Author: Nic Howard

Top of the agenda today is to smoke a whole lot of fish caught by the super-hunter-gather types in the family.  They crossed the bar out the port and had the best day fishing.  Uncle Vaughan had only been in the country from chilly London for 36 hours before landing enough of these to feed a small army.

Look at that rain building in the clouds behind – I swear this has been the wettest December ever.  Check out how lush that grass is.  We never have green grass in December.  Anyhow.  There were some seriously happy fishermen yesterday and many people are having fish on the Christmas BBQ this year.

On the list of people that benefitted from the boys fishing excursion was a very happy teacher at Braden’s school.  Braden is holding what we call a Barracuda and we usually throw these fish back – weird prehistoric looking things – but this South African teacher at Braden’s school just thinks it’s Christmas (haha it is!) if they manage to gift him one of these… apparently it’s a sought after fish in his home country.  Pic is deceptive.  This was a huge fish.

While all this chest-beating manly kind of activity was going on out on the water, I was home scrapping.  I’ve used these butterfly garden papers by Pink Paislee dozens of times, still loving them.  I threw in some of their Nantucket papers too, loved them.  The layout is full of packaging, cheap scrapbooking, love it.  I’ve used these 7dots studio papers before, still loving them.  I have used these colours together countless times.  Still loving them.  Since this was a layout I was doing for myself, for fun, for creative time, I did all the stuff I loved.  Good times.

Supplies: Lighter papers are Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden, Mistables papers and Nantucket.  Darker papers are 7dots studio Dreamer.  Embellished piece under butterfly is the top of a pink paislee embellishment packet.  Numbers by Pink Paislee, Alphas by FancyPants Designs.  Small scallop punch with dots is the Punch Border Dotted Scallop ribbon punch (love it!) by Stampin’ Up! and the other large lace punch is by Martha Stewart.  A lotta ink and curling and bob’s yer uncle, really.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve.  Hope it’s good to you!
Laters

I have scrapbooking paper all over my desk, a layout isn't far away.  This layout has taken ages.  Perhaps because I'm not under any pressure to finish it for any reason.  Perhaps because I'm spending too much time on Pinterest, browsing for fabulous recipe ideas. 

Like this one.  Which I've included in my family dinners twice now, instead of having carbs.  (We are a mostly carb-less family for evening meals).  This is so simple and so yummy.  So quick and easy.  You are basically using deli ham as a liner in a muffin-tin and cracking an egg in the middle.  Recipe is here.  My only tip, make sure it's exactly 12 minutes at 200 degrees.  14 minutes will make hard eggs. 

 

Oh this recipe.  Which goes against the carb-less rule I mentioned in the previous paragraph.  Haven't tried this one yet.  I'm dying to though, I know the kids will love it and I probably will too.  It's basically made by standing up nearly-cooked pasta in the dish, pouring nacho mince over the top, pushing down into the tubes and adding a little cheese on top and baking.    It'd be amazing with fresh tomatoes and brocolli on the side.  I may have just talked myself into making this tonight.

And then there are these.  Oreo truffles.  If you are a close friend or neighbour of mine right now you'd want to be extra nice to me.  I have a whole batch of these in my fridge.  Easy to make.  I haven't tried one yet , seriously, I haven't, what kind of crazy person am I?,  but there were like 1110 positive 5 star reviews on the recipe site, so I'm thinking they are gooooood.   My big tips for making these.

1. Refridgerate mix BEFORE you roll into balls.
2. Freeze balls of mix for a good while before trying to dip in chocolate.
3. Use several kebab skewers or similar to roll in the chocolate.
4. Easiest way to crush the oreos, place into a bag and get all the air out of the bag, tie a knot.  Put into 2 more bags with no knots and run them over in the car.  Forwards. Backwards. Forwards. Backwards.  With 3 kids jumping up and down and squealing with laughter watching.  I don't think the kids thing helps the way the cookies crush, it just makes for a helluva fun time.

So those are the current reasons I have no scrapbook layouts to show you.  Now it's back to cutting coloured pieces of paper and sticking them together whilst dreaming of Pasta Pie.

Laters

Nothing like a fun, festive blog hop!  Welcome everyone and a special welcome to those of you that have arrived via blog hop from Big Picture Classes.  Yay for browsing blogs and being linked to a whole lot of festive ideas…and scroll to the bottom of this post for info on a new Big Picture Class celebrating Christmas…  let's get this blog hop moving!

There is no doubting that this school holiday fun I had with Abby back in July was a total hit.  We created the cutest little twine heart shaped wand, it took very little resources and made Abby smile for days.  It was way back then that she asked me to create one using a star.

