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Here is my latest with these wonderful lever punches.
Robyn W
Hi everyone,
Well we now have the family all up here ready for Pats' (my MIL)Funeral Service today in Lilydale...and I just wanted to share some of the beautiful flowers with you all that we now have in our home......Pat loved gardening...and she particularly loved daffodils,iris,roses,lillies,camelias and Spring Bulbs.....freezias,tulips,etc...
.....look how beautiful the yellow lillies are now they are opening...these are the ones that were sent up to our family from Fiskars Australia last Thursday...aren't they gorgeous! They have opened up beautifully.....
I have been outside to see what else I could bring inside from our garden to brighten up our mood...and to help get us through today and the coming weeks.......
Rod gets his love of gardening from Pat....she loved flowers and Rod does also.....they shared many loves including growing vegetables and they often swapped seedlings and cuttings over the years......and were always surprised when they could see how wonderful these cuttings and seedlings grew....they also use to brag about who could grow the biggest pumpkins and broad beans.....LOL!
We have also been going through memorabilia and photos the past week and this plate was a favourite one that Pat use to hang in her kitchen.....and which we now have in our house....it says it all....
....whilst outside today I took a pic of this fabulous plant that was given to me by Fiskateer Tracy Moloney about this time last year.....it was only a few inches high and Tracy had potted it up in a little container and took it to the Garage SALE to give to me......and here it is now grown into a gorgeous plant.
So with a little love and nurturing this once seedling has now grown into something quite special....thanks Tracy.....this is why both Rod and I love gardening.....it brings us sooooooooo much pleasure....and now with Pat gone Rod is still continuing the family tradition of gardening......in fact he in turn has past this on to Brendan...our oldest son....who now has an established garden in Rowville.
Do others get pleasure from their garden and from growing plants/vegetables?
Feel free to let us all know ......and do you also share seedlings/cutting with your family and friends?
It really is a Gift of Love!
You night also be interested in seeing how the FISKARS Project Orange Thumb Gardens are progressing...just click on the link and you are in.....there are some fabulous projects that are taking place in both the US and in Australia.
.....and SPRING begins tomorrow.....woohoo....September 1st ....this is a great time in the garden
xoxo
Lyn Dwyer
WOW.....it was such a fun day today working on the door at PAPERIFIC in Melbourne. The 10th Birthday was celebrated in style with many Paperific Birthday Shopping bags given out to the first 200 people through the doors each day and there were also spot RAK prize bags given out by Naomi each day as well.
Thank you to the many people who came up to say how much they loved our Fiskars Craft Blog including Maureen and Kim.....I love it when people come up and introduce themselves when we are out and about...so thank you!
People come from far and wide to attend this friendly PAPERCRAFT SHOW.....and working on the door I got to chat to everyone as they came in and out.....(something I love to do.....LOL!)
I was delighted to meet Gail Livesey from Forget Me Not Crafts in TUAKAU , New Zealand who had flown over for the 3 days of the Show.....she had the best time networking,doing classes and building up relationships and business contacts for her new business in NZ......and the good news is she is going to try and stock Fiskars Tools....so that's great news for those who live in TUAKAU.
It was lovely to catch up with Mel from Kaisercraft and her lovely mum and daughter,Heidi from Scrappy Hollow,Dina from Catchy Crafts,Julie Marshall from Scraptacular,Jess Lothian and Dianne Whiteside(two of our Fiskars Demonstrators),Rachael,Lynne,Carolyn,Alison,Karen from KSK and of course the fabulous PAPERIFIC TEAM....
I really love working with this TEAM......and I can't wait until the next PAPERIFIC in April next year....here's the dates April 1-3rd Royal Melbourne Showgrounds......and August 26-28th 2011.
....and if you are like me and want to check out when the next Craft Show is on in Melbourne this year.....then here it is....Craft Expo run by Expertise Events......so save the dates!!
xoxo Lyn Dwyer
Great job Robyn. I love it. They do look like presents. Thanks for sharing.
