Love is in the air...

It's the 29th of February, and every single man in the country is afraid for his life. Today is the day the female of the species gets to propose!! Only 1 day every 4 years, so make the most of it ladies, if for nothing else but to frighten the life out of your man ;)

Here is just a bit of what I'm working on now. ...



And this is a card I made for a challenge set by Brook on the CraftyScrapper forum. I used Rusty Pickle Princess Pirate papers, cardstock coupons and ribbon. I love how it turned out.

inside reads "Just call me the cutest little Princess, you've ever seen"

One from the Boy!

This is the card my little man, who's only 4, made for his cousin. He did the stamping and glueing, while I handled the cutting! I absolutely adore the stamp! Would it be cheeky to ask for it back so that i can keep it?? LOL!

Friday Night 30 minute challenge.

This is my contribution to the Challenge our Demented Housewife set today. New stamps and mojo on the missing list.. definately a challenge tonight. Of course my Dearest Darling Daughter made off with my corner punch (I've never found my scoring blade after she absconded with it!) but eventually I got it done.. on time no less!

It's pretty basic, as I'm still only learning how to make decent cards, but I like it! :)

Feel free to critique! ;)

And here is part two of the Challenge. Same thing.. had to use a new stamp but it had to be a friendship card.... something about the Demented housewife being mean to me today... LOL!

Running out of steam...

Well I haven't gotten very far with the new album, it's still pretty hectic around here and I'm running out of steam. Thankfully it's the end of the school week, so I won't be doing 4 school runs tomorrow. I did get to take pics of some of what I achieved though..... This is the Album I hadn't decided on a theme for, seems it themed itself after all ;)

I used the Bo Bunny Paris papers for this one.

Been workin away.....

Things have been pretty hectic over the last month or so. DH has been away, kids have been off school for mid term and the little one has been/still is cutting her last molars. It's a complete mystery as to how I got any 'crafty' time at all. But anyhoooo......

Over the past few days I've been working on another paperbag album. I haven't decided on a theme yet though... :( I don't think Valentines is particularly popular but my album is the right colour for Love/Valentine.. I shall ponder some more on it. I've got an idea for another album but need to get the right papers for it.

I've also completed a project for a challenge I decided to accept. I'm not sure that it's good enough to win, but I will let you know soon. Pics to follow (can't tip off the competition, you understand! LOL!) !!

I was so lucky today!!! I spotted, on ebay, some Maya Road chipboard albums. Not something I can get here, btw!!! So, I took the plunge and bought 2. I cannot wait to get them!!!!! I'm very excited about it...

... but not half as exited about that as I am about the new Basic Grey releases!! My personal favourites are Sugared and Archaic!! I want them so badly.

Baby Girl Album

I got an itching to make something tonight. It's been a few days and I needed to .... so, here's some of what I came up with. I literally flew through making this album, although it started out as one theme and ended up another. I've used the pink paperbag albums I was given by Deborah (as mentioned in an earlier post). I love when I have the bags to match the theme!!! I haven't taken pics of the tags yet, but I will do. Also, I have not added all of the ribbon, only enough to hold it together while I work on it.


I just have to mention.. I saw THE most wonderful album listed on ebay.. and it was done by none other than my friend DeeDee . I hope she doesn't mind me boasting on her behalf, but seriously, she makes the most wonderful albums I've ever seen.. and believe me I am not biased! Check them out on ebay for yourself. Here , Here, and Here

Here's a sneak peak of the album that left me gobsmacked!!....

Happy 'Heart' Day!!

Valentines Day! You either love it or you hate it... lol!

I made a great Valentines card for a girl on Craft Supplies who had her heart messed with recently.. but guess what??....... I was so busy over the past few days that I actually BOUGHT my DH a Valentine's Day Card! Yes, BOUGHT!!! I genuinely did not get time to make one for him. Of course he had a great time dissing me over it! 'All the stash in the world and you can't make me a card'.. grrrr!! I felt like telling him I just didn't bother, but that was a lie.

I also went to the trouble of getting him his favourite wine and choccies! And just to top it all off I made him the most fantastic dinner I've ever made....

.....Fillet Mignon with Chestnut Mushrooms and Shallots, in a rich red wine sauce. The recipe for the sauce came from Deborah, of course! ;)

So although I don't have a paper project to share with you all today, I do have another work of art!!!

Behold:..... the first attemp at Cordon Bleu!! haha!!

Papers, papers, papers!!!!!

Look what arrived last week....

