Glitter, Glue and Stamping Too

We Shall NEVER FORGET

2011-09-11T13:15:00.001+10:00

My blog has been left alone so long- I am sorry but my life has just been one crazy mess and my blog has had to suffer the consequences but as it is September 11th here in Australia I feel I need to repost a POEM I posted last year- I wrote it as a dedication to ALL those involved wherever they lived in the horrible events of that day in the United States of America.

Please read the poem I wrote way back then as I felt such despair when I awoke on the morning of September 12th (Australia time) to hear the shocking news and watch the terrible footage on the TV over and over. As a volunteer member of the emergency services myself as are others in my family my heart went out to all those who were involved in some way- those who were at the devastation - their families- those who wished they could be there to help in some small way and all those innocent families that were involved in such an horrific event.

We in Australia still keep you all in our thoughts continuously and we have learned to appreciate each and every beautiful day we have been given .

America Attacked

“America attacked” that’s what they said

ALL the papers when they were read

A plane, no two have hit a building in New York

Both full of innocent passengers and civilians at work

Not just any building it was discovered

But the World Trade Centre, the Twin Towers,

No goodbyes or I love you

So unexpected for all involved

Except the ones who planned this deed

Fire everywhere – the heat intense it’s melting steel all around

Even more news comes across

The Pentagon has been hit too - another plane

More people dead

Confusion is all around

Not only for Americans but for the world

WHY?

Who would do this terrible thing?

What is going to happen now?

Questions lots of them to be answered

Who will solve this puzzle?

Another plane has gone down

This time the passengers have reported to say goodbye

Or I love you knowing they were going to die

It’s crashed into a forest all on board dead

Reports keep coming back of despair

Of Death Destruction EVERYWHERE

People try to help, some in vain

No one believes or gives up hope

Police, Fire fighters, Paramedics too

All do their job and march straight in

Get people out their only thought

Help as many as you can

Then more Despair the buildings just crumble

Like a pack of cards

Get out, Get out

We can’t leave them there

We have to help it’s what we do

Regardless of what WE are going through

HOPE is what keeps us going

We pray and work and keep on trying

Just one more trip and one more life

But no it’s too late – we are gone – goodbye

The dust it settles, the people stare

Tears and words just don’t come

We can’t believe it, it can’t be true

It’s some bad movie – it’s just not real

But yes it’s true – we must go on.

We hope the world will stay at peace

No more attacks – no more devastation

We just need to get on, clean up the mess

Maybe someone is still alive

We must check, we hope, we pray

We’ll never forget this tragic day

World war 3 – is this start?

Somewhere down inside our hearts

We hope it’s not - we try to think

Another’s life - we must care

Find out who has done this thing

And punish him / her - and only them

Families, friends we must unite

Think of all those who died - they must help us too

Keep positive and hope the best

Don’t let them all have died in vain

Thousands of innocent lives gone .

Women, children, men all are parts of families

Genes may not relate us

But we are part of the human race

Think of the survivors - those who have lost

We may not want to but we must

Are they to die too- for Revenge

It can’t happen – not again

Remember Gallipoli

Remember France and London

DON’T let Evil win

Give GOOD a winning chance

Peace is what it has to be

But How?

A week has gone by – still no answers

No one else found alive – we can’t give up

People offering – insisting on helping

Clear the rubble – search, search

Dogs, Police, Fire-fighters hard at work

The heat still there- we must go on we cannot rest

Maybe the next piece of rubble may uncover a friend

A loved one – We all hope and pray

Masks must be worn there may be asbestos or worse

We can’t rest

On the other side of the world

We watch this on TV

Our brothers’, sisters’ in the emergency services

Have died or disappeared doing their jobs

We bow our heads and hold our hands

We hug and pray for their families

For them

And all the ones they were trying to save

It could be us we‘re volunteers

Just like some of those who died.

We see a problem we go to help

We know what it’s all about

Our families know it’s what we train to do

But things like this bring the reality home, a family all together

Disaster, Sadness Everywhere – we can’t believe it

We see it over and over again

That plane- those crumbling towers

People running – trying to escape

Those fire trucks, ambulances

Police cars, Buildings – all crumbled like toys

Cranes are lifting; trucks are carrying it all away

To be sifted through in hope to find the answers

None are coming – only more questions

News time comes and goes- more tragedy

Australia, the World is in mourning

Will the world ever be right again?

Children cannot understand- we’re saying sorry

But why? - We did nothing wrong

Explanations just can’t justify any reason

Hope is coming it has to be

We can’t live in fear and sadness

We will remember September 11^th 2001

FOREVER.

By Kathleen Smullen 2001

If you would like to read my entry for last year please use this link- or look up my entry for September 2010- there is only one- the one dedicated to September 11

http://glittergluetoo.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-tribute-and-feelings-for-9-11.html

Thanks for visiting and hopefully soon I will be able to start normal posts again- when I have got my world back into some order.

Thankyou Catch you Later

Regards

Kathy S

Once In a While

2011-05-18T08:50:00.001+10:00

Good morning- or afternoon wherever you may be - Today is going to be a beautiful Autumn day here in Victoria Australia- the sun hopefully will be shining (at the moment we have a blanket of thick fog)which is the promise of a beautiful day,the air is fresh but nice and there is no rain or wind- we have had weeks of cold miserable weather here lately it has felt more like Winter than Autumn.

Todays card is one I mad when I saw the Just Rite challenge colours JustRite Friday Challenge 055- Color - I new I had to use this paper-it has all three colours in it and it is so beautiful-I cut out the white butterfly from another piece of paper and added some Kindy Glitz to its wings to give it a bit of sparkle. The sentiment could be used for so many occasions but would be perfect for a wedding or engagement I think. I have used a small piece of May Arts ribbon I received in a bundle of off cuts I won earlier this year- they are just the right length for cards with very no wastage-love that. here is a closer view of the sentiment, butterfly and ribbon

Card Info- Card base Cream cardstock; Papers-Grace Taylor, bits from stash; Stamp- JustRite Garden Fairy Wishes cling Stamp set; Ink- Staz on Timber Brown; Spellbinders Petite ovals and scalloped petite ovals; Ribbon May Arts and stash; Lace –stash;Punch-Fiskars sunburst border punch; Kindy Glitz-Crystalina; foam mounting tape; Double sided tape-X-press IT.

Hope you like it- comments greatly appreciated

Thanks for visiting, Catch you later

Regards

Kathy S

“Creating from the Heart” Giveaway

2011-05-17T11:02:00.001+10:00

Have just been catching up on some of the blogs I follow and at “Creating from the Heart” Melissa has a great giveaway – there are a few conditions but they aren’t too hard to comply with so go check it out-http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-giveaway-time.html by clicking this link it will take you straight to the correct entry but while your there check out all her work it’s amazing- she is one talented girl. The prizes up for grabs are a Martha Stewart all around the page Punch and a $100. gift voucher for Michaels Arts and crafts- wow how generous is that.

Go on over now and check it out but thanks for visiting my blog and hopefully you’ll call again

Thanks

Regards

Kathy S

All For Love

2011-05-14T09:33:00.001+10:00

Just for your information this challenge has been extended until the 15th of May due to Blogger problems – Thanks Julie- she has extended the link options as well as the comments.

I think this may be too late for the challenge now- I have been trying to upload this post for two days and have not had any luck with blogger GRHHHHH this morning I tried and yey it loaded so here it is anyway- I hope you enjoy.

Flourishes stamps are releasing their new stamp sets this week and have a few fun things to enter for the chance to win them- one was a sort of bingo called Let’s get 3 in a Row!where you picked a line and made a card using the three objects in that line on your card. Well I had a hard time choosing which line to use and finally settled on the centre row going down- pink,flower and lace and now looking at the grid it could also fall into the bottom left to top right grid of die cut,flower and scallop I think the only things missing from this card that are on the grid are ribbon and buttons- I actually had them out to include but it just didn’t look right where i wanted to put them so I ended leaving them off. I didn’t have any proper flourishes in pearls so I made my own with the pearl strips they look a bit wonky but that just adds to the handmade look right, and the lace is actually stuff I bought years and years ago and have in my stash- I think I paid $1 for the lot and there is metres of it some in short lengths others in longer lengths- it was all tangled up (that was why it was so cheap I think) and I carefully untangled it and wound it on a card- I have used a heap and still have so much left

If you want to enter this competition you only have until this evening to do so as it finishes at 4.00pm on 13th- follow the link above to find out the rules.

The new releases are so great – a wedding one and a fishing themed one so far and I think the other for this release is Labels and borders

Details of my card are - card stock –white cut down to 5 1/2’’ square (finished size) ; papers Grace Taylor- not sure of the name of the collection; Stamp- Flourishes Hearts and Flowers set;Ink -Versa mark watermark , Staz-on Jet Black; Colours- Lyra Aquacolor water colour crayons, deluxe chalks-I’ve had these for years; Rhinestones- Kaiser, Pearls- Basics strips – Kaisercraft, Flower brad-heidi grace love blossoms; Dies- Spellbinders Blossom Nestabilities set, Lattice Borderabilities petite, fancy Tags- one of my U3A ladies has this die set and cut me several of each of them- thanks Doreen; Other- Lace- from my stash, X-press IT double sided adhesive, foam mounting tape.

Thanks for visiting, Catch you Later

Regards

Kathy S

Happy Birthday Monkey style

2011-04-27T12:20:00.001+10:00

I made this card early last week for the Whimsie Wednesday Challenge 77 - Fun Flock -http://whimsiedoodles.blogspot.com/2011/04/whimsie-wednesday-challenge-77-fun.html as soon as I saw the challenge I knew what I wanted to do, but I think it is closed now but I’ll post it anyway it is such a fun image to use flock with that I actually had a hard time stopping. I was going to flock the red heart but thought I’d emboss it instead so the sock monkey would stand out a bit more.

I won this delightful stamp and some very cute others last year on one of the blog hops and shame on me I haven’t actually made any of them into cards until now but I seem to have got the bug and you will be seeing a few other little Whimsy critters appear on some of my projects in the future.

Here is a picture of my card and a close up of this cute little sock monkey

I stamped him on some scrap white cardstock and the coloured him with my brush markers- blending with a paintbrush then I coloured in all the other bits and used a red sakura pen for the cherry to give it a bit of shine but it’s a bit hard to see in the pictures. Then I painted the background with a very light wash of grey,purple and blue luminarte paints to take the starkness from the white. Then I covered the monkey with white glue and poured on my flock- It stuck ok but i wanted him a bit furrier so I painted some more white glue over him and repeated the process- much furrier. When the monkey was dry I decided to emboss his balloon and used glitter embossing powder but again I wanted a thicker cover so I actually used a clear embossing powder over the glitter powder and embossed again- I repeated this process a couple of times to give the balloon better dimension. Then I assembled the card as you see it with the other balloons cut from scraps from my stash and attached them with foam tape.- I thought I’d use some velvet Christmas ribbon to acentuate the flocking a bit more and made a bow to attach on top. Hope you like my card

Card Info:- Cardstock Red finished size approx. 5 1/2 “ square; Papers- bits and pieces from stash;Stamps- Whimsie Doodles; Ink- Archival Ink-jet black; Colours-Whispers Brush markers, Luminarte water paints, Sakura Aqualip Red pen; Other- Embossing powder- Alisonellisdesigns- firecracker Red, Zing clear; Flock-brown; Ribbon-Santa’s Christmas Wonderland; Doublesided tape-X Press-It; Helmar Super Tacky Glue; Foam mounting Tape.

Thanks For Visiting, Catch You later

Regards

Kathy S

Forever Friends

2011-04-20T12:32:00.001+10:00

This card has been so sweet to make as I love my Beatrix Potter stamps and don’t use them anywhere near as much as they deserve but I think I’m losing my mojo because I just can’t get things to look the way I want them too. I wanted a card that looked vintage but not completely so I added some splotches on various parts of the card and dyed the lace with Distress Ink -vintage photo but on looking at it I think I should have ‘aged’ the ribbon as well. I had this card made a while ago but wasn’t completely sure it was finished and then today I thought I’d get out some of my ribbon flowers that were in my stash and added those then I thought –if you have flowers you need butterflies so after trying several I settled for a die cut larger one-I bought this die and several others about four years ago when Big W decided to reduce them, they were the first dies that I had and haven’t used them enough and then attached the brass charm on top- thought it still looked wrong so grabbed my Martha Stewart punch and did a couple of those- it added just that bit more but I feel it doesn’t really jell together- please let me know what you think.

I just found this blog called “Let’s get Shabby” earlier this month and they had a cool challenge http://letsgetshabby.blogspot.com/2011/03/challenge-22.html to create a Beatrix Potter item in the style of her books- while this probably isn’t in line with her books it does use one of her images so maybe I’m allowed with that. The blog is based in Sydney so it’s sort of local to me so I thought I would enter.

Card info:- Card stock- Viza Blue impress woodgrain texture cut to finished size 5 1/2”x 5”; Papers- Grace Taylor and various scraps from my stash; Stamp- Beatrix Potter and sentiment i’ve had for a while and can’t remember where it came from;Other:- Punch-Fiskars Victorian circle punch, Fiskars lace border punch, corner punch from a set from Big W, Martha Stewart Butterflies; Die- Butterfly from Accu-cut; Ink- Distress Ink Vintage Photo, Versamark watermark;Embossing Powder Zing gold;Whispers Brushmarkers; Liquid Pearls Bisque; Flowers and Brass butterfly from stash, Helmar –tacky glue, X Press It double sided tape and Foam mounting tape.

Thanks for visiting, Catch you later.

Regards

Kathy S

Love and Happiness

2011-04-19T17:49:00.001+10:00

I have been playing around with some of the challenges from various blogs over the past few weeks but just haven’t been able to find the time to photo and write them up in time for the challenges so they are in my stash until something comes up that they may happen to fit in with. I bought a sample pack of artist papers in A2 size a while back and decided I wanted to try out various colouring mediums on them these are coloured with watercolour based mediums and at a later date I will try others out on them.

But when I saw this weeks challenge at Just Rite JustRite Friday Challenge 053- Technique, Sponsored by Spellbinders! I just knew I had to participate- I only received my “Stitched with love” stamp set in an order last week and was just itching to get it inky and then wow it’s as though the Just Rite team knew I would want to use it. I also got my “Lacey circle” dies in the same order so what more of a reason to make a card did I need.

I think it’s the only Just Rite stamp I own that I could incorporate into a flower and initially it was going to be a Christmas card-hence the colours but then I decided it would look better with this sentiment so it could be used for anytime. I stamped the patchwork flower six times- two on each different type of paper and embossed them -then coloured each with the markers and Luminatre paints- they have a bit of a shimmer IRL but not overpowering. Once the paint was dry I cut each out and cut in between each petal then curled one of each colour around my finger to give dimension- looking through my stash I found 2 brads the right colours with dots but didn’t have a black one so took a plain yellow one and coloured it with a black permanent marker and added dots with a white out pen. I placed them on a piece of silver cardstock scrap I had and then put the rest together- I tried other ribbons on the card but none of them looked just right so I settled for the black- This isn’t one of my most favourite cards but I like the way it has turned out – I hope you enjoy it too. There are some closer pics of the three flowers and the greeting- I am sorry about the quality – I think I will have to get some photography lessons and the silver didn’t help as it kept flaring and creating a blur or maybe it was just the photographer.

