The jury's still out

Hi all,

I know, three cards from me in three days. What is the world coming to? We went to meet an ex work colleague of mine today who I haven't seen since we got back and spent some time in a park for the girls. It was lovely to catch up and to make the most of the sun we had.

As we are away on holiday next week in Norfolk, I thought I would try and take part in the Stamp Fairy challenge this week as I may not be doing it next week. Well, this week it is a colour challenge - purple, turquoise and pink. I'm really not sure about this mix myself, although I like the colours individually, so maybe it will grow on me. I didn't have much turquoise in my stash and so I nearly gave up, until I saw this paper by Nitwits and decided to try a Christmas card. I have used a freebie Stamp Fairy image called Oscar. I love him and chose it as it reminds me of when Daisy made a snow bunny with hubby a couple of years ago. I did think of leaving him as a polar bear, but didn't want too much white on the image. I have shaded the snow bear, but it doesn't show much on the photo. I have also added pink sparkly snowflakes from a 12 by 12 sheet. I'm sorry for all the waffle today, I'll let you go now!

I would also like to enter Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Christmas in August.

Edited to say - Oops, sorry, I had posted the wrong card. This is the correct one now!

A beary merry Christmas

Hi all,

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I helped on a stall for our local toddler group at the church fete this morning and then we went out to make the most of some sun for a change. Martha has finally got better and Daisy didn't get it so badly, so that's good.

Over at StampFairy World the wonderful DT have set up a surprise birthday blog hop for Gerda's birthday. How kind of them. The projects they have made are fab and there are a few prizes of images too. Happy birthday Gerda. Well, the challenge at Stamp Fairy this week is a Christmas Easel card. So, I thought I would give it a go as I had just bought this cute little image, called Lenny Christmas 3 and I wanted an excuse to use him. The papers are by Nitwits and the embellishments are from my stash.

What would you wish for?

Hi all,

I'm so glad it is Friday. I've been so sleepy today. No idea why, but I will be pleased to get some sleep soon. Martha had her last visit to her new nursery today before she starts properly next Monday. I wanted to get her settled in nursery before I think about going back to work in September (I am hoping to do some supply teaching a couple of days a week) as she really didn't like her day a week in nursery in Sydney. It gave Daisy and I a couple of hours to do things that Daisy wanted to do. It was nice to spend a bit of time just the two of us, although I did miss Martha.

This week, stamp Fairy have a Teddy bear's picnic recipe - a bear image, 3 flowers, 2 ribbons (one ribbon is hiding under the sentiment and flowers) and one sentiment. I decided to make a ribbon flower, but spent ages trying to find a needle. Most of my sewing stuff is still on the boat somewhere on its way here. I have used a sweet Fairy Linda image - I love her (well, I love all of these images). I have used a sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday, which I will be using again I think.

For my little monkey!

Hi all,

Well, only Friday to go and then it's the weekend! It's been raining for most of the week, so Martha and I have found indoor things to do. She's now wanting to walk and tows me around everywhere. Tomorrow, Daisy isn't in preschool, so we are going to meet up with some friends for lunch and a play.
Here's my weekly post to enter into the Stamp Fairy challenge. They have a fab sketch this week and as Martha is 1 (how did that happen?) next month, I thought I would make her a card. I'm not sure if it is a bit too old for her, but as hubby said, the card is more for us than her as she won't have a clue what is going on and will probably just want to take it apart. I used this fab Stamp Fairy monkey image. I printed him 3 times and then decoupaged him for depth. The papers are also by Stamp Fairy and I thought I would add a bit of texture with corrugated card and tried to add to a jungle feel with the leaves.

Not too nice for camping

Hi all,

I hope you are having a good weekend. Ours has been busy, but fun. We're going for lunch with both sets of parents today, which should be good. I would like to say thank you for the awards I have been given and I promise to post about them soon.

I made this card this morning for Father's day as I haven't had time before and as I was up with the girls at 5.45am I had some spare time! This uses a sweet image from Stamp Fairy and papers from Summertime Designs. I chose the camping image for my Dad as he used to be a scout leader and often talks about the skills they all learnt while out and about. I want to enter this into the Stamp Fairy challenge - masculine. I would like to say thank you so much to all at Stamp Fairy who chose me for the top three for last week's challenge. I love taking part and the images are fab!

