On yer head, son!

Hi all,

It's my niece's 6th birthday at the beginning of January, so I finally got around to making her a card. She has just started playing football on Saturdays. She is the only girl there with about 20 boys and has already won player of the week 3 times. So, I thought this image from Digistamp boutique would be perfect for her. Harold the dragon has a black and white scarf as her Dad (hubby's brother) supports Newcastle United.

I would like to enter this into Creative Card Crew - birthdays.

It's hubby's birthday and after raining for two days, it was lovely weather here today, so we went to the beach. Unfortunately, the rest of Sydney also came to this decision so it was a bit crowded. However, we met up with some friends and had a lovely time.

Incy Wincy challenge 74

Hi, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Ours started at 6am when a very excited Daisy bounced into our room. She was desperate to open all her presents, and all of ours as well! By 9am they were all opened and Daisy set about the serious task of playing with them all. Martha was a bit bewildered by it all but enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper. We then popped around to our neighbours as they invited us for a drink. In the afternoon we went to a friend's house. They had over 30 people there for Christmas dinner - mostly ex-pats and those with no family here. We all took some food to share and had a fab time. Most people then went for a swim in their pool and then Father Christmas turned up to give all the children a present. It was wonderful and did stop me thinking about being so far away from family. Yesterday we just chilled at home as it poured down.
Now, as it is Monday, it's time for a new challenge at Incy Wincy. The theme is distressing, and as you may know, this is something I love to do. This week we are sponsored by:

and they are offering a prize of 2 digi packs of the winner's choice.
The DT were given some wonderful papers by Bearly Mine Designs to play with.
Here is my card:

I have made an easel card and used a wonderful image - Chelsea - by Aspire to Thrive. I paper pieced her top and inked the card with Victorian Velvet distress inks. To keep with the distressed feel, I made a flower from three circles of net and used crackle paint on the edges of the card on the base of the easel. Please check out the other wonderful DT cards on the blog and I hope you can play along with us.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Gingerloft - distressing.

The Crafty Pad - Anything Goes

A bit of what you fancy

Hi,

Well, it's Tuesday and time for another challenge at Creative Craft. The theme is anything goes and as usual runs for two weeks, so I hope you will have a chance to join in. This week, we are sponsored by:

who are giving a $10 voucher for their store, and also by:

who are giving away an everyday selection of ribbons.

Now, onto my makes. The first is a gift bag, which uses the image Bah Humbug by Stitchy bear.

Isn't the image great? I think Santa must have delivered most of his presents as he is looking
rather fed up and as though he wants to go home.

I also made this card:

I was a bit self indulgent with this one, as I used a lot of my favourite things at the moment (no doubt they will change soon!) - purple, wild orchid flowers, lace and my distress inks. The images and sentiment are by Penny Black and I inked the lace to tie in with the colour scheme.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges: Allsorts - Anything goes and Penny black at Allsorts - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (I have many of my favourite things here and so beautiful to me).

I still have a horrible cold, so I'm hoping I'm not going to give it to anyone else as it won't be fun being ill over Christmas. Daisy is starting to get excited and wants the Christmas tree lights on all day, which is fine but as it is sunny here, you can't see them very well. It's quite hard for her to understand that there won't be snow here on Christmas Day and that we may go swimming. Even I can't quite get my head around that!

Shape it!

Hi, it's Monday so it's Incy Wincy challenge time. The theme is shape it, so we don't want to see any square or rectangle cards please. I usually love making shaped cards, especially if they are for children, but any ideas just disappeared. I finally came up with this Christmas tree and used an Aspire to Thrive angel image. The papers are a mix of scraps so I'm not sure who made them and the punch is by SU.

We are sponsored by Aspire to Thrive this week and the prize is a $10 voucher to their store.

My inlaws left last week and so I am now thinking of Christmas. I wrapped some presents last night and only have a few more to do. A friend of mine looked after Daisy this morning so I could do all those last minute things. I had to stop when Martha got fed up - I don't blame her as I had also had enough! Daisy had a ball with her friend and I'm looking after him tomorrow to repay the favour. Only the food to shop for now and I think I'll do that one evening. I'm off to bed soon though as I have an awful cold and feel quite rough so am hoping a bit of rest will help.

