Paper Play DT Card - Hidden Extra

Hi Blogging Buddies,

This week for Paper Play the theme is Hidden Extra

"Add a hidden extra to your project. A tag, gift card, journalling, etc."

We are sponsored by Whimsy Stamps they sell lots of things including Meljen Design images which is what I have used on my card.

I used a little envelope sticker and inside there is a tag which you can pull out and on the tage I have glued a metal butterfly.

I used Prima papers and a note card from the Jack n Jill Collection which you can get from The Craft Garden. I also used some Prima flowers in the top right hand corner and some other flowers next to the ribbon. I added a hat pin with some pearls and crystals. The base card stock is SU Craft. I inked all the edges with Vintage Photo ink and added gold glimmermist.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Creative Card Crew - Bloomin' Marvellous

Cupcake Card Challenge - Pink and Brown

C.R.A.F.T. Challenges - Fancy Florals

Stampin for the Weekend - Tag it

Here is a cute little picture we took yesterday of one of our lambs...

I couldn't resist sharing him too...

We walked down to Mum and Dad's this afternoon to get some more mix-up lamb's milk and they asked us to stay for tea so we had yummy pork chops for dinner and then Mum made an apricot desert for after. It was so nice to see them again as they have only just got back (a few days ago) from their holiday. We drove the ute back home with Ellie on the back and will be using it to have a bit of a clean-up in the yard tomorrow. We have to start getting ready for summer...cleaning up any bits of rubbish and making sure we can mow everywhere and keep the grass down. We dont want any snake visitors this year if we can help it! I went and got my hair done in town today and decided to get a little retail therapy. I feel so much better! It is amazing what a good cut and colour can do for you. I also got some good shopping done too. There is not much to choose from in Tamworth, but I did the best I could with what we have and I even got some super bargains! Two new pairs of shoes for work, four new summer tops, a necklace, some bangles and two t-shirts for Ben. I havent bought any clothes all term...so it is nice to freshen up the wardrobe a bit.

Sorry for rambling on tonight...I must be feeling chatty! