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 :)

More cards...

If you are ever the lucky recipient of one of these cards, please know that they took literally hours to make, despite the fact that the book I copied them from is called "Take Ten" as in that's how many minutes it should take to make them :).

Girls Night In...

Crafting with my daughter is one of my favorite things to do in the world! Maddy and I spent last night making cards together with my new birthday supplies. We lost track of time and when we looked it was past 2am! We both decided it was because boys' cards are much harder to make. When in doubt - blame boys:). Here are some of mine...

And Maddy's...

Getting out of a muddle...

I find it tricky to get started on making cards sometimes:(. With all of the different stamps, inks, papers, scissors, etc. I seem to lose focus and end up back at the store buying more gorgeous stuff! I've decided to change my approach and start out by firstly selecting a card design to make my own version of from my favorite magazine "Take Ten." Then I am only going to take out the paper, stamps etc that I actually need for my design and put in a separate place. To get started with my new discipline I got out just some of my card-making supplies on the rug and tried to organize them a little better...where did all of this stuff come from!?

Birthday card with love in it...

Gail sent me a homemade card for my birthday. Don't you just love getting a card where some love has been put in it? In the same envelope was a store-bought card from mum and dad with some money put in it which I'm also a big fan of ;)

Maddy's bunting

The bunting for Maddy's new Big Cat bedroom came out really well although it took me 3 days to figure out how to thread my new sewing machine!

Trees and buttons

I'm obsessed with trees and buttons lately. I made several cards like this one by sewing mini buttons onto a tree design that I had stamped onto different colors of cardstock and embossed. I sewed the edges of the paper using Maddy's little sewing machine. I loved it so much I bought my first very own sewing machine:)

Crafting for the Chins!

I made a matching hammock, fleece tubes and blankets for the chins today! Any excuse to make stuff...:)

Maddy's artsy toes...

Mike's getting craftsy...

Mike has gone all craftsy lately. He started making stuff for me and Maddy for Christmas about 6 weeks ago. There were lots of mystery chemicals and smells as the new artist went to work on the lanai almost every night with only a 6-pack to keep him company...and yes, that is a bedsheet over the table...

On the big day, he had made the most beautiful big cat boxes for Madison...

And a gorgeous Buddha collage for me...

And handmade crosses for my collection :)...

Distressed cards

I made some cards using distressed ink...

Christmas Gift Tags

Halloween Crafts

One of my favorite things about the holidays is all of the crafting that goes on. Here are my pumpkins... 

Frog patterns

I see beauty everywhere I look at the moment for some reason...here are the patterns that the tree frogs leave in the morning dew on our windows at work...

Maddy's wild zone

Maddy loves making cat sanctuaries at the moment - they are really good!

Craft Room

We converted the spare room next to Maddy's bedroom into our craft room this weekend!

Union Jack picture

I made this picture from Maddy's old baby clothes. I can remember how she looked in every single outfit whenever I look at it! I started an American flag from shades of blue but it's ended up in the half-finished box for now...:)