So as Christmas approached I decided that this would make a fab ornament.  Except this time we need a star or two for the Christmas tree.  Bring on the string and glue!

Gather some of your favourite twine.  You can use anything, I get mine from  The Twinery.  Abby chose green and orange, since we were creating two stars. I'd have chosen teal but I was out-voted, clearly.

2. Find some fun shaped cookie cutters or play-dough cutters. Gather some wood-glue that dries clear, a plastic lid/plate to place the creations on while you make them, and some scissors.  Oh and glitter. One must have glitter.

Cut lengths of twine, I cut mine about 5-10cm long (around 2-4 inches long).  How many? How long is a piece of string? (Couldn't resist that!) – I guessed and if it wasn't enough, I cut more later!

Get layering string and glue!  Abby & I partnered up, she was the string-placer and I was the glue-master.  We layered glue and string, pushing it in hard all the way until the cookie cutter was full of string soaked in glue.

You have to have bling – Abby added glitter and sparkles, spilled a whole lot on the floor, declared that the floor would look fabulous all glittery for Christmas, put the stars in the sun to dry and flitted off and left me to clean up.  That wasn't in the plan, just for the record…

Leave to dry.  Vacuum the floor.  When they are completely dry they should push out of the cookie cutter and there you have it.  Most of the time there is a 'loop' somewhere that you are able to add a hanging string to.  Isn't this the cutest, easiest, cheapest home made ornament ever?!!!  Try different shapes, different colours, mixing colours, adding different bling, decorating the finished product with small flowers or other embellishments.  This could totally be the start of a twine & glue revolution!

And there we have it…. want more festive ideas?  Hope on over to Georgana Hall's blog where the blog hop will continue on until you have 12 fun ideas!

Before you go, though, stop right there – I have info on the next Big Picture class that I'm involved in, I'm celebrating the 12 days of Christmas along with 11 other teachers!

How it works:
For the 12 days leading up to Christmas, you will receive an email from a BPC teacher with a photo prompt and a list of supplies to gather. Preparing specific holiday pictures and products as Christmas approaches will help you focus on the present moments and the joyful anticipation in a more thoughtful way—without feeling any pressure to scrapbook right away! Then, starting on December 25th, you'll get to "open" a new handout each day, designed to guide and inspire you in pulling together pictures and products to complete a dozen different layouts.

At the end of this workshop you'll have created 12 special memories with your family AND you'll have 12 finished pages. Rather than rushing through the holidays this year, give yourself the gift of happy memories documented in a delightfully doable way!

This workshop includes:

• 12 daily emails from 12 different BPC teachers for the 12 days leading up to Christmas
• Reminder emails when the classroom is updated with new materials
• 12 colorful instructional handouts with step-by-step instructions for creating 12 layouts
• Video messages from each teacher available as streaming videos and transcripts
• Message board to share your thoughts with your classmates

Find out more here!  Happy Festive Blog hop to you all!  Enjoy the twine creations!

We're a fairly no-frills family.  We have simple rules and everyone sticks to them.  Mostly.  No TV before 4pm.  No nintendo in the weekdays.  Wait 'til everyone has finished eating before asking to be excused from the table. Mum is boss.  Dad is not boss even though he says he is boss. If you have to leave any of your dinner, leave your carbs.  Don't expect that I'll buy food that doesn't fuel your body in some way.  Well, that one doesn't always apply.

It was about November last year when I celebrated reaching a personal milestone.  You can see that post here, it's interesting reading, for me anyway, one year on.  I don't normally open the emotional floodgates on my blog, but that post was an exception.  The good news is that one year on, I'm in the same place as I was last year.  This year though, I'm celebrating a little more because I had some extra odds thrown at me.  Ill health was a biggie, something I'm still having to deal with, although right now  it's on a lesser scale. 

Anyway.  I didn't realise it'd been a whole year since I did this, but once again, I was inspired to throw a little after-school party for the kids.  A walk-in-the-door-and-their-jaws-drop-open kinda thing.  A Mum-did-you-really-just-serve-up-cheezels-and-chocolate kinda party.  Well yes.  Yes I did.  There's nothing like breaking out some cool new supplies (KaiserCraft again, this time Fine & Sunny), writing some sentimental little cards for the kiddos, telling them how fabulously wonderful they are and decorating a party table.  All for no reason.  Except celebrating what we have.  Right?

laters

We’ve got some big changes happening in the Howard home.  There is lots going on with the kids, schooling, I qualified with my sports studies, there is a whole lot of big decision making going on.  To add a little more into the mix, I texted my Mum the other day and let her know that there would be the pitter patter of tiny feet in the Howard home next year.

