Scrapbooking Memories blog hop - Lazy days of summer

My first ever blog hop! And it's with Scrapbooking Memories, of all people and magazines! If you have joined me from Kim's blog, all is well; if not, go back to hers here. To the start from the beginning click here.

We are all doing different things, but there is a common thread, have you guessed it yet? My hint is: lazy
And here is my project:

  It's my husband's brothers, living the good life in Vanuatu. As you can see, they're working extremely hard... 

 ...about as hard as a pair of sloths in a tree...

I found this chipboard frame at Kaisercraft, it's a little bigger than 12x12". I painted it, crackled it, sanded it, misted it... the poor thing has seen 100 years of wear and tear in one afternoon.

The paper is all from the gorgeous new Tropicana collection, nice and beachy with a touch of vintage.

A lot of the embellishments, like the net, the beach sign and the charms came from the my2angels beach kit (click on the word to find it)

Would you like to know how to make this bottle cap embellishment? Click here to go to my bottle cap magnets tutorial, they are fun and easy and make great gifts for teachers and friends.

Thanks for dropping by! Please leave me a comment, have a guess at the theme, follow me and be a good little bunny and hop along to Sarah's blog here. Her post will be up Thursday morning.

Cheers, Geli 

Bottle cap magnets - teacher's gift idea

Are you looking for something personal and fun to make for your kids' teachers or your friends? Should it should be cheap and quick to make, but not look cheap? I've got a great idea for you to copy:

Bottle cap magnets!

Here is what you'll need (click on the words to find the products at my2angels):

1. Glass cabochons-25mm

2. Dimensional Magic

3. Some paper with small designs (use up some bits from your stash)

4. An unsused bottle cap (from the home bewery section at Woolies)

5. A magnet (from the cheap shop) 

Cover the cabochon with Dimensional Magic, place it on the design you want and swirl it around a little to spread the glue and pop any airbubbles.

Let it dry for about half an hour.

Now on to squishing some bottle caps!

If you have a Cuttlebug or similar machine, you're in luck. Make the following sandwich:

B plate

metal die (metal side facing bottle top)

bottle cap (pointy bits up)

A plate

It will be squished to perfection. 

If you don't have a Cuttlebug and can't rush out to get one this very minute, don't despair. Lay your bottle cap with the pointy bits down on a wooden cutting board and give it a few gentle taps with a hammer. It's not as perfect, but looks ok too.

 Check your glued-on cabochon. Is it completely dry? Then cut it out. It doesn't have to be perfect, just follow the outline of the glass pebble.

Put some strong glue (I use Helmar 450) on the inside plastic rim of the bottle cap

Glue the cabochon on.

 Glue a magnet on the back of the bottle cap.

Easy, right? For a present I made 6 matching ones.

Now you need some presentation. 

Cut out a tag from Snowflake paper (there are 9 on the sheet, so that will go a long way). 

 Glue 6 small metal washers on the backside of the paper (raid the shed!) They will hold your magnets in place. 

 Pop the magnets on the front, add some red baker's twine and a Christmas tree charm. Wrap it in a bit of cellophane and you are done!

Try and match the paper you use to your teacher's taste. My daughter's male teacher is getting monsters!

For more easy handmade Christmas gifts (with instructions and lots of photos) click here.

handbag

My sister likes the Aboriginal style, so I made her a handbag for Christmas. I hope she likes it. My friend Sam had made one and I soooo had to have one too. The pattern is by Janelle Wind.

It was fun and easy to sew and now I'll be making a few more.

My birdie wreath

I made a pretty wreath to hang on my front door. It's not really meant to be a Christmas wreath, but rather one that can be there all year. I used a chipboard kit by Kaisercraft and papers from the oh-so-cute "wishful thinking" collection by Fancy Pants. These are some of my favourite colours.

I found this little fellow in a scrap shop in Toowoomba:

I made a few paper flowers too and used the glitter glass from "My 2 angels" on the stemen. It gives it just the right amount of sparkle without being kitschy.

Next time you visit me, come and check it out in real life!