Craftmad October Swap - Weather Theme

Two cards were created for this swap but sadly I forgot to take a photo of the second card.  I had fun putting this card together which was inspired by the swap card sent to me, you can it see in our Pinterest album here.  It was the sun which Kerry had punched out,  I handcut mine and added some dashed lines for faux stitching. Created a rainbow from strips of card stock.  Computer generated the sentiment then cut it into the shape of a cloud added more faux stitching.

Hoping this card resembles your day in some way. :-)

Gift bows and Fidget Rug

I have been wanted to try making a gift bow for a long time.  Finally took the plunge and discovered how easy they really are, I used this tutorial here. These three bows would have taken me 45mins at the most.  The best bit - I got to coordinate the colour of bow with the wrapping paper.

This is a fidget rug I made for my Dad. 

When visiting Dad in Palliative care he would often be moving things around on his table, lining everything up or pulling at his sheets straightening them out.  A photo of a fidget rug caught my eye months earlier on Pinterest. I remembered and thought this is exactly what Dad needs.  I had fun digging out buttons, lace and other embellishments to fidget with.  The fabrics were fun too as I had bought them about 18 months ago and now had the chance to put them to use. Dad enjoyed the fidget rug although the buttons frustrated him as they didn't move. 

More crafting coming. 

Craftmad September Swap - Animal Theme

Yes, I am still catching up.  These are two cards I made for my partner for the September Craftmad card swap. The theme was animals.  I really like how both of these cards turned out. First time I have used this seal stamp which has been in my stash for a long time. I coloured him with my Copics.  The little hat he is wearing took me almost as long to make as the card.

This little bunny is just too cute.  Again I dragged out my Copics and coloured her in. 

Back tomorrow with more crafting I found that I haven't shared. 

Christmas Cards

Just had a look in my drafts area of my blog and found three.  So time to finish the posts off I think and share the photos.  Some Christmas cards I made earlier this year that came in very handy when finishing work. 

More Christmas Cards

I have made more Christmas cards using the same layout and different stamps from the stash that Mum gave to me.  The layout I spied on Pinterest here.  I have really enjoyed colouring all of these with my Copic pens.  Of course each time I do colour I think of how many more shades of a colour I need. :-)  

Thanks for passing on by.  Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

Two Christmas Cards Made :-)

Hi everyone, thank you all for you kind thoughts in relation to by my last post.  I am now on holidays and slowly getting into a new normal life.  Just had to share how my craft room looked like a disaster area after only making two cards yesterday. :-)  I would like to make at least another ten, can you imagine the room then!!! :-)

I saw a card with a quick and simple layout on Pinterest https://au.pinterest.com/pin/137641332342304096/ .  Thought this would be perfect to try out all the little stamps Mum had passed on to me recently. Mum had collected (over years) from the craft magazines she buys, they are the free giveaways.  I even did a little colouring with my copics.  Love the results and can't wait to get in make more.  Yes, if you receive a card from me this year it will look very similar to this but with a different image. 

Merry Christmas everyone, in case I am not back but have a feeling I will. 

Happy Birthday to my husband

Goodbye Dad

Goodbye Dad

Thanks for always being there.

22 February 1936 - 27 November 2016

A couple of update photos and signing off till 2017

Hi everyone, decided to sign off till 2017 just a bit going on which I will share at bottom of post. Since my last post at the end of September we have been to Brisbane to visit our daughter and other wonderful friends.  This is looking to the Brisbane city form Kangaroo Point.

Just love this photo my husband took of this bridge crossing Brisbane River.

After Brisbane we continued on to Medowie (NSW) to visit my husband's family.  Our brother in law breeds snakes.  Here are a bunch of eggs incubating.

Sorry don't remember the name of the snake and no I didn't take any of these photos as I was standing on the outside of the shed looking in.  :-)  Part of me would like to be able to handle a snake but the part that doesn't want to overrides big time.

However, my husband does not feel the same and as you can see by the photo he is quite enjoying this experience.  Pretty snake.

This is a view of Newcastle from Anzac Walk.

The ocean view on the other side of the Anzac Walk.  So beautiful….the photo doesn't show but it was blowing a gale and we were literally getting pushed along the walk by the wind.

