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).

My Heartfelt Thanks...

...to all my lovely crafty blogland friends for their lovely comments, emails, cards and gifts sent following the birth of our little man Thumper. I am sorry that I have not managed to reply individually to many of you yet. You can probably imagine why this is the case ;-), but please know that I really appreciate your thoughts and sweet comments.

Yesterday I took photos of some simply gorgeous handmade cards that we have received here recently, and I thought I'd pop them up here and show them to you.

This 'oh so cute!!' card is by my Kiwi friend Paula. Her bunny is so beautifully watercoloured...I just want to give him a big cuddle. Miss Nearly 7 is also a huge fan of this bunny, and I half expect to find him missing from the card one morning ;-).

This fresh and elegant card is by the lovely Patrice. As an indication of how befuddled I am of late...when I opened this card (not long after receiving Paula's), and sat admiring it for several minutes I was also thinking...gee, I think I've seen this card before...but I couldn't put my finger on where. Suddenly it dawned on me that it wasn't the same card...but the same layout...YES, sleep deprivation is debilitating!

Paula and Patrice are some of the awesome design-team talent behind the Just Add Ink blog, and both had made me their cards using the #56 sketch challenge. How chuffed did I feel to receive not one, but TWO JAI design-team cards in the same week!? Plenty chuffed, let me tell you.

This super sweet 3D card is by the wonderful Leonie. I love 3D cards, and this one is no exception. How cute are those little drawers, and the goodies hanging from them? How patient must Leonie be to have cut them out by hand?! If I tried to do something like that right now, I'd probably slice my fingers off.

Last but not least, this entirely gorgeous creation is by Debbie. When I grow up I want to be able to colour with Copics like Debbie. Her creations are all mini works of art...I am in awe!

SO...as you can see, I have been a very lucky girl! Thank you so much for your beautiful creations ladies, I feel very special and you have all inspired me with your work.

Nearly finished here now. I have been typing this post up for over two hours. First I was feeding, then burping, then smiling and getting our first smiles in return (they melt my heart, but are too fleeting to catch on camera yet). I have a couple of quick pics that I just wanted to add at the end. The first is of our first proper family outing post-baby (actually that's not strictly true, we did do yum cha the week after Thumper arrived...to this day I am not sure how we managed that)...

Last night we headed in to the Canberra Show. Our trip there has been a bit of a family tradition since the year before Miss Nearly 7 arrived, and with the the kids getting older they are enjoying it a whole lot more.

So off we went and arrived at 6pm (it was hot and sunny here during the day and I decided that I'd rather have tired kids than hot, sweaty and possibly sunburn't kids). We had a lovely time meandering through the animal yards, craft pavilions and show bag stands, and finished up by having dinner on the grass around the main arena, followed by fireworks.

I might add here that I didn't actually see the fireworks. Little man Thumper was a wee bit tired after waking and being fed, so I wrapped him up and was rocking him back to sleep DURING the fireworks...and guess what...I did it! I had his head in the crook of my arm covering one ear, and my mouth over his other ear as we had unknowingly parked ourselves quite close to the fireworks...and there I sat rocking to and fro while the fireworks went off over my head. He barely moved a muscle, although he did wake up screaming during the car ride home...sigh!

This morning I caught this sweet moment, no description necessary...

I'll be back with a crafty project of my own to show you...one day...I hope...;-)

Have a nice weekend!

Thanks Beary Much!

I know it has been pretty quiet in here...but I haven't only been feeding, burping and changing nappies! It is just that any crafting is only done in very small increments, over much larger periods of time. My first priority after making sure that Thumper is fed, clothed, entertained and gas-free (the child seems to be very gaseous...and tends to want to keep them to himself, until you try to put him down to sleep...THEN he screeches about it)...is that I get some SLEEP!

Thumper is feeding about four-hourly at present (with the odd period of three-hourly feeds and the very, very odd period of 5-6 hourly feeds - last night I scored a five-hourly...and got FOUR UNBROKEN HOURS of shut-eye bliss...YEAH ME, YEAH THUMPER...). I usually only get two blocks of two - three hours of sleep in any one night...so I'm feeling pretty crusty round the edges....and spending every free moment during the day behind my beautiful eye-mask ;-).

