Fantail Digital Art

2012-01-19T16:49:00.000+13:00

Oooh! I have been given a Blog award by the lovely Ann at

Annie B Handmade

I am passing this award onto the following fabulous blogs ( in no particular order)

Wildflower Designs

Pallina Designs

Katies Cows and Udder Things

My 2 Monsters

Feel At Home

The award goes to lovely blogs with less than 200 followers, the rules are:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks for the award and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people in the blogsphere - other bloggers.

5. And, best of all – have fun and spread the Karma. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-24T15:33:00.000+13:00

A very Merry Christmas to you all, and a prosperous New Year!

Thank you for all your support over the past year. Whether you are celebrating in the sunshine or the snow have a wonderful family time!! xxooxx

SALE!

2011-11-21T15:15:00.001+13:00

Tonight 8-10pm (NZ) I'm having a Christmas Sale on Facebook! Most items will be at or below cost price! Sale items will be loaded into a new album on my facebook page around 7pm and sale will start at 8pm so you have a chance to take a look and pick out your goodies. :) From 8-10 it will be first to comment SOLD under a photo AND email me before 10.30pm tonight to confirm, then I'll send you payment details (Direct deposit or Paypal) See you then! :)

WINNER!

2011-10-30T23:12:00.001+13:00

A little later than planned, due to Live Aid on TV transporting me back to 1985, but here are the results of the Giveaway!
I let random.org choose the winner...and it chose...Number 5! Which turns out to be...Jenna from Jenna Young Photography & Design !
Congratulations Jenna! I will be in touch soon, you can start thinking about what you would like on your cards...remember any 12 cards and any personalisation. :)

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who entered, I wish you could all be winners. :)

500! THANK YOU!

2011-10-23T14:18:00.000+13:00

It's time to celebrate! WOOHOOO!
This week my Facebook page hit 500 'likers' (I wish there was a nicer word!) I want to thank every single one of you, especially those that find time to comment on posts, it is very much appreciated, I love the feedback and interaction! Life gets so busy it is easy to skim down our notifications/new posts on Facebook, see something we like but not find the time to comment or hit 'like' because there is just so much else going on at the same time. I know I am guilty of that every single day, so it really does mean a lot when I see you have taken the time to stop, read, and leave a comment. :)

As a little thank you I'm having a give away. With Christmas fast approaching I thought maybe you would like a set of 12 Christmas Cards, personalized just for you? These can be any of my card designs, and each personalised with whatever you like on the front, "Happy Christmas Grandma", "Seasons Greetings from the Smiths", "Luv ya Snugglebum!" ? You tell me! If you don't celebrate Christmas, don't worry, you can choose from any of my other card designs, and still get a set of any 12 personalised.
SO to enter, just leave a comment here, with your name and email address, or if you prefer email me at fantaildigitalart@yahoo.co.nz.
If you would like a 2nd or 3rd entry, just share this give away on Facebook, Blog, or Twitter and leave me a link in your comment.
Next Sunday 30th October at 8pm (NZ) I will let random.org pick a winner.
Here are the cards you will get to choose from, I'm working on a couple of new ones so hope they will be ready soon too!

GOOD LUCK! :) xx

Pre-Writing Skills Printables

2011-10-15T22:43:00.000+13:00

I've been having fun this evening making some pages to print and laminate for the girls I look after to try out this week. This sort of thing is great for fine motor skills, pencil control and left to right eye tracking which is so important in preparation for reading.

You can download and print these HERE. then either laminate or slide into plastic page protectors and use white board markers to take the rabbit down the path to the carrots etc.
Some crayons also work, but test them out yourself first, as I have found some just don't wipe off again, and others are very hard to write with on the surface, which is SO frustrating, especially if you are 3 or 4 years old!
If you do use them please let me know, I'd love to hear what you and your children liked/disliked about them! Thanks. :)

"My First Weather Chart" Free Printable :)

2011-09-25T14:39:00.000+13:00

To celebrate having my laptop back, repaired and good as new,(YAY!YAY!YAAAAYYYY!) I finally finished the "My First Weather Chart" that I was working on a couple of months ago.

This is a simple first weather chart/calendar designed for pre-schoolers. Print, cut, laminate and use with magnetic strips or velcro strips. If you have a Xyron or similar machine to run it through to laminate the front and add magnet to the back, then it's even easier! Any other ideas or ways you think of to use it I'd love to hear! I have included 2 versions of the Seasons page, so you can choose to use "Autumn" or "Fall".

You can download here - My First Weather Chart Please read the TOU file enclosed, for pattern credit and info on use. Feel free to share, but please link to this original post, thank you! :)

Here it is filled in for today -

I plan to keep mine on the fridge, and use it with the children I look after.

If you download and use this, please consider sharing a photo of it in use, or drop me an email, I'd love to hear about it. :)

Oooops!

2011-09-20T11:05:00.000+12:00

Hellooo....? Is anyone still there?!
HOW can almost 3 months have gone by so quickly?! I knew I had not written a new blog post for a while, not through lack of trying, more through lack of laptop and extra hours in the day, but 3 months?!
Well, having failed miserably at keeping up with Just a Minute, just pretend you read June July and August ages ago, and here is September!
Just a Minute...September 2011

Reading... Leonardo's Swans by Karen Essex.

The first half I was really enjoying it, but now I'm just wanting to finish it, maybe as I know I have "The Help" waiting for me at the library!
Watching... The crazy weather outside today! Big white horses out at sea, wind howling round the house, trees bending and recycling bins blowing down the road!
Loving... My other job, child-minding again. I have a 5 month old 4 days a week, a 16month old 3 days, and 2 sisters aged 2 and 4 one day a week. Wednesdays they are all here, pretty frantic but fun!

Craving... My own computer again! The intake fan stopped working on my laptop and it is still not fixed. Sharing one laptop with 2 children who both need it for homework, and one who needs it for school as well is driving me nuts!

Learning... Te Whāriki and how to include examples in the children's daily journals. It's basically the same things as I learnt studying for my NNEB in England, but grouped as 5 'strands' each with several goals, which actually makes it easier to relate them to the children's learning and development.

Planning... To combine my Fantail graphic design work with my Childcare and produce more children's artwork, charts, cards and educational items.

If you have any ideas or things you would like to see, please let me know! Some will be freebies, some for sale, but if you suggest it and I do it you will of course get the download for free.

My first new item is a Weather Chart, watch out for that one soon, it's almost finished and will be free to Blog and FB readers to print first. :)

Well this is all a little scary....!

2011-06-13T21:36:00.002+12:00

I am the featured seller on Craftme.co I knew it was coming, of course, but still a little scary to see it up there for all the world to see! Eeek! ;)

Markets!

2011-06-06T22:36:00.001+12:00

This weekend was the second of a new market at Milford, run by the lovely Annamaria who also organises the Orewa market. You can find more information about both on the Craft Market & Bazaar Orewa & Milford facebook page.

The weather was dreadful, but that didn't put off the determined shoppers, who were all so cheerful and friendly, even though they were dripping wet and blown sideways!
The market location, Milford Primary School, has a wonderful outlook, over Lake Pupuke and we were kept entertained by the many windsurfers that were taking advantage of the strong winds.

My table, shared with my daughter who was selling her handmade hair accessories, bags, hats and scarves to raise funds for an upcoming school trip.

Here is a small selection of the other stalls attending the market this week....

The talented Lin's Moz-Art table was next to ours and we fell in love with these adorable little bunnies, soft crocheted hats and beautiful clothing!

Claire of Jibba jabba with her gorgeous creations.

Ruth of RJ Photo art had a beautiful display of her wonderful photographic cards books and magnets.

These soft and snuggly bean bags from Beanz for Bubs made me wish I had a little one again!

My wall decals had a lot of interest, and lots of lovely comments!

Just a Minute - May

2011-05-29T14:06:00.000+12:00

Just squeezing this in at the end of the month again...how does time go so fast?!

Just a Minute...May 2011

Reading... The Handmade Market Place by Kari Chapin. I have heard several good reviews of this book so decided to order it. There are some great tips and ideas in there.

Watching... Photoshop tutorials on You Tube, and feeling a bit guilty! ;) Most of the month I try not to watch many videos etc as it uses up our internet, but then at the end of the month, when we roll over to dial up and can use as much as we want, it takes forever for them to load...! Oh for unlimited broadband! :)

Loving... The chill in the air, that almost 'English' feeling to the weather as Autumn comes along. Sunny days and chilly evenings. Snuggling up under the fleecy throw in an evening to watch TV, and digging out the fluffy BagPuss socks! If only Winter could stay like this, and not get colder and wetter, and colder!

Craving... Cups of tea and gingernuts!
I'm usually a coffee girl, but since having this cold and cough I've been craving cups of tea. The gingernuts are purely medicinal, of course.

Learning... that I need to find time to enjoy other crafts, do more sewing and altered art projects. Recently I've been helping my daughter make some hair scrunchies etc for her to sell to raise funds for a school trip, and I'd forgotten how much I used to love sewing. We are using my faithful sewing machine that I had as a 13th birthday present, it's not a flash computerised thing like you can get now but it does the job, if straight or zigzag is all you are after. The needles seem to have shrunk though, I used to get the cotton through no problems, now I can't even see the eye!

Planning... My daughters 21st birthday party. Not that I should be, how can she possibly be 21 when I'm only about 28?! It's going to be at home, and everyone has been asked to dress as their favourite childhood character. I can't decide between Florence of Magic Roundabout, or Weed from Bill and Ben. Come to think of it tottering around in a flowerpot trying to serve up food may be a tad akward, so maybe it will have to be Florence!

FREE Printable Colouring card for Mothers Day!

2011-05-06T12:23:00.002+12:00

Are you wondering if your children/ partner have remembered the significance of this coming Sunday?!
They might have some amazing surprise planned, or...maybe not!

Just in-case, print off this FREE Printable Mothers Day Card and set the littlies (or hubby?!) loose with the crayons!

For those of you in parts of the world that are not celebrating Mothers Day this coming Sunday, why not download and save the card so you are prepared for next year?! Or, even better (and something I try to get away with on 'English Mothers Day'!) announce to the family that you deserve a second one! ;)

Just Click the link above or HERE When the page pops up just click "Click here to start Download" then save to your chosen location ready to print as many as you need!

Have fun, and if you would like to share your creations I would really LOVE to see, flick me an email at fantaildigitalart@yahoo.co.nz with a photo! Thank you!
http://www.mediafire.com/?mw2rbq79bpl1wxp

Just a Minute - April

2011-04-27T23:16:00.000+12:00

Time for another 'Just a Minute'

Reading...
'Gentlemen and Player's by Joanne Harris. My sister lent me this at Christmas, so I thought it was about time I gave it a go. I must say I'm not overly impressed yet, but only a few chapters in, so will persevere.

Watching...
The year slip away...how can it be almost May?!

Loving...

The Easter holidays. Having 2 of my children at home and friends visiting from Australia.

My eldest daughter took this photo of one of the Easter ornaments our friends brought us over from Australia, isn't it cute?!

Craving...
A big bowl of Birds Custard. Nothing like it. YUM! :)

Learning... Some new tricks in Photoshop CS5 thanks to a friend who has bought it and kindly lets me play with her on her computer. Sigh.. One day I will upgrade my faithful CS3....I can dream!

