Bazillions of Blooming Bewdiful Buttons

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Papertrey Ink's Vintage Buttons? Well, I do! They are so pretty, and the best thing about them is that you never know what you're gonna get (a bit like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates eh?). I was particularly enamoured by the selection in my recently purchased Royal Velvet pack. Lots of groovy shapes and styles, and I love, love purple!

I had them out on my desk recently and decided that I really wanted to use them. ...lots and lots of them...so I did!

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Vintage Violet, Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake (all SU)
Ink: Baja Breeze and Vintage Violet Classic Inks (SU) and Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Flower Fusion #1 (PTI), Linen (SU) and Curly Cute (SU)
Accessories: Large Scalloped Border (PTI), White gel pen, Paper Piercer, Edge Distresser, Flower Fusion #1 Die (PTI), Baja Breeze Patterns DSP (SU), Royal Velvet and Ocean Tides Vintage Buttons (PTI), Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals and Tombow Mono Adhesive.

As you can see, these cards are all much of a muchness. I was just fiddling with minor details and keeping myself amused while I was making the seven I needed (small attention span). I am very pleased with the way they turned out, and I am still really enjoying working with this colour combination (...I haven't put the Vintage Violet away yet ;-).

...and be-dee, be-dee, be-dee...that's all folks!

(Blogged to: Just What I Needed - The Cars, I Want Your Love - Transvision Vamp and I Can't Dance - Genesis).

More lovely handmade goodies from friends...

I have been sitting on a bunch of pics of some more beautiful creations that I received from friends following the birth of our wee Thumper.

So without further ado...

This creation by Di Barnes is so amazing I want to CASE it, but I don't have a month of spare time up my sleeve! Di even made matching wrapping paper and tag for the accompanying gift...

...just gorgeous! The inspiration for her card and parcel came from part of the gift itself...

...an adorable Pumpkin Patch set with matching onesie, hat and blanket! Di has given details on her blog about how she made the punch art zebra...so if you want to give it a try, check it out here. Thank you so much Di!

Next I have an absolutely adorable creation by Jocelyn aka JoBear2...

Such a sweet image from Penny Black. I have not managed to capture the bling on the flower petals very well...but it is there! I love all of the texture on this card too. You can read more details about this creation on Jocelyn's blog here. This card also arrived with a lovely parcel of goodies. Thank you again Jocelyn :-).

Last but certainly not least, I received a lovely card and accompanying gifts, from my friend Kim...

The stunning strawberry basket did also contain some delicious chocolates when it arrived, but I can't seem to find them now...I WONDER where they could have got to?! Kim made those gorgeous strawberry lavender holders (complete with zillions of tiny white knots) by hand...Eeeeeek! Where did she find the time? See Kim's post here for more details.

Thank you again ladies for the lovely cards and gifts. I really do feel very special to have received them all! The cards are still up on my sideboard and attracting many compliments from our visitors.

Best wishes,

Racing towards five...

The birthdays are drawing nearer, and I am pretty much on top of the birthday cards. I finished Mr Almost 5's card early last week, but have been madly studying for my MROCP up until this morning (when I sat for the test...fingers crossed I passed)....so I haven't managed to post it yet.

I am really happy with the card that I made...and am totally in love with the colour combo...which includes some of my carefully hoarded Vintage Violet cardstock (be still my heart! I'd forgotten how much I LOVE that colour).

List of ingredients:

Cardstock: Vintage Violet, Baja Breeze, Whisper White and Crumb Cake (all SU)
Ink: Baja Breeze Classic Ink (SU) and Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Linen (SU), Calendar Alphabet & Numbers (SU) and Birthday Bash Sentiments (PTI)
Accessories: Orange Zest Satin Ribbon (PTI), White Twisted Paper Cord (Annabelle Stamps), White Gel Pen (misc), Large Scalloped Border (PTI), 1 3/8" circle punch (yacht hull), 1 1/4" square punch (yacht sails), two step owl punch (yacht number circles), heart to heart punch (seagulls), Tombow mono adhesive (Penwa) and Mini glue dots (SU).

I also have one wee bubba shot to share with you too...sorry, I just can't seem to help myself...

I hope that you all had a lovely weekend! I did, except for having nightmares about how my exam would go this morning. It is the first exam I have sat for since I finished up at UNSW in 1997...and I'd forgotten how anxious I get about them. My dream involved me sitting for the exam in a local McDonald's store, and it was so noisy I couldn't think straight...and when I opened the exam all the pages were cut up in weird papercrafting shapes!!!!!!). I think it went ok in the end...and that I'll be able to make all the necessary VHF/MF/HF calls that we might need to make en route, without making too much of a fool of myself ;-).

Thanks for dropping by today....OVER and OUT.

(Blogged to: Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve and Born This Way - Lady GaGa).

Letting the cat out of the bag, the horse out of the stall, the boat out of the harbour…

In my last post I alluded to a big adventure that my family and I will be embarking on in the very near future. Use of the term 'embarking' is a big clue ;-).

