My Time 2 Create

Taking a Break

2009-09-26T11:11:00.002+09:30

Hi to anyone that pops on here. Am taking a break from the hustle and bustle of life and bringing up two children under the age of 3. Lots of heartache and stress that just get in the way of card making but will post at a later stage one day. Thank you for looking and leaving comments on my humble blog :)

At last! Stamp TV

2009-06-23T11:58:00.003+09:30

I dont know whether you have heard of Gina K designs or not, but please take a look as she is divine! Gina also has this fantastic show called Stamp TV which has a lot of professionally filmed techniques on stamping and other papercraft projects. To the left of my blog is a badge which will take you straight there. Please do as it is so well the trip - oh and a word to the wise.....make sure you have stacks of time and a big mug of coffee as it is huge!!!!!

Blog Hopping #2

2009-06-19T06:47:00.003+09:30

Once again I find myself being dragged out of bed at 4.30am by a screaming 2 yo toddler who just wants to go downstairs and will not be convinced that it is night time (even though I tried for nearly an hour to get him back to bed) and mummy is very very tired.........sigh..........if only I didn't care that he will wake up his 1 yo sister up and his very grumpy late shift working dad!

So.......I set my son up with a Diego dvd and hot chocolate; me a cup of tea, my computer and some toothpicks for my eyes, and start blog hopping. There are some great blogs out there and I feel that I need to give credit.

Heart Hugs - a challenge blog that uses Etsy stores for inspiration - great prizes, great stories (especially Parker's birth story)

Stamp Happy - designer for 2RedBananas. True art!

Paper Clipping - Got this link from Ali Edward's site. There is a video tutorial on 'bubbles' and visual triangles on Ali's blog, but Paper Clipping have many more free ones, plus lots more for members. If you have ever had trouble scrapbooking (like me...sigh...) then, this is for you.

Naturally Felt - Etsy Store member that sells beautiful environmentally saving lunch bags; totes and stuff for kids.........amazingly beautiful fabrics used. Well worth the look.

Well, thats about it from me. I made a card for my beautiful niece Emily who turned 10 this month but as usual didn't take a photo.

There won't be much blogging happening here for the next month as we are moving house (for 9 months whilst ours is being built) and as you can appreciate - is a huge headache, so dont give up on me and please come back. Love the comments. Promise I will be good and post lots once we have moved.

Blog Hopping

2009-06-08T22:46:00.002+09:30

Most nights I am too tired to even think so I spend those times sitting on the couch and blog hop my way through some amazing creative websites. I usually dont bookmark them; I let my fingers do the walking through other links and....come what may. But I think it is time to spread the word so this entry is dedicated to the fantastic blogs i have come across tonight:

Kelly Rae, taking flight into Art, Love + Life - beautiful plus a great blog candy give away!

House Mouse Challenge - for those of us who have mouse house stamps and dont know what to do with them. there are some fantastical creations for you to peruse

The Sweetest Thing - one of my alltime go to blogs. Karen has a great card sketch for you to use.

Janneke's Creations - how she creates her cards using numerous DSP's leaves me in awe!

Diary of Claudine Hellmuth - beautiful

Tim Holtz - what more can I say?

thats all for now folks :) Time for bed.

Update Slice Machine cards

2009-06-03T10:42:00.003+09:30

Thank goodness for Corel Paint Shop! My DH showed me how to get rid of the 'love smudge' and I can now show you the card that i mentioned in the previous post. thanks for looking :)

Using my Slice Machine

2009-06-01T18:48:00.005+09:30

Just wanted to show you some cards I made over the weekend. It took me one night to make three cards - now that is really good for me. I was hankering over an idea my hubby gave to me using my slice machine. He asked me if I have used the patterns for making masks - never thought about it really but he is the one that thinks outside the square. Now I am going to show you two cards close up but the other card has a mark on it - courtesy of my daughter :)
This first card uses a circle mask. I stamped the French Script background stamp from SU! over the top in Chocolate chip. I also did some faux stitching around the circle for interest and popped on the butterfly from the Merci stamp set and coloured him in gently with the blender pen (not my best friend I am afraid). The butterfly is embossed in clear EP.

This next card i cased from HERE using the Technique Tuesday Loving Words by Ali Edwards. This is my DH's favourite as it is simple and clean.