Planning... to keep all my accounts neat and tidy this year! Hmmm, wish me luck!
I have monthly folders for receipts etc, and have drawn up a book to keep all the individual totals in under headings. (Power/phone/petrol etc)
I attempted this last year, but it didn't exactly happen quite as I meant it to...rummaging through a years worth of receipts, credit-card bills, statements and other paperwork to gather figures was not only time consuming, but about as enjoyable as pulling my toenails out.

If you’d like to do 'just a minute' on your own blog, or already do, please leave the link in the comments I'd love to see! :)

Road Trip!

2011-03-31T00:47:00.000+13:00

For months I'd been meaning to make a trip to Hawkes Bay to visit relatives, so when I was invited to supply the Photographers' Gallery Hawkes Bay with some prints and cards for their shop, I decided I had a good excuse for a road trip!
So it was that on Friday morning I set off, with Stanley (aka top of the range in car stereo system) in the passenger seat.

...and my fancy pants GPS all ready... (see now why I don't have a car radio? Where else would I tuck my printouts?!)

First stop was for lunch, at a lovely little picnic spot, somewhere between Hamilton and Tirau.

Then onwards, stopping a couple more times along the way. Just outside of Hastings, was the only time I got a bit lost, so Stanley tried to help out.

I made it to my relatives just in time to be taken out for dinner! Fish and Chips in a place called "Breakers." Yum!

On the Saturday I went to visit the gallery, left my work there and had look around. It really is a lovely place. The cafe has a lovely atmosphere too, and the coffee is well worth popping in for. Best flat white I've had in ages! There were some rather scrummy looking cakes too, but I managed to resist those, not sure how though!

My cousin showed me around the town, and we had a good look in some of the antique shops, galleries and other crafty shops as well as a stroll along by the sea.

If you aren't familiar with Napier, the town is famous for its Art Deco architecture, which is regarded as being one of the finest collections of Art Deco in the world. Following a devestating earthquake in February 1931 much of the city was destroyed, and as the architectural fashion of the time was Art Deco central Napier is almost entirely built in this style. If you would like to know more read HERE

This bronze sculpture in the town is beautiful. Named "A Wave in Time" it was made by Mark Whyte and is modeled on 'Miss Sheila Williams', the daughter of an architect of the era. She led the "New Napier Week Carnival" in 1933 to celebrate the towns recovery from the earthquake.

I stayed Saturday night in Archies Bunker Backpackers, a great little place tucked around a quiet corner. It was very clean and comfortable and at $35 for the night amazing value!

On Sunday morning I was out early and headed up a path I had spotted, hoping that I would get a good view from the top. Sadly it was so foggy all I got to see were the trees, and the houses at the top, but it was a nice bit of Sunday morning exercise!

Also on the Sunday I was lucky enough to be able to go along to the "Made it Here" meeting with some wonderful Hawkes Bay members of New Zealand Handmade. After coffee we headed out to wander around some of the lovely galleries and crafty shops in the area. It was so nice to meet some of the people that I 'know' online in real life, to share ideas and discuss our work together.

We found these adorable kiwis outside one of the shops.

When we said our goodbyes, I set off for the drive home. One last look at Napier beach,

a quick side trip to the Huka Falls View point

and a brief stop in Tokoroa

Then my next stop was Tirau, where I arrived ten minutes after the public toilets closed...! I took my mind off the 2 coffees and 500ml bottle of water I had consumed since breakfast by taking some photos around the town

before heading onwards, to the services at Pokeno. :)

I arrived home at 9.30pm, and slept like a log!

Just a Minute - March

2011-03-28T15:24:00.000+13:00

Reading... Still ploughing my way through a novel I picked up for £1 in Brighton for the plane home, yeah, it's not that thrilling!

Watching... The trees bending in the howling wind outside, birds being blown sideways as they frantically try to fly in a straight line, and the clouds speeding across the sky.

Loving... My weekend away in Napier! I caught up with my cousin and family, visited the Hawkes Bay Photographers Gallery to deliver my cards and prints, and met some of the lovely New Zealand Handmade ladies for coffee and a look around some local arty/crafty shops and galleries.

Photographers Gallery is a beautiful space, and the coffee was wonderful!

Love how we are all standing under the 'Antiques' sign! ;)

Craving... time to create, and sleep! After the 8 hour journey home yesterday, I'm torn between trying to catch up with things around the house, wanting to get on with some new ideas, and the overwhelming desire to give up and have a nap!

Planning... Things to do and places to go with our Easter holidays visitors from Australia.

More greeting card ideas, and new prints. So far just sketches in my notebook but hoping to get on with them soon.

If you’d like to do 'just a minute' on your own blog, or already do, please leave the link in the comments I'd love to see! :)

Giveaway Winner!

2011-03-18T20:53:00.000+13:00

OK it's time to announce the winner of my giveaway!
First let me tell you how I allocated numbers.
For a comment here you got 1 number, for saying which of my items you like best you got a second number.
For re-posting/blogging/FB linking etc you got one more number
Starting with Miss Delerious who had numbers 1 2 and 3 I continued allocating numbers to everyone ending with Greta at Topography who had numbers 23 and 24.
Random.Org chose number 13....

Which worked out to be AMANDA DICK who had numbers 12, 13 and 14.
CONGRATULATIONS Amanda, and THANK YOU so much to everyone who entered for your support, I wish you could all have won!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

2011-03-11T11:51:00.000+13:00

It's GIVEAWAY TIME! My Facebook page has reached 400 likers, thank you so much to each and every one of you!
It makes me all warm and fuzzy the level of support, encouragement and love shared through Facebook page interactions, I really do appreciate each and every like, comment and view. :)

SO what am I going to do to prove it? Give one lucky liker a set of my brand spanking new (so new in fact they are still at the printers, and the envelopes don't arrive till today!) Greeting Cards, that's what!
Thats 6 different designs perfect for any occasion. Each comes with a matching envelope. Of course that means you will have no excuses when you forget that special persons birthday/anniversary etc! ;)
Here they are ;

You can see them individually, and read the info behind each one in my Facebook album

SO what do you have to do? Well you have to be 'in it to win it' as they say, so leave a comment here, including your email address so that I can contact you if you win.
For a bit of extra fun, and to earn an EXTRA ENTRY, take a look at my new tabs at the top of the page, Shop Wall Decals and Shop Prints. Have a browse and tell me which is your favourite and why.
Feeling greedy and want 3 ENTRIES? Then re-post, twitter, blog, Facebook-linkie or anything else you can think of to promote my giveaway, come back and let me know here and you'll get a big smoochie smacker. OR alternatively, you can take that as an extra entry. ;)
If you can let me know which you have done in one post that will help my poor brain out when I'm counting entries, but if its 3 separate comments, then thats all good too. I love comments, who doesn't! :)
I'll let Mr Random.org choose a winner in one weeks time, thats Friday 18th March, at 8pm (New Zealand)
Open worldwide, including free shipping.

Christchurch...

2011-02-27T15:44:00.000+13:00

I have been trying to write a new blog post for almost a week. Since last Tuesday, 22nd February. The day of the devastating earthquake in Christchurch.
Every time I decide to start, I stop. Before I have even started. It seems so pointless, so trivial to even try.
No matter where in the world you are, you will have heard about the Earthquake in the news, seen the heartbreaking images, read the stories that make you weep. Here in New Zealand everywhere you go flags are at half mast, it is all anyone is talking about, everyone is stunned, wondering what they can do to help. Shops, churches, volunteers in the street all collecting donations to try to do just a little bit.
What can be said? Nothing I or anyone does can bring back those loved ones lost. To sit here safe in my home, the sun shining, my kids playing, the worst of my worries what to cook for dinner tonight...seems so unfair, and I feel so helpless when others are homeless, suffering, coping with the loss of loved ones, homes, historical buildings. The city will recover, the people will rebuild their lives and their city, but nothing will ever be the same again. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like. Nobody can, unless they are there or have lived through a similar situation. Seeing blog posts and Facebook updates from the people I follow who live there, with photos and descriptions of their experiences make it all so much more real.

Yesterday I came into my lounge to discover a puddle on the carpet, a dark line on the ceiling where water was dripping through and wrinkled bulging lining paper. Something in the bathroom above must be leaking through. For a few seconds I felt like bursting into tears, another thing to deal with, the cost of a plumber, the repair, the worry of the damage done... Then I stopped. How trivial! This is nothing, nothing at all. It is so insignificant it is laughable. I have a house, working sewerage, running water, power, phone. I, my family and friends are all alive and well. It suddenly put everything into perspective for me.

There are lots of organisations and charities doing their bit. You can of course donate through the Red Cross or the Salvation Army by calling 0800 53 00 00. All ANZ Bank branches are accepting donations through the account number 01-1839-0188939-00

Vodafone customers can donate either $3 by texting 'Quake' to 333 or $5 by texting 'Quake' to 555.

There are many others raising funds, but please, please be careful, it is sickening but true that there are those out there that would take advantage of the goodwill of people at this time, and scam emails, fraudsters and fake ids are all over the place. I can't say what I think should be done to people like that, they are the lowest of the low. It makes me feel sick and so, so cross.

Here are a few ideas,if you want to help out in another way. There are of course many more legit charities and groups out there doing their bit too.

If you make handmade items you could consider donating something to Handmade for Christchurch. This is being run by the most amazing group of NZ women, all freely giving their own time and expertise to run fundraising auctions on Trade Me Regardless of whether you have anything to donate yourself, you are sure to find something there that you would love to buy, and with no guilt as you know every single cent of the purchase price will be going to the Salvation Army and Christchurch Womens Refuge.

Li'l Magoolie is running a fundraiser Here

Charity Auctions for the Christchurch Earthquake 2011 are also running auctions on Trade Me, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross.

For those of you in the Christchurch area, know that the rest of us are all here behind you, sending prayers, strength and love, just wishing there was more we could do. Stay Strong. <3

Paris in Canada!

2011-02-15T15:35:00.000+13:00

Recently I sold one of my 'Paris je t'aime' prints to a lovely lady from Canada, Kathy, of Katie's Cows and Udder things. (Don't you just love the name?!) who told me she had plans for it as part of a mixed media canvas. Well, I always drool over anything like that, so was really excited about seeing the finished piece... and here it is!

I took the photograph of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Created the print with it in New Zealand,(with the fan going full blast in 90% humidity/28 deg heat) sent it to Canada where Kathy created this (in colder than I can begin to imagine temps!) No doubt the other lovely things she used to create the canvas came from all over, so it really is a worldwide creation! You can see it properly and also more of the amazing work she does on her blog and Etsy Shop I'm in love with her painted signs and bottles!

Felt Faves!

2011-02-09T15:32:00.000+13:00

It's been ages since I updated my Felt Faves, so long in fact that all items were related to Christmas!
So after a lovely browse for new 'got to have it' things here is my new Felt Faves, featuring works by Studiok, Whiteleaf, Sweet William, Poetry and Cloth, greenwarenz, Messagemark, waltzzz and me :)

Urban Rhythm By Walt...

waltzzz

$95.00

Mend And Make Do - P...

sweetwilliam

$17.00

Wild Strawberry: Nat...

whiteleaf

$31.00

Tree Print By Messag...

messagemark

$20.00

Pukeko

greenwarenz

$30.00

Wild Fennel 8x 16 In...

poetryandcloth

$50.00

Je T'aime

fantailDA

$25.00

Vintage 100% Nz Wool...

studiok

$65.00

2011-02-08T13:05:00.000+13:00

Just a Minute - February

Somehow I managed to totally miss January?! Not sure quite how that happened, but here is Februarys 'Just a Minute!' Once a month quick summary of events. If you are doing this too, or would like to start, please share your posts, I'd love to see!

