Time is passing us by.......

I would just like to apologise for all of those people who take the time to come on here to see if 'anything new' has occured. Unfortunately time has been such a limiting factor for me these days. My 22 month and 6 month old gorgeous children have been taking up some 'mummy' time, both in fun and 'difficult moments' lol......teething etc. So please dont give up as I will post some things soon.

Thank you all for your time :)

Baby Cards and Baby Showers

Hi All :)

I was trying my hand at making some baby cards, as both a friend and cousin are pregnant (waving to Shell). These cards are only really small (again 7cm x 7.5cm) but easy to work with. I usually like to see what they look like small and maybethen I will create something a bit bigger later. I am trying to come up with some baby shower type cards also because my friends mother and I will be organising a baby shower for my friend at some stage. If you have ANY ideas for a baby shower, please pass them along - more ideas the merrier!

Thanks for looking :)

Card Recipe: All in the Family and Rivetting stamp set, Almost Amethyst, So Saffron and Certainly Celery cardstock, Almost Amethyst Designer series patterned paper, old olive brads, Watercolour markers, scallop and 1 1/4 circle punch, ribbon

Overnight Muffins

Hi All :)

For a change, I thought it would be nice to put a yummy recipe on here instead of the usual cards. These are quite heavy muffins, but great for brekkie or a quick meal.

Overnight Muffins

1 1/4 cups Plain Flour
1 1/4 cups Muesli
1 tsp bi carb soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
30 gm bran
120gm dates chopped
375ml buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Combine all dry ingredients together. Mix buttermilk, egg and vegetable oil together and add to dry ingredients. Do not overmix.

Let mix sit overnight.

Cook in 180 degree oven for 1 hour. depending on size of muffin cups you use. We use pretty large ones, hence the long cooking time. Best to experiment and keep checking.

Mouse House

Hi All :)

Thought I would post this card I made a little while ago. The picture isn't too clear unfortunately (got to take some photography lessons one day....) but I think you get the general idea.

I have used watercolour paper here which is so forgiving when colouring with water. The stamp is from Mouse House which I fell in love with a while back. I think this would make a great 'I miss you' card for someone. I found it easier colour the raindrops in blue, then emboss them using a watermark pen and clear ep; makes for colouring the rest of the image easier. The three sections of the stamped image are backed in SU! Old Olive cardstock and the main card with SU! Rose Red.

Personally I think I should have cut the strips a little differently so that the mice were all in the same strip but I guess I will leave that correction for the next card. It was a hard image to ink up and stamp as the image is quite fine, but once done, it was such a lovely image to watercolour. I might just do this one again :)

Mother guilt and Baroque Motifs again.....

Hi All :)


Life is just too busy and tiring at the moment.

I have a 5 month old daughter who is absolutely adorable and scrummy, but who also has decided that feeding every 4 hours is necessary - no matter whether it is day or night, and no amount of coaxing will change her mind. My DH thinks that is my stubborness coming out in her - quite possibly (but it takes one to know one!). Needless to say, I have yet to get more than 3 hours sleep at a time *sigh*. Sometimes I just feel like a damn milk shop!

I watched a program about sleep deprevation on 60 minutes on Sunday. I watched as they put one of the presenters through a mini 'scientific experiment' - getting him to stay up for 40 hours straight. By the end of the test, this man couldn't even add up simple maths let alone drive a car!

Well there you go! I thought to myself. Is that the reason for my slurring of words; my forgetfullness; my wanting to reach for sugar instead of healthy foods; my inability to hold a conversation for more than a couple of minutes at a time or to remember things! Now with all of this sleep deprivation my family has gotten used to me saying "really? you told me that? when?". And this has been happening since my DS was born!

