A Baby Boy Card

Recently one of my fellow crafting friends had a gorgeous baby boy and I wanted to send her something special. I had seen this cute image from Karen's Doodles before and thought it would be perfect - don't you just LOVE his big round eyes peeping out from between his chubby legs - LOL.

The DP is from SU and the punched borders were done using a MS punch. The tag was made using a cuttlebug die - I recently "found" this amongst the extras that came with one of the alphabets and I LOVE that it has it's own frame! It also has different shaped cut out frames to play with - YAY! The sentiment is also SU but I had to play a bit with my markers and stamp positioner as it's actually set in one line. I won't tell you how many tries it took to get it "just right" - or maybe I'm just fussy - LOL.

 A HUGE welcome to little "Thumper" - don't forget to give your mum lots of hugs along the way.

And don't forget to enter for a chance to win my blog candy HERE

xXx

Magnolia Down Under #85 - Flower Power

This week over at Magnolia Down Under Challenges we are asking you to show us some Flower Power - not much of a challenge for me - LOL. I may have gone a little overboard with the flowers but they are one of my favourite embellishments AND I received a fabulous box in the mail last week from I Am Roses - an awesome place to buy flowers!

The little cherry blossoms I used here were in the box and they inspired me to use Japanese Tilda on this cute box from Lauren Meader's My Time Made Easy range of packaging - this one is called So Fortunate and can be found HERE. The thing I like about these templates is they are already available as cut files so it's easy work using my craft robo.

The DP is from Magnolia - as are the dies I used to cut the dragonfly and tag.

I'm sure this challenge will appeal to lots of people so be sure to grab your Magnolia stamps and flowers and come along and play. Don't forget to check out the inspiration from the rest of the MDUC DT at our blog HERE.

And don't forget to enter for a chance to win my blog candy HERE

xXx

My Last Week as GDT for Sketch Saturday

This is my second post for today - please scroll down for my LaLa Land Post

WOW - what a sad day for me - this is my second good-bye today! This is my last post as a GDT from Sketch Saturday and they have a beauty for me to finish up with. You may have noticed I have twisted it by 90o though to suit my image.

This cutie is one I've had for a few weeks and haven't had a chance to ink up yet - I have tooooo many stamps sitting there in the same boat - time to change that! This is one of the Emerald Faerie Collection from Deb's Creations (nope not me but I wish - LOL) here in Australia - this one is Ebony. I thought she was sweet enough to be paired with DP from Basic Grey's Sugar Rush collection.

I just want to thank the fabulous DT from Sketch Saturday for having me on board this month - it's been a blast and their sketches are always amazing!

And don't forget to enter for a chance to win my blog candy HERE

xXx

Good Times With La-La Land Crafts

I've had some good times with La-La Land Crafts but now it's time to say goodbye! I've finished my 4 months as a GDT member and this is my last post as part of the team - but it doesn't mean I'm done with playing with LLLC images - I just adore Marci and Luka and can't wait to see what else they get up too!!

I want to thank Irina and the DT for having me on board - it was a BLAST - especially when I saw some of the CHA pictures and I could see MY CARDS sitting there - LOL. Maybe next year it will be ME and not just my cards playing at CHA!!!

This cutie is Darling Marci and you can find here instore HERE. My DP is from my Basic Grey Curio paper pad and the border was punched using MS punches.

Thanx again La-La Land for having me along!

And don't forget to enter for a chance to win my blog candy HERE

xXx

A Little Cup of Sweetness from Mo

Just a quick post today - am feeling a little yuk after starting a root canal treatment this morning. It may have made me less "chatty" but sitting around with a numb face was a perfect time to craft - LOL.

You all know I LOVE Mo's fairies and this is her latest one "Teacup Fairy" and she's available HERE!!!

The DP is from my Basic Grey Sultry paper pad!

And don't forget to enter for a chance to win my blog candy HERE.

xXx

It's Blog Candy Time

Hi Everyone - I've been feeling a little guilty because I've been such a BAD blogging friend lately so I've decided to have a little give away to say sorry!!! I'm hoping to get back on track and stop by and visit all my friends soooooon - I miss you and all the amazing inspiration you offer!!! Life just gets in the way sometimes!

