Fiskars Craft

Photo A Day - Day 1

Hi everyone!  Are you ready to play along with our photo a day this month?  By the end of August we will have a great range of photos ready to assemble in a collage and to use on a scrapbook layout commemorating 'the little things'.

Your day one challenge, should you choose to accept it is a simple one (I don't want to scare you off so early in the month).  I would love to see photos of....

FOOD:

Everyone has to eat and it is something we all do every day, several times in fact.  I want to see a photo of something you have eaten, baked, purchased or even what you are craving.  Interpret this topic in any way you see fit but remember the photo doesn't need to be perfect or even creative... you just need to take one.

Please e-mail your photos (max 200kb) to me kgeling@iinet.net.au with your name clearly marked, a title for your photo and a brief description that can be copy/pasted to this blog.  I'm looking forward to seeing your photos.

Kim xx

A Photo a Day!

Hi Everyone,

Are you ready for another photo a day challenge?  If so then August is the month for you!  We've done this previously with great success and I promise you this time will be just as much and if not MORE fun than ever before.  

For this challenge I will be posting daily prompts of possible photographic topics, chosen randomly from a list.  Whether you use these prompts is entirely up to you and you may wish to switch them up and use different prompts on different days.  That too is totally OK.  We will be focussing on 'The Little Things' and looking at everyday, menial items in our daily lives.  The photos do not need to be artistic, they don't need to be perfect... you just need to TAKE them!

At the end of the month (early September) I will present a step by step layout using a collage of the photos and we will all have the chance to share our finished products.  I will offer several prizes for participation during the month including something for the person who shares the MOST photos with us.

To participate in this challenge all you need to do is to e-mail me your daily photos.  Photos should be resized to no more than 200kb and e-mailed to kgeling@iinet.net.au with your name, the prompt (or name for your photo), and a brief description that can be copy/pasted to this blog.

During this month I would also like to open up some discussion about photography.  I am by no means a 'professional' photographer but I do enjoy playing with my camera.  I'd love to hear hints, tips and questions that anyone has to share and I'll incorporate these into my daily blog posts.  Please feel free to leave comments or to e-mail again at kgeling@iinet.net.au

What fun today in Spotlight Bairnsdale ~ Lyn

What fun we had today in Spotlight Bairnsdale in East Gippsland......for a few hours of crafting.....it was lovely to see some Beginner Crafters come and play....Kay came to create a lovely birthday card for the first time for her Partner and to have-a-go at Scrapbooking.......she hadn't used the trimmer or punches before.....and she did so well.

It was lovely to catch up with a few of the Bairnsdale and Lakes Entrance Crafters.....Jenni came  and created this gorgeous card using the Fiskars Tools and the Kaisercraft Stamps and papers from the Le Chateau Range....isn't it gorgeous!! I don't think that Jenni has ever missed one of my Fiskars Demonstrations in Spotlight Bairnsdale.....she is one lovely lady!!

I must admit I dropped by the store on Thursday to check out the new range from Kaiser and just had to purchase the Le Chateau papers and stamp set for myself.....I just fell in love with the "bird cage" stamp.....so I did up a few card samples ready for today's demo.....here's one of them... I used the Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch along one edge and then punched out a couple of birds from the Kaisercraft Le Chateau papers.....you could also just draw your own bird on the patterned paper and then cut around it with either the Fiskars Craft Knife or Fiskars Softouch Scissors....

......it was lovely to be able to help these ladies today .....and to also be able to answer some questions about the Fiskars Tools.....nice to also have all the staff come and ask questions and play with the tools.....here's the Layout that I created for crafters to create if they wished to......minus Sam's photo of course.....LOL!

Thank you to Coral,Kelly and all the Spotlight Staff for making me feel very welcome in their store....and for also giving me a table set up with 5 chairs and a table cloth.....it was a great set up today and we all had great fun!!

xoxo

Lyn Dwyer

 

FINALLY...a loooong overdue post from me

On Wednesday evening (very late) my ex-partner informed me that seeing as I was "the scrapbooker of the family and better at telling stories [than him]" I was to complete 2 pages in our son Kade's childcare scrapbook.  Oh, and I had to have it done to return to childcare on Friday morning.