Card info- Card –Red cardstock (A5); Papers-Heidi Grace day dreamer dots with pocket,Various artist papers from a sample pack of booklets,stash scraps; Stamps-Just rite Stitched with love set, Wedding stamp ensemble;Ink Versamark watermark; Other- Whispers silver embossing powder,Spellbinders-Standard circles,Classic scalloped circles, Lacey Circles; Fiskars 2” squeese punch;Ribbon-Vintage nylon Satin; Colours- Whispers Brush markers, Luminarte paints-Sage,Jasper Red,Irish Mist;Double sided tape-Xpress It, Foam mounting tape.

Thanks for Visiting, Catch you Later

Regards

Kathy S

Craft Stamper E-zine

2011-04-18T07:48:00.001+10:00

Just found out about this through Craft Gossip- Craft Stamper are giving away a e-zine ( downloadable magazine) of some of their projects for 2010 – you do have to give them your email address so be aware of that - the link is http://www.craftstamper.blogspot.com/

Craft Stamper ezine FREE Best of 2010 e-zine

They are also giving you the chance to win some candy so you may want to check it out- Not sure if it’s only for the UK though but worth a try- it has some great techniques in this mag and although we get it later than the UK it is and enjoyable mag for reference. Go check it out it may be worth it.

Thanks for visiting, Regards

Catch you later

Kathy S

Rose

2011-03-24T13:11:00.001+11:00

This card is for my Granddaughter we went to her naming day last weekend and I made this card to hopefully look like her- we had a beautiful time in the local park with all the family there and a few friends as well- she is one and a half years old and they have been trying to give her a day for some time but each time it is organized one of the children gets sick- Rose is the youngest of three and usually when one gets sick they all get sick so it has had to be postponed a couple of times- they all had colds again but they thought they had better go ahead with it this time. As you can hopefully tell by the picture Rose has red hair- and is affectionately called “the ginger ninja” by her dad, she has even started saying “ginger” if anyone says it now. Quite a difference from her older brother and sister- they have taken their mothers Italian side and are both quite dark in colouring in comparison but her mothers’ sister also has a red head- so it must be in both families- my husbands family have red in their heritage – at the moment she hasn’t got the renowned temper of a red head in fact she is quite the opposite and is very passive with most things but doesn’t let anyone get away with upsetting her. Both girls in the family do have quite loud and very high pitched screams if and when they are upset and cry.

This is for the Forgotten Stamp Friday-Week 15 at “Can you say “ Addicted” to stamps” blog- this is such a great blog sight and so appropriately named for me at least. This Flowersoft “Moments in Time” stamp was one I bought a while ago and have only used it a couple of times because I was never sure about colouring but I’ve been practicing and I think it looks ok. The tag with the title was given to me by one of the members of my U3A card class who has this set of dies and she kindly cut several of each of the labels for me- Thanks Doreen

Card Information: Cardstock- green cut to finished size of 5 3/4 “ square; Paper Fiskars Heidi Grace –love of my life mini dots and bits from my stash, Stamp- Flowersoft Moments in Time –“Just For You”;Ink- Stazon Jet Black, generic yellow ;Other- Colour- Lyra Aquacolor crayons;Ribbon- Exquisite Premium ribbon (roses)and bit from stash; Spellbinders-Petite Ovals, Petite scalloped Ovals, Tag, Quickutz “Heidi Swapp handwriting”; Flowersoft-vintage Christmas; Kind glitz-Crystalina; Gems –stash; Fiskars scalloped scissors; Helmar- SuperTac Glue, X Press it Double sided tape, Xyron “create a sticker” permanent.

Thanks for Visiting Catch you later

Regards

Kathy S

Happy Birthday

2011-03-23T10:36:00.001+11:00

Here is another card I had the chance to make this week hope you enjoy. While I was running around in the past couple of weeks I had to wait for various doctors with my MIL and as she didn’t want me with her all the time I took the opportunity to pop into a nearby scrapbook shop –”Little Bits”- and saw and picked up this cute die for cup cakes from Do Crafts while I was waiting for her to finish – the middle cupcake is the die cut the other two were from a stamp set of the same series I had purchased two days before when on my way home from another run around and ~~wanted~~ needed some quick stress relief I popped into another LSS “Scrappers Wharehouse” I happened to be passing (sort of-it was only 5 minutes out of my way -really) on my way home- this was just a had to be find both within two days and such great finds. I love cup cake images

This is for the “Get Sketchy” GS #79 sketch for this week

Card Details- Cardstock- cream; Papers- Papercraft –not sure of the name of the collection but they are yummy and bits from my stash;Stamps- Do Crafts “Cupcakes” and Do Crafts “Scrolls and sentiments”;Ink- Stazon Jet Black;Other –Do CraftsBuild a cupcake layered die; Micro beads, Kindy glitz-Crystalina; Gem is from my stash; Aqualip –Black; X-press it double sided tape; Helmar –super tacky glue.

Here’s another picture a little bit closer so you can see the shimmer of the papers- it’s also on a black background so it stands out a bit more.

Thanks for visiting, Catch you later

regards

Kathy S

Seasons Greetings

2011-03-22T21:10:00.001+11:00

This is another that I have made- It feels so good to actually post something. I won’t go on this time so here’s my card- this one is for the Week #147 - 19th March - Sponsored by Bunny Zoe's Crafts

the images are both stamped on vellum- the one with the darling little girl is quite thick and has a pearlescent finish but it was in a pack –with various colours- I bought ages ago classified as vellum – so I’m sticking to that. You can sort of see the glimmer in the close up of the image-it was the best I could get. This is the first time I’ve used liquid pearls and when I was putting it on the front it actually went through to the back but I liked the finish –aren’t you happy when mistakes turn out to be good

and it also can be included in the CSAYL challenge - I CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH THAT!- the middle image is of the inside of the card.

Card Details- Green cardstock finished size-5 3/4” square; Paper- most of these are from my stash- but there are small bits of Chromatics Heritage set; stamps-Crafty Secrets-Clear Arts-“seasons Greetings”; Inks- Staz on Gold,Distress Ink Vintage Photo; Other- ‘Zing’ Embossing Powder metallic Finish gold, Ribbon-Creative Corner; Doiley -a cheap set I’ve had in my stash for quite some time; Dies-Spellbinders Labels Four;Liquid pearls-Bisque; Lyra Aqua color crayons; Fiskars border punch; Xpress-it double sided tape.

Hope you like it

Thanks for visiting,

Catch you Later

Regards

Kathy S

Just Because

2011-03-22T20:21:00.001+11:00

Even though I haven’t posted in a while I have been making a few cards for different challenges when I’ve had the energy and time– I just haven’t had the time to photo and write them up but I did that today so here come a few entries for the next day or two(I hope) -I know most of you didn’t realise I haven’t posted for a while but I have had a lot going on in my life-running around after various members of my family for various reasons and for the last three weeks I have had this horrible cold that started with my nose dripping like a tap then went to my head and chest and I just can’t shake it- I am low in energy and have spent the little time I can afford to sleep- trying to fight it off- If anyone has any ideas I would be glad to hear them. When I have had time I have had to catch up with housework and gardening(our yards front and back look like a deserted house yard)- we have actually had a couple of weeks without constant rain- oh so nice- (the start of Autumn(fall) is better weather wise than our summer was so far) and I mowed the back lawn yesterday –which really knocked me but I feel better that it’s done.

This card is for the Card Patterns Sketch 107 challenge and the JustRite Friday Challenge 051- An Act of Kindness tell someone how much you appreciate them – I like to have this sort of card handy so when I know someone is feeling a bit low I give them one and a small gift- usually either chocolate,flowers or something a bit more personal-depending on the reason for giving it.

Card details- cream cardstock ; Papers- Hunters watercolour paper, Impress Woodgrain- viza blue, the background paper is the last piece I had in my stash and the purple was a piece I was experimenting with when I made some homemade glimmer spray stuff- you can’t tell in this picture but it does glimmer quite a bit; Stamps-Just Rite 3 1/4 “ set Harmony Classic Circle III Stamp Ensemble and the border is from the Monogram Self- inking stamper kit ; Ink- Generic Dye ink and Versamark Watermark; Embossing Powder-Celebration of Australia- White, Light blue- from stash;Ribbon-stash.

Catch You Later

Thanks for visiting,

Regards

Kathy S

Crafting in Croatia Blogaversary giveaway

2011-03-09T18:18:00.001+11:00

Crafting in Croatia - Celebrating my 2nd Anniversary Giveaway -(this is not my giveaway I am only advertising Nina’s)

Nina at Crafting in Croatia blog is celebrating her blogaversary weekly for the MONTH of March and is giving an opportunity to win in a couple of ways – if you comment you get a chance and if you are a subscriber/follower you get a chance as well as other chances as well- head on over to Nina’s blog to check it out and while your there check out all her inspirational work as well below are some of the candy up for grabs this week.

Thanks for visiting

Regards

Kathy S

Good bye Sabar we all miss you.

2011-02-28T14:32:00.001+11:00

Sabar –1998- 2011

I am sorry if I seem to ramble and please don’t feel obliged to read this but I have to write how I feel about my companion.

This post is one of the hardest I will ever write.We had to say goodbye to one of our family members last Thursday evening for the last time in this lifetime of ours.

We got Sabar by default really- we had lost our previous dog “Casey” a Rottweiler cross in January 1999- we found her collapsed in our back yard and rushed her to an emergency centre but unfortunately whatever was wrong with her couldn’t be helped and we said a sad goodbye. We weren’t ready to get another dog for the time being and so we just went on- it was hard for our youngest because she was his guardian angel and protector he was 8 at the time.

A girlfriend of a friend was studying veterinary science at a place in Werribee in Victoria and new we all missed our Casey so when she heard they were going to be putting some puppies to sleep she thought she would try and find them homes-Apparently Sabars’ mother had been inseminated and they had wanted female puppies but out of the litter of about thirteen they only got three or four females- the rest were males and only four of them survived out of a litter, they kept the “dogs” and trained vets in vaccinations and goodness knows what on them they then decided they didn’t need them any more and so this is where the girlfriend stepped in-she told us it was a rottweiler puppy but when we saw him we new it was a mixed breed of some sort- but we also fell in love with him and couldn’t let him get put down- so home he came- when we first saw him he was six months old and looked a bit like a dachshund but with a roly poly dog skin- he was so scared and just wanted to be loved- which we did.- we took him in and even though he didn’t like human contact we all held him to get him used to being touched without the pain, my daughter and I spent most of the day for the first few weeks doing this and eventually we got him used to us he would shy away from most males he came in contact with for several years but eventually most people were ok. Our daughter got seriously ill with meningococcal in the July of that year and he played a big part of her therapy and rehab - we were allowed to take him to the rehab clinic for visits and when she was allowed home for weekends he stuck by her side most of the time. I am human so I can sit on the furniture.

From then things went reasonably smooth except for arthritis when he was about three onward which we effectively treated with glucosamine and about four or five years ago when he had to have his spleen removed because of a tumour- cost us thousands but we felt he was worth the expense for what he had given us.

Then because I have been working full time for the past three weeks and a week ago when I came home I noticed he hadn’t eaten his breakfast- this was totally out of character for him- he may look slim in the photos but man could he eat –at first I thought he may have been protesting because I was not at home with him but then somehow I just knew something was wrong.I took him to the vet last Saturday and they took some blood and the results were inconclusive so they recommended an ultra sound which we had done on Wednesday- this also didn’t show positive results of any sort but that there was something either on his pancreas or around his intestines and liver- the options- put him through surgery with the high likely hood of it being a tumour and having to euthanize him or let him die in pain in a month or two because they thought with his history and the other results that was about as long as he had- I chose to bring him home so everyone that wanted to could say goodbye and then let him rest peacefully- both the vets we dealt with were nothing but compassionate and they dosed him up with pain killers and sent him home for his last good byes. My daughter and I were with him when he went- very quickly and very peacefully and he is now buried near our other dog out on a friends farm in their orchard. When we first got him he ate nearly everything he could get his teeth into but over the years he only ate what he was told to eat- except for when the grandkids were around and then anything they dropped or put on the floor was fair game- He NEVER took from them unless he was told he could “have it” and he was very gentle and patient with them all- we have 7 grandchildren four years and under and they have all been around him since they were born –even though he was getting older then - admittedly we did watch carefully for any sign he may snap- but he never did, if he had enough of them he just got up and went somewhere else- he was so patient he put up with babies and toddlers pulling at him and just about squashing him trying to get a cuddle but he just took it all. He thought he was human and would back onto a chair or the couch with his hind legs up on the seat and his front legs supporting him on the floor – or he thought he was a lap dog because we used to cuddle him when he was little as he grew he continued to think that but he was very bony.

He also made a companion to our cat and they used to play chase around our back yard- taking in turns who would be the chaser- our cat “Rambo” is totally lost at the moment.

Here are a few picture of Sabar in varying degrees- some have dates but most don’t

He thought he would pay the cat back – this is an old picnic basket I got for the cat to sleep in in my craft room but Sabar decided he would take possession of it no matter how uncomfortable it was.

making themselvess comfortable on our bed while I stepped out for a short time.

enjoying a brief burst of sunshine

This is Rambo getting ready to take off after Sabar- who happened to run behind me for protection- it was nothing for the cat to bite the dog without any retaliation and Rambo new he could get away with it if I was not on the scene- then he would get growled at.

This has been an effort to write and I thank any of you if you have read it. We will get another dog one day- when one chooses to take us as it’s family or within the next few years- which ever comes first.

Thanks to Ida –http://faithartistry.blogspot.com/ who suffered a similar loss this past week and has been a great help in coming to terms with it all.

Regards

Thanks for visiting

Kathy S

Did you know?

2011-02-28T09:16:00.001+11:00

Creating from the heart – keepsakes by Melissa has some great candy at the moment- but hurry if your interested as it’s only up for grabs until March 11 2011

It’s a Sewing machine and some really cool accessories to tag along with it. if you want to check it out go to this post http://keepsakesbymelissa.blogspot.com/2011/02/candy-for-u.html there is a

Brother CP-7500 Computerized Sewing Machine;1 Sew Easy Tool (Love these); Sew Easy Mat;Sew Easy Thread in Pinks and Blues; here is a picture of the machine – wouldn’t it make sewing on your cards- or creating anything for that matter a dream?

cool huh!-

if you would like a chance to win got visit her blog now and thanks for visiting mine.

Regards

Catch you Later

Kathy S

Papertrey Ink Tag Download Challenge

2011-02-07T14:16:00.001+11:00

With the weather here lately anyone would think it was winter or at least autumn not Summer- we have had a couple of days of summer earlier last week with nice warm weather but the past weekend has been nothing but rain and it has turned cool. DH and I spent all day Saturday up at out local Fire station helping coordinate and assisting the CFA and SES with evacuating various residents from surrounding areas as they became surrounded by water. It was all such a sudden downpour that there are few who were not affected in some way- Our house and our childrens' houses are fine but one of my nieces had to evacuate and when she got back has lost quite a bit including most if not all of her photos and heaps of other stuff. We all help out as we can. Hope everyone else is staying warm and dry glad we haven't got the snow a lot of you are getting.

I have to say that my posts are going to become sparse again as I have just had an emergency call to fill in at one of the schools I work at indefinitely so I will try to post as best I can but mostly will be only at night or weekends now for a while.

Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 4 year anniversary and today there is a free PTI Anniversary Tag Download and a challenge to create a project.

Although I don't own any Papertrey ink products and have never downloaded any of their other freebies -which I will be seriously looking at now- these tags are divine. I have always admired them and been envious of those who do have them so this was very generous of them to give these away.

Here is my card using Heather Nichols tag. I basically just printed the tags from the free download and cut out - I actually used a punch first up but cut crooked-oops -so to centre the image again I used the Quickutz circle die -it's a tiny bit smaller than the original but still looks magnificent -thanks Heather. I used scraps from my stash to finish the card- I had this lotus cut out and when I was looking for paper to cut a scalloped edge for the tag found it so thought I'd use it instead. I stamped a stem to make it look like a flower and then just stuck it all down. Hope you like it. Thanks for visiting.