Aaaaaaaannnnyhoooooo, in my non-sleeping spare time (feels like about 36 minutes of it in the last two weeks ;-) I have managed to make up a batch of seven baby thank you cards:

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Bashful Blue and Barely Banana (SU) and Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Stamps: Baby Button Bits (PTI), Mat Stack 1 Collection (PTI) and Tags for Spring (PTI)
Accessories: Picnic Plaid Impression Plate (PTI), Spring Rain Luxe Satin Ribbon (PTI), Mat Stack 1 Die (PTI), 2008 Bitty Dot Basics Patterned Paper (PTI), White Buttons (Misc), Tombow Adhesive (Penwa), Foam Mounting Tape (Misc) and Mini Glue Dots (SU).

Now I just have to get my act together and write in them and send them off to various family members! You are probably wondering why I didn't make them BEFORE Thumper arrived, and be all organised etc. Well, that would have just been plain sensible...wouldn't it????...and not my usual modus operandi at all ;-).

In another of my precious spare minutes one day (in fact I may have even been feeding Thumper at the same time) I played with some photos (and made a new watermark). I've applied a bunch of Pioneerwoman Actions to these...don't ask me which ones, or in what order...lets just say lots!

Four days old...

 ...also four days old

 Big yawn...

Two weeks old...

First trip to Sydney - Two weeks old...

Ok....its some two hours after I first started this post (no I wasn't sitting here the whole time), and I've got to go feed the wee munchkin again.

Have a nice day!

Happy 4th Anniversary Papertrey Ink...

Papertrey Ink celebrates its fourth Anniversary this year, and in order to help celebrate they are running a mega giveaway for one lucky stamper! You can check out the full details for yourself at the bottom of the post here on Nichole heady's blog.

All you need to do is select your favourite project from 2010, which features at least one Papertrey Ink product, and re-post it to your blog.

This was pretty easy...my favourite Papertrey Ink project from 2010 is my Up, Up and Away Birthday card, which I posted here in October last year.

 

I love the Up, Up and Away set, and the Papertrey Cloud Dies, and the Sunshine Impression Plate, and the Linen and Canvas Impression plate...well, you get the picture :-).

While I'm here...I also wanted to say a HUGE thank you for all the lovely comments on my previous post. Our new bubby is feeding like a little champion and we are all settling in here very well together.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and say hello!

Another bright and sunny suncatcher...

I made another suncatcher recently...to send to friends who moved to Brisbane. Luckily they moved into a slightly elevated area and were not directly affected by flood waters.

Here are some pictures of the card and matching box I made to send them their little housewarming gift in...

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Yoyo Yellow (SU) and Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko) and Versamark (SU)
Stamps: Neighbourhood Jumbo Wheel (SU) and Enjoy the Ride (PTI)
Accessories: Jumbo Wheel Handle (SU), Copic Markers (B06, RV29, Y19 and YG25), Liquid Applique, Pink Flamingo DSP (SU), Circle Metal-Edged Tags (SU), Scallop Edge Border Punch (SU), 1 1/4 inch Circle Punch (SU), Paper Piercer, White Gel Pen, Mounting Foam and Tombow Mono Adhesive (Penwa).

I hope you'll forgive my atrocious Copic colouring skills (or lack thereof). I always get lines...but at least in this case it doesn't look too bad to me...the stamp being one that has a hand-drawn, child-like quality about it...so child-like colouring fits the bill in my opinion (this is my story and I'm sticking to it ;-). I have put some liquid applique on the clouds, but as this lot was originally opened more than two years ago it seems to have lost its applique-like quality and dries smooth and shiny instead. Still looks nice up close (like white crystal effects instead of clear IYKWIM?).

Once again the fabulous lampwork bells are by Sari Glassman on Etsy, and the photo below is hers also (thank you Sari, for making such beautiful pieces of glass artwork for me to play with and admire).

I also want to show you another little something I bought online recently (making good use of the Aussie dollar strength while it lasts). It is a sumptuously beautiful sleep eye-mask...

