Free Feb desktop calendars

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.

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

Mini (savoury) pies

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

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

^.^