Sending you a warm smile...

I had the cutest Magnolia image with a little puppy dog, so I thought that would be perfect for the Just Magnolia animals and insects challenge.  I used my new SU DS papers from the Washington Apple collection.  They have such lovely warm colours.  I stamped the background of the yellow cardstock with SU stamps (retired now I think).  I found a sticker to add and it says "sending you a warm smile".  I was finishing off the card and realised that she didn't have a smile.  It looked so obvious that is was missing and because I had added the smile sentiment sticker I decided to draw one in myself.  I would like to send you a warm smile and thank you for visiting my blog.

Alicia xx

Love is in the Air - Another Engagement Card...

We have had a few requests for Engagement cards at school recently and here is another one.  The designer papers are DCWV Alphabet stack and the stamp was stamped with versamark ink onto SU Pale Plum card stock.  The heart stamp has love written all over it,  but it is hard to make out in the photo.  I thought I might enter it in the "Bit'o'Bling" challenge at Cute Card Thursday because it has some rhinestones in the corner and the designer papers have glitter spots and swirls.  On the inside I added silver hearts to carry on with the "love" theme.  I actually find engagement cards really tricky, but in the end this card turned out quite ok.  Hope your Friday was filled with fun! Thanks for visiting my blog.

Alicia xx

Engaged to be Married...

I sold my first card yesterday, which was pretty exciting and tonight I have been busy making another card that is wanted by an office lady at my school.  Her daughter is engaged and so this had to be a special Engagment card.  It was truthfully a bit of a struggle.  Three new colours I haven't teamed together before; orange, red and light blue.  I used a Penny Black stamp, new SU designer paper and gold heart stickers.  I was going to use flowers instead of the hearts, but I think the hearts look better.  The flowers were all made up so I popped them into the photo for a bit of decoration.  I went on to do the inside as well.

I had a busy day today.  My class is performing at Assembly tomorrow so we organised that today and then I went to the Naturopath after school.  Consequently tonight is becoming a very late night...Oh well, Friday tomorrow and then the weekend! Hope you have a fun weekend planned.  Thanks for visiting my blog.

Alicia xx

A Seaside Birthday Theme

I had a lovely time making this seaside birthday card for the Magnolia Down Under "Under the Sea" challenge.  I used some of my new SU designer papers from the "Pink Flamingo" set.  I used my SU "Seaside" stamps with Versamark stamp pad on the base card to create some background interest and added a hint of kindy-glitz to highlight the stamps.  I coloured my Magnolia image in with my Stampin' Write markers and the background with the watercolour crayons and my Blender pen.  I used my new pretties kit for the hat pin and coloured the flower to match the card.  I followed the theme onto the inside of the card as well.  I stiched the blue paper on the front and inside of the card with my sewing machine but it doesn't show up well in the photo.  The cards stock colours are "Close to Cocoa" and "Creamy Caramel".  This card is for my friend Michelle who lives in Newcastle.  Its her birthday at the end of the week.  She loves the ocean and crafting so I think she will enjoy this card.  Thanks for visiting my blog!

Alicia xx

A little Scrapbooking and some new SU products!

I felt like a change from making a card and was inspired by this gorgeous sketch at Scrapsketch.  My album that I am scrapbooking is a very slow process but every now and then I get  the urge to create a page.  This page I started work on last night and finished off tonight in time to post it.  It looks so simple, you wouldn't think it has taken me two nights to put together, but I did spend a lot of time choosing colours as I wanted it to go with another page that will sit next to it in the album.  The photos are from 1981...awhile ago now, and the little girl with the pet lamb is me.  We had lots of pet lambs when we were growing up, that had for some reason or other been abandoned by their mothers, so we fed them with bottles.

Also there is something else I wanted to show you.  A few weeks ago I want to a Stampin' Up party at Lucinda's house and these are the goodies I purchased:

• A Pretties Kit
• Lots of Designer Paper
• Bold Brights Stampin' Write Markers
• Bold Brights Watercolour Crayons,
• Tempting Turqouise Card Stock
• Eyelet Border Punch
• Blender Pens and a
• Versamark Ink Pad.

