Good Friends are Priceless

It's been a long week already and it's only Tuesday!  After a big weekend celebrating a friend's 40th I got slammed by the dreaded gastro and spent the rest of the weekend wishing someone would end my misery. 

I've survived the last couple of days on the odd square of Vegemite toast and have been feeling very sorry for myself.  Until this morning that is.  My gorgeous friend Krissa turned up at our 'morning meeting' with a present for me.

Not my birthday - just a 'love' present apparently and gee am I glad she loves me...  how cool is this?

Now I too can look super stylish even though I don't drink coffee.  This Tea Lovers Eco Cup even has a teapot button that you can wrap your teabag string around while the tea is steeping.

I love it and the fact that it looks like a ceramic ginger jar has me completely smitten.

How lucky am I?  Krissa's gift coupled with another friend who brought me chicken soup to work today has made life a whole lot brighter.

I may even make it through the week.

When You Smile

Audrey's layout is about playing outside with her daughter. We love all the fabulous layouts our design team has made with children and Corinne! Kids and Corinne go together like peanut butter and jelly. This layout is a perfect example of why that combo is oh so sweet.

Don't forget... you could win a $25 gift card to shopsei.com. To enter, create a layout using Julie's sketch and at least one SEI product. Then link up to our party, going on right now! You only have one more day.

Ormiston House in Veranda Magazine

Well, it's turning out to be a big week for us.  We just found out that the Ormiston house has made the front cover of Veranda Magazine in Poland.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with Paul and Hayley on their beautiful home and am overjoyed by this wonderful article.  The morning of the photo shoot I gathered lots of flowers and foliage from my garden at home and arranged them at the house.  My favourite arrangement was the one I did on their dining table in a collection of Hayley's mismatched antique jugs and vases.

Thanks again must go to Catherine Shields and Simon Kenny for their continued interest in my work and their beautiful coverage of these lovely family homes I have had the pleasure of working in.

If you would like to see more images of Paul & Hayley's house head over to Content's website HERE...

My Red Carpet Picks

Gwyneth is possibly one of the most annoying people on the planet BUT I hate to say it - she looks amazing. 

She gets my vote as best dressed of the night.

Gwyn is closely followed by Miss Hailee Steinfeld who could not look lovelier, or more age-appropriate if she tried.  The perfect look for a girl who has just turned 15.

Nicole Kidman

She's not high on my list of favourite people but she's married to 'my Keith' and I love this image of her.  Good luck tonight Nicole.

One job down

Steel doors and windows being quoted as we speak - fingers and toes crossed that they're within budget!

Gumdale House in AWW

Back in 2007, I was very excited when Sharnel & Perry Dollar asked me to help them with the interior of their new family home.  The latest issue of Australian Womans Weekly magazine features their alluring home.  It was lovely to look at the images and remember all the work which went into making it the special place that it is today.

Sharnel was a wonderful client to work with as she was very open to everything I suggested and recommended.  Catherine Shields & Simon Kenny's story certainly captures the ambience of the Dollar's beautiful family home.

Spring Card Set

This set of cards Lori created are so happy and cheerful. They would brighten anyone's day.

The layering and grouping on this card creates an imaginative scene. The embossing on the solid pink paper is all it takes to send birthday wishes.

This great color-combo was achieved by combining the die-cut accents from the With All My Heart collection and subtle Corinne papers. You may be surprised to find unique color palettes when you combine collections.

Pinwheels are so fun and springy. But, who would have thought to attach one to a card? Lori, that's who!

Link Party #6 + Giveaway

For this link party, you can post any project using SEI product or your layout from the challenge. Find more details here and see the layout Julie based the sketch from here. If you haven't finished the challenge yet, you can still have a little time. The party ends March 1st at 11:59 pm MST.

*****One lucky person who links the project they made for the challenge will win a $25 gift card to shopsei.com!*****

Don't forget to...
1. Add a link to your SEI project on our blog by clicking on the button at the bottom of this post. Your project must use at least one SEI product to participate.
2. Link back to us by adding this button to the bottom of your blog post.