And here is the lot together - the one on the right is the one my daughter loved a lot. I cut the circle with my slice machine and stamped the circle with the same background stamp as the first card, embossed and sponged, then stuck on the inside of the card. Some left over DSP from the last SU! catalogue backed on Purely Pomegranate cardstock is great if you dont have the appropriate ribbon. I found a button in my stash which went well with my one and only flower in my embellishment tin and voila - card finished. Thanks for looking.

Another thINKspot Challenge Card....

2009-05-28T22:43:00.005+09:30

Hi All

Please excuse the terrible quality of photo but as it is now 10.30pm and I have no hope in heck in finding sun at that time of night, this will have to do. I just thought I would enter one more card for Marelle Taylor's catalogue challenge, and as this ends at the end of the month....well, you can see my dilemma.

I have used the sketch from page 29 of the catalogue, and have just turned it on its bottom. I had some coloured and crystal effect(ed) flowers left over from another challenge and decided to see if I could make it work. My greatest problem has been starting something and not finishing it so I have all these half finished projects. I think it turned out okay albeit a bit bright but that is the way I like 'em sometimes :) Thanks for looking.

Supplies: SU Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise; SU Ink: Summer Sun, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip Classic and Whisper White Craft; Stamp Sets: Technique Tuesday Loving Words stamp set; Scrappy Cat clear stamps Timbres Clair; white gel pen; dimensionals.

Some Blog Candy by Kellie

2009-05-16T23:01:00.003+09:30

I came across a great blog the other day by Kellie who is also having some fantastic blog candy because she reached 20,000 hits! Now all you have to do is check it out and also check out her great creations. I have left a link to the left of my blog. Thanks for the opportunity Kellie and good luck with your future endeavours :)

A thINKspot Catalogue Challenge

2009-05-16T07:01:00.008+09:30

I decided to go for Marelle Taylor's challenge as my mojo just hasn't been there. It took me only a couple of minutes to find a card (27A); half an hour when I changed my mind and then went back to the same card I chose before, and two minutes choosing colours by using a printed sheet of colour combinations using the old in colours from the last catalogue. I really like how it turned out. It isn't far off the original card but as it is my first challenge using the catalogue I thought I would keep it simple simon (kiss).

Anywho, I have seen in the past how some cards have punched out circles in matching cardstock stuck over the card; rather like dry embossing. I also didn't have any coordinating ribbon so used cardstock with a stamped message on it. Hope it reaches muster Marelle :)

Supplies: Cardstock - SU! purely pomegranate (textured); pumpkin pie; old olive. stamp set - SU! merci; Technique Tuesday Loving Words by Ali Edwards. Accessories - 1/2 inch circle punch, distresser, dimensionals.

A home made Mothers Day card for me? No Way!

2009-05-11T15:49:00.011+09:30

How was Mothers Day for you? Mine wasn't going to be particularly easy as my DH works until midnight so needs his 'sleep in' which leaves me to get up to our wonderfully gorgeous 2yo and 16mo. As my son always loves to get up 'immediately' at 5.30am - 6am, it is left up to me to go downstairs with him before he wakes up the rest of the house. I make a huge cup of tea and potter around and clean up.

Anyway, the night before mothers day, DH rang me at 9pm..........

"Hello my gorgeous" (he always calls me that *blush* how can I resist?).........."You know all your cardmaking stuff? Could you please select me some cardstock and embellishments (embellishments?.......he does listen to my ramblings!), and other things and leave them out on the table? Oh and have we got any wrapping paper?"

Wrapping paper was upstairs in DD room - guess that was too late.....lol......... I swear DH gets later and later every year with this! Mind you I wasn't complaining as the usual fair is to get some form of printed up card from a hallmark card programme - shock horror I know!

Anywhoo, that morning, my darling 2yo decided that at 6.30am, his little sister also needed to wake up so went into her room, turned on her light on and sat in the cot with her. That would be nice and a complete 'awwwwww' moment except she wasn't at all ready to wake up and just sat there crying with her dummy in her mouth......great. This is got the makings of a great day.

Came downstairs with my deleriously tired DH who had crawled into bed at 2.30am that morning and had left all my craft stuff on the table - a playground for my darling DS!!!!

I received my card with much aplomb, which I have to say I was amazed and pleasantly surprised at what he come up with (details below), with my present (wrapped in butchers paper from our sons stash). I got a "okay, I am off to bed now - see you later'" and with a kiss he was gone!

The present was sweet - I found a pad of really good quality smooth watercolour paper (weight 300gsm) and told DH about it a while back and so he went back into the Art store and bought 3 different pads of various weights for me. Better than any flower!