But in the meantime I have this little parcel of crafting goodness for one of you. Just leave me a comment for a chance to win - that's it - and I'll announce the winner in 2 weeks time on Monday 7th March!

Good luck everyone

xXx

CANDY IS NOW CLOSED - AM OFF TO DRAW THE WINNER

A Fiery Red Head from La-La Land Crafts

Edit - for those of you that asked - sorry I really should start adding my colour list - will try harder!

Copic Colors for Marci's hair:YR00, YR04, YR07 and E08

When I started to colour up this cutie from La La Land Crafts I decided I hadn't honoured all the gorgeous redheads out there recently! I tend to stick to brunettes - with the occasional blonde - so it was time to try out a redheaded gal - I reckon it suits this little Marci - but maybe I should have added a few freckles - LOL.

This cutie is Sweetheart Marci and you can get her in rubber HERE or as a digi HERE.

This was one of those times when I coloured my image first and THEN went to look for DP in my stash to hopefully match (I do this more often than not actually). I was rapt when I discovered my neglected Kaisercraft Lush paper Pad - it was a perfect fit!

xXx

Just INKlined Meets Sketch Saturday

This week for my GDT spot for Sketch Saturday I've chosen an image from Just INKlined. I seem to be in baby card making mode at the moment with several of my friends expecting in the coming weeks. This image is called "Jenny Mum" - available HERE - and I think she would be fabulous for a baby shower too. 

My DP and sentiment are from Stampin'Up and the tag was cut using a cuttlebug die - I love this die because you can cut a contrasting frame too. It's part of one of the CB alphas and I'm glad I went through and looked at them again because I had forgotten this was there!

Hope you can come along and play with us at Sketch Saturday this week too - and check out the blog HERE for some incredible inspiration from the DT.

xXx

Mo's DT Blog Hop - Monochrome

This month Mo's Dream Team blog hop is being hosted by the incredibly talented Mina and she's challenged us to go monochromatic. I decided this theme would be a wonderful excuse to get a baby card made as I have a couple of friends who are expecting any day now - in fact I just learned that one of them had a baby boy - so I'm hoping the law of averages will be kind and let the other one be a girl - LOL.

You should have hopped here from Alice's blog - who I'm sure had something AMAZING for you to see.

For my Pretty in Pink Baby card I used one of Mo's gorgeous baby images - this one is "Baby Girl, Wispy Hair" and you can find her HERE. She's also available with curly hair or bald AND there are baby boys too.  My DP, Kraft taffeta ribbon and sentiment are all from Stampin' Up.

And don't forget if you want to see regular inspiration from Mo's Dream Team you can check out our blog HERE.

I'm the last stop on this colourful hop so head back to the start at Mina's Blog if you missed out on any stops.

And here's the complete hop order in case you get lost along the way - all of the blog links are on my left sidebar under Mo's banner.

Mina, Elaine, Arielle, Jak, Heidy, Maya, Alice, ME

xXx

Time For Another Boy's Card

With a son on the verge of entering the teenage years I decided I needed some less "cute" boy's cards in my stash. My son also recently lost his very last baby tooth so this guy really appealed to me - meet "Toothy Kid" from Just INKlined - you can find him instore HERE. And the BEST news!!!! All Just INKlined images are now only ONE British Pound EACH (about $1.60) - that's just CRAZY!!! You'll notice a change instore as Just INKlined has moved and is now proudly part of the La Pashe online site.

I've used this week's fabulous sketch from Friday Sketchers for my layout. If you're wondering what punch I used for the border it's my MS Halloween fence punch - just upside down and with only the top of the railings showing. Most of my other punches were a bit too swirly for on here - and I think these look a little like teeth which ties in with my image - LOL.

xXx

Magnolia Down Under #83 - A Sketch

This is my second post for the day - please scroll down for my TPS Release Day Blog Hop card.

This week at Magnolia Down Under Challenges we have a sketch by our very own Kristy Young- aka Princess! The sketch has a nautical theme but that doesn't mean your card has too - LOL. And as you can see I've twisted the layers a little - I seem to have a problem laying things straight - must be my warped mind ; ) There was some discussion amongst the MDUC DT about the fact that this poor Edwin hasn't seen much love - so I thought I would fix that and ink him up - a challenge for me as I'm not great with male cards.

