Snow Bunny Winter Wonderland DT Card

The challenge for this week at Winter Wonderland is hosted by Karen.   The theme for this week is Walking In A Winter Wonderland so we would like to see you use an image of a person or an animal walking in the snow on your Christmas project.


We are sponsored by Simon Says Stamp who are giving away a $15 voucher.

Card Recipe

Card Blank - 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

Whimsy Stamp - Snow Bunny.

Trim Craft Design Papers - Pepper's Christmas Party.

Spellbinders Nestabilities Die - Standard Circle Large, Petite Scalloped Circle Large.

Memory Box Dies - Frosty Border.

Embellishments from own stash.

This image was coloured in using Copic markers.

Hints and Tips

I used Stampendous Fun Flock Cotton White for the fur on the bunny's hood.

This card was entered into the following challenges:

Make It Monday Challenge:  Challenge #104 Anything Goes.

Creative Card Crew Challenge: Challenge #18 Christmas.

Natalie and Amy's Challenge: Challenge #1 Anything Goes.

Love Linda xxx

Erasmus

Card Recipe

Card Blank - 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

Mo Manning Digital Image - Erasmus.

DCWV Design Paper - School Grade.

X-Cut Border Punch - Scallop.

Embellishments from own stash.

This image was coloured in using Copic markers.

Hints and Tips

You could use this image for a going back to school card or a thank you card for your teacher.

This card was entered into the following challenges:

Mo's Digital Challenge:  Challenge #150 Layers.

Make It Monday Challenge: Challenge #104 Anything Goes.

Fussy And Fancy Friday Challenge: Challenge #70 Back To School.

Charisma Cardz Challenge: Challenge #34 No Embellishments.

Love Linda xxx

Winter Woodland Winter Wonderland DT Card

The challenge for this week at Winter Wonderland is hosted by Lisa.   The theme for this week is Red and Green so we would like to see you use red and green on your Christmas project.

We are sponsored by Pink Gem who will be giving away 4 digital images and Sassy Studio Design who will be giving away 4 digital images.

Card Recipe

Card Blank - 14cm x 14cm.

Cricut Cartridge - Winter Woodland.

Papermania Design Paper - Festive Frolics.

Embellishments from own stash.

Hints and Tips

Deer #2 was cut at 5 1/2".  The Winter Woodland Cricut cartridge comes in really useful if you don't have a lot of time to make your Christmas cards.

This card was entered into the following challenges:

Make It Monday Challenge:  Challenge #103 Anything Goes.

Love Linda xxx

The Big One

Card Recipe

Card Blank - 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

Mo Manning Digital Image - The Big One.

Dovecraft Design Paper - Abstract Prints.

Spellbinders Nestabilities Die - Labels Seventeen.

X-Cut Punch - Leaf.

Embellishments from own stash.

This image was coloured in using Copic markers.

Hints and Tips

Don't just save your pumpkin images for Halloween they work great on autumn themed cards as well.

This card was entered into the following challenges:

Mo's Digital Challenge:  Challenge #149 Distressing (The edges of the card and the design paper are distressed).

Make It Monday Challenge: Challenge #103 Anything Goes.

Crafts And Me Challenge: Challenge #98 Autumn Colours.

Fab'n'Funky Challenge: Challenge #135 Use Leaves Somewhere.

Love Linda xxx

August Giveaway N° 4 - a portrait of your home - Sharon Santoni

Dear friends,

Have a look at this wonderful give away! 

Summer greetings from France!
xoxo Victoria


August Giveaway N° 4 - a portrait of your home - Sharon Santoni

Tobbogan Joy Ride Winter Wonderland DT Card

The challenge for this week at Winter Wonderland is hosted by Bridget .  The theme for this week is Winter Fun so we would like to see you use any winter sports  image on your Christmas project.

We are sponsored by Crafty Emblies  who will be giving away a £10 voucher and Kenny K who will be giving away 5 digital images of  the winners choice.

Card Recipe

Card Blank - 10.5cm x 15cm.

High Hopes Rubber Stamp - Tobbogan Joy Ride.

Karen Foster Design Paper - Twinkling Trees.

Doodlebug Design Inc Design Paper - Peppermint Twist.

Sizzix and Hero Arts Stamp and Die Cut - Holiday Cheer.

Embellishments from own stash.

This image was coloured in using Copic markers.

Hints and Tips

The slopes where created using a decorative Fiskars ruler and white flitter card.

This card was entered into the following challenges:

Make It Monday Challenge:  Challenge #102 Anything Goes.

Love Linda xxx

Bedroom For A Tween

Renovations at my own house are starting to move along (again) and I am getting ready to do up my daughter's bedroom.

There is plenty of decorating material available for small children's bedrooms but once they get past about 7 years old they are growing out of "cute".

We are facing a challenge. She is not old enough for more a sophisticated look but doesn't want bunnies and teddies. or cutesey icons either. She does love flowers and gardens so I think we will go with that.

