I'm Still Here.....

Just thought I would pop in and let you know I am still here.  I have been having a bit of a break from blogging and hope to get back to it soon.  I have some lovely creations to share with you.  Hope you have all had a chance to be creative.

Will see you again soon.  Thanks for popping by and happy creating.
Cheers, Deb

A Quick Card.....

G'day, How are you today?  This is the card I put together for my sister's birthday this year.  I finished this just before we walked out the door, on the way to her birthday dinner.  I started it about twenty minutes before that.  Fast and glorious!!! 

 

Now, with this card I had the background in my stash.  It was one I had made when I used to go do cardmaking, with a wondeful lady named, Cheryll.  It is totally her background design, and I will not take credit for it.  I can't refer you to a blog or anything, as she doesn't have one. 

What I have found over on Splitcoast Stampers, are two a techinques similar to what we used.  This is the Wax Paper Cuttlebug Resist and the second one is Wax Paper Resist. 

We used the Cuttlebug to emboss wax paper.  We stamped our swirl image onto glossy card stock before we ironed the wax paper.  Once, we had ironed the wax paper design onto the cardstock, we used a brayer and multicoloured stamp pad to ink over the design.  It reminds me of the batik we used to do at school.  

Okay, with the background from my stash, I layered up five flowers, with a pink brad for the centre.  Stamped up a sentiment inked the edges with some pink ink.  Added a strip of pink ribbon and put it all together on a black base.  I nearly forgot, added some bling on the ribbon.  Every girl needs a little bit of bling. 

Hope you have enjoyed my Quick Card.  Sure hope you have had a chance to be creative.   Drop back soon, 'cause ya never now what ya gunna get!!!

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb 

Framed.....

G'day, How are you going?  Hope you have had a chance to do some craftin'.  I'm very excited, because, I have won the last AnnaBelle Stamps Bling Challenge, with my card from the post below.  I am patiently (just about chasing the postie) waiting for the prize to arrive.  I have won the 'Floral Stems' stamp set.  I can't wait to get ink on it!   Excited!!!  Doin' a little happy dance!!!

Okay, onto my share for today.  This is the card I made for my brother-in-law's birthday.  I don't have many male oriented stamp sets.  I will usually try to find an image from the free colouring sites to print out to use.  But, our printer has been out of ink for awhile.  So, I sat and pondered over what I had on hand.  And, this what came to mind.

I really love to use ribbon, bling and flowers on cards.  So,  coming up with a male card and not using any of those things is a real challenge for me.  The layout for this card was inspired by a postcard that I have on my fridge.

 

These little frames are ribbon slides.  I stamped the images and then cut them to fit.  I cut the strip of brown cardstock and threaded it through the ribbon slides.  Spaced them where I wanted them to go, and, then glued the small images into the centres of the ribbon slides.  Once the glue had dried, I covered the images with some Glossy Accents.  It sealed them and made them look like little miniature picture frames.

 

Here is a close-up of the sentiment.  I popped this up on some foam tape, just to give it some dimension.  I used distress ink on all the edges to tie it all together.

Hope you have enjoyed my creation today.  I am working on another couple of cards to play along with the latest challenges over at AnnaBelle Stamps Blog.  If you are looking for some inspiration and to have some fun, head over to their blog and check it out.  Sure it will help to get the creative juices flowing.

I will try and share some of the scrapbooking I have been doing with my Mum in the next couple of posts.

Thanks for popping in and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

With Sympathy......

G'day, How are you?  Well, I hope.  I have a card to share with you today.  I followed a sketch from AnnaBelle Stamps blog.  Andrea and her design team put up a fortnightly bling sketch challenge, it has a prize attached, (Yeah!).  This is their latest bling challenge sketch.   

Why not pop on over and checkout the team's wonderful work and join in the fun. That is after you have had a look at my creation.  Lol.  

I created the paper rose by following a Tim Holtz tutorial.  Now, while my rose is no where near as glittery and gorgeous as Tim's amazing creations, I love the way it is the centre piece of this card.

