Time flies ... when you are busy!

Well it's been a while and so much has happened ... on the crafty side the highlight would have to be the LSBS retreat on the weekend... only 1 year to wait to do it all again :-) ... here is my layout from Lauren's class which I absolutely loved!! ... learnt so much & feeling very inspired indeed!!

Week 11 - LSBS May CC

Much earlier in the week I made some time to complete a few of the challenges for the May CC at LSBS. With work commitments looming over me, I really wanted to get in some time scrapbooking and was happy with the results. I completed 3 out of the 4 challenges & even won one :-) ... Maybe it was just that time of year but I do count myself lucky as there weren't as many participants as usual ... but it was loads of fun!! Am still hopeful of keeping up my weekly challenge to myself to do something crafty each week, though I might need to be a little "creative" in what I do in limited time ... Here are my creations from the CC

Challenge 1

Challenge 2

Challenge 3

Week 10 - My first ATC Swap

Another week gone and again I've been discovering something new :-) I've spent my crafty time this week making ATCs for the LSBS May Swap. The theme is my favourite book and I was inspired by "Marley & Me"! I am quite proud of my efforts, especially being my first attempt at such a small creation! Looking forward to next month's swap already...

Week 9 - ARTastic Mother's Day Challenge

Despite the dramas on the home front I manged to get in some crafty time this weekend :-) My inspiration came while checking out the LSBS girls blogs. Michelle had a post about ARTastic and it peaked my interest ... their May challenge involved orange ... not a colour I'm a fan of, but the one very special picture I have of four generations of women in our family including myself & my baby girl Sarah had her wearing orange! With more inspiration from the LSBS girls I used Lauren's "credit card paint" technique & presto here it is ... My grandma had another fall this weekend & is not doing so well so it's a timely reminder of how special each moment of time is ...

Week 8 - Wedding Card

For the first time in many many months I made it to a local monthly crop night last week! Away from any distractions I was able to chill out and have some time for me & to “play craft”. I made this lovely wedding card for Sandie’s May challenge. Just waiting to see which close friend gets married first ;-) and hope to put the names of the lucky couple on the front, with a congratulations message on the inside. This was the first time I was able to see a Cuttlebug in action and now understand what the fuss is all about! I did manage to make a few cards from leftovers in my “scrap box” too...

Week 4 to 7 - Catching up!

Since my last post things around here went rather pear shaped ... everyone was sick for a while yet & Ben at 9 weeks of age was admitted into the Children's hospital twice! argghh ... With everyone now healthy & all concerns put to rest, I'm catching up!! ... And my crafty time catch up was over the Easter/Anzac extra long weekend and a special thanks to the awesome ladies at LSBS, there were 5 cool challenges to inspire us & I surprised myself and got them all done!! ... I give myself a big tick on 4 weeks caught up ... I here are my creations:

Challenge 1 - Hearts ...

Challenge 2 - Spades ...

Challenge 3 - Diamonds ...

Challenge 4 - Clubs ...

Bonus Challenge - The Joker ...

Week 3 - Ben's Birth Announcements

Well it's the back end of Week 3 of my challenge and I figure this blog entry is better late than never! With much of the family struck down by a nasty case of the flu, it's been rather busy at home. However, I have tried to catch a few minutes here & there to stop and work some Birth Announcements which I began making when I was still pregnant and on bedrest. They aren't all finished and posted but hoping that will be done this week ... it's good to have goals they say :-) It's my birthday weekend and with the recent sickness and dealing with an 8 week old baby there hasn't been too much celebrating ... I plan on making up for it tonight by spending time towards finishing them!

Week 2 - Harmony Day ...

Sewing counts as a craft! So my attempt at hand sewing a shawl I found yesterday while decluttering my cupboard into a sari for Sarah's Harmony Day dress up has centre stage for Week 2's crafty time! I have no idea when it comes to sewing which is why I am planning to do a beginners course in Term 4 at the local community college, but I can do a simple stitch to tie two end of some material together, which is all I needed to do. While I banned them from our wedding as it is not our custom to wear them in today's society, they do form part of Sarah's heritage from way back when and seeing her in her little makeshift sari, made it a very special sight. It is amazing how little things brighten up your day and make you cherish some things you may have come to disrespect for all the wrong reasons. Here is our little Indian princess all dressed up.

Week 1 - Happy St Patrick's Day

Week 1 of my personal challenge to get crafty and it seems you never know when inspiration might hit! Late last night after dealing with a very unsettled newborn, I rested my weary head and remembered Sarah's dress up day at kindy today. What will we do - all she has is pink clothes ... pink, pink & more pink? Since I couldn't find an all green outfit I decided to check out what google had to say about it and eventually found some simple instructions on a hat. Within a short space of time our little leprechaun had her very own St Patty's Day hat to wear!! A very proud mummy here today!!

My Crafty Corner - The Journey Begins!

Inspired by all the ladies @ LSBS I have finally created my little dream crafty corner in our home.

Known on the plans as the "parents retreat", it is now my retreat for spending time crafting. Being a WAHM with two young bubs, time is precious and so I am hoping this blog will  motivate me to regularly make time for me & creating something. My goal for the rest of 2011 is to blog each week about my time spent crafting. I might not start or finish a project, but at least if I make the time to do something crafty I might get my "me time" in amongst the wonderful chaos that is our life! :-)