Blowing the dust off my neglected cyber-garden!

Hey there blog buddies! Loooooooong time no blogging in here. I'll be surprised if anyone is still checking this poor old neglected neck of the cyber domain. I am going to try and spend a little bit more time in here. I have really missed my blog garden, and the friends I have made through it!

I honestly don't know where the last four months has gone. Would you believe it if I said...time warp? No, didn't think so! No excuses. Just life doing its thing I guess. But I haven't been doing nothing. Most of my spare time has been spent running and cycling. I have participated in two duathlons and two half marathons here in Alice in the last four months, and have another half marathon coming up this weekend. I also went to Sydney for the City2Surf last weekend, and took advantage of the fact that Stampin' Up! had one of their Make a Statement Digital Tour events on in Sydney that weekend too. It was a fantastic event, and I've come home all educated and inspired to create some delish digital goodies!

In the mean time, here are some pics of a little tag that I created for my beautiful upline Di Barnes, back before convention in Brisbane this year. They have been sitting on my desktop collection digital dust every since. I have lots of pics collecting digital dust, so I am taking out my big ol' digital duster and giving them all a big dust off, and hope to have them up here over the next few days.

Project Recipe (all products by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Kraft A4, Confetti Cream A4, Summer Starfruit A4 and Pool Party A4.
Ink: Basic Black and Sahara Sand Classic Ink
Stamps: Curly Cute
Dies and Punches: Apothecary Accents Framelits and Boho Blossoms Punch
Accessories: Pop-Up Posies Designer Kit, Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Large Pearl Basic Jewels, Sycamore Street Button Pack, Linen Thread, mini glue dots, SNAIL Adhesive and Dimensionals.

If you are still here, thanks so much for being patient with me, and I'll leave you with this last little picture, by way of some thank you eye-candy! These are the delicious take-away macarons we bought from Ladurée in Westfield Sydney, after the City2Surf (raspberry, vanilla, chocolate and salted caramel). Don't worry, we also stopped for some tea and eat-in macarons too ;-)...

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.

A Colourful Thank You...

This week I have used the Annabelle Stamps - 'Say It With...Thanks' challenge to fuel my crafting imagination:

....and it worked a treat. I am happy with this bright, and slightly off-beat creation:

I have used Boys Party and BBD5 stamps, Shapes 1 and Borders 1 Cuts by Design and Light Blue Hemp Twine and Raspberry Sprinkles......all off which are by Annabelle Stamps.

Thanks for a fun challenge and all the inspiration girls!

We are having a lovely little heat-wave here today, with a deliciously dry 38 degrees celcius making the pool look very inviting indeed. Even this little backyard resident looks like he wouldn't mind taking a dip ;-).

Hope you are having a colourful weekend at your place!

Blogged to: Con Te Partirò - Andrea Bocelli, Afro Circus / I Like To Move It - Chris Rock & Danny Jacobs and Non Je Ne Regrette Rien - Frances McDormand (guess who saw Madagascar 3 this week?...it was fun!).

The colours of an Uluru sunset

I made myself a little colour challenge last week, and finally had a chance to play along on the weekend...once I had managed to unpack a few of my craft goodies! I still haven't found everything though, so don't be looking too close, because there was some craftin' bodgy-ness going on (OH THE SHAME ;-)...

...And here is the card that I put together...

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Soft Suede (textured), Whisper White (textured), Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie (textured) and Summer Sun (all SU).
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie and Summer Sun Classic Inks (all SU).
Stamps: Small Sayings (SU).
Punches: Large Oval (SU) - for the grass and Photo Corners (SU) - for the banner notch.
Accessories: D'Vine Swirl Embossing Folder (Provocraft), Giraffe Pattern Embossing Folder (Darice), Bronze Brad (SU), Dimensionals (SU) and Tombow Adhesive (Penwa).

Maybe someone else will feel inspired by these colours and/or the picture. If you are, I'd love to see what you create!

I'll leave you with a weekend snap taken at Simpson's Gap...it is such a pretty place, and my picture does not begin to do it justice.

Have a great week.

