Christmas Bauble

I worked on a Christmas card over the weekend. I had a few comments here at home which confirmed my belief that it wasn't one of my finer achievements, but you get that! I took note, made an adjustment or two, and voila...

I love the colour combo, and enjoyed quietly tinkering with some of my new toys!

While I'm here, I thought I'd also point out that I have again used the gorgeous Annabelle Stamps: Cuts By Design - Borders 1 die to emboss rather than using it to create a die cut. I really love the intricate embossed pattern that it creates, but will endeavour to use it as a die next time I get it out :-)!

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Cherry Cobbler and Brushed Gold (SU);
Ink: Elegant Eggplant and Cherry Cobbler Classic Inks (SU);
Stamps: Decorated Christmas (Annabelle Stamps) and BBD - 6 (Annabelle Stamps);
Dies: Cuts By Design - Decorated Christmas (Annabelle Stamps) and Cuts By Design - Borders 1 (Annabelle Stamps);
Accessories: Purple Hemp Twine (Annabelle Stamps), Gold Leaf Pen (misc), Washi Tapes - various (Washimatta), Gold Cord (SU) and Gold Wire (SU).

Blogged to: Around the World - Daft Punk, Beautiful Day - U2, In The Night - Pet Shop Boys and Walk This Way - Aerosmith and Run-DMC.

Beautiful goodies in the mail...

Would you like to see some beautiful goodies that came in the mail for me this week? Gorgeous crafty goods from Annabelle Stamps AND deliciously fragrant candles from Elixir Natural Candles on Etsy.

I bought peppermint tealights from Elixir because I've been thinking about Christmas, and they make the house smell and feel like Christmas! I was going to stow them safely in a cupboard ready for December, but the fragrance was so, so enticing I had to light some up straight away...and I might have used two or three already.....so I guess I'll be shopping for more peppermint tealights soon.

Then, I could hardly wait to have 30 minutes to myself today to take out my Annabelle goodies and create some gift wrapping. I thought my delicious peppermint tealights would also make someone a lovely gift. They come elegantly boxed from Elixir, but I felt like playing around with them anyway...you know, any excuse ;-). This is what I have come up with...

For the card and matching wrapping I have used Decorated Christmas to stamp the flower centre in orange ink on orange cardstock. The flower petals and centre have been created using orange and purple hemp twine, and the kraft layer has been embossed using the Borders 1 Cuts by Design die. The  Happy Birthday sentiment is from the pretty Fanciful Flowers set. I am very pleased with the end result.

If you are interested in how I made the hemp twine flower...take a quick peek at the back...

I just lay down some tape, and then looped the purple twine straight off the roll, and around the circle edge, sticking it down as I went. It really is very simple and quick, sure you use a lot of twine, but it is very reasonably priced. I then taped over the purple twine with some heavy duty, double-sided tape and repeated the process with the orange twine, making slightly larger loops this time around. Hey presto, twine flower!

I'd like to take this chance to thank Andrea (Annabelle Stamps) and Lisa (Elixir Natural Candles) for providing beautiful products for me to use, and for providing first-rate, friendly customer service. I'll be back girls :-).

To finish off....a daisy, a real one, just because!

Blogged to: Stronger - Kelly Clarkson, Cry in Shame - Diesel, Africa - Toto and Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus.

Awesome Ormiston Gorge

I thought I'd jump on here quickly and post some pictures of the beautiful Ormiston Gorge. We ventured out there today, and despite the 35 degree temps, it was a wonderful outing and one I hope to do again some time!

Just stunning! The kids went swimming too, brave little souls that they are!

Blogged to: Bust a Move - Young MC, Telephone - Lady GaGa & Beyoncé, When We Stand Together - Nickelback and Pump Up the Volume - Colourbox.

A Colourful Thank You...

This week I have used the Annabelle Stamps - 'Say It With...Thanks' challenge to fuel my crafting imagination:

....and it worked a treat. I am happy with this bright, and slightly off-beat creation:

I have used Boys Party and BBD5 stamps, Shapes 1 and Borders 1 Cuts by Design and Light Blue Hemp Twine and Raspberry Sprinkles......all off which are by Annabelle Stamps.

