YOU ROCK!!!!

one of my favourite new stamp sets

from the new 14/15 stampin up catalogue

is the you rock stamp

this was my swap for my eb monthly card swap

each month we have a theme

this month was tiles and flowers

if you ever feel like joining us contact me for more details

we would love new members from anywhere in australia

cheers ears

a wonky card

i made a card this week for a just add ink challenge because i really didn't like the colours they choose so figured i should really do it to get out of my comfy little craft space lol

here is my card.

 i used the world map stamp and the love you more stamps.

 added some buttons and made a frame using some stamps for a card swap i am doing

i also added some rub-ons (card swap challenge) rom my stash of stuff

now...trick question...what is wrong with the stamping on my card?

gold star to the person who gets it right lmao

cheers ears

punch art easter cards

it will soon be the occasion to eat chocolate, contemplate a man's death and holiday

easter, of course!!!

 here's a card i have made for a swap i do with the card girlies over at essential baby

feel free to join us any time

 we had to make 4 cards following a sketch

although mine was a loose interpretation of it i must say lol

and use any of the following-string, ribbon, wool or fur.

 i also had ago at watercolouring as i generally suck at it but i am quite happy with my bunnies this time.

 grass was done using the fringe scissors

flowers and trees were made using the scallop circle punches and the trio flower punch with some sequins

hope my swap buddies like

cheers ears

using up your stash

stash

it is a nasty word

especially when you have a bit of it and need to use it up

i am trying to cut down on my random purchases this year and use what i have got first

HAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAAHA i hear you laughing because WHAT CRAFTER IN THEIR RIGHT MIND hasn't said that before riiiiight?!

anyways my friend sal gives us cardmakers these really cool swaps to do over at essential baby  and i try really hard to use stuff that i haven't touched at all or can't remember the last time i used it. our challenge was to do a centre step card and use stripes and people.

 a centre fold card is easy even for a non-measuring type of chick like me. for instructions go to splitcoast stampers  and they are very simple to follow. i used some retired su dsp for the stripes and an old fashioned stamp from my stash as the image.

 i wanted the image to look old so put it through the big shot with a broken window embossing folder and then put clear embossing over the top

i also added some embroidery string, flowers from a reverse garbage trip, punched out trim  and a row of small pearls.

i hope my swap girls like them

cheers ears

card swaps

this month at essential baby

our card swap was using the diamond fold

i wanted to use up my stash of flowers and made these cards which are very not like me at all

but they were fun!

and the colours were very pretty

cheers ears

knock knock

who's there?

kanga

kanga who?

kangaroo!

lol

another month and another card swap.

essential baby again.

this time i needed it to be a thank you card and we had to use the black magic technique. i changed mine a bit and instead of using pencils i used my chalks to get the image i wanted.

 i opted to use my all aboriginal stamp set as i hadn't used it for a while and i wanted to use a more unusual set for this theme. 

i also followed a sketch by someone somewhere whom i can't remember lol-will pop a link in when i find it (or if someone reminds me). 

i used a tim holtz embossing folder through my big shot and rubbed some cajun craze over the card.

the kangaroo is done by stamping with white craft ink, heat embossing it to dry and then going over it with coloured chalks aka the black magic technique. 

i added a safety pin with ribbon and twine and sentiment to the corner 

i have also decorated the inside to make it look prettier lol

here are all 6 of them ready and waiting to be posted to the lovely sally my stamping buddy at essential baby.

please feel free to come on over and join in our little swap-everyone is welcome :>

cheers ears

knock knock

 Whos there? 

Baby Owl. 

Baby Owl who? 

Baby Owl see you later, baby not.

lol

my kids are loving knock knock jokes at the moment 

and this is one of their collection....

so it only seemed fitting to make a baby owl card for my 

essential baby card swap. 

i used ye big shot to emboss the flowers on which i then sponged over with choc chip and some cajun craze.

the owl was made using the stampin up owl punch as per usual (white, orange, brown card) but i cut up a white body to make the nappy and a brown waistcoat for the wings and let us not forget the googley eyes heheheheheehe

i also decorated the inside using the leftover embossed card

here they all are ready to go!

feel free to come and join us at essential baby for our monthly card swaps-we would love to see you there!

cheers ears

we love winter

 I love winter.

I love snuggling under a nice warm blankie watching something on tv

or doing something crafty wearing a baggy cardi and my ugg boots.

i also love penguins!

i always wanted one as a pet when i was a kid lol

anyways here are my swaps for my essential baby card swap

had to be wintery-check!

had to have a frame-check! although i didn't use the one suggested-oops my bad :>

had to use paint-ummm no...but i did use ink?!

these little guys were made from the owl punch from stampin up

a totally very cool punch that has waaaaaaaay more uses than just a cute old owl

i'll be showing you some over the next few weeks so hold onto your hats on that one lol!

 on this card i also brayered the background which has the 

confetti stnowflake stamp white embossed on it

i do have to share what i did find on the internet whilst looking for ideas

check out lyndas blog and her fixation with the owls

if you are anything like me you will be having quiet little giggles at her awesome creations!