Card Info:- Heather Nichols Tag;Stamp-kaisecraft Lilac Avenue set; Ink-Whispers-Whispers Sage; Spellbinders- Lotus Pendants; papers,ribbon and gems are all from my stash

Catch You Later

Regards

Kathy S

To the world

2011-02-03T13:10:00.001+11:00

This card is for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #89 (MMSC89) and came together pretty easy, thanks to the great sketch, the hardest part was finding a sentiment I wanted for the front- I had the colours in my head and just went from there-I sort of tried a shabby chic/ vintage feel because I love this style but I am not very good at them and am trying out some ideas so I hopefully get better at it. Hope it worked and you like it. I stamped the background using the vintage farmhouse background stamp and then cut to size, the rest of the card is pretty self explanatory so I won't prattle on this time.

I am having a real issue with my camera at the moment and am looking at getting a new one just not sure what I want so please excuse some of the pictures if they are a bit blurry I have tried a few things to fix it but I don't think anything worked.

Card Info:-Cream cardstock; Papers-pink paint sampler,green office paper from stash,Stamps-Fiskars Vintage farmhouse set and Kaiserstamp- You're the World;Ink- Archival-Jet Black, Distress Ink Vintage Photo;Spellbinders-small petite Ovals#4(1 being the smallest);Buttons-Beutron; Ribbon-exquisite & warehouse stores brand;Lace-stash; Helmar- Tacky craft Glue;Double sided tape;Gems-Smart Kraft.

When I had finished I checked out a couple of other blogs and thought it sort of went into the Crazy4Challenges C4C72 which was to make a vintage or shabby chic what do you think?

It also could possibly go in the Shabby Tea Room challenge Week #47 - 'Get Creative' but I'm not sure if it actually qualifies as I did make my own background paper- but I used buttons and ribbon etc. that where commercially produced.

Thanks for visiting

Regards

Catch you later

Kathy S.

Sweet 'n' Sassy hugs and kisses.

2011-02-03T12:09:00.001+11:00

Isn't this an adorable stamp- it's one of sweet 'n' sassy digital images- I won this image last year in their blog hop-whooho!

Cocoa the mouse is so sweet-pun intended- I finally got the courage to use him-I have coloured and played with him before but never felt any of them were good enough for a card-I am still a bit intimidated with digitals and colouring any images but I think the more I use digitals the better I will become - long way to go yet but give it time and I hope I'll get better at colouring.

I actually made another card with this image -coloured nearly the same and using the same papers but when I looked I had used the last sketch design instead of the current one- oh well -lol so I started again and made one for the current sketch SSS93 - January 29 and because the papers were still out and I liked how they all came together I thought I'd make another card with them. I didn't want the image to look like chocolates I wanted cup cakes so I coloured in with that in mind and added a bit of sparkle but they could be either. I printed this image on photo paper just for something different and the problem was I was using waterbased brushmarkers which didn't want to blend if I coloured straight onto the paper and even using on a palette and brush they only blended minimally so there is not a lot of shading on the image but his cuteness helps hide that fact I hope.

For the flower I was just playing with a piece of ribbon and this was the end result- The ribbon is actually stuck onto the piece of orange acetate which I had punched for something ages ago and never used and ran it through my xyron to make it sticky. I was actually making this flower with the other side as the focal and the acetate as the base but when I turned it over to check the back I ended up liking this side better so I found a greeting that fit in the circle and stamped it using Staz on ink. and added a bit of bling just because.

Hope you like it. Thanks for visiting and comments are greatly appreciated-good bad or otherwise.

CardInfo:- white card stock,Papers-Fiskars- Heidi Grace-"meadow collection" ;Images- Sweet'n'sassy -cocoa's chocolates; greeting from another stamp collection- unsure of manufacturer; Ink- Staz on Jet Black, generic orange; Distress Ink- Vintage Photo;Other- Spellbinders Small labels #4 and #5(1 being the smallest);Whispers brushmarkers, Xyron create a sticker 150 machine; Gloss paper-Aldi; Kindy Glitz-Crystaline,Glitzee-Old Gold,Multi Mix; Ribbon santa's Christmas;double sided tape,foam mounting tape.

Although it's not as pretty as some of the flowers already on their post I am also posting it for the Just Us Girls Challenge #69 - Wild Card challenge of make your own 3D flower.

Regards

Catch you Later

Kathy S

Rock Star wishes

2011-01-21T22:17:00.001+11:00

This is my second post for the day- as I explained in the other post I have had limited time for my computer and I'm going away for an extended weekend with DH from tomorrow Saturday until Wednesday afternoon and I won't have my computer with me so I won't be able to check anything- so thank you all in advance for any comments you may leave.

This card is made with some more of the Grace Taylor "Bright young things" collection- it is so sweet. The card was for the

GET SKETCHY #70

sketch which finished yesterday I think but I am posting anyway. I will get more organised in the future to make sure they are posted on time- at least I am getting a chance to make some cards and post them eventually.

I decided to tip the sketch upside down and make use of the "rock Star words on the paper-which I highlighted with Dimensional magic- the second picture shows this a bit better but it's really hard to take a good shot of. I used a play on words and used stars for my accents rather than the flowery shapes in the sketch and added a bit of lace and some pearls. Hope you like it.

card Recipe:- Card-White card stock finished size 53/4" square; Papers-Grace Taylor "Bright Young Things Collection'; Other: Purple Inkpad,Lace and ribbon scrap from stash, stars from stash- the smaller are actually cut from the centres of a couple of larger ones; gems from stash; Royal Coat Dimensional Magic; Homemade Glimmer Spray - I used that to colour in the word under the greeting die and in a couple of other places for a highlight;Spellbinders Labels Four; Kaisercraft Pearls Stamp Grant words collection; Double sided tape and Foam mounting tape.

I have also decided to add this to the

Challenge #39 - Sponsored by May Arts - Use Ribbon.

Catch you later

Thanks for visiting

regards

Kathy S

Thank You

2011-01-21T21:41:00.001+11:00

I'm pretty sure this is a bit late for the submission but thought I'd post it anyway. This card was so easy to put together because of the beautiful papers and the great sketch but with babysitting my darling grandchildren-they take priority over my blog and my youngest son continually hijacking my computer-that will be rectified as soon as I can organize him to get his own hopefully sooner than later- this is the first chance to type up and post this entry. Here are some pictures of the outside and the inside - I love this paper collection - it's a Grace Taylor collection and so many cute images- you'll be seeing more of this collection in future posts I'm sure.

This card is for the Card Patterns Sketch 98 which helped make the card up so so easy.

I thought I might include it in the crazy 4 challenges challenge- not sure when that one finishes.

I think the card is pretty self explanatory so if you have any queries please email me. Hope you enjoy. Sorry if the pictures aren't too good- we finally got a sunny day and I couldn't find the right place to take any pictures and then my camera started to be temperamental so I have posted the best ones out of about twenty shots

Card Recipe:Papers- Grace Taylor-"Bright Young Things collection, Ink: Whispers port Wine; Stamp- Grant - words collection; Other: the essential Glue Pad; Glitter- was a freebie from a British magazine a while ago but matched perfectly; Flowersoft (on the dots on the front) Polar White and Vintage Christmas; coloured flower Gems and Ribbon were from my stash, clear gems-Smart Kraft clear diamentes; Spellbinders- Classic Spellbinders Circles small and Standard Circles; Helmar Tacky Craft Glue, Double Sided Tape, foam tape.

Catch You Later

Thank you for visiting

Regards

Kathy S

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.

2011-01-20T21:36:00.001+11:00

For those of you who don't know- that is the chant we give when cheering on our sports teams and at other Australian participating events- it actually is "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi,Oi,Oi"

We are known to chant it just about anywhere at any time as a symbol of our true Australian proud feelings. So I thought it fitting to put it on the front of a card- this card could be used for any occasion and for either a male or female - I am intending on giving it to my son for his birthday in March.

The card features some true Aussie icons as well as a picture of Australia itself- The hat with things hanging down is an Akubra with corks -these help ward off flies (that is what that little blue thing is above it) which are often a real problem in Australia- especially in the summer and in the outback. The hats can be of any sort with a wide brim - to protect us from the hot sun. They originally became known from swagmen (people with no fixed address) and jackaroos( a bit like the American cowboy)but can be worn by anyone. The corks swing around and therefore discourage flying insects.

The Yellow and black and red jar contains vegemite- a type of spread- we use it on toast,in sandwiches and in various other ways- it can be used to add flavour to a stew or casserole. It has a rather salty taste and most people that aren't brought up with it dislike it. It even has a jingle or song made for it.

the other two are pretty obvious- sunglasses and what we call thongs- you call flip flops- and yes we call some types of underwear thongs too. Hope you like my card and have enjoyed the explanation of the icons- hope it didn't bore any of you- any questions please feel free to email me and I will try to answer them.

This is for the Unscripted Sketches #89 + piggyback challenge! which had a piggy back of a "male card" so it incorporates both of those.

Recipe: Card- Aqua Cardstock - finished size5 1/2" square; Papers- scraps from stash; Stamps- Sullivans- Australian Collection, Fiskars- unsure of the name of the set; In- Versamark-Watermark;Other:- Embossing Powder-JudiKins black Detail; Lyra Aquacolor crayons; Fiskars- fancy cut scissores stamp design; Kitchen twine; Double sided tape; Foam mounting tape; Spellbinders Standard circles Large;

catch you later,

Thanks for visiting, comments welcome

Regards

Kathy S

"Gidday Mate"

2011-01-17T18:09:00.001+11:00

Here in Australia when we greet someone sometimes we say "Gidday Mate"- which could mean a lot of things but generally means "Hello" - so as Australia Day is celebrated on the 26th January every year I thought it would be sort of a good idea to make a card for the occasion so here you have my card with a couple of locals as well. I bought several sets of stamps last year because I just fell in love with the "Occa-ismness" -if that's a word of them. (Occa means Aussie - or Australian.) So I thought I'd use a couple of images from them to make a great card for Australia Day.I tried to stick to the greens and golds to represent our colours as well.

I am not really happy with how it turned out, but I am ok with my little friends and the colouring job I did. The kanga was coloured with copics- it's one of my first tries with them and I'm ok with how it turned out hopefully I'll get better at blending with a bit of practice- I only have E ones so the other colours are done with watercolour pencils and a metallic marker-I use what I have on hand and until I can afford and am able to get more copics this technique will have to do. The Koala is coloured with some left over kids coloured pencils from Crayola that I had on hand and I blended them with odourless spirits.- I tried one with water colour but he didn't turn out too good so this is what I ended up with- the white on his ears is actually white out pen blotted with the tip of my finger. Hopefully you can see them ok from these shots -we are in the middle of summer and are having ANOTHER overcast cool day- at least it's stopped raining for the time being -thank goodness.The green corrugated card is some I bought when we had a paper supplier locally- they have since closed and I have no idea who manufactured this stuff but I have different shapes in different colours

My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the floods both in Queensland and in my home state of Victoria and for the ones experiencing bushfires in the Western Australia - we have a lot to contend with at the moment over here- with floods,fires and locusts being in plague proportions and eating a lot of the crops that aren't being affected by the other two.- we still have drought conditions in some areas as well- Come to Australia and see it all- usually in one day around here LOL

This is for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #86 (MMSC86) I altered the sketch a fraction so I hope they don't mind -The heart at the top of the sketch I replaced with my koalaand I put the bow at the top of the tag rather than at the bottom.

Card Recipe: Card Stock- Black Hessian print cardstock from Funky Craft; Papers are bits from my stash.Stamps- Various sets from "Sullivans"-an Australian company as far as I know and these all came from the Australia collection; Ink - Versa mark Watermark,Distress Ink Vintage paper and a couple of cheap pads in green and yellow; Other items: Embossing Powder- JudiKins detail Black; embroidery thread in yellow and green; Adhesives-Helmar Tacky craft Glue, foam mounting tape; Colours- Copic Markers,Faber Castell Watercolour pencils,Crayola Coloured pencils,Fiskars small hole plier punch, needle for piercing and Smooch -gold, Papermania Metallic silver brushmarker.

Thanks for visiting and hope you are all safe and happy and dry.

Catch you later

Regards

Kathy S

Sweet Memories

2011-01-15T13:01:00.001+11:00

Three cards for various members of a very lovely family- If you want to read the shortish story visit my previous post titled "Thinking Of you". The other two cards were posted in earlier posts- if you want to check them out please just scroll down.

This is the third card I made this one for the brother- he has always been an outdoor sort of guy and he is a great artist but I just couldn't create anything to suit and this sort just came together. I started with the background papers- I hope it doesn't appear to morbidly bright and cheerful but he is going to so miss his sister even though they were different ages they were more like twins so I thought I'd try to give him something to bring a bit of cheer into his life at the moment.

Yesterday(Friday) was the funeral-it was so sad -they still don't know the cause- so many people and so much sadness- I spent a lot of time afterwards with the brother and will be keeping in touch more often than I have been-the good thing he has to look forward to is he will be a dad for the first time in April so that is a good thing to help keep him focused and it will also give the girls baby someone to grow up with because I know they will be just like their respective mum and dad-inseparable.

This is for the JustRite Friday Challenge 046- Technique - Scoring!- I am sorry I didn't use any of their stamps because I mainly have Christmas and Birth ones so I again used Paper Makeup stamps and a sympathy one from my stash. I did include some scoring sorry I only own a Scor it scoring board (so a scor pal would be very handy) and decided to add the texture of it across the grain from the coloured stripes.Hope you can see it in the pictures.

Card info- Card stock standard size -white; papers-Inque boutique-Cabana collection,scraps from stash;Stamps Paper Makeup Stamps, stash; Ink-Stazon Jet Black; Other:- Dies- spellbinders- Labels six#4+#5; Ribbon-K-Mart- santa's Christmas Wonderland; Flowers- Kaisercraft and stash;Punch-MS classic Butterfly; Adhesives- Dottys Craft Shop glue dots,Double sided tape, Helmar Tacky Craft Glue, and Scor it Scoring board.

Thanks for visiting

Catch you later

Regards

Kathy S

Softly Thinking of you

2011-01-14T13:20:00.001+11:00

This is the card I made for the parents of the young lady that left us suddenly last week- I am just going to get to the card as I am really having issues with this- the funeral is this afternoon so I am sort of stressed about that and hope it will help me accept such a loss.

This card is for the Week #44 - 'Sketch This'! at The Shabby Tea Room- I love this blog and have been trying to participate in a few of their challenges but by the time I get my project finished the next challenge is up.

For this card I cut a piece of A4 cardstock I had on hand to make a card finished size 5 1/4" square. Papers:-Rosies Studio- pearlized cardstock, Lily paper- I bought this ages ago and all it says on the packet is pink lily paper- no manufacturer or anything- so I have know idea who produces it -sorry; the bit of vellum is from my scrap stash; Ink-I actually used a "Glue Pad" for this card and then stamped the message and embossed, I also used the glue pad to apply the lily stencil designs with a sponge and added a glimmer makeup over the top- it works great just like pearlex but a lot cheaper and I don't know how archival safe it is. Other: silver embossing powder,pink and opal glimmer make up, Brass stencil(Birch) I think,Fiskars Lace border punch and 1.5" funky heart squeeze punch,fiskars deckle edge fancy cut scissors; Adhesives-other than the glue pad- Helmar Tacky Craft Glue, Zig 2 way glue, double sided tape, foam mounting tape, Hot off the Press labels template, Pearls- Kaisercraft; Stash- Ribbon off cuts, glitter.

