The perfect secret santa gift

We have a wonderful tradition at work for christmas. We each draw a name out of a hat (a bowl actually) and at our little christmas get togheter at work we give that person a gift. That way we can make the gifts a lot more personal. I made this big snow globe for my college Elva, and the photos are of her cute twin sons on one side and of her and her hubby on the other side.

It is that time of year again...

The most wonderful time of year! I love christmas preperations and the Advent is for me a time to spend with family, baking, cleaning (within reason :Þ) and decorating. One of my favorite decoration is the Advent wreath. I used to make it a circle, but last year I decided to go out of my "box" and found this clever candle holder. It has a trey underneath that makes it possible to water it and keep the spruce fresh. And the scent is heavenly :D Have a joyous Advent!

simple and easy x-mas cards

I made these cards for an Icelandic magazine called "Húsfreyjan", the christmas edition. The goal was to create a few christmas cards that even beginners could make without having or buying a lot of fancy stuff. They can be made using only paper, scissors, glue and a few embellishments.

Glamorous shoe card

Here is another take on my shoe card. I just can't get enough of these :D I used the a couple of the roses I made yesterday and some speciality paper.

Flower power :D

You may have wondered why I only bought white flowers. Well, here is why. I would LOVE to have all the possible color combinations available in all different kinds of flowers, but that would cost me LOTS of $$$. Most of the time, when I cannot choose a color for flowers or chipboards and such, I buy white or blank ones. That way I have more possibilities to use them. I have all kinds of colors to color with in my stash and to show you what you can do, I did a little experiments this morning on those flowers to show you. It is super easy to do PLUS you get your own unique flowers :D

Here you can see all of them together for sizes. The large flowers are about 2" wide.

These were all done using just watercolors. Pretty simple, you can color them as much as you like and the watercolor almost paints itself if you just let the paper suck it in.

The green one I sprayed with Tattered angels glimmer mist. (olive vine) and the cream one, I didn't color at all, I only used a damped brush to put some really shiny gold powder on the edges. This powder is a cosmetic gold powder, it is a little more coarse than mica powders but not as coarse as fine glitter. It looks like a slightly coarse powder of real gold. (pretty neat huh :D)

First I randomly and very loosely painted this flower with yellow watercolor. Then I used orange stickles on the edges. This one turned out prettier than I thought it would :Þ

Here I first painted the whole flower with MM speciality glace-gold paint. It turned out quite flat I thought, so I added some of that pretty gold powder I have and then I used black ink loosely on the edges.

This one is my favorite I think. It was such a nice surprice. First I used black ink (with a brush) to color the flower totally black. Then I used a little of the gold powder on the edges just for fun, and OMG it looks STUNNING dont you think ?

These two were hard to capture on photo. They are both really shimmery. The white one I first sprayed with Grapite glimmer mist and then put some silver stickles on the edges. The blue one (sorry about the shade) I just painted with Shimmerz Blingz.

I have not made a single scrapbook layout since August...sigh...but an occasional card has been whooped out from my craft den :D Here are a couple of tri-shutter-fold cards that I just love making. I think they are just perfect for cards with memories, as they can stand on their own like a mini scrapbook/picture frame :D

This one is a sympathy card, for my FIL's brother who past away just recently. He was a great bird collector and a sheep farmer. The personal note is written on the back.

This card was alot of fun to make. It was for a sweet lady I worked with. She just retired and we held her a farewell party and gave her a present and this card. The pictures I used are all from work. I choose red and gold since they are totally her colors :D A personal note is handwritten on the back.

Here is another photo taken from the side. Sorry it is not in focus, but I just wanted to show off the pictures from dressing up at work. We have so much fun there :D

Update and eye candy :D

I am so sorry, for my total absence here these past two months. I started working again in september and at the same time I decided to change my diet (to the better). It is great, but SOOO much work. I am spending 5 times the time I used to in the kitchen now. I am slowly getting the hang of it and finally getting some scrapping done.

I managed to shop a bunch of wonderful roses a few weeks back from iamroses . They are just so gorgeous don´t you think :D

So here is my peace offering, a little eye candy for you guys. I hope you forgive me for totally neglecting you guys!

making more flowers

Now, this flower making has become addictive :D They are super fun to make and not hard at all!

Here is a new lo with my dear daughter. Her 15th birthday is coming up in just over a week. I can't believe how fast time has flown. Seems like yesterday when this picture was taken. Reminds me of treasuring every moment. :D

and another...

I just had to try this out in girly colors. I love making these. I didn't have a magenta rose in my stash so I used a big white rose and my watercolors and hand colored it.

I am trying to make the most of my last week of summer vacation. I can't believe it is almost over, but it will be nice to into a routine again and go and meet all the great people I work with :D

Cards are fun

It is so much fun making cards. I especially love making different shapes of cards. Here is a little number I did for my little nephews 5th birthday using my slice machine.

I LUV shoes

Well...who doesn't! I made a template for this shoecard myself. What I like about it is that it opens partially. This card was for my best friend's birthday. This may have been the first, but certainly won't be the last. The template is ideal to use with double sided paper. Pattern in or out..I think it would be cute either way.

