Christmas in July!

It has been so cold here today, it feels like I'm at the Nth Pole, LOL! It actually wasn't too bad a day as it was lovely and sunny, but once the sun went down it was back to freezing again!

My card today is for Annabelle Stamps 'Say It In......Red, Cream and Chocolate' challenge. I immediately thought that combo would be ideal for a Christmas card, so here's my first Chrismas card for the year!

Nothing fancy with the card, it's pretty straightforward and quick, although my fingers were so cold I had trouble tying the ribbon!

Stamps: Darkroom Door
Cardstock: Stampin' Up
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, TH Fired Brick Distress Ink
Other: SU ribbon, Kaisercraft pearls, SEI button.

Hope you're having a great day in your part of the world!

Where did the last three years go?

My sweet little grand-daughter had her third birthday yesterday, it hardly seems any time at all since she was just a baby! Time certainly does fly! She was full of excitement and now knows all about presents and birthday cake, and managed to blow out all her candles without help.....she is growing up!

Here's the card I made for her, the image is from Rachelle Anne Miller, called Lily - From the Heart. I coloured her with Copic Markers. The DP is by Kaisercraft.

I've entered my card in the following challenges - The Pink Elephant Inspiration Challenge TPE108 using the photo below. I used the colours for my card.

Annabelle Stamps challenge - Say it with.....Circles.

I hope you're not getting sick of all the cute cards, it's all I seem to be doing lately. Thanks for stopping by today!

Swirly Peacocks!

Hi everyone, I found a little time for a couple of quick cards! I've joined in the challenge at Less is More - a one layer card and use 'something with legs'.

I've ended up making two cards using images from the Hero Arts 'Beautiful Peacocks' clear stamp set. I used a white card for the first one and coloured the image with gel pens and Marvy Markers and Dove blending pen. I haven't used those markers in quite a while, but since it was only a one layer card I couldn't use the Copics as they would bleed through. The greeting is from the same set.

I used a turquoise coloured card for the 2nd one. I only highlighted a few areas on the peacock with a gold gel pen and some Peacock coloured Liquid Pearls. The greeting is from a Stamp-It set.

I'm starting to really like CAS (Clean and Simple) style cards! They're really quick to make and, even better, not bulky to mail.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Another birthday card!

I'm back again! This is the card I made for my daughter Joanne for her birthday!

I used another Forever Friends bear image, coloured with Copic Markers, the greeting is by Heidi Grace. The purple doily is cut using the French Pastry die by Cheery Lynn - I rather like how it looks! Papers are by Heidi Grace.

I've entered this one also for the Forever Friends fortnightly challenge - Birthdays, and also for the Forever Friends monthly challenge - Stripes.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Hi there.......remember me? I can't believe it's a whole month since I've posted anything here! I actually haven't even been in my craft room at all since I came back from my holidays, until now. I had to spring into action and make some birthday cards for my twin daughters, whose birthday is today - just call me 'Queen of the last minute'!

This is the card I made for Hayley, she is a big fan of pink!

I used a Forever Friends bear image and coloured it with Copic Markers, the greeting is by Stamp-It. The big flower is made with paper string using an old flower loom thing - not sure what the proper name is. My friend Sandie makes these and I figured out how to do them myself, but Sandie's look so much nicer than mine - I think the paper string I used is a little too bulky, but didn't really matter with this card as it will be hand delivered anyway. I put a smaller pink flower in the centre to hide my ugly knot!

I've entered this card in the fortnightly Forever Friends challenge - Birthdays.

Thanks for stopping by, at least I hope you all haven't given up on me yet! I'll try to visit some blogs over the next few days that I've also been sadly neglecting lately, and leave some long overdue comments!

I'm back!!

Hi there, just popping in to let you know I'm back from my holidays.........in case you thought I'd disappeared from the face of the earth! I've actually been back for almost a week now but I've been busy catching up with too many things to have time for blogging or creativity!

New Zealand was a wonderful experience, it's such a beautiful place and the people are so friendly. We had an awesome time there, although the weather was getting a little cold, especially in the Sth Island.

We were home for a week, then it was off to Queensland to stay with my brother (that's him in the photo with me) and his family for a week. The weather was just perfect, 26C most days, I really hated  to come home to Winter in Melbourne - it's a chilly 11C here today with hail and rain, and it's going to be much the same for the whole week (sigh)!

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a scheduled post.......I did get time to do one!

Wishing all the Mum's out there in blogland a very Happy Mother's Day!! Hope you get pampered today!

Stamp: Hero Arts
Text: Computer generated Kim Hughes font.

Bouquet for you!!

Sorry I've been MIA, yet again!! I've been busily organising our trip away, we're leaving tomorrow for New Zealand!! We start our trip off by flying to Auckland, which I thought would be safer than Christchurch.....and I just read that Auckland was hit by a killer tornado this afternoon!!! I hope that's not a bad omen for things to come. I'm not sure how bad the damage is, it may only be to a small area.

Anyway, we'll be gone for 2 weeks, come home for a week, then we're off to visit my brother in Queensland for a week.........so looks like I'll be MIA again! I did have high hopes of being able to do a few scheduled posts during my absence, but just haven't had the time to do any new creations! The card below is one I prepared earlier......just hadn't got around to posting it here.

I bought myself a new camera for the trip, a Canon SLR. I'm no photography expert, but the difference in the photo above using my old Canon Powershot and the one below taken with my new camera is just amazing! You might need to enlarge the photos to see properly, but the image is so much clearer and crisper with the SLR camera, as is the text and the background image.....and I took the photo in bad light too!

The main image and sentiment is by Crafty Secrets.....just love their vintage stamps! I sponged some Tim Holtz Distress inks on some white cardstock, then stamped the image with Versafine Black Onyx ink. The background stamp is Stampin' Up Floral Background - I used SU Purely Pomegranate ink and cardstock. Just added some Kaisercraft rhinestones and a strip of pink vintagey lace to finish the card.

That's all folks......see you in 2 weeks time!

Happy Easter!

Wishing all my blog readers a Happy Easter!



Card recipe:
Stamps: AnnaBelle Stamps, Stampin' Up
Papers: Kaisercraft
Border punch: Fiskars
Butterfly punch: Martha Stewart
Embossing folder: Cuttlebug
Dies: Nestabilities

More baby cards!

So sorry I've been MIA again! Thanks to all those who left comments on my last post on our loss of Daisy, it's been a difficult week. We are heading off to Torquay tomorrow to spend Easter at my daughter and son-in-law's home, so I'll be missing for a few days.

I made some more baby cards last week, just hadn't got around to posting them here. I made a boy version using the same sketch and Forever Friends bear stamp as the girl card from last week. The elephant stamp on the other two cards is from a Stampin' Up set.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you all have a Happy Easter. Stay safe on the roads if you are travelling to visit family like I am........and don't eat too many Easter eggs and Hot Cross buns!