My Grandma's Teacups Scrapbooking and Craft Supplies: Come Join The Party

I have decided to hold my 40th birthday extravaganza online and you are invited to join me.

The theme for the party is a sort of Shabby Chic Mad Hatter Tea Party. Pull out your old fascinator from the Royal Wedding Celebrations a few years back. Dust off your boa and find your white gloves.

The party will be held February 9th, 2015 from 10-2. Please get some of your friends together for tea and take photos to share on the party page. I will be posting recipes, tutorials and pictures so that you can make the items from the party. I would LOVE to see you there. The hashtag for the event will be #40yearsofawesome and the FB link is https://www.facebook.com/events/898342846872622 Please RSVP so that I have an idea of how many people will be there.

We will be having some games and prizes too!

My Grandma's Teacups Scrapbooking and Craft Supplies: Cuppa Sunshine- Papercrafting Project

Happy New Year Crafty Friends. I pulled together a little project to get the year rolling. I am calling it my Cuppa Sunshine as it has been pretty dreary weather lately and I wanted a cute pick me up to decorate my studio.

Materials Needed:

• Card stock in three complimentary colours
• Designer Paper (Avonlea from Close To My Heart shown)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Tooth Picks 
• Glass or Crystal Beads
• Foam Mat (upside down mouse pad works like a charm)
• Stylus or rounded pen lid

This project uses the retired paper line "Avonlea" from Close To My Heart but if you can't get your hands on that, substitute it with your favourite paper. All of the die cuts are from designs found in the Cricut Artiste Cartridge.

I use a cricut explore so it allowed me to modify some of the cuts. If you are using an expression you may need to do a bit of fussy cutting to get the desired look. Feel free to use my cut files if you are using Cricut Design Space.

Teacup and Saucer











Flowers For Teacup

Teacup Assembly:

I first assemble the teacup (the scalloped piece) try to shape the teacup to be as circular as possible. Next add the handle. I used white daisy card stock but I think I should have chosen a thicker paper to give it the strength to support the cup. Glue the two handle parts together leaving the tabs separate. Glue the tabs on either side of the seam for the cup.  Use one of the gear pieces as a bottom for your cup. You can glue the tabs inside for stability or outside and cover it with the design paper.  Use the other crescent shaped piece (cut from designer paper) to decorate your cup.

You should only have two pieces left at this point. Take the semi-circle and glue the two edges together to form as doughnut and use the remaining gear to support it. It takes a bit of shaping to make the saucer sit flat. I used a stylus and foam pad on the reverse side of the paper to form a ring around the edge of the saucer and around the circle formed by the gear. TA-DA your cup and saucer should look fabulous at this point.

Do you have a small square of floral foam or even some scavenged play dough? Hot glue it to the inside of your cup to support the flowers we are going to make.

Flower Assembly:

Now for the fun part. Cut our your flowers and foliage. It really does not matter what posies you choose but I find working in three's makes for a nice balanced look. I ink my cut outs at this point. I do this for two reasons, I like the look of inked pieces and also it changes the structure of the paper making it more pliable thus making my shaping easier.

I know at this point you want to get rolling with the flowers but honestly it works out much better if you work on your leaves first. Take each piece of foliage and place it face down on a foam pad. Use a stylus or pen lid (whatever you have) to work the leaves so that they stretch and begin to curve. Turn your leaves over and have a look. If they are not curled enough, turn them over and keep going. Once you have them nicely shaped you will want to lay them over the top of your teacup to get an idea of how they will look. Using your hot glue gun attach the leaves to the foam square. Don't glue it on tight. You just was to have a few contact point to work around.

Take your flowers and repeat the shaping process. You may want to use a pencil to roll the petals back a bit to create a bit of interest. Once they are molded you take the out most edge and hot glue it to a toothpick. I saw this on a  Tim Holtz Video and thought it was brilliant. Slowly roll the flower trying to space the petals so that that they don't all line up. I like to stop about mid curl and put another dot of hot glue. When you come to the end of the curl let it fluff back out a bit before gluing it to its base. Now you should have a perfect flower on a stick. Go ahead and fuss over it. The more you work with it the more realistic it looks.  Once the six rolled flowers are done its time to make the petal flowers. I liked mine with just the two layers but feel free to experiment to see what you like. Attach the first layer to the toothpick by gluing the tab to the side of the flower and then poking the stick through while the glue is hot. Be sure to leave some of the stick showing through the top. Add your additional layers. After you are done adding layers finish it off with a pretty glass bead. Be sure that the toothpick stays safely beneath the surface of the bead.

I like to work with one type of flower at a time and I start by placing them in a triangle. Then I work on the next colour of flower creating an additional triangle. Using the remaining petal flowers fill in the spots. Use an extra leaves to fill up the gaps. Make sure that you like the design before you use the hot glue and fasten them in place.

Enjoy!