And the card? Well, even though the verse was short, the simple process of him making that huge effort in using my (god forbid!) 'scrapbook stuff' to make me a card that he designed, meant more than all the pretty words in the world.......

Card process (as told by DH) "to start with, I had a look at what you laid out for me - I didn't want to use anything too expensive, so looked at stuff that you already had cut out - I decided on a pinky red and brown, so found colours I liked. I liked the printed up DSP and realised it was double sided so that was nice. I used a lot of already cut out shapes and used that as a border and as decoration inside the card. the rest is self explanatory"

Well, there you go. He made up for taking himself back to bed by making me scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast (10.30am) and making me fresh herb pasta to go with the rockin' yummy pasta sauce I made the other night :) Hope you all had a lovely Mothers day and thanks for taking the time out to read this loooong post!

Kristina Werner's CI #50

2009-05-01T15:26:00.012+09:30

After looking at Kristina Werner's colour challenges week after week, I thought that I would be brave and try one. I am not one for challenges as I really dont think I am good enough (especially looking at all the wonderful entries this week HERE) but just loved the colour combination she chose.I first of all stamped a heap of flower images onto white cardstock, then coloured them in with markers and covered the images with crystal effects to give a nice glossy shine and make them pop. Sticking the flower tops (some on dimensionals, and some not) onto yellow cardstock, I then embroidered the stems (detatched blanket stitch) with brown thread; used dimensionals to pop main image onto the brown cardstock; used a white gel pen to faux stitch around the card and stamped the greeting with white pigment ink and then embossed. I thought the whole card looked unbalanced, especially as I rounded the corners on the centrepiece, so used a scallop punch to edge the base card and used a scallop edge for yellow, red and turquoise strips - I thought it looked cool ;)

Now completing the card turned out to be the easiest thing in the world - picture taking brings on a whole new meaning. I must have taken at least 50 photos (not including the ones my hubby tried to take for me with me throwing directions at him like 'you have to focus on the scallop edges and the embroidered stems' and 'no, dont take it from the front, it needs to be on the side' and 'oh no, I dont think you have the lighting right') So after my 'helpful' directions, he gave up and I had a go.............50 shots later I end up with these. It is finally raining in parched Adelaide so it is overcast and had to make do with the poor lighting. Oh, it also took two whole days of photos to get these!!!!

Supplies: Stamps - Scrappy Cat clear stamps Timbres Clair, Stampin Up! Yummy; Cardstock and Ink - Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Whisper White (craft), Summer Sun; Accessories - brown embroidery thread, scallop punch, crystal effects, dimensionals, white gel pen, hubby's brain.

The belated thank you's..........

2009-04-25T20:32:00.007+09:30

Hi,

The following 2 cards are the ones I made whilst my boys were away. I decided to get out both of my 'robot' sets from Darkroom Door by Rachel Greig. I have only used them a couple of times but they are so cute! As the images are so fine, I had trouble with stamping them onto watercolour paper because of the grain, but I guess that just makes them look rustic ;) Anyways, the first card has both robots stamped straight onto Kraft cardstock with Chocolate Chip ink. The front of the card has the girl robot who has a paper piecsed skirt on, and the inside of the card I have gently used a blender pen to colour in his hair - seem to always ball up the paper when I use a blender pen :(

Anyway, this card goes to Kari who is such a lovely demonstrator - have only met her once, but she has bent over backwards for me. (please excuse the writing on the left card - didn't photograph it till after I wrote in it. I always forget to take photos of my cards!)

The next card was a tag I cut from my slice then I used stars also cut from my slice machine, stuck onto the kraft cardstock and sponged with chocolate chip, red, and tempting turquoise. I then used the stars, arrow and lightning bolt from the same stamp set and stamped them in chocolate chip. Made my own decorative cardstock! Cheap too! lol I stamped the girl robot onto watercolour paper (this is where the image doesn't come out too sweet) and then using an aquapen, coloured her in using various inks. I then added two brads for her 'bras', stamped 'you're awsome' in three ink colours, embossed with clear embossing powder, and then cut them out and stuck them on! Tada.......easy peasy. This thank you card goes to Alisa who has been an absolute gem. Thanks Alisa!

Mothers day and some very belated thank you's!

2009-04-23T21:35:00.006+09:30

Hi All,

Just wanted to share some cards with you that I made in a fit of spurts the other day. My darling sweet partner decided to take himself and our very boisterous, hard to handle at present, son off to stay at MIL's the other day for two whole days! No boys in the house! Yayyyyy.