I wrapped the ribbon around the centre cardstock piece and tied a knot.  Then, I layered up the leaves and flowers on top of the knot.

This view shows the depth of this card.  I popped the sentiment up on some foam tape.

 

And here is the inside.  I used a corner punch on the Designer Paper and then on a piece of white cardstock.  I stamped up the white cardstock and inked all the edges.

I loved using this sketch, I have a couple of more cards to make up.  I might just try and use this sketch as well.  I hope you have enjoyed my creation.  I wish you all a lovely day.

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

 

The Big Pink P.....

G'day, I hope everyone has had a lovely Easter weekend.  We did, it went so fast.  The Easter Bunny came and the boys were rapt that he left them some wonderful surprises.  Then we went down the creek to Dad and spent the day with him.  Fishing and laughing and making some terrific memories.

Onto my share for today.  In my last post I shared my handbag creation.  The card I have today was the one I made to match that bag.  Mum's penfriend Pat, was absolutely amazed when the mailman delivered her parcel.

I cut a piece of silver paper to fit on the front of a standard A5 card.  Then layered a piece of the Designer Paper(DP) onto that, added a strip of the green DP.  Then the pink strip of cardstock with ribbon and bow.  Yes, the ribbon is wonky, but I think it adds character. LOL!!!

 

At the moment, I am so into layering up paper flowers, to add bulk and depth to cards and off-the-page projects.  I also like to personalise things when I can.  Pat wrote to Mum that she had never seen anything like the handbag and card.  She really loved them.

That's it for me today.  Another project off the top of my head.  Hope you enjoyed my creation, and have some time to do something you get enjoyment from.

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

Post-It In The Bag.......

G'day, Yes I have been MIA(Missing In Action).  Taking some time out to start on the house declutter and organising.  I have decided to do my blogging at night. Hopefully, this way I can be here a bit more regularly.

Here is my share for today, A Post-It Note handbag.  I designed this myself.  The idea came from seeing two different creations.  One was for a post-it note handbag with a rectangular front and back.  It had the post-it note glued in by the spine to the middle.  I saw it and thought what a wonderful idea.  Then, I saw another creation that used the handbag shaped, and had the flap with a ribbon handle at the top.  This one was a card with a pouch for a gift voucher.  Again, I thought terrific idea.

My imagination started to fire and I combined the two ideas into my creation.  And, this was what I made for my family, and a girlfriend, for Christmas pressies.  

I made the first one, and was using it as a pattern.  It started to get a little ratty, I said to Mum that I wasn't going to use it as a gift.  She asked why and I told her because it was a bit ratty.  She said don't be silly I'll have that one.  So, I gave it to her and she absolutely loved it.  She wanted to learn how to make one, for a penfriend of hers.  So, I helped her to make this one.      

 

Here is the Front, the one thing we did differently on this, is the tag.  I just love it, and wish I had thought of it for the Chrissie pressies as well.

Here is a side view.  A real chunky little bag.  I think it's cute.

 

This is the inside.  I designed the box, for the post-its, so you can replace them when they are finished.  A small piece of ribbon holds the pen in place, and you just slide it out when you need it.  Easy, peasy!

 

I used this small piece of scrap designer paper, to stick onto the top of the post-it note stack.  When you remove a note it leaves a sticky residue, you just place the scrap on the sticky and, presto, a cute topper for the stack.

Well, that's it me for today.  Hope you are having a great week.  Fingers crossed I will be here more often. 

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

A Baby Elephant.....

G'day, hope you have had a wonderful week so far.  Today I have a card to share with you.  Our neighbours are new Grandparents again.  A new baby girl has come to join their family.  She is a cutie.  I made this card for Mum, Dad and new big sister.  This one is my own design, I surprised myself.  Enjoy.

I whipped this card together in about half and hour.  As usual, I left it until the last minute to finish and was running around the kitchen muttering to myself.  Yes, I talk to myself during the creating process.   If anyone is around, they usually ask if I am talking to them, no just myself.  Lol.

