Wednesday, 14 December 2011

My Creative Space

Christmas ornament pudding eco recycled felt sewing kit

I have been meaning to blog about this cute little project for some time now and I've finally gotten around to doing it!  In October, I was blessed to be one of the winners of the Sister Outlaws giveaway during Blogtoberfest.  What did I win?  Two very cute Christmas ornament kits consisting mostly of recycled materials and supplies.  Isn't that such a great idea?  So far the monkeys and I have managed to make the ornaments from the Christmas pudding kit.  The pieces of the candle ornament kit are sitting on my craft desk waiting for me to put them together...  Have you been making your own Christmas ornaments this year?

Friday, 9 December 2011

Rainbow Lollies Giveaway Winner



Congratulations to Lee who is the winner of last week's feature Friday giveaway by Rainbow Lollies!  Having seen Cassie's cute creations in person, I know Lee will love her prize.  For everyone else who entered Cassie's giveaway, thank you for your support and don't forget to visit Rainbow Lollies regularly to see what's new instore.

Flowers and Filigree: New Headbands in the Making

You all know how much I love wearing and making headbands!  And because of my black hair, I generally prefer to wear headbands made in a darker color, such as black or brown, no matter how colourful the headband adornment.  So when I recently sold out of all the antiqued brass headbands in Two Cheeky Monkeys, I knew I had to get cracking and make some more before Christmas!  The previous batch that I made featured chrysanthemum cabochons but I got a bit more "adventurous" with this lot and used a range of floral cabochons.  Although I'm not a huge fan of pink, the Roslyn headband (top left) is definitely my favourite, design wise.  Which one would you wear?  And if you prefer a silver headband instead of my darker options, there are still several of this style in stock in both my Etsy and Madeit stores.

montage headband flower cabochon and filigree Two Cheeky Monkeys
2. Michaela headband
3. Liesel headband
4. Joleen headband

Thursday, 8 December 2011

Festive Food Roundup

You should all know by now just how much I LOOOVE celebrating Christmas, so you won't be surprised to find that there may be a lot of Christmas-related posts this month.  Although Christmas this year will be a bit of a sad one for my family and me because it will mark the six month anniversary of my dad's passing, we can still joyously commemorate the birth of my dad's Saviour (and ours too), Jesus Christ.  Today's post is a roundup of festive food tutorials full of fun food ideas for your Christmas celebrations or for gift giving to friends and family.  Enjoy!

photo montage festive food Christmas macarons cake cupcakes cake pops candy sweets tree

L-R from top left corner:
1. Christmas Candy Trees by Life is a Party
2. Christmas Tree Cupcakes by Bakerella
3. Gingerbread House by oopsey daisy
4. Eggnog Cake by Bakingdom
5. Cupcake Wreath by Party Like Paula
6. Christmas Macarons by Sweets and Loves...

Wednesday, 7 December 2011

My Creative Space - Christmas

beaded snowflake ornament aqua silver white

A few months ago I bought a set of snowflake wire blanks with the thought that the cheeky monkeys would just love to create some beaded snowflake ornaments.  After four days in a row of beading, complaining about dropped beads and going cross-eyed, we finally have a set of beaded snowflake ornaments for our Christmas tree!  The monkeys had a lot of fun choosing which beads to use and deciding on the designs, although they did find threading seed beads onto the thick-ish wire a bit trying for their little fingers.  I prefer the snowflakes which have the same design on each spoke, but they are all so pretty and sparkly hanging on our tree that I can't help but smile when I see them all.

beaded snowflake ornament black burgundy wine pink

Monday, 5 December 2011

Monday Inspiration - Give New Life to Old Books

As you all know, I just loooove to upcycle old and unloved books into new and beautiful creations.  So today's post is an inspiration board of creative ways of re-using old books (including a few of my own creations, wink wink).

photo montage vintage book altered art brooch purse safe dictionary print pencils wreath journal ornament cross flower