So what's a girl to do with so much time on her hands and with only one child to handle (and a very easy one at that!)? Make cards thats what!

Using Whisper White as the base cardstock (something I rarely do), I randomly stamped the flowers using staz-on as I was planning on watercolouring the image - which I must say went better than I had hoped. Not had much success in the past using water on cardstock but wanted to try a technique I saw on Melanie's site which meant having to use cardstock. I just added a strip of coloured cardstock for contrast as was too lazy to try the second part of her technique (check it out!)

Anyway, ran out of steam. Will post the other cards later - just making sure the receivers have received them first!

Supplies: In Full Bloom (SU!), Whisper White and Cameo Coral cardstock, Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon, rubons, markers, aqua paintbrush.

Another Male Card.........

2009-04-02T22:11:00.005+10:30

Hi All,

Another male card? Yes I did it! They are the hardest cards for me to make - especially as I really have no specific generic male stamps.

The sketch I found on Amy's site. I did have some difficulty in getting the colours right but I think I managed okay - okay well, I used the colour wheel *wink*. The tag used was cut out with my slice machine I distressed the edges and sponged it with some ink. I went through my old stamp stash (ie. non SU stuff that I have in a tin) and found a multiple greetings stamp - bit like those date stamps that have the roller on the side. Used that to stamp the various greetings on the tag. The chipboard letters were coloured in using a marker and then slathered with crystal effects (gotta love that stuff!). I used every day twine for the card and just wrapped and weaved it amongst the strips of cardstock. The rest is self explanatory! Now I just have to post it.....

Recipe: Sanded Background stamp set SU, Really Rust, Bordering Blue, Mellow Moss, Kraft, Whisper White cardstock SU, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red ink SU, Versamark ink, Heidi Swapp chipboard alphabet letters, crystal effects SU, twine, dimensionals.

Male Birthdays are hard until..............

2009-03-24T09:35:00.008+10:30

Hi Again!

So soon after the last posting? Shock Horror!

This is a card I made my BIL for his birthday. I haven't had a great deal of practice with male cards (try never...) but as soon as I saw this card on Alisa Tilsner's site, I had to try and replicate it using stamps I had in my stash - tend to look at cards on websites and tell myself 'I just need that stamp set to make that card!' Well, by using the Baroque Motifs set, I think I managed to achieve something equally similar. The one thing I did try to do is 'distress' the edges to give it a more 'grungy' look. I also love the effect of the sanded background stamp. So glad I got it :) I love the sponging that Alisa does on her cards. It just gives it more pop. Now I just have to replicate it again for another male birthday ;)

recipe: Baroque Motifs, Sanded Background (SU) and Robot Vol. 2 (Darkroom Door) Stamp Sets, River Rock, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip and Certainly Celery CS, Wild Wasabi, Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip ink, vintage brads, scallop punch, distresser

Love Note Box

2009-03-21T23:37:00.032+10:30

Hi All,

Again such a long space between entries. Time does fly by. I just want to show you the card and present I made my MIL for her birthday the other day.

The birthday card using 'Live Your Dream' stamp set and Afternoon Tea DSP by SU on the left has about three layers (dont think I have ever done that many before) I love this stamp set as it is so versatile and has so many bits and pieces to it. I used Crystal Effects all over the bird and the butterflies - great for the butterflies as it helps to mould their wings into flight mode.

The actual present I made her was a 'Love Note box' which I 'borrowed' off of Makeesha Byl's site. She is amazingly talented! Makeesha's box is designed to fit the 3 x 3 love note cards from SU but I found it cheaper to make my own, which are bigger by 1/2 inch. I even fit some extra yummy Haigh's chocolates and a voucher.......

I made six cards in total plus matching envelopes - the envelopes I made out of very cheapo watercolour paper from Big W (emphasis on 'paper' as it is very thin stuff). I found it the perfect weight for the envelopes and the bonus was I could decorate it without the inked image bleeding. I stamped the bottom left corner of each envelope with the little flower from the stamp set and the back with the butterfly so that they all matched with the cards. I tried to keep with the theme of the DSP and stamp set and think I succeeded fairly well with some help from my hubby who became my 'ideas' man (thanks B x x) I also stamped the little flower image inside every card to continue the theme. Simple but hopefully effective. I left out the greeting inside the card so that it could be used for whatever she wanted. I just included a couple of generic rubon greetings on the front of two cards (the only ones I had left!).