She didn’t fall for it though.  Her reply to me was “4 feet and a tail that wags?”

Yep.  That’s the plan.

So I spent a lot of time last week with this gorgeous wee thing on my mind.  I travelled out of town to meet her.  I spent time with her.  Because she has some special medical needs I rang around getting advice about her.  I searched online.  I read forums.  I listened and spent days worrying about my decision about her.

As a family we decided we weren’t the right match, so I had to let the owner know we couldn’t give her a home, but in my mind I had already taken her in.  Sadly she’ll go to someone else now, so the search continues.  Isn’t she the cutest thing?

Maybe the next pup will be the right one for us.

Laters

You thought you were finished your Christmas shopping, right?  (there was a little sarcasm there, no one has finished, have they?)   Well no, you haven’t finished yet – because the True Scrap classes are now available as single classes!

I know lots of you are going to love this.  You are going love shopping for YOU with this one, because many of you have been asking when my class “Ready, Set, Distress” would be available as a class by itself.  Well it is.  And at $10, it’ll barely be noticed on the credit card. With all that Christmas shopping you have put on there already, right?!!

Scroll down for full details on my class, but while you are at True Scrap signing up for Ready , Set, Distress, don’t forget to take a look at the other single classes too, choosing from the likes of:

-Super Stamping Secrets II with Jennifer McGuire

-Designing with Embellishment Clusters from Noell Hyman

-From Pages to Cards with Kristina Werner

-Spray Inks De-Mist-Ified with Francine Clouden

-How to Make Money Scrapbooking with… Me!

-A face-to-face interview with the darling and daring Cathy Z!

…and a dozen more.   At least check it out.  You deserve it!

Ready, Set, Distress!
Technique and Layout class by Nic Howard.

(See the blooper video here, it got a whole 500 views on youtube, which was fabulous because my hubby didn’t think I’d get past 23 and I bet him a bag of chocolate pineapple lumps that I would.  I won.  Neener.  Neener.)

Class Description:
Beautifully detailed vintage pages are the focus of many scrapbooks these days.  Inking and curling, sanding and painting,  Nic has built the perfect how-to class to set you on your way to distressing perfection.  Learn how to create a vintage distressed layout from start to finish, using a techniques you can apply to any project.  Nic is known for her ability to create visually stimulating textures and dimensions on a scrapbook page, and now she's going to share her favourite techniques with you!

What I will be doing during class: 

Quick demo of some distressing techniques using the crackle inks, distress stains etc.  Bringing the techniques together on a small tag.  Then on to a layout from start to finish (tag is included as the main embellishment).  It’s going to ROCK!!

 

Link to sign up is here!

I love Christmas.  We don't have many 'holidays' here in New Zealand so I make sure I enjoy everything about the festive season.  I love the sparklies in the shops, the Christmas songs playing, the gorgeous foods and the extra attention people pay to each other in the way of gifts and Christmas cards or letters.

Like everyone else, I do have stressful moments, which is why I thought I'd share my idea for creating gifts for that not-so-easy-to-buy-for person.  We've all got one or two of those!

Handmade cards.  And before you write the idea off as an old one, I know that people have been giving sets of blank handmade cards for years.  BUT how about this tip for going that leeeeeettle bit further.

Say – hypothetically just incase Mum is reading my blog – just say, that I want to buy my Mum a present but I have no idea what to give her.  I could hypothetically, once again, incase my mother is reading my blog not watch X-Factor one night and whip up about a dozen cards.  Handmade.  Some boy ones, some girl ones, some my Grandmother would love, just a whole lot of not-too-tricky kinda cards. 

But here is the cool bit.  I find out friends and family's addresses that she might normally send to.  I write them on envelopes, ready for her to choose a card, write a sentiment and pop it in.  The COOLEST thing though is where the stamp goes – I write the date of the recipients birthday.  I arrange them all nicely in a box in date order to be sent and my Mum would always be organised. 

I know.  Too easy.  And something my Mum would truly appreciate.  If this were her gift, that is.

Laters

(Supplies: All papers/layered chipboard/stickers etc from KaiserCraft Technologic range available March 2012)

I’ve just received the coolest package of newer products.  One of my favourites is a collection of “Carolina Breeze” from Teresa Collins. 

When I first saw this collection for sale I loved it.  I placed it in my cart with a happy sigh – can’t wait to work with that!  Now that it’s arrived I’m a little apprehensive.  I mean, where is the teal?  I’ve got this collection spread all over the desk and I have no idea where to start.  Teal is my go-to colour.  I can usually find teal in any collection.  Not a chance with this one.  It’s going to be a real challenge.