My Hair's Mini Holiday

Ok, yes....admittedly I may be losing my mind, but I have to tell you it certainly feels like my hair got a holiday. I don't know about you but this crispy cold air has turned my coiffe into crispy fried hair. Luckily my friend Deborah Tang, yep, Deborah from last year's post, suggested a mini spa day for my ailing locks. I am not one of those girls that spend hours each morning perfecting their hair and makeup.....I am more the roll out of bed and tie my hair in a knot on the top of my head type, but still my hair was driving me nuts as it was so frizzy and falling into my face. Deborah lent me this really cute bag with everything I needed to save my hair from an untimely chopping.

The shampoo is Arbonne Pure Vibrance Lustre Fortifying Shampoo. It smells divine. I can't put my finger on the exact scent but its somewhere in the berry area. Its not too fruity or strong. I am really sensitive to strong fragrance so you can trust me when I say its just right.

The conditioner is Arbonne Pure Vibrance Fortifying Conditioner. It does not really have a smell. At least I could not smell it over the lovely shampoo. You know how when your hair is really damaged and you run your hand over it when it is wet you can feel the tangly feel. As soon as I put this conditioner on that was all gone. Poof. Conditioners do remove some of that but not like this. It was literally smooth as silk.

I was already tickled with the performance of the products and then I tried the hair mask. Oh my! My hair's texture totally changed. I thought about doing one of those videos where you see the girl flouncing her gorgeous hair around but I figured you would be laughing too hard to finish reading this post.

The spa did not end there. She lent me a serum....I think more valuable than the serum used to create Captain America. Arbonne Pure Vibrance Colour Last Hair Serum. My hair is not coloured....that will be next weeks post  (be sure to check in) but it does tame your hair and make it shiny and glossy. The final touch was the Arbonne Texturizing Mousse. Ta-Da....a perfect hair day.

Thank you Deborah, I really needed this intervention to save my hair.  If you are having a hair emergency or even just need a glamorous holiday look, Contact Deborah Tang Arbonne District Manager, Independent Consultant deborah.tang@gmail.com or shop Arbonne

Family Photo Traditions At Christmas Time - Guest Post By Sarah Kirby

It's funny how little things become traditions without even noticing. 

One year you bake cookies and the next year your kids expect that you'll be baking cookies. One year you decorate the tree while watching Miracle On 34th Street and ... well, you get the idea. 

For my family, the "silly Christmas couch picture" seems to be a tradition we've had for a few years now and I don't see it leaving us anytime soon.

Because I'm a photographer, it's perfectly normal for me to never be in any family photos. Unless it's a cell phone "selfie", I'm the one behind the camera.

So, I started using my tripod to get at least one family photo with me in it. (We could be like the Simpsons!)

My husband is uncomfortable posing for photos, my girls are not (because of their years with a mom who always has the camera out). 

While I was taking some test shots to make sure the light was right, my girls used the time to make some faces and help Mike relax a bit. 

Somehow, a perfectly lovely happy family photo turned into complete silliness and that silliness has evolved into one of our most fun traditions.

I do still get my perfectly lovely happy family photo too!

A few years ago we tried a "photobooth".  

I set up our little "booth" at the end of a hallway by tapeing a sheet to the wall. Our light source was a floorlamp with the shade removed.

I used my good camera on a tripod but I discovered that there are several "apps" out there that will do some really neat images like Photomat (free) and Pocketbooth (.99 cents). You don't have to have a big camera with a tripod to try it out.     

This hasn't become a tradition for us ... yet. But it was a hoot and definitely calls for a round 2 this year now that I have a home studio.

"What are your family photo traditions at Christmas time? If you don't have one, maybe this is your year to experiment! Have fun with it."

Sarah is the owner of Imagine Photography

About Sarah Kirby

My name is Sarah Kirby and I live in Belleville, Ontario with my husband Mike and my daughters Becca and Brianna, all of whom are tremendous supporters of Imagine Photography. In 2007 I began a second career as a scrapbooking consultant and it was through this work that my passion for photography developed. I began to see photos from a different perspective, imagining what they might look like in a scrapbook and how they might best be taken to preserve memories for a lifetime.

My passion (some might say "obsession”) eventually led to taking pictures for friends and family and that passion for photography was fueled even more. Through photography courses, I constantly strive to upgrade my knowledge, skills and equipment so that I can give you, the customer, the highest quality photos and the best overall experience possible.

From 2012 to 2014 I lived in and visited seven countries on three different continents. This experience not only gave me a deeper appreciation of diverse cultures, but also allowed me to photograph some of the most beautiful places on earth. Egypt’s Great Pyramids, Jordan’s ancient city of Petra, and Kenya’s Masai Mara are just a few of the locations I have been privileged to photograph. (please visit my Blog pages to view the travel photography or my Landscape page if you are interested in buying an image. Egypt/Kenya/Jordan Blog and Thailand/New Zealand/Ecuador Blog)

Now that I have re-settled in the Quinte area, I am ready to devote all of my efforts to serving my customers and creating beautiful and lasting memories

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