just stop to reflect on Jesus who came to this world for us all.

and a last thought

"The scriptures say,
Worship only the Lord God.
Obey only Him."
Matthew 4:10

40th and 50th Birthday's

Hi all, My brother in law and my best friend both had birthdays on Friday. One turned 40 and the other 50..... so i was pulled in both directions for the weekend......we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner with my best friend at our local pizza place on the river (pattern for this Finch card below) and then we were off to Inverell to the in laws 50th. This is normally a 3 hour drive but our son wanted to get some hours up with his learners license and it took us 5 hours :0 ............I think this was to teach me some patience.
This was a dress up party and was fun to spend some time with them. Here's his card and some pics ..........


This is Copeton Dam near Inverell. an amazing huge Dam three times bigger than Sydney harbour. This Pic only shows a small section of it. kangaroos everywhere in the camping grounds around the Dam and we spent the morning on their water slide with the kids...so much fun!!

This is a pic on our way home at a place called Ebor Falls. their were butterflies everywhere... beautiful country!!!

And this is the corner fold pattern for the finch card. if you have a go keep in mind that this was designed for a large card. I hope you've enjoyed this as much as we have....valita

and a last thought

But if we walk in the light,
as He is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another.
1 John 1:7

Silicone verses Fun foam in your cuttlebug

I had an email yesterday from Elizabeth asking me how the silicone mat and fun foam compare though the cuttlebug when using the Fiskars Texture plates and did some experimenting ....always fun!!!! ;)
Im very aware that many people cant find the silicone baking mats so this will be interesting for those people. Also if you have the wizard dies you could use the tan rubber mat instead of the silicone ....you may just have to play with how many shims you use as it is sightly thicker and denser . So here is what i found...use the same sandwich layers as my first post on Fiskars emboss plate and your cuttlebug This consits of:

Your A plate
your fiskars texture plate
your card
your silicone mat
and your C plate

Now if you are using fun foam you will build you sandwich like this:

Your A plate
your Fiskars texture plate
your card
your fun foam
3 layers of shim ( i use the card off the backs of the emboss folder packaging)
and your C plate.

and here are the results ..........

Now you can see there is a difference. The silicone actually left a much deeper impression which in my opinion looks nicer and the fun foam still embossed and i guess if you cant find the silicone this would be a great alternative. Here's a close up with the silicone mat on the left and the fun foam on the right.

a very clear difference especially when the fiskars emboss plates just are not etched that deep the silicone works a treat. so there you go I hope this has helped you in your crafting. A last pic.... I found this moth in the house yesterday and just loved the beautiful colours and patterns....it was only twice as big as my thumb nail...another testomy of Gods creative attention to detail and beauty. And please continue to pray for the year 12 students doing their HSC over the next few weeks Beth is doing her English exam today.

and a last thought

Lord, if you keep in mind our sins
then who can ever get an answer to his prayers!
But you forgive! What an awesome thing this is!
That is why i wait expectantly,
trusting God to help, for He has promised.
Psalms 130:3-5