I have scrapped!!!  It’s a very rare event event in my household as scrapping does not come naturally to me however I thoroughly enjoyed making these pages of my boys on our recent holiday to Kalbarri.  I must have been enjoying myself because I was only going to try one and ended up doing a double page spread.  

The colours of the rock formations up at Nature’s Window in the Kalbarri National Park are just incredible and I actually managed to get half decent photos of the boys as well!

This is our cheeky monkey Sam…  

This is our big boy Matt.  I love this photo because he’s looking away from the camera and looks deep in thought (which is very like him)…

Stamp set:  Circle Circus
Cardstock:  Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango
Inks:  Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango
Accessories:  Pacific Point & Kiwi Kiss Patterns DSP, Mat pack, silver hodgepodge, cutter kit distressing tool, 1 3/8″ circle punch, 1 1/4″ circle punch, 1″ circle punch, spiral punch, tag punch, Old Olive wide ribbon

Yes they have matching hats!  I know, I know but they needed new broad rimmed camping hats and I had to buy Billabong ones just to get them to wear them!  Man, they are growing up.

Let me know what you think and if I should keep trying or give up now!

Cheers

I am so excited to be able to share this news with you!  The 2009 Stamp-a-thon to stamp out Breast Cancer is just around the corner so read on to find out how you can help support a wonderful cause and have a fantastic time doing it!

As most of you know I am a Breast Cancer survivor, having fought the good fight twice in the past 5 years.  I was first diagnosed in 2004 when my youngest boy Sam was 9 months old and Matt was about to commence kindy.  I had surgery, chemo and radiation and was basically down for the count for almost a year, then in 2007 I was diagnosed with a recurrence in the same breast and chose to have a double mastectomy, chemo and radiation again and was out of action for a long time during my treatment.  It was a difficult time that I would not wish on anyone but it was also a time of great strength and tremendous friendships and support from those around me.  I had an overwhelming amount of support from my family, friends and school community which still touches me now when I think about the food rosters, the school pick ups and the general offers of help for myself and my family.  I am grateful everyday for these wonderful people in my life and the support they continue to show me. 

I have said many times that since joining Stampin’ Up! I have made some incredible friendships and that this was a bonus I had not expected when I joined.  The joy I get from stamping is nothing compared to the joy I receive from these gorgeous friends who now stretch Australia wide.

One of these special people is Makeesha Byl and you’ve often heard me talk of her or mention her blog challenges etc.   Upon me telling her of my recurrence in 2007, Keesh was so upset by my news she decided to do something to support Breast Cancer research and started up a Stamp-a-thon to raise money.  Her thoughts were ‘let’s do what we love best and raise some money” and the first event was such a hit that she repeated it again last year.  As each year our love for stamping grows, the response increases and this year she has asked for help.    

You can read more about the past Stamp-a-thon’s here

We have received positive response from the Foundation about the event as well as support from Stampin’Up! 

THE DETAILS

 Where: Free Reformed Church Armadale – Church Hall, 84 Fifth Road, Armadale

Time: 9:30am - 4:30pm

When: 1st August 2009

Cost: $60 for the day inc, all projects & materials, Morning and Afternoon tea & Lunch, as well as a $10 gift voucher to be redeemed on the day.

 WHAT ARE WE DOING?

We will be making 8 different projects using a variety of stamp sets, colours, and accessories throughout the day.

You will be provided with all pre-cut materials to make the projects.

There will be demo boards with a variety of projects for your viewing, so make sure you bring a digital camera!

Door prizes, silent auctions and more!

 You will need to send in a registration form and upfront payment to attend the Stamp-a-thon. So don’t miss out, send yours in today! You will need a moderate level of stamping to complete the projects. Ages 15 & up.

ALL proceeds from sales made on the day plus demonstrator commissions will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation of Australia, together with any funds raised from silent auctions and part proceeds from the entrance fee. 

Click here  http://www.makeeshabyl.com.au/pics/stampathon.pdf to get your registration form and book your place today as places are strictly limited. 

I’d love to think that our efforts with the Stamp-a-thon will contribute to easing the burden of women with Breast Cancer and head towards finding a cure for this all too familiar disease.  Your support will be much appreciated.

Hi! Wow what a busy week I’ve had and it’s not over yet by a long shot. Workshops, meetings, school dance concert, cross country running, and the dreaded tax, not to mention school assembly and an excursion before the week is out. Time is certainly not standing still although the housework is!

Anyway, I just wanted to show you this gorgeous flowerpot gift box I made a few weeks back. They have been popping up here and there and as soon as I saw it I was itching to use the new Die Cut Blooms Again. What do you think?

Here is the side view so you can see the gift box.

I am going to be holding classes to make this flowerpot plus one other 3D item in my home on:

Wednesday, 22 July at 7.30pm and Friday, 24 July at 10am 

The cost of the class will be $15 with all materials included.  Please email or phone me to book your place today!  Places are limited.  I know this seems like a while away but thought it best to steer clear of school holidays and I’m sure the time will creep up on us before we know it.

Come along and enjoy some time out just for you and learn something new.

Cheers

Wow! I just got my very first blog award and then I blinked and I got another.

The lovely smiling, cheerful Charmaine gave me this award for inspiration which is much appreciated.

I am going to pass this award onto

Ngaire

Marelle

Karen

Yvonne

and right back at ya Charmaine!

These girls are an absolute inspriation to me in many ways, both in their artistic flair and their passion for life. I could list many many more but I’ll stop at that for now. 

