HELP ME !!! I am a crafter

Love my memory pinboard if its on there I LOVE IT

Ugh Blame the blokes who built the Internet in their cute little old garage ,Yes blame them for I am a crafter a little crazy a tad obsessive and a mite out of craft control. Yes i blame those men for leading me astray (and god alone knows how easily and happily led i am)they led me to EBay and etsy and made it and a zillion craft sites and craft groups ( enablers,addicts all ) who then linked me to other websites and daily craft deals and facebook groups tell me where does it end ,Can one ever have too much stash,too many supplies that you just know one day you will need,Then theres the stuff thats just too good,too sweet too special to use.You know the stuff I'm talking about,that vintage french seam binding in just the most darling shade of duck egg blue, I mean it looks lovely on a card but then someone else would have it and you couldn't look at it and love it as i do. So you know i use one of my other pieces of ribbon of which i have a drawer and a jar and a box hehe.Its all organized oh my goodness yes ! You see i am not just addicted to buying supplies and making things ands swaps,i am addicted to sorting my stash and organizing every little bit,I used to have a whole craft room(sigh oh how i miss it) now i have the space between my bed and my windows a chair and a half wide,
I have found ways to fit things in small spaces,The overload is in 3 Rubbermaid's under the bed,
Okay okay i confess maybe it isn't the fault of those clever men in their blokey shed maybe it was there all along and like most addictions it grew, There were signs when i was small always making puppets out of egg cartons and doll houses out of boxes,But imagine folks what would happen if a drug addict could just pop on line and search thousands of sites for that perfect drug deal.See its not my fault you see My name is Jullie and i am a craft addict. !! Help me before its too late and i am found dead under an avalanche of supplies,Remember she who dies with the biggest stash wins.

Inspiration tag minus a frozen charlotte and a tiny encased chair (now in my printers tray) by far  my favoutite inspiration tag recieved cant bear to pull more off it (from cheryl Jones)
The hanging heart pocket and a delightful fill of trims and treasures rec from Helen Bonnor)

Se who wouldnt love arranging and rearranging my potions of german glass glitter and mica flakes etc
I get the bottles at the local thrift when i see them,the little wallet i keep my address labels and stamps,seals etc in is just a fav of mine (made by christine ) The little watch case was altered by My Alex when we moved here ti cheer me up )

Altered mcroscope slide mailer

Inside the slide mailer (believe in your heart something wonderful is about to happen )

Card from my cousin (yes i know how rude but i like it hehe) also gorgeous altered cigar Box from chrsitopherpines on swapbot filled with treasure loooove it) Vintage cloak room tickets gotta love em (from my darling sister jen)
and lastly a photo sent in a swap ages ago, I  just love it,

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Vintage Valentines and not a man in sight

I love the tassel trim i received in another swap from Helen,The pink background was die cut from a paint chip card,

OK its that time of year again. You know when love is in the air. Yeah right Usually its the time that the men forget it or say its too commercial and their girlfriends and wives spend the day seething. Aah girls they are only men you would think they would work out that a box of chocolates and a kiss and a mushy card would reap them rewards aplenty.My valentines are the gorgeous heart swaps i will soon show you from my two partners in craft crime Helen and Cheryl. I  can show you the two i made them and filled with treats,, I also joined a swap for two vintage Valentine ATC cards on swap bot, And a vintage Valentine diorama, Ooh sounds like i have been busy.What can i say it keeps me off the streets.

Used a vintage marcasite heart on this one.The love letter is only half stuck down
i crinkled it to make it look well treasured.

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These hanging heart pockets are so easy and fun to make out of one sheet of scrapbook paper.

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Other than a Mother in a nest full of empty.

What happens tell me when you turn fifty and you're are no longer any mans wife, when the four little boys who have been your life are all grown up.When there is no longer anyone to yell at in the mornings to brush their teeth and find their shoes,No one to kiss goodbye.  When indeed there is no pressing reason to get up at all.What happens when you have been wife and mummy since you were eighteen years old ,all your adult life . In my case i have been so sad i couldn't bear it,so lost it makes me ill. I still have Alex who needs me but he is no longer a child.Time now for me everyone says and what a weird and lonely thing that seems to be,I have to move on i know that !( i think perhaps i just need a bulldozer to help me along. hmm better make it one of those huge mining ones i never did like change ) Ahh its hard to be something other than a mother when that's the word that defined you and kept you safe and warm. I used to have a lovely nest but now its full of empty.

Kittens too grow up in a blink

Is it really only a year since i introduced you to my secret apartment cat poppy
(she is the cat you have when you are not allowed on the lease to have a cat )
Unfortunately she doesn't get the secret part and climbs on the windowsills and sometimes
bursts  onto the balconies in search of adventure.The tree just off my bedroom balcony hosts birds who tease my little Poppy unmercifully and her tail goes like a boat motor and threatens to make her take off,one morning i awoke to her knocking the sliding screen door off its track and she was free (for all of two minutes till i managed to grab her). Thankfully she spends most of her time asleep in varying poses of upside down planking.If she isn't resting then she is stalking Alex or hopping into my craft bin to be covered in glitter.She has a hobby too -that's eating.Its never too early or too late as far as Poppy is concerned for food.She is an emotional eater (tell me about it ) if she spies me getting my necklaces or jewellery on etc and knows I'm going out its off to the plate to get a nibble. She  hasn't been accidentally locked in the refrigerator for months which although good makes me sad my Poppy is growing up !