I was quite excited about receiving these things today and just wanted to share them with you.  I look forward to having a little play with them tonight.  I hope your week is going well so far, thanks for stopping by.

Alicia xx

One for the Boys!

Its my cousin Barry's 30th Birthday today.  He is an Agronomist at Griffith (NSW).  From my understanding an Agronomist works with farmers advising them on how to get the best out of their crops, assisting them with the best planting, fertilizing and harvesting techniques.  He loves the country so I chose browns, greens and oranges for this card.  He also loves to have a beer so I thought the Digi Stamp Jim with beer would be perfect.  I originally printed the image out and coloured it in, but when trimming it down I ruined it so I had to start again.  This time I decided to colour it on the computer.  So I used the paint program to colour the image and then printed it out on photo paper - something a little different.  Dare you to Digi is having a male card challenge and so that suited me perfectly and I used a sketch from Stamp Something blog.  Overall the card has a simple, no-fuss feel about it...I think Barry will like it.

A Rainbow-Shaped Card

The idea of making a rainbow-shaped card came to me last night when I was too tired after the day at school to create a card.  Then tonight when I was blog-hopping I came across the Just Magnolia Shape Challenge.  I thought this challenge would be perfect for my rainbow card.  I picked a Magnolia stamp that would suit a little girl and I printed my rainbow template off the computer.  

We have started selling our cards at school.  Amanda and Lucinda have organised a little box in the staff room where we place our cards in snap-lock bags and staff can have a look through and opt to buy them if they wish.  Some of my work colleagues have also started visiting my blog.  How nice it is to hear that people look at your photos and read your blog over the internet.  I would like to say "Hi" to Denise and Jenny and thank them for visiting...Denise if you still need a "little-girl birthday card" this one is for you!

School is so crazy at the moment so I want to really concentrate on having fun this weekend.  A good break from the work hassles and worries.  I hope all of you reading have a lovely, relaxing weekend with time out for yourself.

Alicia xx

A Time for Celebration

A Spoon Full of Sugar is celebrating their 1st Birthday and the challenge is to make a card for a celebration. This really suited me as I needed to make a card for my Aunt who has just published her autobiography. I saw a great sketch at Sketch and Stash and thought I would combine the two challenges. This is what I came up with. My new stash is this cute Magnolia image, papers are SU. Thank you for coming and visiting my blog. Please leave a comment if you have time.

Flutter By Butterfly Magnolia Down Under Challenge

I have been looking forward to doing this challenge since as soon as I saw it on the Magnolia Down Under Challenge Blog (I think that was only two days ago - but you can tell how addicted I am to making cards at the moment!) I was really inspired by the butterfly theme and thought the Design Teams cards were so beautiful! Who doesn't love butterflies, they really are the most beautiful insect there is.

Last year when we went on our holiday to Port Douglas we went and visited the Butterfly Sanctuary at Kuranda and it was the most beautiful, peaceful, delightful garden I have ever been in. The butterflies came and landed on us...It was amazing. I have added a little photo of the day. Of course it was very tricky to get the butterflies in a photo, and the photo is probably too small to see the butterflies anyway...but you can see the lush, tropical plants and me loving every second of it!

Anyway, back to my card. I coloured in the image with my stampin' write markers, ink pads and aqua painter brush. For the grass I experimented with the Stampin' Up water colour crayons and I used my markers to colour the stamp that made the flowers and stems. I cut out the little butterflies and glued them on and drew tiny dotted swirls near them but you can hardly see it in the photo. They were in bashful blue and the camera unfortunately didn't pick them up well. I added some Kindy-glitz to the swirls and to her wings. The sentiment is a sticker that says "may your birthday be as special as you" and the paper is from DCWV Blossoms and Butterflies Stack.

I had a lovely, relaxing time making this card. Thank you for coming and visiting my blog and seeing my card. The people who have already entered this challenge have made some beautiful cards. If you haven't looked already head on over to the Magnolia Down Under Challenge Blog and see for yourself.