Then I received this award from my gorgeous friend Keesh:

This one is a bit of fun and my idea for this award is that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! We all have such a wonderful time creating and sharing and whilst we all love to do that, we are also wives, mothers, daughters or sisters and sometimes we are juggling many balls in the air at once.  I guess we wouldn’t have it any other way either!  Thanks Keesh.

Tanya

Leonie

Sarah

Robyn

Makeesha

Ok so these are the rules.
1. Comment on this blog
2. Cut and paste the award logo and use it on your own blog.
3. Nominate 5 or more people you would like to receive the award
4. Link the nominees in your blog
5. Comment on their blog to advise them of the award
6. Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation.

Thank you Charmaine & Keesh and enjoy girls!

Enjoy girls. 

Hello again.  I seem to be running late with most things these days!  Oh well, here is my attempt at the Mojo Monday  for this week too.  At first I wasn’t so sure about this sketch but then i realised that’s why these are called ‘challenges’ so I perserved.  It didn’t come out quite like it was in my head but it’s ok.

Here is the sketch:

and here is my card:

Stamp sets:  Owl Together Now
Cardstock:  Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Pacific Point and Kiwi Kiss pattern series DSP, Scallop Punch, 1 1/4″ circle punch, 1 3/8″ circle punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, blender pens

Thanks for looking.  Have a great week!

Cheers

Me again. Whilst I should have been doing many other things this afternoon an idea popped into my head for a card I thought would be perfect for Keesh’s colour challenge which has actually finished now but thought it was worth posting anyway.

The colours were Certainly Celery, Pink Passion, Pumpkin Pie and Whisper White.

To make the ice cream cone I have used the large square punch and cut an angle on each edge to make the shape of the cone, then I’ve added three cut scallop circle punches using dimensionals to make the ice cream.  This was super quick and easy to make.  I saw the ice cream idea a long time ago when looking through some punch art ideas but can’t recall exactly where.  A great quick kids birthday card!

Right now back to preps for tomorrow’s workshop!  Bye for now.

Cheers

Hi all.  Sorry it’s been a while between posts but I’ve been trying to find my craft desk and sort out paint colours and carpets etc.  I’m not getting particularly far with the carpet but I’m just a bit over that for now so on with some crafting.

When I saw the Our Creative Corner challenge this week I decided to crack open some of my new DSP and have a go.  I love the new Sweet Always papers so thought I’d go with them and try a girlie card.

Here is this week’s sketch:

and here is my card:

Stamp sets:  Big Bold Birthday
Cardstock:  Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose
Accessories:  Sweet Always DSP, two way glue pen, Dazzling diamonds glitter, Word Window Punch, Regal Rose wide grosgrain ribbon, Pumpkin Pie and Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, Mat pack and paper piercer.

Unfortunately the lighting in my house is not the best and the dark and rainy day didn’t help much either but I can tell you it looks very pretty in real life.  It was nice to make such a girlie bright card.

Have a great day!

Cheers

Hi again.  I’m back this time with a colour challenge from one of the demonstrator forums I’m involved with.  The colours were Rose Red, Old Olive, Perfect Plum and Whisper White.  Well I have to say they were definitely a challenge for me and I found I had no designer paper with any of these colours so I was a bit stumped as I love to use DSP and find that is usually a good start for me.

I decided to go with the Fifth Avenue Floral and this is what I came up with.  Very simple but as the deadline was tonight and I’ve been trying to get around to it all week (in between carpet shopping), I didn’t leave myself much time to play. 

Stamp sets:  Fifth Avenue Floral, Level 1 hostess set Best Yet
Cardstock:  Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Whisper White
Accessories:  Wide Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, 1/14″ square punch, square scallop punch

Have a great end to the week.

Cheers

Well we’ve had a rather busy week in this house I have to say and it only looks like getting busier!  What was supposed to be a simple repaint of Matt’s (9) bedroom has become a rather large project of moving two bedrooms around and one of them was my craft room!  Needless to say, it took a good part of Saturday to move all my stuff out and unfortunately the shelving didn’t quite fit through the door so that all had to come apart and then be reassembled in the meals area so I could still operate in the interim.  We then patched and painted and decided to rip up the carpet as well so Matt is super excited!  Of course it means we’ve decided to repaint Sam’s room too and of course what will be my craft room and they’ll also get new carpet so it’s all fun and games with furniture scattered throughout the house while we strip the rooms. 

So…. last night after the boys were asleep and I knew I should be doing some culling of various kinds, I decided instead to sit down and tackle Keesh’s sketch challenge.  

Although it took me a while to find everything I needed I decided on Upsy Daisy and this is what I came up with.

Stamp set:  Upsy Daisy
Cardstock:  Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Whisper White, Urban Garden DSP
Inks:  Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose
Accessories:  1 1/4″ circle punch, 1 3/8″ circle punch, Baja Breeze wide double striped ribbon, two way glue stick, dazzling diamonds, clear rhinestone brads

I had best get back to sorting through things as this is the perfect opportunity to have a big clear out and something tells me Kindy is going to be very excited about the gorgeous empty box collection I have coming their way!

Cheers

I love the fact that Stampin’ Up! give us such great specials throughout the year and June and July are certainly going to be special if you take advantage of this great promotion!

Simply by hosting a workshop or demonstration or even showing the catalogue around to a few friends and reaching sales of $600 you will receive an EXTRA $40 of FREE PRODUCT!  With the regular hostess benefits that means you’d have a minimum of $110 to spend from the catalogue for FREE plus a Level 1 or Level 2 hostess set!

What a fantastic special!  This would be a great way to get that stamp set you’ve had your eye on for FREE! 

Contact me today to book your date.