Apparently the room Kade is in has a toy frog called Galumph, and each of the children takes turns taking Galumph home for a few nights.  The parents then have to write up two pages describing what Galumph did during his 'holiday' with the child.  Easy enough ??

Well...if you're a regular to the blog, you'll know that I have done absolutely nothing scrap-related in forever !!  Add to the fact that I have lost my scrapping mojo, I've been sick for the past week, and my printer is also out of action...which meant a trip to the shops to print off a few photos that I could normally have done myself at home.  BUT, I couldn't let Kade down, and I knew I wouldn't be happy simply cutting some photos into shapes and adding some journalling.  So....I scraplifted.

THIS is the original layout, and this is my creation (click the pictures to have them open bigger in a new window):

And can you believe that of the hundreds of sheets of patterned paper I have, I didn't have any black & white striped paper !?  I ended up using a chisel-tipped Zig Marker to draw lines on white cardstock.  The alpha stickers I used for the title were lime green, so I used a marker to change them to black before peeling them from the backing paper.

The scalloped edges were all cut freehand using my Fingertip Knife and I used my Fiskars Acrylic Stamp Block to stamp the frame around the title at the top of page 1.  Other tools I used were my Personal Trimmer and Microtip Scissors.

♥ Cindy

June Monthly Calendar Challenge

Robyn shares with us her June Monthly Calendar page. Great work Robyn.

Shapecutter Plus

Not sure how to use the Shapecutter Plus....... check out the video link below to learn more about using your Shapecutter Plus.

 http://www.fiskarscraft.eu/videos/item/246842

You can also download how to sheets and more from the same page.

Cheers, Dawn

Spotlight Bairnsdale ~ a sneak peek

I'm looking forward to my next in-store demonstration for Fiskars this coming Friday July 30th in Spotlight Bairnsdale.. East Gippsland

I'l be instore between 10-12 with my trolley laden with Fiskars Tools as well as well as some of the gorgeous Empire Collection Scrapbooking products from Kaisercraft......yummo!!

Here's a sneak peek of the Layout we shall be creating......

....and a little bit more.......LOL!

...OK....just one more

.......

that's it for now.....LOL!......you'll have to pop on into Spotlight Bairnsdale to see more and create a 12" x 12" Layout or Card for yourself!!!

If you bring in a couple of Christmas photos you can finish off a complete Scrapbooking Layout with me on Friday!!

Looking forward to the trip down to stay at our HH in Paynesville...and crafting by the Gippsland Lakes...I find I can relax down there and I love going for daily walks along the Foreshore and around Paynesville and over to Raymond Island.......can't wait to catch up with friends down there......

I'll make sure I take some pics on Friday and I'll share some on here with you all......

xoxo

Lyn Dwyer

Wedding Gift and Card for a dear Friend.

So.. I can finally spill the beans and talk about it now they are finally happily married... my golly gosh it is hard to keep a big secret like this. Recently a very dear friend of mine got married in a very private wedding. We were very privileged to be able to share the special day with the lovely couple and their two super gorgeous children. We felt very honoured to be asked to attend and it was a very special day. I was even more honoured to have been asked to stand up as a witness for my dear friend on her big day.
So here is the couple on the big day having photos after the ceremony with their children. The weather was kind to them luckily and held off raining until all the photos were taken.

Okay.. so along with a more traditional wedding gift I really wanted to make something personal for them both..It is a long story behind the reason behind the jar fillings but basically they both like MM's.. one likes the peanuts and the other normal MM's. Hence the mixing of the two. Plus the fact when their daughter was born it was when Janet sent out as favours with her name on them.

The other reason behind the reason I scrap booked a present is because that is how I met my dear friend... well about four kids between us, many a craft market, plenty of shared crafting time, moving to another state and back and almost five years later, we are still good friends.

So here is what I managed to made for the happy couple. The colours used reflected the colours of the day too..

Congrats again guys !

Used some the Fiskars weding themed stamps for the dress and also stamped the romance verse onto the calicoto cover the jar lid.

TFL, Michelle x

 
 
 
 

June Calendar Challenge

Each month I look forward to seeing our Monthly Calendar page contributions. Never too late to join in.

Lorraine-Lee shares with us her June calendar page. Looks like you had a busy month Lorraine-Lee.

Cheers, Dawn
 

Fiskars Garage Sale - last day SATURDAY Aug 14th!!!!

