Wine Glass Taggies...

I have no idea what the technical term is....wine glass tags, wine glass markers? The doovers you put around your wine glass stem at a party so you don't lose your drink. You get the gist, no? Well, on one of our recent 41+ degree days I was sitting and fiddling with my wine glass stem (as you do) and I decided I'd make some for myself (taggies, not wine glass stems). I have a stash of cheap, multi-coloured foam sheets here, and it works very well in the Cuttlebug. So I got to playing, and hey presto! My very own stash of wine glass taggies...

Don't get excited. The drink is just Bickford's Lemon, Lime and Bitters Cordial, with mineral water and ice. I shouldn't say just....it is delicious on a hot day, and regardless of what is actually in the glass....you don't want to lose it!

I know the colours do not look significantly different, but in real life I think your guests will work it out, well....as long as they haven't indulged in too many apéritifs ;-).

I used one of the Annabelle Stamps Cuts by Design - Shapes 1 dies to cut out my taggies, followed by one of the small circles from a set of Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles. I align the small nestie circle in the centre of the tag (using my Mach-1 eyeball) and stick it down using Washi tape, which you just peel off after it has been through the Cuttlebug. I hand snipped the straight-line cut in the side of the taggie.

You could use pretty much any shape die you wanted. I'm thinking I'll make some floral ones too. I think a set of these would make a cute little budget Christmas gift. What do you reckon?

This handmade Christmas gift box is decorated using the Annabelle Stamps Cuts by Design - Borders 1 die. The tag is cut using one of the Annabelle Stamps Cuts by Design - Decorated Christmas dies and stamped using the matching Decorated Christmas stamp set. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Have a good one :-).

Blogged to: All My Children - The Vampire Diaries (Season Three).

Feeling some déjà vu?

You have seen this one before! At least, something a lot like it. I made a second card using that design, made a few small changes et voilà! I like it just as much the second time around.....all bright and sunshine-y :-).....which is in no way meant to upset those of you who are suffering through rain and cold (and I know there are a few of you out there). Fingers crossed your skies clear soon!

I have used Boys Party and BBD5 stamps, Shapes 1 and Borders 1 Cuts by Design and Light Blue Hemp Twine......all off which are by Annabelle Stamps. The yummy cardstock is all Bazzill Card Shoppe which I bought from Willow Paperie.

This card was delivered via camel with a l'il something included too...

....the earrings, not the sherry glass. Just a little bit more bright, sunshine-y-ness, in case the card wasn't enough ;-)!

At the risk of really upsetting those of you who are cold and wet, I am going to include one little pic that makes me smile (and FYI....Thumper was cold and wet too, even though it was 39 degrees C!).

Well, it has been a loooooong day. Miss 8 had a big bike stack on the weekend, and in addition to a chipped tooth and multiple grazes on her chin/face/hips, an xray of her jaw shows a possible small crack/fracture. There is no movement on the crack though, in fact it does not appear to go right the way through so for now we are eating only mushy foods with as little chewing as possible...and avoiding all collisions too! Wish us luck.

Blogged to: We Will Rock You - Queen, Gloria - Laura Branigan, Turn to Stone - Electric Light Orchestra and Til Death - Wynter Gordon.

Annabelle Stamps - Springtime Flowers Challenge

Annabelle Stamps has another of their great monthly challenges on, and the one for October is - Springtime Flowers - there is even a $20 voucher in-store up for grabs:

You can see more details about the challenge on their Stamp Embellish Create page here.

And here is my creation...

Did you notice that I have used the gorgeous Annabelle Stamps Cuts by Design: Borders 1 as a real die this time, and not just to emboss with?! I have also used stamps from the Annabelle Stamps BBD - 6, Decorated Christmas and Fanciful Flowers stamp sets, as well as some Purple Hemp Twine for the flower petals.

This time my card colours were inspired by another recently completed pair of earrings (whose colours don't look great in these pics...might have to try again later when the light is better):

Thanks for visiting and have a lovely day :-)!

ETA: Better colours?

Blogged to: 1999 - Prince, Spectrum (Say My Name) - Florence + The Machine, How Far We've Come - Matchbox Twenty and Sweet Nothing - Calvin Harris.

Just Add Chevrons

I was very happy to see this week's challenge at Just Add Ink. The challenge was to Just Add Chevrons and, for once in a long while, I felt up to this challenge (and besides, chevrons really appeal to my sense of symmetry, or something...).

This said, there is still a very large pile of mess on my desk. From previous experience I can tell you that the size of the pile of mess on my desk is proportional to how much trouble I had making the card, i.e. small pile of mess = the card came easy, no blood was spilled......large pile of mess = I had to extract the card tooth by painful tooth. I am just not finding card-making very easy right now, and it is ticking me right off (vicious circle perhaps?).

Anyway, frivolous ramblings aside....the card has been extracted, the deed done...and here 'tis:

Painful though the process was, I am still pleased with the end result. It feels like a fun card to me. As I put the finishing touches on it I noticed that it complemented another pair of earrings I made during the week, similar to Kim's birthday earrings, just with a different Swarovski crystal above the dotty beads.

...and while I'm on the subject of earrings, thanks so much for all the lovely comments on the last pair....your feedback is very much appreciated!