Reading... A girly novel I picked up for £1 in Asda the day before we headed home! (Can't even remember what it's called, and it's too hot to go upstairs and find it! :))

And my most favourite cook book right now, Annabel Langbein's The Free Range Cook.

My children clubbed together and got me this for Christmas. I'm not totally convinced that there wasn't a slight element of "maybe NOW we'll get something decent for dinner" behind the idea! Either way we are all happy, I'm getting to try out some wonderful new recipes, and they are more than happy to be guinea pigs!

So far we have had Spicy Chicken Skewers, Creamy Moroccan Cucumber Salad, Baked lemongrass and chilli chicken and Ultimate Chocolate Cake.

There was also the attempt at Crusty Flat Bread, but we won't go there. Suffice it to say, always check you actually have 1 1/2 teaspoons of yeast left before you start...!

Watching... Border Patrol (or is it Border Security?!) Piha Rescue, Big Bang Theory. Rented the dvds 'Letters to Julliet' and 'The Blind Side' at the weekend which were both enjoyed.

Loving...Being home! Although we loved being away, had a fantastic time, and never wanted it to end, there is nothing like coming home after a long holiday.

Craving... An ice cold strawberry and watermelon smoothie. Mmmmm. I've got the watermelon, might have to pop out and find some strawberries!

Learning... That buidling a website is not easy, even if the software/templates etc try to fool you into believing it is!! Anyone out there with experience of Joomla? I'm seriously at the end of my tether with it all, and ready to scrape around in the bottom of my bag for some cash to get it done once and for all!!

Planning... The future of Fantail. Whether to take big scary steps or plod along happily in my little groove! Also planning for my daughters 21st birthday in June. I have a few ideas up my sleeve. ;)

If you’d like to do this on your own blog please leave the link in the comments I'd love to see! :)

Paris

2011-02-02T12:29:00.000+13:00

OK, so I know I've been really slack at keeping up with this blog while we were away, but now we are home it's catch up time! We had a fantastic time away, it was so great to catch up with family and old friends, see all our old haunts and just generally live life back 'home' for a couple of months. One of the things we did was spend a couple of days in Paris, so I thought I'd share a few photos ...
First stop was Sacré-Cœur

Then the Louvre

It was amazing!

So much to see, it was just incredible actually being there! Here is the Vénus en armes, 'a marble statue dating to the 2nd century in Italy, discovered in Rome in the 16th century. She originally belonged to the collection of Tiberio Ceuli, and was bought by the Cardinal Scipion Borghèse in 1607, where she decorated one of the niches of the large living room at the Borghèse villa. The Collection Borghèse was purchased by Napoleon I in 1807 and brought to Paris.'

The Wedding Feast at Cana. I had no idea how HUGE this really was in real life!
'In 1553, Veronese was summoned to Venice where he gave free rein to his decorative talent in vast canvases that blended masterful composition, splendid contemporary costumes, and luminous colors. The Wedding Feast at Cana graced the refectory designed by Palladio for the Benedictine monastery on the Venetian island of San Giorgio Maggiore. With masterly freedom of interpretation, Veronese transposed the biblical episode to the sumptuous setting of a Venetian wedding.'

Venus de Milo statue of the Greek goddess of love, discovered on the island of Melos in 1820

And of course we couldn't go to the Louvre without saying hello to Mona..!

Just a little security around her, a glass case (making it hard to get clear photos) and a wooden barrier! I always imagined this painting to be bigger than it is for some reason.

My children thoroughly enjoyed absorbing the culture...

Next stop was the Eiffel Tower

Where we briefly considered the iron staircase, then opted for the lift to the second floor.

After booking into the hotel we went for an evening stroll to see the Eiffel Tower lit up. This was when I really wished I'd taken a tripod!

The view from our hotel window. There is something about French shutters and flowers on the windowsills!

The next day we took a bus tour. Hopping on and off all day to see different things.

I'll never complain about SH1 again! The traffic up the Avenue des Champs-Élysées hasn't got any better since last time we were there.

The Place Vendome had the most amazing Christmas lights and decorations. We weren't quite sure the Ritz would let us in for tea though, so we saved a few Euros there! This photo is the moment I had to finally give in and admit it. My son is now taller than me.

Awesome display in a ballet shop window.

Notre Dame in the evening. Again, I should have carried that tripod around!

And of course, what trip to Paris would be complete without a few croissants and a pain au chocolat?

We had a wonderful meal at a restaurant recommended by our hotel. One look at the prices and I decided it must be owned by the receptionists brother and we walked on by! However, after investigating all other options in the area, this restaurant suddenly seemed quite reasonable, so with the excuse that it was a good cultural experience for my children, and $120 NZ later, the 3 of us had eaten! No entrees, no dessert just a main course each, tap water and one glass of house red for me.

But oh was it Gooooood!

Here is the restaurant, Le Septième Vin, 68 avenue Bosquet. If you ever find yourself in Paris I'd highly recommend it! The menus are on blackboards, and an English version is available too, if your school days French is a bit rusty, as mine certainly was!

All in all a fantastic couple of days, which we will remember for years to come.

Just a Minute - December

2010-12-27T00:23:00.000+13:00

Here I am again just about squeezing this in at the end of the month...it's time for 'Just a Minute!' Once a month quick summary of events. If you are doing this too, or would like to start, please share your posts, I'd love to see!

Reading... Just a little Run around the World by Rosie Swale Pope. This was one of the library books my mum had ready for returning when we arrived, so I renewed it, got stuck in and am really enjoying it. It's so real I almost feel like I have experienced it, but all without getting out of my warm snuggly bed! ;) Lol!

Watching... All the English TV we don't get at home! 'Come Fly with me' and 'Black Adders Christmas Carol' last night were particularly popular with the whole family, giving us all heaps of laughs.

Loving...SO much! Being with my parents and sister again! Seeing my children enjoying the winter, as they experience real snow, make snowmen, roll around in it, and bury each other. Catching up with old friends, central heating! Coming in from the freezing cold to a wonderfully warm house, roaring fire and hot mugs of tea!

Craving... Nothing edible thats for sure, unless it's a fruit! We had such a huge traditional Christmas dinner yesterday I don't know whether I will ever want to eat again!

Learning... All sorts of new possibilities with this book a friend gave me! Now I just need to take the plunge at get CS5 so that I can make use of the things I'm learning!

Planning... Fitting in all the things we want to do before we leave England to return home at the end of the month. So many places to go,friends to catch up with, and of course, shopping to be done!

If you’d like to do this on your own blog please leave the link in the comments I'd love to see! :)

London!

2010-12-18T23:04:00.000+13:00

A couple of days ago we took the train to London to play at being tourists.

First stop was Buckingham Palace.

Where we were just in time for the changing of the guards.

Even the Policemen looked cold!

We walked through Hyde Park, where this little squirrel posed for us, changing position, holding it, then changing again, making us all laugh!

Past Marble Arch

Then on to the Science Museum, where the kids had great fun pushing buttons, and exploring.

I wanted to take this gorgeous red Beetle home!

By the time we came out it was dark. After an attempt to get a bus, which got stuck in the city rush hour traffic, we jumped off and waked the rest of the way to "Forbidden Planet" a shop my son wanted to visit to check out their Anime selection.

Past Piccadilly Circus

and loads of pretty Christmas lights

To Covent Garden, where Rudolph was standing guard.

Giant baubles hanging from the ceiling!

Next stop was Trafalgar Square, where some carol Singers were performing under the enormous Christmas Tree.

. We caught the train home, and found that my parents had got the foot bath out for me! (I could get used to this pampering! ) Perfect end to an exhausting but fun day!

Dubai!

2010-12-10T09:07:00.000+13:00

Everything went smoothly with the trip from Auckland to Dubai.

We spent a wonderful couple of days discovering Dubai and soaking up the last we would see of the sun for a while. Before we left home I had booked tickets for us to go up the Burj Khalifa tower, luckily a friend who used to live in Dubai had advised us to book in advance as if you turn up on the day to buy tickets its 3 or 4 times the price!! Something to remember if you ever visit!

Burj Khalifa from the ground

The tower is the tallest building in the world, at over 828 metres high. The observation deck, on level 124 is where the high speed lifts whiz you up to from the ground. At a speed of 10m per second, so we were told. Now I must admit, that as someone who has trouble standing on a chair to put up the Christmas lights, I was slightly nervous about going quite so high! The odd thing is though, that when you get to the top and the lift doors open, the views are more like those from an airplane than from the top of a building, and it was strangely calm and not at all scary. We wandered around, taking photos and video for quite some time before heading back down to solid ground.

Views from the observation deck

On our second day we headed for the beach, a free bus from the hotel dropped us off at the gates to the beach park. There is a small fee to enter the park grounds which lead to the beach, all beautifully kept, clean and tidy. Soft white sand, clear blue sea. Bliss!

On our last afternoon we went on a Dune Safari. Jeeps take you out into the desert, and if you try not to think about all the fuel being used, the pollution and the 'tourist trap' side of it, it really is an amazing experience! :) Bouncing over the dunes, the drivers take great delight in showing off their skills tossing their passengers left and right as they skid sideways down dunes covering the car in sand before flying up the next one. We only saw one car that got stuck, but it was soon free and on it's way again.

After watching the sunset over the desert we were taken to the company's camp, where tents were set out with cushions and tables for us to sit at to eat. A free bar, henna painting, Shisha or Hubble bubble, camel rides, and belly dancers added to the atmosphere and made for a very enjoyable evening.

We really enjoyed our time in Dubai, it is such a different place, not like anywhere we have been before. Where else can you find enormous tower blocks and luxury hotels, right beside camels and gazelles gliding past in the desert? Very odd, and strangely compelling, I'd love to return and explore more one day.

Just a Minute - November

2010-11-18T09:53:00.000+13:00

I have often thought when I spot a good 'summary' type post on a blog, what a great idea it is and that I must try it, but it took this post by Mel of Wildflower to inspire me to try this out. Once a month quick summary of events. I'm hoping to continue this, why don't you join in?! For now here is my first "Just a Minute"

Reading... A Life on Gorge River by Robert Long. I actually bought this for my dad for Christmas, but made the mistake of reading the first page and now can't put it down!

Watching... Jo Frost Extreme Parental Guidance. It's probably not right, but you have to admit, seeing kids that make your own seem like little angels is in some smug way quite satisfying! I'm always either in total agreement with her ideas for the family or talking to the TV, telling them what I think they ought to do! Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Love his passion & enthusiasm for teaching kids to make good food choices by getting his menus into schools.

Loving... Summer! Long warm days, blue sky, open doors and windows with a breeze gently drifting through the house, walks on the beach, swimming in the sea..everything just seems so much calmer, happier and, well, just better now it's summer! I'ts almost enough to make me question why we are leaving summer soon to head to 2 months of winter...almost, but not quite!

Craving... Strawberries, fruit smoothies, fresh fruit salad ...excuse me I have to go..!

