Bright Colours to Warm a Cold, Rainy Day!

Just thought I'd jump on here and post a little pic of another bracelet that I made a few weeks back.

These beautiful lampwork beads are by Marie of Bleu Verre on Etsy. I love the combination of bright, fun colours and even looking at the picture is making me smile on this cold and wet day.

The orange and pink go really well together and look great with the metallic touches. I have used Swarovski crystals in Crystal and Greige colours (Greige being a smoky grey colour with a hint of brown in it).

Well, that's all from me. Hope you are managing to stay warm and dry.

 PS. Is anyone else hanging out for the big Lost finale tonight? I am so going to miss all of those characters and those kooky occurrences on that crazy (but beautiful) island.

(Blogged to: Message in a Bottle - The Police and Dreams - Van Halen).

Let Them Eat Cake!

After Miss 6 had her lion birthday cake...Mr now-four put in a custom order for a tiger cake (don't mind me...I just do what I'm told ;-).

It really wasn't very hard to make and I am pleased with how he turned out. I did have some difficulty cutting out the tiger stripes. The Woman's Weekly Cookbook said to use your pinking shears...and I did. I am not sure if they will ever work on cardstock again...but the stripes looked good! I also tried the 'quick freezing of the cake' method to reduce the crumbs in the icing. It worked well.

In other news...we spent the weekend in Sydney and went out on the Harbour on Saturday to help welcome Jessica Watson back after her 210 day, solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation. It was a fabulous day...one I won't forget for some time to come.

Congratulations Jesse!

(Blogged to: Beautiful Day - U2 and Johnny Come Home - Fine Young Cannibals).

A Bevy of Beautiful Blue Beads...

This little bracelet features more astoundingly beautiful lampwork beads by Sari of Gaialai on Etsy. I just love the combination of blues that she has used for these, and the lovely designs too!

(Photograph by Sari of Gaialai on Etsy).

This is the bracelet that I have made with these beads:

The silver beads and findings are all Sterling Silver and the crystals are Swarovski. I have used cubes, helix, ovals, a bicone and even a tear drop (never used one of those before - me likey). The two blue cubes are in Montana Blue (makes me want to pack a bag for Montana tonight!).

Now I really am going to bed,

(Blogged to: Blame it On the Boogie - The Jacksons and Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes).

Sailing stormy seas...

We have a fourth birthday coming up here soon, and I've had waves on my mind for some time. This nautical theme is, in part, inspired by the fabulous Jessica Watson, who is due to sail back through Sydney Harbour Heads after her solo, non-stop and unassisted circumnavigation of our planet this Saturday! I have watched Jessica's progress from day one and am in awe! GO JESSICA...YOU ROCK!!

Once again, I have digressed. Before we all fall asleep...here is my nautical-themed card:

List of Ingredients:


Cardstock: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango, Kraft, Glossy White and Summer Sun;
Ink: Baja Breeze Classic Ink and White Craft Ink; and
Accessories: Scallop Circle punch, 3/4 inch Circle punch, Rellie Rave and Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug Folders, Chit Chat Rub-ons, miscellaneous Designer Series Papers, SNAIL adhesive and Dimensionals.

You may have noticed that my yacht is not pink, like Ella's Pink Lady (Jessica's yacht)...this is because the card is for my son...and he is not partial to pink.

You may have also noticed the abundance of white craft ink. I am afraid that I got a tad carried away while I was applying it to the wave tops with a sponge. It is mean't to look like white-caps. You know, the foaming, frothy stuff that gets whipped off the top of waves in a good gale. Unfortunately it looks to me a bit like poorly smeared white craft ink. Sigh! It looked perfect in my mind ;-).

I have listed the Designer Series papers as miscellaneous because I grabbed them as scraps from my DSP scrap bag and now I am too tired to go get the catalogues and look them up. I sure hope you don't lose any sleep over that...I'll try not to...LOL!

Hasta la vista bloggers,

(Blogged to: Blue Canoe - Frances England and Blueberry Pancakes - Frances England).

Fabulously funky felt flowers for...

...Mother's Day! I had a lot of fun making this Mother's Day card for my mum:

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss Textured, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip
Ink: Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink
Stamps: Itty Bitty Backgrounds (retired)
Accessories: Felt (brown, green and blue), Spellbinders Nestabilities (blossom, plain circles and scalloped circles), Cuttlebug, Chit Chat Rub-ons, Button Latte Designer Buttons, paper piercer, white gel pen, miscellaneous green spotted ribbon, green embroidery thread, SNAIL adhesive and dimensionals.

The felt is just el-cheapo stuff (70 cents per A4 sheet) from the local craft store. I was amazed at how well it cut using the cuttlebug and nestabilities...very little fuzziness at all!

Gotta run now. Have a lovely afternoon,

(Blogged to: Do You Mind - Robbie Williams).

More beautiful Gaialai beads...

I bought some more fabulous beady beauties from Sari of Gaialai on Etsy recently:

(Photograph by Sari of Gaialai on Etsy).

...And this is the bracelet that I made with some of these lovely beads:

Aren't the colours and designs in Sari's beads amazing?

I had a lovely relaxing Mothers Day today...hope you did too!

(Blogged to: Doctor Who - The Time of Angels).

Long time no post...again!

I know, you've heard it all before...suffice to say I am a slack blogger! We have a wee project underfoot here, and it is taking up pretty much all of our time (it even has its own blog...and I've been spending a fair amount of time there....even hubby is in on that gig, and he has never blogged a day in his life).

I do want to thank and apologise to all of those wonderful blogging buddies who commented on my last post, and to whom I have not responded. Also, big thanks to Jocelyn and Karen for the blog awards too. I am very honoured to have received these!

I have had very little crafting time here...but have managed to get a few projects done over time. Here is another lampwork bracelet that I recently made. These magnificent glass focal beads are also by Sari of Gaialai on Etsy - love them to bits Sari!

The beads remind me of fabulous pieces of smooth marble encrusted with pods of turquoise (not that that would happen in real life). I studied Geology at uni so rocks and gems are never very far from my mind...even though I am not involved in anything remotely geological any more. The large blue crystal charm is a Swarovski Cosmic crystal in a very groovy blue called Indicolite...which happens to match the focal beads perfectly. If I'd had some more, smaller ones I would have used them as spacers too.

I've also been doing a bit of cake making....this one was a custom order for Miss just-turned-six!

It is straight from the Woman's Weekly kids party cake book...but I had to downsize and cut it out freehand because I didn't need a cake for seven thousand (their cakes are ginormous...and I always end up throwing some out because we just can't finish them). Master about-to-turn-four has put in an order for a Tiger. Hope that one is as easy as this one was!

Last, but not least, I was moved to try my hand at quilting again. I bought a simple quilt kit from my local quilting store, addictedtofabric and gave it a go. It looks very nice on the front, but is a bit wrinkly on the back (so I won't show you that side ;-)...

FYI: The focal panel, with the individual print frames is a single piece of fabric...my quilting skills do not stretch to that level just yet ;-).

Anyway, I hope you will forgive my blog neglect. I've also had a bit on my mind of late. I have decided to give up being a Stampin' Up! demo. I was not very happy about the changes introduced in the IDA last year, and finally decided that it was best if I quit. I miss it, but think it was the best thing to do for me.

Hope you are all well, and enjoying some Autumn sun! :-)

(Blogged to: Love Generation - Bob Sinclair and Gary Pine and School's Out - Alice Cooper).

PS. I also mean't to show you a pic of the bracelet that I made for Susy for her blog candy win:

It ended up almost exactly the same as mine...I still love how it reminds me of the surf.