I find myself feeling guilty for not being able to give 100% to those who need me the most such as my darling DS 21 months. He loves spending time with me but unfortunately, his sister keeps getting in the way and he gets frustrated, so then I find myself trying to spend as much as my time with him when his sister goes for her nap. In the meantime, my house is a mess, we mainly eat leftovers for tea, and I feel myself nodding off at inopportune moments. Finding time for craft seems like a huge deal.

But besides all of this, I wouldn't swap it for the world. Those of you who know me, or read my blog on 'I've been tagged' a while ago would know that my two youngest are miracles as I was told (by a gynaecologist) I couldnt have any more children. (my DH just thinks that he is the hero in the story!). Both times were a complete surprise :)

Anyway, enough baby talk. The weekend was kind to me in that my dear MIL was able to take my gorgeous but extremely active and mischevious DS 21mths overnight, thus enabling me to spend Sunday with my only crafty friend Michelle making and designing cards. I was only able to make 2 standard and 2 small cards though - milk bar on call!

I must apologise for the camera shot of the first card as I just cannot get the colours right. I didn't show the other standard card but the colours are just reversed in the cardstock (ie. Purely Pomegranate as the card base and so on.....) The third picture is another one of those small cards I can never make enough of! (7 x 7.5) Recipe is:

Cardstock and Ink - Very Vanilla, Purely Pomegranate, Cameo Coral
Stamps - Baroque Motifs
Accessories - clear glitter embossing powder, stamp-a-ma-jig, vintage and earth elements brads.

The important thing I have learnt out of making these addictive cards is that from one sheet of cardstock from those three colours, I get to make two standard cards and two small cards (using the leftovers), even managing to get two scallop circle punches and the embellishments for all cards out of the same cardstock.

Sorry if it is long winded, and even sorrier if there are mistakes! My bed is calling...........no. 2 daughter asleep! my turn!.....zzzzzzz

Another really small card!

Again with the Baroque Motifs, but this time with a card that measures only 7 x 7 1/2 cm. I am finding the Vintage brads very useful for these colours. I embossed the stamped image using versamark and blue bayou even though it changed the colour somewhat. i didnt mind as it looks more vintage. Thanks for looking :)

Baroque Motifs

I have found a new favourite stamp - Baroque Motifs! It is so versatile and easy to use to whip up a quick card (well for me that is under an hour). Alisa Tilsner's Stamps By Mail has enabled me to adapt her template into lots of different ways and colour variations. For these cards, I have still stuck to Blue Bayou and Soft Sky, but have used Very Vanilla instead of the white cardstock. I find it looks more warm IRL but doesn't show up well in the picture. In one of the cards, I have reversed the order of the blues. Not sure which one I like best yet. Which one do you like?

Its all in the giving.......

Hi All :)

I got a surprise in the mail the other day from the lovely Cassandra (Crafty Cass). Every sunday she has a 'freebie' to give away to the first 5 people who reply on her blob. Now I think that is very generous of her considering the price of postage but, she never fails to give. I got a sample of Sahara Sand cardstock which i cannot wait to use.

Sooooo anyway, back to the surprise.....She sent me a lovely thank you card for the card I gave her (see? it does come round and round) and also the most lovely 'teabag' card which I just had to show you! Thank you Cass. You are a brick!

Dont you just love receiving cards? I love receiving cards from people and keep them for ages on my television until my family get sick of them and then I pack them away in a box to look at every now and then......I am a true romantic lol I have kept every love letter and card that my hubbie has given me and every now and then I get them all out and look at them (also good when i am feeling particularly down)

Watercolouring and Patterned paper

Another card I made using the same patterned paper as before, but this time I stamped an image (Summer by the Sea stamp set) onto watercolour paper and coloured it in with my markers and a paintbrush (still getting used to my aquabrush...). The scallops were made with my corner rounder.

Thanks for looking :)

More cards......Butterflies and Patterned Paper

I decided to get out my punches and create a card. This is what I came up with. Still not sure about it. I think I am so used to seeing stamping on my cards that I find it a bit bare. My daughter come up with the idea of backing the butterflies onto coloured card and offset it a bit to create a shadow effect - took her advice and thought she was a clever chooky!