What another one?

Hi all,

Yippee, it's the weekend tomorrow. We had a bit of a lazy day today which was nice as we seemed to be running around everywhere this week. We went to lunch at a friend's house. Daisy was friends with my friend's daughter before we left two years ago, and it was amazing how quickly they got on again and disappeared for hours.

Well, I have another baby card for you as the Stamp Fairy challenge is all about new babies. I decided not to go for blue or pink this time and I quite like it. I tried to make it like a child's patchwork quilt and used this cute Stamp Fairy baby peapod image.

Yippee - I can join in again!

Hi all,

I hope you are having a good weekend. My parents came up on Thursday for a couple of weeks. It's nice to see them. Martha hadn't met them before, but she's really taken to them and Daisy loves having someone else to boss around!

I am so pleased that I am able to join in the Stamp Fairy challenges again as I love the images and the challenges are such fun. I don't have much stash, but enough! This week, there is a fab sketch by Gerda and I used her lovely image called Baby Dotty and her teddy, as a friend of ours had a baby girl last week and I wanted to make her a card. The papers are by Imaginisce and the embellishments are from my stash.

Shake it, baby!

Hi all,

Well, half way through the week already. We spent most of the day at a friend's house as the agents had people coming to view this one and I didn't fancy staying around for it. My friend has children nearly the same age as my two, so it was nice they each had a friend to play with.
Stamp Fairy have a fab challenge this week to make a shaker card. I think they look great fun, so had a go. I decided to make a star one, as most I have seen are square or circle and I don't like to make things easy for myself! I have added seed beads and three star gems. I love the cute Stamp Fairy images and this one is Fairy Linda. The papers are by imaginisce. This may be my last entry into a Stamp Fairy challenge for a little while as my stash goes next Monday, but hopefully I will be back soon as I have entered quite a few of these now and they have all been such fun.

A bit of sparkle

Hi all,

I hope you are having a good weekend. Did you watch the wedding? I missed most of it but saw some highlights. We have one week left before we move into serviced accommodation for our last week in Sydney, so we are madly trying to sell our furniture.

Stamp Fairy have a recipe challenge this week - a bit of sparkle, 3 design papers and 2 punches or die cuts. I have used a cute pig in an umbrella by Stamp Fairy. The papers are by My mind's eye and I have used two flower punches and gems for the centres.

I would also like to say thank you so much to the lovely people at Stamp Fairy for including Daisy and myself in the top three last week. Daisy was very happy and may join in with some more challenges soon, when we have more time.

Daisy's card

Hi all,

I hope you are enjoying your long Easter weekend. We were invited to a neighbour's house today for an Easter egg hunt. There were about 15 chidren and their parents there. They had a wonderful time. I took some craft things and made crowns and bunny hats with them and another neighbour brought her face paints.

As I mentioned below, Daisy also wanted to make a card for her best friend. She used the same image as me, from Stamp Fairy and I am impressed as she tried really hard to stay within the lines, which is quite hard for her (she is just 4). She chose all the papers and ribbon and positioned them herself (I wish I was always that accurate and straight when I do it). I asked if she wanted to add anything else to it, but she said she was happy and it didn't need anything else.

Daisy would like to enter this into the Simon says stamp special children's challenge and the Stamp Fairy Challenge - for the girls.(Sorry I have just realised we didn't put a sentiment on it).

A little mermaid for a little girl

Hi all,

I'm sorry I haven't been around since Monday, but I'm trying to make a start on sorting things out and I also have lots of DT cards to do so that I am two months ahead for when I don't have my stuff. For those who asked in my previous post what I thought about moving back, well, I'm in two minds. It will be lovely to see our family and friends and for them to see Martha (my parents haven't seen her yet), but we have such a wonderful outdoor lifestyle here, I love my job and we have loads of friends that we will miss. Daisy has done a lot of her growing up here and also has a lot of friends, so she will also find it tough. At least she will be going to school in September so she will meet a lot of new potential friends. It will be hard at first, but we'll just have to make an effort to fit back into life. At least we have a house there already, although I'm not sure what state it will be in.

