Sweet Baby Girl

An old friend recently had her first baby - I'm so pleased for her!  LOL after four babies of my own you'd think I would have had enough, but no, I love new babies!

I made her a card, of course:

Stamps:  Nursery Necessities
Paper:  Sweet Always DSP, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose, chocolate chip
Other:  white grosgrain, soft subtles brads, scallop edge punch


I also forgot to show you the bag and gift tag I made for my Dad on Father's Day, so here it is:

a close up of the tag:

Stamps: Circle Circus, Best Yet

Paper:  Kiwi Kiss, Kraft, White Paper Bag (non SU)

Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss

Other:  Scallop Circle Punch, 13/8 inch circle punch, jumbo pewter eyelet, Crop-A-Dile, hemp twine, tangerine tango ribbon

It was very quick and easy to make, and used up some scraps I had lying around.  Looks effective though, don't you think?

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!

I'm quite Pleased With myself....

I have been wanting to make one of these collages for AGES, since I saw one on Ali Edward's blog, but couldn't find a suitable frame. Until now.

I found an 8x8 inch box frame at Spotlight, and using the gorgeous Bella Rose double sided papers from Stampin' Up! and a butterfly die that I got with my Cuttlebug a long time ago (before I discovered Stampin' Up!) I made this:

Recipe: Frame - Spotlight (Franchville 8x8)

Paper: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Bella Rose DSP

Ink: Close to Cocoa

Stamps: En Francais

Other: Cuttlebug, Provocraft Butterfly Die and embossing folders

If you look closely (click to enlarge) you'll notice I sponged the edges of the butterflies with Close to Cocoa ink, and I also used ink in the embossing folders, a nifty trick! I bent the wings a bit to get some texture and dimension and attached the butterflies with glue dots onto a sheet of whisper white cardstock.

As a dear friend of ours just had a baby girl, I decided it would make a lovely thing to hang in a little girl's room. My daughter got upset about that, so I made one for her room as well!

Then I made a card, linking the butterfly theme, and a bag topper (idea from Linda Craven) for the plain boring white paper bag I used as wrapping. (I also stamped white tissue paper with the butterfly from Dreams Du Jour, but I didn't photograph that.

Recipe: (All Materials Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated)

Paper: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Bella Rose DSP, White Paper Bag (unknown),

Stamps: Nursery Necessities, Punches Three

Ink: close to cocoa, riding hood red

Other: Chocolate Chip Stain Ribbon (retired from last year's Mini), Riding Hood Red taffeta, Wide Oval punch, Word Window punch, Butterfly Die and Cuttlebug from Provocraft, gold brads

All in all a fun and productive few hours on a rainy day!

I think this collage idea has endless possibilities - you could use chipboard, die cut shapes, punched out stars would look good in a boy's room.........

Two More

Yes, I managed to make another photo go sideways - how annoying! If you turn your head to the left, you can see that this card uses Cheep Talk to make a little "scene" and then the big bird from Good Friends is singing Happy Birthday. I love my Stampa-ma-jig! It makes life so much easier. If you are new to my blog or don't know what I'm talking about, see this post about the Stampa-ma-jig.

Here's the Bag-a-lope I made for a little present for my friend's birthday - I also stamped the envelope of the card to tie-in. Hope she likes it! You undo the blue ribbon to open.