Thanks for looking :)

Love notes, purely pomegranate and Kindyglitz!

Hi All :)

Kids are asleep so it is time to put a couple more cards on my little blog. These two are very small IRL - measurements are 1/4 A4 cardstock using my favourite colour of the year, Purely Pomegranate. The wonderful Cass gave me the pp (thank you very much Cass!) which I decorated using Kindyglitz (hence the sparkle). A couple of embellishments later and you have yourself a couple of nice gift tags or love notes. I dont get to make more of the same (or similar) card very often but I find that if I cut up the cardstock into card size, then I am more inclined to make more than one of the same card.

Thanks for looking :) I am so appreciating all the positive comments I am getting ladies, so keep em' coming! LOL

Stamps by Mail - two cards

These are posted separately as I still dont have a handle on placing photos 'just right' on my blog.

Stamps by Mail

Hi All :)

I joined 'stamps by mail', by Alisa Tilsner (see link on left) the other week and received my first 'installment' of goodies last week. Boy was I excited! I decided to take a picture (Cass as you can see - Hot Chocolate!)

Anyway, I received the Baroque Motifs, 2 stamp pads, and the technique booklet. Alisa sent out the cardstock and embellishments for the 2 cards and 1 6 x 6 layout plus emailed us comprehensive instruction sheets (boy this sounds like an advert doesn't it?).

I got to work and made 2 cards and one layout and I was really impressed with how it all turned out. I have yet to make it in other colours, but had so much fun. I am not very good creatively so this is a chance to 'borrow' someone elses mind without all the stress.

Bleaching

Hi :)

The other day I mentioned that I only made 6 cards but didnt have time to show them all, so here I am trying to catch up. It has been a long and tiring couple of months for me since I have had my youngest (4 1/2 months). It definitely is easier to 'bounce back' when you are younger and fitter (22yrs), not older and wiser (39 yrs)....lol.

Anyway, the bleaching technique I have used involves embossing the image and then using an aqua pen filled with bleach, or paintbrush (which is what I have used in this instance) dipped in bleach, to lighten the cardstock until you get the desired effect. Black cardstock really surprised me in that it went orange. It looks more effective IRL. I have gone over parts of the image more than others to get that shading and 3D effect. I have layered the image onto Rose Red and Black cardstock. The background image is stamped with versamark and then embossed with clear EP. The background stamp is called French Script. Oh, and the main image is from the stamp set called Summer by the Sea.

Thanks for looking :)

Creating can suck at times..........

Hi all :)

I dont know about you, but at times I need a break from my very loving family. I get grumpy. Simple. My family sure knows it. I dont get them very often, but my dear MIL will, when she can, take my DS 20 months, over to her place to 'sleep over'.

The only way I like to take a break is to sit at my kitchen table with every possible scrapbooking and card making tools within reach and create. My dream is to be able to leave it this way for at least a couple of days - especially when the creative bug has hit at the last minute and it can't be finished.

BUT my dearest and mischevious son who is only 20 months old loves to show his mummy how creative he can be. It usually starts by DS grabbing at every possible thing he can before I can get to it, then if it looks like I am even going to get anywhere close to him, the best thing he thinks to do is chuck it! Doesn't matter what it is, be it plate, glass, tool or book. If it smashes or makes that breaking sound........'oh ohhhh' is what comes out of his mouth.

Now......the other weekend I had the perfect opportunity to create to my hearts delight when my dear MIL took DS off to stay with her for two whole nights! I only had DD 4 months to look after who can't get into much at this stage...lol. The disappointing thing for me was ....... I had a creative block!!!!!! Arggghhhh! I tried and tried, but those juices were down.