Well, enough of the waffling and onto my card. Daisy's best friend from kindy is 4 at the start of May and loves fairies, princesses and mermaids. I have used a cute image from Stamp Fairy and matched her with papers by Panda bear designs. I coloured some strips of acetate with a green sakura pen and put it over the image for seaweed (I think they can just be seen on the photo). The sentiment is a freebie from Netty - thank you!

While I was making this, Daisy decided she wanted to make one for her friends as well. She has coloured the image and once she has made her card I will post it up here.
I would like to enter this into the Stamp Fairy challenge - for girls, with a sentiment.

Woven basket

Hi all,

Just a quick one as I'm about to head off on a girls' weekend to the Hunter Valley. I've only left Daisy once overnight and I've never left Martha, so I'm not sure how I'll be to start with, but I'm sure I'll have a good time and hubby is looking forward to having the girls all weekend on his own - something he rarely does.

Onto my project. I decided to make an Easter gift box to put a little soft toy in for Martha. She is too young for eggs, but I'm sure Daisy will eat her share anyway! I wove the basket from pink and purple bazzil cardstock and then used two cute Stamp Fairy images called Clementine Easter. The second picture shows the tag that is tied onto the handle. I would like to enter this into Stamp Fairy challenge - Easter baskets.

Moo!

Hi all,

I hope you are all having a good weekend. I'm sorry I haven't been around all week, but with my sister and family here, I thought it would be a bit rude to spend every night on the computer, especially as I haven't seen them for a year and a half! Anyway, I managed to make a card and have a good blog hop tonight, so I am nearly up to date.

Over at Stamp Fairy this week they have a fab sketch. I have used one of my new Stamp Fairy images called Betsy the cow that I bought this week. Gerda is having a half price sale and so I just had to go and have a look! If you haven't got any of these images yet, go and have a look as there are fab new releases every week. The paper is by K and Co and I have nearly used the whole pad so must get some more soon. It is actually green, but it looks a bit washed out on the photo.

Bee happy

Hi all,

It's been thundering today, but luckily we've been inside. Daisy had her dance lesson today and then we went to the library. Daisy loves to choose books for her and Martha and is allowed to choose one DVD too. This week she chose a cartoon about Theseus and the minotaur and although I wasn't sure what she would think of it, she loved it. Martha is desperate to crawl and has managed one mini crawl today, but still doesn't quite know what to do once she gets on hands and knees.

Onto my card. Stamp Fairy have a wonderful photo for inspiration this week. It is of a very floral apron in bright colours. So, I have used bright florals and a Lenny Bee image as bees love flowers. Also, I thought that it would be cool to use the apron as a kind of sketch, if you see what I mean. I used three papers, like the three different fabrics on the apron and then used the waistband and pocket and bottom hem as a sketch. I found some great ricrac to mirror that used on the apron. I quite like how this has turned out.

A few flowers

Hi all,
It was still raining for most of the day. I just hope I can get Daisy's ballet dress dry for her lesson tomorrow. Martha now has four teeth and so hopefully she will have a few weeks without pain.
The Stamp Fairy blog has a fab sketch this week. The image is Betty perfect day by Stamp fairy. I had her all ready and waiting for the perfect card, and here it is! The paper is by My Mind's eye and I have used a circle punch to creat the scalloped border again. You might see this quite a bit as I really like the effect.

A little bit sketchy

Hi all,

I hope you are having a good day. Both girls went to kindy today. Usually Martha stays at home with me on a Tuesday, but she is finding it a bit hard to settle into kindy so as there was a space this week on Tuesday we decided to send her as she might get to know the people better. It worked a bit as she had a good day and had lots of smiles for Daisy when they played outside. As for me, it wasn't a rest as I went to my exercise class (boxing again - I love it!), did loads of housework, did some tutoring and managed to make some DT cards. I also squeezed in a little non-DT make and here it is.

Over at the fab Stamp Fairy blog, they have a great sketch this week. I decided to go with Toby Spring fairy - isn't he adorable? I paper pieced the wings and dress. The DP is from a RAK so I don't know who made it, but I love it. Go and check out the challenge and the images. They are all so cute.

My 15 minutes of fame?

