Bee-inspired

Inspirations

2012-02-20T11:49:00.000+09:00

This will probably be my last inspirations post for the next few weeks.

My husband and I are leaving South Korea on Sunday, to start some new adventures. Even though the inspirations will be put on hold for a while there will still be tutorials to look forward to over the next few weeks. And of course some updates while we travel ;)

Here are some sources of inspiration for this week.

1. UK free online magazine for the vintage style and craft lover : 91 Magazine

2. Wallet tutorial from Lola Nova.

3. Babron (baby apron) tutorial from Craftiness is not optional.

4. Boy's bowties from Papernstitch.

5. A collection of teacup inspirations from College Life DIY.

6. A DIY tack free message board from Martha Stewart.

Have a great Monday and a superb week. I will be packing ;)

Blessings

Gabi

Monday Inspirations

2012-02-13T11:26:00.000+09:00

Here are some ideas for you to get you inspired for this week.

1. A needlepoint purse tutorial from Craftzine.

2. An owl themed/striped party from Kara's Party Ideas.

3. Homemade meringue candy necklaces from Bakingdom.

4. Paper scrap recycling from Design Sponge.

5. Zippered pouches with personalized iron-on vinyl from make it and love it.

6. Photography tips, guides, resources, and tutorials from Shrimp salad circus. (my favourite inspiration for the day, seeing as I ~~want~~ need to work on my photography skills.)

Have a great week!!

Blessings

Gabi

DIY leather strap tote

2012-02-06T23:33:00.002+09:00

Today's post has me especially excited.
A while back I made a bag for a friend and I decided to share my tutorial with you. You can find it (and me) over at Sew Sweetness - YAY for guest blogging :)

Pop on over for the full (free) leather strap tote tutorial.
If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment below or on the post over at Sew Sweetness and I will try my best to give you some good answers.

This is what it looks like:

zoom out

Zoom out some more.

There is also some more exciting news.
I told you a while back that a friend and I will be starting a business.

The name is Pickalilly. (I LOVE that name)

The business, for now, will mainly be focused on baby accessories and clothing. My friend, whom I had the pleasure of teaching with for a few years, is starting things up from TODAY! I will be joining her from June 1st this year (when my travels are over.) Here is the website - go take a look :)

And if you want updates on what's happening then here is the Pickalilly facebook page.

For now purchases can only be made by South Africans, but give us time (its only day 1) we will spread out soon :)

Some more love

2012-02-06T10:32:00.000+09:00

Last week I shared 25 Valentines day projects and because people are just getting so darn creative lately I decided to share a few more.

1. A DIY GIANT paper flower from Pepper and Buttons - loving this blog :)

2. 21 Valentine's day printables from Tatertots and Jello

3. 3D book page heart mobile from Being Brook

4. Red heart pillow tutorial (by Noodlehead) on Ucreate

One more week before Valentine's day, better get crafting :)

Blessings

Gabi

Free Feb desktop calendars

2012-02-03T11:18:00.001+09:00

I love a good desktop calendar, one that makes me smile when I turn on my computer at the start of a new day.

If you don't have a desktop calendar for Feb yet, then here are some free options ;)

Feb wallpaper from Insights Into Me.

A few good Feb wallpaper options from Double Mesh.

Love this one from rottencupcakes

A cute one from Studio of Mae

And my new desktop calender from Pepper and Buttons.

Happy February!!!

Blessings

Gabi

DIY notebook/ sketchbook/ whatever-I-want-to-use-it-for-book.

2012-02-02T09:36:00.000+09:00

Here is a quick tutorial on how to make your own little notebook.

You will need:

Card stock (I used a cereal box - of probably the worst cereal I have ever tasted, hence why you won't see the label in any photos)

Paper (preferable blank paper, but if you want to do something different I'm not going to stop you) I used 10 small sheets.

