Hoooo, me?

I made a new little friend recently .

Unfortunately we didn't get to know each other very well as he was a gift and was soon winging his way
(by post, not magic!) to his new home on the Sunshine Coast .

He adorns an adjustable ring, and is made from one of these resins . . .

First I glued him onto the ring blank using E6000 (but any strong craft glue will do) , and let him dry .

To give the details a bit of definition , I brushed him over with white StazOn ink .

I pinched a few drops of my son 's Citadel model paint to give him a silver beak (to match the ring) and added 2 black half pearls to make his eyes shine .

So cute .

Luckily I have a few more owls , so I think there could be a little friend in my future too .

P.S. "A wise old owl sat on an oak; the more he saw, the less he spoke; The less he spoke, the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird? "  Traditional

Gift-Card Cards...

Don't know about you , but I give alot of gift cards when birthdays come around . (You know the ones - same size as a credit card but more fun 'cause you don't have to pay it back !)
I know it sounds very un-imaginative , but all my extended family live away from me and so most gifts in our household need to be posted .  Anyhoo , I am always on the lookout for greeting card ideas that incorporate a gift card holder .

The latest one I have tried out is from the ideas gallery at stamponthis.com and the instructions can be printed from here .

These are the ones I have made using the pattern so far and it works quite well . . .

The only thing I would suggest is that you use a gift card that does not match the colour of the card , or put a little 'pull' label beside it , as the recipient may not realise it's there and your fabulous generousity would go to waste !

Send me a picture or link if you try the pattern out !

P.S. “If you have much, give of your wealth; If you have little, give of your heart” Arab proverb

Happy Valentine's Day!

source
Hope you are having a 'love'-ly day today.

I thought I'd show you some great free V-day printables I found here that I have used this year for an extremely low-key celebration . . .

A whole suite of sweet !

As well as leaving a chocolate rose for my dear husband this morning with one of the little 'be mine' tags attached , I also used the dottie black tags to make up some little gifts for the kids to take to school .                  

Rather than use the whole square tag , I punched a scallop out with the text in the middle , then punched a small hole in the top and attached it to a cello bag containing one special chocolate with a co-ordinating ribbon.
I sent each son with a chokky for himself and one for a friend . It will be interesting to see who they chose as recipients !

P.S. “Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine!” Thomas Hood

Quote art . . .

The eldest recently celebrated his 14th birthday . . .

and if you know any teenage boys you will also know the agonizing that goes on when you need to get them a gift . Cash or gift cards are the way to go with friends' kids , kids' friends or nephews , but you are expected to make a bit more of an effort with your own boys !

While he does love to read and swim and jump on the trampoline and socialize with friends and watch movies and write stories , his abiding love at 14 is definitely his Xbox 360 . So as a part of his birthday present this year ( which also included new Xbox games ) I made him some graphic art for his room , using quotes from two of his favourite games - Portal 2 and Crysis 2 .

I used the photo editing site Picnik (sadly closing down in April - boo hoo) , but you can use any word processing program that allows you to manipulate spacing and fonts .

 Once printed out in high quality on glossy A4 photo paper , I framed each of the 3 quotes in black frames with double white mats . This makes them a bit larger, with alot more presence. I couldn't get 3 frames exactly the same, so the two quotes from Portal have the same frames, the one from Crysis is slightly different .

I think he was pleased , though it is hard to tell as 14-year-old boys tend to be a bit ' meh ' .

 If you would like to have a closer look at the quotes or fonts , or print them for any Portal or Crysis fans that you know , you can click on them above (my own work, so feel free to use) .

P.S. “Some parents say it is toy guns that make boys warlike. But give a boy a rubber duck and he will seize its neck like the butt of a pistol and shout 'Bang!' ” George F. Will