I have been sitting on this info for a long time…more than a year in fact. I have kept my life compartmentalised for numerous reasons, but mostly because…well, because this blog is about cardmaking and scrapbooking! However, this blog is also about things that make me smile - my tiddlywinks, my garden, my lampwork jewellery…and this little secret that I have been sitting on also makes me smile!

Today, Di Barnes awarded me a Stylish Blogger award (thanks so much Di) and I decided that I could use the 'eight things about me' requirement to let the cat out of the bag (and hopefully also help keep a tight rein on my tendency to natter on about not much of anything). Soooooooooo, here goes…

• My husband and I bought a 1992 Lagoon 42 TPI catamaran the Christmas before last and we have been working on sprucing her up ever since…she is called Lucey Blue.

• My family and I are about to move out of our house, and on to this catamaran…for an 8 month adventure up the coast of Australia, hopefully as far as Cairns and back. We anticipate leaving Sydney in about 55 days time.

• I am currently studying for my Marine Radio Operators Certificate of Proficiency (MROCP) …everything you ever wanted to know (and some you didn't) about operating a VHF and an MF/HF radio.

• I get seasick (JOY!), and won't be able to take my usual preventative drugs due to the fact that I'll be breastfeeding Thumper (double JOY!!)

• We have another blog which documents our preparations for this voyage, and to which we will post about our adventures along the way. If you are interested, you can check it out here...but be warned, lots of the recent posts are focused on boaty fix-it type things, including installation of a vacuum-flush toilet...scintillating stuff I assure you ;-).

• I am not sure how much cardmaking I will be able to achieve while we are away, hopefully a little…but I am also going to teach myself to crochet! One day I want to make awesome, rainbow-coloured bundles of happiness like Lucy from Attic 24.

• We have a whole heap of things still to do before we leave, not least of which is packing up the house and finalising enrolment of Miss almost 7 in Distance Education for terms 2 - 4 this year.

• I am very, very excited about this adventure...seasickness and all.

If you made it this far thanks for reading about our plans!

I actually also have a card to show you...but with the dreary, rainy day we had today I didn't get a chance to photograph it for you. I'll have to get back to you later

Bedtime...ciao, ciao!

It's my Party

We've got parties (yes...parties plural) coming up here soon. Both Miss almost 7 and Mr almost 5 are due to celebrate their birthdays in the next few weeks. We have actually brought their birthdays forward almost a month due to a big, big adventure that we are embarking on in late April (more on that exciting story later).

This year I have scheduled both birthday parties on the same day. Crazy....? Maybe! But at least they'll be done and dusted in one go, and then we have to launch the big house pack-up.

Miss almost 7 has a 'thing' about lions. No lion in particular...just lions in general. I don't know where it came from...it just is. So I decided that her party invite would be lion-themed. Her current favourite colours are red and yellow...so a red and yellow, lion-themed card it would be!

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Miscellaneous Red from local paper store (close to Cherry Cobbler or Cranberry Crisp), Marigold Morning and Whisper White
Ink: Marigold Morning and Cherry Cobbler Classic Inks (SU) and Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Fox and Friends (SU) and Birthday Bash Sentiments (PTI)
Accessories: Scallop Squares Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Polka Dot Basics II Impression Plate (PTI), Limitless Layers 1 3/4" Circle Collection (PTI), Tombow Mono (Penwa) and Dimensionals (SU).

I only recently got the ever-so-cute Fox and Friends stamp set from my stamping buddy Di...who very kindly sent it along for me when she sent a card (I still have this beauty to show you too :-) and gift on the birth of our wee Thumper. Thanks again Di, I love this set!

Well, its way past my bedtime...I can barely keep the little peepers open here.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

The long road to nowhere...

We had a wedding to attend in Sydney last weekend. It was hubby's sister's wedding...so it was a big deal. We packed our 15 bags, dismantled the kitchen sink, loaded the camels, stowed six weeks rations and commenced the trek to Sydney on Friday. It was a long weekend in Canberra, so we didn't even try to pack light (HAHAHA....AS IF!).

Upon arrival Mister Almost Five's bad cough/cold....which he'd had for almost two weeks already, and which we thought was finally clearing up, got much, much worse. He coughed so much on Friday night he vomited, he had a fever, and he barely slept a wink (ditto the rest of us). We decided to take him to see a Doctor on Saturday...because we were worried he may have Whooping Cough. He has been immunised, and he didn't have a 'whoop' but apparently those are not deal breakers when it comes to the big WC.

With the young Thumper on the scene, and not yet immunised for WC...we started getting worried. Not to mention all the people we would be potentially exposing at the wedding. We got a test done on Saturday, but the results weren't due back for days...so we decided that Mister Almost Five, Thumper and Myself would miss the wedding...with me keeping my two boys as far apart as humanly possible (not far enough IMO).

Anyway...long story short (bit late for that now you say!!?), we don't have WC (THANK GOODNESS), but we missed the wedding anyway.... :-(. It was still a nasty cold (and chest infection), but the antibiotics are helping enormously.