Hope you like it.

Thanks for visiting

Catch You Later

Regards

Kathy S

Thinking of you

2011-01-14T13:14:00.001+11:00

All I can say is thank goodness for challenges because I needed somewhere to start in this terrible situation, as most of you know it is always hard to make sympathy cards- normally I don't have a huge problem with them but this time it truly was a challenge on my mental abilities -I am sorry if this post seems a bit erratic but I am still in a sort of shock.

Last Friday a long time family friend lost their daughter - she was only in her mid 30's and it has yet to be determined what actually happened as I believe she was at home when she collapsed. What makes it even harder is that she only got married a couple of years ago and not only has she left behind a loving husband but also a four month old baby. Our hearts are breaking for her husband and son, her parents and her brother. I have known them all since the children were very young and it hits even harder that they are only a few years older than my eldest. Not only have I made a card for the husband and son- which is this one I have also made a card for the parents and one for their son and his wife- they will be in following posts. I keep seeing her smiling happy face and it just blows me away that she has gone.

That is all I will say about this situation because it is so hard.

This card is for the card patterns Sketch 97 and I am sorry but I think it may be a bit late for the challenge- I just needed the helping start to make these cards- I varied the sketch a bit adding a few extra bits on the front. Hope you like it - the second picture is the inside and the sentiment is from Paper Makeup stamps- "when There's Nothing Left To say" collection- I was lucky enough to win this set last year and this is the first time I have inked it up. Thank you Katie you made my life so much easier with this set. The church stamp came from a papercraft stamp collection -"weddings"- it was the only stamp of a church I had so I thought I'd use it. The paper collection I used for this card I unwrapped it and stuck in my stash -I can't remember where I bought it I know it was ages ago and have never had the heart to cut into it but I thought it just perfect for this card- if anyone can help please feel free to email me so I can give the right company credit.

Card recipe:- Card base-White cardstock 5"square. Papers-I wish I knew what this set was called because it's just divine; Stamps - Papermania "Wedding" collection (church), paper makeup stamps-(inside greeting); Inks- Versamark Watermark, Jet Black staz on; Other:-Embossing Powder- Judi Kins Black Detail; Dies-Spellbinders Nestabilities-Classic Ovals small #4, classic ovals scalloped small #4, Petit Ovals small #1,Petit Ovals scalloped Large #1: Double sided adhesive, Kaisecraft Pearls, Jemark- Big crystal stickers; Ribbon- value craft

Thanks for visiting

Catch you later

Regards

Kathy S

Happiness for the New Year

2011-01-10T20:26:00.001+11:00

Firstly Happy New Year to all who visit my blog and welcome. I am hoping to be more regular with my posts this year and also am planning to use up a lot of my stash on my cards so if I say something is from my stash it generally means that I have had it for more than a year and have no idea where it came from as far as manufacturers are concerned so I am sorry but I hate throwing things away and want to use as much of my collection (stash) as I possibly can without buying anymore- especially papers.

How could you not start the New year with an image like this - this stamp set is so so pretty. I won this set in November last year from the Just Rite blog it's called "Quiet Moments" and the illustrations are done by Elizabeth O.Dulemba - aren't they amazing - it is one of their newer releases and it arrived in my letter box 2 days before Christmas so I just had to play with it the first chance I got - I woke up at about 3 in the morning one day with this amazing idea of how I could use it and it just sort fell into place from there then when I saw the ABSC033 AnnaBelle Bling Sketch Challenge it also fit with the design in my head so here it is- firstly I stamped the image just on normal paper and then coloured it in with a set of Monte Marte watercolour paints and then added a few highlights with luminarte paints to different areas- so much fun and then I stamped the wing image on some acetate I had from some packaging using staz-on jet black ink- I wanted both the fairies to have a double set of wings which is great because I just stamped both sides of the acetate for the second set using the single wing set of stamps and coloured them in with some "do-crafts" metallic brush markers I also got just before Christmas. When the watercolours where dry I carefully cut the image out and die cut a circle in the centre of my card, I also made another circle in a scrap piece to use as a mask to create the sky for the inside of the card - I had never done this before but am really pleased with how it worked out just by using inks sponged in the edge with a purple then sponged the yellow over the top of the purple and into the centre to create the finish as you can see in the picture of the open card. I coloured the backs of the fairies with gold markers and put a frame around the hole to give it a more finished look. The little dots you can see are kindy glitz- to look like stars - they look good IRL.

Here are a couple of more pictures of the card closer so you can see the wings and I also put some kindy glitz on their hair to give it a bit of sparkle. The other picture shows the open card from another angle. For the front of the card I used some paper from my stash and then because it was a bit plain I added some swirls with a stamp from my collection think they are See-D's series, then I added a few gems for the bit of bling - voila-finished.

Card Recipe: Cardstock-white 5 1/8" square; Papers- bits from my stash; Ink -Generic purple and yellow and Staz-on Jet Black; Stamps- Just Rite Cling-Quiet Moments and swirl set-See-D's; Other:- Dies- Spellbinders Classic Circles Large #5,Scalloped Classic Circles small#5; Colour- Mont Marte- watercolours, Luminarte- various colours, Do Crafts- Papermania- metallic Brush markers; scraps of Acetate from packaging;Gems- -stash; Kindy Glitz Crystalina, Aztec Gold; Corner Rounder punch- officeworks; Helmar 450 Quick Dry adhesive, Tacky Craft Glue, Double sided tape.

Hope you like it and if you have any questions please feel free to email me.

Thanks for visiting hope to see you visit again soon. I love comments so please feel free to leave one if you wish.

Catch You later

Regards

Kathy s

Greetings for the season and the New Year

2010-12-25T19:12:00.001+11:00

I would just like to wish you all out there a safe and happy silly season- there are a lot of bloggers and readers that do not celebrate Christmas as such but I wish you all the best and hope that you stay safe and healthy. For those that do celebrate Christmas may you have an enjoyable day and celebrate this special time in the best way you can. May you and your families and friends all enjoy good health and may you get whatever you wish for. May your New Year be filled with happiness, laughter and good cheer.

To all those that have to work or serve to keep us safe either in Australia or overseas I wish you all a very big thank you for your work and if it means that you can't celebrate with your families and friends My thoughts are with you for your efforts THANK YOU again and MERRY CHRISTMAS and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I am hoping to post more regular entries for 2011. To those that follow me thank you, for those that come to visit sometimes thank you. I am still trying to get used to this world of blogging and I thank all who have helped me out this year in my first year of blogging.

Catch you later

Regards

Kathy S

New Bombshell stamps blog

2010-11-24T08:23:00.001+11:00

Bombshell stamps have a new blog and too celebrate they are giving away 2 stamp sets(1 rubber and 1 digital)

pop on over to the blog and check it out- they have some great stamp sets Bombshell Stamps Blog or for the contest/giveaway entry http://bombshellstamps.blogspot.com/2010/11/enter-our-follow-this-blog-contest.html

regards

Catch you later

Kathy s

Blue Christmas wishes

2010-11-18T18:14:00.001+11:00

"It's going to be a blue Christmas with out you"- For some reason this song kept going through my head as I was creating this card -other than having blue in it I can't understand it. Anyway Three cards in one day after three months no blogging. I was actually trying to get one or two of these cards posted yesterday but Murphy's law - didn't get there - so now you have three in one day -sorry.

JustRite Friday Challenge 044- Color, Sponsored by Spellbinders is challenging you to use Navy,Rust and Gold in your project- I didn't really have a Rust coloured anything so I got what was as close as possible from my stash- hope they accept it as rust. This card sort of came together by itself in about two hours-which for me is quick, I usually take ages trying to find just the right papers or layout but not this time. The sketch is 2S4Y Kazan's Sketch 66 current challenge and I think that fact and the colours picked by JustRite helped heaps because it took away a lot of the procrastination I usually go through when creating.

I made another Christmas card because I still have heaps -like about 50 or so- to do before the end of the month or Christmas anyway and had better get a move on with them.

I love Just Rite stamps and because at the moment I only have their original stamps (I bought this set for that particular stamp-I just love it) -I will use them. They are a bit difficult to get here unless you buy online(which I don't) but thanks to their blog hop I won a set of their new ones- check out their blog to see all the cool new designs and for those without the original system these ones are on cling so will work on normal cling blocks. The new set I won was "Quiet Moments" - such a sweet little set with pretty little fairies and some gorgeous sayings on it I am sure you will be sick of fairies when I get it in the mail and have a play. The last 7 sets have all been illustrated by the lovely Elizabeth O.Dulemba- a great illustrator and author in her own right. Thanks Sharon.

I could also possibly enter this into the Caardvarks Holiday Die Cuts challenge of using die cuts although they are not from Creative Cuts and More as I don't have any of their dies and they are not actually a holiday die cut but they are around a holiday stamp so maybe that counts - but would love to own some one day- they look so neat. I think it might be a bit late for the deadline for that challenge though so anyway I'll try.

I would like to explain something here as you may all be wondering,or not, why I keep referring to things from my stash - Before I started making cards for blogs and I really haven't sold any. I bought lots of supplies and unfortunately threw away a majority of the packaging so I have no recollection as to the origin/manufacturer of a lot of my stuff in my craft space especially regarding makers and where they came from. I am sorry but that's the way it is, I have heaps of papers off cuts and bits and pieces which is one of the reasons I started blogging so I had the incentive to use it.I only use a small amount when I take my card class and those cards are kept for examples. I gift most of my work or use it-like the Christmas cards I make. Hope that explains a bit about me and my creativity. If anybody sees something they recognize from a particular manufacturer please let me know and I will give them credit

This card is a tent card and is a 4.5"x6" card. The brown has been stamped with the snowflake from the Original Merry Little Christmas set with versamark- to give it a watermark effect then I stamped it with the bronze ink and then I was happy with that effect so I stamped again with versamark watermark and embodded with a bronze EP. although you can't really see the other layers in the picture they are visible IRL. The gold paper behind the main image has a glow to it as well and the ribbon I bought from a local quilt shop when it was shutting down- neither had labels so I don't know the manufacturers-the brown is a velvet. hope you can see it a bit better in this shot.I mounted the central image onto foam tape to give it a bit more dimension.

Recipe-Card base- Navy cut and folded to the above size. Papers-stash, Stamps- Just Rite 3 1/4" stamps Christmas Treasures and Merry Little Christmas Set Originals; Inks- Versamark watermark,Grant-Bronze; Dies-Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Circle and Classic Scalloped circle; Helmar tacky Craft Glue; Scor-it Scoring tool. Other- (From stash)Embossing Powder- Bronze and Blue;Gem; Ribbon; Double sided tape and foam tape.

I am sorry this was such a long post hope I didn't bore you all

Hope you enjoy, thanks for visiting and any comments greatly appreciated.

Catch you later

Regards

Kathy s

Lets shake and skate

2010-11-18T15:41:00.001+11:00

This card is for the Unscripted Sketches #81 when I saw this sketch I first thought to make a card looking like a gift and then when I started creating I somehow came out with a shaker card-don't really know how that happened but I hope you like it anyway I thought it turned out sort of ok but I haven't made a shaker card for a Long time and had to think about what I was doing a lot.

I love Penny black stamps although I only have a couple of sets so they get used in bits and bots- not nearly enough for my liking but I think the hedgehogs are so cute. I think it still sort of looks like a gift in a round about way don't you? It's very relaxing colouring and the watercolour crayons -Lyra Aquacolor crayons- I've been using are so good and will last me forever.

Here is a closer shot of the little hedgehog- so darling.

Recipe: In no particular order sorry -

Card-Blue base card from some sets I purchased at a discount store to make your own cards- They were too cheap to go past -something like $5 for 10 cards and envelopes and embellishments as well or something like that -I have only a few left as I have had them for a while now they are about 4.5" square; Papers- All the papers were from my stock I have a HUGE supply of bits and pieces I am trying to use up; Stamps- Penny black Transparent Christmas Critters Set; Inks- Versamark Watermark; Embossing Powder-Gold and Silver-sorry had for ages don't know brand.; Colouring- Lyra Aquacolor watercolour crayons; Other- Flower soft- Polar White for the snow and I actually stuck it to his hat rim and pompom (mixed with glitter);Glitter two types-Darico White and again don't know brand -rainbow white/pink;Acetate;Stickers-Border stickers-I think they're Renoir; Ribbon and silver cord-Stash; Punches- Fiskars tag your it-1.5" and 2";Dies- Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circles large and small and Classic Circles large and small(sorry again put them away before writing down which ones);Sequins- Stars and Snowflakes- stash; Foam tape, double sided tape and Helmar Tacky Craft Glue.

Hope you enjoyed your visit, thanks for coming. Comments greatly appreciated.

Catch You later

Regards

Kathy s

The true Spirit of Christmas

2010-11-18T11:21:00.001+11:00

This is a long entry and probably very boring to you but I feel that I must give a mild explanation as to my absence over the past few months. You don't have to read this if you don't want to you can just skip to the card - I will not be offended I promise.

I am back at the moment- I am sorry to have been away from my blog so long- several things have been going on around here that needed to be dealt with and they took priority. Firstly as I have stated in previous blogs- I soooo admire all of you out there that can work full time, raise a family and create and blog at the same time. Unfortunately I am not one of those people and even though my family are all grown they are still in need of my support at various times either as a Taxi, babysitter, moral supporter or other things. This not only implies my immediate family but my In Laws, nieces, nephews and others as well. I am also the calling person for several friends in times of need- Which don't get me wrong I love and feel honoured that they think they can call on me for these things but it means my creativity time is diminished and at times non existent, therefore I have had little time and actually lost the incentive to create anything worth blogging about for such a long time but hopefully things are getting back to normal(whatever that is). I also had a rotten cold that would not go away and took several weeks for me to even feel like doing anything- I am now catching up on housework and gardening as well as slipping in a bit of crafting-yay!.

Sorry to go on but I felt I had to explain a little bit about my absence. I have been still stalking many blogs and leaving the occasional comment etc. I am going to have to look at the amount of blogs I subscribe to - there are so many and I must spend ages on them admiring everyone else's work so If I unsubscribe to your blog it is not that I am no longer interested in your work but that I am trying to get back some of my time for me to create so PLEASE understand. I will try to peek in sometimes to see where you are at and I thank you all for the inspiration you have given me.

Now my card:- This was made to go with the Card patterns Sketch 90

as soon as I saw this sketch I knew I wanted to use my Kaisercraft set-Be Merry Collection-I love the sentiment and those little oval words they look so classic but I wanted to do a card that was not traditional colours-I like the challenge of getting away from red and green sometimes.

Sorry if the pictures are dark but it is very overcast here today and although it's near the end of spring we are having a very wet and very cold one- summer will probably be the same.

The second picture sort of shows the little jewels on this card -they change colour if you look at them in different light. It looks like the white layer is on foam tape but it's not it's just very thick card(matt board actually) but I put the greetings and words on foam tape .

Here is the list of things I used

Cardstock- Black Impress Hessian finish; Papers- Bits from my stash; Inks-Versamark watermark, Staz-on Jet Black; Other- JudiKins Detail Black Embossing Powder; Ribbon-It's Magic; Gems- stash; Dies-Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Ovals and Classic Scalloped ovals-Sorry I always seem to put them away before I write down which sized ones I use; Photo corners; Foam mounting tape, Double sided tape, Helmar Tacky Craft Glue.

Comments always appreciated.

Thanks for visiting

Regards

Kathy s

My Tribute and feelings for the 9-11 Disaster.