Learning... NCEA History Science Maths and Chemistry facts as my son revises for exams. It's scary how much I have forgotten/never learnt!
New things in Photoshop thanks to this book by Scott Kelby that I have dug out again.

Planning... Our trip to UK in 11 days! I had forgotten how much organising/planning/sorting there is to do getting ready for 2 months away from home, and 2 months of other people living in my house! Deciding how far to go on what to leave at friends houses (the computers for a start!) what to pack away in boxes and what to leave out for the family that will be calling our house home. Planning time with special friends and family in UK, Christmas gifts to take with us, places to go, things to do, people to see, how to turn my suitcase into a tardis...

If you’d like to do this on your own blog please leave the link in the comments I'd love to see! :)

Felt Faves!

2010-11-05T21:36:00.000+13:00

I finally updated my Felt Faves today, and seeing as panic seems to be setting in at our house as we try to get organised ready to take off in 3 weeks time, I decided to search for "Christmas" .
As usual there were far too many beautiful items to include all my picks, but here are 8 of them to help you start organizing your Christmas!
A beautiful needle felted Nativity Scene by softearthart to display, personalized Xmas mini stockings by Topography - Little Custom Shirts to hang from the fireplace, cute little felted robin decoration by jinglebugs to hang on the tree, Christmas Card Keeper by Lillypad to organise all those cards in style, a Beautiful heirloom solid timber Christmas Tree by living design, a funky mens BBQ Apron from She-wears shweshwe to give (and drop sublte hints that you want a break from the cooking!) gorgeous Christmas Card with 6 large heart magnet by Tinch Design Studio to send to someone overseas,and a clever little eye-spy bag from Kraftyas to give the preschooler in your life!

Click on any item to get a closer look, and do some shopping from your sofa!

I Spy Bag

kraftyas

$12.00

Christmas Gift Set: ...

tinch

$20.00

Herlioom Christmas T...

livingdesign

$195.00

Funky Mens Barbeque ...

she-wears

$45.00

Xmas Card Keeper - B...

lilypad

$28.00

Felted Christmas Dec...

jinglebugs

$8.50

Personalised Xmas Mi...

topography

$13.00

Super Sale Wool Nee...

softearthart

$30.00

YAY a Winner!!

2010-10-21T21:54:00.000+13:00

All in all today has been quite a busy and exciting day! First of all a friend came to collect a couple of boxes I have been storing in my garage. They belong to a friend of ours who moved to Australia, she is going to visit so will take them over. It was great to catch up over a coffee and take some time out for a bit.

I then headed out to the travel agent to book our Dubai stopovers. I have been pestering a friend who used to live there and she has helped me choose a hotel, so it should have been quite straight forward. Not so! After 25 mins on hold only to be cut off as soon as it was answered, the travel agent suggested he try again later and call me. While we were waiting I got him to check if I had arranged travel insurance (it was so long ago now that we booked that I had forgotten!) which turned out to be a good move, as yes we did have cover, but for a trip to New Caledonia! Lovely as that would be, that policy is no good to us in Dubai and UK! Needless to say I got him to correct that PDQ as my dad would say!

SO I left him hanging on the phone and headed off to get some mat board for a couple of prints.
On the way I thought how good 'Aroha' might look in a red frame.
As I walked into Factory Frames there right in front of me, the only one in the shop, was a bright red frame, absolutely perfect shade of red, and size for Aroha!!
I couldn't beleive my eyes, snapped it up quick and got a mat cut to fit. I'm really pleased with how it looks framed! I'll be taking this to the market at Parnell this Saturday, if it sells it will be hard to part with! lol!

I got home, and found that my interview is on New Zealand Handmade's blog today! Time for more Big Girl Panties...seeing it there in black and white for all the world to read is a little scary, but a whole lot exciting too! Thank you to the NZ Handmade team for the opportunity to be a part of such an awesome talented group of artists/crafters!

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, I did the draw for my 300+ Facebook giveaway tonight. I loved seeing all the entries and what the choices were, thank you so much to everyone who entered! I'm just sorry you can't all be winners, but watch out, only 78 more 'likers' (don't you just hate that word?!) to go and I'll do another one! :)

This time, Random.org chose number 7 -
which turned out to be no other than the lovely Katherine of Sleep and her Sisters!
If you haven't done so already check out her beautiful work, and if you are lucky enough to be in the area I believe she has an exhibition on right now too!
To be completely honest, I was a bit nervous about such a talented artist winning one of my prints, but after a lovely email reply I put on my big girl panties, and now am quite excited about getting it sent off tomorrow!

Giveaway Time!

2010-10-14T12:40:00.001+13:00

Wooohoooo! Thank you and welcome to all my new 'Likers' on Facebook..I have just passed 300 so decided it might be time for another little Giveaway! :)
SO here we go, this is the bit you want to read...
One Lucky Liker will win ANY unframed PRINT of their choice, at SRA3 size, these are just a bit bigger than A3 size, and easy to find frames for. (If you are in NZ Factory Frames do some awesome ones for this size - no I'm not connected to them at all, just LOVE their frames! ;) )

SO what do you have to do? It's simple, I promise! AND to keep things fair, it's open worldwide.
1. First of all, if you are not already a fan pop over to Fantail Digital Art on Facebook and click Like. I'd love it if you'd like to say hi too, and if you have a business page don't forget to leave me a linkie so I can come and visit you too!
2.Then, take a look at all my prints, either on Felt or my Facebook Albums and decide which you would choose. Remember, even if the one you like is shown as a Canvas, Boxed print, Card etc most can be prints too.
3. Come back here, and leave a comment below telling me of your choice along with your name and email address.
Please remember to leave both so that I can contact you if you are the lucky winner! If you are worried about bots getting your email address disguise it in some way, like by writing it with the @ like this (at) that's fine! ;)

That's it! I'll leave this open for one week, so the winner will be drawn on Thursday 21st October. If you are in other areas of the big wide world, remember I'm in NZ so this may be Wednesday 20th for you...don't want anyone leaving it till the last minute and missing out! ;)

Good luck and have fun! I can't wait to see which you choose!

Felt faves!

2010-10-07T08:54:00.000+13:00

Well I have been slack, I know, time has just been flying by and its ages since I did my pick of Faves on Felt so I really enjoyed having good old browse this morning.
Here's some of what I found, the talented artists and crafters are: riverbed, cheekpinchy cattaylor the stitchsmith bobbiepene and zippitydoodah.

Enjoy!

Cath Kidston Reversi...

riverbed

$50.00

Clara Soft Blue Flor...

cheekpinchy

$16.00

Make Your Own: Felt ...

cattaylor

$15.00

Fantail Cross Stitch...

thestitchsmith

$30.00

Jessie Handmade Bead...

bobbiepene

$47.00

Sweetheart Zip Brooch

zippitydoodah

$27.00

Happy Accidents

2010-09-23T14:50:00.000+12:00

Don't you just love it when you have a Happy Accident?!
Today I created an image to display the Oyster Catcher silhouettes that I recently finished extracting from my photos taken on the local beach.
This was meant to just be a quick preview to see how they looked all together, and to show people for their ideas and opinions on whether I should go ahead and get them made into wall graphics. BUT you know how it is when you sit down with your craft, things decide their own direction, inspiration takes over and before you know it you have faffed around for ages and created something that you were not expecting. In this case a 'quick preview' which ended up being a little over dressed!
I posted the preview on Facebook, where Melanie suggested that it become a print...luckily I had created it at a large file size through habit, and saved the layered psd file, so a quick change of the text, a bit of a tweek here and there, and voila!

I must admit, I feel a bit of a cheat to be honest, usually these things take hours, days, weeks often, to get from initial idea to finished artwork, and this was completed in about an hour!
I quite like it though, so I'm going to get a first print done tomorrow to see if any adjustments are needed.

What Happy Accidents have you had recently? I'd love to hear about them!

Freebie template - another view

2010-09-12T15:03:00.002+12:00

I have been asked by a couple of people how exactly the free template I linked to in this post works, and also how to unzip it, and then rearrange the photo spaces, so I thought I'd do a little tutorial on it.
Here is the blank template : It is made as a 12x12 inch 200dpi file.

When you first download the template, it is in a Zip file. Think of a Zip as a bag, if you are carrying some shopping home it is hard to keep it all together without a bag, this is the same with a Zip file, it holds the contents neatly together until you open it and take them out.
To 'unzip' it you may need a program, but if you use Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 these come with their own inbuilt program to unzip files. I 'think' on a mac there is a program already installed, if not you can download one.
Browse to the zip location (if you are not sure where you saved it to or can't find it you can search for it, it is named "9phototemplate.zip") Right click it, what happens next will vary depending on the program you are using, but it will say something like "extract all files" or you will see an option "extract to". Click that and a box will pop up for you to browse to the location you wish to save the template to. Again depending on the program you are using, you may need to make a folder yourself, or it may do it automatically when you unzip it. In some programs there is an option for you to choose whether it makes a new folder or not, but the default place for the files to be extracted to is the same location as the Zip File. For this template don't worry too much about it as there are only 2 files, the template and the TOU/instructions so if it pops them down seperately you can always make a folder afterwards to keep them in together. Please keep the TOU with the template so that you can easily find it in a few months time when you can't remember where the template came from or what you can use it for! ;)
Hit OK or Next and the files will extract to your harddrive. If you are using XP/ Vista/Windows 7 you can choose whether or not you want the extracted files to be automatically displayed when extracted. Otherwise browse to the folder to open them.
Open the template in your photo editing program and follow the instructions included with the template.

I have made it as one template rather than each photo space being a separate file to keep it as easy to use as possible, but you can chop it about and duplicate bits to make the combination of spaces that suits your project best.
For example, from this one template I have made several others to suit different projects, here is one of them:

For this I deleted the smaller square shapes, duplicated the rectangles and re-arranged to get a neater looking square grid.
One of the easiest ways to do this in Photoshop is to use the Rectangular Marquee tool, dragging it out around the area of the blank template that you want to duplicate, then hit CTRL + J this duplicates that area into its own layer. Continue doing this until you have the shapes you want, and move them into place. You can then use the same selection method to select the areas you don't want any more from the original template layer and delete them, or delete the whole layer if you have completely changed it and are not using any areas of it. As they are just shapes you can resize then any way you wish using Free Transform (Ctrl+T) in photoshop.

Here is another template I made by doing just that:

There are endless possibilities! Have fun changing it around to suit your project, and please consider sharing what you have made here, I'd love to see! :)

Credits for layout example "9 June 2009" are: Out Of the Toybox 2 Page Kit by Nicole Young and

DSP Audrey font from November 2008 Club Digital both from Digital Scrapbook Place Store.

Pookickers

2010-09-09T17:50:00.000+12:00

When we first moved to New Zealand and came across Pukekos for the first time I was struck by the beautiful tones of their feathers, and the way they somehow manage to be elegant and clumsy at the same time!

Pukekos are also known as Swamp Hens, they are members of the Rail family, which also includes the Weka, Crake and the endangered Takehe, (which looks quite like a big, fat, well fed, lazy Pukeko!)Their chicks are tiny, navy blue fluff balls, that hop along behind the parent Pukeko oblivious to quite how adorable they are.

