December 2008 at Creative Creatures

Hello!  I’m thinking it too: only two weeks to Christmas.  How did that happen?  We all get caught in the flurry of shopping, parties, card-writing (maybe even card-making!) – and everyone seems to fall into either loving or hating this time of year!

At the end of 2006, I was a bit down about the fact that time had passed so quickly, so I made a list of what I’d done that year. I was really surprised – I’d gone overseas for the first time, started latin dancing after 15 years of wanting to, met my riding coach again after being out of touch for years, got a great new (day) job with an awesome team of colleagues, and heaps more.

I did a double-page layout celebrating these achievements, and it really changed the way I view a new year. I’ve done a 2007 one, and have been collecting items all year for the 2008 version! Now rather than be sad reflecting on another year ‘gone’, I’m proud of what I’ve done and genuinely excited about the opportunities ahead. One thing’s for sure, Creative Creatures will feature front and centre of the 2008 pages! 

Talking of Creative Creatures, we’re celebrating the season with a cute Christmas theme, some new products, random sale items and a special offer for you and your friends.  Read on for the offer and more goodies for Dec 2008.

I thought I’d share a little pic of my friend Gus, who likes to help out whenever I go into the scrapbooking room.  As with most cats, they like to sit on top of whatever has your interest….here, he’s impeding progress on the layout of Ernie. I finally got it finished, ‘cos it’s in Creature Features below!  

Gus 'helping' out

Well, we hope you all have a safe, happy and relaxing Christmas and New Year with your family, friends and beloved animals.  Keep safe on the roads and keep your four-legged friends free from the hazards of the season (grass-seeds, snakes, dehydration and over-indulgence ). 

Keep your eyes out for our January newsletter with a new shipment of our most popular items, plus more ‘new stuff’!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Alison & Ida

News and Other Stuff

Christmas gift orders – wrapped and sent direct for you! If you’d like to send animal themed scrapbooking supplies to a friend or family member for Christmas, we are happy to wrap the items (no extra cost) and add a message from you before sending.  Simply add their address in the ‘Post To’ fields at check-out, and the message in the comments field. I can’t guarantee Australia Post will deliver by Christmas, but to get the best chance, gift orders need to be in by about 15^th December. 

Did you know: You can search CC online store?  It works especially well for popular dog breeds…just put your breed into the search field at the top right hand corner, and it’ll pop up with all the related items.  Go on – try it!

December special:  Use voucher code Xmas08 to get 20% off for orders over $20.

And because it’s Christmas…the first three orders through after this newsletter will receive a $20 gift voucher from Creative Creatures, for use on subsequent orders.

Random sale items:  We’ve put some random items on sale, ranging from 20 – 35 % off RRP.  Get in quick!

New and Featured Items

We have some very cute new items this month – 20 to be precise! You can see the new papers, stickers and die-cuts under New Items at www.creativecreatures.com.au.

Here’s a small sample of what you’ll find:

Quote of the month

I’ll keep it short this month, with a piece I found on a forum a couple of months ago.  It’s what ‘comet’ said their pet had taught them…I thought it was pretty cute, and fits nicely with my aim to a) keep trying my best and b) having fun doing it!

“When you run, run full-speed. When you jump, jump as high as you can. When you love, love with every inch of your being. When you’re happy, wag your whole body.  And when you sleep, spread out across the entire space so no one can get past you without rubbing your belly.”

Creature Features

Layout 1: This cute little layout is from a Wubie Magnetic Show-off Kit, which includes one piece of 6 x 6 striped magnetic paper, three coordinating pieces of cardstock, mounting tabs and lots of cute words to describe your pet – like prissy, shaggy, naughty, goofy.  You just need scissors and imagination!

The kit is SO easy to use (this one took about 10mins) and is much cuter on your fridge than advertising magnets!  This is a lovely and easy gift idea too, either as a kit or made up in a layout.   

Our hairy little rascal, Jilly Bean!

Layout 2:  Sepp was a little cat with a huge personality. He was always on the move, with somewhere to be or someone to see.  His little flame burnt furiously, but not for long…we lost him at only 10 months old to a brown snake bite.  I got Sepp after I lost my 20yo soul-mate cat, Joey. Sepp did his best to fill a huge void and gave me so much love and laughter when I needed it the most.  I wanted to do a vibrant tribute to reflect his colourful, energetic and fun nature.  I was going to journal this, but decided to put this in a frame, as you can see below.

I’ve used Creative Creatures ‘Cat Words’ paper, some colourful ribbon from Lincraft (96c for 6metre roll!), some cheap diamante things from the ‘cheapie shop’ and printed lettering from the computer. 

Sepp April 2005 - February 2006

 

Framing: a nice alternative for a memorial layout

Layout 3:  Another cat layout…this time of Ernie.  You probably wouldn’t guess by looking, but Ernie is the full brother to Bert, the orange ‘calendar cat’ in the September newsletter. They don’t’ get along quite as well as the Sesame Street pair!  Ernie is our ex- stable cat, whose job it was to catch mice.  He got bored of ‘working’ so now he’s ‘the overseer’: he eats, cuddles and sleeps….anywhere!  Here he’s asleep in a pile of hay left by one of the horses.  It’s out in an open yard, but Ernie’s confident that no-one or nothing will harm him and he lay there fast asleep for several hours!  

 We used Moxxie Meow paper, some coordinating cardstock, and some little ribbon offcuts with tiny, coordinating brads.

The world is my bed!

Merry Christmas!

Well, that’s all folks.  Keeping it short and sweet for December.  We truly wish you all the best for the Christmas and New Year period and hope you have lots of fun with family, friends and animals.

Take care and see you in 2009!

Kind regards,

Alison & Ida