2010-09-11T10:44:00.001+10:00

To all those not in Australia this may appear a day early but in Australia it is now Saturday 11th September.

You don't have to read this if you wish it's up to you but it was the way I felt and feel at this tragic time and had to express it with these words. They may not make sense to some but each time I read it I feel shivers in my body because it brings back the feelings I had that were so strong then and still are today-I admire all who have gotten on with their lives and tried to put this way behind them but there are some that will never get over it and my heart really goes out to them.

Like most others I was deeply touched by the happenings on September 11 2001. I remember waking on that morning our time to hear the news and see the footage over and over on the T.V. - not being able to believe what was happening and even though we where seeing it could not fully accept it for quite a while. My 11 year old son just could not understand and I had a hard time trying to help him when I didn't understand either- how could someone do this?.

Being a volunteer member of the Country Fire Authority in Victoria, Australia (one of the fire services of our state) I am fully aware of the dangers that are encountered by those who also serve the community no matter where they live or the role in which they do it - whether they are like me a fire person or a police or ambulance officer or one of the rescue team members- when they go out to help.

I know of many that also risked their lives to assist in the devastating fires we had in Victoria in February 2009 - I helped in that campaign for two weeks doing communications for aircraft- including working with some lovely Canadian, New Zealand, American and Australian crews who were actually in the aircraft-(helicopters) doing the work from up above. Thank you guys your work was greatly appreciated. (Communications is what I normally do and it is a reasonably safe position but you just never know what is going to happen or when)

This poem was written in the memory of ALL THOSE lost in 9-11 and dedicated to them and all Emergency Service Personnel and their families -either paid or volunteers - who risk or risked their lives everyday trying to help others. I also would like to express my thoughts to those who were not involved in the emergency services who also assisted and those that lost their lives as innocent victims of this event.

We don't always get thanked but we don't expect it either- we are here to help when needed and get on with the job at hand. I wrote this just after that fateful day and even though we are miles away it touched our hearts very deeply- we held and still hold memorial services and prayers for all those involved.

America Attacked

“America attacked” that’s what they said

ALL the papers when they were read

A plane, no two have hit a building in New York

Both full of innocent passengers and civilians at work

Not just any building it was discovered

But the World Trade Centre, the Twin Towers,

No goodbyes or I love you

So unexpected for all involved

Except the ones who planned this deed

Fire everywhere – the heat intense it’s melting steel all around

Even more news comes across

The Pentagon has been hit too - another plane

More people dead

Confusion is all around

Not only for Americans but for the world

WHY?

Who would do this terrible thing?

What is going to happen now?

Questions lots of them to be answered

Who will solve this puzzle?

Another plane has gone down

This time the passengers have reported to say goodbye

Or I love you knowing they were going to die

It’s crashed into a forest all on board dead

Reports keep coming back of despair

Of Death Destruction EVERYWHERE

People try to help, some in vain

No one believes or gives up hope

Police, Fire fighters, Paramedics too

All do their job and march straight in

Get people out their only thought

Help as many as you can

Then more Despair the buildings just crumble

Like a pack of cards

Get out, Get out

We can’t leave them there

We have to help it’s what we do

Regardless of what WE are going through

HOPE is what keeps us going

We pray and work and keep on trying

Just one more trip and one more life

But no it’s too late – we are gone – goodbye

The dust it settles, the people stare

Tears and words just don’t come

We can’t believe it, it can’t be true

It’s some bad movie – it’s just not real

But yes it’s true – we must go on.

We hope the world will stay at peace

No more attacks – no more devastation

We just need to get on, clean up the mess

Maybe someone is still alive

We must check, we hope, we pray

We’ll never forget this tragic day

World war 3 – is this start?

Somewhere down inside our hearts

We hope it’s not - we try to think

Another’s life - we must care

Find out who has done this thing

And punish him / her - and only them

Families, friends we must unite

Think of all those who died - they must help us too

Keep positive and hope the best

Don’t let them all have died in vain

Thousands of innocent lives gone .

Women, children, men all are parts of families

Genes may not relate us

But we are part of the human race

Think of the survivors - those who have lost

We may not want to but we must

Are they to die too- for Revenge

It can’t happen – not again

Remember Gallipoli

Remember France and London

DON’T let Evil win

Give GOOD a winning chance

Peace is what it has to be

But How?

A week has gone by – still no answers

No one else found alive – we can’t give up

People offering – insisting on helping

Clear the rubble – search, search

Dogs, Police, Fire-fighters hard at work

The heat still there- we must go on we cannot rest

Maybe the next piece of rubble may uncover a friend

A loved one – We all hope and pray

Masks must be worn there may be asbestos or worse

We can’t rest

On the other side of the world

We watch this on TV

Our brothers’, sisters’ in the emergency services

Have died or disappeared doing their jobs

We bow our heads and hold our hands

We hug and pray for their families

For them

And all the ones they were trying to save

It could be us we‘re volunteers

Just like some of those who died.

We see a problem we go to help

We know what it’s all about

Our families know it’s what we train to do

But things like this bring the reality home, a family all together

Disaster, Sadness Everywhere – we can’t believe it

We see it over and over again

That plane- those crumbling towers

People running – trying to escape

Those fire trucks, ambulances

Police cars, Buildings – all crumbled like toys

Cranes are lifting; trucks are carrying it all away

To be sifted through in hope to find the answers

None are coming – only more questions

News time comes and goes- more tragedy

Australia, the World is in mourning

Will the world ever be right again?

Children cannot understand- we’re saying sorry

But why? - We did nothing wrong

Explanations just can’t justify any reason

Hope is coming it has to be

We can’t live in fear and sadness

We will remember September 11^th 2001

FOREVER.

By Kathleen Smullen 2001

Thanks for visiting and I hope I haven't upset or offended anyone with this post. I had to post it just so others know it is not only America that feel for people who suffered with this event but it spread all around the world.

Catch you later

Regards

Kathy S

How Sweet

2010-08-27T16:54:00.001+10:00

Gee am I happy three days three posts- this post was such fun to do -I've had this set of stamps for ages like about 12 months or more and have never really used it but I thought of it as soon as I decided to play in a couple of this weeks challenges.

The finished card is just has I had planned which is unusual for me I usually start one way and finish in a completely different direction.

The colours are so cheerful- I think I'm looking forward to spring because I've started using brighter colours. This is for a couple of challenges CPS challenge- CPS 181 Part 1-this is the sketch; Flourishes- Permanent Link to Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge(FTTC81)! - this one required lace and wee Memories Challenge #19 - Sponsored by May Arts- which required something sweet - I think I missed the time frame for one or two but will post it anyway LOL.

Sorry there are lots of pictures but I wasn't sure which to post and I wanted to show all the different parts of it - so here goes

the first two show the front looking straight on-the second showing a bit of the flap and the next two show behind the flap which I made the hinges from lace stickers

then the inside of the flap and the last shows the inside of the card

Thank you for visiting and hope you enjoyed my card and my interpretation of the sketch.

I was trying to get these done so I'm sorry if the pictures aren't very clear- I think I'll have to take photography lessons-or get a better camera and make a photo box. :)

Card info:- Cardstock- is some green card I've had for ages think it's Quell, Papers- K&Company-and bits from my stash; Stamps- Flourishes set- Cakes- not sure of the actual name of the set- It's quite an old one. Inks- several generic stamp pads from Kmart including- red,green,yellow,light blue and purple; and Whispers Brush markers-brown,red,olive and bottle green. Other Bits- Gold embossing powder, Zing Clear embossing powder; Stickers- The paper mill (lace) and from stash; Lace- from my stash its a short piece I purchased with a heap at the local charity shop; Micro beads- various colours and brands- had them fpr ages and thought they looked like sprinkles.;Kindy Glitz-Crystalina,Faber Castell -Glitter Glue-to add a touch of sparkle;

Thanks for visiting

Catch you later

Kathy S

Just for you

2010-08-26T16:46:00.001+10:00

Wow two posts in two days- I think I'm getting back in the groovel - lets hope it stays that way Hehehehe ;} - does that sound very 70's 'cause that's a bit of how I feel with this card-

I just couldn't go past this cute unscripted sketch- I had so many ideas running through my head when I saw it I didn't know where to start- thanks for helping me get my mojo back-Although I'm not totally happy with it I think it would be a cute card just to give someone just to say hi or something for everyday use not a special occasion like a birthday. I had fun doing the background for it as I used all sorts of jar/bottle bottoms and lids dipped in ink pads and stamped onto the card stock I think it sort of looks funky but that's just my opinion.

I cut a couple of tiny hearts in half to make the leaves for the flowers and used some ribbon for the stems not that you can really tell in this picture but this was the best one I took and because it is so dark and gloomy here at the moment-we are expecting another big rain/thunder storm any time.

This card is actually for two challenges the UNSCRIPTED SKETCHES #69 – WITH A PIGGYBACK CHALLENGE - I tried several ideas for the flowers and decided on hearts and I may even do another with something else I'm thinking of but it won't be in time for the challenge I don't think and the JUGS #47 - A Color Challenge

Cardstock- a generic card packet I bought from somewhere ages ago- sorry can't remember where or the brand but it was just one of those multiple card packets that are reasonably cheap- I seem to use a lot of them and they are great for when I need a card in a hurry.

Papers-Kaiser craft Utopia Collection and Hey Birdie Collection-which is sort of appropriate as I used a bird for the card although I didn't realize it at the time I was choosing my papers.

Stamp- Grace Taylor; Sentiment- I'm unsure where this came from I think it was a clear set that I got from a discount store a while ago but I like it and you will probably see it used a lot.

Inks-Archival Ink -Jet Black; I have some generic stamp pads I bought when I was first starting my card making many many years ago and they have so many colours and don't seem to dry out that much either -I have put a drop of water in a couple just to regenerate them and they work ok now. I don't know who made them but I think I bought them from K Mart there were so many colours I think I bought about 15 of them and they are sort of like Versa Inks in size but not them just a cheap version. I used Aqua,Light green and Hot Pink-these are my names for them they didn't actually come with colours written on them.

Other- Embossing Powder-Judi Kins- Black Detail; Colours-Whispers Brush Markers,Ribbon-Sullivans Double sided satin; Punch- Fiskars 1" squueze punch circle, Hearts- three different sizes- unsure of brand; Jewels-stash; Glue- Helmar 450; Double sided tape and mounting tape.

Hope you enjoyed

Thanks for visiting

Catch you later

Kathy S

Non traditional Christmas

2010-08-25T14:33:00.001+10:00

I thought I'd make a non traditional Christmas gift card using colours in the Just Rite challenge and step out of my comfort zone of reds and greens I hope you like it- I made this for a couple of reasons-

I only have a few Just Rite stamps and the main ones are Christmas because I love this time of year and wanted to participate in their challenges both the Just Rite Friday Challenge 032- Color-I don't have these colours in copic markers-I only have a few earth colours and non of them matched these and this challenge Christmas Tags & Minis with JustRite Stampers you can go directly to the Caardvark site by clicking on this link -I thought I'd better start making more Christmas cards and gift cards now we are nearly into September so it's not that far away-I don't have any appropriate caardvarks papers (I only have one pink and one blue piece) or I would have used them and because I thought I could use it for the challenge for me to help me get inspired- I am not totally happy with it but I think the colours came together really well even if it is for Christmas. I think I might tie some orange and green ribbon around the top somewhere just to finish it off- I just feel it's missing something and hopefully that might fix it. :)

Merry Christmas-

Card- size is 5 14/16th" x 3" (15x27.5cm)- This came from my stash that I have had for ages and kept because I liked the embossing on it.

Paper-Monte Marte watercolour paper,green and orange from my stash

Stamps Just Rite Christmas set 1 5/8"

Other: Embossing powder Judi Kins Black Detail; Ink-Distress Vintage photo; Colours- Whispers brush markers;Stickers-(the dark brown bits)-stash;Jewels- Kaiser craft and stash;Ribbon-Creative corner;Glitter-stash;Embossing folder- Cuttlebug -Argyle

Thanks for visiting

catch you later

Kathy S

It's been soooo long between posts

2010-08-12T21:16:00.001+10:00

Sorry I have been away so long but I don't seem to have had any time to myself lately- this is the first time I've had to even think about a post- I have so many emails left unread- I will gradually catch up on everyone else's news and blogs, I missed all the news and excitement from CHA and all the blog giveaways- I have been working flat out every day and again I take my hat off to all of you out there that can work full time raise a family do things with them and still have time to create and post things on blogs- by the time I get home of a night I have just wanted to relax but have still had meals to prepare and work to be done- I also have been babysitting my darling grandchildren and have also have been studying and preparing for the requirement of what is called "minimum skills" in the CFA -even though I have been doing communications for well over 20 years now I now have to have the requirement that any active fire fighter has when going into a fire area- even though I will not be any where near the fire because I do communications - but since we have had some bad seasons and incidents involving deaths in the fire service all personal are now required to have theses skills- I still have the practical side of the assessment to go through in a week or so but have done all the theory and things I hope. On top of all that I have this horrible cold that just won't go away- my head feels heavy and aching and I am tired continually-I have very little enthusiasm to even craft at the moment so have been catching up on what is going on in blog world- You guys are amazing and there are so many great new releases around I wish I could have all of them.

One blog I have caught up on is Andrea's- another Australian and Victorian and also the owner of AnnaBelle Stamps she is celebrating 3 years blogging and has the following candy up for grabs but you'll have to be quick it finishes on the 14th of August- visit her blog http://www.stampinmoments.com/ to find out all the details but its a great lot of goodies - she is giving away 3 stamp sets some ribbon, some pearls and some sprinkles.

Sorry to bore you with all my whining I just feel so drained at the moment and wish I had the energy and enthusiasm to get up and do something but the weather here has been so cold and wet- which is good because we desperately need the rain but please let us get some spring weather soon- I am so glad we don't get snow where I live but the wind and the temperatures have been so cold it may as well have been snowing

Anyway that's it for this post hope I haven't bored you too much thanks for visiting and check out Andrea's blog for the candy- I hope you will call back again sometime

Catch you later

Kathy s

Christmas Just Rite

2010-07-09T10:50:00.001+10:00

This card is using some adorable ribbon I discovered last year when I visited Costco- we had our first store open in Melbourne toward the end of last year so hubby and I decided to check it out- wow it's big and so many things- I did half my Christmas shopping in one day there but I fell in love with this ribbon even though I had to buy a whole roll of 50 yards it was only about $10 so I couldn't go past it- I was going to use it last year but I had most of my Christmas things already organized so this year it will feature a lot in decorations,cards and just about everything else.

Isn't this gold and maroon ribbon gorgeous the maroon is actually flock its just beautiful IRL. it sort of has a shimmer to the gold too which is not showing in the pictures.

This card is for the JUGS sketch A Just Rite Sketch Day! 40 using Just Rite stamps on the inside and the front -I used a bits and pieces from my stash I am slowly using all my little bits but they don't seem to get any less in volume-is that because I keep getting more off cuts from friends do you think. Hope you like it.

This may be my last post for a while as I start work again on Monday-in Australia school goes back Monday from the mid year holidays and I am working all day for the next four weeks and with everything else I do blog entries have become lower on the priority list unfortunately. Thank you to all who visit and I hope you will call back occasionally to visit and leave a comment. I also have a couple of cards featured on Erin's blog- Inky Smiles for her Scrap My Scraps Challenge III Reveal- Kathy Smullen I thought this would be great fun to participate in and what a ball I had Erin is such great fun to work with and very patient for a novice blogger like me- Thanks for the chance Erin I had a blast. Although I was getting a bit concerned because my envelope hadn't arrived and the deadline was the 25th June and I only got my stuff the week before- It seemed like it took forever to arrive but I think I did ok- let me know what you think by visiting Erin's blog-just click on the link above -hopefully it should take you to her blog.

