JAI#53...Inspiration Challenge

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Good Friday evening ~

The Just Add Ink design team had a fabulous inspiration pic as our 'brief' for this week.

Now because it's an inspiration pic you can take it any way you want - bright bursts of colour as Amanda and Danielle named it, flowers, colours, anything. I went with a 'Wonderfully Wrapped' box this week. There is lots of room in this one and I know just who is going to receive it full of special goodies :o)

My little project has a base of Naturals Ivory and October Afternoon dsp. I've coloured a couple of the Pretties flowers with markers, and a corduroy brad too. I've used the Pumpkin Pie Satin ribbon for the bows on either side of the box, and some of the 1/8" Taffeta ribbon fastened with a clear Rhinestone brad. There are also a few Floral Fusion flowers for decoration around the box handle.

If you have the time to play with us this week head on over to JAI and check out the DT inspiration to get you started. There are some gorgeous designs and ideas!

I've had a valentine card sitting on my desk completed all week, must take a pic and share it with you (along with our Australia day celebrations and other fun activities). I hope to get some stamping time in this weekend too. Whatever you're doing I hope it's fun :o)

A Birthday Colour Cue {11}

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Happy Australia Day eve ~

Gorgeous Kid and I are looking forward to joining friends at a concert on the lawns of Parliament House this evening. It's always a fun family event, and free! Tomorrow there will be lots of activities at Commonwealth Park for us to enjoy. Starts with a bbq breakfast - but I'm not up and organised that early shhhh.

This card was made for the daughter of a work colleague, she turned a precious 3 yesterday! I went to the gorgeous soft palette of the Colour Cue {11} to start with and have been wanting to make something like Andrea's card ever since I first saw it. I just love it, lots for a little girl to look at and touch!

Anyway here is my version ... you can click on the photo for a closer look at all the little buttons and embellies.

Silly me didn't get a pic of the inside, which was completely dressed up with paper pieced party balloons and a luscious crystal effects slathered 3!

Have a wonderful day, even those of you no longer on holidays!

The Forgotten Ones

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Happy Sunday ~

Gorgeous Kid and I are off at the fruit and vege markets today. We're also shopping for a new desk for his room. He found the chair first and I refused to purchase it prior to getting the 'right' desk.

I found these few cards in a folder and realised I hadn't shared them on here. Nothing too exciting, but it's a post and something for you to check out :o)


I found the fabric flowers on the card at top when I visited the Canberra Quilt & Craft Fair last August. I coloured them with my Cameo Coral marker and I have to tell you they coloured so easily.

That's it from me, I'll be back again in the next few days with some more of what I've been up to lately.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Baby cards

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Hi & happy Saturday to you all ~

A strange one here today, hot and sunny all morning and then dark clouds, lots of thunder, trickle of rain, then nothing for a few hours, and now thunder and lightening....Lilli (the four legged fluff ball) is going crazy.

The husband of a dear friend of mine is in the baby business. Hmmm that doesn't sound quite right ... he sells baby furniture and supplies throughout a good portion of Australia and NZ, with the primary focus being in Qld. As we all know Qld has had a hammering from mother nature over the past month or so, and he wants to add an extra touch and personalise his visits with clients a little more than usual. So he's asked me to put together some cards, and a few token gifts he can give. I have some cards to show you, but not the gifts - yet!

Inspired by the wonderfully talented Kerry over at KB Papercraft I've come up with these:

Each card has the embellishment 'popped' up, is stamped on the inside and of course has its own matching stamped envelope. I've used an assortment of stamp sets, punches and dsps. If you have any questions please leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

JAI#52...Sketch Challenge

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Happy Friday ~

It's the Just Add Ink new challenge time of the week. You'll probably look at my card and think meh, not very exciting. As gorgeous as the sketch is, I think my little streak of creativity has taken a hike.

My card base is Naturals Ivory, and I've layered Early Espresso and Crumb Cake on top. I white embossed my little Aviary birdie and stamped the cage over top, thereby keeping said birdie inside the cage...until my hand smudged the ink away lol. I've popped the cage up on dimensionals, and used Espresso Satin Ribbon with some PTI twine at top and a Tiny Tag, Espresso Button and more choc coloured twine. I've purposely not put a larger sentiment on my card - yet, as I'm not sure what it will be used for just now.

