Hippity hop and although you are getting tired... keep on hoppin' - only one more to go now

Well I hope all of you are enjoying the blog hop. I know I am!! The ideas, inspiration and chance to win some awesome prizes has just been amazing.... and well now it is my turn :D

For you all, I have created this 12 months of pics of my little man. He is due to go into his new room soon as we have number two on the way at the end of the year. He will be a little young than most (17 months) but we are hoping for a smooth transition to a low toddler bed that my husband and I are currently designing to match in with the linen set that I have purchased for his room. His room will be all about monkeys (his favourite animal at the moment), and so I thought it would be nice to have something already made to go up in his room.

They just grow so quick, so I dug out this Twiddleybitz 'Days to remember' calendar which comes complete with the words that I decided not to use as I wasn't creating a calendar.

Although it was very time consuming to make, it is well worth it when you get to the end and see all those smiling faces looking back at you.

OK, so how to create it. But first some detailed picks....

1. The first job was to cut the blue cardstock to fit each of the wooden pieces. I was only doing one side and therefore only needed 6 + one for the title. I then stiched with white cotton around the edge with a twin needle (this does the 2 lines at once) on the sewing machine. These were all then stuck to the wooden pieces and the slots cut out with my craft knife once dry.

2. The next job was to thread the ribbon. When I threaded it I used a file to space it and then stuck the ribbon to each wooden piece with some double sided tape. This keeps all the wooded pieces even when it is hung.

3. I then cut up the red netting to stick down, and adhered with Helmar 450 glue which is my favourite for making things stick that take a little more effort to stay down. It is also fantastic with ribbon as it doesn't bleed through and show up when dry - even on organza!

4. I then covered all the frames with paper and stuck my photos of choice behind them. These were then adhered to the wooden pieces with some foam tape.

5. The heart swizzle stick has the heart cut off to create a plain wave. I then painted the twiddleybitz arrows, star and the wave with white paint before stamping the light blue on them, to bring out the blue more. You need to wait for the paint to dry before stamping, but it gives a much better base for your chosen colour if it is a bright one.

6. I then embellished the photo hanger with the arrows, titles for the months, some pearls and a title for the top.

I hope you have enjoyed my share, and remember - just because a particular off the page product has a purpose, it doesn't mean it can't be adapted for something different.

GIVEAWAY!!!

I can't let you go without knowing that there will be a giveaway on my blog as well. I will be sending off a lovely pack of assorted goodies, OF COURSE including some yummy twiddleybitz.

To be in the running, you have to have a mailing address in Australia, leave a comment here on my blog and also 'follow' my blog. If you have successfully done this by midnight Monday the 9th August, you will be in the running for this lovely prize.

OK, so the blog hop is still going with one more post to come. The lovely and always inspiring Tiff Sawyer our co-ordinator is the next to share, so make sure you keep following as her post will be up at 8pm tonight.

I would also like to take an opportunity to thank Tiff for organising such wonderful fun for us all to enjoy over this weekend... it has been a BLAST!!

xxx