 

This is a close up of the baby elephant.  I stamped her with pink ink.  Then curved a 'Welcome' photopolymer stamp onto an acrylic block and stamped it with black ink.  I then stamped the Baby Girl under her, to look like she is walking across it.  I covered her in Glossy Accents and let that dry.  Next I add some Kindy Glitz to the blanket (in real life it was very sparkly) and glued on the rhinestones.  A dot of white gel pen for her eye. 

This photo is a close up of the ribbon and flower.  I tied the bow layered up the flower and glued it to the bow.  Now, I can tie a mean bow, but, I can't do it on the card with the ribbon wrapped around.  I usually tie the bow and then thread the ribbon through the back and tighten up the bow.  Then adhere the ends of the ribbon to the back of the card strip.

If you would like me to do a tutorial on how I do my bows, then just let me know.  I'll see what I can do.  That is it for me today, happy days.

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

Another Blog....

G'day, How are things?  I have some exciting news to share, I have started another blog.  Why not pop on over and check it out.  It is called A Clothesline Out The Back.  And is a blog for recording our journey to a more frugal and self sufficient lifestyle.  In this world of consumerism and over consumption, we are trying to reduce, recycle, reuse and repurpose as much as possible. 

I am using the new blog to document and record this journey.  If you are interested and would like to see how we are fairing then you can click on the name above and you can see what we are up to.  I have also placed a link on the side of this blog.

I will keep this blog for all things crafty.  I will be posting recipes on the other blog.  It just keeps it all neater.  The recipes that are here shall stay here.  All new ones will be on new blog.

Confused?  Me too.  *Laughing.*  Why not check back regularly and check out both blogs.  I will post something crafty here on 'Handmade' tomorrow.

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.
Cheers, Deb

A 21st Surprise.....

G'day, Hope you are having a great Friday.  The days are going by very fast again.  At the moment, I am working on a scrapbook, for my nephew, with Mum .  We have been busy sorting through photos, and I've been sketching out some layouts.  I will be taking photo's and posting about it all once he has received it.

For today's post, I have the card I made for our neice's 21st Birthday.  It is another idea from Splitcoast, called a Free Standing Pop-Up Card.  If you click on the link it will take you to the tutorial, a photo one and a video one!

Here it is all folded flat.

This photo shows the card standing up.  The centre pulls up and the outside forms the base.

Here is a side view to show you how it stands on it's own.

As usual, I added extra.  I just can't help myself.  We gave our neice a gift card, and so I added a flap and closure on the back.  This shows it closed.

In the above photo the flap and closure are open, and we can see the gift card holder.  It was a great little surprise!

This style of card is quite easy to make.  I found by adding the extra on the back of the main panel, it also added weight.  This extra weight had me fiddling around abit.  The top wanted to fall over, but, I was able to add some little tabs that tucked into the base.  Ta, Da, Free Standing Pop-Up Card. 

I hope you have enjoyed my card and ramblings today.  Pop over to Splitcoast, they have some great inspiration over there.  If you find something you would like to share with me just leave a comment so I can check it out. 

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

P.S.  I have a surprise brewing, so stay tuned and check back again soon!  Ta-Ta for now!

I'm Back......................

     G'day, Yes, I am still alive and kickin'.  All I can say is, wow!  How busy is the end of the old year and the start of the new?!  There is of course, Christmas in December, which also has three birthdays for us.  Then our youngest's birthday is mid January, and, in the same week as his, we have two more birthdays and, then another before the end of the month. 

     And I, being my very organised self (cough, cough), always leave everything to the last minute.  It is not that I forget anyone or anything, it is that I just I am not organised enough to do things ahead of time.  But, that is all changing over the course of this year.  Small little baby steps towards a clutter free, organised lifestyle. 