Go on over to JAI and check out all the other inspiration pieces from the DT. I'm sure you'll find something to tickle your fancy and get your creative juices flowing...hope mine start again soon.

Master 10 and I are off to see Yogi Bear in 3D this afternoon. I'm not normally a huge fan of kids animated movies, but this one I'm rather looking forward to - it reminds me of my own childhood I guess.

I'll be back over the weekend to show you a few of the things I've made over the holiday period. Hope you have some fun plans for the weekend, and they include a little stamping :o)

Welcome Home & Burlesque

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Hi everyone ~

I don't think I've even mentioned in any recent posts that my beautiful boy (master 10) has been away in Qld since new years eve! He is in Brisbane with his godmother and her family - quite safe from the devastating floods.

Well guess who is flying home tomorrow late afternoon! I can't wait to see him. I haven't had a break like this since he was born, and thought it would be wonderful. Instead I missed him dreadfully and really didn't make the most of my free time. I did enjoy peaceful evenings and lots of crafting time though :o) He has had an absolute blast up there and met lots of new friends and done heaps of exciting holiday activities. I think he's coming home for a bit of a rest myself lol.

Anyway cutting to the chase I made him a cute little "I love you, welcome home" card using the Papertrey Paper Dolls, Challenge #29 - simplicity.


The longest/fiddliest part of this card was assembling the little owl. My card isn't standard size, just note card really. It's the first time my Wood Grain b/g stamp has seen ink - in this case Versamark, and I'm pretty impressed.

On a completely different note I went to the movies earlier this evening and saw Burlesque. Fabulous, loved it. A little something of everything and Christina Aguilera's voice is amazing as always. A couple of songs from Cher too - I thoroughly enjoyed it.

JAI#51...Just Add Monochrome

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Happy Friday night lovely friends ~

Will keep this short and sweet as I'm already running late with it ...

Over at Just Add Ink we've added ... Monochrome! I've gone with black & white, which I think is always a simple and elegant combination.


My card this week is very CAS. On my WW base I used some gorgeous shimmery dsp that a lovely friend sent me for Christmas (amongst many other crafty surprises). I embossed an image from the now retired SU set Stem Silhouettes and layered them on some Nestabilities (Circle & Blossom) adding a little bling to the branches. My sentiment is from Verve.

Head on over to JAI and check out the Monochrome inspiration and join us this week! It's always lots of fun.

Card Sketch Baby

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Hello ~

Well what a week! The devastation up in Qld has just rocked us all I'm sure. It is so truly heartbreaking to see what's going on for the people affected. It's hard to believe that the West side of our country is burning, while the East is under so much water. Mother nature is a confusing beast.

I had another little cyber crafting session earlier this week, or was it last, I honestly can't remember now. We played along with the Card Patterns Sketch #97.


Once again I didn't have a plan and just pottered along with the sketch. I used some of my misc October Afternoon dsp and tried to match my copics to that - the four squares are actually more yellow than the orange they look here. It's been extremely difficult to photograph anything well lately with our overcast wet weather.

That's it from me. I'll be back tomorrow with my JAI card :o)

Sweet Sunday Sketch #99

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Good Monday morning ~

I've been cyber stamping again, this time there were three of us - lots of laughs. We each chose the same challenge and once again came up with quite different results.


I have to admit to no plan here, I was just following the sketch with some of my fave colours and it was quite by mistake that Cheep Talk ended up featuring. I think this one looks better without a sentiment don't you?

Once again the weather is wet in Canberra so my pic is on the dull side. Does no good for my card, as it looks lots better and brighter irl.

Have a fabulous week!

Aussie Cards For Sale

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Happy Friday evening ~

I've had a funny old day today, haven't felt very well, so have done lots of resting and snoozing and not a lot else.