Hopefully not many more to make

Hi,

My inlaws have just left to catch their flight. It was lovely to have them here and the girls will miss them terribly. Daisy had her kindy Christmas concert today as the kindy shuts for two weeks over Christmas. They did some singing and dancing and put on a little play. Daisy was great (although I am a little biased!) Martha has now started rolling over. She loves to roll onto her front but then moans because she is on her front. Aaagh! It also means the times of finding her exactly where I put her down have gone. Oh help!

I found a little bit of time to make yet another Christmas card. I have used my new Holly Day Critters stamps by Penny Black. I think they're fab, although I'm not sure if my card is a bit big for the image. The papers are from the free booklet I got from Crafts Beautiful again. There is a sentiment, although it is difficult to see on the photo. I tried really hard not to use flowers, but had to give in when the card looked a bit bare.

I am entering this into Penny Black Saturday challenge - The holly and the Ivy.

Incy Wincy DT card

Hi again,

I know, two posts in the space of a few hours. What is the world coming to? It's Monday, so there's a new challenge at Incy Wincy. This week we are sponsored by

and they are giving to the winner a voucher of £10 to spend in the LOTV store. Isn't that great?This week we would like to see Christmas cards in non-traditional colours. The DT used some new digi images that are now available in the Aspire to Thrive store. There is a lovely cute penguin which would be fab for any last minute cards, but, of course, I had to make things difficult for myself so I chose a different image! I have used a lovely teddy. To make it a bit more festive, I made a turkey out of fimo to add in the tray. The paper is by Basic Grey and the snowflakes come from a die cut glittered sheet. The lace, pin and flowers are by Wild Orchid.
I would like to enter this into Simon Says Stamp - Christmas but no red or green and Cupcake Craft Challenge - non-traditional Christmas.

How many days until Christmas?

Hi,

We had a lovely few days away. We went to a town called Kiama, about 2 gours drive south of Sydney. The weather was gorgeous. I was a bit worried, as it had rained for a whole week beforehand. We rented a cottage, which had a great view of the beach. Daisy loved playing in the sea and Martha even had her first paddle, but it was still a bit cold for her. My inlaws enjoyed it too. They are going home tomorrow and the time has flown by. Daisy loves having them around and Martha is now getting used to the extra faces and is smiling at them all the time.

On Saturday we went to carols in the park. It started at 6.30pm. We took rugs and food and sang carols with at least 2000 other people. The girls enjoyed it, but they've only just got over the break in their routine. I'm not really in the Christmas spirit yet as I can't equate 30 degrees heat with this time of year, but I'm sure it will come.

On to my card. I still haven't finished all my Christmas cards, so the challenge at Allsorts - last minute Christmas - is great for me this week. I have used paper that was free with Crafts Beautiful magazine and the image and sentiment is from Holly Day Critters by penny black, although the teacher in me has a little problem with there not being a capital H!

I think I hear Martha so had better stop waffling. I hope you have a good day.

A recipe for you

Hi again,

It's Tuesday and time for another Creative Craft challenge. We have a recipe for you. We would like to see 1 ribbon, 2 papers and 3 brads on your project. This time, I decided to add more than the recipe to my card and although it is in traditional colours, I quite like it. The image is by Tim Holtz and the flower is from Wild Orchid. I have had the ribbon for ages but have only used a little bit as I find it difficult to decide what to do with it. The paper is by Basic Grey and Making memories (I think!) and I distressed it.

This is also scheduled so sorry for the absence of waffle!

Hanging around

Hi all,

I hope you had a great weekend. Ours was quite busy. We went into Sydney on Saturday with my in laws. I then did two hours of tutoring which I am still loving, and on Sunday I took Daisy to a 5th birthday party. The theme was mermaids and pirates so Grandma and Granddad bought Daisy an early birthday present of an Ariel the mermaid costume. She looked lovely in it and now it is packed away again until January for her birthday. I am scheduling this post so I hope it works as we will be away for a few days. I'm hoping the weather will improve a bit as we are going near the coast and I would love to go to the beach.

Onto my DT make. It's Monday, so a new challenge at Incy Wincy. This week was a challenge for me as we want you to make a Christmas decoration/ ornament. We are sponsored this week by:

I have used one of their lovely images of a female elf. I printed it four times and used a circle punch. I then stuck them together so it is 3D and added a hanging loop. I inked the background green and used traditional colours for a change. Please go to the blog and see all the wonderful makes from the rest of the DT.