Needle and thread

Washi tape

A marker

1. Cut your card stock (mine is 11cm x 16cm / 4.3" x 6.3) (length x height)

and your paper (mine is 10cm x 15.5cm / 3.9" x 6.1")

You can do any size just remember that your paper should be a cm shorter in length and 1/2cm shorter in height, than your card stock.

2. If you want rounded corners then either use scissors or a more precise corner punch.

3. Draw any design that you want on the cover.

4. Fold the paper and card stock in half and make holes with your needle - if you find it hard to make the holes you can use a hammer or a less violent object like a shoe :)

I did the card stock first so that I wouldn't need any shoes/hammers etc.

5. If you made holes in the card stock first (like me) then line up the middle of the paper with the middle of the card stock and make holes in paper too.

6. Take your needle and thread, I folded my thread double to make it stronger, and use a running stitch up the spine. Do it up the spine and back down again. Filling in the gaps between stitches as you come back down the spine.

7. Cover the spine with washi tape.

And TA DA!! You are done!

Now I feel better spending money on that specific box of TERRIBLE cereal :)

Have fun crafting.

Blessings

Gabi

Mini (savoury) pies

2012-02-01T14:32:00.001+09:00

I'm just popping in quickly to share this miracle snack with you - one that I accidentally found (and modified a bit). I hardly EVER share food on this blog so this is definitely something you should make a note of.

Ingredients:

Cream cheese

Bacon (fried)

Jalapenos (chopped/fresh or bottled)

Puff pastry (store bought or home made)

1 Egg white

Cut small circles, I used the lid of a glass jar - 6cm/2.4", out of the rolled out pastry (about 3mm/0.1"thick) and layer as follows:

Blob of cream cheese, piece of fried bacon and a piece of Jalapeno.

Brush some egg white on the edges of the pastry and place another pastry circle on top of it.

Press down the edges with a fork (the top pastry will stick to the bottom one because of the egg white).

Brush the top of each mini pie with egg white to allow it to brown easier.

And bake at 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit) for 15min or until brown.

AND TA DA!!

(Sorry for the ugly plate, they where about to be eaten so I had no time for nice styling.)

If you want to do something more, which only adds to the delightfulness, then get a bowl of salsa and dunk the pie in it before taking a bit.

Do it - trust me you'll thank me later.

Blessings

Gabi

Sharing the love

2012-01-30T12:52:00.000+09:00

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.

2. Heart-covered wax paper tutorial from Martha Stewart
3. DIY love notes from Little Birdie Secrets
4. Pancake doodles from More Design Please
5. DIY jam heart cookies from The Pretty Blog
6. Heart inspirations from Bump Smitten
7. Stitched heart bookmarks from Thirty Handmade Days

8. Heart-shaped teabag tag from Martha Stewart
9. Valentine's day breakfast by Cute Food for Kids
10. Heart garland from How About Orange
11. Strawberry heart shortcake cupcakes (drooling) from Omnomicon
12. Origami hearts from Zakka Life
13. Valentines day wall art by Secret Pie Shoppe

14. Cupcake toppers from papernstitch
15. Conversation heart cookies from Martha Stewart
16. See-through Valentines hearts from Random Thoughts of a Supermom
17. Valentine's day fort by Justina Blakeney
18. Sweet heart sugar cubes from Craft Passion
19. Cinnamon roll hearts from Poppies at Play

20. Valentine lightbulb from Design Sponge
21. Burlap heart garland by Funkyshique
22. Heart fingerprints from We heart It
23. DIY needle felt hears from The Magic Onions
24. Warm hearts tutorial from Maureen Cracknell Handmade
25. Heart shaped egg tutorial from 9GAG

OK I'm off to go make hearts. But I'll be back with some love.

Blessings
Gabi

Hong Kong madness!!

2012-01-19T14:24:00.002+09:00

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."

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:

2012-01-16T19:39:00.000+09:00

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

2012-01-16T14:02:00.001+09:00

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

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000+09:00

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

2012-01-04T19:30:00.000+09:00

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.