Thanks for looking.

recipe: Live your Dream stamp set, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Groovy Guava CS, Afternoon Tea DSP, blue bayou double stitched ribbon, brown ribbon generic, scallop punch, rubons, white gel pen.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #8

2009-03-10T09:34:00.014+10:30

Hi All,

Well, this is my first ever sketch challenge! It has taken me three days to complete as with kids - well, you know........... my son loves to help but he also is labelled 'Connor the destroyer' in our household, so I had to find ways and means to finish it (even using the top of the washing machine!)

Anyways, back to the challenge. I loved the sketch as soon as I saw it. Karen's site is amazing and I am always in awe of her creations. This one just seemed to fall into place. It is quite a simple looking card and that is the look I was going for - well, that's my excuse anyways!

Supplies: Christina Re DSP; Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou and Whisper White SU Cardstock; In full bloom and sanded background SU stamp sets; Blue Bayou double stitch ribbon, dimensionals, scallop edge punch.

2009-03-03T15:15:00.002+10:30

Hi All,

This card was made for my dear SIL who's baby has been in hospital since he was born. He had a big operation yesterday to help him thrive and my SIL is feeling the strain. He will be 3 months next week and my heart bleeds for him as he is a very sick little boy. I just wanted to show her that my family loves and cares for her and her little family so much!

On with the card...........it was cased completely from the mini catalogue, with the exception of using the sanded background stamp for texture and changing the ruby red to rose red because I had that ink pad and couldnt be bothered getting the markers out for the flower.

supplies: Embrace Life stamp set; River Rock, Rose Red & Groovy Guava CS; Mellow Moss and Rose Red Ink, 1/2 inch circle punch, groovy guava ribbon and dimensional adhesive.

Teabag Folding

2009-02-23T11:36:00.007+10:30

Hi Guys,
Apologies once again for the delay in postings. Time just seems to fly by when you have littlies to look after.

I saw a beautiful card on Teneale William's site on teabag folding and decided to give it a try. It was so easy! I ended up making two cards but big apologies on the quality of photo - it was late and I am having major issues with my camera (being that we took it to the beach and got it wet and now the screen doesnt work!).

Anyway, hope you get a bit of an idea. The paper that I used is from Christina Re - a little invitation shop at Fullarton near where i live stocks a huge amount of her beautiful papers. This particular black and white number has polka dots on one side and stripes on the other - depending on where i punched out the squares made a big difference on the look of the overall result. I stamped the background image in versamark with the french script background stamped and then embossed it in clear ep. The Real Red cardstock was from SU as was the metal tag. The ribbon was just a cheapy I bought at a habberdashery store.

Enjoy.

***blogger will not let me alter where I place the pictures, so please excuse the aesthetics of this entry! grrrr

Stampers Quest

2009-01-31T22:47:00.002+10:30

Hi Guys,
Nothing new to post as yet - still making a card for my friend who is turning 40 in a couple of days but will remember to take photos and post it online when I can. But for now, I just want to let you know of a great website I have been to called Stampers Quest. All thanks goes to Melanie from Smartie-Artie Mel who left a lovely comment on my blog. Seriously guys, this site is amazing - has great tutorials on how they create different techniques etc....

Okay, can't rave on enough about them. Just check it all out!

Darkroom Door

2009-01-28T20:54:00.013+10:30

This little robot is gorgeous. He is from a set of stamps by Rachel Grieg from Darkroom Door. The images in this set are divine as they are so finely etched that they are a beautiful set to colour in. I just used my SU markers and then embossed him in clear embossing powder. I tried to make the card look like a very colourful cartoon comic (my hubby said that it looked more ancient Aztec *shrug* whatever that means! lol) The blue card piece is decorated with some of the stamps from the same sets and have been clear embossed. Isn't he cute? I think I shall call him shorty!

**subnote: Aztec were like the ancient egyptians but came from South America...........the colours reminded him of Mexico.**

Turning One

2009-01-28T08:16:00.006+10:30

My youngest turned the big 1 on the 8th and for the first time I managed to find time to make a card for her (I still haven't made any cards for my son who is now 2 *blush* got me some catchup to do!)

Isn't it amazing how kids grow up so fast? I seem to blink and they grow - but then on the other hand, some days just go sooooo slooooow. Know what I mean?

Anyway, I did make her a card using the Pretty Princess stamp set from SU. First time I used it and it is a lovely set. My excuse was I bought it for Abby and her little friends she will make in the future. The cardstock is all SU and the ribbon is something I had in my stash. I just coloured the princess in using the watercolour markers and then used lots of crystal effects for dimension. (oh I so love that stuff!). The alphabet stickers are just left over from a birthday project for a friend. You cant see it in the picture but it has a velvet look about it. Oh and I used a purple diamante brad.