Alicia xx

Baby Card

I am finally posting my baby card. I made this for my sister to give to her friend Nikki who has just had a baby boy - Bailey. It is their first child and Alli (my sister) asked me if I would make her a special card. I used a digi stamp from DigiStamp Boutique and the stamp is called "Thomas in Pram". I coloured it with my Stampin' Write markers and used papers from DCWV "The Sweet Stack". I stitched around the edges with blue thread and printed the "Congratulations" sentiment from my computer.

I am also excited to announce that I made the "Top 3" in a Magnolia Down Under Challenge...I was thrilled when I found out! I wish I had more time to make cards...look at the time already! Bed time again...I have so many card ideas jostling (is that a word?) around in my head lately and not enough time to get them out on the paper! Never mind...there is always tomorrow...Hope you had a happy Monday and your week is looking good so far.

Talk to you again soon.

Alicia xx

Blog Candy Winner!

Today we drew the winner of my Blog Candy package! We did it the old-fashioned way by writing down all the names on paper, putting them into a box, giving the box an extra good shake and drawing out a name. Ben, my husband, picked out the lucky winner and it was:

Brookie89smile at http://brookie89smile.wordpress.com/ . Brooke if you could email me at amcnamara@assisi.qld.edu.au with your postage details I can post you out all your goodies!

Thank you to everyone who entered. I loved looking at your blogs and was amazed to see people from all over the world entering including people from Italy, Germany and Israel to name a few countries...I really do find the internet amazing - otherwise we would not have anywhere near the contact we do have with people all over the world.

Yesterday I went to an awesome Stampin' Up party and stocked up on some wonderful goodies and learnt new embossing techniques... so as soon as my order arrives I will be using these new products asap. I have also been online again and purchased more digi stamps, and I can't wait to show you those either. Today I was working on a baby card for my sister to give her friend but I probably wont get time to post that, as we are going out for dinner tonight, so I will post that tomorrow. Can you tell I am racing for time tonight! I hope you had a lovely weekend - they sure go by super fast - why is that?

Alicia xx

A New Digi Stamp

I just had to try out one of my new Digi Stamps - Josh...isn't he a bit cute! I used a sketch from Friday Sketches challenge and had a bit of fun creating this boy card. My husband actually chose these Digi Stamps from Digi Stamp Boutique he liked them and because I need male card inspiration I thought they could be very useful.

I have a busy weekend ahead...I am going to an all-day Stampin' Up party tomorrow. My friend Lucinda has just signed up as a demonstrator so I am taking my shopping list to her house and then a bush dance for school tomorrow night. On Sunday we are going out for Tepenyaki (I think that's how you spell it) at Benihana, one of our favourite restaurants, plus there is house work, grocery shopping and all the rest in between. I hope to make time for some serious card making, so I can feel a pretty busy weekend coming up!

I hope you have a fun weekend planned. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Alicia xx

Some Awards To Give Out

I received this super cute award from Beccy...I love visiting her blog and she makes some amazing cards. So I am very excited to give these Awards to some lovely people with lovely blogs who brighten my day with their comments on my cards!

Amanda at Blop Blop Blogger

Linda at Linda's Crafty Creations

Kellie at The Blog of Kellie Winnell

Saskia at Crafty Creations

Teresa Kline at Enjoy the va.sunshine

These ladies make some Amazing Creations! If you have a moment why not pop on over to their blogs for some inspiration.

Alicia xx

Male Card Cupcake Challenge

I worked up the courage to try another male card. This card is for my Uncle Rod who's birthday it is on Saturday. He is a dermatologist and likes simple, classy things...I tried my best and came up with this card. I am entering it in the Cupcake Craft Challenge. I used SU stamp and paper. The sentiment down the bottom of the card is a sticker from Big W which says "enjoy life's moments". I coloured in the image with my ink pads, stampin write markers and aqua painter. I added some kindy glitz to add a bit of sparkle - couldn't help it! We are having dinner on Sunday night with Rod and his wife Chris. They are here on the Gold Coast for a conference so I will be able to give him the card in person. I hope he likes it.

