I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, I promise....!

I've just been busy with Life stuff! Holiday, packing for holiday, unpacking from Holiday.....you know the drill.

I have a couple of things to show you. First, a card I made for my parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary (do you recognise the layout and colour scheme from page 21 of the IB&C?)

Congrats, Mum and Dad!

Ingredients: (All Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated)

Stamps: En Francais, Cheer & Wishes, Botanical Blooms (retired),

Paper: Certainly Celery, Garden Green, Regal Rose, Whisper White

Ink: Garden Green, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Certainly Celery

Accessories: Edge Distressing Tool, Pastels, Sponge Dauber, Nestabilities Oval and Scalloped Oval Dies, Cuttlebug Machine, pearls from Pretties Kit.

Next is a "Stepper Box" I saw on Sam Post's blog - the directions are from Stampin' Terri's blog here - it was quite easy, but looks hard. I'm going to make more of these, they are fun! I used Baja Breeze DSP, Baja Breeze cardstock, ribbon and felt flower, baja corduroy button, plus a flower from the Pretties Kit to decorate the lid.

Next is a double 12 x 12 page scrapbooking layout I did of our New Zealand holiday. It is based on a Becky Higgins' Sketch (from the US Magazine, Creating Keepsakes). I like using sketches on 12 x 12 pages, because I feel overwhelmed about where to start otherwise. Becky's sketches are usually for multiple photographs too, which I love, as I can never take less than 100 photos of any occasion. All paper and ink is Stampin' Up! Here's a detail of the accents and embellishments I used - a snowflake stamp from "Occasionally" and "Short & Sweet" with Kaisercraft adhesive rhinestones, and snowflakes I die cut out of vellum with my Cricut Expressions machine. I also used the Cricut to cut out the title.

Ingredients: Baja Breeze 12 x 12 Cardstock, vellum, Whisper White and Basic Black Cardstock, Stayzon Opaque White ink, Kaisercraft adhesive rhinestones, Accents and Elements Cartridge, Doodletype Cartridge, Cricut Expressions.

I have a few more things to show and tell, but that's for another post.

Have a wonderful week!

Father's Day is coming soon

...so I got me a head start with these cards! I am playing around with some ideas for my upcoming Stamp-A-Stack, and thought I'd do something other than the traditional blue or brown card that one usually associates with a Father's Day card.

While I was at it, I used the scraps to make a birthday card for a lovely young man who will be 8 years old shortly.

I LOVE Circle Circus; I think it is one of the most versatile sets in the entire catalogue.

Materials used:

Paper: Kraft, Pumpkin Pie, Kiwi Kiss, Real Red cardstock

Ink: Versamark, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red

Stamps: Occasional Greetings, Circle Circus

Other: Twine, Spiral punch, Earth Elements Eyelets (retired), Bold Bright Eyelets (retired), Crop-A-Dile

I'm sad about the eyelets being retired; but I had a stack of them that I needed to use up since I can't use them in workshops anymore. I like the look! I can see a scrapbook page featuring the eyelets....hmmmm.

We're Back in the Land of Aus!

We had a lovely family holiday in Queenstown, NZ - the kids saw snow for the first time, my husband and I refreshed our extremely rusty skiing experience, and we enjoyed each other's company for a whole, uninterrupted week. Bliss. OK, a two year old on a plane is never going to be fun, but it wasn't that bad. Waiting for luggage and customs with the same 2 year old who has been sitting still on a plane for four hours is much worse, mainly because you have to wait for the stroller to come off the plane before you can restrain him again! Poor little man.

Apart from that, it really was a lot of fun. Here's a family photo to prove it!

Thank you for your well wishes for our holiday, I was very appreciative - and to my Twitter Stalker (wink), I only wish I'd discovered the free WiFi in Queenstown a little sooner than our last day! D'oh!

While I was away, I missed my Goddaughter Tess' 3rd birthday completely, so I whipped up a card and matching wrapping paper this morning (when I should have been doing more unpacking and laundry, urgh). I've used Petal Pizzazz (which replaced the beloved Bodacious Bouquet in the IB&C) and the fun single birthday greeting from the Spring Mini, Birthday Wish. That's right, SINGLE stamp ($13.95) instead of a set.

I'd best hop off the puter now and get back to the dirty laundry (urgh again). Have a great day! I'm hoping to organise a class or too before the end of the month, so stay tuned!

Trying a New Look

and procrastinating because I ought to be doing a million other things!

Also, just letting my customers know I will be away and unavailable to process any orders until we return from New Zealand on the 15th August. I'm sure there will be many hilarious stories to tell about travelling with four children when I return!

The Spring Mini Is Here!

Whoops! Forgot to update on 1st August to confirm that the Spring Mini is now on, and you can see it HERE online. If you'd like me to mail you one, just let me know!