Well yes I am still in the land of the living…..it is a very fast paced living at that! What a week it has been, but I am really happy to say that things for the Stamp a thon are coming together nicely.

 So whilst I would have loved to have been here sharing my creations, I have had to keep them stashed away for the Stamp a thon….BUT you will certainly be in for a treat next week then, when I load them all up here!

 Now last week I set the Challenges for projects with tags, and promised to make something with that. I have managed to sneek in a couple amongst all other madness, and here they are

I love the feel of the Bodacious Bouquet stamp set, because it had that real tropical feel to it….probably because we are all freezing at the moment and hanging out for some sunshine!

I have used Certainly celery for the base which I rolled with the Bodacious jumbo roller. Then I made a square of Regal rose cardstock, adding some scalloped pieces of Apricot appeal on either side. Then with the tag I just added the floral pieces that I have stamped and cut out from the bodaious set. I topped it with the Regal rose ribbon, and some of the delicious Silver Hodgepodge hardware.

Here is just a little masculine tag that i think would be best used for a bookmark or to attach to a gift bag. The cardstock is River rock, Really rust, and Blue bayou. I have stamped the horse from the Wanted stamp set, and then the stars which I have punched out with the star punches. I added the greeting from the One of a Kind stamp set. Then placing a jumbo eyelet and twill tape and twine to top it off.

Then lastly I made this long card with a tag. I used Soft sky for the base which I rolled with the new jumbo roller, which for the life of me, I can’t recall the name and my mini catalog is downstairs…..hmm sorry bout that. Okay then I took the square of Groovy guava carstock and attacked it with the Crop a dile for the little embossed bumps. I then stamped the tag, and added the greeting. One of the flowers is cut out and mounted. Then I added some Bayou ribbon to finish it off.

So there you have the tags…… Now it is Thursday, and that means I have to set 2 new challenges for the Demo group. I have picked the following sketch for one of them

I thought this was rather funky!!! Once again it is from the Taylored Expressions blog. And I don’t have any samples for you just yet………BUT I WILL….come Monday! I promise

The next Challenge was to make use of Rub-on’s. I want to see what you have done with the gorgeous new rub-ons that Stampin’Up released this year in the new Catty. I again , am yet to put this to use, but there are beautiful new ones in the mini catty, so will def. be making use of them!

Well that is all……I thank you for your patience, and I will be back, but not until at least Sunday! Two very big days ahead, but it is exciting too. Hopefully the Stamp a thon will be a fun filled day, sharing what we love, as we stamp out Breast Cancer together!!!

Be back soon!

Well I am getting this in by the skin of my teeth, or should I say by the last stroke of the Clock. But hey it is still officially Monday here in Perth.

Man what a crappy day of weather! It is cold, wet and miserable. I can really see how the winter weather is affecting us. Each person I speak to lately is solemn, has a story of illness in their families, and are just generally hanging out for some SUNSHINE!!! to brighten their day. I often find by the end of winter, I am feeling rather down and out. I think with the horrible flu last week, and the miserable weather, I am just tired of it!!! Bring on the Summer is what I say….

And a big hello to Bryn, who is about to fly out  from London to Greece for 5 weeks of lapping up that Sunshine…..so jelous bro! But still can’t believe that it is only 5 1/2 weeks till I see you again……..YAY! Been far too long for my liking.

Oh yeah I am here for Make it Monday and I am wafflin on and on about everything BUT……LOL

Okay for today’s MIM,  i have prepped for you a Horizontal Pocket card. Here is how it goes……

Materials Required:

• Paper trimmer

• Cardstock

• Mat pack

• Slit punch

• Stamps

• Scallop punch

• 1 1/4 circle punch

• 1 3/8 circle punch

• Round tab punch

• Stampler

• Stamp pads

Step 1:

Cut an A4 sheet of Cardstock in half

Step 2:

Score your cardstock in half and fold

Step 3:

Cut 1 1/2 cm’s off one side of the card

Step 5:

On the side you have trimmed, now score 1 1/2 cm’s in to create a strip to fold up

Step 6:

Fold down that strip

Step 7:

Stamp the bottom half of the card pocket

Step 8:

Use your Slit punch along a 15cm strip of cardstock to create a scalloped edge

Step 9:

Pierce a hole in the the centre of each scallop

Tape the scallop strip up against the folded cardstock

Step 10:

Tape the folded cardstock down, and add on top of it a strip of patterned paper

Step 11:

Add tape to the shorter side of the inside of the card, as close to the edges as possible to create a pocket

Step 12:

Make a rectangle of double mounted carstock to go into the pocket of the card

Step 13:

Add a round tab punch of cardstock, stamped, and with a brad

Step 14:

Decorate the Pocket card with a scallop punch, stamps, brads or the like…..

Other Samples:

Blue Bayou, Pumpkin pie, and Soft sky cardstock with the Spring Break DS paper

Real red, Wild wasabi, and Bashful blue cardstock with Summer Picinic DS paper

Chocolate chip, Really rust, and River rock cardstock with Apple cider DS paper

Okay so I hope that has inpired you enough to want to go and try it. I tell ya…..it is really easy, and makes for a card with a difference!