On another note I just purchased my first set of digi stamps from Digi Stamp Boutique (how exciting!) But they will have to wait till tomorrow night now before they get used...I bought the Josh special offer of six digi stamps. Maybe they will help making boy cards easier - I need all the help I can get. Hope you had a lovely Wednesday...Thanks for visiting my blog.

Alicia xx

A Field of Summer Flowers

Sadly Summer is well and truely behind us in Australia, but I can't complain too much because we have had some lovely Autumn weather, sunny days, cool nights and generally its nice to experience a change in season. However, this card does remind me of a summer's day...I have used all Stampin'Up card, paper, ribbon and stamp. The only item not SU is the green centre of the flowers which I picked up at K-Mart. I enjoyed working with this sketch from Card Patterns and I think it could be a very versatile sketch...particularly for male cards which I have seen everyone having a go at and making some lovely cards too. I just couldn't muster up the enthusiasm for a challenging male card tonight. I seem to have alot of difficulty with them...

I am still on my quest for early nights this week as my cold is still hanging onto me with determination and believe me having cold symptoms while trying to survive a day with 26 little cherubs is a really BIG challenge! Maybe more early nights will strengthen my immunity...and get me through the rest of the week. The school day is so jam-packed I barely have time to breath...and neither do the kids. Their day is full as we try to use every minute for quality learning experiences, although some days it just feels like organised chaos, and today was definately one of those days! I hope your day was a little more peaceful than mine and heres hoping they get a little more peaceful as the week develops.

Finally, thank you for your lovely comments on my cards. It is so nice to share cards with other people who love card-making and even nicer to hear what they have to say about them. Enjoy your evening...

Alicia xx

Green and Blue and Thinking of You

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mum's out there! I hope you had a relaxing day with your children and were pampered and spoilt, because you sure deserve it!

Tonight's card was a real challenge for me - working with the colours blue and green really had me tricked and I re-worked and re-worked this card quite a bit. Finally I had to say enough time spent on this one, get it posted and get on with other Sunday-night things that need to be done.

I am entering this card in the Colour Create "Blue and Green Challenge" and the Magnolia Down Under "Thinking of You Challenge". The card is actually for one of the cleaners at my school who has had a tumour removed and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. I have been meaning to make her a card for ages and the "Thinking of you Challenge" was perfect as I have been thinking of her a lot since she has been sick.

Well I am off to get ready for another week...laminating, planning, and a bit of tidying (after I have succesfully made a huge mess with the creation of this card!) all before a hopefully earlier night than usual!

Alicia xx

Pink and Girly...

I am always wanting to make pink cards. It is one of my favourite colours and pink papers and ribbons and embellishments seem to be magnetically attracted to me - or I to them. So when I saw the Pink challenge on Stamp Something, I just had to enter! I found a great sketch on Creative Inpirations and thought I would combine the two challenges to make a beautiful card...The photo above is what I came up with. If you can't read the text it says "treasure your birthday". I used papers from DCWV The Sweet Stack and added some stitching around the edges in pink cotton. I coloured the image with my ink pads, Stampin' Write markers and Aqua Pen. I added a bit of Kindy-Glitz to the wings. She is such a cute little girl - I am in love with this stamp...I just need a cute little girl with a birthday coming up...both my nieces have a birthday in the next two months so one of them will probably receive this card...Thanks to everyone who leaves comments on my cards. I love reading your thoughts.

Alicia xx

A card and some candy worth cheering about!

Firstly the card...the challenge is "Happy Mail" from Cute Card Thursday. You have to make a card to cheer somebody up and send it to a seriously ill child from Post Pals. The stamp at the bottom of my card that is really too small to read says "A kind word is like a spring day." I picked the colours lavender, sliver, blue and green for my card and had a lovely time creating it. I am sending my card to Alice P from Post Pals. One of her favourite colours is purple, so I hope this card cheers her up a bit!