I thought this prompt would be a bit of fun but judging by some of the comments I've had it seems that it wasn't so easy for some people! I really wanted to see what it was in your life that gave you happiness, 'me time', a touch of luxury or put you in your 'happy place'. So far I only have 3 photos to share but I'm hoping lots more will arrive in my inbox later today.
Janine's photo:
Indulgence … hmmm this prompt was a bit tricky for today. I worked today and there were very few indulgent orientated photos to be taken at work! After work I picked up Emma, zipped her home to get changed then zoomed her off to basketball – still no indulgent photo opportunities! I knew we were having left-overs for dinner … nothing indulgent there. So…… after basketball Emma & I went past our new house. All the formwork is up for the second storey of our house (wooo hooo) so against all the notifications on the scaffolding, I climbed up the scaffolding and stood where the second storey will be and took some photos!!! This will be the view from our upstairs balcony…aaaawwwww such a lovely serene view. The white roofed house (behind the pine tree to the right) is on the foreshore so that’s how close we are to the beach- yeeeeeeehaaaaa!!! So …. my very little, teeny tiny, miniature, minute, miniscule piece of indulgence today was checking this view!!!
Tracy's photo:
My indulgence is a long soak in a deep, aromatic hot bath while reading a good book. It has been a few years since I have been able to indulge but I dream of the day when my joints are a bit more bendable and let me jump in our bath or even better, for when we win tattslotto and we get to install our very own spa bath...
and on the very same theme... my photo for the day! To be honest I am really not a girly girl, the whole day spa thing doesn't appeal to me, I find going to the hairdresser a real chore and massages are not my thing either however I am so glad we put the spa in our ensuite when we built this house. I never realised just how much I would love it but I try to find the time at least once a week (or two) to fill it up and sit back with lots of bubbles, candles and a good book... this time I even had the glass of wine... mmmm indulgence! This is my idea of 'me time'...
Kim xx
For day 26 I asked you to have a look at the things that you wear. I think we can learn quite a bit about ourselves by looking at our dressing style...
Tracy sent through this photo of her wardrobe:
"WOW - 26 days gone already - the month has flown by! Here is a peek in part of my wardrobe. I confess that I was surprised to see how much I have turned into my mother, with all the pink-purple tones... Don’t worry, there are more colours hiding in there!!!"
Next is Janine's photo:
"Clothes… I ♥ clothes, I ♥ shopping for clothes, I ♥ shopping for clothes for my girls!!! I have two very distinct sets of clothes – work clothes and non-work clothes. I am a teacher and presently teach Pre-Primary and mainly wear black trousers, a ‘school’ top and comfortable flat shoes to work – all quite boring. My non-work clothes are the ones I love. Here is a snap of some of my favourite clothes… most of my clothes this winter are denim (I ♥ denim jeans), blacks, greys and whites with a touch of grey-blues, teal greens and reds. I love costume jewellery too. I think I could quite happily go clothes shopping everyday…if my bank balance allowed me too!!!"
Now I most definitely do not share Janine's passion for clothes... I really do not enjoy shopping for myself and it stresses me no end when I have to get ready to go anywhere. I know when I lose the few extra kilos that are the story of my life my clothes will fit me more comfortably and shopping won't be such a chore as I can fit straight size 12s without being 'in between' sizes. In the meantime my staple wardrobe item is definitely my jeans. I wear jeans every day if I can and as you can see I have no shortage of them... in fact jeans and pyjamas would be all I would wear given a choice ☺
Stay tuned for our 'indulgence' photos!
Kim xx
Hi everyone, I know I am a bit behind with uploading these photos but it seems that some people might be struggling with the busy-ness of their lives and the photos are slowing down... keep it up because we only have a couple more days to go now and there is still one more giveaway to be won!
For day 25 I asked you to show me 'faces':
Lee's photo:
"We have been lucky enough to visit Venice, Italy a few times...such a
magical place...we fell in love with this mask on our first visit....its a
traditional Venetian mask used during Carnivale..."