Blogged to: The Final Countdown - Europe, Baby Baby - Corona, This Afternoon - Nickelback and You (Wes Carr).

Thanks For Bee-ing A Great Teacher...

So I've spent a little time re-thinking my teacher-gift cards! I've now made three of these cards, so this will be the card they get...regardless of whether it can be identified or not ;-). I think they'll get my drift...

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight and Vellum Cardstock (all Stampin' Up!)
Punches: Two-Step Owl [for the bee eyes] and Medium Oval [for the bee legs] (both from Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Nestie Eggs (Spellbinders), Nestie Labels 10 (Spellbinders), Nestie Blossoms 1 (Spellbinders), Swiss Dots Embossing Folders (Provocraft), D'vine Swirls Embossing Folder (Provocraft), Sunshine Impression Plate (PTI), Neutrals Brads (Stampin' Up!), Wireworks (Stampin' Up!) and Olivia Alphabet Dies (Provocraft).

Gotta go back to watching Mystic Pizza now...I'm enjoying the big hair and 80's flashbacks!

ETA: I was so tired when I wrote this up last night that I forgot to add that the ...For Bee-ing a Great Teacher sentiment inside the card is just one I typed up in Photoshop, then printed onto cardstock and die-cut using my nesties. I didn't have that sentiment on any of my stamps or rub-ons.

Also note that my Cuttlebug sandwich for the vellum embossing was a bit too tight on the last bee's wings....that is what has caused the random creases in the vellum, plus the fact that I had the embossing mat direct on my vellum...prolly should have a paper shim between the embossing mat and the vellum (but I'd had enough by then and wasn't prepared to re-make them...besides I think it gives them a bit of character ;-).

Blogged to: Mystic Pizza (1988).

Cocoa Pod MkII

This morning, while the little man was asleep (he still is actually), I decided I'd quickly re-make the cocoa pod from yesterday (I realised late last night that the beans are the individual little do-dahs inside the pod...ooops). I have used up my last sheet of Early Expresso to make this one, and I really do think it looks better.

With the Koko Black tin there next to it, I think you can see more clearly the effect I was hoping to achieve. The cocoa pod and big leaf is on their packaging. Now it looks less like a coconut...doesn't it?

There are a few other small changes too. I lost the ribbon, It was annoying me. I hand scored and distressed the outer pod, I like it better than the distressed stripes embossing effect. I used a Craft Concepts Woodgrain embossing folder to do the Early Expresso layers on the inside of the card. I also hand scored and shaped the leaf and left off the So Swirly embossing there, it looks more leaf-like to me now. The two little Close to Cocoa ovals on the inside (used to prop up the easel) are supposed to be individual cocoa beans, from inside the pod, not choc-coated almonds!

I am very happy with the end result, and very, very happy that my leopard spots embossing folder resembles cocoa beans in a pod so well...whodathunkit?

HMmmmmmm, so it still looks a little like a coconut here. Sigh. It's the best I can do ;-).

Have a lovely day!

Blogged to: Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi, Hammerhead - James Reyne, Love Shack - The B-52's and Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler.

I hope you can tell what this is...

I'm kinda using you guys as guinea pigs. I'm hoping you can tell right up front what this is...

NOPE...not a poop on a stick! Sorry for the horrendous colour blow-out...that is Kiwi Kiss up there, not that you'd know it from my pic. Do you need another pic to help you make up your mind?

Yes, it is on an easel card...whatever it is. No, it isn't a dead olive! Ooooh look, there's a 'mini-me' on the inside too.

Would it help you to know that it was being delivered with a beautiful tin of Koko Black Chocolate Shavings? Quite simply the richest, most decadent and delicious hot chocolate I have ever tasted. Most likely the most delicious hot chocolate known to mankind (this is my story...prove me wrong ;-).

If you're still stumped...I've blown it big-time, and you should click away right now (and I'll hang my head in shame)...

It's a COCOA POD!

