A Very Merry Christmas and A Really New Year

This year I made 4 Christmas cards....and an important decision

First the Christmas Cards: made with lovely Purple Onion stamps

And now the decision...

Next year I'm going to be working from home quite a bit - so I can be with my kids more. I know I have to do this now, while I can, 'cos I don't want to look back and wish I had done it while they were little. And I'm very grateful that my sis has been so great about adjusting arrangements so that this can happen. So....I'll still be teaching (probably at Laine's), just twice a week and I'll be designing at home on other days.

Not sure how it will work out (maybe I'll end up driving my kids up the wall and vice versa - haha!) but they're looking forward to it and I am too....a mum's gotta do what a mum's gotta do!

So have a very blessed Christmas everybody! And here's to a very happy NEW year!

Minnasan wa Arigatougozaimashta

That means "Thank you everyone" in Japanese (I think....its been a while and my Japanese is really rusty).

Thank you all for signing up for this "Origami" class that didn't actually have that much "Origami" in it....haha. I hope you had fun!
Let Me Show You My Favourite Bits: (and teach you how to count in Japanese at the same time! Haha)

1. (Ichi) - the cover texture (dry brush Elmer's glue, let dry, ink with distress ink all over, use baby wipes to blend. The parts that are lighter are where my Elmer's glue was).2. (Ni) - This little bump - for some reason, this little 'kink' I made in the Tim Holtz filmstrip got me smiling. Maybe 'cos it fit the '09 stickers just right.3. (San) - My 'flying' aeroplane - it moves! 'Nuff said.
4. (Shi) - the City Skyline - I like how this page turned out. Just a simple pop-up fold and a Martha Stewart punch.
5. (Go) - And finally, some origami!Sayonara for now!

Stamp Giveaway! - Christmas Countdown

Purple Onion is counting down to Christmas with a super stamp giveaway! Check it out here.
The more people join the more giveaways!

Hurry hurry! only a few days left - everything is 25% till December 15th!

Suitcase

I had soooooo much fun designing this class which ran in November.....it's messy, full of texture, has some of my favourite colours, plus one happy accident which I got a lot of mileage out of.

See my...
1. Little home made compass - Tim Holtz spinner, foam dot, string, and jewellery pins.

2. My Happy Accident... to get this texture, I first stamped with my Purple Onion postmark stamps, added some patterned paper, inked it, painted over the whole thing with Elmer's glue (because I was lazy) and poured UTEE all over. And when the UTEE melts, the Elmer's glue seems to mix with it and sometimes make nice whitish 'stains' (you can see it more clearly on the top right and bottom left corners below) Then I inked everything all over again to get more ink into the cracks and crevices.

And then, because I had so much fun doing that, I did it again! This time on top of my green patterned paper, using some lace cardstock as a mask. (i.e. temporarily paste on lace cardstock, paint with Elmer's glue, remove lace cardstock, pour UTEE, melt everything, then ink all over)A big thank you to everyone who came to class and gamely got their fingers seriously dirty! I hope the ink's come off by now!

Makes You Feel Like Baking

The new mini holiday stamp release over at Purple Onion is too too cute for words! I love the cirlces and can imagine how cute they would be on bags of homemade cookies!!!
And she's got a new calendar stamp for 2010 - I love love love calendars!
Michele is also having a Holiday Sale:

25% off all stamps!

Dec 3rd to 15th

This is a good good time to be getting all those Purple Onion stamps you've been eyeing...