Have a wonderful Saturday...I'm going to go dip my toe in the pool and see how it feels. We've been having a delicious heat wave here, and it looks like it will go on for a few more days yet....37-39 degrees C for the fifth day running and headed for 40 on Tuesday!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Summer Sun, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White and Kraft (SU);
Ink: Summer Sun and Tangerine Tango Classic Inks (SU) and Tuxedo Black (Memento);
Stamps: Decorated Christmas, Fanciful Flowers, BBD - 5 and Stemmed Flowers (Annabelle Stamps);
Punches: 3/4 inch circle and Five Petal Flower (SU);
Accessories: Chevron Dies (MFT), Patterned Papers (KaiserKraft), Textured Embossing Folder (SU), Paper Piercer (misc), White Gel Pen (misc) and Dimensionals (SU).

Blogged to: Bust a Move - Young MC, Psycho Killer - Talking Heads, Babooshka - Kate Bush and Eye of the Tiger - Survivor.

Crystal Clear Ocean Waves...

I made these ocean-themed earrings recently (do you think I'm missing the water much ;-) and I thought you might like to take a little peek too!

The beautiful glass focal beads are by Candice Mathewson of Beadgoodies on Etsy. The crystal tear drops are by Swarovski and the silver is all Sterling.

I am adding these earrings to my small pile of things to sell one day, maybe.

Wordy post tonight hey? I'm off to bed. Soooooo sleepy!

Thumper Discovers Nature

Christmas Bauble

I worked on a Christmas card over the weekend. I had a few comments here at home which confirmed my belief that it wasn't one of my finer achievements, but you get that! I took note, made an adjustment or two, and voila...

I love the colour combo, and enjoyed quietly tinkering with some of my new toys!

While I'm here, I thought I'd also point out that I have again used the gorgeous Annabelle Stamps: Cuts By Design - Borders 1 die to emboss rather than using it to create a die cut. I really love the intricate embossed pattern that it creates, but will endeavour to use it as a die next time I get it out :-)!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Cherry Cobbler and Brushed Gold (SU);
Ink: Elegant Eggplant and Cherry Cobbler Classic Inks (SU);
Stamps: Decorated Christmas (Annabelle Stamps) and BBD - 6 (Annabelle Stamps);
Dies: Cuts By Design - Decorated Christmas (Annabelle Stamps) and Cuts By Design - Borders 1 (Annabelle Stamps);
Accessories: Purple Hemp Twine (Annabelle Stamps), Gold Leaf Pen (misc), Washi Tapes - various (Washimatta), Gold Cord (SU) and Gold Wire (SU).

Blogged to: Around the World - Daft Punk, Beautiful Day - U2, In The Night - Pet Shop Boys and Walk This Way - Aerosmith and Run-DMC.

Beautiful goodies in the mail...

Would you like to see some beautiful goodies that came in the mail for me this week? Gorgeous crafty goods from Annabelle Stamps AND deliciously fragrant candles from Elixir Natural Candles on Etsy.

I bought peppermint tealights from Elixir because I've been thinking about Christmas, and they make the house smell and feel like Christmas! I was going to stow them safely in a cupboard ready for December, but the fragrance was so, so enticing I had to light some up straight away...and I might have used two or three already.....so I guess I'll be shopping for more peppermint tealights soon.

Then, I could hardly wait to have 30 minutes to myself today to take out my Annabelle goodies and create some gift wrapping. I thought my delicious peppermint tealights would also make someone a lovely gift. They come elegantly boxed from Elixir, but I felt like playing around with them anyway...you know, any excuse ;-). This is what I have come up with...

For the card and matching wrapping I have used Decorated Christmas to stamp the flower centre in orange ink on orange cardstock. The flower petals and centre have been created using orange and purple hemp twine, and the kraft layer has been embossed using the Borders 1 Cuts by Design die. The  Happy Birthday sentiment is from the pretty Fanciful Flowers set. I am very pleased with the end result.

If you are interested in how I made the hemp twine flower...take a quick peek at the back...

I just lay down some tape, and then looped the purple twine straight off the roll, and around the circle edge, sticking it down as I went. It really is very simple and quick, sure you use a lot of twine, but it is very reasonably priced. I then taped over the purple twine with some heavy duty, double-sided tape and repeated the process with the orange twine, making slightly larger loops this time around. Hey presto, twine flower!

I'd like to take this chance to thank Andrea (Annabelle Stamps) and Lisa (Elixir Natural Candles) for providing beautiful products for me to use, and for providing first-rate, friendly customer service. I'll be back girls :-).

To finish off....a daisy, a real one, just because!

Blogged to: Stronger - Kelly Clarkson, Cry in Shame - Diesel, Africa - Toto and Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus.

Awesome Ormiston Gorge

I thought I'd jump on here quickly and post some pictures of the beautiful Ormiston Gorge. We ventured out there today, and despite the 35 degree temps, it was a wonderful outing and one I hope to do again some time!

Just stunning! The kids went swimming too, brave little souls that they are!

Blogged to: Bust a Move - Young MC, Telephone - Lady GaGa & Beyoncé, When We Stand Together - Nickelback and Pump Up the Volume - Colourbox.