     Okay, enough of my rambling, onto my share for today.  This is a card I made for my Aunt to celebrate her anniversary.  It has been 9 years since she has been reunited with us.  And she is a very lovely lady and I just wanted to her to know how wonderful it has been getting to know her.  She was adopted, and as a only child, she felt very happy finding out about her three half brothers and her half sister.  And an endless supply of neices and nephews.  We are HER family.

     Rambling again, sorry for that.  The card is made from a paper napkin/serviette.  I sort of changed up the Felted Cardstock Tutorial that I found over at Splitcoast. 

 

     I separated off the top layer, the bit with the design.  And instead of using an iron, I spread glossy accents in a thin layer  onto some white cardstock.  Then, I very carefully, laid this onto the cardstock and, again, very gently, smoothed over for any air bubbles.  Left it to dry and then cut out around the design.  You could also use double side Jac paper to get this type of finish.

 

     I wanted to keep this panel the focus of the card, so, just used a few small embellishments to accent the main picture.

     Hope you enjoyed your visit today, please visit Splitcoast.  They have some wonderful ideas in their resources section.  All the techinques have photo tutorials and some even have video ones.  Wow! I love Splitcoast Stampers!  So, if you are in need of some inspiration to get those creative juices flowing, just click on their pink name above, and go check them out.

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

HAPPY 2010!!!!!

G'day, I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy start to the new year.  Just a quick post to let you all know I am still here.  I have been very busy with Christmas and organising for our soon to be two's party (that's right my baby is turning TWO?!!).  I have been busy making lots of cute little pressies and things so please come back soon and check out some of my creations. 

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.
Cheers in the new year, Deb

MONSTER Patty Cakes.......

G'day, How are you going?  I hope you are having a wonderful day.  It's Monday AGAIN?!!  Where is the time going?  Chrissie will be here before we know it.  I have drawn up some sketches of the cards I want to make for Chrsitmas, so hopefully I can share some of my ideas here with you soon. 

Today I have some photos of the Monster patty cakes we made the day our nephew spent the day at our house.  I will include the recipe along the way as well.

Here they are all snug in their paper cases waiting to go in the oven.  The recipe is a basic banana cake one that I have been using for years.  I divided it into three bowls and added some blue, green and red colouring to each.  We put a drop of each colour mix into each paper  case. 

And here they are fresh from the oven.  Ghoulish, yaaaahhh....

Here is a closeup of the inside.  ''Monster Patty Cakes''.  Some Mums will try anything to get fruit into their kids.  This is one of the best recipes for doing that.  I used bananas in the base recipe, I also peeled and diced a pear.  Sneaky, Me?!  No!  I'm just a Mum doing her job.  Lol. 

Now, here is the Recipe:-

BANANA CAKE

150g margarine or soft butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed, very ripe bananas

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

METHOD

1)  Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2)  Place papers in Patty pans.

3)  Beat margarine or butter and brown sugar together until creamy.

4)  Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.

5)  Beat in mashed banana.  Don't be concerned if mixture appears to curdle.

6)  Sift flour and cinnamon together and mix into banana mixture.  If you are adding food colouring or extra fruit do so now.

7)  Spoon into patty papers and bake for between 15-20 mins.  Or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

I hope you give this recipe a whirl, it is so easy.  It works well as a whole cake as well.  Just cook it in any pan, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.  I didn't get a chance to ice or frost these ones as they just evaporated.  You can use a plain vanilla frosting if you like.  It is up to you, the cake is a nice moist one, fine without any extra topping.

Well that's it from me today.  I will be back soon with some more cards and things to share.  I have two birthday cards to do and the Christmas cards to start.  So, I should have some more papercrafting ideas in my next post.

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

A New Blog AND Some Blog Candy.....

G'day, A quick post to let you know about a new blog and some blog candy.  Andrea from Andrea's Stampin Moments has set up a new blog called Annabelle Stamps Blog.  You can check it out by clicking this link.  While you are there enter for your chance to win the candy.  THREE newly released Christmas stamp sets and FIVE lots of newly released Sprinkles.  WOW!!!!!  Amazingly generous!  Thanks Andrea!  Get moving, over you go, the chance to enter the blog candy is opened until the 22nd of November.  Good Luck! 

