sneaky mcsneak look

summer school holidays here in australia

that means a lot of days down at the pool 

or at the beach lathered in sun screen with hats on

or stuck inside with the aircon chilling out because it is too freaking hot to go outside!!!

today it is 42

and i have NEVER been so grateful 

for a working air conditioner

 so what's a cow to do?

housework?

pfffft! no thanks!!!

crafty stuff?

oh yeah baby!!!

so i went internet surfing and found an awesome sketch challenge blog called retro sketches

with a nice little sketch 

i thought i would have a play with

 bet you're looking and thinking those are cool stamps? 

well yes they are

they are part of the latest offering at 

stampin up in their 

new occasions catalogue 

and sale-a-bration goodies

just have a look-see at the layering :)

okies well take care

keep cool if you living in oz right now (and keep warm if you are in the usa)

cheers ears

happy birthday

my big brother turned 50 this year so i made him a photo album with some of his childhood photos

i used a kaisercraft album from connies

-a local scrapbook shop with great customer service

and decorated it using the fab new designer series papers from 

sale-a-bration from stampin up called everyday enchantment

i used the tags die to make journalling tags

and added buttons for embellishments(see the very cool large buttons!!)

i have punched out photo corners

and used the pretty su in-colours ribbon

and added some bling-not too much because this album is for a man :>

cheers ears

nothing like a good case-ing

this month in the stampin up impressions magazine 

i was inspired by a monogrammed frame that was on the cover.

i liked it

a lot

 so i made my own version :>

as you do

i glued some all-foil to some card and then put it through the big shot embossing folder.

i added some accents with my sale-a-bration bliss set

and blobbed some crystal effects around the place too

stampin up impressions magazine is ONLY available to demonstrators.

if you would like to get this monthly magazine by becoming a demonstrator

please contact me today 

cheers ears

knock knock

who's there?

owl!

owl who?

owl be sad if you don't let me play!

my kids love knock knock jokes 

and they also love board games-not hard when their dad is a certified board game geek lol

also being a teacher i was after a simple learn the colours game for my littlest ones to play and thought what better than to use what resources i have to make my own game

the cute owl from the new punch bunch sale-a-bration set was perfect for the job

so i set to work

 i recycled a tin from some retired su xmas stickers and covered it with dsp, whisper white cut from the scallop square die, a strip of dsp run through a crimper and, of course, an owl!

the game boards are a square of dsp, a scallop square of whisper white and 4 different coloured owls which i then laminated so it would be a tad more durable with those little fingers using it 

(plus it would make it too hard for little miss 1 to pick off the owls-lord knows she has tried already hahaha).

the games pieces are different coloured owls punched out and then laminated. 

on the back of the owls i have also written the names of the colours in english and maori as an extension for my older kids

 here they all are in their tin-easy to pack up and put away and not lose the pieces....in my dreams lol

ah well.... at least it is easy to re-produce aye?!!!

the rules are very simple. 

pick up an owl-if it matches one of yours you keep it. 

if not, put it back. 

when you have all 4 you are the winner! 

hooray!

for the bigger kids they have to read the english words, spell them 

and say the equivalent maori word.

hmm tricky

now all i need to do is think of some other ways i could make some games with my stamps

any ideas?

cheers ears

welcome to the new year

2011 is here

and with it comes the usual resolutions of 

being healthier, 

being more creative and 

being more organised

simple really

lol

if only 

part of me being organised is having a diary

and although i long for a smiggle one i do not like their price

so i have got me a simple $2 one and decorated it and made it mine

a bit of this and a bit of that

scallop circle and a butterfly punch

white gel pen and lusciously retired raspberry tart dsp

now all i need are some customers to overwhelm me with workshops

for february and march 

(sale-a-bration sets available for every $100 purchase)

so i can write them into my new diary

plus i probably need to organise classes for this year too...that is coming i promise!

anyways posts will be few and far between for this month 

(aka scheduled ones)

as me and the family are off to new zealand for some well deserved rest and a family wedding

cheers ears everyone and have a lovely new year!

several things on the go

i am creatively busy at the moment trying to try new things and play with the stash that i have. thankfully i have homes for most of them which helps hey? anyways here is a selection enjoy! this is my entry for the essential baby card swap. the theme was love so i got out all my heart stamps and went a bit berko on the card and then punched images out with a 1 1/4" circle punch here i had some fun with my one of a kind stamp set and used my cuttlebug to add some swirls more cuttlebug here but stuck to a scallop note card. the stamp is from a sale-a-bration set called happy moments some punk rock emo chick stickers (lol) stuck to card stock with ribbon and such stuff. sssssssshhhhh but i used some hero arts stamps. aren't these little christmas girls just the cutest? some thank you cards for a customer using nature's nest stamp set a thinking of you card using trendy trees.... man oh man my stamp-a-ma-jig got a workout!!!! three little words stamp set. a set i find a bit tricky to use but have copied an idea from the ib&c and quite like it okies time for bed cheers ears!

masking 101

at our sale-a-bration spectacular everyone was given the opportunity to try masking with my make and take. i gave a simple easy peasy instructions for people to follow. and here it is! Stamp the image you want where you want with the colours you want. position any extra bits and peices with a Stamp-a-ma-jig. Cut (or punch in this case! gotta love that butterfly punch!!) an exact image out and stick over top using repositionable glue i.e. dotto. A post it note which works just as well. Stamp over the covered up image (or roll in this case) as evenly as possible. Peel off the mask to reveal your coloured image underneath. hey presto! el-coolo image-o!!! hope that ehlps you cheers ears!

welcome to 2010

wow a new year already!

where did last year go? we have just returned from a month in new zealand catching up with family and friends and soaking up the lovely kiwi summer full of rain and scorching hot days. I got to eat my rush monroes feijoa ice cream, munch on a hawkes bay meat ball and enjoy a long relaxed walk along my favourite beach hunting for crabs in the rock pools. so all good. i also had a month off any form of craftiness and arty stuff which made my fingers itch terribly. but i am now back at it and revving to go. in fact i am so into it i am having one of those special sale-a-bration spectacular thingies the real demos have-woohoo-go me!! i am sharing it with these lovely ladies http://lisaryder.com.au/wordpress/ http://www.stamp-a-latte.com/ http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/jossleen/ we are raising some much needed cash for the macarthur dementia support team here in the campbelltown area. it will be a day of make and takes, demos, freebies and of course plenty of displays to look at and ooh and ahh over. it is being held on waitangi day (feb the 6th for all you non-kiwis out there!!) from 11-4pm in ambaravle at the rec centre opposite my favourite cafe in the entire world -the yummy cafe, of course!!! here are a few tasty tempters to get you interested. feel free to contact me via email if you are interested in coming along-only $25!!! a zindorf inspired creation using the good neighbours sab set one of the make and takes available on the day using butterfly prints stamp set another good neighbours inspired creation bleaching technique using nature's nest mooo from me!!!