Buried under a pile of purple....

Believe it or not... this is what 90 wedding invites looks like..Not much really when you see it like this.lol..

I have been buried under a mountain of purple paper, purple gemstones and purple ribbon for the last few weeks. I was asked to make up wedding invitations for a friends niece. So after much debating about colours styles and what not the bride to be left with a few ideas and a promise of samples in the mail to her within the week. so I got straight to work to work out costing and what not for her and sent it out to her with the following four samples.

  I wont share with you the final design that was chosen or it will wreck the surprise to the people who have been lucky to be invited.. all I will say is that is is a combination of a few of the elements and it looks very smart.

I have almost finished them.. just need to complete the insert and they will be posted off to the bride to be on Wednesday. It has kept me very busy. Have had a production line happening here and my scrap room is yet to recover for all the work involved. They were all stamped, heat embossed, punched, ribboned, ink and gem stoned with tweezers... proving for many hours work.. HUGE MWAHxxx to my eldest daughter for her help.

Was so much fun being able to use my favourite stamps and punches for this project.. it made my life so much easier too.

Okay.. back to the grind stone to get them done.

TFL, Michelle xxx 

It's a wrap...

Okay.. as promised (waving madly to ladies who attended !!!).. I promised to add the photos to my blog about the crop that I held here this weekend just gone. Has been a busy weekend.. that's for sure.

Saturday started off rather chilly though I had the room all nice and toasty ready for the crop. I was so happy to see everyone as it seemed like the last one had been years ago..

We started the day off with the Off The Page item and made some Christmas trees.. think I drove the ladies a little insane gluing on almost 90 3" x 1/2" strips of paper! But the end result was quite satisfying I think.

Here's a sample of tree we made.

We had glitter, glue pins and beads all over the place when we were finished ! But that was the fun of it.. being able to make a mess and get creative.

After many choc chip banana cupcakes with scrummy chocolate icing and a yummy hot lunch everyone had brought to share we started on the cards for the day. We continued with our Christmas theme and made Christmas cards. I think we have all worked out which cards we will be making for Christmas this year too.. some of them are even great for the kids to make too.

Here's the cards.

  So after lots of glitter, embossing powder, inking and general chatter the day ended well. We shared ideas and chatted about Fiskars tools. Got some great feedback and advertised when I will be at Spotlight next for an in store demo.

Looking forward to the next crop ladies and hope that you all got home safely.

Till next time. Thanks again. Michelle x   
 

next in-store Fiskars Demonstration Spotlight Bairnsdale

I'm off to East Gippsland this coming week and I hope to see some of our Bairnsdale/Paynesville Blog readers on Friday July 30th in Spotlight Bairnsdale for 2 hours of crafting fun!

I'll be in-store from 10-12

                                                  

Seeing I have been creating some fun Christmas projects lately for my Christmas in July on Friday I thought the Bairnsdale crafters might like to do this Christmas Cracker Card to get a head start on some ideas for this coming December....and besides it's still July so we could call it our little Christmas in July Mini Workshop in Spotlight.....don't think Coral and Kelly would mind.....they'll probably join in....LOL!

........I'll have some other papers to use for these as well....and YES I know the Stamp is a Stampin Up stamp....but I love it......I shall have some Kaiser ones with me as well as Fiskars Stamps.....so crafters can really just use the Fiskars Tools to create their own fun Make'n'take project.

Stamping is fun with the Stamp Factory.....yes I'm bringing this along also.....you could emboss a design in the middle instead of stamping...so how about I bring along the Scrapboss as well.

We'll be using some Kaisercraft Papers,stickers,diecuts to create a Christmas Layout from the Empire Range... some Kaisercraft Card Kits with envelopes,stamps......so we'll also be creating some fun cards......something I love helping others create

Here's the product from the Kaiser Empire Collection......

 

and also the matching Diecuts to make a lovely Layout ready for your Christmas Photos for 2010...

But wait there's more.......some gorgeous Alphas to add some funky titles...

I shall also have a few new tools in my trolley so make sure you ask to have a look see......sh.....sh....

I'll be using some of the new tools whilst I'm staying in our holiday house in Paynesville so just ask me to get them out for a sneak peek.......I know how the EAST GIPPSLAND crafters rely on Spotlight now for their craft supplies down there.....so I think you guys deserve a few sneak peeks......

