Maddy's Big Cat Bedroom

I finally managed to finish up Maddy's Big Cat Rescue bedroom with a picture arrangement of her favorite rescued cats to match her new bunting! It was actually a lot more of a finicky and problematic project than I ever imagined so here's how I did it in case you ever decide to try something similar:)

Firstly I took some old pictures and frames and laid them out on the floor. From there I was able to figure out which size frames to buy to fill in any gaps to give a nice, balanced display. Then I bought some mats and wrote down all of the photo sizes that I would need to fill the frames. I bought photos in varying sizes of Maddy's favorite cats directly from the Big Cat Rescue website http://www.bigcatrescue.org/ and sent them online for printing to be picked up at the local pharmacy in an hour.

While I was waiting for the photos to be printed, I bought frames and a handful of spray paints to match the bunting fabrics and pull everything together. My first problem was the fact that some of the spray paints I bought were glossy which looked rubbish and detracted from the photos so I had to repeat this step:(.

After I had spray painted the frames, I ran into trouble for the second time when I realized that I hadn't figured out what orientation (portrait or landscape) the photos needed to be! So I laid out the pictures one more time and took a photo to use for reference later to be able to match back up the correct photos, frames and mats. I reordered some more photos and then had to wait for 3 days since problem number three happened when the pharmacy photo printer went out of service :(.

I covered each mat with ironed fabric left over from the bunting project and used fabric glue to keep the fabric stretched out enough to minimize any ripples.

 
 
 
 
 

Then I used my reference photo as a guide to hang the pictures. Phew!
 

I'm thrilled with the results and now Maddy has a themed bedroom that can be transformed into whatever she is 'into' next by simply changing the bedding, bunting and photos. I would really prefer that she sticks with this for a while though...it just won't look the same with Justin Bieber pictures:).

NoodleBubble's International Handmade Bird Swap!

My dear friend Lisa from England has a fantastic blog about her crafting passion. She has been a total inspiration for me! In her words..."She sews, sticks & scribbles...reads profusely...rarely throws anything away. Come on - pop in and see what's new in noodleBubble world today..." She is currently hosting a 'Handmade Bird Swap' with her many followers. Basically you make a bird, or something featuring a bird. It can be sewn, moulded, beaded, carved ...as long as it's HAND MADE and it's something you'd be happy to receive yourself. I am working on something as a tribute to our beautiful birds that are suffering in the Gulf at the moment :(. To join in on the fun, go to her blog and check it out!

http://noodlebubble.blogspot.com/2010/06/hand-made-bird-swap.html

Maddy and I started work this weekend and Maddy made this beautiful bird house in preparation for her very own crafting swap for kids one day:)

Summer's "Take Ten" is here!

The Summer edition of "Take Ten" is out today! One of my goals this year is to send some of my cards into their "Design Challenge." Apparently if you are chosen to be featured in their magazine you actually win...just guess...a free copy of Take Ten! Sounds rubbish but the magazine actually costs $14.99 so it's not to be sniffed at really. I like this edition's challenge...maybe I'll have a go...? I just can't imagine how giddy I'd be if I ever saw anything I'd made in a magazine. I'm giddy just thinking about it...now I've just got to design a very cool and original card...hmmm....

Gaily Bird...

Here's one of Gail's gorgeous handcrafted cards. In England, a ladybug is called a ladybird and "Gaily bird" is Gail's nickname :)