Tinkering with MDS...

Earlier this week Stampin' Up! released MDS (My Digital Studio) in Australia, and because I am going to convention in Brisbane (hooray)...I got a free copy (double hooray)!! This afternoon I thought I'd have me a bit of a tinker with it, you know...push some random buttons and see what happened. Well, I pushed buttons for a good bit longer than I intended to, but I did have a lot of fun.

I find the program is quite intuitive, and those things that I haven't been able to fathom for myself, I got help with from my lovely (and oh-so-patient) upline Di. Thanks Di. I can see we are gonna have some fun with this :-).

Anyhoo...this is what popped out the other end of my button pushing session...

I was not going to write up a supply list, but then I remembered having seen a button labelled 'supplies' somewhere along my wanderings. I just went and checked and managed to find it again...so here it is, a list of supplies (hooray)...

MDS SUPPLY LIST (all by Stampin' Up!):

Background:

Designer Series Paper/Nursery - designer series paper/Nursery - 1

Embellishments

Staple & Stitching/Chocolate - Simple Stitches line 3

Staple & Stitching/Chocolate - Simple Stitches line 10

Taffeta Trimmings/Taffeta Trimmings - ripple regal rose

Staple & Stitching/Chocolate - Simple Stitches corner 2

Basic Pearls and Rhinestones/Basic Pearls and Rhinestones - pearl

small (re-colored = Chocolate Chip)

Stamps

Little Additions/Little Additions - bunny, Color = Chocolate Chip

Punches

Labels & Tags/Labels Collection 2, Filled with: Designer Series Paper/_Designer Kits/Special Delivery Subtle - designer series paper/Special Delivery Subtle - 5

Mats

Designer Series Paper/Cottage Wall - designer series paper/Cottage Wall - pattern 8

Designer Series Paper/Nursery - designer series paper/Nursery - 2

Designer Series Paper/Sweet Details - designer series paper/Sweet Details - 6

Card Stock/Chocolate Chip

If I don't make it back in here again before Easter, Happy Easter! I hope you have a lovely, long holiday weekend.

For all the Lego fans!

 I think we are a bit like many other households with young boys, lotsa Lego love here! I am continuously tripping over the stuff too, and getting little ouchy bits stuck on the bottom of my feet has me thinking about Lego lots, which has resulted in the following card...

The Lego pieces are far more convoluted these days. They are not designed simply to build a house or car, but rather are transformable into Pre Visla's Mandalorian Fighter or a Sith Fury-class Interceptor. You know, important stuff like that! But I am sure that any true Lego fanatic will recognise the rudimentary bits on my card regardless, and know it for what it is. This particular card is for my brother, one of the main suppliers of Lego in this house...so I thought it only fair that I return some of the Lego love ;-). Hope he likes it!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Yoyo Yellow plain and textured cardstock (SU - some retired),
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Brilliant Blue and Yoyo Yellow Classic Ink (SU - some retired),
Stamps: Birthday Wish (SU - Retired),
Punches: Owl Builder (SU),
Accessories: Chevron Embossing Folder (SU), Paper Piercer, Dimensionals (SU) and SNAIL Adhesive (SU).

It is fitting that I have used the owl builder punch (to make the Lego circles) as I have a little owl-themed pic to pop in here. Some of the amazing local residents, trying to go incognito...

Tawny Frogmouth Owls

Blogged to: The Paradise - Episode 8 - ABC 1.

All the world is birthday cake,...

...so take a piece, but not too much (George Harrison). Been thinking a lot about cake of late. Partly due to the fact that I am seriously cake deprived right now, and partly due to the fact that April/May is party central in this house and cake is on the menu (as always).

This year I decided I'd try and step things up some, and enrolled myself in a one-day course at Charles Darwin University to learn the art of decorating with fondant. That course was yesterday, and it was a GREAT course! The teacher, a lovely lady by the name of Hayley....is a fabulous cake-maker, and so much fun to learn from too. Check out her awesome creations on Facebook at Cake-a-Licious.

Now, in the interests of full-disclosure, my cake was supposed to have a bow on the top. But when it was all said and done my bow looked so dismal and icky I chucked it in the bin and went with a bright floral design instead. Here it is:

I can not take credit for the swoon-worthy chocolate mud cake. Hayley made those for us...and they are, well, I'm lost for words. I am not usually a mud cake fan, but this...it is scrumptious! I also believe it is completely calorie-free ;-). Hayley also made our yummy chocolate ganache. We then had to apply the ganache and make a perfectly cylindrical cake, before colouring and applying the fondant.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I don't think I did too bad a job for my very first try either :-).

Gotta go start dinner now (and stop thinking about the 5 kgs of iced cake sitting on my bench).

Have a good one,

Crochet Beanie Floral Edition...

After I finished my first crochet beanie, which you can see here, I found a tutorial for a pretty crochet flower which I also wanted to try. You can see the tutorial here. Clare makes it so easy to crochet something for the first time!

