Handbag

I finally covered this little wooden handbag today (Kaisercraft) I unwrapped it months ago and then decided it was just too hard! I am really happy with how it turned out... it took me a while to decide on how to decorate it! I don't really have a use for it so I thought I might take it to work and put it in front of the whiteboard to hold the markers... then its something pretty I can look at when I am day-dreaming! What? I didn't say I day-dream at work! NEVER!

Birthday Invitations

It is Matt's birthday on Wednesday and my birthday on Thursday this week so I decided to make some invitations to send to my family to come out for dinner. I got the idea for these from this months Stamping & Papercraft magazine, I used canvas paper to watercolour some flowers and leaves. It is a really nice texture and really easy to watercolour on so it was quite fun!

Anyway, YAY for Hogsbreath! Thats where we are going by the way... we got our free steak vouchers for our birthdays in the mail last week so it wasn't difficult to think of a venue! I am not looking forward to hitting the down-hill run to 30 but it is always fun to have cake! I am sure 25 wont seem too scary once its here... Matt is just focusing on the fact that he will get cheaper insurance... whatever eases the pain I suppose!

The Boys

Meet...THE BOYS! These two are joined at the hip! Bingo (the ringleader) and Herman. Bingo is my dad's dog and Herman was mine. Then I moved out of home and couldn't split them up. They are so human somewhere along the line we stopped calling them their names when referring to the two of them and just called them 'The Boys'. Bingo is about 16 now, he is just a cranky old man... happy old man but extremely judgemental and such a lecturer! Thankfully its just barking so you don't have to actually take in everything he is yelling at you but we know him so well now we can tell exactly what he is complaining about!

Herman is a stresser... he is about 8 or 9 now and he has been gray since he was 1! He worries a lot! He is extremely intelligent and he actively listens to every single thing that's said around him. Where other dogs would go sleep when there are people standing around talking, Herman sits in the circle at attention and watches the face of the talker from person to person listening to everything... he can keep it up for hours! That comes from the fact that when he was young and did something wrong I would lecture him... make him sit at attention in front of me and I would lecture! If he broke concentration I would make him focus and I would start all over again... I kept that up for 10 - 15 minutes then let him go... it doesn't hurt to have a good listener in the family and listening to me talk that long is punishment enough!!

Butterfly

I got the idea for the background of this one from SCS... I stamped it with VersaMark and then rubbed Stampin' Pastels all over it. You can't really see it in the photo but the colours vary from So Saffron to darker pinks. I also did the Rock 'n Roll technique on the butterfly.

Stamps: Garden Whimsy & Tres Chic
Ink: Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate & VersaMark
Cardstock: Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, Apricot Appeal & Whisper White
Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Pink Wire & Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon

Love Notes

More love notes! It's really because they are just so darn easy to make! You don't have to think so hard about what you are going to do with the rest of the card! Plus they are just a perfect size for Fast & Fun Notes!

Stamps: Fast & Fun Notes & Boho Backgrounds
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate, Stazon & VersaMark
Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Old Olive & Watercolour Paper
Accessories: Blender Pen & Sponge Dauber

Fire Friends

Well, I got back from Brisbane late last night after my flight was delayed (WASN'T IMPRESSED!) and today I am exhausted! We have to do a roast for lunch today for friends, go to a wedding at 3 and then tomorrow we have a BBQ for lunch to go to... when does this happen?! I can have nothing on for months.... not a single outing planned then all of a sudden they all pop up in two days after I have just had to spend a couple days defending for myself out in the real world! I really couldn't be bothered!

Well, this card is cute right? I made it last weekend... it took me about 2 hours to watercolour but it was worth it! I love that the beaver, moose and bear are all huddled up one end trying to get away from the skunk! This is a High Hopes Stamp!

Friends for the long haul

At the moment I am trying to use stamps that I haven't used in a while or at all and this is one of them. I got it in my Stampin' Up! starter kit and I have only ever used it a couple times. Until now I have never been able to watercolour it to my standards of what I think a ute should look like... this time I am happy! I am pretty pleased with it this time and as always, it looks much better in person!

Stamps: Loads of Love & Weathered
Ink: Brocade Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Blue Bayou, Stazon & VersaMark
Cardstock: Brocade Blue, River Rock & Watercolour paper
Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Stampin' Write Markers, Designer Label Punch, Whisper White Grosgrain (sponged with River Rock Classic Ink)

Gardener Bunny

This is the Gardener Bunny from High Hopes Rubber Stamps... MAN I love those animals! I want to order some more soon! They are so fun to watercolour! It is a very plain card but I didn't want to take too much of the focus off the bunny seeing as there is still quite a bit in the picture.

Flower Box

I made this Flower Box on the weekend to hold my many, many bags of little flowers. It is almost full! The box is a Kaisercraft Ribbon storage box but I didn't buy the dividers and after I covered it with paper I also covered the edges of the wood with Mellow Moss Grosgrain ribbon to hide the slots for the ribbon holders a bit. I didn't worry about decorating it too much because this box is going to get a bit of a workout being moved all over my desk and being put on and off the shelf so I didn't want any little bits getting tatty. It is a cute little box... I think it will serve my purpose well!

Get Well Rach!