End of October we took a three night P & O comedy cruise on the Eden Cairns to Cairns.  Since we didn't have to pay for airfares anywhere to connect for a change we booked into a suite.  Very nice.

Leaving Trinity Inlet, Cairns.

The marina in Trinity Inlet, Cairns.

This cruise had no ports to visit.  So not much to take photos of other than the ship and the birds.  It is true you do know when you are close to land when you start seeing birds.  Middle of the ocean there are none.

Our half way point where we anchored off for about half an hour.  This is Willis Island which has grown from broken coral and bird poo.  The Australia Bureau of Meteorology has a Weather Monitoring Station on the island which gives us earlier advice of cyclones.  Manned by four weather observers doing six month stints at a time.  As pretty as it looks I don't think I could do six months.  Two months no problems, I would miss my friends and family too much. 

Leaving Willis Island.

Now family stuff.  My Mum had a heart attack Saturday, 6th September but luckily with two stents she is back home and taking life a little slower and accepting help.  Two weeks later my very close girlfriend that I have known since school lost her Mum due to a stroke.  So unexpected.  

This is a photo of me with my Dad on Father's Day as he was staying with us when Mum had the heart attack.  Sadly, Dad went into hospital on the 1st October due to issues associated with his Prostate Cancer and is now in Palliative Care.   I have my fingers crossed that he waits until my sister flies into town and gets to visit him.  Luckily the Palliative care is literally 5mins down the road from me so I can visit Dad often….although it is sad seeing him slowly slip away.  This is the reason, I am not even going to attempt blogging for the rest of this year.  I'll just spend time with my family and friends.

See you in 2017. :-)

Craftmad Christmas All Year Round Sketch Challenge

I have finished mulching my gardens which I am very pleased about.  Great exercise and now I can sit back an look at my neat and weed free gardens. As I am still on holidays and have a little spare time I thought it is time to catch up on the Craftmad sketch challenges.  I did set myself a goal to do three cards of each Christmas All Year Round Sketches.  This is the June sketch and my take.

This photo shows all of the tag.

After seeing the sketch I found a packet of tags that I have had in my stash for ever.  The tags had nothing to do with Christmas.  This tag had a a key like it was for a 21st but a bit of gold spray, poinsettia flower and some snowflake stamps gave it a whole new look.  I followed the tags theme of golds and browns for all the cards. Something a little different.  Used my snowflake embossing folder for the first time.

This page just had the words so I added holly leaves which to me mean Christmas.  A few gold sticker borders and sentiment, finished with a bow.  Oh and a spritz of gold again.

Showing off the tag.

This tag in no way said Christmas.  Under the Believe embellishment is the word Paris…..yes the holly leaves and dots hide a couple of images of Paris pretty well. I am not totally in love with this card but am thinking it will go to a male at work.  

All of the tag.

Hopefully more cards to show you soon.  I have made a start at catching up on all your amazing work.  Everyone has been so busy and very inspiring. Hope you are having a great weekend.

Happy Birthday - Bee Card

Hi everyone, I am hoping to catch up on some blogs in the next couple of days as I am on holidays for two weeks.  Yay!  I am strangely excited about the 6m load of mulch I have ordered to be delivered this morning.  I think because gardens always look so fresh when the mulch has been put down.  So that is what will be keeping me busy as well as catching up with friends and crafting.

By the way I am well again, luckily did not get the cold as bad as others but was tiring while I had it. We (family) had a scare about three weeks ago as my Mum had a heart attack but she is well on the road to recovery with two new stents.  It has certainly given us all a new look on life especially Mum who is now accepting of offered help.

On to the card.  This was the card I forgot to take a photo of before sending it off to my swap partner. It was for the July Craftmad swap where we had to make two cards using the above Tic-Tac-Toe board.  I chose the Black, Yellow and Blue when I found this bee that I had coloured early.  He did have a green balloon and hat but it's amazing what you can do with Copic pens.  You can't see it in the photo but the background blue is a nice metallic and there is a bit of glitter on the balloon and his hat.

Thanks for dropping on by, I have more to share soon and will pop on by and see what you all have been doing.  I am ready for inspiration. :-)