Aussie Cards for Sale is a website dedicated to selling handmade greeting cards made by us Aussies! Alicia is currently looking for new designers. First gorgeous Karen did it, then beautiful BFF and now I'm feeling the pressure to throw my hat in the ring also :o)

There is a fair bit of competition already and I imagine Alicia is going to have great difficulty choosing some new designers. I'm not sure my CAS style is what she's after, but I guess you don't know if you don't give it a go. Here goes...

Alicia has asked for four cards to be showcased...





It was hard just to choose a few...

JAI#50...Colour Challenge

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Good Friday morning ~

It feels like forever since I've done a DT submission for Just Add Ink. I've done a couple 'just for fun' over the holidays of course. A tricky colour challenge this week and here it is...



A big thanks to Amanda for lightening it up for me - it's been very overcast once again in Canberra, and you all know I'm not good with my camera and editing gear.

It's fairly self explanatory, I used the four colours and added a little Very Vanilla - I'm sure most will agree that it's difficult to work without a neutral, although in saying that I'm sure there are those who do it without thought. I paper pieced the little presents from the retired SAB set Happy Moments using RHR & PP dsp. If you have any questions at all please leave me a comment.

Now pop on over to Just Add Ink and check out the latest...there are a few changes a happenin'. Plus of course there are some great inspiration pics from the rest of the DT. Enjoy!

Just Add ... Summer

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Happy Tuesday afternoon ~

I've done a couple of cards for the Just Add Ink challenge this week. I had all these grand ideas and I didn't quite pull any of them off. Don't you hate when that happens. The mojo is still on holiday I think!


What says summer more than berries! Using Tart & Tangy, Real Red & October Afternoon dsp, Real Red & Old Olive markers. The sentiment is PTI.


This next card uses the BS Blossom Party die, I've added some circle punches and a little puffy paint & gel pen here & there. The little bee is from the Picture This set (retired Hostess). Daffodil Delight is a perfect summery colour I think! I wasn't actually going to show this card at all and have been sitting on it for a few days ... it's growing on me ... slowly.

Head on over to JAI and check out the current Just Add Summer challenge. You won't be disappointed with all the inspiration you'll find.

A Stylish Blog Award

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Hi lovely people ~

Last week Kez gave me this gorgeous little blog award! Thanks Kerry :o)


I've been procrastinating over posting it because to come up with eight relatively interesting things to share about myself isn't as easy as you may think lol.

So the rules are:
* that I thank and link to the person who passed the Award my way ... done;
* share eight things about myself ... not so easy;
* pass it on to eight others; and
* let them know about the award.

Okay here we go:
1. I start many more crafty projects than I actually complete
2. I really really really wish I could learn to watercolour better
3. I don't enjoy cooking, despite being not too bad at it
4. I am a neat freak, everything has its place and I hate clutter
5. I love theatre/stage shows of any description
6. Coke is my biggest addiction, followed very closely by chocolate and all things sweet
7. I always prided myself on being super organised and always on time ... as I get older ... hmmmm not so much
8. I gave up smoking last May and have gained quite a bit of weight since - perhaps the ice cream that has become a daily staple since, hmmmmm. This year I need to get it off and fit my clothes again!

Now for eight blogs I enjoy visiting, in no particular order:
1. Trish
2. Tania
3. Rachel
4. Leonie
5. Karen G
6. Bron
7. Sam
8. Paula

Go check them out, they're all wonderful ladies with lots of great creations to inspire you.

Half of Australia returned to work today after the Christmas break, so I hope you're all enjoying your day. May it be a short one! I'll be back later with a couple of challenge cards to show :o)

Two challenges & Cyber stamping :o)

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Happy new year!

It's been hard to get back into regular stamping after concentrating on Christmas for so long. I went in search of a challenge to help get me started. This card uses the Just Us Girls (JUG) sketch challenge #65 and the Play Date Cafe colour challenge #62.


I chose to use Melon Mambo, Crumb Cake, Regal Rose and Whisper White.

The most fun thing about this card is that my BFF and I did some cyber stamping using Live Messenger. She is in Brisbane, I am in Canberra and we used the same challenges and came up with two completely different cards. It was lots of fun and didn't really feel like I was sitting in my craft room alone at all. I'm so looking forward to doing more cyber stamping together!