I used some DP from one of my newest Basic Grey pads, this one is Granola. The heart faux button was also made using the same DP though I wish I'd chosen a darker pattern - ah well!

The hearts and corners have been cut using my cuttlebug dies and I've embossed the top background layer with my Tim Holtz brick wall folder. I always find it hard doing male cards as I like to add embellishments and glitz - but I'm happy with how this one turned out!

And don't forget to pop over to the MDUC blog and check out the inspiration from the rest of the DT.

xXx

Tickled Pink Stamps Release Day Blog Hop

YAY - it's release day over at Tickled Pink Stamps and we're celebrating with a DT blog hop. You should have arrived here from the lovely Angela's blog - but if you want to head back to the start head back to the amazing Amy's blog.

Today I've used the fabulous new Kira the Fairy illustrated by the divine Christina Dee. I thought this gal had some attitude so I've gone with dark pinks and black - perfect for a teenage girl who still loves a bit of fairy dust -LOL! The sentiment is a quote I found on the internet - but I forgot to write down who said it - DOH! The DP I've used is from Memory Box.

I'm also GDT for this week's Paper Sundaes Challenge and Tickled Pink Stamps is proudly sponsoring. Now I can't tell you WHAT the challenge is yet because it doesn't go live until later today - February 13th, 2011 8am EST - but you can always see if you can guess what it is by checking out my card - LOL.

The next stop on your hop is the delightful Emma's blog - and don't forget this new release is on sale now at the store HERE.

In case you get lost along the way here's the hop list - most of the links are on my left sidebar under the TPS logo - I've linked the ones that aren't there...

Amy, Angela, Debbie, Emma, Fran, Jane, Karen, Kylie C aka Brown, Kylie K aka Blondie, Magali, Stephanne, Yani, Cathy Lee, TPS Blog

xXx

Doctor Marci Meets Sketch Saturday

Today I have another of the the CHA releases from La-La Land Crafts to show you - these guys are available for a limited time only as digis HERE. This is the adorable Doctor Marci and she's also playing along with Sketch Saturday. I'm having a blast being a GDT on these two fabulous teams. With the cute image, pastel colours, glitter and flowers I'm hoping this will end up brightening someone's day when they need it!

My DP is from 7 Gypsies and the ticket sentiments are digis from Bizzy Becs - which is great because you can print them any size you like! I've used my clear spica pen on the headlamp to make it look like it's alight. I LOVE my spica pens but boy I wish they would photograph - at least you can see glimpses of glitter from the stickles!

Hope you can join us over at Sketch Saturday this week!

xXx

Last day of TPS previews - Walking Wilfred

WOW - we're up to our last preview day for this month's releases from Tickled Pink Stamps which means tomorrow they go on sale and we celebrate with a blog hop - woohoooo. This little guy is Walking Wilfred - another cute Aussie wombat designed for TPS by Marina Neira. My DP is Websters and the gorgeous base flowers are from Prima.

Now for a bit of news - I'm sorry guys but today Kellie has decided NOT to offer this guy up as a prize for someone who comments on the TPS Blog - instead she has decided to GIVE this image away as a FREEBIE - woooohooooooooo! So pop over to the TPS blog and find out how you can grab this little guy!

xXx

Tickled Pink Stamps Preview - Sad Wilfred

It's another preview day over at Tickled Pink Stamps. Today is Preview Day 3 of 6 - so if you've missed the first 2 be sure to pop over to the TPS blog and check out the previous previews - we have a fabulous mixed bag of images for you this release. Today we'd like you to meet Sad Wilfred. He's such a cutie with the tears welling up in his eyes. I've given the tears a realistic shine my using my clear spica pen and then overlaying it with my glaze pen. I used this week's Friday Sketcher's sketch and turned it 90o for my layout.

Sad Wilfred and all the other new release stamps will be available for purchase from Sunday, 13th February when we celebrate release day with a DT hop - wooohoooo! And don't forget to check out the TPS blog for a chance to win these gorgeous images.

xXx

Happy 13th Birthday Rio

Today is Rio's 13th birthday and I've used the special limited time release image that her mum Betty from Simply Betty Stamps had commissioned for this special day. I recently posted THIS story about how this gorgeous girl had asked for her birthday money to be given to the local children's hospital instead of being spent on a trip to Disneyland. All profits from the sale of this image will also be donated to the hospital!