I only managed to create 6 cards. I never make more than one of the same card. I just think that they are either too complicated to replicate, or I am not 'that sure' about the look so tend to think on it a while. Saying that, I did think they all turned out quite nice, but am still disappointed that I didn't manage to make more. Maybe I need to start replicating them....even if it is to make me feel better!

After all of that, the recipe for this card was quite simple really. stamp sets - (one of my favourites)' Summer by the sea, cardstock - ballet blue, black, real red, watercolour paper watercolour markers - real red, brilliant blue, creamy caramel (I think), blush blossom accessories - aqua pen, red ribbon.

Will show the rest of the cards with recipe in the next couple of days. Thanks so much for looking :)

I've Been Tagged

......by Christine! (http://thesmithsonburgundy.blogspot.com/) I've yet to work out how to link properly. I must apologise for the lengthy delay Christine :) Life is busy....

The rules are as follows:

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog .


Well, I am new to this game, being such a virgin blogger of only one month I am going to be hard pressed to pass this on. Maybe my cousin can be my guinea pig? As most people reading this blog dont know me very well, I guess I can find 7 things......but interesting? I will leave you to judge :)

Anyways, on with the answers:

1. In September 2005, I was told by a Gynaecologist that I was unable to have any more children (already had Emma who was by then 13 nearly 14)

2. In September 2006, I gave birth natuarally to a 7lb 4oz baby boy who we named Connor.

3. In January 2008, I gave birth by caesarean to an 8lb 13oz baby girl who we named Abigail Rose

4. In January 2008, I got my tubes tied whilst having the caesarean! (I hear you laughing! I wasn't at the time believe me! lol. Never believe Gynaecologists!

5. I am extremely pedantic in my approach to anything - craft, cleaning, etc... It has to be perfect! Maybe that is why I have so much trouble creating (?)

6. I grew up in the country (West Coast of South Australia) from the age of 8 to 16. We lived in 6 different houses whilst in the country as my dad would change jobs due to different circumstances. We, at one stage, lived in a house that had an outside toilet; no working shower; we had baths), one room that we couldn't use as the middle of the floor had collapsed from being eaten out with white ants; and the kitchen sink water emptied into a bucket outside. Our only water supply came from two huge above ground rainwater tanks - we were very careful with water. We also had no television as there was no reception.
Our phone was on a 'party line' exchange which meant that we shared the telephone line with other people and in order to make a phone call, you used to have to pick up the phone to see if it was silent, then wind the handle to contact the exchange whereby they would put you through to whoever you needed to talk to. the good thing about this was that if you wanted to talk to someone on the 'party line', all you had to do was use their ring ie. a short and two longs (that was ours) - this was achieved by winding the handle at the front of the phone.

7. I have lived in 21 houses in my lifetime. I have lived away from home since the age of 15, and started being completely independent by the age of 17. Since then, I have lived in 13 different houses. By the time my first daughter was 7 (she is now 16), she had lived in 7 houses.

Well, here's the part where I have to tag 7 people. Because most of who I know on these blogs have already been tagged, I will focus all of my attention on my cousin Michelle (Shell's Stuff) who I hope will take up the challenge. Her link is: http://shell07-shell07.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading my ramblings :)

Hi all :)

On Kristina Werner's site (http://kwernerdesign.com/blog/) a while back was a tutorial for a card she made that involved weaving ribbon. She has these fabulous youtube videos once a week called 'make a card monday (MACM). I absolutely loved it and couldn't wait to try it out. The weaving worked out perfectly and I was happy with the result - especially using chocolate grosgrain ribbon as it gives it that 3 dimensional effect. The buttons on the side are from a pair of my daughters pants - they came with extra buttons just in case the others get lost (I have a whole stack of these). I tied the two buttons together with the cotton that also came with the buttons. I like the overall effect.

Now, after saying all of that, I do not like this card but the reason why i am showing it on my blog is to show you how the weave turned out. No matter what I chose to go with the 'embellishment' I had made, it just wasn't right, so will keep this aside until I can build up my supply of dp's (got to stop spending money on other products first!!!) and figure out what I should do. If you guys have any suggestions at all I would appreciate the help :)

Happy Mothers Day....