My kids were only very young when we saw our first Pukeko, and misheard the name, then proceeded to fall about it fits of giggles at such a silly bird as the "Poo-Kicker" You can imagine all the conversations that followed about why they have such big feet! Anyway, the name stuck and in our house at least these beautiful birds will forever be known as Pookickers.
When I started creating my range of wall graphics, I had to make a Pukeko, and here he is, in my hallway now ready to greet all our visitors!

To get a better idea of the size, here he is next to my shoes, and yes I know they need a good clean!

And one last photo of him, or is he a her?! I'm really happy with how he has turned out, and also with the quality of the vinyl, it was really super easy to apply, and is so smooth and flat on the wall everyone can't help touching it and stroking it, and saying how they were so sure it was painted on the wall!
If you would like your very own Pukeko leave me a comment here or flick me an email, (fantaildigitalart at yahoo dot co dot nz) prices are in NZD. The special introductory price for this size (400mm tall) is just $30 but that is just for one more week! (That is practically cost price, so they are going to have to go up a little!) Have a look at my other shapes and word art in my album here Wall Graphics all orders placed before 18th September will be at these special reader/follower introductory prices! :)

Felt Faves!

2010-09-08T14:54:00.000+12:00

This week for my picks from Felt I have chosen items from members in the Canterbury region, particularly Christchurch. Even if you are not in NZ you will have heard about the dreadful 7.1 earthquake which hit in the early hours of Sunday morning. After shocks continue, with the most recent having been just 1 hour ago as I type. I cannot imagine how scary it must be to be living there right now, never knowing when the next after shock is going to hit, or how bad it will be. If you are going to buy something special on Felt this week, please consider buying from one of the members living in the Christchurch area. We can do so little to help from so far away, but every sale helps even just a tiny bit.
Please remember that with the situation there at the moment, it may take a while for your order to be processed, let them know you are in no hurry, we don't want to cause extra stress just help out with a few purchases! :)
SO without further ado here are my picks for this week, there are so many talented people in Christchurch, I was blown away when I searched for them all! I couldn't choose something from each and everyone of them, but here is a selection to get you started -
original redflax headband – reversible, ooak, 100% upcycled funkyness! Dragonfly wrap dress by gowild, Victorian inspired Nikau necklacefrom blackswan, ' Hemi" original painting by Angelique Monaghan from wildones, Superstar Vintage Necklace by relique and last but most definitely not least, Scented mini teardrop candles – set of five from roseinthorns

Superstar Vintage Ne...

relique

$80.00

Scented Mini Teardro...

roseinthorns

$40.00

Dragonfly Wrap Dress

gowild

$40.00

Original Redflax Hea...

redflax

$16.00

' Hemi" Original Pai...

wildones

$140.00

Nikau Necklace â�� V...

blackswan

$35.00

Freebie Time! :)

2010-09-07T19:28:00.003+12:00

** Mediafire who I usually use for hosting are down at the moment so I have changed the link to another filehost temporarily. When you click it, choose download as free user and then download. :)

Last year I took part in a project on Digital Scrapbook Place called "9 on the 9th" Every month for the entire year I took 9 photographs on, yes, you guessed it, the 9th of the month.
To keep some consistency throughout I designed a template which I used each month for my 9 photos.
Since then I have used this same template numerous times, it's amazing how many different looks you can get with the one template! Rotate it, flip it, chop it and end up with loads of totally different looks!
Here it is in use -

For the background and elements I usedWaterworld page kit, by Tina Chambers (Splash recoloured and some flowers recoloured and chopped about!)Available from the store at DSP

SO, you will be saying, yes, yes, all very nice, but where's the freebie?!

Here it is! 9 Photo Template

I am giving you my trusted template, download it, unzip it, play with it. Do what ever you like with it, within reason!
Before you download here are a few common questions you may be wondering about;
YES you may use the template for your commercial projects.
YES you may use the template to display images on your blog or website.
YES you may use the template to create storyboards/canvasses/collages for clients.
YES I will do it for you if you don't have the time/inclination/know how, for a small fee. :)
YES you may use the template to create a scrapbook page about the time Uncle Fred danced in his Y fronts with a traffic cone on his head...but please, you really do not need to share that one! No. Really ;)
BUT please credit Fantail Digital Art and add a link back to my blog when possible.
NO you may not download my template, re-package it, add your name and sell as your own. Because, well, that's just not nice.
Don't forget to let me know how you use this, I'd love to see!

The Results...

2010-09-03T15:13:00.000+12:00

After my previous post, where I was practicing with using white vinegar to set ink jet prints, I thought Id give you an update.
After soaking in vinegar for 10 mins, I left the images to dry naturally. I then ironed them, with the iron set to high, but no steam. I pressed each image for a few minutes, moving the iron around so as not to burn the fabric. Once they were totally cool I hand washed them.

The ballerina I washed in hot water, with handsoap. There was no marked difference, no ink leakage and I was getting quite excited, until I got a bit rough with it and gave it a good scrub,

then I found a slight smudging around the image, and slight fading to the colour. (please excuse dreadful photo!)

I took the fabric with the Tui and the cabbage tree on, and washed by hand in warm water, gently, no scrubbing just gently squeezing it in the soapy water.

There was very little damage done, very little if any fading, but perhaps very slight smudging around the edges, although this is not all over.

Next I took the seagul, again washed gently in warm water with soap.

The poor little guy did not come out too well! The image has faded to grey with a pink tinge to the edges, and all pale areas and detail have all but gone.

I compared these results to a sheep image, which has not been soaked in vinegar, but was ironed with a hot iron prior to washing in warm soapy water, and then accidentally got left on top of a damp facecloth for a couple of days. (don't ask, anything is possible in this house!)

As you can see, the ink has run, but mainly just the colours. The red has come out of the black, and the green of the leaves has seperated into blue and yellow and smudged around the image.

SO the conclusion to all this madness? Vinegar soak works to a certain extent. It is definitely worth doing more investigating into this method.
It works best on solid black images, probably as there is some loss of colour, but this isn't noticed as much on a solid black image. For items that are going to be constantly in the wash it probably is not going to work, but for things like labels in bags, or pictures that are not going to be washed often, and then can be washed with care it seems to be fine.
I am going to try this again, as there are several factors that may have affected my results.
1. I did not have a lot of vinegar left, so used the same bowl of vinegar for each image one after the other.
2. It was a dull day, and my hairdryer was broken, so I was unable to dry the fabric with heat immediately after soaking and rinsing, maybe this makes a difference? Next time I will tumble dry or iron them right after rinsing.
3. The sheep is not a good comparison to the other images, as it is highly likely that being left damp for a couple of days is what did most of the damage rather than the washing!

So there you have it. If you give this a go I'd love to hear any tips or success stories, in the mean time I will continue to test and search for a natural product that make the images totally colour fast.
I'd like to say a big thank you to Sarah from Dolls and Daydreams who got me started on this with her fabulous tutorial!

The wonders of White Vinegar!

2010-09-02T12:53:00.000+12:00

White Vinegar, such an unassuming, quiet little thing, yet with so many talents!
Use it for household cleaning, window cleaning, deodorizing, toilet cleaner, as a rinse aid, to kill weeds, and slugs, discourage cats from using your flower bed as their private toilet, get rid of ants, as an antiseptic for grazes, removing rust, keeping flies away... and after that lot, have a well deserved sit down with a bowl of hot chips sprinkled with vinegar!
These are just some of the uses I know of and use, there will be many, many more, what do you use white vinegar for?
You will notice that my bottle is empty, I'm sure the supermarket must think I drink it, or own a chip shop, I seem to buy a bottle every time I go near the place!
The reason it is empty today is that I have been trying out an exciting new use for it, which I read on Dolls And Daydreams Blog after reading their post on Facebook. Setting ink after printing with an ink jet printer onto fabric!!

You may remember that I have been experimenting with this, using Jac paper when I had no freezer paper to attach the fabric to, and printing my desgins and the images I created for my wall graphics onto fabric to stitch onto the pile of bags I have sitting here patiently waiting to be used. All went well until it came to setting the ink...

...the chemical laden products that you can buy are not only expensive but hard to find, so I was really excited to see this post, claiming that good old White Vinegar does the trick!! Needless to say, I dashed off right away, grabbed my faithful bottle, a bowl and my images and set to it soaking them one by one.

They are now all hanging up to air dry.

No I'm not trying to prove how patient I am, believe me the idea of using the hairdryer as suggested by Sarah on the blog, is more than appealing, but sadly my hairdryer blew up, quite spectacularly actually, with an odd bang-pop-whoosh sound and a big flash, a few days ago when my daughter turned it on, so that option is a no go. (Oh yes, she's fine, thanks for worrying, it shorted out, gave her a fright but no electrocution!)
So now I wait, hoping that the sun will come out and trying to resist the urge to take the fabric outside onto my deck and dance around waving it in the air. Once they are dry I'm going to set to it trying to get the ink out, wash it, scrub it, put it through all the rigorous tests I can think of, and see what happens!
I have some cards to collect from the printers so I might go and do that to take my mind off the waiting. Funnily enough the printers is right next door to the chip shop and all this playing with vinegar has left me hungry...!

Little Visitors!

2010-08-16T16:34:00.002+12:00

You may remember this post about the cute little Harry Potter finger puppets I won from New Zealand Handmade's draw. They were made by the extremely talented Joy of Kazzleblue.
Well, today I had decided to tackle the accounts and figures for Mr Taxman, not something I look forward to doing, and have been putting off for some time! After 4 hours of wading through receipts etc my head was pounding and I was more than ready for a break when I heard a knock at the door...

Look who it was!

WOOOHOOOO!!

After excited introductions hellos and hugs we went out on the deck for a photo shoot.

They were a little wary of Cassie-Cat, and quickly headed back inside.

After a little snack

they came with me into the office to help me finish some work.

At first they were well behaved and watched quietly..

but it wasn't long before they started being a little mischievous

so I let them go off and explore their new home

Harry lead the fearless expedition team as they encountered many strange lifeforms

and climbed enormous mountains

By this time they were exhausted

and I found them all snuggled up on the sofa for an afternoon nap

so I tucked them in and went back to finishing some work while they slept!

THANK YOU! To New Zealand Handmade and Kazzalblue for my new little friends! The photos really do not do them justice, they are quite adorable, made with so much attention to detail, and just amazing!

My kids got home from school just now and were both ooohing and aaahhhing over them! Yes, even 16 year old boy was impressed, and summed it up perfectly with a "WOW!COOL!"

Friday Felt Faves!

2010-08-13T09:43:00.000+12:00

It's blowing a gale outside, it's 9.30am and I still have the lights and the heater on in the house. So what else would I decide to choose for my theme this week other than Springtime, we can all dream! :)
Check out these beautiful items by clicking on any of them for a closer look. You also won't be able to resist having a little browse around each shop as you go, maybe even get some gifts or treats for youself along the way! :) What better way to brighten up this dull and dismal day?!

Kimono Flower Croche...

crochetbury

$4.00

Painting Daisies Wir...

bobbiepene

$36.00

Stunning Upcycled Re...

riverbed

$38.00

Black Filigree Earri...

songbird

$12.00

Heartfelt - Handmade...

feelathome

$30.00

Invitations To Fit A...

fantailDA

$2.00

WOOHOOO!!!