I have to make at least four of these babies in the next few weeks. They are to be teacher gifts (I'm fairly confident they don't frequent my blog...so I should be safe with the spoiler)! But if you couldn't tell what it was, then perhaps I should re-think my strategy. I don't think it'd be nice for the teachers to think I was giving them dead olives (or any other icky stuff) as part of a thank you. That'd give the wrong impression entirely. These teachers rock! Totally. I want them to feel appreciated.

I plan on scoring a central vein in the Kiwi Kiss leaf next time, I think it needs that. The cocoa bean shell and stem will be in Early Expresso in the final products, not Choc Chip. I just didn't have enough of that on hand today. Early Expresso matches the Koko Black packaging perfectly.

The thanks die-cut sentiment was a real shocker to stick down. I ended up picking little glue globs off the end of my snail with my paper piercer and delicately sticking them to the back of the die-cut in random places to hold it down...talk about labour intensive!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Kiwi Kiss and Confetti White (all Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Punches: Small Oval and Blossom Builder (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Ovals Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Distressed Stripes and So Swirly Embossing Folders (Provo Craft) and Leopard Print Embossing Folder (Darice), Olivia Alphabet Dies (for the 'thanks' Provo Craft), Chocolate Chip brads (Stampin' Up!) and the green ribbon is also an old one of SUs, from a promo I think (maybe SAB?).

The main stem and large leaf are hand cut. I didn't have a leaf die or punch that looked right. The central pod split has also bean hand cut (a ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...I crack myself up). It must be time for me to go now.

Ciao, ciao!

Blogged to: Till The World Ends - Britney Spears, Discolights - Darren Styles, You Get What You Give - New Radicals and The Key, The Secret - Urban Cookie Collective.

Fun Folded Fanks For Friend...

I was surfing the web at some point in the recent past, and I came across a lovely card by Julie Davison...check it out here. I think it was probably a link from Kim Score's blog that got me to Julie's blog in the first place.

I needed a thank you card (for Patrice, after she gave me those lovely Smash goodies), so I thought I'd go ahead and use Julie's card as the inspiration for mine. I think it is a type of gate fold...but whatever it is, I was very happy with how it turned out!

This card was an absolute shocker to photograph as it was popping and flopping about all over the place. I ended up using some matching Washi Tapes to stop it from landing in the pool. I thought it was appropriate to have Washi in the photos, because that is what I gave Patrice by way of a small thank you gift. I didn't actually give her these Washis though...these were the prop-Washis, and they'd been used (couldn't really pass along half used Washis as a gift now...could I?).

The black background stamp behind the sentiment is by Waltzingmouse Stamps, and is one of their sets designed to go with the Spellbinders Nestabilities. I have also used Spellbinders Nested Labels Fourteen (love this set, it reminds me of clouds), which I got from Bizzy Becs. Bec is my go-to-gal for all things Spellbinders. The bling, patterned paper and cardstock is all by Stampin' Up!

Well, once again I have gone off on a tangent. If you made it this far, thanks and have a lovely afternoon.

Blogged to: That Don't Impress Me Much - Shania Twain, Hung Up - Madonna, Why Can't This Be Love - Van Halen and Get Ready for This - 2 Unlimited.

Many Thanks...

After receiving my beautiful Hannabelle Cordelia Hare, I really wanted to send a little something back to Tracy in the UK to say thanks! Now that my package has made it all the way around the world (in just one week I might add), I can post a few pics here too...

The cute focal stamp for this one is from the Float My Boat stamp set, by There She Goes Clear Stamps. The waves were cut using the wave border die by Taylored Expressions. The Many Thanks sentiment was a feebie from Lawn Fawn Stamps...just for ordering (now that is a nice thing to do). The cardstock and seam binding is from Stampin' Up!, the embossing folders are by Cuttlebug and I used Copics to colour the image.

I also sent Tracy one of my lampwork bead suncatchers. The gorgeous focal beads are by Sari from Gaialai on Etsy.

That's it for me. I can barely see straight...must be bedtime!

Have a lovely Sunday.

Blogged to: Dancing in the Storm - Boom Crash Opera, Motors Too Fast - David Reyne, Can't Get Better Than This - Parachute Youth and Dream Police - Cheap Trick.