A Teddy Bear's Picnic

Hello everyone!!  Wow, it's been way too long since i've posted something on my blog again - i was thinking about what my excuse could be, but i couldn't come up with anything good - maybe i've just been a bit lazy lately...

We've been freezing our bums off in Cape Town - it's suppose to be Spring, but i guess we're going to have to wait patiently for Summer to roll around...

I've been busy with a couple of things again, so i thought i would share my latest project - i literally finished this a couple of hours ago - and the parcel is en route to Johannesburg - for a special little girls first birthday party...

The theme of the party: A Teddy Bear's Picnic...  The hardest part (for me) of every invite is to come up with the idea, but once i've got that figured out, i get my little production line on the go, and then there's no stopping...  This is what the invite and envelope looks like:

So this is what my "glueing department" looks like - there were literally hundreds of little parts to glue - everything gets glued by hand - my husband says i'm mad to sit and glue little parts like that - but for some strange reason i LOVE doing it... 

The Teddy Bear itself had a lot of little parts to glue together, but it turned out super cute!!

And the envelope was personalized for each guest - the little balloons were hand stamped, and the balloons were cut out to match with the rest of the invite - I used my fringe scissors to create the "grass"...

I also made some cupcake toppers - bear faces and the number "1"

Last but not least, i made the thank you tags - same bear faces, but on the back you have the thank you note - this will be tied onto the brown paper goodie bag...

  

Everything is packed and ready for the trip up to Johannesburg...

  I'll post some more pics from the actual party next month...

Happy 1st Birthday Caitlin!!!

Liesl

xxx

My Etsy Shop

Hello everyone...  Today is another milestone for me / us - finally our Etsy Shop is up and running and we're beyond excited about this...  I remember a while ago a friend of mine from America told me to open an Etsy shop, and i had no idea what she was talking about...  Well, eventually i "got with the program", and found out what Etsy is all about and that Etsy is the way to go...

My mom, my sister and I decided that together we'll open our own Etsy shop - Craft Sew Knit...

 
 The crafting department is mine, the Sew department is for my sister, and the Knit department is for my mom...  We've added some items, so go have a look - and give some feedback - it's always interesting to hear what people think and to get some advice and feedback...

I've linked the Etsy shop - you'll find it on the right hand side of my blog...  This will be our little creative outlet!!  May this be the start of wonderful things for us!!!

Liesl xxx

P.S. Don't you just love our logo - my friend Linka designed it - thanks my friend, it looks awesome!!

Hot Air Balloon Invitation

Two weeks ago i made some invitations for a baby shower - the theme was Hot Air Balloons, and the colour scheme blue, red and grey... We used trusty old "google" to get some inspiration, and this is what we came up with...  I wanted to make the background of the invitation to look like clouds - and where can you buy cloud paper when you need it - nowhere!!! So i had to come up with a solution quickly - i made a little cloud template, and used ink and some cottonwool to create the cloud effect - i think it turned out rather cute...

Here's a picture of the hot air balloons in the "production line"...

 And the finished product:

 And a picture of it all put together (she's expecting a baby boy, Ben)...

 This is what the inside of the card looked like, went with the same cloud effect - i had to cut these all by hand, but so worth it in the end...

I'm busy with another Hot Air Balloon project - a cot mobile...  I've never made one of these before, so i'm figuring it out as i'm going along - i think it's going to look awesome - will post some pics soon...

Liesl
xxx

Quilt

Hello Everyone (especially to Sharon & Pier),

It's been way too long since i've been on my blog - i was worried that i wouldn't remember how to log in anymore!! It's been over a month since i've last posted something, and i have no excuse as to why it's taken me so long to post again...  I guess i can say i've been busy, blah blah blah, but that sounds like such a bad excuse...

Anyway, let's get down to the good stuff...  A while ago i mentioned that i was going to make a quilt for Aiden's room - well, believe it or not, it's finally finished...  It feels like it's taken forever to get it done - but i'm going to be very honest now, i had to call in some help to finish it...  Once i had all the blocks sewn together (all 300 of them), and had the whole quilt sandwich (meaning the top and bottom layer with the batting in the middle) going, i couldn't get it thru my sewing machine - the sewing part wasn't the problem, it was when i had to roll it up to get to the middle section that i realized that i was going to have a big problem...