Thanks for a fun challenge and all the inspiration girls!

We are having a lovely little heat-wave here today, with a deliciously dry 38 degrees celcius making the pool look very inviting indeed. Even this little backyard resident looks like he wouldn't mind taking a dip ;-).

Hope you are having a colourful weekend at your place!

Blogged to: Con Te Partirò - Andrea Bocelli, Afro Circus / I Like To Move It - Chris Rock & Danny Jacobs and Non Je Ne Regrette Rien - Frances McDormand (guess who saw Madagascar 3 this week?...it was fun!).

What flavour is your crafting cordial?

I thought it'd be longer before I could show you this project (as it only went in the mail on Tuesday), but apparently it arrived at its destination today.....so it's all good to go.

This is a very simple card, because I've been feel a bit craft-challenged of late. I think I might need to change the flavour of my cordial or something (especially given my last goofey creation ;-)...

The earrings were part of the birthday gift that accompanied the card. I made them using pretty lampwork cube beads by Blue Seraphim on Etsy. My wire wrapping could be a bit tidier. But I'm getting there!

Back to the subject of mail...I've discovered a little something about the journey mail takes in and out of Central Australia. Apparently, it comes via rail from Adelaide, and road before that.....and this is why I've been sitting around wondering what the camels have been doing with my parcels! Most of my mail from the east coast has been taking about 2 weeks to get here.....and given it's been travelling by road and rail to get here, it's no wonder! So, for this latest package I splurged the extra three dollars for express post, and hey presto! Two days in transit!!!!! Me likey :-).

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Early Expresso, Pool Party and Whisper White (SU);
Ink: Timber Brown Stazon (Tsukineko);
Stamps: Shape It Up (Annabelle Stamps);
Punches: 1 inch Circle Punch (SU);
Accessories: White Gel Pen (misc), Paper Piercer (misc), Designer Buttons - Playground (SU), Patterned Paper (misc) and Hemp Twine - Turquoise (Annabelle Stamps).

Blogged to: All Night Long - Lionel Richie, Sweet Talkin' Woman - Electric Light Orchestra, What is Love - Howard Jones and Forever Young - Youth Group.

Devilled Egg Anyone...?

Perhaps a Halloween Mr Potato Head? Hubby reckons I need to send this one to a psychologist for evaluation. How rude is he?!

I decided I'd play along with this week's Just Add Ink sketch challenge #137:

...and this is my card (I've turned the sketch on its side):

Given Thumper has been doing double-time, dragging a Mr Potato head around the house this week (and I've been finding its body parts everywhere...including the shower stall), along with the fact that Halloween is soon and the kids plan on going trick or treating for the first time ever...well, it's no surprise to me that this is the card I ended up with today. I think I can save myself the $$...no psych needed. It is a weird card, no question about it, but weird people make weird cards. I don't need a psych degree for that diagnosis either.

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White and Riding Hood Red (SU);
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko);
Stamps: Occasional Greetings (SU);
Punches: Small Oval for pupils, eyebrows and nose (SU) and Small Egg for hair (EK Success);
Accessories: Neutrals Patterns Stack DSP (SU), White Gel Pen (misc), Paper Piercer (misc), Nestabilities Oval Dies for eyes (Spellbinders), Nestabilities Egg Dies for body and tongue (Spellbinders), Umbrella Die for horns and tail (My Favourite Things), MyStik (Scrapbook Adhesives) and Dimensionals (SU).

Thanks for visiting!

Blogged to: Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival, Thriller - Michael Jackson, Psycho Killer - Talking Heads, Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Time Warp - Little Nell, Patricia Quinn & Richard O'Brien.

Annabelle Stamps Sketch Challenge

Hey there tourers of blogland! What's the weather like in your neck of the woods? We had what I think amounted to a Central Australian downpour today. I counted 68 rain drops!! I'll try not to get too excited, we had about 55 drops last night. Heady times ;-).

