203-209/365 Just like that another week

has flown by and my hopes for blogging everyday have gone by the wayside.  I really did want to pop in here each day but the photo taking and the uploading and the writing and the can't be bothered when the time rolls around each evening got the better of me.  A new routine for blog writing really needs to be set I think, change it up and blog in the morning rather than the evening when I don't feel it might help this lack of daily posts.  This past week has been a little busy with my birthday and another family member celebrating their birthday, as well as a friend meant for lots of card making and birthday present buying.  Next month is a quiet month for birthdays which will be nice.  I did do the usual baking; we have had a little visitor belonging to our neighbours roaming our backyard which has escaped and is proving difficult to catch; pretty flowers; my little visitor painting and a lovely time spent with my friend.

What I was thinking of was maybe doing a series of posts that relate to some topics that I am passionate about like maybe cooking, organics, health, making, organisation etc.  What do you think? Is there anything that you would like to ask me or curious to know about any of those topics?  

Thanks so much for popping in to visit.

167-172/365 Life Lately

Sorry for not popping into this space much sooner.  I have been taking my daily photos but have seemed to have lost both my enthusiasm for blogging, posting on instagram and I feel like my photos aren't inspiring.  When I first started doing this 365 project I was keen and I still am but I feel like I don't have anything different to share and I worry a little that things are a bit mundane. Here is a little peek into the mundane bits and pieces of my life, I don't mind mundane hopefully you don't either.

158-162 Days Gone By

Wow it's hard to believe that five days has passed since I have posted here.  I have been taking photos each day but then just sometimes if I'm honest can't be bothered to post here.  It is so easy to get all caught up in being on the computer or instagram which is my case and it really is important to take yourself away from it more often.  I so often here how much people achieve whilst giving themselves a bit of a tech break, and I would love to get back into more creating and less screen time.  Anyway my photos for the past five days are all about birthday card making, new plant and pot purchases, visits to the city and my usual Monday baking.  I made these yummy Cherry Ripe Bliss Balls which I didn't end up making last week but I did today.  How has your week been?

107/365 Boho Birthday

Another sweet and simple teen birthday gift card I made today.  I decided that I liked the simplicity of this card without any sentiments or numbers on the front so I left it plain.  Now to write and it and post it to the birthday girl.

74/365 Flowers for my Friend

I have another card to share with you today so hopefully you don't get sick of my cards that I share.  March is one of those busy birthday months around here so I have had a few cards to make.  And I still have another one left to do.  Do you like to make handmade gifts or cards?

41/365 Gift Card

I made this simple and sweet little gift card for my neighbour's birthday this week.  I find these days I am making these smaller cards in place of the usual size cards.  They are quick to make and with the smaller size I find you don't seem to need as much on them to fill the space.  And for someone who prefers cards to look clean and simple, these are a pleasure to create. 

26/365 A Pretty Special Card

It will be my youngest daughter's birthday next week.  As she is getting older I am trying to make my cards for her more mature too.  I do miss those cute little girl cards I used to make for her but really loved this card design I came up with.  And knowing that she love mandalas, I think she is going to like this one.

The girls were invited to our neighbours birthday party yesterday so last minute on Friday we headed to Spotlight to grab some beads and fabric.  I thought about what would a 10 year might like and I came up with 'the bag' again.  I know you've seen a few before and since they are pretty easy to make, I spent Friday night sewing a bag for her.  To go with the bag Miss 7 made her a bracelet and then I sewed her a headband using this tutorial.  I actually managed to make everything on time!  Do you always make handmade gifts to give or do you choose to give them just to close family and friends?  They are beautiful to get and always fun to make but handmade takes a while and often I just run out of time.  So do you have any quick handmade gift ideas, I would love any ideas:)  Keeping up with all the birthdays of friends and family as well as the girls school friends, honestly I'm finding it difficult at the moment.

It's my nephew's birthday party today so I'll show you tomorrow what I ended up making.  Enjoy your Sunday I hope it's a beautiful one.

♥

My Creative Space

It's been a while since I've played along but I've finished some projects that I can share with you.  When I played a while ago I showed you these fabrics, well I finally got them made into a bag for a good friend for her birthday, a bit late after a handle mishap and lots of unpicking.

My friend also loves brooches and I love to crochet so I came up with this little granny square brooch.  I searched and couldn't find a pattern so I decided to give making one myself a try.  So after one failed attempt I crocheted up two granny squares and then used a double crochet (UK terms) to join the two squares together, a couple of buttons on either side of the granny squares and a brooch back and it was complete.

For more crafty spaces stop by this lovely place to play along.

xo

March has been a really busy month for birthdays so I was kept busy making lots of cards.  I really love clean and simple cards and quick cards so I've cheated a bit using the same sketch but with a few slight changes.