Info regarding the Christmas card above-

Card Base- Maroon Card stock; Papers- all of these were bits from my stash;

Ribbon-Kirkland signature(Costco), Lace- one piece from stash the other bits a St.Louis Trimming-Trimtex co.; Stamps- Just Rite's Christmas Treasures Borders and Centres

Dies- Standard Classic Circle#4 and Scalloped Classic Circle#4; Ink Brilliance Rocket Red and Versamark watermark; Jewels-discount store; Embossing Powder-Zing Gold glitter finish, Alisonellisdesign-Firecracker Spark, Plain Gold-stash.

Thanks for visiting

Catch You Later

Kathy s

Apron card and bookmark.

2010-06-30T18:49:00.001+10:00

I finally got to spend 3 hours in my craft room last Friday morning because I needed a card to wish one of the teachers at school all the best because she was leaving- as I work in the food technology (or Home Economics as it used to be called) area and so did she I tried to think of something appropriate to make for her as well as include something small as a gift -I thought of a gift card but as she doesn't live in my area a gift card would probably have been a waste so I thought I would try something else. So I started checking my emails and other blogs for inspiration and came across the JustRite Inspiration Blog and they had a challenge for bookmarks a week or so ago-which gave me the idea of a gift- I know she reads and also enjoys cooking then scrolling down I saw an entry from Jennifer Mitten who had designed her card in the shape of an apron and a bookmark as a circle so of course I just had neon lights flashing in my head and thought this was perfect for the gift and the card - you can find all the details at Jennifer's blog -Another JustRite Stampers Challenge and then I check my emails I can't believe that JUGS ("Just us Girls") are having a challenge Jugs 39 - Template Challenge - I didn't use the template they provided but check it out it's a great one.

Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry as I really had to rush to get the card and bookmark made and then take the pictures as well as make something to eat for a small party they were giving her after school finished. I hope you like these and thanks Jennifer for the inspiration. I tried to make the bookmark to look like a recipe book - I put magnets inside the folded cardstock and then covered them with paper so you couldn't see them and then thought I'd just write a small note inside saying" Let me keep your place" so they sort of clip over the top of the page and magnetize to each other holding the page on the spot. I put the bookmark in the pocket as in the photo

Recipe: Pale Green Cardstock- Office works;Papers-DCWV-Endless Summer Matstack and The Glitter Stack;Brown Handmade paper- unsure of origin it was one of the first papers I bought years ago and have just resurrected from the bottom of my stash of browns, pink scraps from stash; Stamps -Just Rite stamps; Punch- Martha Stewart Doily Hearts; Other-Lace- from stash- dyed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Ink for stamp- Cre8tiv Gold; Glues and Tapes-double sided tape and foam mounting Tape and Helmar 450 Quick drying adhesive; Ribbon-Value Craft.

When I gave it to her she loved it and I had tied the ribbons at the back to make it look realistic- she didn't realize it was also a card LOL until I suggested she untie the ribbons- she was delighted and so were all the other staff there.

Thanks for visiting. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Catch You Later

Kathy S

It's the journey that matters

2010-06-24T11:16:00.001+10:00

I am trying to post this for the third day now- for some reason it keeps timing out- I am so fed up with my computer at the moment and feel so frustrated GRHHHHHH!

Thank you to all the loyal visitors who have visited and left a comment in the past. They are greatly appreciated and if you wish to leave one please do at the end of the post. I was hoping to have more regular posts but that is not likely to happen at the moment sorry.

Just thought I'd better post another card to let you all know I am still here on this earth. I am sooooooo sorry to those who visit to not have been posting but my life is like a roller coaster at the moment and I have no idea when it's going to settle down. I thought I was in a sort of routine Hah! what a joke- I haven't even been near my crafting things since my last post- except for this past weekend which was spasmodic at its best. I finally got in there on Monday to finish a commitment for someone but will tell more about that at a later date hopefully.

This card I made months ago and never posted, but I think it's kind of sweet. I love this sentiment and the meaning behind it. It could be used for so many things but a sympathy or thinking of you card comes to mind.

Recipe :- Card Base- Local Office supply store A4 200 gem card cut in half -Size 10.5cm x 15 cm

( 5 7/8”x 4 ¼” approx)

Papers:- Craftworks design papers- from a local discount and glossy card stock for butterfly, normal A4 printer paper coloured with alcohol inks for the stamped image.

Stamps- Just Rite Harmony Classic Circle Stamper III 3 ¼” set ( Sentiment); Grace Taylor Nature Girl set-(Butterfly )

Other:- Inks- Memento Tuxedo Black and Versa mark; Embossing Powders –Zing Green Metallic Finish; Adirondack Alcohol Inks- Sunset Orange, Sunshine Yellow and Raspberry; Ribbon- off cut of selvage of taffeta material pleated; Jewels- Kaiser craft

Thanks for visiting

Catch you Later

Kathy S.

Christmas wishes

2010-05-25T20:30:00.001+10:00

Two posts in one day wow- but I'll be away for the rest of the week with a friend so thought I'd try to post these today I should be back on Friday sometime.

This card is to play with a couple of challenges - the Justrite Christmas challenge JustRite Friday Challenge 019- Christmas in May & A BIG Announcement! and Sparkle creations Christmas Card Challenge Week #25 - Sentiment Only

Recipe and How I made this card: Base:-Yellow card stock, Focal - White cardstock embossed using the Cuttlebug snow dots embossing folder and various scraps from my stash.- the Red shiny is actually part of a decoration that was being thrown away because it was broken and when I saw it I thought I might be able to use it somewhere -thank goodness I kept it I've used it heaps-It's great to die cut and emboss and if you sand it you get another dimension again. I die cut Nestabilities dies the classic circles and scalloped circles sets -sorry not sure which sizes I used but they fit the JustRite stamps perfectly. Stamps- Just Rite Christmas Treasures Borders and centres Round 3 1/4 stamps set. I stamped these and embossed using Zing Gold glitter for the border stamp and Red glitter for the sentiment. Just to add a bit of bling I placed an heart over the O in Wonderful. Ribbon: red velvet ribbon I bought at KMart after Christmas- It's not the best for cards as it's a bit thick- I think it was meant for a wreath but at 10cents a roll I wasn't complaining and I think it just adds that extra touch.

If you really wanted to you could remove the focal point and attach the ribbon to it and use it as an ornament or gift tag.

Hope you like this card feel free to leave a comment

Thanks for visiting

Regards

Catch you Later

Kathy S

white,white,white

2010-05-25T20:22:00.001+10:00

This card is for the Annabelle stamps blog challenge Say It In...White

I thought I wouldn't be able to do this because I just LOVE colour - it seemed like a real challenge for me but once I got going I had a great time -good enough that I produced two cards. They were actually pretty quick to make and assemble so I will be making more monochromatic cards I think. Both these cards could be used for many occasions. sorry about the photos- I am a terrible photographer and it was very overcast outside today and really cold so I took these inside.

Recipe:Card 1:- Base: White Cardstock , Main Focal handmade paper that actually has plant life through it but most of it fell out once I cut it.- Pendant Nestabilities - the large section and the two smaller sections - the one that looks like a wreath and the one that looks like a cross -I cut 2 of each of all of these shapes and stacked them. Flower bead- this came in a bag of beads and things I bought at a craft show recently- it was full of really interesting beads and gems I will be using them a lot in the future-sorry can't remember the name of the company I got them from. Ribbon this is one from my stash it's designed to be gathered because it has a thin thread running along the edges (I had never noticed it before this card so I will try it out at a later date)but I didn't use them I just tied a bow. There is also a sentiment on this card which I stamped in white chalk ink and embossed using white embossing powder- it just says "thinking of you" can't remember where I got this stamp from either sorry.

This card is really pretty IRL and if you look closely the corners have actually got the little bits left from the die of the large cross centres on them - I thought they were too quaint to just throw away so I thought I'd use them as corners. The gems are sort of multicoloured but not coloured if you can understand that-they seem to reflect and pick up the colours around them. I used the crosses because I think they are so pretty- they are such a great set to own.

Recipe Card 2:- Base-White cardstock; Background paper is actually just copy paper which I scored on an angle to give the diamond shapes then I used my Labels Four Nestabilities 3, 4and 5 - I cut 2 of the 4's -one for under the crosses and one for under the sentiment. Papers used are handmade paper, pearl vellum and various scraps from my stash. I cut the crosses using the Cross collection shapeabilities - I used the largest and the third cross and then embossed both by running through my machine again. I added Kindyglitz to the front of the smaller cross to give it a bit of sparkle. I layered these together and then mounted them on top of the labels cut outs using dimensional tape. Ink- I stamped the sentiment using versamark watermark ink and embossed using a Zing silver embossing powder and heat set it. These I attached to the card using double sided adhesive. I thought it needed something else so I added 3 gems in the top right corner and one in the centre of the cross and I don't know if you can see it but there is one as the dot on the letter i as well.

I love the way both of these cards turned out and will definitely be trying other cards in the future. Hope you like them both too-

Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion -thank you for visiting

Regards

Catch you Later

Kathy S

Puppy this is for you

2010-05-18T17:16:00.001+10:00

I made this card on the weekend for one of the teachers at school who lost one of her adorable "family" members last week. She was very sad so I thought this card may help to cheer her up. I got this set of stamps and a cat one about a month ago for this particular reason - most of my friends have either a dog or cat or both and the inevitable is going to happen sooner or later so I thought these would be a great set to own (besides the images were all so darn cute I just fell in love with them).

The layout is actually for "the Diedrich Dare - Whimsical Wednesday" challenge DDSC35! and this is the first chance I've had to post it. It is a great sketch done by one of the DT's children and makes you think outside the box a bit. Hope you visit the DT members and see their amazing creations.

Recipe:-Card size- A6 white base card; Papers-Heidi Grace Love Blossoms Jersey Stripes; Paw prints (sorry can't remember who made this paper it was in a set of animal designs I got from KMart a while ago) the black is just scraps from my stash. Stamps- Just for you-Crafty Bitz, Dog- Birch Exchangable- Small Dogs set. Ribbon- A touch of class-this was a wide ribbon so I just cut it down to my requirements-it's like a florist ribbon. Rhinestones-Black-Basics by Kaisercraft. Embossing Powder- Judi Kins Black Detail. Ink - Stazon Timber Brown, Versamark Watermark. Colours- Lyra Aqua Color crayons.

Thanks for visiting and hopefully will be able to have more frequent posts soon.

Catch you Later

Kathy S

Baby

2010-05-13T21:11:00.001+10:00

This is a card I made a while ago for another challenge but never posted it so thought it was to pretty to not share- I think I'll be giving this one to my daughter because it isn't really pink- she doesn't like pink that much -which is funny because now she has 2 daughters and EVERYONE gives you pink for babies - Big LOL!!!.

This baby picture is one I bought back before my daughter was born -30ish years ago- it was a sort of decoupage picture on a sheet with a heap of other baby and children pictures and I just fell in love with it but never used them all I still have several sheets so I have decided my cards would be the perfect place to use some of them. The papers are some K&Company I bought a few years ago and haven't used in ages- something else I'll be sorry when it runs out- I might just keep some and look at it it's gorgeous.

Here is a closer look at this beautiful little picture and the paper for the background- so pretty

This is for The Shabby Tea Room for their Week #9 - Chipboard Challenge - the "baby" is chipboard and painted purple and then glittered so I thought it fit. Hope you like it I think it is one of my favourite cards at the moment.

Card Recipe (as best as it can be -I'm not very good at this part of blogging)

Card Base is white card stock-finished size 14cm x 15cm (5 1/2" x 5 3/4") approx.

Papers- K and Company and scraps from my stash

Picture- decoupage picture, OTHER:- chipboard letters -Bella! chipz; Ribbon- creative Corner; Lumiere Paint pearlescent Violet; Glitter; Helmar 450 Glue; lace -stash

I think that's all I used

Thanks for visiting

Catch you Later

Regards

Kathy S

Welcome little one

2010-05-09T19:35:00.001+10:00

This is the second post for today- and part of the reason I haven't been posting recently as I have been waiting for this news and haven't wanted to start any projects until things settled- as well as several other things happening and me working every day(my body is still not used to that) so I don't know when I'll get another one in but thought I'd let you all know I AM A GRANDMA AGAIN whoooohoo! - no really my grandchildren range from the age of 3 3/4 -he'll be 4 in July, then there is a 2 1/2 year old granddaughter and a 2 1/4 year old grandson and then Olivia who is 18 months then another granddaughter who is nearly 1 then another grandson 5 months old and then Vanessa who is 5 days - all 7 of them. Considering I have 3 children I don't think that's bad going-although I have told them to stop for a while.

I don't normally post pictures of my family but my daughter has said its ok this time so here is my latest darling granddaughter Vanessa Elizabeth she was due two weeks ago so we were waiting patiently because good things come to those who wait -right?

Vanessa was born at 12.16 am on Tuesday morning and weighed 3.150kg. I spent the night looking after her big sister Olivia Kate pictured below who is also the spitting image of her mum when she was this age and just as cheeky- but oh so adorable.

I have also included a picture of the whole happy family

Catch you later

Regards

Kathy s

Just for you

2010-05-09T18:16:00.001+10:00

my internet is giving me a hard time so I hope this eventually loads because I've tried three times already and it just drops out

This card is the first I've had a chance to make for what seems like ages- well it is really-my poor craft area hasn't seen me for Oh so long and I was starting to get scared it wouldn't see me for longer yet but I snuck down and had a couple hours play time and this is what I created- it's for the "The Shabby Tearoom" challenge Week #8 - Get Your Bling On - it's finishing today so I thought I'd better get this one posted I hope I'm not too late for it.(then hopefully I'm sneaking back to my room for some more fun for another hour before dinner.) and then who knows when it will see me again.LOL- or cry if you feel like me!

Here's a closer look at the teapot and cups. I used the double sided sticky and lace and glitter technique to do this and am quite happy how it turned out

First I die cut the tea pot and cups and saucers out of double sided sticky paper although I didn't use the sticky on the back for this card and then I found some lace that I liked the pattern on and after removing the backing stuck the lace to the shapes then I covered it all in the blue glitter (don't know what colour or where this either of these glitters came from it's been in my stash for years and never seems to run out- thank goodness I love this colour. Then I tapped the excess glitter off and put it away then I removed the lace and covered the rest of the sticky with a white holographic glitter to finish it off. The rest of the things used in this card are Spellbinders Blossom dies 1,2 5 and 6; Martha Stewart Doily heart border punch; some gold powder for the saucers -can't remember who made this one; gold stickers from my stash and all the papers are odds and ends from my stash too as is the blue base card the finished card size is approximately 5 3/4" square OR 14.5 cm. Not even sure where the stamp came from but I use it heaps- it's a clear acrylic one I probably bought on sale somewhere and the ribbon is from a local discount store.

Hope you have had a good Mothers day wherever you may be!

catch you later

regards

Kathy s

Lest We Forget

2010-04-25T19:11:00.001+10:00

Today the 25th April we in Australia celebrate ANZAC day. For those of you who do not know -ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

It was initially named for all those soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who fought and died at Gallipoli, Turkey in WW1.

With the coming of the Second World War, ANZAC Day also served to commemorate the lives of Australians who died in that war. In subsequent years the meaning of the day has been further broadened to include Australians killed in all the military operations in which Australia has been involved. It also helps us remember all those who are currently serving our country in many ways.

We give thanks, remember and show respect towards all those who have given their time and even that supreme sacrifice- their lives- to help keep us safe.

