It may seem as though I don’t make my own Christmas cards however I do, it’s a team effort. Britney since winning the Mayors xmas card comp’ last year is now the family Christmas card artwork designer. This is what she did this year, we scanned and printed onto photo quality paper and mounted onto black cardstock.
The end is drawing closer for all of us with children in year 6, there primary years are coming to an end. The school my daughter attends a dinner/dance in the school hall is being put together by parents and teachers, they will have a blast and believe is it something they will remember fondly as they age. My role as a parent was to come up with the invitations, we have a theme for the event that we decorate with however the children are not aware until the night as to what the theme is. The part of the invitation with all the details I cannot show however it is very pretty also, I used high quality photo paper to create a glossy ticket and used the Stampin Up! perforated cutter kit to make the RSVP butt tear off. I made 49 all together and each one was a little different with the patterned paper, I didn’t take a photo of them all as there names are on the outside. With the privacy laws gone mad now I have to be careful so this is my daughter invite.
The colours of the folders varied from Real Red and Tempting Torquoise and the use of the Big Top Birthday patterned paper and the big shot was used with the Perfect Pennants die and also the Simple letters alphabet and also used the Stripes and perfect polka dots impressions embossing folder. My big shot got a big work out, I am amazed as to how much I use it, best investment 
I used to be so protective of all my Stampin Up products but then came to realise that they are tough and very hard to damage and it is a matter of teaching them (meaning children) to look in the scrap box before grabbing a fresh sheet of card stock. I allow my daughter Britney who is 11 to free rein on all my Stampin Up products and she loves it, she will often disappear into the cottage and create various different projects. She will come up with ideas and just go with it, I have taught her that there is no mistake with art it is an individual piece of work so there is no right or wrong.
The picture below is something Britney made a couple of weekends ago and I still can’t believe she sat there and patiently cut all the flowers out. Notice the pot, she has stamped on it. Before stamping it she asked ‘ can I stamp on this’ I said ‘I have no idea, have a go what is the worst that can happen’ and look it works great. So next time you are sitting at your desk and wondering whether a technique may work or not, just have a go!
Like you’re not busy enough this time of the year adding a trip to the hospital at 10.15pm on Monday was not on my ‘To Do List’. David & I were out to dinner with friends when we got the call to say Jared had split his head open, lucky we were at the car to go pick him up (if only we left 10 min earlier) anyway a trip to the hospital with blood gushing out (he thought he was going to die, poor thing). The doctor glued his head and all was fixed. We had to keep him up until midnight to make sure he didn’t become unconscious. All is good now and he is left with a nice scare on his head.
What a great way for my daughter to end her school year in year 5 (wow, only 12 months left until high school, now that is scary in itself). This morning Britney and her school got presented with her winning card design nicely framed and both Britney and the school received a $100 gift voucher to Angus & Roberston, thank you Mr Patterson and Camden Council. I had no influence on her card design at all, totally designed by her, not bad for a 10 year old (she only wishes she didn’t rush the colouring-in…lol). It is interesting to see how she sees Christmas in Camden. Well, I better get back to work, busy time of year. One teacher gift handed out this morning four more to go. Have a good day.
Above is a link to the newspaper that my daughter is in and as a proud mum this blog of mine is a great place to brag. The Mayors Christmas card competition was homework for Britney a few weeks ago and like most kids I know, it was left to the last minute. To receive the phone call last Friday afternoon off the school principal to say that she had won was absolutely amazing. When I told Britney that afternoon she had won she let off the biggest squeal and spin on the floor I had seen…lol.
