the view thru my 50mm fixed lens

 Hello, hope you are having a lovely weekend.  Winter is just around the corner; I thought I'd share some last Autumn pictures before we change to another season.
My zygocactus is flowering wonderfully!  It's my favourite plant at this time of year - the flowers are just stunning and so perfectly formed.  They don't flower for very long, but I get to see these out my kitchen window everyday, so I'm making the most of this delight!

 A few weeks ago, I planted some garlic bulbs.  They have sprouted nicely, so I hope they continue growing well.  They are loving this Autumn sunshine.

 The cool mornings and nights have definitely set in - this is our backyard with some 'fresh' wood, ready to be cut for our fire. 

Cool mornings and nights but beautiful blue skies during the day - it's beautiful.  Autumn is a lovely season ♥

arm knitting

 Hello and happy Friday - it's the start of a long weekend here and it's a nice feeling to have some relaxing days ahead of us!
Have you ever done arm knitting ........... I've had it book-marked for sometime now ........ call it procrastination!!  I finally gave it a go last night.
I had purchased two balls of this lovely Monkey yarn by Moda Vera from Spotlight - it's so soft but also nice and thick, perfect for this kind of project.

 There's lots of tutorials online for arm knitting - just google - I used this one HERE.

 I did approx 15 stitches across and the same in rows.  It's a single round, circular scarf.

 I just love the look of the big, chunky knit!

 The scarf sits very nicely around my neck and doesn't feel too heavy!

Now that I've managed to work out this arm knitting thing, I can't wait to make some more ..... another trip to Spotlight for more yarn!

Thanks for coming by ♥

awesome fun - the scrapbook store sketch challenge

 Hey there, hope your week is going well.  The month is closing in and I'm still wanting to get a few challenges in ...................
I love the sketch from The Scrapbook Store for the month of May -

 I used some photo's from a recent camping trip - this sketch allowed me to include a number of photo's - it really tells the story.

 I've used Kraft cardstock as my base and used the Simple Stories - Sn@p pack in Kraft.  These are fun little Project Life kits!  I've also used some wood veneers.
Here are some close-up's:

 I haven't used much card stock, so in the background I've used a doily stencil and ink spray by Dylusions.  I've used a marker pen to colour in the wood veneers.

The word 'awesome' comes in the little pack and I've added in the white letters from my stash.  I love how white really 'pops' out from the Kraft card stock.

I've been scrapping quite a few photo's from this camping trip, so I've decided to do a separate album - including some traditional scrapbooking and some Project Life as well.

Thanks for coming by ♥

weekend adventure - Kraft + challenge

 Hey there!!
I've been sorting thru my craft room this week, decluttering and getting rid of things that have been sitting around for ages ..............  It felt good.  While doing so, I did come across lovely supplies that I thought I should use ☺
So I joined in with the Kraft + May challenge - here is the mood board - very earthy and Autumn 'like':

Here's my take on the challenge:

The challenge requires that you use Kraft card-stock as your base - so this is one of the items I found in my stash - I was happy to find a few more pieces too ☺
I gathered papers and embellishments that suited the mood board, inspired by:  wood, colours, leaves, flowers, twine and layers of paper (books)
Here are a few close-up's:

I love to add embellishments and frames over my photo's, just to really accent the subject - this one being my cute little boy in the forest.

The white sticker letters are from Bella Blvd - just love that font - was happy to find that hidden away in my stash too.

I'm off to link this one up at Kraft +
Have a wonderful weekend ♥

the view thru my 50mm fixed lens

 Hello and a happy weekend to you all ☺
This past week has been gorgeous.  Stunning blue skies and warmish sunny days.  Autumn has been lovely.
It's in this season we have a tree in our backyard, that is covered with white flowers - I often spend time just watching the bees.  They are fascinating and I'm amazed at how busy they are, all day!
My veggie garden is loving the sun and so is our cat!
And the oldest son is still busy making stuff out of wood, even some fun things for my craft room .................... unique washi tape holders - I ♥ them.