It was a looooooooong process, first cutting strips, then cutting the strips into blocks, then sewing all the blocks together, etc...  My biggest task was to make sure that i do not get the same colour or patterned block next to one another - this step probably took the longest...  And of course i documented every step of the way - so here's a look (sorry for the bad quality pictures, was taken with my cellphone):

 

Here are some pictures of me while sewing - please note all the jets and army tanks watching me - Aiden was sitting next to me playing - he wanted to "help" me, but in the end just kept me company while i worked - the toys just kept on getting closer and closer...

 

Here's a picture of all the blocks once it was all together, and i was trying to figure out how i was going to sew on top of the quilt once i got the batting and back piece together...

 Anyhoo, long story short, i got some help finishing the quilt and this is what the final result looks like - i'm super happy with the way it turned out, and my little man LOVES his new "blanket"...

The final product:

As you can see - we still need some matching pillows - i'm looking for plain red and blue pillow cases...  At least the last two pictures are better quality, now you can see the colours better...

Don't you just love it...

I'll be back with more crafty projects soon...

Liesl
xxx

Baby Gift Box

A couple of weeks ago i found out that the lady that works for our sister company is pregnant... She told me last week that they're expecting a baby boy...  I want to get them a little baby gift, and i thought it would be super cute to make my own gift box...

A while ago i bought two stamp sets from Inkadinkado, a baby boy and baby girl stamp set - i've been dying to use it for something, and it thought this would be the perfect time to use it...  I love the little laundry line idea, so i decided to stamp that on all 4 sides of the box...  I made the grass using my Martha Stewart Fringe scissors, and i added the "wooden poles", to make the laundry line complete...

This was the first attempt:

I used my white ink, seeing that it always looks so nice to use white ink on Kraft, but for some reason this looked wayyyyyyyy to plain for me, so i decided to "jazz" it up a bit...  I stamped the clothes in different colours on white cardstock, cut them out, and used some foam tape on some of them to make it stand out more...  Oh, and i added a little snail on the grass part - i just thought it would look cute...

So this is what the final product looks like - i think it looks super cute...  Now all i have to do is put the gift inside, maybe add a little tag that says "it's a boy", maybe some ribbon - and it'll be ready to go...

 I'm busy working on a double page scrapbook layout, so watch this space...

Liesl
xxx 

Valentine's Day Treat Bag

In my previous post i mentioned the two competitions that i entered, and i totally forgot to post some pictures of the other item i made...  The theme was "Love & Lace", so i decided to make a little Valentine's goodie bag - i stamped and embossed the white dots onto the little red bag, added a doily, a medallion / rosette and a little stamped banner - and voila!!!  Easy peasy...

 

I love the way this one turned out - i'm sure anybody would be more than happy to get such a cute little goodie bag...

Quilt update:  just in case you thought that i have abandoned my project - NO, i have not, it's just taking wayyyyyyyy longer that i thought...  All the blocks (all 300 of them) are sewn together, and i've layered the back piece, the batting and the front block piece together - i'm still busy pinning this all together to hold it in place so i can start sewing, and then i just need to add the bias binding around the edge...  I will be working on this again tonight - i will be honest, i was very tempted to phone the quilting store today to ask if there would be anybody who would be willing to finish this for me, but i stopped myself from doing that - I started this project, and I will finish this project - even if it takes longer than i anticipated... So watch this space - one of these days i will feature my own handmade quilt...

Liesl

xxx

Cards and Competitions

Since a very young age, i've always LOVED competitions - doesn't matter what it is, i will always enter...  I remember my very first prize that i ever won, it was a doll - don't know what happened to the doll, but that was many moons ago...  I've won a couple of other items as well, but the doll i will never forget...

Anyhoo, two of my favourite stamp companies have competitions every month...  I've been trying so hard to enter, but i always start the project and never finish it...  So today is the day that i'm finally entering both competitions - can you believe, i actually finished my projects...  I feel like i have a gazillion projects that i'm busy with, but i don't finish anything - i was busy working on the two competition projects (which i actually finished - miracle), then i'm still busy with the quilt i'm making for Aiden's room, i'm working on a double page scrapbook lay out, i'm busy with some greeting cards that i want to send up to my sister, i'm trying my hand at applique (so much fun, but a lot harder than what i originally thought), oh, and some valentines projects for Aiden's school has just been added to the list - i'm sure i've left something out, but as you can see - i have MORE than enough to keep my busy for a while...