I would like to give thanks to all these men and women who not only left their families but left their country to protect us and to those families - Thank you for giving us your sons and daughters to help us stay safe.

I would like to say to all -no matter where you live- give a silent prayer to all those in any service who may be representing your country to help others live in a safe environment. May All wars and Military Actions end with no more blood shed and lives lost.

The following is an extract from a poem Laurence Binyon named "For the Fallen"- It is read at services to show the significance of what was given for their country.

"Ode of Remembrance"

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.

Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Regards

Catch you later

Kathy S.

No card but check out this sweet stuff at Jacque's Joie de vivre Blog

2010-04-14T13:58:00.001+10:00

Jacque is celebrating her blogaversary so hope you pop by and visit her she is such a lovely lady and so very generous with candy ALL the time and has a HUGE giveaway right now.

Hopefully the links work to take you to her blog

The deadline for this SWEET STUFF will be Thursday, April 29 at midnight DST.

Here's a list and a picture of the candy...

1 Once Upon A Time Pink Scrap Tote
1 Stampology Layered Clear Stamp Set-Invitation and Party
1 Pastel Paper Pack from Crafty Secrets
1 Classic Paper Pack from Crafty Secrets
1 Making Memories Whimsy Embellishment Kit
2 packs of Metallic Adornments
1 pack of K&Co Paper Flower Brads
1 Pack of K&Co Flower Dimensionals
1 Tin of Making Memories Flower Shop Collection
1 Tin of Making Memories Butterfly Collection
7 bunches of assorted mulberry roses
2 packs of MS clear gems
1 Fiskars Tool Taxi
1 Pack of Making Memories Velvet Brads
A handful of miscellaneous charms
Stamps from the companies I represent:
1 Belles 'n Whistles Scarecrow & Little Wizard
1 Magnolia Wrapped Tilda
1 D'Amour Allure Flirty Valentine
1 Flower Soft Moments in Time Purr-fect
LOTS of Ribbon from my stash
1 MS Cornice Edge punch
1 MS Cosmos Garden punch

and a few more she's forgotten :)

Now, all you have to do is leave her a comment and some love here
Good luck if you want to enter and that's it for today

thanks for visiting

Catch you later

Kathy S

A 2fer Whimsical Room

2010-04-13T11:40:00.001+10:00

Sorry I haven't posted for a while but my life has taken some really weird turns lately- I just don't seem to have enough hours in the day -it still amazes me how other bloggers can work full time and still do a post every day with beautiful creations - I love them but what am I doing wrong- I'm lucky to get a couple of hours just to myself (which is spent in my craft area)- but still doesn't seem to produce a great deal and I don't have school kids anymore -I had more time when they were at school- how does this happen. I now have grandchildren though with another one due anytime now so as soon as it's arrived I will let you know but that's not the problem either.

Last week I was looking at the Whimsical Wednesday -The Diedrich Dare blog and saw a really interesting challenge unfortunately I don't have any Greeting farm stamps or I would have used them

Some Pink and Pink, and Pink, and Oh Yes that dreaded color (well by me anyway) Brown Inspiration

so thought I would have a go- I've had these stamps for a little while but haven't really had the inspiration to use them so when I saw this room I knew exactly how I could play along - I loved the way the walls are dark with the white and pink -Not necessarily my colour for walls but loved the principle - so I used the white frame as my cardstock and added to it I hope you like my creations- I actually did 2 cards because I loved the colours- I think I used to colour just about everyone's clothes and things in brown and pink when I was little so it bought back memories too

Thinking of You

With this first card I stamped the the chandelier onto brown linen weave I think it is paper (-this was in a bunch of papers I bought at Kmart ages ago and I think these are my last two pieces-I love the colour and the look of it-) using my Brilliance - Moonlight White stamp pad and then embossed it using Zing -opaque white embossing powder.- I wasn't really happy with the finish so I added Kindy Glitz to the "light" areas of the chandelier although it's hard to see in the picture but looks all sparkly IRL. Then I stamped the lamp on some gloss cardstock using Whispers -Port Wine ink and cut it out- I thought it needed something to balance so I stamped three of the little hibiscus flowers that came with the set to represent the pictures on the wall but when I put them on the brown they didn't look right so I edged them with the Port Wine ink pad and they looked a bit better then I just stamped the sentiment on some gloss card and cut it out - I added the ribbon just as a final touch. Hope you like it.

The next card didn't really stick to the layout of the room like the first one

Hugs

This card is a very simple one and I just used the inspiration of the frames on the wall and went with that - I love these stamps - I bought them at KMart last week and thought they would get a lot of use as there were quite a few nature type images on them so you will probably see quite a bit using them.

I went through my stash and grabbed some different tones of pink and stamped the images on them then I cut them into squares and mounted them on white card then put some dimensional tape behind to make them stand out a bit then I used the same ribbon as I did in the last card and added the brown to go with it- The 'Hugs' stamp is from a different set that I've had for ages and when I stamped it -it is a negative type stamp and the white looked to stark so I got out my Aqualip pen in pink and coloured it in which sort gave it a glazed effect-cute-then I mounted it on pink paper and added dimensional tape to the back I thought it needed something else so I did some faux stitching around each of the images and added a bit of bling to the final card.

Recipe;

Card one - Thinking of you

Cardstock- white generic; Papers from my stash, Stamps- Papermania Chatsworth Collection; Accessories:-Ribbon - Value Craft; Kindy Glitz-Crystalina;Ink- Whispers Port Wine,Brilliance-Moonlight White; Embossing Powder-Zing Opaque white; dimensional tape and double sided tape.

Card Two - Hugs

Cardstock- White generic; Stamps Cre8tiv- Life series, See D's; Ink- Stazon Timber Brown; Accessories:- Ribbon-Value Craft; Uniball signo pen- white; Sakura Aqualip pen pink; Gems- discount store,dimensional tape and double sided tape.

Thanks for visiting come back again sometime. Any and all comments greatly appreciated

Catch you later

Kathy S.

Happy Birthday

2010-04-01T12:04:00.001+11:00

I know I'm posting another card but this will be my last one for this week I think - I have soooooo much to do before Easter it's not funny -we are having all our kids and partners -with their kids over on Saturday- they all seem to have other commitments for Sunday so Saturday will be our Easter get together and a very full house- 3 adult children of our own and their partners and 6 grandchildren the eldest being 3 and a half and the youngest 4 months and an asthmatic - yikes- and I am waiting for number 7- it is due in April -my gosh that's this month-so a very pregnant daughter will also be here. But I am looking forward to it all of course- there is nothing better than a family get together whatever the reason.

This card is another birthday card- I have had this idea in my head for a while and just couldn't formulate it until saw the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #106 sketch and thought that was how I wanted it laid out although I had to turn it on it's side - so here it is I hope you like it.

I thought I would make it bright and cheery we are getting into Autumn here and everyone else in blog world is talking about spring so I thought these colours sort of combine both worlds. You can't really see it in the picture but the background to the blue/green squares is actually an orange glitter cardstock that I just had to have before Christmas and have only know started to use it- it is just so pretty.The stamp I used for the feature is a Craft Stamper Magazine freebie from a couple of years ago -I love magazines that attach free stamps to the front- as you will tell as I start putting up more cards -because I have and use a lot of them.

The front was pretty I thought I would carry it through to the inside -which is something I don't usually do. Anyway I have talked enough - here is the ingredients to my Card:- generic A5 white base cardstock; Papers:- DCWV-the glitter cardstock pack,Inque Boutique-Cabana-mini papers,DCWV-the All Dressed Up matstack, and gloss paper for the stamps. Ink- Versa mark - watermark, Whispers -Savoy Green, Green Leaf,Sunshine Yellow dye inks; Stamp freebie from Craft Stamper Magazine, SU- Happy Birthday; Other-ribbon Uni Trim, Embossing Powder-yellow and lime green,Punch -Fiskars rope Border, dimensional tape and double sided tape.

Thanks for visiting

Catch you later

Kathy s

A Box full of Hearts and Flowers

2010-04-01T11:23:00.001+11:00

This set of cards in the cute little box is for JUGS - Just Us Girls #26...Template Challenge This was such a fun challenge as I don't normally make my own gift boxes- well sometimes - but not very often so I thought I'd like to make a small box using the free template My Time Made Easy LLC kindly has on the MTME website- thanks for that it is such an easy template to follow-as I think all of her templates are. And guess what JUST I found out I have WON one of her templates through Lesa Rapp of Paper Possibilities -Wow can you believe it- Thanks Lesa and Lauren for that great prize- now I just have to decide which to choose they are all so gorgeous.

Anyway enough waffling on and back to my project. I made the box using some Fiskars paper I seem to have had for ages a couple of years I think and then thought I'd make a few little gift cards to put inside it so I used up some off cuts from other projects and found some stamps to match the patterns on the box paper and went to it. This was such a quick project I am definitely going to make more of these- maybe for some friends for friendship day this year- or just because they are such good friends and deserve a sweet gift sometimes.

There are 4 pictures just so you can see the outside and the inside of the box as well as the cute little cards I made- I actually blurred a couple of the greeting stamps when I was stamping but will fix those later I needed to take the pictures so I could post them.

Most of the things I used are self explanatory but if you have any queries please feel free to contact me

Project Ingredients:- Box- Template MTME - see link above; Papers -Fiskars- Love Blossom set , Heart - heidigrace; half pearls, gold cord and flowers are from one of the dollar shops so not sure of brand. In hind sight I think I will take the 2 half pearls I used on the end of the cord off and replace them with a pearl bead- it should give a neater finish.

Cards- each card is just basic 200gsm cardstock and cut to approximately 17cmx 6cm(6 1/2' x2 1/4" ) -then folded in half along the long length. Inks - I used ink pads that I have had for many years and they have no name or colour but the closest I could describe the colours are-pale pink,rose pink,dark pink and maroon, aqua blue and a emerald green, for the greetings I used Stazon Timber Brown. Stamps are from See D's sets one was Garden of Friendship -not sure what the other set was called, the greetings all come from a variety of sets none of which are named-sorry. Ribbons- Francheville, Trim Craft, Value Craft and generic;

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy this project and please feel free to leave a comment as well as check out the other blogs mentioned to see their wonderful creations.

catch You later

Kathy s

Happy Christmas at Easter

2010-04-01T10:13:00.001+11:00

This is another challenge card as are all my current posts- they are running late because like most of you life becomes very hectic at times and mine has been no exception but hopefully it will get back to normal (if there is such a thing) : ) and we will all have a quiet safe and happy Easter and for those who don't celebrate these events may your weekend be filled with happiness and be safe too.

This card is for the CSAYL challenge # 45 - so many embossibilities and I think I covered that as I embossed the baubles and cut and embossed my larger snowflakes Challenge #45 - So Many Embossibilities!

Card Info:- Card stock basic A5 cream card stock

Papers: Chromatics-candy pad;water colour paper;wrapping paper which I used for the snowflakes- the same paper I used on my Sympathy card in the previous post.

Stamps-Kaisercraft-Doodled Christmas;and Christmas Carnival.

Other:-Spellbinders™- Shapeabilities Die Snowflake Wonder; Punches:- other snowflakes Francheville and Fiskars ; Fancy cut scissors -not sure which ones as this piece of paper was in my stash already cut. Generic(no brand available) rub on sentiment and snowflakes, gold cord; Zing embossing powder gold glitter finish,and versa mark ink.

Thanks for visiting

Let me know what you think all comments greatly received

Catch you later

Kathy s

With Sympathy

2010-03-31T20:52:00.001+11:00

Both these posts are for the JustRite Friday Challenge 011: Sympathy/Get Well - as I don't have many Just rite stamps other than Christmas ones I had to improvise and this is what I came up with -I hope you enjoy. I hope this link works as it was giving me a hard time with trying to do it - Sorry if it doesn't but you can go to the Just Rite Blog to see the marvellous work the DT have done.

This card looks pink but it's not really- the background paper is a sort of holographic wrapping paper that I thought would be really pretty on cards. It depends on the way you look at it as to what colour it looks and looking at it straight on it looks white with a pinkish blue colour. I tried taking a picture from different angles but they all looked pink so you'll just have to believe me.

I finally got my new Spellbinder dies last week and couldn't wait to use some of them the cross is from Spellbinders™ S4-265 Cross Collection and I love this set and will use it a lot now that I've got it.

Card Details- Card size -22cmx11cm(8 3/4" x 4 1/4") - this card came from a Discount Warehouse store as a packet for $2.00 for 10 cards and envelopes they have a glossy sort of finish.

Papers-as stated gift wrap sheet - not sure what company- it had already been cut off, Vellum- Opal finish and a white pearl paper- all of these are out of my stash so I have no idea where they were produced sorry.

Stamps:- Just Rite- Harmony Classic Circle Stamper III stamp Ensemble 3 1/4 ", and Trompe Script Font set

Dies:- Spellbinders™- S4-265 Cross Collection, Classic Scalloped Circles Large; Classic Circles Small; Classic Scalloped Ovals Large, Classic Circles Small.

Ribbon Value Craft- I can't believe this beautiful ribbon came from a discount store.Punch- MS Butterflies; Fiskars Lace border punch; Zing embossing powder - gold glitter; Gem discount store.

Another post Get Well wishes

This card was made for the same challenge as the sympathy card- The Just Rite Challenge 011.

I just love this puppy stamp and it was a freebie with a British Magazine that I get from our local Newsagent- We are only up to February because they are always delayed in coming across to Australia. The puppy was designed by Adam Prescott for the "Cardmaking and Papercraft" magazine in Britian. This is the only Just Rite Get Well stamp i own so I had to work it in- I think it looks Ok though don't you? These papers are so cheerful I am sure they would cheer anyone up. Card Details: Card base just a generic A5 white card.

Papers- these papers are so vibrant DCWV -Citrus Stack 8" and Fun stuff pastels pad

Stamps- Just Rite Get Well Soon. and stamp compliments of the Cardmaking and papercraft magazine.

Other:- Ribbon- creative corner; Jewel-Discount Store;Dies- Spellbinders™- Nestabilities:- Classic Circle Small and Classic Oval, Peony sizes 3 and 5.; Colours: watercolour pencils.

Thanks for visiting

Any and all comments greatly appreciated.

Catch you later

Kathy s

Strong Friendship and Coffee.

2010-03-26T13:16:00.001+11:00

You must all be wondering what's been going on but I did state that I spent all of Tuesday creating and came up with several cards for several challenges.

I made this card in line with the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #105 But I had to turn it onto it's side so the images worked properly for me.

This card may look white but it's actually an off white. It's been made for one of my best friends Birthday- it's actually a late birthday card her birthday was last week and I haven't given it to her because 1- I only just made it this week and 2- She will understand that I wanted to photograph it for my blog before I gave it to her. :)

This friend likes old world things - which is actually my era but she's a bit younger than me-and when I got this set I instantly thought of her. I was trying to make it look vintage so although I wasn't sure whether it would work or not I started playing around with Distress ink- Vintage Photo. firstly I watered it down quite a bit and gently brushed it onto some watercolour paper to give that vintagy feel then I stamped it with Stazon Timber Brown both the picture and the greeting Then I die cut using my nestabilities petit oval scalloped and Blossom dies- I thought it still looked to clean and new so using the side of the dropper I ran around the paper to give give it a darker edge. once that was dry I scrunched up the picture of the lady and then gently flattened it. During this process I accidentally dripped a couple of brown spots over the picture so instead of removing them or starting again I thought it added to the aged feel- I also took my paintbrush to just sort of lighten the centre of the picture I think it looks ok I used various papers from my stash and also from a pad I bought at a local discount store about 2 years ago I was going to use green as that's her fave colour but it just didn't look right so I picked the pink out of the spotty paper as the accent colour.The swirly things are a die I bought years ago because it was only about $3 and I thought it too good to pass up-it was even before I had my die cutting machine. and the ribbon is actually some velvet ribbon that I bought from an Opportunity- or thrift -shop about two years ago too.