Enjoy your day.

8 months of love

2009-01-18T16:09:00.006+10:30

Hi All,

well this isn't scrapbooking or cardmaking so if you aren't interested, now is the time to look away :)

My husband has finally finished our son's car bed. It was a labour of love. This also means our 1 year old daughter no longer has to sleep on the floor surrounded by cupboards to keep her on the mattress! LOL No mean feat I can tell you.

But I digress. I just had to pop a photo of the finished product - complete with spinning wheels, opening doors, toy box, and a drawer underneath (well that isn't quite finished so we are calling it a cubby house for now). I am so proud of my man. He isn't a carpenter, in fact, the only time he made something with wood was the cot (which is what our daughter is now sleeping in). Oh, will post pictures of that later. It is divine.

We had a bit of trouble with our son sleeping in it last night but then, he has been a little pain in going to bed at night anyway! Oh boy has he what!

Anyway, if you want more details, email me and I will tell you but didn't want to bore people with it - I just wanted to show how proud I am :)

Till next time, stay safe

Gasp! A scrapbook page?

2009-01-03T13:43:00.004+10:30

Hi All :)

Hope you are all well and not still recovering from New Years. Ours was a quiet one.....having two littlies tends to restrict your party mojo - just as well we aren't big party goers :)

I just wanted to post a scrapbook page I did about a year ago. This is of my beautiful son having a cuddle with his aunty whilst still in hospital. I have since included a journal entry on the page.

I am not much of a scrapper - I tend to start a page but never finish it as I dont have the confidence. There always seems to be 'something missing'. One day I think I will have to take myself off to some classes.......one day........

Apologies and Baby Shower favors

2009-01-02T14:29:00.005+10:30

Well, finally! After a very up and down year (more
down's than up's) I finally get the courage to
post something new on my blog. I would presume most of you would have given up on me which I dont blame you for. Thank you for those that have stuck with me and I promise to be better...lol.

I have so many things to show you - so many things that I have had to do such as baby showers for one thing! And boxing day treats for all of our friends.

But just for now, I will show you some shoes that my mother in law and I spent a few weeks making for my sister in law's baby shower.

First of all, thank you to all of those bloggers that have made these shoes. I must have looked at every single one before attempting these! My mother in law and I were so proud of ourselves when we finished. We actually made 30 of the little sods but ended up needing only 20 shoes. We filled little tulle bags with mini M&M's, and jelly babies. It looks effective as the ties look like shoelaces. I used SU brads for the buttons and embossed every single shoe! Arghhhh. I just think I enjoy making more work for myself. Mind you, saying that, I will never use the Coordination cardstock for this kind of thing again. It is more suited for ripping and distressing than for making things with as it cracked with every fold - even though I made sure I scored every single fold.

I will try and post the baby shower invitations soon. I have to get a hold of a copy from my sister in law - can you believe I didn't even take a photo of them?

Enjoy

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

2008-07-17T07:01:00.002+09:30

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

2008-06-30T10:42:00.006+09:30

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

2008-06-25T14:22:00.008+09:30

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

2008-06-18T21:54:00.004+09:30

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.....

2008-06-16T20:28:00.011+09:30

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!

2008-06-09T14:00:00.004+09:30

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

2008-06-09T11:42:00.004+09:30

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.......

2008-06-05T19:17:00.007+09:30

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

2008-06-04T15:47:00.003+09:30

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

2008-06-04T10:13:00.005+09:30

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!

2008-06-03T11:19:00.003+09:30

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

2008-06-02T15:48:00.008+09:30

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

Stamps by Mail

2008-06-02T14:12:00.016+09:30

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

2008-06-01T06:27:00.008+09:30

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..........

2008-05-24T11:36:00.009+09:30

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

2008-05-20T23:06:00.008+09:30

......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 :)

2008-05-15T15:16:00.003+09:30

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....

2008-05-12T07:58:00.005+09:30

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....

2008-05-07T23:26:00.014+09:30

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.....

2008-05-05T20:49:00.003+09:30

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

2008-05-04T10:14:00.012+09:30

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?

2008-05-01T22:58:00.016+09:30

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.....

2008-04-29T11:56:00.027+09:30

...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.....

2008-04-28T12:48:00.005+09:30

....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....

2008-04-28T11:54:00.005+09:30

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!

2008-04-20T05:20:00.018+09:30

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.