Secondly onto some fabulous candy! This is from Kellie's blog and I am entering it! There looks like there is lots of lovely goodies in this bundle. Pop on over to her blog to enter for yourself.

Well that's the end to a very busy Friday for me...I am looking forward to a restful weekend...I hope you have a nice weekend planned too.

Alicia xx

Red, Cream and Chocolate...

I was inspired by the challenge "Red, Cream and Chocolate" at Colour Create to make this card.

I used one of my new Tilda images and paper from "The Sweet Stack". You can't see it in the photo but on the brown part of the paper is written chocolate over and over. I added a red ribbon as the challenge suggested. Yum! How good does the photo look from the Colour Create blog. It reminds me of the chocolate pudding my Mum makes on Christmas night for dessert. Our whole family loves it! But it always tastes best at Christmas...I wonder why that is? This card has a bit of a Christmas feel to it because of the touches of green. I think its a bit cute and it was quick to make. Hope you had a fun-filled Thursday...I am off to do a touch of school work before I go to bed...planning for my literacy groups and my child-negotiated unit. Talk to you soon.

Alicia xx

William Turns Four - Just Magnolia

My eldest nephew Will turns four this month and I had the cutest little boy Magnolia image to use. I picked the SU colours Brilliant and Bashful Blue, Green Galore and Pumpkin Pie. I tried my best not to make it too girly! The swirl was probably the hardest part to keep masculine. I think the photo so does not do the card justice...I think it looks much cuter in "real life". This card actually took me hours, but it so doesn't look it! Will is really keen on "Ben Ten" at the moment so I am hunting down some Ben Ten treasures just for him! I am entering this card in the Just Magnolia Week 3 Sketch Challenge. Why not pop over to their blog. The DT cards are AMAZING!! Thanks for visiting my Blog and taking a peek at my card.

Alicia xx

Some Square Cards...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Mojo Monday Mother's Day Cards

My last two Mother's Day cards for my two Grandmas...I used the Mojo Monday sketch and made two very similar cards together. I had to move my smaller square up a bit higher as to the sketch as it all was getting a bit crowded down near the ribbon. Everything I used on this card was from Stampin'Up - papers, card, stamps and ribbon. The two colours I focused on were Old Olive and Chocolate Chip. I haven't made any cards with these colours for ages and I have a huge stash of these papers to use up. I coloured in the image with my aqua painter, ink pads and stampin' up markers. I am off to post all my Mother's day presents and cards today so hopefully they will reach Tamworth by Friday...fingers crossed. Hope you are all having a lovely Tuesday...back to work for me tomorrow...I am still a bit unwell, but hopefully with lots of cold and flu tablets I will survive!

Blog Candy, Wedding News and a Magnolia Mother's Day Card

Hi Everyone,

Don't forget my Blog candy is drawn this month and there is still time to enter! Scroll down and have a look at all the goodies that you could win!

We are home from Kate's wedding and what a big weekend it was! The ceremony was beautiful...an outdoor wedding at Noosa in Queensland...Kate and the bridesmaids looked beautiful. It was great to catch up with all of my family, but the night itself was FREEZING! We were outdoors all night and it made my cold even worse! So much so that I am having tomorrow off to get better. I put a couple of photos on here for you to have a little look at if you are interested.

Photo 1 - The Bride and groom - Kate and Pat

Photo 2 - The Bridesmaids

Photo 3 - My cousin Abbey from Sydney and I

I am in a rush to make my Mother's Day cards as they all need to be posted tomorrow... but I took my time and enjoyed this Magnolia Down Under Challenge. I used some Shirley Barber scrapbooking paper for the background behind my image and framed this with my scallop punch on green and then blue papers from Stampin' Up. I stamped the flower and leaves and then water-coloured them to match the image. I used blue as it is my Mum's favourite colour and added some green in for nature. On the inside of the card I placed the greeting in the corner so I could write a long message to Mum without running out of room.