Well I have to choof, and go and keep working on preparations for the Stamp a thon……Not long now, and Oh what a day it is gonna be!!

Take care!

Well I do have to say that is is nice to be home again, even though I didn’t want to come home! I had my dear friend and downline Chantelle come over on the last night to do a bit of last minute stamping together, which was great. We actually didn’t get to do as much as we had hoped. Chantelle is very much pregnant and hanging out for that day. I remember only too clearly how drained you feel, and motivation certainly isn’t cranking. Have so say though that Chan is look absolutely radiant, even if she doesn’t feel like it! Less that 3 weeks now! Woo Hoo. And well with the nasty flu that I had, I wasn’t too flash myself with that nasty and I am sure it was the last thing Chan wanted to catch as well. So in 2 weeks we only managed to stamp together twice!

Anyway I was saying to her on the last night……” I don’t want to go home”  and then again about each half hour! I am sure she was getting sick of it! I was really just in my element there. Sleep-in’s, no phone ringing, easy meals, and a fab-o stamp studio that I can just pop into, not hike it up a load of stairs to get to my stuff. It was so great to just be relaxed, spending time with the kids, going for walks, and just not having to be here, be there, rat race of life that is very usual for us. No Ballet, people for dinner, Soccer runs etc… Sounds like I’m whinging…….but I really just lapped it up and really managed to relax.

Whilst the weather was pretty bad down there, we still managed to get out a couple of times. Of course to the famous Dunsborough bakery……they make the BEST french vanilla slice!!! YUMMO! And of course to the Busselton jetty. I took some pictures of the kids and thought you may want to see them

This is at the Busselton Jetty Foreshore. It is almost impossible to get 4 young kids to smile at the camera all at once! With these logs that are differing in heights made this picture fun.

Enjoying the delights of the Dunsborough Bakery!

I just have to show you this cute picture of Mali…… He really hates to wear long pants!!!! He almost refuses daily to wear them even though it is freezing. But he insists on wearing his jackets with the hood up because he doesn’t want cold air on his ears!!! Go figure that one out! It is really funny though, and there is no negotiating with him. I am sure it is just one of those fazes that will pass and in time we will all have a big chuckle about it!

Tiarne hanging like a monkey at the playground…..I can’t believe she is almost 9!

My other Monkey……. Elijah

What a cheeky smile!

Last of all my Golldilocks, Janaya…..Her shirt says “Missy” and it sums her up to a tee!

And here they are at the Jetty

 So that was the kids…..now onto more fun stuff…….:)

I had a few of you ask, how much stuff did I acutally take to Busselton???? Well I thought I better take a picture of my temporary studio, and then all the gear stacked up ready to take home.

This was the big spare room in the Holiday house that I converted into a stamp room whilst we were there. I got the outdoor table and brought it into here, then on the bedside cabinet I had all my punches layed out. I had a large crate full of cardstock on the floor, and then all my stamps lined up on the bed. On the desk I had my Stamp pad caddy, stack n’ store, and of course all the ribbons, hodgepodge, pretties and assecories from the catty! It was great, and not once did I regret takin ALL that stuff!

Here it all is ready to come home!

Well we arrived home late yesterday. Man that was a mammoth task to unpack the cars in the rain!. It is always nice to come home, well I think so, but this time I came home and was like…..man this place needs a clean! Lots of spider webs etc……

I am really sad to say that when I was getting stuff together in my craft nook, I opened one of my drawers and guess what I saw!!!!! A dead mouse……EEEK! I couldn’t believe it. So today I had myself a 9 hour cleaning frenzy!

I started in the kids room, and did all the cupboards, the windows etc….till it was spotless. Then went onto the Bathrooms, Family, Kitchen, Dining, Master bedroom. Nothing was going to stop me till every nook and cranny was spotless today!

I have to say that whilst every muscle in my body is aching, it feels really really good to know that everything is clean. I mean it is not that I don’t clean, I am rather up to date if you know what I mean, but it is all those cruddy jobs that you put off, like vacuuming under the couch cushions, cleaning windows, and re-arranging the bookshelves etc.

Sorry this is turning out to be such a major post. I haven’t chatted to anyone today and so had to tell someone of all my efforts!

Well at least with the busy week ahead I won’t have to think about the cleaning

You have all have a great weekend!

Hi guys,

Well usually I would have had this up for you on Thursday…….as that is that day I upload the challanges on the demo group etc…… but with being away, being sick, and the Stoooooopid computer, I put it off. I just couldn’t muster up the energy to sit at this thing to load up 4 pictures and waste 1 1/2 hours doing it, knowing that I could do it in 20 at home.