Lots of rain is coming our way, so I'm thinking it might be a cozy weekend for indoors.
Have a great one ♥♥

Baby crochet blanket

 Hello crafty people - hope you've had a wonderful week.
I have finished the stripey baby crochet blanket that I've been working on.  It's turned out so nice.  I first blogged about this blanket HERE.
I went with a random pattern and did two stripes wider than the rest, just to add in some variations.  It ended up being 90 rows, then I added in a border.

 The border is a few rows of single crochet, then a scallop border.  I think it turned out very pretty ☺

 It has such lovely texture and feels nice and warm.

 There weren't too many loose ends to finish off and it required no blocking!

I'm going to be sending this blanket on it's way and I hope the recipient will love it.  It was a lovely project to have on the go ........................ now for the next one.  I have a few orders from my boys ☺

Thanks for popping in ♥

Scrappy Canary April Kit - Mayfair

Hello there, hope your week is going well ☺
I have the new Scrappy Canary Kit - Mayfair - it's a great kit - awesome colours and lots of fun bits .......
Here is my first page that I've made using the kit:

 I just LOVE the foam words that come with the kit.  I've used a few of them; for the title and journal work.  I love scripted words!

 There's a bit of a star theme, with cork stars, puffy sticker stars and cute little paper clip stars .............

This kit is still available in the shop so be sure to check it out.  There's a few need products in the shop too ☺  You can use the code CHANTELLE10 for 10% off your order!

Thanks for coming by ♥

Scrappy Canary Cyber Crop

 Hello, hope you are having a wonderful week. 
I'm just sharing a few more pages from the Scrappy Canary Cyber Crop - there is still a few more days to enter the challenges - you can find them at the Scrappy Canary VIP Lounge on Facebook ☺

This page is for Challenge 6 & 7: 

 I love using paints or mists to create backgrounds - here I've painted watercolour paints in the blue and red, onto clear acetate and then pressed down onto my white cardstock.  It's such a fun way to add colour to your page.  I've also done some extra spatters with pain too☺
For the different alpha's, I've used some in my title and another one in my journal work!
Here are some close-ups:

 I added in some texture with these little triangles - they were made with a stamp and some of the paint I used in the background.  I stamped onto white cardstock, then cut them out and popped them up with foam dots.

 Some of the assorted alpha's - I never normally use more than one, so this was fun to do!


This next one is for Challenge 1:

 These papers are from an older kit which had lots of Teresa Collins - I ended up purchasing the 6x6 paper pad because I loved all the colours and lovely quotes in the collection.  I love the sketch - it was simple and allowed for different interpretations!
Here are a few close-ups:

 Such a great quote!!

This is a very recent photo of me which was taken on a camping trip.  One of my boys had the camera ☺  I think it's important to have a few pages about yourself, for the future generations ♥

It was fun doing this extra bit of scrapbooking for the Cyber Crop!
Thanks for coming by ♥

my boshi yarn

 Hi there, recently I purchased some 'my boshi' yarn from Spotlight - they had a 40% discount on yarns, so I thought it was a good time to try out some of this yarn, designed especially for beanies, although I'm sure you could make any kind of project with it!
My littlest one was needing a beanie for those walks to the bus in the morning, so I chose this red and blue to match in with his uniform!

 I found a pattern on the internet, just a basic beanie pattern.  Then I added on the ear flaps, using another pattern.  So I pretty much merged two patterns to create this one!
myboshi yarn is 70% acrylic and 30% merino wood - a perfect blend for beanies - it's warm and very durable.  I found that the beanie was quite structured once crocheted - the yarn is 8ply but feels quite a bit thicker ......
I used a 5mm crochet hook for this project!

 So here is the beanie; a nice and snug fit!

Because I had left-over yarn, I made some matching 'fingerless hand-warmers' - he loves these, especially as our mornings are starting to be rather cool!

I would love to try this yarn for a floor rug - that's a project to go on my list of 'things to try' .........................

Thanks for popping in ♥