2010-08-04T00:01:00.000+12:00

I'm so excited! I just heard that I won the giveaway at New Zealand Handmade to celebrate their reaching over 200 fans on Facebook! The extremely talented and generous Joy at Kazzalblue has made some gorgeous little Harry Potter Finger Puppets!
They are just adorable and I can't wait to play with them! The description says "they are perfect for toddlers pretend play... and just the right size for little fingers" I have 2 little fingers and lots of imagination so I'm sure we will get on fabulously! :) I may even let visiting toddlers try them out, if they are careful of course!

Sparkling Spoons

2010-08-02T15:03:00.000+12:00

A while ago I mentioned that I was going to try out some recipes from The Frugal Kiwi Blog, including this one for dishwasher powder.
I have tried a complicated natural dishwasher concoction before, which involved baking soda and a lemon, amongst other things, but it really didn't cut the mustard, literally.

I made up a batch of this dishwasher powder, so simple and easy that I really did wonder if it was going to just be a waste of the $10 spent on Borax and Baking soda. How wrong could I be? I have been using it for almost a week now, and can honestly say we have got better results over the past week than is normal with the chemical laden 'Active" dishwasher powder I normally buy. EVERYTHING is coming out spotless and sparkling, no piles of plates that still have marks on them, or mugs with cocoa remains in the bottom dumped by the sink, I still can't quite believe it but so far the results are amazing!

I still have to try out the washing powder. I bought all the ingredients, but I may have got a bit carried away and just mixed them all together without reading the instructions HERE again...! I'll try and botch my way through that one next, and report back on the results!

Thank you!!

2010-07-30T12:49:00.002+12:00

To celebrate the milestone of 200 'likers' on Facebook I'm having a little giveaway to say thank you to everyone who gives their support both on Facebook and here on my blog.
You are just the best and so appreciated! :)

I have designed a couple of cards for you to download and print. I hope you like them!

I printed them out to check them and found that my inks were running low, however it turned into a happy accident as I really like the teal colour the photo card has come out, it is meant to be more of a green! Anyway, if you have a photo editing program you use you may like to play around with the hue/saturation sliders and see what other cool colour combination's you can make!

Print as many as you like, but please read the TOU file included, basically, print, alter, give, but don't sell or claim as your own. :) Thank you!

Download HERE Password is aroha all lower case. Any problems please let me know and I'll sort it out.

I really would LOVE to see what you do with these, so please send me a link or a comment if you get the time!

Frugal Kiwi...

2010-07-27T12:14:00.000+12:00

I'm not sure how I have not come across it before, or how in my extensive googling for natural home made cleaning products I managed to miss it, but finally, and most likely yonks after every other person on the planet, I have discovered this amazing blog - The Frugal Kiwi. Not only is it full of useful recipes, concoctions, tips and ideas, it's all written so well, with a touch of humour. And there's marshmallows. Now I'm in heaven ;)
Honestly, if you do happen to be that one other person who does not have this on their blog list yet, pay them a visit.
I did, just quickly before getting on with some work. So I thought. ;)
Now over an hour later I have a shopping list of ingredients that I can not only get in NZ, but get just down the road! I'm going to make Dishwasher powder, Washing detergent, deoderant and even shampoo..although I may leave trying the shampoo until I know I'll be home for a few days, just in case!
I already make my own household cleaner and use white vinegar as rinse aid in my dishwasher, but haven't yet been able to find a dishwasher powder concoction that did a satisfactory job in our house. Dried on Weetbix, day old spag bol plates... you get the idea, not an easy mission for even the nastiest scary chemical filled products, so it will be interesting to see how this one does, I will report back with results! Of course I could always just wash up, you know, in the sink, but that would be like getting the iron out, I'd need at least a week to psych myself up for that. Besides, the dishwasher is the kids job. I cook, they dishwasher. Just not with the same urgency, hence the dried on weetbix!

Friday Felt Faves!

2010-07-26T10:31:00.000+12:00

Ok, so I do know it's not Friday, but it's totally not my fault, the Time Gobbling Monster has been visiting my house again, come to think of it he seems to be making this his permanent residence these days!
Over the past couple of weeks I have been adding anything that caught my eye on Felt.. to my showcase. Not a good idea, wow was it hard work weedling it down to 6 items! Eventually I got there, so here they are, 6 of the most beautiful 'need it now' items out of 100's ...

"tui" Hapene Bouquet...

hapene

$62.95

Set Of Four Japanese...

freedom

$12.00

Fantail Wall Clock

laserline

$65.00

Mini Scented Cube Ca...

roseinthorns

$40.00

Peacock Wonderland ...

zippitydoodah

$30.00

Embellished Paua Bra...

wildflower

$41.00

"Tui" Hapene Bouquet from Hapene. The more I see the amazing creations like this that are possible, the more I fall in love with them!
Set of four Japanese paper magnets from Freedom Creative. Not only are they beautiful, they are apparently super strong, just what I need for my new magnetic noticeboard! :)
Fantail Wall clock from Laserline, this is my "Fantail" pick for this week, I can just see it on my office wall!
Mini scented cube candles by Roseinthorns, I almost bought some of these at the Auckland Art & Craft Fair at the weekend, went off to get more funds and in the buzz and excitement of the whole market and all it's yummy distractions forgot to go back!
Peacock Wonderland Flower Brooch from Zippitydoodah. Another amazing artist I drooled over at the Fair, this is one of my favourite of their broaches, but really they are all just gorgeous, I think I need one for everyday of the week.
Lastly, but most definitely not least, is the Embellished Paua Bracelet - Blues and Greens by Widlflower. Whenever I see Mel's work my jaw drops again. Having tried, and I'm sure my very patient tutor would agree, failed miserably, at making the most simple jewelery in the past her talent just astounds me!
It is also no coincidence that this would go nicely with the aforementioned broach!
So is this where I mention it's just 6 short weeks till my birthday?! ;)

New product - Sticky Wall Pix!

2010-07-22T12:44:00.000+12:00

In the next couple of days I will be collecting the first run of my Farmyard Noises animals in Sticky removable and reusable Vinyl wall shapes. I can't wait to see how they've come out!
They will be available in a set of 7 shapes, all the animals plus a tractor. I can't share the preview the printer sent me, but here are the same shapes in a picture.
The duck will be a little larger than shown here. If there is enough interest I will do a second set with extras like the grass, a fence, shed, pond etc.

After checking out a few tests the printer did with different materials I chose a medium weight tacky backed vinyl for the material. They will be easy to apply and remove without tearing and leave no marks on your wall, perfect if you are renting but want to personalize your space, and easy to change the look of a room as often as you like! They are reusable, so you can carefully peel them off and place them elsewhere. I have kept the outlines on these as simple as possible to make moving them easy, but like any 'sticky' surface, it will loose tack if you drop it sticky side down on the carpet or move it heaps of times. They are not suitable for kids to play with and move around, although I am still working on the possibility of that option for the future.

For a long time now I have wanted to do some Word Art for walls, and have got together a few ideas which I will be discussing with the printer.
Here are a few of my ideas, please let me know what you think, would you/anyone you know consider buying any of these. or similar designs?! Would you prefer them to come in black, or colours? What word or phrase would you like to see? I'd love to hear, as I really value your opinions. :) Please excuse the crappy photos, if I go ahead with this idea I will do a proper photo shoot for them!

I'd love to offer customized words too, but with the set up charge for each new design it would bump the price right up for the customer as I would not be able to absorb the set up charge myself as I am doing with the other images that will be re-printed. That is an option I'm looking into for the future though, names and your own choice of colour, font etc.

Big Feet!

2010-07-10T11:12:00.000+12:00

When my sons friends were here for his birthday sleepover, their shoes in the hallway caught my eye, it amused me how they varied in size, and the biggest were just plain hilarious! Well, little things and all that, I set to arranging them in size order for a photo...!

For the layout I used :
"Remember the Year Value Collection" by Tina Chambers - tape, date stamp, brads

"Torn and tattered Beachy Papers" by Meryl Bartho - torn paper

"Rustic Charm Page Kit" by Heidi Kuester - background

All from the Digital Scrapbook Place Store

Friday Felt Faves!

2010-07-09T20:31:00.000+12:00

I hope you are keeping warm this cold Friday evening!
For this weeks Faves on Felt I decided to go with a theme of birds.
Oh ok, I know the adorable Superman and Clark Kent finger puppets by Kazzalblue aren't exactly birds, but they fly right?! They were just too cute to pass by!
Other items this week are by these talented crafters - My2Monsters, Redflax, Heidelburg, t-and-g and my Fantail pick this week is by Lastik. My own product this week is my Custom Owl cards.
Click on the images to take a closer look!

Baby's Felt Book

t-and-g

$25.00

Superman/clark Kent ...

lovelythings

$6.50

"fiona" The Kiwi

heidelberg

$24.95

Owl Family Custom Card

fantailDA

$4.50

Ruby The Ruru (morep...

redflax

$46.00

Two Cheeky Fantails ...

lastik

$39.00

Kiwi Finger Puppet

my2monsters

$4.50

June Newsletter

2010-06-30T12:21:00.000+12:00

June's Fantail newsletter has just gone out. :) Well it is still June, just about! If you have any problems with the free download just let me know, It seems to be working spasmodically!
Not signed up yet? Add your details today and I'll send out again tomorrow so you don't miss out!

This months freebie is this cute Chandelier Vector shape, for you to use more or less however you want. Please read the TOU file included in the download.

I have had a few ideas for using this myself, and would love to see what you come up with! Add it to a funky collage, replace your old lamp in that photo with it, use it on invitations for your next drinks party...I'm sure you will come up with heaps more creative ideas than I have done! Whatever you do with it, I would love to see, so send me a link or a picture and if you say it's ok I'll show of your design here or in Julys newsletter!

Friday's Fortnightly Felt Faves!

2010-06-25T09:41:00.000+12:00

For my Fortnightly Friday Felt Faves this week I used the search word 'pink' and found these lovely items, we have a beautiful hand embroidered cushion by unhinged, a stunning Japanese chiyogami paper coated bangle by peewee, a gorgeous little bolero jacket by hemdesign, a beautiful Handmade Scrabble Tile Butterfly Pendant from lessbythesea, my Fantail pick this week is the lovely mosaic fantail by fracturedart, and my pick of my own products this week is my Auckland Skyline, Evening Glow print.
Enjoy!

Hand Embroidered Cus...

unhinged

$50.00

Auckland Skyline Eve...

$40.00

$65.00

$20.00

$29.00

Choose A Butterfly.....

leebythesea

$12.00

Singing the praises of warmth!

2010-06-15T10:47:00.001+12:00

I realized today, that I had forgotten what it is like to sit inside a house, in the middle of winter and actually be warm!
When we lived in UK we had central heating, double glazing, excellent insulation etc and just took it for granted that after being outside wrapped up in coat scarf gloves and as many jumpers as could possibly fit underneath, we would enter the house, strip off the layers and be warm. It's just how it was!
When we moved to NZ and were looking for a house the real estate agent looked at us as if we were aliens when we used words like double glazing, radiators, even heating! So, we resigned ourselves to the fact that this was just how it was. Beautiful long hot sunny days in summer, so you must put up with the cold penetrating every atom of your being for 3 months or so during winter.
We have had a small fan heater which blasted out an impressive amount of heat,while it was on, then the whole room cooled down as soon as it was off. At the same time we could practically see the dollars flying out of the window every time we turned it on.
So when I heard about the new LHZ Radiant Heaters, my ears pricked up, this was something I could relate to and easily get very attached to! I am not one to run in eyes closed, so I did some research on oil filled heaters, electric heaters, gas heaters, heat pumps...the list goes on, but time and time again it came out that this would be the most economical to run, plus it didn't hurt that it has that familiar comforting 'radiator' look, but slimmed down and streamlined. As we already have the HRV system in place, that will continually spread the heat around the house.
I was sold, it was love at first sight. So my new LHZ heater arrived yesterday, and I can honestly say it was worth every single cent!
Here she is, isn't she gorgeous?!

