Inspired by Cancer...

As a Daffodil Day volunteer each year, I get mail about the Cancer Council Arts Awards. I always look at it and think that I cant draw or paint nor can I write a good story, so I push it aside and think that I can't enter. This year when it came I thought, perhaps I should give it a go in what I can do best. That is use paper. So after a lot of thought, I decided to enter. The theme this year was Lost and Found and the idea is to express your experiences in a creative way through either visual art, poerty, film or short story.
The frame below is what I came up with. It is full of lots of squares of what people have found during their concer experience such as Hope, Courage, Strength, Embrace. There is one square missing. It is the square of the cure as this is yet to be found.
Along with this frame, I had to write a piece on what it meant to me, however I would like to keep that to myself.

Unfortunately, I was not sucessful in winning in my category but I was really happy to complete this artwork. Currently the winning entries and some other handpicked entries are on display at 120 Collins st (the foyer of the building). So if you are in the area, you should stop by as there are some great pieces as well as short stories to read. My work is on display in the visual art book on the desk with all the other entries and my name is amongst those on a large poster in the foyer.

Inspired by two new little girls....

A busy week this week with more orders coming in. Thanks to Marina who ordered some frames and cards for the new babies in her life! Welcome Lylah and Ayla!

Inspired by Love...

What a better way to spend a Saturday night when home alone than to sit in the study listening to the footy and trying to get creative. Yes, my creativity side has sort of gone walkabouts of recent months. So much on my mind and going on in my life. I am slowly getting back into it but it seems to be hard at times. I hope that soon it gets back to not being a effort to sit here and make something and instead be exciting like it used to be. So tonights effort resulted in a few dud cards before one was created that I really loved. I have still got a lot of lace so I thought I would use it to make a wedding card again. It is shown below. Are you feeling the love? :-)

Inspired by new babies...

Heather from Babies and Kids recently asked for some baby shower cards as there appears to be a baby boom in the area and they are in high demand! Baby shower cards are a little hard to get right- most people don't know the sex of the baby so they have to be rather neutral. And then the wording on the front of the card needs to be considered. "Congratulations' didn't seem to be appropriate as the baby hasn't arrived yet. So I have gone with "best wishes" along with "the best is yet to be" and then have left one blank. I'm happy with using the pregnancy silhouette on the front of the cards and feel it makes it clearly a card for a baby shower. I created this silhouette for a baby shower invitation I did last year and have since gone on to use it for many creations. I look forward to getting feedback from Babies and Kids to see if they sell and what people say.

Inspired by my man...

I was engaged early this year and are busy planning the wedding for January. Our house is full of photos of family and friends and I wanted to add a creation of me and my other half. The photo below shows now what is on the wall of our living room. After it was up I said to him, "do you like the new piece I hung in the living room?", He said, "I didn't notice it". Mmmm, perhaps the fact that the tv is in the opposite corner of the room so his eyes only go one way! Oh well.

It is done on what is called a printers tray. It was done with the help of Julie from Scraptacular. The ideas are now going around my head about what I could do with our wedding photos. I have actually bought a large antique printers tray off ebay and will come up with something for that. But I think I need to plan the actual wedding first before I think of being creative with the photos!

Inspired by a babies arrival!

A work colleague of mine recently finished up to have a baby and of course I was the first one to put my hand up and offer to buy the present and of course make the card! So here is the card that I created. It took a few hours to make as it was so big- but that meant everyone got to write on it!

Inspired by other crafters...

I am a fan of a group on Facebook called The Contemporary Handmade Alliance (CHA). It is a great page where the many are people like me can go to ask questions and get assistance with our various crafting endevours. I also like seeing what other people are making. I really like to support other people that have tried to start their own little business and try and buy gifts from their online stores.

Recently CHA put a call out to those that wanted to participate in a swap. I belive there was around 80 people that put their hand up and we all were emailed the name and webpage of one other maker.

I was given Megan from Handmade Treasures. I emailed her and she told me she loved orange and blues, so I set about making a frame with her business name on it. The creation is shown below. I look forward to hearing back from her and seeing if she liked it. Perhaps Megan you can send me a photo of it up on your wall!

I shall post a photo of what I receive when it arrives.

The Contemporary Handmade Alliance group also has a blog that can be found here

Inspired by repeat customers...

I recently posted a card and frame made with the name Claudia on it. It was great to get a call a couple weeks later from the same customer who wanted the same gift for a new arrival called Addison. The photos are below (not the greatest quality unfortunately).Thanks Emma!

Will be back soon!

Hi all! Sorry it has been a while since I last posted something. There has been a lot going on in my life and I have not been creating for a few weeks. I look forward to be getting back to things soon and posting my latest creations.