2012-01-03T13:21:00.000+09:00

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

1. Cut out the pieces from the colours that you want. And embroider the windows (I used normal cotton thread that I folded double.)

2. Attach the long straight piece of felt to one of the sides (that you have just embroidered). I used a plain running stitch.

3. Attach the buttons and 'windows' on the back and front, as well as the lights. Once again using a running stitch.

4. Add buttons to the other side of the car (with embroidered windows).

5. And attach this side to the rest of the car. Remember to start sewing from the inside so as not to leave any untidy pieces of thread sticking out in the end.

6. Stuff the car, sew it shut and trim off any unwanted threads or felt edges. But I kind of like the rough edges - it gives it some character and looks like a bumper ;)

7. TA DA!! Step back and admire your work.

Here is to a new year and loads of new adventures!!

Blessings

^.^

Gabi

Ladies tea

2011-12-29T11:46:00.001+09:00

A few weeks ago we hosted a ladies tea at our church. The topic was God's perspective on health and beauty and we had two amazing ladies from our church speaking to us. I was in charge of the decorations and although the budget was limited it was loads of fun.

Here are some photos.

Having these women in my life has made my time in Korea so much easier.

I hope you enjoy your last few days of 2011.

Blessings

(thanks to Katy Doerksen for all the photos)

^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-12-26T15:54:00.001+09:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I definitely did. I am so thankful that Jesus was born, that God became man. I wouldn't have made it if He hadn't taken the initiative to come down and make a way for me to get to Him.

Here are a few quick inspirations for this Monday - hopefully you aren't sitting at your work desk like me. If you can you should use the opportunity to spend some time with your family :)

The DIY book cover and bookmark is from Twig & Thistle.

The chalboard mug is from wit & whistle.

The heart cards are from good old Martha Stewart.

I hope that you have a really blessed holiday time this week, and if you are in the office, like me, then know that you are not alone :)

Happy Monday!

^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-12-19T13:19:00.000+09:00

Last weekend we had a tea at our church and afterwards I ended up with a whole bunch of empty jars. I love glass jars so I don't mind :)

Here are some ideas for you if, like me, you find yourself in the week of Christmas with some much needed, last minute, gifting and quite a few glass jars ;)

1. Oats, Choc chip, pecan, pink m&m cookies from Bakerella.(You could do this with many cookie recipes, just make sure you layer the ingredients for extra prettiness - and add the recipe;)

2. Divine caramel sauce from mel's kitchen cafe - I REALLY WANT THIS RIGHT NOW!!

3. Some bottled hot chocolate & mini marshmellows - idea from Naturally Chic

4. Vanilla Chai Sugar Scrub from take the side street.

5. Gingerbread Playdough (for kids) but I'm sure making Gingerbread cookie dough would go down just as well :) from Sweet Sugarbelle

6. And although this has nothing to do with jars or gifts, this DIY Santa ornament was too cute to leave off the list. Thanks How About Orange.

Enjoy all the festivities building up to Christmas and if you are on vacation (unlike me:) then please enjoy that too :)

Happy Monday!!

^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-12-12T14:20:00.000+09:00

The past few weeks have been SUPER busy, so I'm pooped today, happy pooped (I will post some photos of what I was up to later.) I thought I'd give you something to smile about today with my favourite pinterest signs and sayings... I mean what better inspiration than a happy heart?

^.^

I'm sure one of my old students could have written this :)

This one makes me think of my husband.

Some perspective.

And lastly...

Happy Monday!!

^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-12-05T15:51:00.000+09:00

Todays post was inspired by the following conversation that I had this past weekend.

Me: "Look at all this wonderful cheap washi tape I found at Diaso yesterday."

Friend 1: "I KNOW!! It's wonderful isn't it, I bought a few rolls as well."

Friend 2: "So what are you going to do with it?"

Me: "Well, (pause) umm... (pause and look to friend 1)

Friend 1: "Well, you see...(pause) Umm.. Well its pretty and pretty things always have a use, we will think of something eventually."