I did also manage to make a card. It is not your usual wedding-type card (and not what I had originally planned either)...but I was very pleased with the way it turned out:

I'll have to come back and list the ingredients later. Thumper is currently trying to chew my boob off and I'm anxious not to be his first foray into solids AND...OH JOY! He has also filled his nappy, and if the sound effects are anything to go by, it is a DOOZY.

ETA - Here is the Ingredients List:

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant Textured (SU), Soft Sky (SU) and Shimmer White (misc)
Ink: Elegant Eggplant and Pumpkin Pie Classic Inks (SU)
Stamps: Heart Prints (PTI) and Enjoy the Ride (PTI)
Accessories: Haikou DSP (SU), White Gel Pen (misc), paper piercer (misc), Royal Velvet Twill (PTI), Mat Stack 4 Die (PTI), Linen and Canvas Impression Plate (PTI), mini glue dots (misc), Dimensionals (SU) and Tombow Mono (Penwa).

I am going to leave you with this last little pic of Thumper chilling. At least we got to enjoy the wedding flowers...

And before anyone has a coronary...the large, mostly empty, foil bladder near the flowers is water NOT Chardonnay (although I may have been wishing I could indulge in some of the later over the course of the weekend ;-).

Thanks for your 'Shaun the Sheep' comment Jo!

 A big thanks go to Jo, whose comment on my last muddy, mutant-mouthed Suffolk sheep-pig post helped me sort out a more appropriate looking face for my poor old Suffolk sheep! Thank also for the other sweet comments on my mutant sheep (I think you were just being nice though ;-).

I knew while I was making her that she reminded me of something (dim stirrings were happening in the numbed recesses of my pickled brain) but I couldn't remember what! That's where Jo stepped in with her 'Shaun the Sheep' comment...DOH! Of course, what rock have I been hiding under?

I went and checked out the Shaun the Sheep site, and she does look like an oversized Timmy:

...or Shirley...the big fat one:

(Both images above from the Shaun the Sheep website).

So I remade the card, and here she is....much better looking IMO:

Instead of using PTI Dark Chocolate felt and the Cupcake Collection icing die as her head, I have used the SU Two-Step Owl punch and Chocolate Chip cardstock, and two black brads for her nose. I think that she looks much more Suffolk sheep like (well apart from being brown and not black that is)!

Now I can finish making my 'Thank ewe!' cards and be happy that the recipients won't be puzzling over exactly what the creature is adorning the front of their card :o).

(Blogged to: Better Off Alone - Alice Deejay and No Secrets - The Angels).

My muddy mutant-mouthed Suffolk sheep-pig...

I recently saw a very cute card on Kez's blog, which inspired me to make my own woolly creation. Thank ewe very much for the inspiration Kez! I have been feeling a bit mojo-less and baaaaaaaa-dly needed some help ;-).

I decided that I would make my sheep using felt and dies. Having been to the Canberra Show only last weekend I was aware that Suffolk Sheep have black faces, ears and legs...however, I do not have any black felt (yet)...so chocolate brown it was...and so we have a muddy Suffolk sheep!

When I finished designing my sheep I decided her face looked oddly feature-less (with only the goggling eyes), so I spent an age placing various bits and pieces on her face trying to rectify the situation, and finally settled on an Orange Zest button (as you do). Looking back on her now, I can't decide whether it is supposed to be a mouth, a dummy, a gas mask mouth-piece (something I saw on an episode of Stargate Atlantis recently) or none of the above. More than anything I think it just makes her look like her ancestors were crossed with a mutant pig at some point....and so we get a muddy mutant-mouthed Suffolk sheep-pig (clear as mud eh?...YES the sleep deprivation is really messing with my head ;-).

If you are still reading, you are obviously made of stern stuff, and I'll show you the card now before you order me a straight-jacket...

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Baja Breeze (textured and plain) and Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Pun Fun (SU)
Accessories: Kiwi Kiss Patterns DSP (SU), Styled Silver Hodge Podge Hardware (SU), Limitless Layers: 1 3/4" Circle Collection (PTI), Beautiful Blooms II #3 Die Collection (PTI), Cupcake Collection (PTI), Sunshine Impression Plate (PTI), Orange Zest Vintage Button (PTI), Dark Chocolate Wool Felt (PTI), Vintage Cream Wool Felt (PTI), Small Oval Punch (SU), Tangerine Twisted Paper Cord (Annabelle Stamps), Goggling Eyes (misc), Sticky Strip (SU), Mini Glue Dots (SU) and Tombow Mono Adhesive (Penwa).

I cut enough pieces of felt for seven of these sheep...so I am going to have to revisit the whole mutant-mouth thing before I assemble the rest of the cards. I really don't need seven muddy mutant-mouthed Suffolk sheep-pig cards now...do I?

Anyhooooo...enough crazed rambling from me. Thanks for visiting :-)

(Blogged to: Danger Zone - Kenny Loggins, My Delirium - Ladyhawke and Onion Skin - Boom Crash Opera).