Female cards are my favourite to make but with lots of men in the family I still have the need to whip up a few, this is one I made recently.

It's raining here at the moment, perfect weather for the big girl and I to hang out inside together while she's on holidays.  I hope you enjoyed your rainy day weather or sunny weather. xo

I've been feeling a bit off colour for the last few days worse than I've been in a long time but today I'm feeling a bit more like myself.  My hubby has been home looking after me and the girls which has given me time to rest. It's awful not being able to do the things you normally do but I think that sometimes it's your body's way of telling you to rest, that you've been doing too much.


On the weekend I went to a birthday party to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday.  I know she loves handmade things and pigs so I made a couple of presents for her.  Now I have debated about whether or not to post my crochet efforts because they haven't turned out exactly like the pattern but I know the birthday girl loved it anyway.  I followed the directions for this little pig here and looking at it felt I needed to stuff it more but unfortunately that meant that you could now see some of the stuffing:( In the end I'm not sure what I did wrong but it still is kind of cute:)

I also made a little purse using this pattern,  I put a voucher inside for her to one of her favourite stores. The wooden button was picked up at my favourite store Biome. 

And since I love to make cards I made this one for her.

I hope all of you are keeping well my friends.  Take care. 

Here's a quote I thought you might like today.

Your friends are priceless.

You are important to them,

and they to you.  Guard this treasure.

Birthday Craft

It's been a while since I have showed you any of my paper craft creations, my blog seems to be turning into a bit of a cooking blog! Not really but I seem to make things but forget to take a photo of them to share with you.

Last night I made a simple male card and a gift card holder. (sorry about the quality of the picture) For the gift card holder I used a blanket stitch all around to give it a rustic feel and then used the button to close up the holder, a little bit of decorating on the front and it was finished. I measured and pierced the holes in the card stock first before I stitched, making it easier to sew. I like to make presents if I can but I really struggle to come up with things to make for men and even buying gifts can be hard too so with a little help from his wife a gift card was what I settled on. Do you have any good ideas to make or buy for men?



This is a card I made with matching pillow box for my very good friend who celebrated her birthday a couple of months ago. I got the template for the box from my weekly stamping class but I found this great tutorial with template that you could use if you want to make one for yourself. The flower I made using my punch and an old book from a second hand store. If you don't have a punch then another lovely idea is to tear circles and layer them to create a flower.

I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday. The weather here today is like Spring, warm but just right. Are you having good weather today?

Ideas for little girls

The other weekend Miss 6 was going to a little girls birthday party and I had spotted this tutorial for a little bag that I wanted to try out.

And what's a bag without a purse to go inside? So I made a little purse to go with the bag and matched the fabric with the heart yoyo.

I love making those heart yoyos with the yoyo maker, they are really quick to make and cute for little girls. And keeping with the spotty theme I have going I made this card for her with a bit of stitching.

So are you making anything crafty this weekend or have any good links for projects you might want to share? I love looking at all things crafty!

I have no crafty plans so far, today it was about staying at home and cleaning the cubby house and the chook pen. For some reason I've been doing spring cleaning in winter not sure why but I've had the urge to clean and tidy so I'll go with that.

I hope you are all keeping warm:)

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm still here!

I'm sorry that I haven't been stopping by and saying hello to all of you but this month has been so busy and challenging trying to find a balance but things are slowing down and I'm getting on top of things. March will be a month to remember! Things are all good and because I haven't posted in a little while I have lots and lots of cards to show you. This month I have had to make cards for male birthdays, female birthdays, a new baby and sadly a death. I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with all the cards to look at because there are lots!:) Well I hope to get a bit more computer time in tonight so I can stop by everyone's blogs, I have missed saying hi to all of you. Thanks for stopping by!

Catherine xo

Happy 6th Birthday My Sweet!

This week has been a bit emotional seeing my little girl starting grade 1 and then today she turned six, wow! We had a wonderful time celebrating today with family in the park followed by dinner at Red Rooster and Cold Rock Ice cream by the river, all her choices.

My little one she is full of life, a quick thinker, loves to give things a go, enjoys drawing and colouring and loves to have fun. Happy Birthday Sweetie, we love you lots and are very proud of you!

Smiles Catherine xo

P.S. I thought I would show you my January projects finished eg. the draw set, a dress for the birthday girl, as well as the birthday girl's card I made and the chosen birthday cake from the birthday cake book. Thanks for popping by!:)

Materials
Stamps: Greeting Farm
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip, SU Soft Subtle Markers
Cardstock: SU Whisper White, SU Pretty in Pink
Accessories: SU Gingham Ribbon, Kaiser Rhinestones, Kindy Glitz, Pink Paislee Sticky Letters