Shopping Adventures

Since my mobility has been an issue I have become very much an online shopper.  It's so much easier to know what you are looking for and then finding the perfect one at the perfect price, pay for it and then wait for my lovely post lady to drop it at my door.  It sure does teach you patience.  And its easier on the pocket as you tend to only buy what you wanted.

BUT I do truly miss browsing.  You know the browsing you do when you go to a store just looking for that one thing and leave with half a trolley full?  My oldest daughter does that at Kmart but for me I love rummaging around the shelves of the "cheap" shops.  The name of the shop changes depending on what State or country you are in - I know that friends in the US rave over the Dollar Tree and when interstate I always check out their local versions,  but the cheap style products don't.  Ours is called "Shiploads" a play on words - They have so much stuff there !!  

So this morning I had a 9am appointment in the vicinity of our local Shiploads and knowing that their Christmas items were on display I just had to swing by there whilst my body was nice and fresh and I could have a good browse.  I am always attracted to the DIY Craft section of course and was not disappointed !!  I came away with some lovely goodies and some great ideas for some tutorials.  I am hoping to get a couple of them made to share with you before Christmas.

I've also been busy making goodies for one of the local animal shelters I support.  You might recall that I spend a fair chunk of my time making little things for them to sell when they have their hand made stalls at local fairs and markets.

It keeps me doing something that I don't have to think about too much and assists them in raising much needed funds.

This big lot went to a local baby kitten bottle feeding group who hand raise orphan kittens around the clock.  They needed some much needed equipment which they have now been able to buy so that's very satisfying.

I've also been busy making this gorgeous little Easy Easel Calendar.  I have written up a FREE PDF and have also made a video tutorial as well.  You can read all about it on my other blog - CRAFT WITH FEE.  I've also had requests for pre-cut kits so they are also available HERE.

I plan to make a number of these to send out tucked inside some Christmas Cards to my friends and family.

Okay the brain is running a million miles an hour since my little excursion so it's time I put pen to paper and wrote them down before they escape my mind - Never to return !!  

Bye For Now,

Fee xx

Catching Up and some News

Where has the past 2 weeks gone ?  Time is just flying by and before we know us Christmas will be upon us.

I've made all of my christmas cards and had lots of fun doing so.  

I made extras and have some for sale over in my Handmade Store

They are hand stamped, hand coloured and handmade.  There is nothing nicer than receiving a hand made gift and/or card.  Its quite easy to purchase a mass produced item but when we give handmade we give lots of love that has gone into creating the item.  

Next year in addition to having a FREE Block of the Month here on the blog I am also going to be having 1 year of gift giving.  That's a whole year of making little easy gifts to get you well and truly stocked up.  Make sure you check back often to see updates and the launch date for both of these.

Date scones are my hubbys favourites so I whipped him up a batch for lunch last week.  We froze all of the leftovers for a quick and easy snack.

They were absolutely delicious right out of the oven and spread with butter.  Just writing that makes me want some more so I think I had best defrost some.

Finally before I go I wanted to tell you about another passion of mine.  Papercrafting !  I decided to take the plunge and to become and Independent Demonstrator of Stampin' Up! products.  It seemed like a next step as I was already using their products and have fallen in love with them.  I made these Christmas crackers yesterday and am offering the PDF Class FREE to subscribers of my newsletter over on the web site so if you would like to receive the class ABSOLUTELY FREE just pop over HERE and sign up to the newsletter.

Have a great week.

HUGS,

Fee xx

Writing Compendium

I haven't been able to sew on the machine lately so I have found my crafting joy with paper crafts.  I watch you tube videos to teach myself how to make basic things like notebook covers, gift boxes, photo albums and just recently notebook covers.

In true FEE style I always change things up a bit and apply my own style to things.  I have a lovely collection of vintage shabby papers and like my favourite fabrics they have been sitting around way too long so I felt it was time to begin to use them.    A writing compendium to display on my side board seemed the perfect project for these gorgeous papers from Kaisercraft.

I made the cover from cardboard and covered them in white cardstock and then used the printed designer papers to dress it up.  I used Tim Holtz Distress inks to age everything and finished it off with some beautiful lace, an old earring, ribbon and paper flowers.

I found the beautiful gold sparkly pens in Kmart last week and bought a few for gifts.  Isn't it just gorgeous ?

I finished it off with some lovely little silver book corners and all tied up with a pretty bow.

An afternoon very well spent I'd say.  I'm hoping to make a few more for Christmas gifts in the next few days.

Bye for now.

Hugs,

Fee xx