My Creative Space

Lots of secret Christmas swap action going on this week, but I'm not quite ready to post about it, so I thought I would share what I was up to last week (while getting ready for my last market of the year when didn't have time to post:)

Now you are probably thinking, it must have been something for the market, but it wasn't that kind of crafting. Earlier this month was the market day and art show at my children's school and I was one of the organizers. It's an event that can't be successful without all the lovely handmade and vintage stallholders who participate, so we always do a thank you from the students.

In the past we have gotten blank cards printed using the children's art, but as it turns out we used them all up last year, so I came up with a very quick and simple idea for thank you cards. I got my hands on some unclaimed paintings/pictures from the art room, cut them up, glued them on black card and glued white card on the back for the children to write on.

See I said it was simple! Voila, thank you cards:)

We have received numerous comments from the market stall holders about the cards, how lovely and how thoughtful to even say thank you (doesn't everyone say thank you?) One stall holder even called the school to say how lovely their card was:)

This would be such a simple idea to apply to your own children's art. As littlest is in kinder she brings home a never ending supply of art projects. This would be another great way to use some of them:)

Hope there is lots going on in your space this week, maybe even secret Christmas stuff:) To see what others have been up to be sure to visit My Creative Space. Cyndy Pin It

My Creative Space...

It's the second week of the school holidays and the demands have definitely caught up with me! Unfortunately, I haven't been as productive as I would like, especially in light of the fact that I have my first market coming up in less than a month!

I have, however, managed to work on a few note cards. In August I made some Sydney Favourite Places note cards for my partner in the Seaweed and Raine Sunshine in the Mail Swap (to see some of the other fabulous swap items made by the various participants you can visit here). I made them using a 1970's book written for children on New South Wales (NSW). I love the colours, the kitschy illustrations, and the facts about places in the book.

The book on NSW was one of a set, and yes, I managed to score one on each state:) How cool is that? This week I decided to make similar note cards to the NSW ones from the book on Victoria. It was actually quite hard; there are illustrations and facts on the front and back of each page so I could only pick one from each page. In some cases I went for colour (like the Moomba one), in other case I went for famous places (like the MCG one). Not surprisingly most of the places featured in the book were in Melbourne. There was one poor little page about Geelong, but the illustration was all gray and it talked about the industrial/port side of Geelong. Not terribly interesting card making material:(

Like the Sydney note card set, I love the way these have turned out so far. I still have a few more to make, but I have encountered the classic "running out of materials while in the middle of a project" problem and need to get some more card stock so that I can finish them off. As a result, this project will probably be in the "in progress" pile for a little while.

I hope you are getting more done in your creative space than I am this week! For more lovely spaces you can visit here. Cyndy

PS For all you footy fans I thought I would share some gratuitous pics from the parade yesterday in Geelong to celebrate our third Premiership in 5 years:)

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My First Crafty Swap - Favorite Sydney Places Notecards

In August I participated in my first crafty swap, the Snail Mail Swap hosted by the lovely Sheree at Seaweed and Raine. The premise of the swap was pretty simple: to send someone "Sunshine in the Mail" because everyone likes getting real mail (not those yucky bills or junk mail) by September 1.

Now that my package has been received by Terese from Designed To a T I thought I would share one of the items in her package I had fun making. If you saw my teaser post earlier you probably noted and were confused by the picture of the book Know Australia: New South Wales.

One thing I learned about Terese is that she lives in the Sydney area - when I first came to Australia 20 years ago I lived in Sydney and I loved it! It really is one of my favorite cities in the world (although I have definitely developed an appreciation for Melbourne after living nearby for the last 4 years, is that diplomatic or what:)

The book was from the 1970's and contained some lovely drawings and fun facts about places of interest in New South Wales, including many in Sydney. I loved the drawings, but thought the facts were fun too, so I tried to create something that would use both. The result were these note cards featuring some of my favorite places in Sydney including the Opera House....

the Sydney Harbour Bridge...



the Rocks...

the beaches (Manly is probably my fav)...



and the Taronga Zoo (best view of Sydney in my opinion)...



I do love how they turned out and was a little sad to give them away, but I did make them for Terese:)The good news is that I have similar books on all the other states, so I think there may be some more cards coming! Cyndy

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My Creative Space...

So, I have a bit of a thing for books. There I said it. Really, I am a self confessed bookaholic. I LOVE books. I have always been a reader and hoarder owner of books. When growing up, during the summers I used to spend all day reading in bed. It's such a simple pleasure. True, it's hard to do now that I have young children, but I do try to carve out some reading time in bed on a Sunday morning (no doubt with one or two of the children bouncing in the bed next to me:)

Reading isn't the only great thing about books. I also love the art, especially in children's books. I love browsing through the children's books in the op shop. If you have children you probably know that some books become very "loved"; pages get ripped, drawn on or even get food/juice spilled on them - I am sure you know what I mean.

I hate to see these books go to waste, especially if they have beautiful illustrations. The cards and envelopes I made are from one such book I found at the op shop. Some of the pages were loose and had water damage, but the illustrations were gorgeous! How could you not love May Gibbs' illustrations of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie no matter what condition? It took me awhile (again, even a damaged book is hard for me to cut up), but I finally decided to make some cards and lined envelopes from the illustrations. I love them! Now just to decide who to send them to!

Hope you week has been creative, for more creative spaces this week you can visit here. Cyndy

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Happy Mother's Day

Although today is Mother's Day my oldest daughter (age 7) came home on Wednesday and said "mom I have something for you." As it was Wednesday, not today, I wasn't thinking Mother's Day present and when I turned around she handed me this:

She had made the card at school and apparently couldn't wait to give it to me! She was so proud of her creation and couldn't wait to see my reaction. Of course, it will go in my special box:) Hope you are having a lovely Mother's Day! Cyndy Pin It