So I went ahead and did some washi tape research for those of us who buy stuff because its pretty :)

Washi tape originated in Japan, it is a pretty (we have established this) tape that comes in different colours, patterns and widths. It can be similar to regular sticky tape (translucent) or masking tape. It is generally used for scrapbooking but it can be used in many other projects.

Well here are some ideas for your pretty tape :)

1. Use washi tape to recycle an old glass bottle into a vase by sweet paul.

2. Mini bunting from the red thread.

3. Bunting for homemade cards from sideoats & scribbles.

4. Washi tape coasters from japanistic.

5. Cocktail stirrers (but you could use these as cupcake toppers too) from Martha Stewart.
6. How to customize plain ceramics from how about orange (one of my favourite blogs.)
7. A washi tape table from Kelly Oshiro Events.
8. Some super cute soap wrappers by Prunella Soap on etsy.

And then lastly, if some of you can't get hold of washi tape and need to look for alternatives - here is a tutorial by just something i made for handmade custom paper tape.

Happy Monday!

^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-11-29T14:03:00.000+09:00

(The internet at my work crashed yesterday - so today's post should be considered better late than never ;)
I accidently found some amazing free printables earlier today and I thought I would share them with you.

The first one is my pretty fix for the day and the second one is my definite favourite for today's inspirations. If you look at the 2nd site you will see there are other printables too - from cowboy hats to a batman mask that you can use for a home made photo booth.
The rest are for general Christmas merriment :)
Have fun.

1. Kitchen printables from the handmade home.

2. Photo booth props from oh happy day.

3. Christmas labels by World label.

4. A holiday gift tag round up from creature comforts. (some of these are unbearably cute)

5. Gift tag printables from yellow heart art.

6. Holiday gift tags from orange you lucky.

Happy Monday (Tuesday)!

^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-11-21T17:32:00.000+09:00

Today my Monday was sneaky. It snuck up on me, caught me unawares and then disappeared too quickly for me to grab hold of it.

Nevertheless here is my inspiration fix for the day :)

1. DIY Paper lanterns from Martha Stewart's Craft Department.

2. Earwarmers tutorial from delia creates (my favourite one for the day)

3. An ice-cream shoppe wedding dessert table and many more party ideas from Kara's Party Ideas.

4. Cupcake cookies from Bake at 350. (I LOVE her blog) and I might have used these before, I can't remember - but if something keeps inspiring you, then why not? :)

I hope that you have managed to get a hold on your Monday. If you see mine anywhere please tell it I'll be more prepared next time round.

Happy Monday!

^.^

Making a photo mosaic.

2011-11-17T15:43:00.002+09:00

I thought I would post a different type of tutorial today because although I enjoy crafts I often struggle with the technical side of blogging.

So I thought I'd share a bit of info that I do have because we bloggers should stick together.

To make a mosaic on the specific programme that I use you need square photos so let's first do that.

First choose a photo that you like and make sure its saved somewhere that you can get hold of it.

Then go to picnik it's a free (very basic) photo editing site.

Get started

and upload a photo.

Like this (follow the red arrows)

Click on basic effects (1.) then Crop (2.) and make sure the scale of your photo is square. I generally manually pull the cropping square with my cursor until its as wide as I want it and then I check the number in the "actual size" block on the left (3.). Then I just make sure the length is the same value.

Click Apply.

All your photos don't have to be the same cropped sizes to make a mosaic, as long as you make sure they are square you will be fine. (But do note that smaller photos can become blurry if you want to use them as a large photo in your mosaic.)

If you want to add text or any other cute things to your photo - now is the time to do it.

For text just go to the text option (the first red arrow)

Choose your font and then the colour. You can resize and rotate it if you want to.

When you are happy with all of this you can go ahead and save your photo.

At this point you want to make sure that you double check that the width and height of the photo are still the same.

Repeat this with all the photos that you would like in your mosaic.

Then go to Big Huge Labs,mosaic maker. This website is also free and has tons of great things that you can do with your photos but you need to register first (its's worth it).