This card was for Rachael... she wasn't feeling well so I thought, I'll make her a get well card! Yeahhhh.... not as easy as I first thought.... I have 72 Stampin' Up! stamp sets and a whole HEAP of Bella's, High Hopes, A Muse and Stamp It stamps but not a single one of those stamps had anything to do with getting well! Can you believe it????? My stamp collection let me down.... come on everybody, all together now... "OHHHHHHHH". Anyway, I ended up deciding to make her a Bella card seeing as my Bella stamps outweigh the cards I have made using them by about 3/4. As you will see from posts during the next couple days, when I get time of-course, I have been trying to use sets that I haven't used yet or in a long time!

Thank you

I wanted to make a simple or basic card this time so I came up with this. This is using level 1 hostess set, A Little Bit of Happiness. I even used my Crop-a-dile to emboss little circles all over it and I am most impressed by them! To get the dots lined up I just held the paper piercing template from the Mat Pack onb the cardstock and used the medium holes as iff it was the eyelet.

Stamps: A Little Bit of Happiness & Weathered
Ink: Bashful Blue, Mellow Moss, Bravo Burgundy, Stazon & VersaMark
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Bashful Blue & Watercolour Paper
Accessories: Crop-a-dile (setting A2)

Boatloads of Love

I made this card for Matt's Dad's 60th Birthday. I still struggle to make cards for males. Its a pretty cute boat though!

Stamps: Boatloads of Love & Canvas Background
Ink: Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Jet Black Stazon & VersaMark
Cardstock: Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Blue Bayou & Watercolour paper

Wish Big

This card is simple yet... I really like it! What do you think? I stamped the horse and rider with VersaMark and then clear embossed it. I then sponged ink over it then followed up by stamping 'Sanded' background on it to give it a bit more of a distressed look. I found the idea of sponging the whole background somewhere... I just can't for the life of me remember where! I am pretty happy with it... I will probably make more!!

Stamps: Bronc Buster, Short and Sweet & Sanded
Ink: VersaMark, Purely Pomegranate, Cameo Coral & Close to Cocoa
Cardstock: Very Vanilla & Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Sponges, Designer Label Punch, Linen Thread, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Heat Gun and Powder Pal! PHEW!

My Favourite Uncle

My uncle made a surprise visit today from SA... I can't even remember the last time I saw him... it would have been over 5 years now. My dad, Uncle Sno, his friend, Matt and I went to Hog's Breath for dinner and I am typing this exhausted and so full I will have to roll to bed tonight!

When I was really young... as in primary school young I went to Uncle Sno's 50th birthday party and gave him a stationery set that I made at school. We cut slits in paper and weaved crate paper through the holes and decorated it. I, for some unknown reason gave it to my uncle for his birthday... I am not sure if he has ever written a letter! Anyway, letter writer or not, he, to my surprise loved the gift and said that he was going to show it to me in 20 years. Well, 20 years later he still has it would you believe... its in his draw at home! When Dad called tonight and I said we should go to dinner I thought that I would make him a card, give it to him and see what he says... he said "Oh! you made this?... I still have my 50th birthday present you made! I'm going to show you this in 20 years!". He said when we said goodbye after dinner that he is going to mail me the card when he turns 90.... and I bet he does!

Having trouble lining your stamps up?

Try the Stamp-a-ma-jig! This little tool is a must have and it helps you line your images up perfect every single time!

Want to know more? Have a look at my tutorial!

Apron Card

Here is a little apron card I made for my Mum for Mothers Day... yeah.... I realise it has taken me AGES to post a photo! I have also written up a tutorial on how to make one!

Stamps: Time Well Spent, Flannel Plaid & Sincere Salutations

Ink: Rose Red, Old Olive, So Saffron, Stazon & VersaMark

Cardstock: Rose Red, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie & Watercolour Paper

Accessories: Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain, Tag Punch, Close to Cocoa Marker & Blender Pen

Crop-a-dile

Been wondering what the Crop-a-dile is all about in the new Idea Book & Catalogue? Here is a tutorial if you would like to know more!

Family

Yet another Retreat layout. This one is using Kaisercraft 'Country Grove' paper. I have one more that is only half finished but it was all a great effort in one weekend in my book!

Ozzie Owl Canvas

This is my little Ozzie Owl canvas. I got the idea from the latest Scrapbooking Memories magazine. I used Scenic Route paper and a stick from out the back and some glass beeds! I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I have no idea where I will put it but thats not the point right? It was heaps fun to make and you couldn't find a cuter owl!

Canvas Class

This was Teina's canvas class at Retreat. It looks much prettier in person.. it was rather hard to photograph. The big flower is Basic Grey paper and we put crackle medium on it then rubbed brown paint into the cracks to make them stand out. It is a really effective technique!

Her Nose!

What is big, black and totally incapable of going five minutes without touching human skin? HER NOSE!

This is Rougie... more specifically her nose! She drives us INSANE! Everytime she comes near us she bumps her nose up to your legs, arms... pretty much any skin she can find.

Shine

I actually won a prize for this one at retreat. When we arrived we picked three pieces of paper from a bucket and we had to incorporate them all on one layout. The three I picked were: borrow something from someone, use a bird, butterfly or dragonfly embellishment and use cirles or eyelets. I was so happy when I won the vote... I got a Kaisercraft 'Jade's Garden' pack so there will be more pages coming from that range!

Bearly Awake

I went to the Memories in Mareeba Retreat last weekend at the Kuranda Resort and it was the BEST weekend! I had an absolute blast! It was two days and two nights of scrapping madness! I got heaps done in between a couple OTP classes and I am really proud considering I am usually such a slow scrapper! This is the polar bear from Seaworld... considering we went there in April I have done really well to get it scrapped by June!