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!

Product Bonus

I am really excited... I received my product bonus from Stampin' Up! yesterday for promoting to Manager recently. It was the biggest thrill being able to sit down and decide what I wanted to spend my $300 on! Gotta love freebies! If thats not a reason to join Stampin' Up! I don't know what is! What is even better, I still have $200 to spend for promoting to Senior Supervisor too! I love SU!!!!

This is ME

This is me. I know what I look like, I know what I am like. It may not always be that way though... thats what this page is for... its to hide in the back of my album so if I forget what I look like or what I am like I have a reminder.