If you have any questions about using any of the Fiskars Tools or know of anyone that does...then come  on into Spotlight Bairnsdale this coming Friday July 30th between 10-12 and I'll be only too happy to help you......gosh we only have 2 hours....can we fit it all in.......you bet.....LOL!

I'll have some Fiskars Bumper Stickers and Scissor Pins with me so make sure you ask for one of these....

I love coming to EAST GIPPSLAND it's our home away from home.....LOL! Love catching up with the crafters down there......I'm in the process of creating a Christmas Layout ...I'll post up a pic in the next few days.....so EAST GIPPSLAND crafters......if you would like to bring along 2 or 3 photos when you come into Spotlight on Friday....you can sit down with me and create your own 12x12 Layout.....sound like fun?

xoxo

Lyn 

and the winner is Fiskateer # 7068

Cindy Fiskateer # 7068.......congratulations Cindy you are the random winner of a Gift Bag full of goodies from my Christmas in July....can you please email through your postal details to

                                        lyndwyer-fiskars@bigpond.com

I have loved reading through all the favourite songs and carols ...thank you all for sharing  these with us all.....here's what Cindy had to say...................

Hello from Fiskateer 7068! Yummy goodies! Love Fiskars stuff! Favorite Christmas song? I love almost all Christmas songs, but particularly Mary's Boy Child (as my now 22 year old sang it in his kindergarten Christma show) and "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus" by Paul Brandt.

Posted by: Cindy | July 22, 2010 at 11:37 PM

Christmas In July ~Part 2

Well today I finally met our Blog Stalker ....LOL! The lovely Tracy Maloney...Fiskateer #6773....what a delightful lady...Tracy taught us all how to make some fun "Ribbon Butterflies"

Tracy was so organised with all her beads,wire and ribbons....we all had a ball picking out colours.....and gooing and gaaing over the gorgeous ribbons.....LOL!

Carolyn loved creating these butterflies....in fact she made a few.....

Tracy's hubby Anthony.... drove her all the way up here and he also made these yummy Muffins for us all.......thanks Anthony......I did try and drop the hint to Rod as he was also home today.....but he just ignored me.....LOL!

It was such a fun day.....we crammed in a lot but I think we all had fun....and lots of laughs.....and look what Dianne made us all......our own Monogram Christmas Bauble ready to hang on the tree......thank you so much Dianne...it was so very sweet of you!

Dianne also made some cute Savoury Christmas Trees out of Chicken Snitzels and Rosemary made a scrumptious Plum Pudding.....and played some fun games with us all...including the "Name the Christmas Carol" as she sang....yes sang.....the Fiskars Demonstrator Manual to the tune of various Songs......so darn funny.........believe me when we get together ...there is never a dull moment.....LOL!  Love this lady!!        It was hilarious!!

   

I think we shall have a few more Fiskateers after today......it was nice to introduce Kim to some new people and for Tracy to also meet some of my wonderful friends and Fiskars  Demonstrators!

I had a great time and I'm sure all the guests did also...lots of laughs....and it was nice to meet some new crafters.....

So Christmas is over now for another 5 months.....LOL! Thank you all for a fabulous fun filled day of laughter,friendship and for all being who you are......beautiful kind caring souls who love sharing and helping others.......until next time!       xoxo Lyn Dwyer

Oh what a day ~ Christmas in July report ~ Part 1

  

Well what a fun filled day it was today at my home in the YARRA VALLEY for CHRISTMAS IN JULY

......we started the day at 10:30am by playing a few fun games........especially the Bow Making game......here are Tracy and Dianne with their very creative toilet paper bows.....LOL!

Yes...you heard right....try placing your hands behInd your back and then try making a bow using toilet paper........not so easy....but the results were all very different......LOL! Here's Sandra with her winning prize ....a roll of red ribbon to make it a bit easier when Christmas comes around to create bows....he.he

Next game was drawing on your head......as Rosemary told a Christmas Story...and we all had to draw the story as she was telling it.....points were awarded for eg....getting the present under the tree,star on the tree.stocking on the mantlepiece,etc.etc. Mind you...there were some strange looking drawings...non more so than mine......LOL! It's harder than you think......notice how hard Kim is thinking....oh the concentration was hard.....trying to draw and laugh at the same time was hilarious!

