Gettin back into the creative flow...

Finally settling into my life-as-usual routine...whatever that is!! I'm not loving winter...the heat in Dubai was ridiculous, but I HATE THE COLD!! Mind you, I love cosy fires, apple crumble, steaming hot coffee, homemade bread and pumpkin soup, hot scones...hmm...probably shouldn't complain about the cold then...don't really eat those in summer. It's all about perspective eh?

so...my sudden departure to Dubai delayed a swap I was doing thru Heather at speckled-egg...a parisian/vintage inspired matchbox swap...here are pics of the two I did for my partners...yet to hear back from them, so hope they liked them. Both were accompanied by a lovely burnt edge flower to accessorise whatever they like...in peachy shades...of course the flowers are neither vintage nor french but I added them just because!! :) a little extra....and in fact glad I did for another reason...I've received one box from one of my partners...sue from my mothers pearls...check out her blog/site...the box is GOBSMACKINGLY GORGEOUS!! and bigger than our large matchboxes in NZ...so was a bit sorry to see that...so glad I added the extra in there. Her box to me is just SO BEAUTIFUL...with gorgeous bits and pieces in...i love it so much. Will photograph it at some stage and put on here...in the meantime...here are the ones I made...

close up of the beaded top of the box...getting the eiffel tower 'height' into the design...at the top of the eiffel print on the paper covering the box..

bits and bobs including vintage cinema tickets, french charm on bookmark, 'french' inspired brooch picked up in Dubai!!, vintage buttons and trim...and handmade 'can-can' matchbox book

And the second one...

LIttle handmade 'can-can' book...

vintage buttons, trim, buckles and beads...and a handmade ribbon bookmark...french stamped cake topper with eiffel headdress!!

And what I'm working on RIGHT NOW (apart from my beautiful daughter Beths ball dress...a very challenging but gorgeous design...will post when done)....googled how to put my flowers onto stalks, using the burnt edge flowers I've been making in recent months, but stumbled across a WONDERFUL tutorial for making a rose...simple, just folded fabric and taped right onto the stem with florists tape...and voila!! takes about 3 mins each!! I LOVE ITTTT!! So I'm experimenting with different fabrics, some with freying edges which I LOVE... and some with nice smooth satiny goodness, then there's the organza ones which give a lovely romantic transparent look...maybe looped all around with pearls and the centres of some have little diamantes in them...gorgeousness!!...take a look...enjoy! I just want to put flowers on EVERYTHING!!! lol

Oh I also did another swap recently on Swap-bot...was called What Inspires me...so I sent my partner a little bundle of goodies of things I like to use...old lace, wooden pegs, french charms,vintage pics and playing cards, anything turquoise!,ribbons and vintage buttons...and a chunky pink bangle cos my partners profile said she liked big bangles/bracelets! Hope she liked it...i packaged it all up in a brown bag I'd stiched down the sides of, distressed with white paint and decorated with stitched vintage pics and pieces of my mums vintage sheet music, over a french text stamp and finished with a butterfly stamp in the corner...all tied up with brown string. (Got the bag idea from a Somerset Life mag...AMAZING MAGAZINE!!!)Was fun to put together...

And did an "Any theme Matchbox Swap"...this one was just bits and bobs that I like and hoped my partner would like to have/use..using my mums sheet music again (some was her mums, who died when mum was 21 so I never met her - feels good to use these links to my past in creative projects...a good feeling :))..anyway...used a rusted finish metal keyhole surround on top and cut out the keyhole for a little sneak peek into the inside of the box. Its filled with things I love...smooth-as-a-baby's-bottom pebbles from the east coast of New Zealand.!!..a handmade velvet bookmark, vintage lace and stamps, squares of sheet music to use in scrapping...that might be it...not much room in this wee box...but fun to cram things in. Sadly my partner 'flaked' - a term used on Swap-bot for people who don't follow thru on the swap...so I dont even know if she got the swap and apparently she didn't do one for her partner/s...sad really as I put a lot into it..still, I hope it blessed her anyway! So my little box is now somewhere in Australia!!

Well thanks for checking out my blog :) I will be off for a week or so as having a wee surgery to my eye tomorrow so won't be sitting at my computer for a few days!

Happy blogging my friends...and enjoy each day. You only get ONE chance to make TODAY all it can be...go for it! And make a difference in someones life today, if you possibly can...and I believe you can! :)blessu!!!