Signing off for now, sitting snug and cosy in my lounge! :)

Friday Felt Faves!

2010-06-11T18:50:00.001+12:00

My Fridays Felt ...like something different Faves this week include a lovely Wrap Jacket from She Wears Shweshwe ,Beach Huts print by Fantail Digital Art, Strawberry hat from gawjus, Pretty in pink wellies from Retrofemme, Betty Bunny by Harpsters, Teddy Bear Hat from kutekiwi and my Fantail Pick this week is this adorable Fantail and hot pink Table Runner by sandrawaine, Take a closer look at them by clicking on the pics.

Lovely Wrap Lined Ja...

she-wears

$155.00

Beach Huts

fantailDA

$46.00

Strawberry Hat - Nz ...

gawjus

$35.00

"pretty In Pink Well...

retrofemme

$25.00

Betty Bunny - Blue S...

harpsters

$30.00

Teddy Bear Hat (adult)

kutekiwi

$25.00

Screen Printed Table...

sandrawaine

$38.00

BBBRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

2010-05-28T12:46:00.000+12:00

Winter has definitely arrived here in Auckland, so my picks for this weeks Friday Faves on Felt are all results from search words, warm, snuggly and winter!
We have some gorgeous crocheted hats for your little one by lovebaby, a corduroy butterflies and flowers pinafore dress by Cotton Kiwi, a gorgeous soft stormy skies scarf by normie, black tapestry rucksack by Hast and a soft and snuggly buggy liner/blanket/baby snuggler by napsak. My Fantail pick this week is a beautiful native birds bag by boocraft, and my pick from my own products this week has to be 'Dream' as it reminds me of hot summer days!

$55.00

$25.00

Black Tapestry Rucks...

hast

$40.00

Stormy Skies Scarf

normie

$40.00

Native Birds Print S...

boocraft

$50.00

Butterflies And Flow...

cotton_kiwi

$28.00

Baby Crochet Wool Be...

lovebaby

$15.00

New background!

2010-05-26T17:02:00.001+12:00

I finally got around to making a new background for this blog today, but now I'm not too sure its working! It's going to depend on the screen display settings I think!
If you have a moment I'd love you to tell me what you can see? There are meant to be 3 little Pukekos on the right at the bottom, and a bigger Pukeko on the left, with the 2 trees background as a base behind.

On a very exciting note today, I heard that Mel from wildflowerdesigns has included my Pohutukawa canvas in her Felt Faves this week! You can see it along with the other lovely items she chose on her website here.

We are all fighting colds in our house this week. Kid 3 is off school today coughing, spluttering and sniffing all over the house. Kid 2 has just arrived home, announcing he has a sore throat, and I'm verging on a headache! Homemade vegatable soup, hot honey and lemon drinks, and early nights all round I think!

Farmyard Critters born yesterday!

2010-05-18T09:57:00.001+12:00

I have been working for a while on some little farmyard animals, but somehow they got put aside and not finished. That is until a comment from the lovely Ute at Mumcho inspired me to dig them out and finish them...thanks Ute I'm so glad I did!
So yesterday I headed down to the printers to watch them enter the world...here they are, once we were home and they were settled into their gorgeous new frame, which came from Factory Frames
Meet Baa Oink and Neigh!

Moo is all ready too, and Quack is just awaiting a few adjustments to his beak, which right now looks a bit like he ran into a wall!
I want to do one more, but can't decide what it should be? Woof? Cluck? Cock-a-doodle-doo was my original idea, but that's too long a name for him to be one in this series!
Any ideas?!I'd love to hear what you'd like to see along side Quack and Moo in the next framed set!

Mailing list!

2010-05-15T15:24:00.001+12:00

After my success with the html thing to get my background on here I've gone all brave, and today worked out with the help of this awesome tutorial HERE how to not only make my mailing list spreadsheet into a Google docs form, but also embed it on my blog and facebook! Go Me! ;) Lol! I tested it out myself and it added the contact details right into the spreadsheet just like magic, lets hope it works for everyone! If you would like to try it out, it's right at the bottom of the page here. Yep, its a bit big, you won't miss it! I still need to work out how to get it the right size to display nicely in the side bar and not be hacked in half when I put it there!
I plan to send out a regular short newsletter, probably every couple of months, with dates and places I will be selling, plus any new products, offers, prize draws etc and I would LOVE feedback so please feel free to email me or leave comments/suggestions here on my blog. :) Thank you!

Now its almost party time in our house, 7 excited 14 year olds are due to arrive very soon. The plan was for them to camp in the garden, but the forecast is for heavy rain, storms and a possible tornado, so I'm thinking we might put the tents up in the lounge, minus the pegs of course..! The cake is made and iced, didn't quite turn out like I saw it in my head, or the pretty picture in the book, but I'm sure it will taste great, so we will just speed through the whole sing-blow-wish-cut thing and hope no one notices the wonky flowers and splotchy icing!

Friday's Fortnightly Felt Faves!

2010-05-14T13:03:00.003+12:00

My Felt Faves are now going to be Fortnightly, just because it gives you more of a challenge to say "Fridays fortnightly Felt faves" (try it 5 times fast!!) and it gives you longer to check out the talented crafters featured each time. Oh, and it's easier for me, Fridays come around too fast! :)
So here are this fortnights -
Featuring Dress Ups greeting card by tsktsk, wine carrier bag by baybags, Precious star girl's necklace by reallyreally, Fairytale Candelabra by cuckoonest,Personalized chocolate bar invitations by Fantail Digital Art, Personalized name pillowby rosycheeks and my Fantail choice this week is a Fantail drawer scenter by birdspoke. Enjoy!

Precious Star Girl's...

reallyreally

$23.00

Personalized Name Pi...

$40.00

$90.00

$12.00

Fantail Drawer Scenter

birdspoke

$30.00

Dress Ups

tsktsk

$4.95

Personalized Chocola...

fantailDA

$12.00

DONE!

2010-05-07T10:48:00.001+12:00

Thanks to Michele McDonald for unraveling the mystery which is HTML code, I now have a continuous background! :) Thanks heaps Michele, enjoy those Tim-Tams! :)
My next challenge is to make a new background, there is a bit of a swirly overload going on here now that I have changed the header too!
But first I have some invitations to get on with, I woke up this morning dreaming about some cute little animals I want to try to make for them!

Well GO ME! :) Oh, and, um, Help?!

2010-05-06T13:11:00.001+12:00

Last night I FINALLY worked out how to put my own background on this blog. Ok, so not a major achievement, but if you had heard the muffled mutterings and seen the clock ticking by as I tried to work it all out...well you would be impressed! lol! I might be able to find my way around Photoshop and everyday things computer wise, but throw in the word HTML and I come out in a cold sweat and run a mile!!
I'm not overly excited about this one, but at least it's better than that nasty plain and boring grey, and along the way I also(accidentally of course!) discovered how to make it all white so if all else fails I can revert to that! Now I have got the size right etc I can play around and make something I like better. :)
What I do need to find out though, is how to get rid of that 'tiled' look, see if you scroll down the image repeats rather than being continuous? Anyone know how to fix that?! Also I cant get my header to fit nicely in the box there. Virtual Tim-Tams and lifelong worshiping to anyone who can tell me the answer! :)

Almost party season again!

2010-05-05T16:24:00.000+12:00

Someone once said to me, when I was 8 months pregnant with my son, "Oh dear! That wasn't very good planning was it?!"
Maybe not in her eyes, but for my daughter, who got a baby brother 2 days before her 4th birthday, he was the best present in the world! All she had wished for when asked what she wanted for her birthday was 'my baby'. As I went further over my due date, and her birthday got closer and closer I began to get nervous that I would not be able to make her wish come true. Luckily he decided to make his appearance, all be it rather speedily, just in time! 2 years later my youngest was born just 5 weeks before her siblings birthdays, so in our house May/June is crazy season, right now I'm trying to get organised for it.
I have been getting invitations ready for my daughters sleepover and decided to adapt some that I had designed to wrap around a Hersheys chocolate bar. She gave me the colour scheme and left the rest to me, she loves them! Luckily we found that our local dairy stocks Hersheys bars, so i didn't even have to change the size to fit a traditional small Cadbury bar, which would have meant making it narrower and therefore harder to fit all the details on!

Friday's Felt Faves!

2010-04-30T20:10:00.000+12:00

I mentioned to my daughter that I was about to look on Felt for this weeks favourites, and she begged me to let her choose, so here they are, as chosen by one very nearly almost 14 year old who, if I say so myself, appears to have very good taste! ;)
This week my Fantail pick is from Black Swan and also featured this week are Leila loves handmade, chillichill, Craft Me Up, Woodcreation, Maisie-Moo Felt Creations, and Avey. Click on each image for a closer look, and don't forget to check out the rest of these talented artists creations while you are there!

Black Fantail Brooch

blackswan

$19.00

Colourful Baubles Ha...

leilaloves

$10.00

**coloured Wire Memo...

chillichilli

$6.00

Gathered Clutch Purse

craftmeup

$35.00

Tasmanian Blackwood ...

woodcreation

$45.00

Rainbow Cottages - 3...

maisie-moo

$60.00

Girls Heart Fabric F...

avey

$22.00

2010-04-26T22:56:00.001+12:00

Michele ( Bright Star Kids Agent - Michele Riddle) has chosen her 4 cards, so I'm busy customising them ready to get them printed and sent off across the Tasman to Australia!
Click on any of these images to see them larger on my Facebook page. To order any of my designs please either contact me direct, or order through My Felt Store :)

The first one Michele has chosen is This one, which I'm adding "Happy Mothers Day Grandma" to, such a great idea of hers, I think I'm going to do the same with this one for my mum from my kids!! :)

Micheles second choice is Pohutukawa, as a card, to which I'm adding ' Happy Birthday Great Grandma'

The third one is going to be Derelict House, with the text 'Happy Birthday Nanna'

And her final card choice is 'Dream' with 'Happy Birthday Grandpa' on it.
Thanks so much for your choices Michele, I can't wait to get these finished for you!

YAY! 100!

2010-04-25T12:35:00.000+12:00

Thank you everyone who has become a fan on my Facebook page!
I let Random.org choose a number between 1 and 100...would you believe it, the first time round that number corresponded to my sister in my fans list!! Ok, maybe that wouldn't look quite right!! SO I did it once more and the winner of a set of 4 personalized cards is... Michele Riddle !
So BIG CONRATULATIONS to Michelle, I'm looking forward to seeing which cards she chooses!

ONE TO GO!!!