Hi all,
I hope you are having a good weekend. After Martha recovered from her bug, Daisy got it, so I spent all of Friday trying to keep her sat on the sofa to recover, but as soon as she felt a little better she wanted to be up doing things. She isn't one to loaf in front of the TV all day, but I actually wished she was yesterday so she could recover completely. She seems to be better today, which is good.
On Wednesday, Daisy went to her dance class and I went to have a coffee with a friend and Martha while we waited. Anyway, a film crew approached me to interview me about the government's new idea to publish information about possible GM food in baby and child food. Well, I knew nothing about it, but managed to to talk about it for a while! So, Martha and I might be on our local news and current affairs programme soon. Hubby is now watching it every night and I am desperately trying to avoid it.
Onto my make, at Stamp Fairy this week the theme is anything but a card. I decided to make a popcorn style box with a handle to give Daisy for Easter with a couple of eggs in. The front and back are decorated the same. The images are Easter Clementine from Stamp Fairy. I love this cute bunny! I pleated ribbon around the images to frame them. The daisy paper is by Allison Ellis design. I also made a tag which has a homemade lace flower on it. I really enjoyed making it and will now have to come up with a little Easter box to hold a soft toy for Martha as Daisy has a great sense of fairness and will want Martha to have something if she has eggs.

A bit of colour

Hi all,

I hope you are having a good day. Martha is still not quite herself and is a bit clingy - that's what starting at childcare does as she has picked up every bug going. Hopefully it will end soon, but we still had to do things as Daisy had her ballet class today. When we got home Martha had her nap and Daisy decided she wanted to make a city out of boxes, so out came the paints and we have box buildings drying on the dining table. We also made traffic lights and some people. We have more to do but we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and Daisy then had fun playing with what we had made.

At StampFairy this week there is a colour challenge. They want to see red, white and turquoise on your project. So, I delved into my paper boxes to see what I could find. It's funny how I go for certain colours as I have no red papers but managed to find some card. The image is Herb Summer and the card is a gatefold one. I don't often make these, so quite enjoyed it for a change. I kept the embellishments simple as I thought it could be used as a male card.

It's all white

Hi all,

Martha hasn't been too good today. She has an awful cold and hasn't been able to sleep so was tired as well. I'm not sure if it is just a cold or the start of more teeth, so she's had medicine and hopefully will get a bit of sleep tonight. Daisy went to ballet this morning and then we went to soft play. She's been so good helping me today as I've had to do most things with Martha on my hip.

I've seen quite a few wonderful white on white cards around. I've never made one myself beause I think they look hard to pull off and I do love my colourful papers. Also, if you are to use all one colour, I think some texture - embossing - is needed to break up the look and I don't have a die cutting machine, embossing folders or stencils, so I have stayed clear. Not any longer! At the Stamp Fairy challenge the theme is basically white with a touch of colour so I thought I would have a go. I was really surprised to find out I was one of the winners last week for the double easel card - thanks girls! Anyway, I used a gorgeous image called Baby Dotty and Teddy. The lace is from Wild Orchid and the ribbons are from my stash. I did find a way to emboss the top white card. I read in a magazine how to use a big bite on the eyelet setting to make dots and it really works (but I'm not sure if it shows that well on the picture)! Although I may not be making many of these, I do quite like how it has turned out.

Two for the price of one!

Hi all,

I can't believe it's Wednesday already. Daisy started back at her dance lessons today. She decided to do ballet this year and was so excited as she got to wear a pink leotard, tutu and pink ballet shoes. To top it off, her Grandma sent her some 'ballerina' hair things and she just had to wear them all! After dance, we also went to the library, the hairdressers and for lunch with her in her ballet things as she didn't want to take them off!

On to my card. I have been hearing about double easel cards for a while now and when I saw one on Lorraine's fab blog I thought I would have a go too. I made it up as I went along and decided to make mine heart shaped. Purple is my favourite colour and I love it combined with green, so I went for that. The papers are by DCWV and Prima and the cute images are Herb and Clementine from the wonderful Stamp Fairy. All the images are so cute, I could spend hours choosing. The flowers and lace are Wild Orchid.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Stamp Fairy - lace and hearts - no red or pink

Papertake weekly - have a heart

Crafty cardmakers - hearts

Digital Tuesday - Valentine's Day