From the top you can see what you need to choose - your layout, how many photos you want to upload, how much space you want between photos, what colour that space should be and where you want to upload photos from.

Upload your photos by clicking on the "choose photo" blocks and then browse to find the ones you have edited. (This is where you will have a problem if your photos are not square)

When you are finished click on the "create" button and stand in AWE of what you have created.
You can still edit it if you want to go back and make changes, if you are satisfied click "save".

After making sure its saved. You can upload it as you normally would upload a photo onto blogger.

TADA!!

You can choose a few layout options - I generally do all the photos the same size because they are for tutorials but I think the layout above is my new favourite.

I hope that helps.

^.^

Have a great day!

Monday inspirations

2011-11-14T14:16:00.002+09:00

I love it when bloggers make a tutorial or 101 series and so I was overjoyed on Friday when I found the following two blogger series.

The first one is called: Welcome Baby Tutorial Series from Clover and Violet.

It just started and the first tutorial is on baby bibs done by guest blogger Kim from My Go-Go Life, they are super cute.

The second one finished in Sept this year (which means you can go through it at your own pace:)

It's called the sewing back-to-school guest post series and it's from Sew Sweetness.

The series is for people that are new to sewing and there is something in it for everyone.

Go take a look - I will be wondering around there too :)

Just to give you a taste; the first guest post, of 24, is about pairing fabrics. It was done by another Kim but this time from Poppy Seed Fabrics.

And remember...

to have a WONDERFUL Monday!

^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-11-07T13:22:00.000+09:00

I was so excited yesterday when I found Oh, Sugar! Events. The absolute genius behind Oh, Sugar! Events has created my favourite cookie to date. Its a Mr. Potato Head cookie with your own choice of cookie parts.

Take a look! These particular cookies seem to have caused quite an uproar. If you have a second go over to the blog and say hi :)

I think this cookie deserves some kind of prize - it makes me happy just looking at it.

And then here are some DIY's for you on this lovely Monday.

1. Alphafantastical insta-decor (free printables) from the handmade home.

2. DIY Jam heart cookies from the pretty blog.

3. DIY paper cubes for fairy lights from who-knows-where, because the link goes nowhere:( thankfully the whole DIY is here on pinterest. If you find the owner please let me know.

(I think we need to start a "lost and found" section for blogger ideas.)

4. DIY favor bags from DIY Wedding

Happy Monday!!

^.^

I promise I'm not sleeping over here ^.^

2011-11-02T11:45:00.001+09:00

Just in case you thought I was relaxing on this side and sipping a cup of tea or playing in the falling Autumn leaves...I'm not only doing that.

I have been doing a few other things too: Here are 3 of them ^.^

I made a birthday bag for a friend :)

I also made my first zippered pouch.

I inserted my first zip ever.

Then unpicked my first zip ever.

Then I shortened my first zip ever.

And then broke my first needle ever.

I did needle felting onto fabric for the first time ever (the cloud)

And then I finished making this:

I needed a handbag that was cheap and big enough to act as an overnight bag. So I bought a plain (cheap) bag and then hand sewed some of my heart on to it (Africa).

Hope you have been having some creative fun too.

^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-10-31T15:30:00.001+09:00

I love blog land but I need to get something off my chest today; why do people link to a link that links to a link that links to another link. A link to a link is fine - but sometimes the trail gets so long that you get lost.

Take this cute robot for instance.

I found her on Pinterest - and under her it said DIY robot. I clicked on the link, it took me to a blog and after scrolling through 10 pages I found the picture. It linked me back to Pinterest which linked me to someone else's blog that apologized for not knowing where the original picture came from... So sadly this poor Robot has been left wandering the world wide web alone. If you find her home please let me know - I would love to link you to it ;)
(I'm adding this about 2 weeks later - BUT I FOUND THE CREATOR!!!!) Here is her etsy link: Little brown byrd creations

And without further moaning from my side, here are some inspirations for today: :)

1. A little lamb pillow tutorial from the Purl bee.

2. A DIY paper mobile from Lait fraise (Google chrome gave me a translate option - if you have it use it :)

3. A felt flower pillow tutorial from Twinkle and Twine.

4. And my favourite one for the day: A stamp carving tutorial (with all the right tools) from Ishtar Olivera

I hope you have a wonderful Monday!

