Well I have been very busy crafting for my CHRISTMAS MARKET day..here is a sneek peek at what I have been creating 'behind the scenes'...
Almost time to start my baking...hmmm lets see...lots of Christmas treats to be made and packaged in time for my CHRSITMAS MARKET...keep checking back to see what I am up to.
Well I am well and truly surronded by all things Christmas as I gear up for my annual CHRISTMAS MARKET DAY at home (stay tuned more later but if you live in Sydney keep Thursday 10 December free...) I will give you a sneek peek in a day or so at what I have been preparing...
But first some more Christmas cards for me to send...I like to have most of my Chrissy shopping and all of my cards written and posted by the beginning of December so I can concentrate on my MARKET DAY and 'silly season' festivities. The 'production line' method works well for me and I em enjoying some more 'non-traditional' colours and papers...I am loving these papers from the Basic Grey collection, and of course my favourite tiny stickers from Carolee Creations..
I have been creating these cute 'card packs' to sell at my CHRISTMAS MARKET DAY as well as a few 'non-Christmas' ones for gifts, each pack containes 4 cards and 2 tags...what do you think?????
And another using more 'traditional' Christmas colours...
And finally a Christmas present for a friend.....
Are you still with me, sorry I got carried away with 'show and tell'...time for a cuppa before I get stuck into more crafting, don't forget to come back and visit again soon xxx
Finally I have organised my photos of Shanghai and set aside some time to write a post about this wonderful city....we left the 45' heat of Cairns and headed to Shanghai for a cold and wintery Christmas.....for a few days we were in shock, -4' was certainly pretty cold but must admit it was so nice to rug up in coats, hats, scarves and gloves and there is something about the cold weather that somehow makes it more like Christmas.
What an amazing city Shanghai is, I was quite surprised as to how much I fell in love with it, such a city of contrasts and it is growing at such a rate, everywhere you look there is building work as they hurry to get the city ready for Expo in 2010 and yet take a train to the country and village life continues, tourists are a novelty and English scarcely spoken. We found the people of Shanghai friendly and eager to help, we walked everywhere and if we ever looked lost before long there would be a crowd around us guiding us to our next destination.
We were also surprised by the amount of Christmas lights and decorations everywhere, it truly was a magical wonderland and the city came alive at night with all the light displays, I don't think I have ever seen so many decorations in the one city.
The next photos I just couldn't resist sharing with you, they demonstrate the real Shanghai....... city of contrasts.......... the New York of the East!
Fond memories of Shanghai - we'll be back!
Okay we are getting very serious about packing now - almost time to turn off the computer so I thought I had better post what I have been 'gunna' do over the past week but haven't manage to find the time....funny that!
Nana and Gramps enjoyed their recent trip to FNQ, it was pretty hot but we all enjoyed the 'tradition' of lounging in the pool late afternoon with a cold drink and a few nibbles - very nice. We celebrated Christmas early with a fabulous lunch and lots of pressies, Taylor made a yummy dessert, a sort of Christmas trifle, it looked great!
And it tasted even better.....!!!!
We all enjoyed Lilly's end of year dance concert, she was a real star performing in 5 of the 11 dances that night - jazz, tap, hip hop she conquered them all!
Don't you just love the action shot!
Okay this post really must come to an end, they are wanting to disconnect me and pack the computer in a box...we are surronded by boxes and if I'm not careful I'll end up in one and trust me I'd rather join the rest of the family on holidays I've had enough cardboard boxes for now!
LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING WITH YOU ALL IN 2009!
Luv Lee xxx
Its a mad house here at the moment but I set aside a few hours last weekend to complete some pages for the SOUTHERN CROSS KIDS CAMP that I spoke about last week...makes me feel good knowing that I have contributed in some small way...the pages that I have made will hopefully make somebody smile and they can take home memories of their happy times at camp....do yourself a favour and if you can help out in any way please DO!
You can help in any way, if you are unable to make scrapbook pages perhaps you can send off some embelishments that the kids can use to jazz up ther pages..it all helps...please contact www.juliestone.typepad.com if you have any questions, I know that Julie and her team would appreciate anything you can do to help.
So come on GET IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT!
The start of another busy week...the days and weeks are just flying by..not many sleeps to go now until we pack up..
I promised to show you some of the Christmas cards I made with Annette the other day at Paper Possibilities...I really love the colours and boldness of these 'creations', Annette I LOVE your classes and will really miss them when we move away...
Only 23 sleeps until Santa!!!! LOL Lee x
The girls were excited when they went to the post box yesterday..you see its always exciting when you arrive and there is 'blue slip' inside your box it means there is something BIG and exciting waiting to be collected that won't quite fit in your tiny post box! Now usually it is of course for the girls...but this time it was from my Christmas Decoration Swap Partner - Trish Goodfield - yay me!
