NO that does not mean I am going to give you a Pregnancy announcement!!! You know one day last week, I had 3 people ask me in one day if I was pregnant!!! Hey Steph, Skip, and Emma!!! No I don’t know if that is because after all the indulging on holidays, I am starting to look it, or just because I spent a week away with hubby for our anniversary, that people think we were up to no good!

So whilst there is no pregnancy news….from me that is, I have had some friends have babies in the past couple of weeks.

It was very exciting to hear this morning that my dear friend Renae had a little boy during the night! They called him Dylan Harry….and all is well, Great news!

Then last week another friend and client Natasha had a little girl, and named her Sienna Rose (beautiful name don’t you think!)

And then of course there is my dear friend and downline…..some of you stalk her gorgeous blog….Chantelle Huizenga, had a gorgeous little boy, whom they named Caden Josh…..he is adorable and you can see photos of this cute little man on her blog, http://chan3boys.blogspot.com

I am yet to have a cuddle of all three of these darlings, but hopefully this week!

THEN this week I have heard of 3 other friends all being pregnant too!!! I tell ya something is in the water,….good thing I like to drink Tea!……. and yes I know that is made with water, but it is boiled so there is no germs in there!!!

Good thing I had made one of the recent Challenges to be Baby cards, so that I have some ready to go, but for Chantelle I made the following card…..

I love the new outline aphabet stamp set!! I have used Basic grey for the base, and layered it up with Bashful blue, and Pumpkin pie cardstock. I stamped the Giraffe from the Bundle of Joy stamp set and watercoloured him in. I then stamped his name with the Outline alpha, with Basic grey ink onto Bashful blue DS paper from the Summer picinc paper pack, cut it out and added it to the bottom of the card. Lastly I added the Riveting stamp (retired) layered with bashful blue cardstock adding it to the top corner. I have also added some detail with my basic grey marker around the edge of the white cardstock.

Well if anyone else is pregnant I’d love to know!!! LOL!!!

Take care,

Well I have had a blast this afternoon making these, and getting this tutorial put together for you. I hope you enjoy these, and I look forward to seeing your own creations!

So what did I make??? I acutally was stumped with what to call these!!! Yes the ol’ brain wasn’t too flash with coming up with a name….maybe because I am a year older hey!

Anyway I decided on Teabag Gift Folders… Yes a bit of a daggy name! I suppose I could have called them an Arvo refreshner, or Tea for Two (but then you would fight over the chocolate!).

Anyway you probably don’t care what they are called, just want to know how to make them, so here goes for this weeks Make it Monday tutorial……number 9 at that! (soooooo can’t believe that we have got to 9 already!)

Materials Required:

Paper cutter

DS paper

A4 cardstock

Bone scorer

Mat pack

Teabags

Chocolates

Scallop punch,

Circle punches

Ribbon

Stamps

Stamp pads

Step 1:

Cut your A4 sheet of cardstock vertically at 9cm’s wide

Step 2:

Score your strip of cardstock horizontally first at 9cm’s in, then again at 1.5cm’s, then 9cm’s from that score line, and then finally again at 1.5cm. You should end up with another 9cm till the end of the strip.

Step 3:

Bend the cardstock along all the scored lines. It should look similar to this. Then when you really fold it into each other, it will look like this below:

Step 4:

Cut 4 square pieces of DS paper, measuring 8cm x 8 cm’s

Step 5:

Add those squares of DS paper to the outer two squares on the outside, and then add the other two onto the inside side of the strip of cardstock.

Step 6:

Add a strip of tape across one side of DS paper, and stop it at the edge of the scored cardstock. Don’t go over the whole strip. See picture above.

Step 7:

Add ribbon along the strip of tape with overhang, as you will be using that extra ribbon to tie the folder closed.

Step 8:

I used my white Gel pen to add some detail around the edges of the DS paper for extra detail.

Step 9:

Use your punches and stamps to add some detail to the front cover. I have used my Scallop punch, two circle punches and the Tart and tangy Stamp set.

Step 10:

Take three Love me note Envelopes and open up the flaps. You will want to stamp them before you start putting them together, as they will be layered one above the other.

Step 11:

Adhere each envelope one on top of the other, sticking them onto the raised flap.

Step 12:

Load your envelopes with goodies. I have used two different packages teabags, and a Nestle Golden Rough Chocolate in the centre one. You could even make a co-ordinating Love note to go into one if it is for a gift.

Step 13:

Fold the envelopes up zig-zag and tape it into the folder like so.

Step 14:

Take the folder from the left side and fold it across. I have decorated this too.

Step 15:

Then fold it over from the left side, and use the ribbon to tie off your Teabag gift folder with a bow, which will keep it closed.

Other Samples:

For this one I have used the Spring Silhouettes DS paper pack, and the Baroque Motifs stamp set, with Soft sky, and Wild wasabi stamp pads, and cardstock.

The inside

Here I have used Purely pomegranite cardstock with Berry Bliss DS paper. I have also used the Priceless stamp set, with Pretty in Pink, Soft sky and Pomegranite ink

And the inside of this one

I think I have to admit that this is my favourite Make it Monday project so far……not sure why, but I just think these are darn cute!

Hope you have fun with these, and I look forward to seeing your creations!

Have a good night,

Well I don’t know about you, but that was another busy weekend! With it being Fathers Day here in Australia, we had some great family events on the weekend.

I managed to quickly make 3 cards, one for hubby from the kids, one for my Father in Law, and one for my own Dad. And only just managed to quickly take a piccie before they were rushed out the door.