<a href="http://seilifestyle.blogspot.com"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlR7quLjN9iN8OC8w8B8tTFu5yU1GUhAdCmViVbK2Xkspb-edZPBn16GYl06KdCd11DDU17iOXiYNPSykJ7LCINz-BuowuZqO5-_eBOEKgrNJBXeSE3o09EVw_CJHO03F01M-G5qQfwOA/s1600/link.jpg" /></a>3. Check each other's projects out and be sure to leave lot's of comments.

Home Sweet Home Altered Canvas

Lori's project for today is completely adorable. Since it's a little different than usual, we thought we would let her explain her process.

"When I was lucky enough to receive my goodies for SEI I immediately fell in love with the Corinne Collection!! The colors were so pretty and I just loved all of the elements on the sticker sheet... I was so excited to sit down and create with it!! Recently I have been following and falling in love with all things mixed media. I have been participating in some classes (with a few coming up) and this has really taken me away from my normal style of scrapbooking and I've learned to have fun and just create. I have had these cute 6" x 12" canvases in my collection for awhile now and when it came to this months assignments - I just couldn't wait to play and experiment!!"

"Here in Canada we got a little sneak peak of spring last week and with more snow and storms in the forecast I needed to surround myself with bright colors and reassure myself that spring is indeed on its way! With that I started playing - and I came up with a cute little canvas that incorporates most of the the Corinne Stickers, Borders and I snuck in a tag from the Romance Collection for my cute pink house!!"

"I started with applying the 'With all my Heart' Paper with Mod Podge to the canvas and then went over it slightly with some blue paint. I used bubble wrap and some sponges to give it some depth and texture. I then placed various borders on the canvas for my sky and grass and started placing some of the adorable Corrine Stickers all around. I am in love with the clouds...they are my favorite! The cute little hearts I used as flower centers and when everything was dry used a regular black pen to doodle in my flowers. I typed out one of my favorite quotes my computer and applied it with mod podge as well (all elements are applied this way even the stickers). To finish it off I went back in with some yellow paint to add some sunshine by applying it with some simple bubble wrap to add just a touch of sun!"

"This sure was a fun project for me.... it was just the touch of spring I was looking for and I smile when I see it hanging in my scraproom."

As Summer Fades...

As Summer draws to an end here in Australia we are heading away down to the beach for a few days to enjoy what remains of this warm balmy weather.  I hope you have a great weekend wherever you are, whatever you do...

xx

Anna

PS - My heart goes out to all of those in Christchurch who have been affected by the terrible earthquake.  What is happenning in this world of ours?xx

images via madison magazine

Love Birds + Winner

Caroline made these projects with the With All My Heart Collection. We love all the layering of embellishments she did. She made them in several groupings, which helps it stay organized and keep the focus where it should be.

Ready for the CSN Stores giveaway winner? We used random.org to choose #49!

Congratulations, Dana! Send us an e-mail at seiblog{at}shopsei{dot}com and we will send you your $65 gift code.

NY Cushions

For a bit of fun we picked up some I love NY tote bags when we were in NYC a few weeks ago to make into cushions for the shop.  We selected a few different fabrics to put onto the backs of them.  We only have 3 left...we should have bought more!

Delightful Cards

Lisa has designed two cards to share today. They are both very pretty and contrast each other.

First, this everyday card using the Corinne collection is bright and cheerful. The white leaf stamp and solid papers are a nice base for the flower die-cuts.

Who wouldn't be delighted with that sparkle?

Next, Lisa has an elegant wedding card using the White Elegance collection. This one is itty bitty, just right for a wedding gift.

So whether you have a big formal event coming up or just want to brighten someone's day, go make some cards! It's always good to have some on hand.

Apple Tea Cake

Whilst I'm not a wonderful cook like others in my family, I don't mind cooking a lovely old fashioned cake every now and then.  One of my favourite cakes to cook is actually a lemon and coconut cake which is an old Woman's Weekly recipe.  However, I think my family may be a little bit 'over' my lemon cake so tonight I went in search of something new to cook.  I didn't have to search very far as I found a recipe I am going to try in the latest Real Living magazine.  My family and I are all heading away down to my cousin's beach house this weekend so I might just try my hand at this recipe tomorrow night.  I figure that if I post about it then maybe I will actually do it!!


PS.  Thank you all so much for the super kind comments you left me in my last post about my grandmother...Considering your interest in her, I might post more about her in the future.