There is an exposed brick chimney which is right in the middle of the room which, instead of plastering, I think I'll get the carpenters to sheet up so I can make it into a wallpapered feature.
I am a huge fan of the way Designers Guild use colour and pattern so I thought I'd share my inspiration board with you.
I love the eclectic mix of old and modern furniture.
As far as colours go, I think I will be going for pink and orange, with accents of purple and green. Sounds a bit garish doesnt it?
Does anyone have any tips for decorating a tween bedroom?

Photos from Designers Guild and Graham & Brown

Dani And Friends

Card Recipe

Card Blank - 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

Mo Manning Digital Image - Dani and Friends.

Doodlebug Design Inc Design Paper - Summer Kit.

Tonic Studio Punch - Flower.

Embellishments from own stash.

This image was coloured in using Copic markers.

Hints and Tips

This image could be used for a birthday card or a back to college card.

This card was entered into the following challenges:

Mo's Digital Challenge:  Challenge #148 Friends.

Make It Monday Challenge: Challenge #102 Anything Goes.

Cute Card Thursday: Challenge #230 Back To School.

Love Linda xxx

Hello from France

The little town has put a spell on us all, we're living a dreamy country life, quiet and yet not boring at all. We explore small towns, markets and enjoy walks around the country side. We take all millions of pictures and mostly enjoy each other. Has it been already almost one and a half weeks? Impossible! 

The charming house we live in for the summer...

I've met the sweetest townspeople, often from abroad themselves and home now in this lovely southern corner of the Perigord! The town itself, an old Bastide, which means a ancient fortified church town, is small. A five minute walk takes you trough it,  but already I befriended Prudence, a perfume designer with her small delicate shop and delicious perfumes, living here for 20 years, her sister, owning the most charming design store, both from Australia and utmost French by now...
A fashionable jewelry designer, working for Christian Delacroix, creating fun pieces, which are not to be taken too seriously! 
We've met an ex-pat American, living here for ten years now, from Boston.... 
And a wonderful lady, Catherine, who owns the local Brasserie, waiting for us, to enjoy our 'cafe grande' every night.
All are extremely helpful and ready to share their stories. We feel very much 'at home' here and in love with the magic of this place. Many 'Bastides' around here were  founded in the 13th Century by the English and a lot of Brits visit every summer!

We have had a country fair here, complete with live animals- huge cream colored cows with their calves and oxen.... markets with everything from the most delicious cheeses to Fois gras and strawberries, delicately tasting of raspberries, old linens and crockery, honey and home made jams.
We enjoy the wines of Bergerac, Bordeaux and St. Emillion. 

Detail above the door

Old posters

Today's 'brocante' yielded some old posters and a small linen towel, at least as old as I am....Ha, not old at all....Or an antique??? It all depends, right?
I dug through paintings, brass buttons, plates and derelict pieces and odd ends....

Then we lounged by the pool, nibbled some cheese and fresh vegetables, drank a little wine and slept in the sun!
This is a wonderful daily routine, beginning every morning with a two minute stroll to the 'Boulangerie' to get fresh baguettes, croissants and something delicious, called pain de noix, a dense dark bread with walnuts.... Hmmm. So good!
We often cook in the evenings, fresh fish and salads, with more baguette and cheeses, the local, stone hard salami and the freshest and juiciest peaches.
Or we explore the local restaurants, which are amazing and always refined.
This is also the home of canard and fois gras, duck and liver pate, where almost every town has their very own specialty of it! No menu is without it!

Fountain in Bergerac

Small sidewalk cafes

Fois gras advertisment

I will post a little more in the next week, I do enjoy sitting and just feeling everything! So to tell you I am very active would simple be an overstatement....It's a lot of small joys ....the boys, the sister coming tomorrow, my darling in- laws.... Just simple pleasures!

Greeting, my friends! Here is a glimpse of about half the gang!

   
                                         

All images private.

Renovating & Decorating Bargains

From the Ikea blog

Don't get me wrong, when the mood takes me I can go shopping and spend some serious money. But more often than not I find its not always necessary to spend top dollar and I love finding good deals and inexpensive but stylish discoveries in unexpected places.
Its all part of that thrill of discovering a bargain. Who doesn't love it?

Here are some of my tips:
Jump On It:
Sales can pop up when you least expect them and when you're not ready. If you see something you absolutely LOVE and its on sale at an incredible price, think seriously about buying it.

Someone who was demolishing an old house some months back asked my husband if he wanted some of the old windows as they were going to the tip otherwise. He jumped at the chance even though he didn't think he could use them at the time and storing them was inconvenient. Sure enough they have come in handy on a project we are working on now. It saved us something like $10,000 in joinery costs.

Top: Some of my bargain buys - stools at The Reject Shop
and a Kas suzani cushion for half price.
The "Daisy" light from Ikea is cheap and makes a real statement.