Trish specialises in hand dyed fabrics and threads and makes some amazing stuff, check out her Etsy shop www.trishalandesigns.etsy.com. Just have a look at these gorgeous decorations for my Christmas tree...
Aren't they just amazing, love the colours, love the thread, love the beading and detail - just love them - thank you very much Trish. Here is another close up with more detailing..
Ok enough bragging about my swap, had better go lots to do today...until later xxx
Be warned LONG catch up blog ahead!!!!!
Well it has been a very busy few days...and only a few days left of school! It has been VERY sticky and hot up here the past few days, perfect weather for the girls to try on their winter clothes for our long awaited holiday in a few weeks - NOT! It is very hard to pack for somewhere super cold when its 38' in your bedroom, the jeans, jumpers etc have a habit of sticking to you - yuk!
Anyway we persevered and our bags are packed ready - Shanghai here we come! Now we just have to pack every thing else and get it back to Sydney!!!??!
Taylor had her Farewell Party with her class last Sunday, nice bunch of kids and they were happy with just playing in the pool (perfect weather for it)..its Lilly's turn this Friday the last day of school!
The girls and I made these for some 'special friends' that they will miss when we move..we just went to Office Works and bought covered notebooks in bulk then used scraps and embelishments to cover them finishing with a groovy pencil all wrapped up in an organza bag - perfect!
Netball grand final time and Taylor's team played their arch rivals and won - its was pretty close and there were moments when we thought they wouldn't make it - you would have thought we were playing for 'sheep stations' rather than it being an Under 12 netball final - its definitely stressful being a spectator! We had the team and parents back to our place for a sausage sizzle and a swim to celebrate. The girls walked away with a certificate and trophy as the seson winners and the biggest smiles you've ever seen!!
I made the yummiest chocolate cake ever for them to celebrate win or loose.... not sure where I found the recipe, one of those that you tear out of a magazine and attempt to cook months later (does anyone else do that or just me??) It was super easy and quick and very moist...forgot to take a photo last night and this is all that was left this morning, the girls are polishing the rest off as I type...
Here is the recipe if anyone is interested:
EASY CHOCOLATE CAKE
125g butter, roughly chopped
1/2 cup golden syrup
2 cups plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 180'C, grease and line a 20cm square cake pan with baking paper. Melt butter in a saucepan, remove from heat and add golden syrup, combine well then set aside to cool.
Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarb. over butter mixture. Combine sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla in a large jug. Add to mixture and using a small whisk, gentky whisk until all ingredients are well combined. Pour mixture into prepared baking pan. Bake 50-60 minutes or until cake is cooked when tested. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.
Ice with cholcoate icing or leave plain and sprinkle with icing sugar just before serving.
ENJOY XX
I have more pics from Kim's JINGLE BELLS workshop (www.kimarcher.com.au) to share with you but might make you wait until tomorrow...until then, bye for now xx
Hello my name is Lilly and the other day I made this Christmas tree at school using recycled materials...mum thought it was pretty cool and asked me to share with everyone how it was made...it's really easy and lots of fun!
Okay, so first you need a magazine, make sure its an old one and not one that your mum is reading.
The size of your tree will depend on the thickness and size of your magazine, mum said a small one made from an old Readers Digest (whatever that is) would work really well too.
Open the cover then take the first page and fold it over like this.... make sure you press the crease really well.
Then just fold it over again like this...your first 'tree fold' is nearly finished..
Then just fold the bottom bit up..
Then turn the page and start all over again. You have to do this for every page of the magazine, then at the end get your mum or dad to rip off the outside cover of the magazine and there you have it your very own recycled Christmas tree!
You could spray paint the tree if you like and even add its very own decorations or star but I like it just the way it is - what do you think??
Have fun creating your very own tree and don't forget to leave my mum a message or send a photo I'd love to see what you have created.
Merry Christmas everyone, Lilly
If you haven't already head over to the fabulous KIM ARCHER and her WORKSHOPS @ HOME site where you will find some fabulous present ideas that are quick and easy to create - www.kimarcher.com.au
Her JINGLE BELLS WORKSHOP is currently running with over 14 days of Christmas projects to create, its lots of fun and the projects are fantastic!
This is the "Calico Envelope Cuff"...pretty cute huh! Inside the cuff is a decorated envelope (or two in my case) filled with mounted photos of highlights of the girls year and each one has then been journalled...a fantastic keepsake for them to keep...you could also include special work from school, artwork etc, the possibilities are endless. They would also make wonderful presents for grandparents (sorry nana and gramps we have all your presents already - maybe next year!)
There are some very cute other projects that I am in the middle of so keep checking back for updates and remember only 36 sleeps until Santa visits - have you written your letter to Santa yet???