Britney has had an amazing year at school, she was one of five kids in a group to win the school $25,000 for producing a short film on why Camden Public School is the healthiest, she has won the Mayors Christmas card competition and gets to light up the christmas tree in Camden tonight and yesterday was elected as a prefect. She now hopes her luck has not run out as she would love to be elected school captain. I wish her all the luck and as her mum am very happy and proud of her. xoxo
I have never whinged on my blog before however today I am venting (it is healthy to do sometimes). As we age we are still forever learning and this past week has been a huge learning experience and eye opener for me. What you ask have I learnt? Well….some people don’t like other peoples success 
the word congratulations seems to be like the word sorry, hard for some people to say. As parents we should be able to discuss (not gloat, discuss which is totally different however viewed that same) our childrens success without being frowned upon….okay, I have had my whinge and I am moving on…ahh that feels better 
Hope you have a good day….Cheers Lana xo
well not really just really busy late at night creating. So what projects have I been doing? The first one to show you is all for my mother. She needed some gifts for her friends so I made her up some of those great covered notebooks, but instead of using notebooks I found these great diaires $2 only, what a bargain. Made 17 christmas cards and 6 boxes for her to put in some home made rocky road (for the boys). I am really happy with how they have all turned out and just love all the colour. With the help of my friend we packed them safely into a box (as I don’t really send delicate parcels out into the post, I needed a little help to make sure nothing got damaged, thanks Sheena and I sent it up to the Central Coast and all arrived safely….phew, all the hard work didn’t get damaged or lost thank goodness.
can even be used for school assignments. Britney is your typical girl who loves to draw and make things pretty. In this photo is her book report where they had a series of questions to answer about a book she had read. The only thing I did help her with is the binding of the cardstock, I used my binding machine. Each page is illustrated by her drawing relevant events that she wrote about from the book. The Stampin Up products used were Pretty in pink card stock and whisper white card stock, the beautiful ribbons used were pretty in pink satin ribbon, whisper white taffeta ribbon and the concord crush stitched-poly ribbon. They have made something so simple look so pretty, she was very happy with how it looked. This is not a posting about me bragging about Britneys book report, it is to show you how versatile the Stampin Up products are and that they can be used for so many things and it is great to get the kids involved in using them so they can also express their creative flair.
On Saturday our family participated in ‘Relay for Life’ with the kids school, we had a team of about 20 who walked for a good cause and that is to raise money and also awarness of cancer. As a team we raised $3,120 which is a fantastic effort and it was a great gathering from the whole community. Cancer is a terrible disease and unfortunately their is not someone out their who does not know of someone who has it or had it. One Saturday as we were walking a friend lost his wife to cancer and her funeral is today. The pain and exhaustion our bodies felt afterwards is nothing compared to what people with cancer suffer. I would like to thank all those people who sponsored myself, David or the kids, the money has gone to a great cause and maybe one day a cure will be found however until then we must help fight the battle.
I have been given this beautiful award twice, thank you very much Sharon Davis and Teneale Williams I am honoured.
Now I must pass this award on to another 10 beautiful blogs and tell you 10 things about myself. Okay, these are blogs that I look at every week for inspiration. I actually only know a couple of these ladies and believe I am very lucky that have have found all of them along my creative journey whilst looking for inspiration and they continue to inspire me.
1. Sharon Davis 2. Teneale Williams 3. Marelle Taylor 4. Kim Gavarra 5. Kirsty Brown 6. Fiona Platzer 7. Sharlene Meyer 8. Jayne Mercer 9. Petronela Hardy 10. Liz Collett
Now that part I have been dreading, as I am not that good with words; 1o things about myself.
1. I am married to my wonderful husband David and we have two children; Britney (10) and Jared (8) and have two four legged children; Rusty and Casper 2. I run my kids school canteen with my friend Sheena 3. I love my iphone and can’t wait for the ipad to hit our shores 4. I am an organised neat freak; alot of my friends think my name is perfect….spell it backwards..lol 5. My worst trait is that I am not very tolerable…and see things either black or white 6. Am totally a control freak 7. I don’t sleep much, my mind is always ticking over thinking about something 8. Lack confidence and am totally hopeless in talking in front of people 9. Don’t mind playing in the kitchen…have to be in the mood 10. Love my stampin cottage and am very grateful for having it.