Dianne was the winner of this one......I then had to check on the roast veggies in the kitchen so left the ladies playing the next game.....well by the amount of laughter coming from the family room I knew something was up......Rosemary was playing another fun chocolate eating game that required the throwing of 2 dice......but what she forgot to tell the ladies was that she has sticky taped the dice to the container so that they travelled ok...and she forgot to take the tape off...it wasn't until all the ladies had tried rolling the dice that she realised that she hadn't taken the tape off and they were none the wiser...so darn funny.......anyway.....back I go to join in....roll the dice and if you get double numbers...eg.....two sixes you get to put on gloves and  a scarf and then you use a knife and fork and try to eat the chocolate until the next person throws double numbers.......so darn funny!

This was such a fun game...here's Tracy having her turn.....and I'll be back with Part 2 later tonight!

xoxo

Lyn Dwyer

another Project Orange Thumb winner ~ this time in South Australia

At Hillcrest in South Australia AN OLD vacant Hillcrest carpark will be transformed into a community garden.

Hillcrest Primary School has received a $2500 Orange Thumb Grant from Fiskars and Bunnings to start a community garden at the site on Condamine St.

The school will use the money to create garden beds, and buy compost bins and wheelbarrows. Students will work with North East Community House to develop the garden.

Year 2 students Dawson and Delaney (pictured) have big dreams for the project.

“I want a fish pond and we can touch the fish,” Dawson says.

Delaney hopes a lot of fruit and vegetables will be grown for the students to eat.

“I want carrots and potatoes with sour cream.”

All the winners of these Project Orange Thumb projects have a Blog going over here so why not pop on over to see how they are all progressing....I have just been over there and it's great to see that Merri Creek Corner in East Brunswick  had their second Dig Off day recently...and there are more pics over there.....

xoxo

Lyn

Sewing Multi-tool

Have you ever wanted to know a little more about the Fiskars Sewing Multi-tool.

Check out the short video link below to learn more about the fantastic features of this tool.

 http://www.fiskarscraft.eu/videos/item/246844

You can also download a how to sheet on the link below the video.

Cheers, Dawn

Christmas in July this Friday ~ and a RAK

Not long now until Christmas in July....the house is starting to look a lot like Christmas is coming.......ooh...only 2 days way.....July 23rd......exciting and fun!!

Having the fabulous Fiskars Rotary Paper Trimmer has sure made putting together the fun projects so easy and quick......this trimmer cuts through 10 sheets at a time...so darn quick and a pleasure to use!!

These trimmers are available in Spotlight stores as are the Bow Makers that I used to create the bows on the gift bags.....

....this Rotary trimmer is a great tool for Invitations,card making,party favours...any project where you need to make large quantities of projects....can't wait to use this to make my Christmas Cards later in the year......

Off to look for some Christmas Music....I have some games to plan also....fun !! fun !! fun!!......can't wait to host this day.....with some friends and Fiskateers!

Just had to make one last thing late last night......LOL! A Christmas Card Cracker......ooh wonder what is underneath.............sh............sh.sh........

Thank you to FISKARS also for providing some fun surprises......(thanks Trea)...I'm so blessed to be working for such a great company......who support what I do....love you guys!!

I'll share more pics with you all after the event....I now have a house to clean and table to set...woohoo.....my hubby has been painting the past few weeks so now it's clean up time........LOL!

I actually have an extra Gift Bag that I'm going to give away to one of our readers.....all you have to do is to tell me what your All Time Favourite Christmas Song is in the comments section below......and I'll draw a random winner over the weekend......so go for it!!

xoxo

Lyn Dwyer

next Officeworks How to Workshop Sat 24th July from 11am

Just a reminder that the next Officeworks How To Class is an Engagement Invitation created by Dawn Stan using the fabulous Fiskars Tools and some of the gorgeous Cristina Re Paper Chic range of materials!

It's on in all OWKS stores around Australia this coming weekend Saturday July 24th from 11am.....it's a good idea to book with the store and let them know you are coming....why not take a friend and have some crafting fun together!

So why not pop on in to your nearest Officeworks Store and check out the ..................

xoxo

Lyn