Hi all :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. My lovely family made me pancakes and cards (DH decided to print his card out at 5.30am in the morning when I was feeding my youngest...lol) Apart from the lack of sleep that seems to be a part of my life nowadays, I had a good day. I received a huge bag of my favourite chocolates (Haighs chocolate orange pastilles...yum), and a book that my dear DH found at a newsagency called 'Stamping With Style'. It mainly deals with 'off the page' stamping styles such as using polymer clay, fabric and more. He knows how much i have been addicted to stamping lately (must be all those beautiful stamp sets from Stampin Up!) and is forever coming up with ideas on how else to use stamps. I am quite amazed with some of the suggestions he has come up with so far, espcially since he believes that he would rather gouge his eye out with a wooden spoon than to have anything to do with scrapping or card making. LOL.

Even my 16 yo daughter who firmly believes that anything to do with craft is 'gay', sat down at the kitchen table the night before, using all my tools and paper and made me a card. She did a fantastic job....... Now doesn't that say she loves me lots?

Anyway, on with the card I made:

This card uses one of my most favourite and most versatile stamp set I have in my growing collection of stamps. I bought it out of the mini catalogue SU! were having at the time (think it was the Summer catalogue?). I really wanted to use some of this chipboard that everyone seems to be raving about and that I can never seem to get to work (check out Crafty Cass site http://www.cassandragrambau.com.au/blog.htm for more information about how much you can do with chipboard).

I covered two pieces of square chipboard with cardstock and then sanded the edges to neaten it up, then stuck on my watercoloured flowers (stamped on watercolour paper). Using black cardstock as my card base, I matted it with Pretty in Pink (paper pierced the edges) and then matted that with Lovely Lilac. The Lovely Lilac is stamped with one of my little background stamps (dont know the name of it) using versamark ink. The 'Love' and 'heart' stamps are stamped onto watercolour paper and coloured in using the watercolour markers, then stuck on with dimensionals. The ribbon just gives it that added bit of bling. Let me know what you think as I would love to read your comments :)

Using chipboard....

Hi all :)

Just wanted to share this card with you. It is one of my favourites as it is one of those cards that just came together nicely without me getting too much of a headache...lol. It went to a good home :)

I am always having trouble decorating chipboard. I try painting, inking, glueing and even colouring in with markers, to no avail. It still looks, well, like a 2 year old did it! Painting chipboard is an absolute nightmare for me as it always looks streaked. I can never get right so if anyone has any hints at all, I would appreciate the tip!

Anyway, I digress.........For once, my decorating technique seemed to work so I used that as the inspiration for this card. All I did was to glue the cardstock to the chipboard using pva glue, then cut as much cardstock off around the heart using a craft knife, then using a nail file, I sanded the edges till it looked neat.

The bow around the heart is actually packing twine I bought from IKEA (gotta love 'em). I just unravelled it and used that instead of ribbon. I love the earthy feel of the 'ribbon'. The rest of the card is self explanatory :) Thanks for looking

Card Recipe: (stamps) French Script, Friendship Blooms (ink) Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink (cardstock) Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink (accessories) pink ribbon, staples, scrap patterned paper, dimensionals.

Just a pedantic idea.....

Hi all :)

Just an idea that was floating in my head one night. I have major trouble remembering all the different coloured cardstock I have - especially from SU! and thought, why not make a swatch of them? That way I can remember the names of them when I need to write down the card recipe. Great idea at the time, but didn't realise it was going to take me 2 whole hours to make - and that doesn't include the new colour range that SU! have just put out. I also like the fact that I can throw it into my handbag to take with me and match up elements whilst out 'window shopping' at scrapping and cheap stores. I have also (after taking this photo) stapled on ribbons that I have used that match the cardstock. I usually go to fabric stores for 'standard' ribbons as I find them quite cheap and I can pick them up straight away. Now on to that cardmaking I promised myself to do. I am planning on making Marelle Taylor's 'Mothers Day Wallet'. Yvonne designed a great one on her site which I want to try and emulate. Will take a picture when I have finished and post it on here.

