Sharing the love

If you know me well you will know that I absolutely LOVE hearts! I really couldn't care if it's seen as cheesy - bring on the cheese!! And seeing as Valentines day is coming up I thought I'd share some ideas (25 to be exact) to get your creativity going. 

1st up is my  packaging tutorial that I shared a while back.

Hong Kong madness!!

I was on holiday in Hong Kong recently and I loved it!! My husband reminded me before we got there that we are moving to another country in a month and a half so we don't need any more 'stuff'. I said "You don't need to tell me that. I don't need anything. I am only going for the sights, the food and the culture."

HA

If you have ever been to Hong Kong (which I hadn't when I made that statement) you would know what a joke that was)

I bought tons of stuff, and had I not had a logical person with me I would still be there, buying more stuff.

Thanks to a friend, who has been living there for a few years, I found the cheap fabric market - which looks more like a shack from the outside, I would have NEVER guessed they sold anything legal in there. And then we struck gold and found the row upon row of button and ribbon shops - we went back there twice... 

We also went to all the tourist markets and walked till we couldn't anymore but it was worth every moment. 

And although this blog is not about non-craft stuff, I feel I will have done you a great injustice if I don't tell you the following: if you are ever in Hong Kong - get a mango, coconut milk, sago drink (you can find them quite easily and its not the same as bubble tea). I got my fix of liquid joy every day, sometimes twice a day while we were there.

and here is some of the stuff I bought:

Yes those buttons are huge and don't you think those ribbons are stunning (and they were super cheap!!)

 Some more fabrics to add to my collection.

Baby bibs (no I am not pregnant) but they were so cute and so cheap.

And my favourite item - my new purse!! I absolutely love it.


OK that is all for now :)
If you want to read more about the travelling part of my life then you can go on over to my husbands wonderful blog: Gregandgabi.

Oh and in advance: Happy lunar new year for those of you living in Asia - Whoop whoop for the extra vacation days.
^.^


Blessings
Gabi

Giveaway 2 RESULTS:

Thank you to everyone that entered the giveaway, I was really blessed by some of your comments AND welcome to all the new followers.

So here is what you were waiting for - 

And the winner of the Melanie bag is:

 And no. 37 is...

KHBride!!

Congratulations and check your inbox .

^.^

For those of you that didn't win, don't worry there will be more giveaways in the future.

Blessings

Gabi

Monday Inspirations

Well I'm back from Hong Kong - and it was soo much fun, I have some photos to share with you but I'll do it in another post.

Today's inspirations are:

1. DIY fabric button earrings from Post Grad Crafts. A perfect use for scraps.

2. My favourite for the day - DIY paper pencils by Scissors Paper Wok. 

3. DIY for Bokeh photos by the hobby room.

4. A DIY pincushion thread/scrapbooking bits catcher by Merriment design. (I have wanted to make one of these for a while so I'm thankful for the tutorial)

I hope you have a great Monday!

Blessings

Gabi

^.^

 

Monday inspirations

I am currently on holiday in Hong Kong so I'm going to keep this short - I have some exploring and relaxing to get to. But I didn't want you to miss out on today's inspiration because its good. 


Every year for the past 3 years The Long Thread has made a list of that years 100 top tutorials. She recently posted the list for 2011. Go and take a look - I'm sure it will keep you busy for quite some time.

Have a great week - I know I will.
^.^
Blessings
Gabi

Giveaway no. 2

Sadly this giveaway is now closed to entries.
I am really excited about 2012. Its a year of new beginnings. Not only are we moving back to South Africa in April (after a 5 week road trip/family visit in the States - WHOOP WHOOP) But a friend and I are starting a business when I get back. I have been wanting to start a business for about 4 years now so I cannot explain how excited I am. I will explain more about it when the website is up and running. Which means goodbye teaching career. It also means trusting the Lord way more as its totally out of my comfort zone - but bring on the challenge. I know God is big enough :)

I also want to say thank you for supporting me over the past year - its been almost a year since I started paying some serious attention to this blog, and its been great to see everyone's enthusiasm. 

So lets get on with it and give something away!

This giveaway is for old and new followers (so you can still get in on it even if you are only joining today).  

Here is what you can win:

 This Melanie bag (pattern from I Think Sew).
(the giveaway is for the bag not the pattern - just to avoid confusion ;)

I really like this bag so here is another picture just because I can :)

 So here is what you have to do to win: 

1. Be a follower/become a follower.

2. Say hi, below(Leave a comment).

3. That is all :)

Things to remember:

You can only enter once.

Please make sure that you leave an e-mail (if its not in your info) so that I can get hold of you - I won't spam you, I will only e-mail you if you have won.

You can type it like this: 

inspired(dot)gabi(at)gmail(dot)com

Anyone can enter from any country. If you can receive mail you can enter :)

The giveaway ends on Sunday Jan 15th at 12pm (Colorado time - just because my brother lives there and to avoid confusion with all the different time zones) 

If I announce a winner and I don't have your e-mail I will give you 3 days to contact me - then I will have to redo the draw:)

(It will be a random draw )

^.^
Oh and PS. I'm off to Hong Kong this coming week - so If I seem absent, don't worry I'll be back - hopefully with some great new craft finds.
Blessings


Gabi

The traveling pin.

Well at the beginning of last year I did a post about giving a pin a home and this year I decided to give the pin family another gift. A car. Now they can go road tripping with me. (As there will be tons of that this year - but I will leave that for another post).

Here is the new car :

You will need: 

Felt (4 different colours). I used 2mm thickness but you can use something slightly thinner if you want to.

Four buttons

Thread 

Stuffing

The pattern