To my absolute shock and horror, i was just getting ready to submit my Papertrey Ink project, when i realised that the competition closed a couple of hours ago - honestly, i was very close to crying!!  I worked so hard on these cards, trying to come up with the idea, then putting your idea onto paper, etc...  But (luckily for me there is a but), they do have another option - a Colour Inspiration section, and one of my cards should qualify for that, so i'm still entering (even if it is only 1 of the 3 cards), so my heart is not feeling so heavy anymore... 

This is the card that i'm entering for the Colour Inspiration:

The stamps i used for this card is from the "sweet baby" stamp set, and i also used the genuine Papertrey Ink twine...

I might as well share the other two cards that i made - it was a sketch challenge, so they give you 5 different sketches, and you can pick whichever one to use as your inspiration, so you'll see i've used 3 different sketches for the cards i created...

 

 

This last card is so cute - i used the "have a ball" mini stamp set from Papertrey Ink - it was so nice to make a boy card for a change - i normally stick to pink and girly cards, so this was a nice change for me...

Well, i'm going to submit my entry now - so let's keep our fingers crossed...

Liesl
xxx

Update

Helloooooooooooooo... While i was blog hopping today, i came across the cutest video - even though they don't say a word, they get the point across in such a clever way...  This is sooooooo my tipe of video - i just had to share it here on my blog - check it out, it's worth it...  Oh, and i love the gift idea you'll see in this video...

There was also a link to another blog, where they have a tutorial for creating a stunning Blog Banner - so watch this space, there might be some changes soon (if i can figure out how to do it myself)...

Liesl
xxx

Baby Shower - Scrapbook Page

I was going thru all my crafting pictures and i came across this lay out, so i thought i would share this post quickly...  This year i'm definitely going to do more scrapbooking - that's how i got into the paper crafting hobby to begin with...  I've got a huge stack of scrapbooking papers that i need to use (maybe one day), but one can never have enough...

A while back my friend Olivia asked me to make a double page lay out that she can use as a gift for a baby shower that she was hosting...  Her idea was to have something that's got enough space for everybody to write a little something on the page, i.e. advise, suggestions, etc...

This is what we came up with:

I've been a busy little bee again - i'm busy making a quilt for Aidens room...  My mom & dad gave me a sewing machine for Xmas - sooooooo excited about that (thanks mom & dad xxx), and i've decided that my first project is going to the quilt... Yikes - no pressure!!!  I'll be honest, i didn't realise how much work actually goes into making a quilt, but i've started it, so now i WILL finish it...

I've been taking pictures of all the steps, so i can document the whole process right here on my blog - watch this space, hopefully the quilt will be done soon...

Liesl
xxx

Monster Alien Birthday Party

Ok, so first things first - Happy New Year everybody!!!  It's been way too long since i've posted (i feel like i always say that), but here's an update... 

We've had the most wonderful holiday - only one thing was missing - my family!!!  This year we're definitely going to make sure that we're all together on Christmas again - it just isn't the same without them...

I can't believe how quickly the holiday has flown by - three more days for me, and then it's back to reality...  We've been enjoying the sunshine, lazing by the pool...  We've been to the beach - Aiden is such a little surfer dude, with his awesome tan - he just loves the beach!!!  Here's a picture of him and Erin playing at the beach...  It was very windy yesterday, so not too many people at the beach...

I've been promising for a while to post Aiden's birthday pictures - and the time has come to do it!!!  We had such a lovely time, Aiden loved every minute of it...  I still can't believe that my baby boy is 5 already...

The party decor is obviously the part that i love - thanks to the very talented Lauren Mckinsey (click on this link - it will take you to her "think cute" website) who helped me with all the cute printables that i used for this party...  We're talking Talent with a capital T...  All her printables are just too cute - i even used them for our Xmas tags - look, isn't this just to die for!!!

Anyhoo, back to the Monster Alien Party - here are some pics of all the party goodies - it just screams awesomeness!!!

And the birthday cake and cupcakes were made by my friend Olivia - Cream Little Events...  If you want the party of all parties, please contact Olivia - she'll go above and beyond to make every party the best party ever...

The kids (and the adults) loved the cake - Red Velvet, or in this case "blue" velvet cake...  Yummy!!!

So that's about it for the party pictures, i've still got a gazillion more party pictures, but let's not overload the system - i think i've shared enough for now...  Phew, this was a big one...

I'm off to bed, sleep tight everybody!!

Liesl
xxx