^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-10-24T14:55:00.000+09:00

Human exploitation is a big problem in this day and age. I think for too long we have been blind to it or just ignoring it.

Recently a friend told me about a documentary that was made regarding sex trafficking and the exploitation of women for sex, called:

Nefarious Merchant of souls

(see the link for the trailer)

I have had the privilege of watching it. They are currently showing it at screenings around the world and the DVD should be available by the end of the year.

Watch it if you can and get involved.

I am planning on.

There are many issues discussed but the one that hit me the hardest was that there are many young children around the world, and especially in Cambodia, being sold (sometimes even by their parents) to foreigners for sex.

CNN also released a documentary this past week called "Not my Life". If you missed it here are the links.

This is part one

Part two.

Don Brewster (Founder of Agape International Missions) who speaks on both Nefarious: Merchant of Souls and Not my Life, tells you what he and his team are doing to help.

Agape International Missions from Clayton Butler on Vimeo.

"We are going to sacrifice till it hurts, because this is an evil that needs to be destroyed and that's what we're committed to do."
Don Brewster

They currently also have a campaign called "Treat the Tricked" - please go take a look and donate. Paying 10 dollars won't make a dent in your pocket, but it will make a difference to a child.
Let's join in and start doing something to protect God's children.

I wrote a letter to my love...

2011-10-19T22:52:00.001+09:00

A while back I was missing my family and decided to send a small care package. I thought about what I would have liked and realized that sitting down and having a cup of tea with my mom would be wonderful. So, because that is currently impossible I went for an alternative.

I had seen a few people from our wonderful online craft world make these, but their only use was the cuteness factor. I decided to change the concept just a little by making the envelopes from different colours and I wrote tiny letters to my mom and attached them each to a teabag. So that when she was missing me she could have a cup of tea and read my note (not exactly a full conversation - but you have to take what you can get if you are oceans apart.)

If you have a loved one that you want to 'have a cup of tea with' here is a quick how to for the letters :)

1. Print out the template and use it to cut out the shape from paper (it doesn't have to be cardstock - I used normal writing paper)
2. Fold the paper on the lines indicated on the template and stick fold 3 onto the side-folds 1 and 2 with double sided tape.
3. Redo step one and two as many times as desired. :)
4. Write a letter to whom ever you choose. (make sure the paper that you cut out to use for letter paper fits, width wise, into your envelope.)
5. Place the letter and the paper thingy from the teabag into your envelope and use double sided tape to seal it.
6. Decorate your envelopes however you choose and send it off to your loved one.

Happy crafting
^.^

Monday Inspirations

2011-10-17T15:07:00.012+09:00

Today I am thankful.

Thankful that God gave people bits and pieces of His creative side. I love seeing people's creativity and today I have gotten a real kick out of browsing through people's blog posts, old and new, and getting my inspiration fix for the week.

I have made a few links (below the pics) for you who do not have the time to amble lazily through blog land.

^.^

1. Page corner bookmarks from 'I could make that'

2. A DIY camera purse/bag from 'vanilla and lace'

3. A clock DIY makeover from 'wonderful joy ahead'

4. A toadstool tutorial from 'so you think you're crafty'

5. A DIY rubber mustache stamp from 'the sweetest occasion'

6. (my personal favourite of the day) Little monsters tutorial from Alisa Burke

Oh and just so you can get excited with me - I featured on scrapbook etc. recently :) and I made it on to this list :) (no. 46 under crafts and craft supplies)
I'm currently doing my happy dance.

I hope that you have a great week.

Happy Monday!

^.^