I miss Eskimo Kisses

Found this poem i wrote when my son Tim was a teenager, sheesh rough times but now he is a father himself and i bet he already loves little Sophia as much as i love them both.The other day he was giving her kisses all over and it reminded me of the days of eskimo kisses that i used to give all my little ones.

TIM

I  miss
eskimo kisses
and rubbing noses
Small chubby feet
with teeny
tiny toeses !
Your smile
when the fairies
did magical things,
When all along
it was me
who had wings !
I miss
your belief in me
to make
everything right,
Your feet in
the hallway
your voice in
the night !
When imagination
reigned
before truth,
Before fighting
and hurt
before youth !
I miss being
mummy
that much is true,
Mostly the thing
that i miss Tim
is you !
           Jullie 2000

After four sons a grandaughter is born and the angels sang.

Capturing a Fairy Ballerina isnt easy

Well not on film anyway. Of course lured by a lolly or a hug she can usually be held still for a minute at least. but get the camera out and you are left with the corner of a tutu or an empty space where she was flitting about a moment ago. My god daughter needed ballerina shoes and a new tutu as she had been quick to tell me (she and i share a bond about such things) She has started ballet classes and she loves them,So anyway as i am under  her spell i did as ordered .here is the moments i did manage to capture of my little fairy ballerina in her new tutu and shoes.The shoes as i explained to her were made specially by the fairies and left in my fairy teapot for her.The tutu was from far away across the seas (china).
The result was a ballerina with a diva attitude.

See is it just me or is she adorable.

Christmas decorating small space big ideas ...

This small tree in a vintage hatbox is the perfect apartment tree it sits atop the TV unit amidst a sprinkling of bells.

I made the little Christmas door after being inspired by similar ones on a blog/
Love using these display cupboard doors like mini Xmas windows,

Of course small trees are apt to appear everywhere here at Christmas even cups sprout some tiny trees.

I never put lights in normal places these ones just wanted to be in a drawer that is opened a crack
so the magic comes peeking out.I looks much more magical than the pics came out.

Ahh my Christmas forest is back ,This year it grew in the alcove on the buffet and hutch,
poppy of course is totally spinning out with all this decorating but she has some bells and plastic ornies all her own.

i love the moon that is battery operated behind the forest.

vintage apothecary jars hold many many vintage glass baubles and the feather tree has garlands of mercury glass.

This tiny cloche and stand house a changing scene and mica flake snow,

Cant believe how much i love my bedroom decorating
vintage vintage vintage
My 100 plus year old bed looks fab with vintage Dec's.

Here are many vintage Santa's and angels on a tree that is sprouting from a top hat.

don't you love this pic.

I made this swag years ago it has my boys names on the stars

Childhood Places-Magical Spaces Come fly away !!

When i was young (and yes even now) i would see tree houses and sigh, A tree house is a childhood place
but it takes a grown up child to imagine and create those magical spaces.Its not just tree houses oh no its forests and pathways where you just know that a dream has come to life and you are glad in your heart you got a peek.
I have created my own dreams at times inside the places i have made my homes.The pictures below tugged at my heart ,they snagged at my spirit and they took me away on wild little flights of fancy.
I have saved these on my computer at different times so i cannot credit those who are responsible for such beauty (except to say to you  all that whatever souls are made of yours and mine are the same !)

Just follow me along the path-

You have to love  a castle and a tree house combined.

Watch your step and bring a wrap it can get chilly out !

Pygmies did someone say pygmies !!

I do believe Fairies reside here !

Getting tired lets stop for tea !
{photo from Style Me Pretty, by Gia Canali}

A good story lives forever

It makes you laugh it makes you cry,It takes you away so you may fly.
So was the series that was Harry Potter,The children of Harry Potter grew up with my son Alex and he and i shared their adventures avidly.It was magic on a grand scale and it was all there for the taking,From Harrys room beneath the stairs to hanging candles in the great hall at Hogwartz we shall never forget it.
Now my son has the DVDs and if he wants to watch the very first he says to me" no mum you will only cry." And i do because just like my little boys they have all grown up in the blink of an eye,
The Harry potter books gave a whole generation of children a thirst for reading and thats the most magical thing of all.I watched this video below and yes i cried alot.Get your tissues.

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Its beginnning to look a lot like christmas

Aah so crafting Christmas has begun and its spreading its mess and glitter all over my apartment.
i have only a little space in this place to craft and I'm afraid the overflow knock on effect is vast hehe,
Here are a few things i have recently made and more to come have made the most darling Christmas doors inspired by some i have seen on my blog travels.For now i have done up a few plain hatboxes this year for special friends and here is the first already in Queensland with Cheryl who took it home when she was down to await opening on Christmas morning.

Here it is dressed in its bow !

love my cuttlebug sowflakes with bling in the centres
add heartwarming vintage stickers and graphic 45 christmas past papers and im happy.

OMG however did you sneak in my little Poppy
Asleep on her bunny in her wagon with my cupboard behind that says Dream...
Just too adorable not to share !.