Janine's:
Faces….This is my beautiful 10 year old Emma all ready to dance for her school at the ‘Performing Arts Festival for Catholic Schools & College’. Not only does her make-up look fantastic, I love the look of sheer happiness and excitement on her face. ♥ After a mad-panic to get to The Convention Centre (I missed the train- aaaagghhhh) I was worried that I wouldn’t get any nice photos however I ended up with a heap of fabulous ones of Emma and her friends and also Sarah and her friends- I could have easily sent through a dozen photos for today’s prompt!!! ♥
Tracy's:
"Here are some of the faces hanging around our house :)"
... and once again my photo is very similar to Janine's ☺ but with my youngest daughter, Taylah. They danced so well and looked so beautiful that we thought they were 'the best' on the night... even if we are a little biased.
If you still have photos of faces to send through please do... we'd love to see them all!
Kim xx
Well this fabulous Show is on again today and tomorrow.....woohoo....
VENUE: Royal Melbourne Showgrounds
I'll be there SUNDAY working on the door for Naomi........can't wait to get my PAPERIFIC FIX!
Think a bit of retail therapy is on the cards also after the week I've had.....LOL!
xoxo Lyn Dwyer
Just over a week till Father's Day now. Here is a card I made for my Dad for Father's Day. Just need to pop it in the post so it gets to him on time.
I used the gorgeous Kasier range called Le Chateau Collection. It is so lovely. The striped paper on the card is embossed and glossy in real life. It doesn't really show up in this picture.
I used a border punch to create the lovely scallops on the pale blue and brown patterned paper. I layered them. I also used a corner Lever Punch (Floral Vine) along the bottom of the striped paper and slipped the brown paper into the corners. Some little Thickers stickers to write Dad across the front. These are a fabric look style.
Hope my Dad loves it. Dawn
Hi everyone,
I was absolutely blown away yesterday afternoon when these gorgeous flowers were delivered to our home from the Flowers and Flavours Florist here in Yarra Junction from FISKARS AUSTRALIA to help comfort our family at this sad time with the passing of my Mother in Law Pat this week.....these shall slowly open up over the next few days and they shall add some gorgeous colour in our kitchen....
Rod was blown away by this wonderful gesture.....so THANK YOU!
I'm so blessed to be working for such a fabulous company and I have to tell you the timing of these flowers was perfect as Rod was having a bit of a down day......he was very close to his mum......so thank you FISKARS!!
I have tried to bring in several daffodils and iris from our garden to brighten up the house as Rod loves his flowers and garden and Pat also loved gardening.....
The daffodils are all out in full bloom at the moment and it's nice to see the different varieties as they bloom.....
We have Sam(grandson) up here at the moment so he is putting a smile on all our faces....he is such an adorable child....and YES he gave Nana a nice surprise in his nappy this morning......LOL!He slept over last night and didn't wake until 7:30am....so good.
....we pick Brian (son) up from Melbourne Airport late Saturday and then we'll have all 4 boys around for support.....
Thank you for the emails and phone calls we really appreciate it as a family!
xoxo
Lyn Dwyer
I thought I would share another simple tag for Father's Day.
Tools
XL Circle Squeeze Punch
Ultra ShapeXpress
Tag Template
Sentiments Border Punch
1/4 Circle Hand Punch
Chipboard Button
scissors
1. Using the Ultra ShapeXpress cut out two tags from different coloured cardstock from the tag template.
2. Punch a border along the bottom of both tags.
3. Cut one tag in half length ways and adhere over one side of the other tag.
4. Use the hand punch and punch a circle in the top of the tag.
5. Use the squeeze punch to punch out a circle. Adhere to the centre of the tag using foam tape.
6. Tie a piece of ribbon on the chipboard button and adhere on top of the circle.
7. Write Happy Father's Day around the edge of the circle.
Enjoy, Dawn
On day 24 I asked you to share your favourite Fiskars tools with us and once again we got quite a variety of responses.