Here is the result...

Now, if only it were cool enough to wear a beanie here!

Have a great weekend,

Baby Happy Whales...

I got some beautiful happy mail this week...some new Stampin' Up! samples from my lovely friend Di. I tidied up my desk and spent several fun-filled hours crafting and getting inky. Thanks so much Di. You really helped kick my mojo back into gear :-).

I needed a new arrival congrats card (what a happy thing to be needing eh?)...and the Happy Whale Clearlits Die and oh-so-pretty Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP seemed like the perfect decorations for just that purpose. What do you think?

For the new arrival I coupled the pink 'girl' card above with a lovely gift from a great local store...Novita Gifts. The gift comprised a beautifully soft and colourful baby blankie, and fun painted name letters for her bedroom door.

Thanks again Di...I loved my package!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Pacific Point and Whisper White (Stampin' Up!),
Patterned Paper: Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP (Stampin' Up!),
Ink: Basic Black (Stampin' Up!),
Stamps: Curly Cute (Stampin' Up),
Punches: 1 1/4" Square Punch - for banner ends (Stampin' Up!), Owl Builder - for whale eyes (Stampin' Up!) and large Corner Rounder punch (misc),
Dies: Happy Whale Clearlits Die (Stampin' Up!),
Accessories: Paper Piercer, White Gel Pen, Melon Mambo 3/8" Striped Organdy Ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Dimensionals and SNAIL adhesive.

Blogged to: MasterChef - the Professionals.

My first crocheted beanie!

I have recently joined a crochet group here, and we get together every second week and crochet and chat, and it is such good fun! I have been working on my ripple blanket at our get-togethers, but was recently inspired by one of the ladies to try and crochet myself a beanie.

I have never crocheted a beanie before, and had no idea where to start, so I used the fabulous half double crochet beanie tutorial by bobwilson123 on YouTube...check it out here.

I started it on Tuesday at lunchtime, and had it finished this morning - less than two days! I'm a beanie making machine!! Check it out below...

So, what do you think? Do you like the desert colours?

I have used Rowan Handknit Cotton (100% cotton) in the following colours: Burnt (343), Florence (350), Ochre (349) and Choc (315). Purchased online from my favourite yarn shop....Deramores.

I might add that I was busy modelling this hat on a 39 degree celcius day.....the crazy things we do ;-). Thanks for dropping by and have a lovely day!

Thomas the Tank Engine is a cake!

We had a little Thomas Party on the weekend for Master 2, complete with Thomas cake of course. Thomas was a wee bit wonky, but apparently that's because he was taking the bends on Sodor too quickly... always trying to be a useful engine is Thomas!

I believe that the birthday boy enjoyed himself some...

...and that he enjoyed the cake some too!

His sentence du jour is "pay nee nors, pay nee nors, peas?" Which translates to "Can I play with my Thomas trains, please?" He absolutely LOVES Thomas, and it is so cute!

PS. Thanks for your lovely comments on my last post. I really appreciate them :-).

My First Tri Try...

Feeling just a tad pleased with myself today. Yesterday I finished my very first Triathlon, and NO...no ambulance was required! It was the Frampton's Women's Triathlon, held by the Alice Springs Triathlon Club in...you guessed it, Alice Springs.

It was a small triathlon, 100 metres swim, 5 kilometres bike ride and 1 kilometre run, but it was so much fun. In the photo above I think I am still trying to catch my breath, several minutes after finishing, BUT... I did finish, and I wasn't last either. Happy days! I'm thinking about the next one already.

A Quick Hello...

Thought I'd stop and say hi, and Happy New Year!

I know it has been quiet in here, and I apologise for that. Craft just hasn't been high on my to-do list lately. Perhaps on one of our upcoming 43/44 degree days my cool craft room will beckon ;-).

In the mean time, this was the view from our bumper bar today:

We drove about 400 kms on 4WD tracks around Alice. We went up to Gemtree and the Strangways Range in the north, and then back down the Binns Track through Arltunga to Ross River and N'Dhala Gorge in the east before heading home to Alice. It was a lot of fun!

Blogged to:

Dreams of a Secret Garden...

That's what these earrings made me think of while I was making them. The book...The Secret garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. What a lovely story, and what a wonderful garden I saw in my imagination. I imagine that some of the flowers in that garden may look a bit like these fabulous floral glass focal beads by Laura Critchfield of Chestnut Ridge Designs on Etsy.

What do you think? Tangled vines and mystery? No? Well, perhaps you think Christmas, I'm with you on that too! Meanwhile, they are a little more bling for my Etsy-One-Day stash.

Hmmmm, I can smell dinner, better go and check on that. Thanks for stopping by.

Blogged to: Tricycle - Frances England, Daddy-o - Frances England and Blue Canoe - Frances England.