Have a great night :)

1 x cardstock = 4 cards

Hi all,

The kids and the partner are asleep right now so I get a moment to myself (I should be sleeping but this won.....)

I decided to experiment with the sizing of my cards (as you do) and wondered how I would go making 4 cards out of 1 piece of A4 cardstock - I dont like wastage and the more you can get out of one thing, the better right? Now for some reason, the second I started cutting, the rest just flowed which for me is not normal as (according to my partner) my 'perfectionist' side tends to interrupt my creativity so to speak.

On with the cards:

Card Recipe: (All products are SU! unless specified) Stampsets: Merci, Lots of Thoughts, and French Script, Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red and Old Olive, watercolour paper, watercolour markers and paint brush.

I found that these kinds of cards tend to lean themselves towards 'using up' all your scrap pieces of patterned paper. I have tons of scrap pieces I just cannot throw out so had to buy myself an accordian folder to stick them all into. I had a lot of fun making this set so am thinking of making another set but also making a folder to stick them in with matching envelopes and giving them away as presents. What do you think?

Whats in the box?

Hi one and all. This is a card I created using a computer, an embossing pen and some embossing powder.....

I had a small box of simple materials for card making (how times have changed!) but wanted to make a birthday card for my partner to show how much he had done for me over the past few years. It took me a while to come up with all the words (gave up on just using 'B' words) but ended up using the good ol' thesaurus to find the 'perfect' words for him. At the time, I also didn't realise that this card is called a 'gatefold' card. There you go!

Card Recipe:

Bazzil black card, red and white cardstock, embossing pen, gold embossing powder, heat gun, and a chipboard element (embossed in gold powder with great difficulty)

One of my favs.....

...is this card which I made the other day for my MIL who has been an absolute godsend to me.

She is my sons' number one fan and cannot do enough for us. Anyway, I received this lovely stamp set the other day (again a big thank you to Claire Daly!) and couldn't wait to start using it. This is what I came up with for her. As you can see, Nanna is peeking out of the window!

On the inside of the card it reads: "....complete now that nanna is in the picture". The stamp set (which will become one of my favourites) is quite easy to use once you get organised and use the Stamp-a-ma-jig (a must have!).

Card Recipe:
SU All In The Family stamp set, real red and ballet blue cardstock, watercolour paper, scrap patterned paper, organza ribbon, watercolour markers, paint brush, and Stamp-a-ma-jig.

Just a sample.....

....of cards I have made that I will be putting on my blog shortly, along with the 'recipe' for each card. I enjoy receiving comments so don't be shy.

My very first blog....

Sorry to all who have looked on here only to discover nothing much to see. I am in the process of getting this up and going but am very busy with my two youngest children, (have 3 children - a 16yo girl, 18 month old boy and my littlest girl of 16 weeks)and my very patient, hard working partner.
My goal is to showcase my cards that I create with much hair pulling, second guessing and $$$, so if anyone would like to give me a few hints and tips on how to run a blog, they would be much appreciated :)
So thank you for your time but please be patient as I promise it will all be worth it.

Early Mornings!

Hi everyone. Hope you are having a lovely day so far. As I am still getting 'a handle' on blogging (never done it before), I apologise for the 'aesthetics' until I can learn more. But in the meantime, I thought I would download a 'minimalist' card I created for one of my friends 40th birthday the other day. Oh and hopefully the photography will get better - let me know of any hints and tips you may have!

Card Recipe: SU Love Matters and Happy Birthday stamp sets, Real Red cardstock, white organza ribbon, embossing tool, watercolour markers.