Betty asked if people could use the image and send the card on to Rio as a surprise for her kindness and this is the card I've sent on. I asked Betty what Rio's favourite colours were and she said lime green, hot pink and orange - WOW BRIGHT!!!! - well 2 out of 3 ain't bad - LOL. So if you need to pop on your sunglasses you can blame it on Rio ; )

I saw these gorgeous DPs on my friend Cheryl's blog and hope she won't mind me using them too - they were perfect as they have already mixed some of Rio's favourite colours together. They are a freebie digital set from Sky Scraps - available HERE. They come with lots of fun embellishment bits to layer on - like the zipper I used. I had a lot of fun adding some of these elements to my background before printing off extra flowers to cut out layer up over the printed one. The best part is I could add all these elements and only had to print out one sheet - it saved a HEAP on international postage over my multi-layered cards!

Anyhow - I hope Rio likes her surprise and I KNOW the children at the hospital are going to LOVE Rio's generosity.

Happy Birthday Rio!

xXx

Time to Get Hopping With Just INKlined

It's the first Monday of the month and that means it's the Just INKlined DTs blog hop day! This month our wonderful hostess is Cathy and she is feeling all romantic and has chosen the theme Love - so we're feeling all loved up over at Just INKlined today - LOL.

The hop starts at Cathy's blog but you should have arrived here from Meesh's blog.

Recently in the news I saw the story of an elderly couple who had just gotten married for the second time. They had married during WW2 but had divorced not long after the war ended - only to have become reunited in recent years. It only goes to show that you're never too old to find love! When I saw this image it reminded me of this news story and seemed perfect for this month's theme. Meet Ted and Agnes and they are available HERE.

I've used DP from Kaiser's Le Chateau collection and a white tissue paper scrunched flower glitzed up with some gold glimmermist. I've also used my clear spica pen to add some subtle bridal sparkle to Agnes' veil, and have used my glaze pen on the champagne flutes and Agnes' glasses. It's a shame you can't see these details in my photo though!

Your next lovin' stop on the hop is Jak's blog.

In case you get lost along the way here's the order of the hop - and you can find all their blog links on my left sidebar under the Just INKlined logo...

Cathy, Joyce, Toni, Karen, Jeni, Lydia, Meeshe, Debbie, Jak, Mina

xXx

Time Out For Friends!

I've merged two gorgeous images here - Mo Manning's "Catching Up" available HERE, with Make It Crafty's Swing from the Help for Katie Fundraising pack sold HERE. Mo specifically drew these cuties with this swing in mind but if you don't have it then they also come sitting on a picnic rug- the combined image is available HERE for those people who don't like to merging. I've seen this swing used with other sitting images too - it's sooo versatile and just gorgeous too boot!

And in case you didn't know you have until February 20th to enter Jak's fabulous competition using any of the fundraiser images - check it out HERE - there are some fabulous prizes on offer!

With my card I thought the image had enough detail in it and was large enough that I didn't need to add too much embellishment - although the sweet daisy lace was perfect for the two little friends! I've also added some star dust stickles around the edges.

xXx

Guest DT for Sketch Saturday

YAY - guess who's the GDT for Sketch Saturday for the month of February - ME!!! And this is a very special week for me to join in as Tickled Pink Stamps is sponsoring - woohooo - double fun for me and TPS prizes on offer for YOU!

Anyhow - here is this week's fabulous sketch and I've use Valentine Luca and Kellita from TPS and merged them together for a romantic liason - aren't they the most adorable couple?!?! I've given Luca a yellow rose to hold - because for some reason that has always been my favourite colour in roses. The DP is from Kaiser, their Le Chateau paper pad - I love the mix of blues, browns and black in this pad.

I hope you can join in with us using this fabulous sketch. Sketch Saturday has always been one of my first "go to" places when I need some inspiration for a layout so I'm soo excited to be playing along with this fantastic DT - thanx for having me!

xXx

Pilot Luka

Meet Pilot Luka - another of La-La Land Crafts latest releases - available HERE in digital form - the rubber is still about 3 weeks away for those you want to know!