2010-04-25T09:55:00.000+12:00

I'm at 99 'likers' on Facebook, and so as promised, as soon as ONE more appears I will be giving away a little something...! I've had a few suggestions, several saying they would love some cards, one for my Auckland image on a block, and a couple for the scrapbooking things, so I'll count them up soon and announce the prize and its winner! To find the winner I will get Random.org to choose a number between 1 and 100, that number person on my fan list will be the winner!

It's a beautiful day here today, the sky is blue, the sun's out and there is just that little bit of a chill in the air that lets you know Autumn is on its way. I'm about to make pancakes for breakfast, (hoping that the smell drifting up the stairs will be enough to wake the family!) then we are going to head out to the local park for a walk and a game of Petanque!
Have a wonderful Sunday in your house!

Almost giveaway time?!

2010-04-22T21:45:00.000+12:00

When I hit 100 fans on My Facebook page I'm going to do a little giveaway, so I'm trying to decide what it should be! I have a few new and exciting ideas in the pipeline, so it could be the first hot off the press of those 'items' (hints coming soon!) or it could be a print or cards...

overlays for scrapbooking,

or Title cards
a discount voucher...the list goes on, but help me out here will you, what would YOU like to get if you are the lucky winning fan?? (ooops Liker's now isnt it?!)
I'm just 8 'likers' away, so we'd better be quick in deciding! :)

Mothers Day Cards!

2010-04-16T20:44:00.001+12:00

Beautiful Floral Bouquet and "Owl Family" Mothers Day cards are done!
Printed on beautiful quality 300gsm semi gloss card, with a blank white insert inside. Each comes with an envelope all safely protected in a sealed cellophane pocket.
$4.50 NZ each, with free postage in NZ. Order through this Blog, my Facebook page or soon in my Felt shop. :)
I collected them from the printers today, then spent the afternoon chopping, folding, adding inserts and packaging them up all ready to go.
I'm really pleased with how they came out. The little owls were such fun to make, I could almost see their characters and personalities emerging as I worked on them! There are 3 cute and mischievous baby owls who sit on a branch next to Mummy Owl. The cheekiest one is hiding a surprise for her Mummy behind her back!
The beautiful pink floral card developed from the photographs I took of a gorgeous bouquet a friend gave me for my birthday. Now transformed into an adorable design with delicate swirls and trims for your Mother!

Friday's Felt Faves!

2010-04-16T18:25:00.000+12:00

This week for my Felt Showcase I searched the word "Flower" and came up with these awesome products, then for my Fantail choice this week I found some adorable earrings by muzroom!
Click the links to get a closer look at these talented crafters goodies!

Three Flowers Scarf ...

inmybackyard

$28.00

Pipi Apron - Childs ...

redflax

$23.00

Sunflower Fairy Cost...

ella-louise

$25.00

Wool Hat

funkyfish

$8.00

Pohutukawa Repeat Cu...

lucyadams

$56.00

Rosebud Baby Shoes -...

crochetbury

$4.00

Black Fantail Earrings

muzroom

$14.00

HOME!

2010-04-14T22:42:00.002+12:00

HOME!!
No matter how awesome a holiday is (and this one was Amazingly awesome!) no matter how much you just wish it could go on and on forever (believe me, if it was up to my daughter we would be living there now!) there really is nothing like getting home and having that first night sleeping in your own bed!

We had a fantastic time in Brisbane, my daughter and her best friend got to catch up - for catch up read talk and giggle non stop for 12 days! I got to spend time with my friend and have my first taste of Aussie life.

Our first experience was a picnic breakfast on Surfers Paradise beach.
Tough, but someone has to do it!

We visited Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where we fed kangaroos, goggled at snakes in tanks, and saw our first and only spider (sorry about the blurry photo, camera shake due to full zoom as I wouldn't get any closer!)

and of course see all the adorable koalas!

Wandering around the city we came across lots of examples of old and new architecture side by side. Modern sky scrapers towering behind historical old buildings.
The girls had fun at Movie World and Wet 'n' Wild, and we hit the shops in Brisbane.
OH MY GOODNESS! THE SHOPS!
I swear I was hyperventilating as we drew into the carpark at Ikea!! On our last night my room was full of bags, one suitcase that had been full to start with, plus about twice the amount again to get back in it! I was about to go out to buy a new suitcase when the people we were staying with pulled out a big holdall they said we could use! (Thanks A!)
The friends we stayed with have a beautiful home, and are very clever at finding great bargains when it comes to furniture, and revamping them to look amazing, like the fabulous French style wardrobe that cost them $10!! It looks identical to any you could pay hundreds for. I came home very inspired to do a spot of decorating! Of course my 39" high Eiffel Tower wall art from Typo may have something to do with that as well..! It came in a tube, which I carried the entire way home, as hand luggage, along with my huge holdall bag, laptop and handbag. Was it my imagination that the customs officer raised his eyebrows, smiled and let out a big "I give up!" sigh as I went through?!

Holiday time is here!

2010-03-28T20:28:00.000+13:00

SO SO SO excited!!
The time has come around, so quickly, and now tomorrow we are off to Australia to stay with some good friends! Ever since they moved, 5 years ago, I have been saying we would go to visit, and now finally we are! This weekend I've been busy trying to get everyone packed, and the house cleaned and ready for the 'renters'. The girl has been busy making a friendship book for her friend, 70 pages of photos, memories and all manner of sparkly/flowery/colourful bits and bobs! She has been working on it since Christmas. I'm going to take some photos of it before we go, so may share a few peeks. It's so special and I'm sure her friend will treasure it. There is even a few spare pages at the end for the photos of them Skydiving for their 21st birthdays....!
So I won't be posting here for a while, and will have lots of blogs and news to catch up on when we return. I will leave you with this, sent to me in an email recently, I now have it set as my desktop background, its so me! (Now try and say it's NOT you?! Not ever..! )

Friday's Felt Faves!

2010-03-26T12:01:00.001+13:00

I have a mix of lovely things for my Friday Faves this week, I started off with an Easter theme, but then got sidetracked by other scrummy things!
Here they are: To Paris I will go travellers charm necklace, from Makebelieve, Bunny Pendant by Supervery, Childs Coloring Crayon Roll Wallet from Lovelythings, Easter Egg handspun Yarn with Flowers from Gingasquid, Designer Greys Japanese Inspired Pendant from Freedom Creative, Lovable Cottontail Bunnies by zippitydoodah, and my Fantail this week is Piwakawaka (Fantail) Copper Brooch, by hkerrigan.

To Paris, Travellers...

makebelieve

$25.00

New Year Bunny Penda...

supervery

$30.00

Childs Coloring Cray...

lovelythings

$18.50

Easter Egg Handspun ...

gingasquid

$75.00

Piwakawaka (fantail)...

hkerrigan

$20.00

Designer Greys Japan...

freedom

$20.00

Lovable Cottontail B...

zippitydoodah

$30.00

New Lappie!

2010-03-23T15:37:00.001+13:00

I spent this morning doing some housekeeping in my external HD, and transferring folders onto my new laptop. It's not there yet, but it's starting to feel all cosy and familiar. :) I had all my fonts/brushes etc sorted into folders for commercial or personal use on my old laptop, and thankfully I had backed them up, I've just got to get around to installing a font manager and bits and pieces again.

I have had this idea for a while now, so I decided to have a break from the file sorting and have a play with PS. It started off with the idea to add fireworks and excitement to the my Auckland Skyline image, but as often happens it didn't go that way when I started playing with it! They've not turned out exactly as I imagined, but I think I'll let them sit around for a while and see if they grow on me or evolve!

I'd love to hear what you think? Is this idea working or is it one for the ever hungry delete-monster?! I don't take offense easily, so tell it how it is! ;)

Fridays Felt Favourites

2010-03-19T12:57:00.003+13:00

I have just spent a wonderful coffee break browsing Felt for todays Faves, I hope you enjoy them! Click on anything that takes your fancy to go to the shop for a better look and to see more yummy products.
This weeks picks are:
1. Customised word art by artazon
2. Funky Possum Fur Lined Sole Booties by funkyslipper
3. Time Machine Antique Steampunk Cufflinks by Relique Vintage Jewellery
4. Party Girl - Keyring card pouchby Nzjo
5. Camera charm necklace by Carnival petite
6. Designer fabric wall clock by hjrddesign
7. Fantail (Piwakawaka) Coptic Bound Journal by honeydesign is my Fantail choice for this week!

Customised Word Art ...

artazon

$40.50

Funky Possum Fur Lin...

funkyslipper

$28.00

Time Machine Antique...

relique

$85.00

Party Girl - Keyring...

nzjo

$25.00

Camera Charm Necklace

carnival

$18.00

Wall Clock #1 - Desi...

hjrddesign

$59.00

Fantail (piwakawaka)...

honeydesign

$26.00

A Crafty weekend

2010-03-15T13:13:00.000+13:00

With my laptop still away for repair, I turned to my 'real' craft supplies to satisfy my need to make something new this weekend. With the boy away the girl and I set up camp at the dining table and heaved out all sorts of forgotten craft supplies. A few carefully chosen Cds (Owl City, Duran Duran, Elton John, Great NZ album) helped with the creative process and kept the neighbors away as we sung our hearts out and played with glue, scissors, papers, inks, chalks etc etc. A bowl of Pineapple lumps and some nibbles close at hand and we were occupied for most of the weekend! We really ought to do it more often, I'd forgotten how much fun it is to make a mess, get glue everywhere and end up sparkling ...yes sparkling, I can't look at glitter without it magically sticking all over my body, I must be some sort of glitter magnet, I open the pot and all the tiny glittery particles say HEY! and rush to stick themselves to my eyebrows, face, neck..the cheeky ones even got right down inside my T shirt!
I must have been in a very French mood, here is what I came up with, all on canvas blocks which I painted black.

Gutted. :(

2010-03-12T11:56:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I received an email to say that effective immediately, the Sale St Markets (Auckland) are canceled. Now I've only been once to sell, but it seemed such a great atmosphere and was a really enjoyable day, I was looking forward to this Sunday when I was booked in to go again. Julia who has been organizing them has put such a lot of work into it all, and now the bar have said that's it, and stopped them. They must have their reasons, but it's still sad!

Felt

2010-03-11T11:04:00.003+13:00

I discovered Felt a few months ago, and recently put some of my designs up there. You can see them HERE
It's always fun to see everyones faves/gift ideas on blogs and facebook, so I decided to do one myself, but where to start?! So many hundreds of amazing beautiful products, I decided had to have a theme. Turning around in my chair and putting on my serious thinking face I glanced out of the window. The sky and ocean were an amazing bright turquoise colour...so that's it, for this week my Felt Faves are all on a turquoise theme! Of course I had to sneak a little fantail in there too, maybe that will have to become a weekly trend!
I hope you enjoy them!

Turquoise Polka Dott...

mmms

$8.50

Possibility â�� 6x6"...

$18.00

$22.50

$30.00

Fly Little Fantail: ...

bambam

$35.00

Charm_tarapunga

KURU-KURU

$12.00

Satchel Style Wool Bag

estellarose

$60.00

Finally!

2010-03-10T12:31:00.001+13:00

Well here I am, finally after months of procrastinating I have made a blog for Fantail!
I hope to keep this up to date on whats happening, where I'm going to be selling at markets etc share photos of any new stuff I've made, plus the odd freebie thrown in here and there...that's the plan, lets see if it works!

It's taken me all morning to get this far, so please don't sit holding your breath for the next post...! ;)