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.
Cheers, Deb

Baby It's Magic!!!!!

G'day, Firstly let me appologize, I haven't been here for a while, so sorry for that.  I have been uber busy getting ready to leave town for a few days.  We went to Melbourne for a friends wedding.  Four days away without the boys.  It was great and hard at the same time.  First time we have left them for that long! 

Onto todays share, this is a card I made for our niece and her partner.  The idea is from Splitcoast, it's called a Magic Card.  You can find the tutorial by clicking here.  Check out my card and if you get a kick out of it go check out the tutorial.

I just love this image I think she is so cute.  All sweet and innocent throwing her bowl over the edge. Lol

Here comes the magic.  As you pull on the slider at the top the image colours in!  How adorable is that?

I just love this style of card.  I had fun working on this one.  It was quiet involved but I love a challenge.

I have used this verse before in baby cards, I just love it.  I think it's because, it can be used for either a boy or girl baby.  And there's just a smidgen of truth in it!  Lol

Okay, that is it for me today.  I hope you have enjoyed my card and are inspired to go check out the tutorial.  

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb   

Stacks On!!!!!

G'day, Hope you are having a lovely day.  Today I'm sharing a card I made to partake in a challenge by a blog called Pile It On.  Their theory is to make a card, scrapbooking or off the page project using more than one current challenge.  To see how many challenges you can use on one creation.  Wow! I'm excited!

Here is my card for this weeks challenge.  This is my list of challenges and their links.

Pile it on - Use Aly's Sunday Challenge

Aly's Sunday Challenge  - Use sketch

Color Chef - Use black, white, orange and bright pink

Cupcakes Craft Challenges - Use buttons and stitching

Caardvarks - Use ribbon in a wonderful way

Flutter By Wednesday - Use a butterfly or fairy

Crazy 4 Challenges - Use a Thankful sentiment

Wow! That's seven challenges, I think I have surprised myself.

In this side view you can see abit more of the ribbon detail.  I made the ribbon yo-yo by layering the two ribbons together and then stitching it.  Glued the Mother of Pearl button in the middle.  With the buttons at the top, I threaded the ribbon through the holes and then twisted it to form the tails.

 

This is a close up of the pretty fairy.  She is an image from Andrea's online stamp store she can be found here.  The original image is of a girl laying in a cluster of flowers, for this challenge  I turned her into a fairy. 

I stamped her and coloured her in only using orange, pink and a milky white copics.  I cut her out, then added a pair of fairy wings, cut out of coloured vellum.  I then layered her onto a piece of white cardstock that I had sponged the edge of with pink.  I added some bling by putting kidyglitz on her wings and flower centers.

Hope you have enjoyed my share today.  Why not check out some of the challenges and find some inspiration.

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

    

What Is This?????

G'day, How has your day been today?  Wonderful I hope.  If you answered ladybird to my question then you're right.  Now, I don't know if ladybirds represent anything but I seem to be seeing them everywhere, thinking of them, creating them and generally being surrounded by them lately. 

This watery version was created by my tea cup.  I had placed it on the table and when I lifted it up to have a drink this is what I discovered.  I quickly grabbed the camera and started shooting away.  Crazy?  Maybe!  I just seem to be receiving alot of ladybird signals lately.  I thought she was cute enough to share with you. 

Just a quick post today, be back soon with some more creations to share.

Thanks for popping by and happy creating!

Cheers, Deb

The Pink Pic-a-nic Basket.....

G'day Everyone,  I have finally found some time to do a post.  I think someone has hit the fast forward button.  I'm on the lookout for the culprit, so if you see someone running around with my remote pushing my fast forward button please let me know! Lol.

Onto todays share, the card I have for you is one I made to play along with Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday.  You can see her story here.  Mothermark is taking a break for a while.  And I'm very late with this card, but, I had already sketched out my idea and poem before my fast forward button had been hit (remember keep a lookout).  I finished the card and thought I may as well share it any wayz!  Onto the card and my poem......

