AUTISM ALERT - free printable

I am blessed that in our home autism has not significantly compromised the safety of our family members, but many families with an autistic loved one have to make plans for emergencies.

One thing I'd not really thought about was alerting emergency responders to the fact that a person with autism is present.

The more I think about it, the more I can see how essential it would be to be able to let a police officer entering your home know that a person with autism lives there. That they may not respond to verbal commands. They may be non-compliant THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN.

I think about the urgency of letting responders to a car accident know that an  person with autism may have been in the car. That they may resist help, or they might have run away and be hiding in nearby bushes or buildings.

I have seen alerts available, most requiring ordering ( & payment) and shipping.

I have made a free printable and I am more than happy for you to share it far and wide, sharing is caring xxx

CLICK HERE to go to the free PDF download, hosted through a safe file storage Mediafire. ( the pic here is just to show you what it looks like, not high enough resolution for printing) 

I have made two sizes, one that is about half the size of a piece of A4 paper, perfect for putting at the front door to alert visitors and a smaller version that could go in a car window without obstructing driving vision. Print them out and laminate them. 

Given with love x

Daylight savings - Save me!

Daylight Savings ended last night.. a whole extra hour to stay snuggled in bed snoozing. Bliss!

Except that The Man I Married missed the teenage lesson on how to sleep in, so at 6.30am - which today became 5.30am , he woke up and decided to get up. 

Woke the dogs up and had a loud chat with them, banged around in the kitchen, turned on the TV and flicked channels.
Grrrrrrr.

GRRRRRR!

I don't know about you, but once I'm awake and disturbed I can't go back to sleep so there we both were, awake, nursing cups of coffee at 5.30am. 

I retreated into Computer land, mostly because I wasn't sure I could speak in pleasant sentences to the overgrown two year bouncing around on the couch.

I understand you are possibly sick of me raving about my refound designing mojo, but once you get something back that you loved, it's hard to squish that kind of Happy down. 
So here's what I made yesterday afternoon, and what you can feel free to download.

How cute is that ? This makes up into a little Easter Bunny Treasure box about 6.5cm high, perfect for a few Cadbury Eggs as a sweet little gift for someone.

You can grab the PDF to print it out HERE 

Don't just click and save this little picture as you box will be too tiny :-)

You basically cut around the outside edge, score all the solid lines with the back of a butter knife and a ruler and fold into the box shape, adding a lick of glue along the tab line to hold it together.

The bottom interweaves which gives it a little extra strength, and you can secure it with a bit of tape if you are loading the box with heavier items.

This mornings ridiculously EARLY start gave me time and head space to play a little more, so I made a second box... just in case you aren't into bunnies - although I don't even know how that is possible because :

Back to Box Making :

So this morning I made this:

Same deal, different pictures, a little brighter and funkier...

You can grab the PDF to print it out HERE

In case you can't tell, I'm having alot of fun!

What time did your little or big treasures get out of bed this morning?

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Loving the creative process - Easter Swag Printable

Once upon a time, I made timber buttons for the crafting world. hundreds and thousands of buttons. I designed them, cut them out with my laser machine and then handpainted them.

My favouritest thing of all was the design process. Getting a spark of an idea, planning and drawing, and tweaking it until I had a final product that I loved. I would get butterflies in my tummy, be so very excited and do little happy dances when a new idea worked out into something really cool.

Last year, for several reasons, I closed down my little Button world. 

I don't miss the marketing, the advertising or the demands for MORE! I don't miss the pressure to stay 'on-trend' or to stay one step ahead of my competition. I don't miss the mess, the paints, the smell of burning timber. I don't miss customers who wanted to pay $1 for an intricately handpainted angel, and then complained that they could have gone to Spotlight ( for a cheap, mass produced plastic something).

What I miss is the design process. Time playing with my art program. Fine tuning a design until it is good or even great.

I miss giving stuff away, I love that feeling. I loved saying "Take it, have it, I want you to have this".

So today I am very thankful to have rediscovered that spark. The fun.

In a very basic way, I get to have all the fun of designing with none of the pressure. My art program is run off its feet and my brain is once again swirling with ideas.

On Monday I made a Printable, as a bit of a personal challenge. A little Easter holiday plan, for anyone who might like to plan some fun times over these school holidays. 

You can download it here for free - Yay!

On Tuesday I made an Easter Egg swag with Miss 9, pretty simple but also PRETTY!

So I made that into a printable. Because I can.

It's cute, prints out on A4 paper and is a super simple project to do with your little kiddly-winks over the school holidays.

Click here to for the free Swag printable with simple instructions :-)

(Super simple = print and cut out, punch some holes, thread them on and hang !)

Yesterday, I had more fun with my designing... that idea needs a little fine tuning but stay tuned... I sense a storm of printables is on it's way.

I have that buzz back. The butterflies are dancing. I am feeling the happy. Yay 

Thankful Thursday xx with Lovely Rhi

I love a Challenge - Easter Holiday Planner Printable

All over Blogland and Pinterest there are squillions of printables. Downloadable printable templates to fulfill your every need from organising your home, your grocery list or your home budget, to calenders, baby shower gift tags, cookie jar labels and everything in between.

As you may have figured out, I love a challenge so yesterday I decided to have a go and make my very first Button Brain Printable.

As the Easter school holidays are hurtling towards us and I have Zip-Zero-Zilch planned as yet, I thought it would be fun ( and terrifically organised of me) if I made up a an Easter holiday planner for Miss 9.

It took some work & several hours of 'research' online, before I finally went back to the art program I know and understand.

I made up some little Easter Egg graphics, added some text, played around with the layout, played around with the layout some more... and more and more and more.....

But finally, I think I got something that someone out there might like to print.

 So If you would like to download my very first Button Brain Printable Click Below:

Easter Holiday Planner Printable Link

Just download the PDF to your computer and print away.

So how do you think I did?