From L-R starting at the top left corner:
1. Hollow book safe by Secret Safe Books
2. Book Purse by The Write Stuff
3. Flower Ball Ornament by Greencycledesigns
4. Alice in Wonderland Brooch by Two Cheeky Monkeys
5. Cross Ornament by Moose and Nigel
6. Recycled Book Journal by red punch buggy
7. Vintage Book Wreath by Simple Joys Paperie
8. Chandelier Dictionary Print by Two Cheeky Monkeys
9. Athena Pencils by missIsa

Friday, 2 December 2011

Feature Friday - Rainbow Lollies
















My featured artist for the week is a fellow creator whom I met through DUST and I have also had the lovely opportunity to meet her in real life too!  So let me introduce Cassie of Rainbow Lollies!

Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello lovely people. Firstly thank you to Deb of Two Cheeky Monkeys for featuring me as one of her Friday Featured sellers. Since you are here that means you are somewhat curious as to who I am. I am Cassie and I am a craftaholic. Ok maybe not that bad but I certainly have a very busy life. On days when I am not working as a Payroll Administrator (my day job), I am looking after my active toddler and making sure that there is always dinner on the table for hubby. Oh did I mention that I also run my little handmade business online called Rainbow Lollies? My hobby is crafting (if you have not guessed it by now) and also reading (children books are my favourite). I think that chocolate should be zero calories and yet still yummy. A day should have more than 24 hours so I have time do all things I have to do. We can still function like normal human beings despite having very little sleep.

Dr Who cufflinks!!!

Describe yourself in five words.
Shy, busy, sweet, dreamer, easily excitable (ok that was a phrase - sorry exceeded my 5 word limit!)
 
When and how did you first start crafting/creating?
My earliest crafting memory was when I started making board games from pieces of plain cardboard because my brother and I got bored with the store bought ones. I think I was around 9 or 10 years old. I also made a scrapbook filled with my drawings of animals and stories to go with it.
 
What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?
I love trying out all kinds of craft. My creative space is like a natural disaster. Forever messy and filled to the brim with all kinds of projects. My Rainbow Lollies label carries a range of cufflinks, earrings as well as fun accessories like brooches and key rings. I must say my favourite material will always be Japanese fabric simply because I love anything cute (and the Japanese are well known for that!)

Christmas button magnets
 
When and how did you start selling online?
I started selling online a little over a year ago. I remembered thinking that I really want to be able to work from home and spend more time with my son. Of course I don't want just any work. I want to do something that I am passionate about, which is to be able to sell something that I make myself. I did some Googling and stumbled upon Etsy. Googled some more and then found Madeit. Both sites I fell in love with and decided to set up online stores to try my luck.
 
Describe your store in five words.
Fun, colourful, cute, happy, quirky.
 
Who or what are the influences behind your creations?
I would say children because the world always look different when you see it through their eyes. Also the handmade community. Everyone is talented in their own way and I am constantly amazed and inspired by the new creations that pop up daily.

Pink apple keyring
 
Where can we find you online?
I am on these social sites and I would love it if you could hang around longer
Twitter : www.twitter.com/rainbowlolllies
FB : www.facebook.com/rainbow.lollies.handmade
Blog : http://www.rainbowlollies.blogspot.com/
Store : www.madeit.com.au/rainbowlollies or http://www.rainbowlollies.etsy.com/

Special Offer:
Both my Madeit and Etsy shops are having a pre-Christmas sale where you get 10% off any item (excluding shipping). Mention "Two Cheeky Monkeys" in the message to seller when you checkout and I will include a bonus gift in your package.

And a GIVEAWAY!
Cassie is offering a lucky dip pack including 1 pair of button earrings, large button hair elastic, large paperclip bookmark and 2 button magnets valued at $20.  What do you have to do to win?

Do any of the following and leave me a SEPARATE comment for each entry:
1. Tell me your favourite item from Cassie's stores.
2. Follow my blog or Cassie's blog.
3. Follow me or Rainbow Lollies on Twitter.

This giveaway is open worldwide and a winner will be drawn at 8pm (AEDT), December 8 using random.org