cheers ears

gum trees and flowers

when i moved to sydney the first thing that struck me was how many gum trees there were loads and loads of different varieties and colours and textures. it was one of the things that reminded me that i had indeed moved countries and i no longer saw sparrows and black birds in the trees but cockatoos and lorikeets!!! this month i am doing a card swap with the ladies from essential baby. this month we had to use a scallop circle, have a wild animal and use green.

i am not sure the ladybug quite cuts the mustard on the whole wild animal thing but she is soooo darn cute sitting on the leaf that i just couldn't not put her in the flower was inspired by valita's take on fushias which i have converted to a gum flower

the scallop circle is embossed using the big shot. the leaves are from the leaves die cut for the big shot too. inks are earth elements cheers ears

essential baby swap

so after a brief rest I am back into my swaps again. this month I have my essential baby card swap group (find us here http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=169). This month we have to make a sympathy/sorry slider card using pink yellow and brown. I had some card I have had sitting in my stash for ages so decided that I had to use it up for this challenge. The stamp set I used was "From the Garden" which was a hostess set from the 2008/2009 SU catalogue. It has always been a stamp set that intrigues me and I like to find uses for it because it is not really a 'me' kind of card but the more I use it the more I find it useful for loads of cards and scrapbooking. this was a really easy card to make. If you want to learn how to make it please give me a bell and I can show you how. Don't have a cow, man. Matt Groening

32 weeks and counting.....

we had a sizing scan this week and bubs is currently 32 weeks old but is measuring about 35 weeks. so another big bubba is on its way!!! convention has been and gone but i thought i had better show off the 'purple frankie' swaps i did for it. i had a ball making these and they are an adaption of my previous green frankenstein ones i did earlier for an essential baby card swap. these were made with some lovely lilac , basic black and gloss white card stock. i punched out the eyes and nose and added some frayed edge hair-you know the kind you loved making at school : ). then i put the mouths and scars on with black journalling pen-i got bored doing the same face so had a bit of a play with different expressions...some of my frankies are looking a little stoned : ) these next cards were made for an essential baby card swap. these were the other ones that went with the little miss naughty ones i showed you all before. they are trifold cards and i used up some old patterned card stock (not su stuff...ssssshhh). the front has the pretty as a princess stamp set coloured in with water colour pencil and a dab of glitter. this was cut out and stuck onto glorious green card stock which was then stuck onto cameo coral which then had a plain thin white ribbon attached to it and stuck onto the front. i used the scallop edge punch and poked holes in the scallop part to add some interest (oh and to meet the optional extras of the card swap which was paper peircing). the next fold has the princess phrase on it and inside the card is happy birthday with the wand and flower images stamped in lovely lilac ink. these next cards are for this months card swap. the theme is 'just a note to say...' and the technique was masking. these cards are envelope cards with the template from mirkwood designs http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/templates.htm). this site rocks and always has great templates that are user friendly. i also cuttlebuggged the inside card with some embossing folders and rubbed over them with some ink and a dauber. i have done them all in different colours as i wanted to use up some old existing non-su card stock i have lying about. my masking was done with retired stamp sets and the writing was done on the computer with word art and then punched out to add to the flower with a brad from my stash. then i added some ribbon to each card and dibby dabby daubered around all the edges where needed. cheers ears Chicken: [trying to cheer up Cow] I know you hate being ugly, but someone has to make everbody else look good.

baby baby i love you!!

I am doing a card swap with my good crafty friends at essential baby (who should send me their blog addys so I can put them on my listy list). Here are my efforts for January and February. february Involved a baby card with the optional extra of using ribbon. I decided this would be an excellent way to use up all those scrappy end of ribbons that are just not enough to do anything cool with. I made my baby using polymer clay and a ginger bread man cutter. baby got cooked in the oven for about 5 mins (imagine if our own pregancies were that quick :>) and left to cool. I layered baby onto some corrugated yellow card, bright orange Su card and finally some basic black SU card. I scallop punched the edge and added some left over ribbons and some stripey adhesive paper. Down the bottom I have stamped welcome baby from the short and sweet stamp set-one of the most versatile sets Su ahs to offer in my humble opinion...just because I probably use mine every time I stamp!!! My january card was a congratulations card with the optional extra of uisng metallics. I used the stamp set a happy heart from the summer mini catalogue. I stamped with versamark onto white gloss card. Then I embossed with gold (and a touch of cranberry added to give it a twist) powder. Then I rubbed over the image with my daubers a mixture of river rock, choc chip and some bronze inks. when they were dry I gave them a bit of a rub over with my sanding block to give it a more textured look to it. The I mounted this onto some scalloped black card and some newspapery paper I have had for yonks but never found a use for..until now :> I added a bit of gold ribbon leftover from my christmas card making stash and then stuck it all onto black card...ta da! oh and I rounded the corners too and wrote congratualtions insdie with gold gel pen. If you ever feel like joing our merry bunch of card makers at essential baby feel free to drop on in. You'll find us here...http://members.essentialbaby.com.au/index.php?showforum=169 thanks for looking cheers ears The friendly cow, all red and white, I love with all my heart: She gives me cream with all her might, To eat with apple-tart. ~Robert Louis Stevenson