So we are safely home now, but man there is and was loads to do!!! Anyway enough wafflin………here are this weeks Challenges:

1. Colour Challenge.

I have chosen the following colours, Blue Bayou, Sage shadow, Pumpkin pie, and Whiper white. I love this combo and think it works well. Here is what I came up with

Okay for this card I used Bayou for the base, then added a strip of DS paper which is Pumpkin pie at the bottom. At the top, it is Sage shadow that I have stamped with the little circle stamps. Then I cut 2 large circles, one Bayou, and the other Whisper white. I have stamped the large flower from the One of a Kind stamp set, layering it up with different colours that I have stamped it with and then cut out. On the Bayou small strip, I stamped the greeting with whisper white stamp pad. Lastly I added 2 brads to the bottom right hand corner.

Next I made this masculine card. I used Bayou for the base which I stamped the strips from the Background sampler stamp set with Bayou ink. I added a strip of sage that I have mounted pumpkin DS paper to. Then adding a strip of double stitched bayou ribbom. The surfer is from the Seaworthy stamp set. I stamped it twice and cut one out of the acutal surfer to give it a 3-D effect. Lastly I slipped a round tab punch under the square, which I have stamped a greeting from the Expressive Flexible Phrases stamp set.

I have used these colours to put together this Scrapbook page. The base is Bayou, which I did the little embossing circles with the Crop a dile……Love that look!!! I added the square of Sage cardstock and paper pierced it around the edges. I then mounted my photo onto pumpkin pie, also adding some pumpkin striped ribbon. I stamped the shells from the Seaside stamp set onto watercolour paper, and watercoloured them, cutting them out and mounted them with dimensionals. Lastly I stamped the greeting from the Define your Life stamp set and mounted it onto Sage, and Pumpkin cardstock.

Last of all I made this little Love note with the Fun and Fast notes stamp set. I stamped the Star twice and coloured them. I have cut the centre out of one and mounted it in the centre of the other. Lastly adding some ribbon and a brad in the centre.

Okay so that was the Colour Challenge, the other challenge was to make something with stamped Tags.

I have recently made a few cards where there is a stamped image on a tag, on a card, and I gave them as samples to the group. However you have all see them recently, so I will have to come back with something new for you…..a challenge to myself then!

If you want to play along, you are welcome!!!! Just make your card / item  and either upload it to your blog and link it in the comments, or email me with a picture of your creation

Okay, well I don’t know how much I will get to you this coming week, as it is only 1 week till the Stamp a thon for the National Breast Cancer Foundations………AND I have 101 this to get organized, but you never know hey!

Remember if you want to attend the Stamp a thon…….let me know asap, so that I can prep for you!  Has Qantas got a sale on Leonie???!!!  with the bad publicity today, they might!!! LOL!  I can still save you a seat! hehehe.

Take care!

Okay I know I just loaded up last week’s colour challenge…….a bit later, but I got in on this one early for a change! Thanks to Chantelle for the heads up

This time the Challenge was for the following colours:

My kind of Colours!!!

Okay for this first card, I used the 3 colours to create 3 levels, so on the Rose red carstock I added 4 squares that have been stamped with the Paisley background stamp with Sage shadow, and Regal rose ink. I have coloured the flower from the Pretties kit with a sponge dauber with Regal rose and Rose red ink pads. I added a knot of wide grosgrain ribbon and placed a hat pin loaded with pearls, and crystals into the knot.

I like this card far more than the first card. I like how the little vines in the heart match the dress on Kristina’s Sample. I used Rose red for the base, which I stamped with the Linen Background stamp. I then added a strip of Regal rose cardstock that I have faux stitched. The strip of Sage shadow cardstock I stamped with the little berry twig from the Always stamp set, then adding some wide Regal rose grosgrain ribbon. The heart I inked up with my markers, and then cut out. I have punched lots of little circles and then attached them to the underside to give it that frilly look. Lastly I added the greeting “Everything” with a whisper white stamp pad.

Here is a scrapbook page of me with my bestie! I am still very frustrated with the photography, but I will have to just get over it for the time being because I can’t do any better here in this temporary house!

I used Regal rose for the base, which I stamped with the large swirls from the Baroque Motifs stamp set with Rose red ink. I mounted the photo onto Rose red cardstock, and then added a strip of Sage shadow that I have added 3 rows of paper piercing and a knot of wide grosgrain regal ribbon, with a beaded hat pin. I then did the greeting under the photo, which is two words taken from the Tres’Chic Background stamp. I then used a large flower from the Pretties kit, placing some punched cardstock and a half pearl in the centre. Just to finish it off I added a few random half pearls around the bottom of the page.

And just to stick to tradition……..a little Love note. I am so addicted to them at the MO! Anyhow I have stamped the Sage background with the little floral circle stamp randomly. Next adding a strip of Regal rose, and Rose red cardstock and then Whisper white which I have stamped the little bird from the Always stamp set, with Sage shadow ink. Lastly adding two little brads.

 SOOOOOO there you have it! I am finally starting to feel a bit better, and managing to get some oxygen up my nose! But the cough is hanging on…… probably driving the neighbours crazy with all my hacking…..well you probably didn’t want to hear about that either LOL!!!.ah well that is the season ( well that is what I tell myself!)

 Talk soon,

Ps…. We got our flight details today for the Incentive Trip!!! YAY! It is acutally starting to seem real now….hmm better see if the swimming cozzie still fits after all the winter chocolate!!!