I have to say it was hard putting these together with a missing MoJo, but hey men don’t really get to worked up about what is on them do they? Do you ever ask yourself if it is worth it? Anwyhoooooow, I made them and a gave them and here is your peek at them

Here is the first one for my Dad. I have used Bordering blue for the base which I stamped with the Sanded background. I then added a strip of Mellow moss, and Bayou cardstock, with a complmenting strip of ribbon in moss also. I have roughed up the edges of the moss cardstock. I stamped the Boat from the Seaworthy stamp set, onto watercolour paper and coloured it with my aquapainter and stamp pads. Also I made extra, and cut the sails out to make the boat 3-D. Lastly I added some chocolate chip spritzes, and the hodegepodge hardware. The greeting is from the One of a Kind stamp set.

This card I made for hubby. I have used Bayou cardstock for the base which I stamped along the bottom with the Background Sampler stamp. I then added the strips of Chocolate chip, and River rock cardstock which I adhered with a stapler. The DS paper is form the Apple Cider paper pack, and I have distressed the edges with my cutter kit. The stamped image is from the Seaside sketches stamp set, which I watercolured with my aquapainter, and stamp pads. I added some double stitches river rock ribbon, and the greeting at the bottom which I punched the base out with the large oval punch, and added the stamped small oval punch with the greeting on it.

This was for my Father in law. I made this one in a bit of a last minute rush so am not really happy with it. I used Really rust for the base which again I have stamped with the Sanded background. I used two strip of cardstock / paper on the base also. The boat from the Seaworthy stamp set is stamped onto Very vanilla cardstock which again I have distressed the edges. I again have stamped the boat a couple of times, and cut out the sails for a 3-D effect. Lastly I ran a sage shadow stamp pad over the vanilla cardstock to add a splash of colour. Then I added the Hodgepodge hardware, paper piercing, and twine for detail.

So there you have Fathers Day for this year. We had a lovely time having lunch with Rod’s family yesterday, and then I had my parents and brother Bryn for dinner last night. I made a mean Lasagna, which Bryn has been hanging out for. So it was great to make it for him…….I will be showing you that photo of us at the airport too, as MIL has promised to email it to me today!

Well I hope you are all well, and I will be back later today to give you the Make it Monday!

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have been a little remiss in getting things uploaded this week! I have been having a bit of a hard time getting back into routine! Fancy that after holidays. It really just hits you in the face, when you realize how busy life is. I think when you have 10 day off you forget so quickly!

Anyway the other reason is that I have completely forgotten to pack my MoJo when I left Cairns!!! I have tried, and tried this week to stamp, and have come up with nothing worthy of your viewing!!! I really hope that my MoJo will stop sunning itself in Port Douglas and return quickly as I have so many projects that NEED to be done!!!

As for Challenges though, each Thursday I set challenges for the On-line Australian Demonstrators Forum. We have been doing two, but it really is difficult for everyone to participate in two so we have cut it back to one a week.

I will put the challenges up here each Thursday also, so if you want to play along you are welcome to! Just add your link in the commnents at the end of the post.

Well this week we are doing a Colour Challenge!

Regal rose, Certainly celery, and Apricot Appeal.

I LOVE this combo, and especially with the start of Spring this week, I thought it was appropriate. Now here is my sample:

Here I have used Apricot for the base where I stamped some of the blossoms from the One of a kind stamp set with apricot ink on the background. I added a strip of Regal rose cardstock which has a strip of Regal wide grosgrain ribbon. I have stamped the beautiful flower from the Bodacious Bouquet stamp, using the rock and roll technique with the regal rose, and Purely pomegranite inks. I then mounted them onto Apricot, and Celery cardstock, and finally added the greeting and stitches with my white gel pen.

Well I suppose I better go and do all those Saturday morning jobs….and get out of these jammies too! I still have to finish off 3 Fathers’ Day cards today so I may be back this arvo!

You have a good weekend

Well as promised, I have made up an extra sample of the card I made for the Incentive Trip for swaps….

Trying to decide what to make was a bit difficult, I mean here I am going away to swap with the top Demos’s in Australia and New Zealand…….and I had to make sure it was a good one.

Little did i realize how nuts I was when I settled on this one….yeah my bestie Lee did warn me, (thanks Lulla) but I just couldn’t come up with anything different. But I love the final result.

Here she is…..OOOH I just love this Fabulous Flowers stamp set, and I just think that the greeting was perfect for the Top demo’s too!

And a close up of the sparklies…..

For this card I have used Close to cocoa for the base which I have cut and folded into a tri-fold. I stamped the Baroque motifs swirls on the background with Chocolate chip ink and then used the corner rounder punch to make the scallop edge. The greeting has been embossed with white embossing powder also. Then I added the strip of Chocolate chip Satin ribbon.The flower has first been stamped with the Soft sky stamp pad, and then I have kissed it with the Baroqu Motifs stamp with Bayou ink. ……..Yes can you believe that I did this 90 times!!!  I tell ya, I had Rod loading the colour with the Bayou, inbetween me cleaning, and reloading the colour and stamping, 10 minutes before we had to leave for the airport!!!

Anyway Lastly I added the glitter with my glue pen over the swirls to give it a regal effect and finally adding a half pearl in the centre.  I should also mention that the flower has been loaded onto a belly band that goes around the centre of the tri-fold card to keep it closed.

Thanks again to Steph and Robyn for their very late night contributions to getting these finally done and put together! I certainly wouldn’t have made it on time without their help!!!

Hopefully the hard work was worth it and that gals liked the finished product