I bought it from Bonnie at Bib Bon on Etsy, and I love it to bits. It is so soft and pretty. You might be wondering who I think I'm fooling though...by buying a sleep eye-mask when 40 weeks pregnant...but I have big plans! When Miss 6 and Mr 4 are at school/preschool...new baby and I will be napping during the day whenever humanly possible. This is my solemn oath...wish me luck ;-).

Ok....suppose I'd better go do something like have breakfast, or get dressed, or something!!

(Blogged to: Get Ready for This - 2 Unlimited, Nutbush City Limits - Tina Turner and Get Set - Taxiride).

Papertrey January Blog Hop Challenge

I had a bit of spare time on my hands yesterday...you know, patiently waiting for this baby to be born and all...NOT ;-)...so thought I'd make the most of it and participate in this month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop Challenge...

With the new year comes a clean slate along with many resolutions.  This month's blog hop challenge involves you challenging yourself to use a Papertrey stamp set that has yet to see ink or even one that might be collecting a little dust!  Go through your stash and see what little used treasure it might hold. 2011 is the year where what's old is new again!

I decided to ink up Baby Button Bits for the first time. I haven't had this set for all that long, so it certainly wasn't dusty...but given that I'm 39+ weeks pregnant the baby theme seemed fitting to me!

This is the card that I made using this stamp set:

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Kraft and Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Stamps: Baby Button Bits (PTI)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Accessories: 2008 Bitty Dot Basics (PTI), Hawaiian Shores Luxe Satin Ribbon (PTI), Hawaiian Shores Vintage Buttons (PTI), Book Print Impression Plate (PTI), Tag Sale #1 Die (PTI), Twine, Mounting Foam, Glue Dots and Tombow Mono Adhesive.

This little fellow was another source of inspiration for my card, isn't he handsome?! I bought him at The Teddy Bear Shop on Monday. His name is Kembell, and he is patiently sitting in the moses basket, also waiting for our new family member to make an appearance. Waiting, waiting, waiting....;-).

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and if you're an Aussie...HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

(Blogged to: Blame it on the Boogie - The Jacksons, Holy Grail - Hunters and Collectors, Say it Right - Nelly Furtado and All the Lovers - Kylie Minogue).

I'm still here...

Apologies for the big delay between posts. If I knew where the Christmas/New Year period here had gone, I'd tell you...but I don't. It has just gone! We were here, and then there, and then back here...and somehow time has just completely gotten away from me.

I have managed a little crafting time, but have had very little inclination to post to my blog as my back is playing up (I guess a 38 weeks pregnant belly hanging off the front will do that to you ;-)... more on that later!

The project I have been working on was inspired by one by the super-talented  Danielle Daws, who posted it on the 'UStamp with Dawn and Friends!! Year End Blow Out Edition 2010', which you can apply to join here:

I was fortunate enough to receive a complimentary membership to this group from my lovely blogging pal Paula Dobson (thank you so much Paula!).

Here are my creations:

List of Ingredients:

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla and Kraft (SU)
Ink: Crumb Cake and Night of Navy Classic Ink (SU)
Stamps: Birthday Basics (PTI)
Accessories: Elegant Soiree DSP (SU), Enchanted Evening 1/2" Satin Ribbon (PTI), Orange Zest Buttons (PTI),  Scallop Edge Border Punch (SU), Chipboard (retired SU), Linen Thread (SU), Pewter Jumbo Eyelets (SU), Tombow Adhesive (Penwa), Dimensionals (SU) and Mini Glue Dots (SU).

The last picture shows one of my suncatchers, and as this is going to a family member in Queensland I can only hope that it takes a little sunshine and good luck with it. They could really use it up there!

The crystal beads are Swarovski, and the glass lampwork bell beads are by Sari Glassman of Gaialai on Etsy, and you can see her beautiful beads much more clearly in this picture taken by her:

The glass lampwork wave beads in the earrings are by Candice of Beadgoodies on Etsy, and the pearls are Swarovski. I made these earrings to match a bracelet I gave at Christmas time (I didn't have enough beads at the time to finish the set):

...And to finish up, here is a slightly blurry (its hard to take one-handed belly shots in a mirror under crappy lights), but recent belly shot (37wks + 4 days):

(Blogged to: Sounds of Then - GANGgajang, Holding Out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler, Manhattan - Kings of Leon and Firework - Katy Perry).