The little Thump-meister had a lovely long midday nap, so I snuck off to the craft corner and had a wee bit of a play. I decided to use this week's Annabelle Stamps sketch challenge to get me going:

...and this is my card:

This is the first time I have coloured a stamped image with Prismacolour pencils, and given I could barely see what I was doing (shocking lights...I need a floor lamp badly) I am pretty happy with the outcome.

It looks like the storm has been and gone here. I wonder if those drops actually count as rain up here? As it was 36 degrees celcius (or thereabouts) here today, I imagine there were more but they most likely evaporated before they hit the ground!!

Project Recipe:

Stamps: Santa's Star (Annabelle Stamps) and BBD 5 - Background Dots (Annabelle Stamps);
Cardstock: Early Expresso, Riding Hood Red and Kraft (SU);

Ink: Memento Timber Brown (Tsukineko) and Riding Hood Red Classic Ink (SU);

Dies: Cuts by Design - Shapes 1 (Annabelle Stamps); and
Accessories: Hemp Twine - Lime (Annabelle Stamps), Prismacolour Pencils, White Gel Pen (misc), Paper Piercer (misc), Silver Eyelet (misc) and Dimensionals (SU).

Blogged to: Out of Mind Out of Sight - Models, You Might Think - The Cars, Science Fiction - Divinyls and Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon.

Meet Me at the Comfort Cafe...

Here is another little project I have been working on, some Comfort Cafe quilted placemats....because I love, love the fabric (which is by Stampin' Up!) and wanted to have some of it around the house!

Isn't it pretty?

These are my quilted placemats, I've made two so far (the hand stitching of the binding on the underside took a while)...

I think I have enough fabric leftover for a small, matching table runner too (I bought three packets of the fabric), so that'll be the next project.

I was scared of the mitred corners (it's been a looong time since I did Textiles and Design in high school, where I first learned how) but I used a super simple tutorial by Heather Bailey for continuous quilt binding, and after that it was a piece of cake! Thanks Heather.

Now it's about time I went and ate those tempura prawn sushi rolls. Yummy!

Blogged to: Hard Rock Cafe - Carole King, Rozanne - The Police, Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve and Bad Romance - Lady Gaga.

Going Dotty?

It has been a very, very busy few weeks here. We had family visiting for a couple of weeks, and Master 6 and I also had to travel to Sydney for an appointment (yeah, that was an expensive little soiree)!

But now things are quietening down a little. I am still in my jimmyjams at 9:30 am, and that is ok! There hasn't been much craft going on here though. A little stitching [as Master 6 refers to all endeavours using my sewing machine...."Mum, what are you stitching?", and when I make the machine go faster... "Mum, you are a really good stitcher"...so cute] but you'll have to wait for another day to see that project, some crochet (those gazillion ripples are almost finished....just in time for a 40+ summer :-) and some painting...yes painting!!

There are lots of galleries up here and it is hard not to have dot paintings on your mind when you see them pretty much everywhere you go. The shopping centres, the restaurants and in the homes of pretty much everyone you meet. The kids even do them at school! So I had to go to the local discount store and get me some canvas and try this out for myself. You'd be surprised at how relaxing dotting is, even with the ever-roaming tentacles of wee Thumper, hovering, just waiting for you to leave an open paint tube too close to the bench edge. He has a radar for such things....it is like an inbuilt homing device which is activated the minute you leave a 'danger' drawer, or cupboard or door open. He literally flies across the room to investigate. It is uncanny! But I digress. Dot painting...me likey! My product is not going to win any awards, but I like the colours, and patterns. If you need to know about the symbology....just accept that this is what the inside of my head looks like on any given day. Random!

The canvas measures 25 x 25 cm, and I used Kaisercolour acrylic paints which I picked up ages ago...somewhere (Go Lo maybe). I have just prepared some little canvasses for the kids too and am waiting for the black background to dry before they create their own mini-masterpieces.

Have a lovely weekend...

Blogged to: Blue Monday 88 - New Order, Brave - Kate Ceberano, Early Warning - Baby Animals and Barbados - Models.