I did enjoy taking a break and headed to Woodend last weekend to visit the Sugar and Spice market. There were so many great stall holders and I look forward to the September one.

I shall share a secret with you, I am getting my website created so I shall let you all know when that is launched... very exciting!

I will be back soon....

Inspired by True Love

I was very happy to team with Amy of Bloom Resin to complete the above frame. Amy made me the word LOVE from resin which was a great addition to the frame. This frame was for a customer who wanted it made as an engagement present. She provided me with photos of the couple along with their engagement invitation. This was a great invitation which was a little story in how the couple met and I cut it all up and included it in the frame.

Thank you to Amber and Anthony for allowing me to put these photos on my blog.

Insipred by little finds 2

Several weeks ago I wrote about finding little things in my craft room and challenging myself to make things with them. Well this week I found a pack of these cute little wooden creatures and challenged myself to create with them. I recall buying these about three years ago at a craft fair and them being put in a container with many other embellishments of which I forget about.

I was also very excited my my recent Cuttlebug machine purchase so was keen on using it to emboss the paper of the cards with lots of patterns. I was able to come up with these 8 very colourful little cards. I look forward to continuing this challenge next week and cleaning out all of my goodies!

Inspired by Buttons

There are so many sizes, colours and styles of buttons around and of course I have my fair share scattered around my craft room. Time to do something with them! I have used them to create number cards. I have always wanted to do some cards with ages on them so buttons were the perfect thing to use. Let me know what you think!

Inspired by May MMM...

I had the pleasure of having a stall again at last weekends Maribyrnong Makers Market. The weather was kind to us and I was lucky enough to enjoy the sun and chat with the many locals who came down.

Thank you to those who ordered a frame at the market. They are becoming a popular purchase for the many babies that are being born in the Yaraville and Seddon areas.

I love being able to make cards to compliment the frames also. Below is a order from the lovely Emma for a new baby Claudia who recently was born. A card was made to match the frame and welcome the baby into the word. The other frames that I made from this market can all be viewed in the Frame Gallery.

Inspired by that little extra touch.

My partner wanted to give his mum a recent family photo as a Mother's Day gift. I couldn't just put the photo in the frame and give it to her... That's just not me! I thought there could be something done to the frame to make it a little more personal. So I cut out the letters to spell family in some cardstock and drew white lines around each letter to give it a stitched like finish. Then I added the flowers to the corner of the frame which were secured by brads. These were two simple things to add to the frame to make it that extra special!

Hope this gives you a tip when next giving someone a framed photo.

Inspired by thank you cards

Here are the cards I have made for my family and friends to say thank you for the gifts and wishes we have recently received for our engagement. I know how nice it is to get a handmade card so I was adamant in making something for everyone. But I also needed to keep it simple as I had over 40 to make!

Inspired by little finds

For those of my fellow crafters reading this, then you will understand what I am talking about. My study/craft room is what only can be described as organised mess. Boxes, containers, drawers of various papers, stamps and embellishments. I pretty much know where everything is, well except when I am in a rush and that important last piece is nowhere to be found. Yesterday I was looking for something and I came across these cute little bottles. I cant even remember buying them so they have probably been sitting amongst the clutter for years. It then gave me the challenge of using them. I went with a nice simple baby card and used the colour of the top of the bottle for the base and worked from there. I looked forward to sharing more challenges I have given myself when I find more treasures amongst my junk!

Inspired by Japenese Papers

I love that there are so many beuatiful papers out there that can be used to create so many different types of cards. I have a wonderful friend that has bought me papers back from Japan over the years and I thought I would share some of the latest cards I have made with them.

The below photo uses a tissue like paper with the patterns through it. Over time I have tried to use it in a variety of ways but I think the cards I created below are my favourite so far. It is such a delecite paper and I have to be so careful when cutting it!

The cards below have used other designs of Japanese papers. They are always full of great colours and patterns and there are endless ways they can be used to create cards.

Inspired by Mothers Day

Mothers Day is not far away so please let me know if you are needing a Mothers Day card. Here are some that I have created for this weekends market. So if you want one, please stop by Yarraville Market on Sunday and say hello and I shall have one there for you!

Inspired by Frames

Thanks to all those who have been ordering frames from Inspired by Paper. This weekend was a busy one getting the latest orders all done. Below is a look at some of the ones I have made.
A few special requests were made and it was fun creating airplanes to replace the boats in the standard Jack frame.

Inspired by Weddings

Here is a peek at a frame that I have made for my friends who recently got married. They have yet to receive it so I hope they don't look on here in the next few days!