All of it Basic Grey...!!!!.... we've got Figgy Pudding, 2Scoops, Blush (all time favourite!!) Gypsy (also known as Romani here) and LilyKate. Mandy has laid claim to 2 pads already, much to my despair, lol. The only question now is what justifies using such wonderful papers??? For anyone who is wondering about 2Scoops, it is a much nicer paper IRL than in pictures. It's romantic to the point of sickening (not really... but I didn't get a Valentines gift!! ) Seriously though, this paper is not done justice by the pictures I've seen online. It's absolutely fabulous!!!

Deborah passed along some wonderful pale pink lunch bags which her MIL had sent her, so I am good to go on another 2 PaperBag Albums!! I'm thinking Mothers Day and maybe a Baby Girl album. All I need now is time... anyone got some to spare??

I've also purchased some Tim Holtz grungeboard. I couldn't resist the elements pack, which I got in both Harlequin and Plain!! I am a terrible hoarder and have only used 2 pieces of the Harlequin so far! I have promised my dear friend Dee Dee that I would send her some to have a play with. I need to get on that :S

Surprise PopUp Card and Valentine

Ok, so this is another fantastic card from Splitcoast Stampers. I love that site :D Plenty of ideas and inspiration there.

Surprise Pop-Up:
The first time you make this card the instructions can be a little daunting, but once you get one completed you know what you're at! I found this, being my first attempt, to be quite time consuming, but I love the result. It's definately a card I would make again. Of course I would hope to speed things up a little ;)

This is how the card looks when the tab is pushed down:

And this is when the tab is pulled up:
(The tab can be used for a personal message or a greeting)

Criss Cross Valentine's Card:

This is the Valentine's Card I committed to making. The criss cross design with the usual pink and hearts ;)

Happy Birthday to ME!!

WOW, I got so many birthday cards this week from the sweet ladies on the CraftSupplies forum!! I will, when I get a spare minute, take pics of them all.

I also treated myself to Series 10 of the StudioG stamps! I'm so excited, and hope to have them next week. Along with some Tim Holtz crackle paint!! Oh gawd, I won't know what to do with myself!! Tags spring to mind.. yes, TAGS, that's what I'll do!!

Of course now I'll have to share that spare minute I find to take the pictures of my cards with tag making ....... *sigh* Anyone want 4 kids?? Free to good home... actually free to any home! LOL!

Thank You and Birthday cards....

This is my long overdue Thank You card.

And the Birthday Cards made for a Birthday Club I recently joined on CraftSupplies

Mastering basics....

Tonight I decided it was time I mastered basic cards, with stamping!!! I call them basic cards simply because I am not following instructions, cutting at angles and measuring for all I'm worth. In saying that I find the 'basic' cards harder to do because you need to envisage the end result from a blank piece of card!

So out came the blank card (still no scoring blade, so these were premade white/cream blank cards). Then out came the pizza box full of papers I hadn't found a use for (yet!). To my extreme pleasure I came across have a pack of Basic Grey Blush!! YAY!!! Love that particular collection, it has to be my all time favourite (apart from Figgy Pudding!!!)

Anyhoo... back to the cards. The first card was thought about, thought about some more, pieced together, taken apart, pieced back together differently and after about 40mins I came up with a card I liked. WooHoo, my first 'basic' card... and I stamped sucessfully!! And it just got better and better after that. Ideas sprang to mind, stamps were flying and I actually used my markers for the first time (I bought them last Oct!). I got that 'into' it that I made my last (#5) birthday card of the night in about 10mins and 5mins of that I was searching for the right shade of cardstock! Then I got a long overdue Thank You card done!!

So I 'm LOVING stamping right now! I'm LOVING my markers and I'm wondering what in the heck I was afraid of all this time!!

Pics tomorrow, I want good light for them!! :D

Trying to Trifold!!

This is my first attempt at making a Triangle Trifold Card. Not easy when your DD has made off with your scoring blade.. (deep breaths!!!). It was fun to make nonetheless. I got the instructions HERE. I did the 4"x12", which turns out 4x4 when it's done. A great way of using up scraps of cardstock and patterned paper.

*edited to add my second attempt*

I have to admit that once you make one of these it's easy peasy! I didn't even look at the instructions for this one!! It's so simple it makes you wonder what else you avoid because it just looks complicated, but in reality it's a walk in the park. So now that I've mastered both the Criss Cross Card and the Triangle Trifold Card I need to find something MORE challenging.... in design! OK, so I have about 100 stamps and should probably master that art first but hey, I love to cut!!

Anyhoo... here's #2. The colour isn't as vibrant in the pictures as it is I.R.L. Maybe I can get a better picture when it's light. I love the gold ribbon on this one.... I need to get some more!