When I figure out how to convert the template into digital, I will share it with you guys. :D (it was just hand drawn on scrap paper)

Putting my new flowers to use

I couldn't resist putting my new flowers to use right away. Here are a couple of layouts from my daughters confirmation reception last year (it is a tradition up here). I used the gorgeous papers from Webster's pages for both of them.

My dad made the two magnificent cakes. :Þ and we did all the decorations and food ourselves.

Making my own flowers

I love flowers, no question about it! And I love even more to make them myself. I saw a tutorial a while ago on how to make flowers from synthetic fabric using a lighter or/and a heat gun. Blew me away. I stocked up on lots of fabrics to try this out. Here is my take on this fun technique! I LOVE how they turned out and now I can't stop!

Oh and they are SUPER EASY to make too :D

And a couple of close ups :D

Wedding anniversary

It was my sister in law's 1.st anniversary the other day. I love the photos from their wedding and had this idea of using a few of them on a shutter fold card. It kind of makes a mini album.

Have a nice day!

right view

left view

Growing up

It has been raining up here for a week now. A perfect opportunity to stay inside and scrap. This is a photo of my DD also shoot by photographer Pall A Palson.

The letters "growing" are grey thickers, inked with green dye ink, covered with SU crystal effects and then when dry, outlined with a white Signo pen.

My scrapbooking mojo is back

I hadn't made a scrapbook page since last january. Can you believe it! I don´t think I have ever gone this long without scrapbooking before. I was actually worried I had lost interest in scrapbooking. But a couple of days ago, I desided to pull myself together and do a layout inspired by the lyrics "I hope you dance" with Ronan Keating. I have always found it good to work with song titles or lyrics in my layouts. I decided to go for a challenge on scrapbook.com using lyrics from ABBA. I knew right away what song to use. I could really identify with the lyrics in "Slipping throug my fingers" when I saw Mamma Mia (4 times LOL). Then finally this morning I started a new layout, using a photo from the same photoshoot as in the layout before. Such a great photo I thought. A little bit dreamy I thought. Half way through, it came to me. Also lyrics from ABBA. "I have a dream" (plus the very famous words of MLC). I guess three is a charm, since I like the last one the best. :D

New Box card

I know I have been neglecting this blog for a while now. I am sorry. Now I have started my 3 months summer vacation (YAY) and hopefully I´ll spend a little more time on paper crafts.

So here it is, my latest box card. :D

A lamp and a card!

I am sorry, I have been neglecting you. The thing is, I just haven´t been scrapping/stamping much lately. All my spare time has been spent on embroidery lately.

But a couple of days ago, I needed a neat gift for a 14 yo. She had just remodeled her room and was needing a lamp. She loves leopard print, so I ran all over town looking for a cool lamp, without much luck. At the last minute, I found a base and a shade at two different places and decided to do a makeover! :D

I dug up some fiber sheets I recalled I had with leopard pattern. They were just big enough for the shade. I cut them to size, glued them on using appropriate glue. Then I tied a brown ribbon around it (glued it down too) and on one side I put a line of rhinestones. The other side I tied the a bow and hung a couple of crystals in it. Really simple, but it turn out great I think!

Then I made a shadowbox card to go with it. I was inspired by my good friend Shari (again). The dress is stamped using silver glitter embossing powder. Then the script and flourishes are stamped using distress inks. (Shari has a great video of the process on her blog). I added a pull out insert to the box card. I adhered a strip of the patterned fiber I used for the lamp to the right, leaving room for the greeting on the left. On the fiber (in the cirle) I wrote with a silver pen the words, Ferming (Communion). A really fun card to make!

I am planing on tidying up my craft room today, I hope it gets my mojo back! :D

A Drama Queen

I needed to wear a costume to work yesterday. I came up with the idea to be a Drama Queen, got myself some fabric and sewed a dress. Most important things were the accessories of-course :D The crown is made from black cardstock, tulle, feathers, punched flowers from cardstock and acetate, ribbbons and blingies. The shoes I decorated with lace, flowers and huge blingy. The fan was store bought, just added a little sparkles to it. I had so much fun at work yesterday! :D

What I love about scrapbooking

is that while I am doing it takes me back memory lane. It is just priceless! This is a layout of my DD newborn, such a precious memory!

Það sem ég elska við skrappið

er að dregur fram minningar á meðan að maður er að vinna við síðuna. Það er algjörlega ómetanlegt! Þetta er síða af dóttur minni nýfæddri, afar dýrmæt minning!

Acetate card

Acetate is so much fun to work with and you can be sure to impress with a card made of acetate. It is a little tricky to work with, cause you need to be smart about attaching things. This one I made for my niece, Sara María, for her 9th birthday. I had a card, I was going to scraplift, but this one turned out NOTHING like it! Funny how things go. :D

I used white Stazon ink for the stamped flower background, the note stamp on the number 9 and on the edges of both the card itself and the number 9. I stamped the note stamp with versamark on the center square, embossed with soft pink embossing powder, then inked with a darker pink. The bird was cut out using MM slice, wedding, embossed with UTEE 3x and added a little pearl ex for shimmer. The flower is the one I made in my previous video tutorial. :D Attached the charms and ribbons and all other paper pieces.