Lee loves her 12" trimmer and squeeze punches:
Favourite Fiskars Tool "Too many to choose from, but I always go back to these faves"
Tracy has lots of favourites too:
My favourite Fiskars tool. That is a tough one!!! I love my Fiskars squeeze punches and my Fiskars border punches but I cannot do any project without my wonderful Fiskars self healing craft mat. Of course she wouldn’t let me take her photo all by herself, she had to have her best friends XL-circle, L-circle, M-circle and Threading Waters with her :)
Janine loves her Fiskateer scissors:
'My most used Fiskars tool would definitely be my Fiskateer scissors…they live in my second drawer and get used for anything and everything!!!'
Tamara's favourites:
These are my two favourite Fiskars tools, my Desktop Rotary Trimmer and my Microtip Scissors. I use these every time I craft and they are never far from my fingertips. This is the best trimmer I’ve come across, it is stable, allows me to cut accurately, can take little strips off cutting straight and the blades stay sharp for ages! I’ve had this one for a little while now and I can’t even begin to count the number of cuts it’s done. I also have the more portable version of it, but I prefer the larger one. The other tool that is never far away is my microtip scissors, I love them so much I have 2 pairs! These scissors are so sharp and cut very cleanly. I love the fact that they are spring loaded as it reduces the strain on my hands if I’m cutting our detailed designs or doing multiple cuts, I especially like using them on ribbon as they cut so cleanly.
And finally... I had trouble choosing just one tool to include in this photo but when it really came to the crunch I have to admit that I wouldn't ever complete a craft project without using my trusty old 12" trimmer.
I hope you all had fun with this prompt. I'll be back soon with your photos of 'faces'.
Kim xx
Phew, it has been such a busy few days but finally I've got a chance to try to catch up here.
I have some of Lee's photos that I haven't shared with you yet:
Day 20 - Abstract close-up "Loved this challenge....used my macro setting to get 'up close and personal' to this wonderful lily flower"
Day 21 - What Makes me smile "My new flower bed just at the front door, makes me realise spring is just
around the corner"
Day 22 - What bugs me "I LOVE to recyle but the bin is always overflowing, I am sure I make daily
trips to the garbage bins....why are our lives filled with such unnecessary packaging?"
Now I believe I am caught up to the 24th so I will put those photos together in a separate post...
Kim xx
I thought I would share a card today I made for a little friends birthday using the new Fiskars Lever Punches.
I used two different Lever Punches. Firstly I used the corner lever punch to create the pretty corners on the card. I finished off the card with the flower Lever Punch.
Fiskars Lever Punches are available through wholesaler SSS and next month should be available through Stamp It.
Cheers, Dawn
WOW......I believe that the Craft Clinic that was held in Spotlight Geelong last Saturday was a huge hit with customers.....
Pauline Yousif facilitated a fabulous clinic for Fynmark and she was also using the fabulous Fiskars Tools.
Thanks to the following ladies for allowing to have their pic taken whilst they were having fun playing with the tools and using the fabulous product from Fynmark.
Joyce Blundell, Joan Reynolds, Shirley Abbott, Lynn Dando,Margaret Stewart, Kylie Stewart and Barbara Bellchamers.
To see when the next Fiskars Craft Clinic is you can look over on the righthand sidebar on this Blog....
September 18th sees the next Clinics being held in
Spotlight CARNEGIE,VICTORIA with Dianne Whiteside
and in
Spotlight NEWCASTLE,NSW with Lorraine Lee.....
Keep watching out for some sneak peeks of the Make'n'takes on here as we get closer to that date....
FISKARS are facilitating quite a few of these Craft Clinics in SPOTLIGHT stores for the remainder of 2010......to give you all an opportunity to play with the fabulous Fiskars Tools and to learn how to use them ,learn a few tips and techniques from passionate crafters who love sharing their knowledge with others.
xoxo
Lyn Dwyer