The Pink Pic-a-nic Basket

There's a Teddy Bear in there,

Some giant pears as well,

There are wedges of watermelon,

And cheeky prawns in their shell.

There's Mississippi Mud Pie,

And fresh Honey in a pot,

There's Southern Fried Chicken,

Hmm, crispy and hot.

The Teddy is a cuddly friend for Barney Bear,

The food is for everyone to share.

A pic-a-nic tea party in Yellowstone Park.

Let's show this little bear some love and have a great lark!

A little bit about the card.....  I paper weaved the basket.  I cut the cardstock into strips, then inked the edges, cut out the basket shape and taped all the strips on, on an angle.  Then I weaved the strips on the other angle and taped the ends behind.  Cut and inked the top and handles and then taped it all together and put the brads on the handles.

I was going to make this card a never ending card, I found the idea for that here on Dawn's blog.  The problem with trying to do that, was the basket was too bulky, and I would have had to cut it in half.  So, instead of making the cardstock at the back two pieces I kept it as one and made it so the top and bottom can flip open to reveal the picnic.  See the side view above. 

Well, that's it from me today folks, hope you enjoyed my card.  And, PLEASE, if you see a person running a round with my remote let me know!

Thanks for popping by and happy creating!

Cheers, Deb 

P.S.  I forget to tell you, I'm now a GREAT Aunt, our niece gave birth to her beautiful baby girl Wednesday night.  Bubby is absolutey gorgeous!  Mum and bub are doing well!  So is Dad.

Want Some Candy?????

G'day everyone, Just a quick post this morning to let you know of some blog candy over at Andrea's Stampin Moments.  On the last friday of every month Andrea has Freebie Fridays.  This weekend you can win some of her amazing Sprinkles, all you have to do is leave a comment.  So, get moving, click here and enter for your chance to win.  Good Luck!!!

Thanks for popping by and happy creating,
Cheers, Deb 

A Poem.....

G'day everyone, Sorry I haven't been here for a while, I've been spring cleaning.  Yah!  I am still working on some cards in between, but I don't have anything to share yet.  So, today I thought I would share a poem I wrote about 14 years ago.  I penned this after my Grandfather had passed. 

Pop

You had been sick for so long,

The doctors said your heart was strong.

The heart that loved everyone,

The heart that knew sorrow and fun.

The heart that we knew we could melt with a smile,

The heart that would give in, mile after mile.

The heart that would shelter and protect from the cold,

The heart that was loved by young and old.

Your heart carried you through many phases of life,

Work, children and a loving wife.

The heart that was made of the purest gold,

Made with a love that could not be bought or sold.

Now the time has come for us to say ''Goodbye''.

I tried so hard not to cry.

But, as the tears began to drop,

I thought of your loving heart coming to a stop.

Pop, I love you now and always,

And in my heart I will keep you until my last days.

Love Deb

Well, that's it for me today, hope you enjoyed my very first ever poem.  Let me know what you think, I love to read your comments.

I'll be back soon with some more crafty creations.

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb

A Hole In One.....

G'day everyone, Thanks for visiting today, hope you are having a lovely weekend.  The idea for todays card came from Dawn's blog and if you click here you will be able to see her tutorial video on how to make it.  I changed the size a little bit, I made it a little taller then Dawn's one.

This style of card is called a tri-fold or gatefold card.  I found the images on a  free pages colouring-in site.  Printed them out and coloured them in with regular felt tip pens (made this before I bought my copics).

This photo shows the card open, I placed the image on one side of the front panel and the sentiment on the other.  The message I wrote along the inside image reads ''We hope your day is 'Par-fect!'''  This also came from one of Dawn's cards, I think it may be a Stampin Up! sentiment.

Well, I hope you enjoyed your visit today.  Would love to hear your thoughts on my card. 

Thanks for popping by and happy creating.

Cheers, Deb