Go Mass Market:
If you are a regular reader you'll know I have mentioned this before...
I am not a fan of cheap, mass-produced tat but I do love going to places like Ikea, ideally with my husband who has an eagle eye. I like to have a really good look around, searching through the crowded bins as well as standing back and looking at the big view. Sometimes you miss things if you are just looking at eye level or up close.
In the overwhelming sea of mass-produced STUFF you can find some great quality decorating items - these are some of my favourites:
- slip covers in a variety of sturdy cotton fabrics
- feather cushion inserts
- loose cushion covers in plain colours or bold patterns
- inexpensive but stylish light fittings
- linen/cotton mix curtains
- christmas decorations, festive table-top ideas

For my beach houses sometimes I even look in those kitch beachy shops or $2 stores and on the odd occasion I actually do find something. (Which reminds me of something I found the other day in the Reject Shop which I will post).
I also keep an eye on the racks of K-Mart, Target, Spotlight and even Aldi.

I recently found some fabulous upholstery fabric on the sale rack at Spotlight. It cost me $8 per metre and it was 2m wide. I had some old chairs covered in it and they look a million dollars!


Bargain Karma - Garage Sales, Recycling Centres, Second-hand Stores, Online:
This is a pretty obvious bargain source but I find the trick is, make your visits random. Whenever I'm looking for something in very particular, it just wont find me. When I'm not "looking" I find great things. Go figure?
If you are driving past a second hand store and something catches your eye, stop. If you are looking for something, ask the salesperson as more often than not they have lots of stuff out the back and "it" might be there.
Then there is the plethora of stuff you can find online on sites like Ebay, Gumtree etc. To be perfectly honest  I don't often find things this way but I know others do. Maybe you readers can share some tips?

Colours for a Bedroom

Yesterday I popped in to see a friend who is redecorating her bedroom and as it is such a typical decorating dilemma I get asked to help with I thought I would share it.

My friend L has recently turned an unused veranda off her bedroom into a walk-in closet and moved her bed back into the alcove that formerly housed the wardrobe cupboards, minus the doors.
She loves all things French and has chosen a lovely colour combination of palest green and linen taupe for the room but is stuck on how to proceed to bring the room together.

Melinda's own bedroom features a banquette covered in pale aqua,picked out from the headboard fabric.

My first step to get any project moving is to look for inspiration. Both the bedrooms I have shown here are by Brisbane decorator and store owner, Melinda Boundy from Lily G.  Melinda's own bedroom, above, is a similar colour scheme to L's and in this case the starting point was the fabric she loved.
The second bedroom was designed for a client of Melinda's and the starting point was the gorgeous wallpaper, "Emperor's Garden" by GP & J Baker. The colour combination was again, taupe plus  french blue found in the wallpaper, mainly used in accents like the lamp bases and scatter cushions.

What makes both these bedrooms work is the use of eclectic elements such as mis-matched bedside tables, layers of different fabric textures and just one central area of pattern, namely the fabric headboard in Bed #1 and the wallpapered wall in Bed #2.

The injection of personality comes from the antique furniture and accessories such as the daybed in Bed #2. Some of the items are inexpensive reproductions, some are the real thing, but they have been cleverly mixed together.

For my friend L, I would suggest she wallpaper the alcove behind the bed, or if she is feeling more adventurous, upholster the alcove, French style, in padded fabric.
For the curtains, I would take a cue from Melinda's bedroom and do a generous two-tone linen swathe.
I would grab a luxurious linen bed cover from Aura or Bianca Lorenne and look for some interesting bedside tables - and maybe a dressing table, painted in a French white.

Wrapped Up in Beautiful Bedlinen

Love the bold yellow blooms mixed with charcoal.

In this cold and windy weather we have in August, staying in bed is rather more tempting than usual. Recently I treated myself to some new cotton flannelette sheets, on sale of course, but all this sleeping in has got me lusting after some luxurious bedlinen from Australian designer Tracie Ellis.

Her label AURA is all about understated luxury, heavy textured fabrics and interesting details. Here are some of my favourites from the current catalogue which appeared in my mailbox recently...

My favourite hot pink teamed with linen.

A bold complementary mix of turquoise and orange.

This is not a paid post by the way, I am seriously loving these! Love the styling, too.

Nativity 2

The challenge for this week at Winter Wonderland is hosted by Sally.  The theme for this week is a Photo Inspiration Challenge.  I am using gold and the nativity.  Please remember Christmas projects only.

We are sponsored by Joanna Sheen

The prize is £10 gift voucher

and

Sassy Studio Designs

The prize is 4 digis of the winners choice.

Here is the Photo Inspiration Picture.

Here is my Card.

Card Recipe

Card Blank - 10.5cm x 15cm.

Stampavie Gillian Roberts Stamp - Nativity 2.

Penny Black Stamp - The Wonder.

Sizzix Little Sizzles Design Papers.

Embellishments from own stash.

This image was coloured in using Copic markers.

Hints and Tips

I used the Sizzix Little Sizzles Design paper because the print images are very small so it works perfectly for paper piecing.  

This card was entered into the following challenges:

Christmas Card Challenges: Week #36 Use Something New (I used a new stamp).

ABC Christmas Challenge: P for Paper Piecing.

Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes.

Love Linda xxx