Talking of teal – I’ve scrapbooked my brother’s wedding pics dozens of times this year, and this photo is one of my favourites.  When Becky Fleck asked me to create a layout for Scrapbook & Cards today magazine for the “From the Heart” column, I knew this pic would be perfect.  This layout appeared in the Summer issue of SCT.

Funny story though.  Seriously.  Those of you that sit in on my classes know I always ask you to cut the advertising strip from your papers.  We wouldn’t want to finish a layout and find it still on there, would we?! Who would do that?

So anyway, Becky was staying at my house when I was creating this layout.  I was to create it and send it home with her as she returned to the USA.  On the day she was to leave, it still wasn’t finished.  I admit to having a few insecurities about the editor of the magazine watching work on the layout. 

Finally, it was done.  I stood back and went PHEW and Becky gave her approval.  That, right there, was a huge milestone for me. 

And then I tried to put the layout in a page protector.  It. would. not. fit. 

After trying a few times I flipped it over and you should have heard the gasp that came out of my mouth as I realised – what a duffis – that the advertising strip was still on the back, making the layout 12 x 12.5”. 
The layout is not even square.  All done in front of the editor of the magazine.

Who started laughing.  Really hard.  First at my stooopid mistake and secondly at the clear devastation I was showing.

The fun thing?  Apparently she still has a little giggle every time she thinks about it.  Me too… now.  Yea, it’s funny now.  At the time though?  Not so much.

Laters.

Supplies: Papers Bo-Bunny Gabrielle collection.  Letters are from Prima.

Yes I played.  I played with the 7Dots papers – Dreamer style layout already on it’s way to a magazine.  So proud to be able to let Finnabair know her designs are going in a mag.

Talking of Finn, I see she has posted about the Tattered Angels DT on her blog, congrats to all the girls joining the team… applications from 28 countries, see that just makes me smile.  Back in the day (we are talking 7-8 years ago) I used to be such an advocate for allowing international designers enter competitions and apply for DTs.  It’s incredibly cool to see such an international flavour in our representative scrapbookers these days.

I’m a bit slow off the blog mark this week, I’ll update again soon though.  I’m recovering from far too much travel in not enough time.  The latest trip was a birthday pressie from my hubby (and a once in a lifetime-wouldn’t-miss-it-even-if-we-had-to-sell-a-child-to-get-there) trip to Aussie to see Cold Chisel.  Concert was fab, but I feel like I have unfinished business.  Instead of the day soaking up the sun listening to 3 different bands on a blanket in the sun with wine and cheese and good friends, it was torrential rain, we stayed in the car til Cold CHisel came on and then I lost the good friends in the crowd.  Awesome concert but I feel like I need to re-do it sometime.  We had a lot of fun in the mud though.  I feel like perhaps I got to tick off the ‘concert in the mud’ part of my bucket list…

 

I had my flame trees t-shirt, hubby had his ‘shipping steel’ t-shirt and we completed the trio of matchy matchy matching t-shirtness with Suz wearing ‘Forever Now”.  Unfortunately we had them covered up with Ponchos, but the people that did see them loved them and I enjoyed showing my Cold Chisel energy.   

(If you want one with your choice of Cold Chisel song, email Lucy – she’d busy making them to order so drop her an email lucy.tom@xtra.co.nz )

Scrapbooking – I’m working on some stuff right now.  Loving the scrapbooking process.  Enjoying the time to create without knowing I’m leaving again on some trip somewhere.  Time to settle into the office for a while.

Oh!  If anyone has some cool digi-template links for Chrissy cards, let me know. Link us up!

laters

I love birthdays.  I love the week before when I can finally see "15th Nov" as a best-before date on the milk bottle.  I love walking into the bank and seeing the big "15th Nov" up on the wall.  I tried to take a photo of it this year and they wouldn't let me.. I must have looked like a scary hold-up-a-bank-type.  I love feeling special.  Just for a day. 

This year I was spoiled.  I got flowers, I got chocolates, I got cute little decor items and running gear.  And all-round-amazing-clever-person Jen made me birthday cupcakes. 

When I have my own birthday it's always a reminder to make sure the birthday card goes in the post, that the text gets sent, the message on facebook is left or that the phone call is made when my own friends celebrate.  Each and every sentiment made me smile on my own day – hopefully I can return the love when others celebrate.

I am currently caught up in all my other commitments – my other work stuff, my accounts, my paperwork and even my study – I've completed 8 papers in Sports training and Development, I'm just waiting to see if I've passed.

So what is one to do?

These papers from 7DotsStudio currently spread all over my desk are a start.  Finnabair designed these, looking at them you'd think she designed them especially for me, don't ya think?

Laters