What kid hasn't used a cardboard box to play pretend in - although coming from an all girl family the boxes in our house tended to be used to make "shops" or "houses" rather than aeroplanes - LOL. And how fun is it to see Luka's dog Tuffy going along for the ride! I used some Liquid Applique on his fur collar and hat to add some dimension.

xXx

La-La Land Crafts CHA Releases - Now Available as Digis

La-La Land Crafts recently took part in CHA and the DT were asked to create some cards for the display. It's been sooo hard to keep these cuties a secret but now we can start showing them to you. This one is Magician Luka and you gotta love his tight curls. I decided he looked like my kids when they put on a "pretend" show for us - so I created a stage for him - every magician needs a stage, just like my kids did when they hung sheets up over the washing line for their productions!

The LLLC team had a BLAST at CHA - and I know I'm not the only one pretending NOT to be jealous - LOL!!! And now CHA is over they want to celebrate with the release of SEVEN new images - now available for you to purchase as digital images HERE -  meet the PLAY TIME Collection plus a newest La-La Land family member, Ally!!!

So, without further ado, please make way for:.....

Chef Marci

Doctor Marci

Magician Luka

Pilot Luka

Sitting Marci

Capri Marci

and as promised, the newest member of La-La Land family member, from the NEW Girlfriends Collection - this is Ally!!!

To purchase any or ALL of these stamps, please go to the DIGIs page or simply click HERE!!

Do you like rubber stamps better?? Don't fear.. All of these images will be available in rubber in just three short weeks!!

xXx

New Zealand Holiday

Hi everyone,

Just in case you've been wondering why I've been so quiet lately I thought I'd show you what I've been up too. I was on a 2 week family holiday on the magnificent South Island of New Zealand. My hubby and I had been there before - about 22 years ago - but it's such an amazingly majestic place to visit and we thought the kids would enjoy it too, especially as my son loves the Lord of the Rings movies and we would be passing through the countryside it was filmed in. I had hoped to pop photos in as we travelled around - but internet acces wasn't great so now I'm doing one big post - I'll try to pick out the highlights and not bore you though - LOL.

We landed in Christchurch and the next day there was a market in the Cathedral square. The kids loved looking at all the hand carved stone, shell and bone - most of the carvings are in traditional shapes which have specific meanings.

A lot of the city is held together with bracing and scaffolding as a result of the recent earthquakes - and we were rudely awaken at 6am on our last morning there by a 5.1 earthquake - we don't live in an earthquake zone and have decided we are happy to forgo this pleasure after this experience!!!

Our next stop was Queenstown - where we rode on the Shotover River on a jet boat - such FUN! This is the gorge we jetted through - with the driver taking great delight in getting as close to the rocks as possible!!! Richard and the kids also went quad biking - while Sarah and Richard voluntarily jumped off a 60m plus high cliff face doing the canyon swing - CRAZY!!!!!

We also rode up the gondola to the lookout over the town.

It really is a spectacular place to visit with all of it's glacial valleys and fjords!!!!

We had really fabulous weather in Queenstown but our timetable was pretty tight and unfortunately the weather turned nasty the day we went to Milford Sound. The upside was that the walls of the cliffs were just streaming with hundreds of waterfalls - the drive in was AMAZING, although my kids have decided they don't EVER need to see another waterfall -  LOL.

We were  on the last boat trip for the day around the Sound - the weather was getting pretty nasty - the wind was blowing soo hard the some of the waterfalls were being blown back up the cliffs. Poor Toby got a little seasick with the rough water.

We also went into the Te Anau glow-worm caves - a fabulous experience for all!

Our last big adventure on the trip was a half day hike up onto Fox Glacier. Here we all are at the top of the hike - it was an incredible experience but I have to say it was a whole lot easier when I did it 22 years ago - LOL. The hired hiking boots we had to wear gave me a shocking blister though - and my poor legs just didn't want to work properly for the next couple of days - I'm sooooo unfit.

Well that's my trip in a nutshell - now to catch up on all the washing, emails and getting my son ready to start High School on Friday. And then it's back to CREATING and blogging!!! My poor copics are looking all sad and neglected and I'm hoping they'll behave when I start using them again - LOL.

xXx