Glæru kort

Það er ótrúlega gaman að vinna með glærur og það er næsta víst að kort úr glæru komi á óvart. Það getur verið pínulítið snúið að nota glærur og maður þarf að vera dálítið úrræðagóður til að festa alla hluti svo hvergi sjáist í lím. Þetta kort gerði ég handa Söru Maríu frænku minni á fyrir 9 ára afmælið hennar.

Ég notaði hvítt Stazon blek til að stimpla blómabakgrunninn á glæruna, nóturnar á tölustafinn 9 og til að bleka kantana á kortinu sjálfur og tölustafnum 9. Ég stimplaði nóturnar á hvítan pappír með versamark bleki og embossaði með ljósbleiku embossing dufti. Þar næst blekaði ég pappírinn með bleiku bleki þannig að nóturnar verða ljósari. Fuglinn er skorinn út með MM Slice græjunni og embossaður 3x með UTEE, svo setti ég smá pearl ex yfir til að fá smá shimmer á fuglinn og pappírinn. Blómið er það þetta sem ég gerði í vídeóinu. Svo festi ég borðann og hangandi skrautið og límdi svo restina saman.

Altered flowers

I´m so excited! This is my first EVER video tutorial!

I´ve had a few people ask me how I made the flowers for my last few scrapbook pages and trifold shutter card, so I thought I´d try to make a video tutorial. I wanted to put some notes in it, but couldn't figure it out. I guess i need a different software. I will just write a short description here, these flowers are VERY easy to do anyways.

- You can use almost any type of pressed paper flowers, I used Prima hydrangeas and a mini rose for the white flower, and Prima hydrangeas and a few different smaller ones + a brad.

- Twist each petal holding it firmly with both hands.

- Align the flowers up, on top of each other.

- Stick the mini rose through the center and tuck the wire underneath to hold it all together.

- For the second flower (pink), just twist all the flowers, except for the smallest two.

- Thread the flowers on to the brad, starting with the smallest working your way up the the biggest. Open up the brad on the back to hold it all together.

- You can use as many flowers as you want and any sizes to make all different flowers. Have fun!

Að breyta "gömlum" blómum

Hér er smá sýnikennsla í því hvernig hægt er að breyta "gömlu" pappírsblómunum eins og ég gerði fyrir nýjustu skrappsíðurnar og kortið. Þetta er frumraun mín í vídeogerð. Mér gekk eitthvað brösulega að setja útskýringartexta inn á myndbandið, svo ég set það bara hér. Annars er þetta svo ótrúlega auðvelt að myndbandið skýrir sig nú að mestu sjálft.

- Það er hægt að nota nánast hvaða pressuðu pappírsblóm sem er, ég notaði hydrangeur frá Prima og litla rós í hvíta blómið og svo bleikar hydrangeur ásamt nokkrum öðrum minni gerðum af pappírsblómum.

- Snúið upp á hvert blað á blómunum með því halda fast með báðum höndum um blaðið.

- Raðið blómunum ofan á hvert annað og látið blöðin skarast.

- Stingið rósinni í gegnum blómin og beygið vírinn undir til að halda þeim saman.

- Á seinna blóminu (bleika) snúið blöðin á öllum blómunum, nema þessum tveimur minnstu.

- þræðið blómin upp á lítið splitti. Byrjið á minnstu blómunum og endið á þeim stærstu. Festið saman með því að opna splittið.

- Það má að sjálfsögðu nota eins mörg blóm og manni sýnist til að gera mismunandi blóm.

-Góða skemmtun!

Awesome aprons

My brothers kids, Jón Óli(5) and Sara María(8)

Kids love helping out in the kitchen. last fall I saw these sewing patterns at a local quilt shop "Quiltbúðin" and decided in a split second that these would be perfect x-mas gifts. So I got myself some fabrics and one saturday in november I sewed 7 aprons. 3 for my cousins, 3 for my nephews and one extra for my cousins baby born doll. Here are photos of 4 of them in their aprons plus the doll, Aren't they cute! :D It doesn't show on the photos but the girls aprons (and the dolls) have pleated skirts on the bottom.

Skemmtilegar svuntur

Krakkar elska að hjálpa til í eldhúsinu. Í haust rakst ég á snið af þessum svuntum í Quiltbúðinniog sá í hendi mér að þetta yrðu frábærara jólagjafir. Nær umhugsunarlaust keypti ég slatta af efnum og einn góðan laugardag í nóvember bretti ég upp ermarnar og saumaði 7 stykki. 3 handa frænkum mínum, 3 handa frændum mínum og 1 aukalega á baby born dúkku yngstu frænkunnar :D Ég er búin að næla mér í myndir af 4 þeirra auk dúkkunnar :D Það sést ekki vel á myndunum en stelpusvunturnar (og þessi á dúkkuna) eru með felldum kanti neðst.

My sisters son, Þorsteinn (2 1/2)

My Sisters in law daughter, Anna Margrét (5) and her baby born doll.