Things I used for this card_ -Card stock typical A5

Paper-Craftworks-144page pad; pink and brown for the swirls from my stash;

Ink- Stazon- Timber Brown; Distress Ink- Vintage Photo

Stamp- Crafty Secrets- Coffee and Tea set Large

Dies- Nestabilities Petit Oval scalloped and Blossom- Sorry not sure of sizes will have to start making notes on this.and Flourish Accu cut Fancy Trim#6;

Other stuff- Ribbon, Dimensional Tape , double sided tape- from stash. Half pearls-which are actually a pale peach colour from Jemark, Flowers-Kaisercraft and stash

Thanks for visiting. All comments greatly appreciated.

Catch you later

Kathy S

Oh Baby

2010-03-25T12:02:00.001+11:00

Another baby card to share today-this one I want to share with you is a cute little baby card that could be given for either a boy or girl or even a multiple birth as there are at least four little heads in this cute stamp.

-First I started with the colour challenge for JUGS Just Us Girls - Color Challenge #25 which is about Spring and to use the colours of light blue, light brown,yellow and light green - how much more spring can be the new arrival of a baby- especially mice.

I started with the background and used my Fiskars embossing template to emboss the green paper with dots and the light blue background has a sort of leather grain effect but you can't really see that from this picture then I stamped my little mice from a set of Beatrix Potter stamps I bought just after Christmas using my Stazon Timber Brown ink- I used the same ink to stamp the "Baby" from Expressions - I coloured them both in with watercolour paints - I'm sorry I'm not very good at colouring but anyway then I cut them using my Nestabilities petit ovals- sorry don't remember the sizes and matched them with scalloped petit ovals for the mount on the contrasting colours- I think they look sorta cute then before I stuck them down with dimensional tape I placed a piece of gingham ribbon down and found three sweet little buttons with flowers on them or in the shape -I had tried a bow where they are but it didn't look quite right so I ditched it and put the buttons there- that didn't look right either so I cut just a short piece of ribbon and put that on under the buttons, then I added three little gems for that bit of bling. - That was better so I stuck it all down - I'm happy with this one so that's another card for the influx of babies coming in the next month or three.

Below is a close up of Hunca Munca mouse with her babies she is one of the two bad mice Tom Thumb is the other.

These are the things I used for this card- the size is 15cmx11cm(4 1/2" x 5 3/4" ) approx.

Stamps- The original Beatrix Potter produced by Hunter Leisure Pty Ltd and Expressions clear stamps.

Ink-Stazon- Timber Brown

Colouring- water colour paints

Ribbon- Premium Ribbon by Value craft

Paper- the images are stamped on watercolour paper the rest are off cuts from my stash

Other- Gems from Kaisercraft, Buttons from Beutron, Dimensional tape and double sided tape

I think that just about covers it. Hope you enjoy my card please leave a comment if you would so I know I'm getting out there.

Thanks for visiting

Catch you later

kathy s

White Christmas

2010-03-24T20:59:00.001+11:00

From Easter to Christmas- thank goodness the year doesn't go that fast. This is my second post for the day and I hope to have at least another one or two tomorrow.

This is about as close to a white Christmas as I will get- It's usually hot here at Christmas time. This is such a great idea- making Christmas Cards all year so that when the time comes at the end of the year there are at least a few if not all the cards made. I started making my cards for Christmas in February last year and still had a few to make by November so I am going to endeavour to follow this blog as much as I can.

Challenge #44 CSAYL -

Challenge #44 - Pottery Barn Inspiration

The Inspiration from Pottery Barn was so pretty - wish we had these stores in Australia- may have to search out the local equivalent.

And the design team have done wonders with this challenge I hope you think mine will come up to expectations.

I used my Lattice Borderabilities for the first time and am amazed at the beauty of it. the stamp used for the focal is a Kaisercraft - Belle series stamp- I bought this set last year and used it several times but just in silhouette so I stretched my imagination (which is the point of a challenge isn't it :) )a bit and gave it a bit of colour by using my brush markers to do a basic colour before stamping it onto watercolour paper then I filled in the details with the fine end of the brushmarkers. Next I cut it out as best I could there are a few pieces that I didn't cut out - you can tell by the slightly darker background colour. But I hope you don't mind. Next I stamped the medallion- which I can't remember where I got it from but it was a great set with inserts as well and stamped Joy in the centre this came from the Kaisercraft set as well then I used a Bella set called Impressions for the bird. Once I had assembled it all I thought it really needed something else so I used Royal Coat Dimensional Magic on all the main red bits including the greeting- although you can't really see it from this shot. I cut an insert using the same borderability and I cut the medallion using a classic circle scalloped die nestabilities.

Things i used in this card(Recipe)- card average A5 pre scored card stock.

Stamps- Kaisercraft- Belle collection, Bella Impressions collection, and medallion-sorry not sure of maker.

Other- Colouring- Whispers Brush markers; Royal Coat Dimensinal Magic; Borderabilities-Lattice and Scalloped Classic Circle Nestabilities.

Feel free to leave a comment- they are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

that's it for now

Catch you later

Kathy S.

Easter Wishes

2010-03-24T15:14:00.001+11:00

I had a bit of a shopping spree a couple of months ago and got a few new sets of stamps but with so much happening I haven't had a chance to let them see ink - until yesterday that is and boy what a day I had- I am not working for 4 weeks and yesterday I wasn't feeling so well- Autumn head cold- at least I hope that's all it is - so anyway I thought I don't feel like housework so down to my room I head and after a couple of hours of therapy (of the stamping type)I'm feeling a bit better and have a couple of cards as well

This card covers the Unscripted Sketches #47 challenge - which is also a paint chip challenge as well as a sketch challenge.

It also covers the Crazy 4 Challenges C4C29 - spring card challenge.

You may all laugh but I use paint chips a lot in my creations as they are sometimes the only way to get just the right colour I need for a project.- so this was not really a challenge for me lol.

Hoppy easter uses part of one of the stamp sets I have been after for quite some time and I finally got it by chance when I was looking for something else and saw it so bought it- of course. Anyway it uses Candyfloss from the Candyfloss and Marshmallow set by Do Crafts- he/she is so cute- I can never remember which are the girls and which are the boys- I've done her as a girl so she has a pink flower- I stamped her with the Stazon Timber Brown ink onto watercolour paper and coloured her with watercolour pencils - I think this ink just gives a softer finish than the black and if you are colouring it doesn't run- believe me it's happened with other inks.

then I found some paint chips and tried them in various places until I came up with this layout according to the Unscripted Sketch I used an ecru coloured base card just to soften it I tried white and it looked to stark and I tried pink and it looked washed out.

The things I used for this card which is a basic A5 size

Stamps - Candyfloss and Marshmallow by DoCrafts and Hoppy Easter from PaperXtra Australia Series

Paper- paint samples- The master palette -Rio Rose and Romantic Pink,Taubmans -Diva-Hot Mama

Ink-Stazon Timber Brown

Colouring- Faber Castell -Watercolour pencils

Other things - Punch- Fiskars- Treading Water, Ribbon- Premium Value Craft, Buttons- Beautron, Flower-from my stash it already had the gem in the centre- so cute.

That's it for the moment thanks for visiting now I just have to achieve the link to the two blogs I need to add to the challenges- wish me luck

Unscripted Sketches #47 with a piggyback challenge

Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C29

Catch you later

Kathy s

No Card but some pictures of our fair/dry State.

2010-03-15T20:50:00.001+11:00

Sorry I haven't posted for so long but with work and looking after grandchildren I just haven't had time to do any craft or card making - I'm starting to have withdrawals.

This is not a card but thought you might like to see some pictures of Ararat - We spent our long weekend (labour day) up there which is about a 3 hour trip from where we live in Southeast Victoria.

These were taken from a lookout just out of the town it might just give you an idea of what some parts of Australia look like and how dry it is in most areas- I feel for the farmers and others trying to live off the land.

These pictures are just a few of the ones we took overlooking the township of Ararat and surrounding areas hopefully if you click on them you should be able to in large them for a better view if you are interested - it is a pretty little town with a lot going for it especially seeing it's out in the middle of nowhere. Notice how dry and flat the ground is in the background.

This is just to show our height and some of the distances and places from this point.

This is looking out sort of over the town ( in the bottom left corner of the pic. ) and further it was so pretty but very very dry.

This last picture shows another direction still vert dry but a few trees and hills.

I hope you like these pictures we went to Ararat for a 4 day wedding- the hens/bucks night was on the Friday- we gave this a miss- there was a set up and BBQ dinner on the Saturday and on the Sunday we had the wedding service and reception and on the Monday we all got together for breakfast then we headed home. This was the same weekend that Melbourne suffered the amazing hail/rain and wind storms with lots of damage - we didn't receive any of the hail where we were but we did get a bit of rain on the Sunday after the ceremony fortunately and throughout the night and most of the way home but when we got back to our side of Melbourne the sun was shining and although our area had a bit of rain there was no real damage in our area- thank goodness.We need lots more rain though the ground is so dry water just runs off and down the drain or only soaks in to the first inch or so. I don't have any wedding pictures at this stage but will hopefully get the pictures of the wedding card up soon.

Thanks for visiting

Catch you later

Kathy S

Cute as a button

2010-03-02T14:11:00.004+11:00

I have several friends and family who are expecting a new arrival soon so thought I'd plan ahead. I am unsure of the gender of most of the new arrivals at this stage but there is sure to be at least ONE little boy in there somewhere.
NOTE:All the papers I have used for this card are from my extensive scrap stash- I am slowly trying to use up my smaller bits and some cheap - unsure of the brand 12x12's- that I bought many years ago when I first started card making and could not afford or for that matter get designer papers through lack of scrapbooking stores in my area.

For this card the recipe is as follows:-
Card stock is just our local office supply store brand of 200gsm A4 cardstock cut to 21cmx 21 cm(8.25" x8.25" approx) and then folded in half.(I think the colour was sky blue)
Papers- See note above
Stamps- Expressions -Clear Cling Stamps set.
Ink- Distress Ink- Vintage Photo
Other- Ribbon, button and bib and bottle where purchased from the local discount stores. Jewels -Kaisercraft.
Punches- Fiskars circle squeeze punches

Thanks for visiting
Catch you Later
Kathy s

RED Hot Love

2010-02-13T19:26:00.001+11:00

This is a card I made a while ago- it could be used for any occasion but Valentines day would be an idea- although I don't actually celebrate this particular day I like making cards that show the dedication we can give each other. Because it covered the RED category for Crazy4Challenges C4C24 I thought I might enter it.

This card is made using the Lace Heart and Flourishes Flourishes stamp set which is such a beautiful set that I use it a lot for various cards.

As you can see (hopefully) I made a slip in pocket for the greeting tag and in case you can't read it it says-

"How do I love thee ? Let me count the ways" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning -

which is also part of this set.

I stamped this on a tag using a red ink pad- just a generic one -but it came out OK, The LOVE is stamped on vellum and embossed - I ran it through my Xyron 250 to get it to adhere to the card evenly this worked but left a couple of bubbles underneath but I sort of like the clouding effect it gives so I left it that way. I also stamped and embossed the flourish heart but used glitter embossing powder this time to add a bit of sparkle. I added rhinestones to all three components the o in how do I love thee is covered by a small rhinestone just to give a bit of bling to the card. For the pocket I just used a small piece of gold glittered paper and a scrap piece of white and cut them using my "Fiskars seagull" scissors and stuck around the edges so I could get the tag in it.

Hope you enjoy and have a great weekend.

Recipe:

Base size – 5 ½” x 5 ½ “ or 15cmx 15cm

Stamps- Flourishes- Lace hearts set and Flourishes - flourishes set

Papers and card stock from stash-no specific DP

Ink- Versamark – watermark.

Other- Embossing Powder- opaque red and alisonellisdesigns-FirecrakerSpark, Scissors-Fiskars seagull design, Ribbons and Ric Rak, various rhinestones - all from stash, Xyron 250

also entered in the following challenges-

little Red wagon -Red with Bling challenge

Catch you later

Kathy

Just Keeping in Touch

2010-02-12T17:50:00.001+11:00

Hi there, it seems like ages since I started this Blog but it was only last week- sorry I haven't posted anything for a while but have been flat out we went to Sydney last weekend and saw the Military Tattoo-for those who don't know about this it's not the sort that you have put on your person -it's military bands from all over the world that perform in various ways- marching while playing their musical instruments and doing things that you would not normally expect from a band or even the country they are representing. I felt very sorry for them because it rained nearly the whole time and we were outside in an open arena but despite the rain it was a fabulous weekend and I got to see some more of my beautiful country.

Since we got home I have been working- which may not sound like much to a lot of you but when you haven't worked and then suddenly you are working full time it is a bit hard to get used to - I have been so tired at least I have the weekend to catch up.

I tried putting a post up while we were away but the internet connection we used wouldn't accept it :( so this is the first chance I have had to type anything up since we got back. Will try to put some pictures of our trip at a later date if you're interested- not that I got many because of the weather.

Catch you later

Kathy S

Fairy Sparkle

2010-02-03T21:24:00.002+11:00

This is my first card post and I’m sorry the picture isn’t the greatest but I still have work to do on my photography as well as finding somewhere that I can take them to get a clearer image.This is for the Annabelle Stamps Blog Bling sketch Challenge
You may not be able to see it but there is sparkle from embossing on the squares on the base paper and there are also tiny embossed sparkly dots on the scalloped paper. and I just used the glitz to give her wings that extra bit of shimmer too- Looks great IRL

This card is using one of my first stamps I ever purchased it was actually for a children's activity set but I fell in love with all the fairies. I just love this images by Shirley Barber and although my colouring leaves a lot to be desired and I have limited supplies in this area and can only use what I have which at the moment are Whisper Strokes brushmarkers - I am hoping to improve my collection and maybe get some Copics.

Recipe:
Papers-DCWV -“The Endless Summer Matstack”, Hunter Studio watercolour paper, scraps of vellum
Stamps: Shirley Barber; See-D’s
Accessories: Ribbon, Spellbinders Dies- oval petite and scalloped oval petite;Zing gold glitter embossing powder; various gems; Kindy Glitz- crystals(I think);Versamark watermark ink;Whispers strokes brushmarkers.
Thanks
Have a good day
Kathy

First post

2010-02-03T08:39:00.001+11:00

Hi there

After watching from the outside and much deliberation and hesitation I have finally got the courage to join the blogging community. This may seem that I am behind the eight ball but it is all about courage and taking the first leap of faith which I am about to do with thanks to the little push many of you have given me in the past twelve months but mainly thanks to a special blogger who I think I can consider a friend as well - Rebecca Ednie from “Eclectic Endeavours” who gave me the final push and has helped me endlessly in setting this site up - which considering I live in Australia and she resides in Canada has not been as easy as it sounds - working across the waves and on different time frames but we have finally got there now I hope.

With so many other talented people out there in Blog land I have no idea why anyone would be interested in seeing my work or listening to me about my life but I hope I can entertain some of you for a short time with each post.

Hopefully this blog will give you a bit of sparkle and just a touch of inspiration to those out there who like me need inspiration from many sources. Please feel free to leave comments and if you like suggestions to help me while I take this giant step. I hope I don’t disappoint.

I am not the worlds’ greatest photographer either so until I get the hang of all this please be patient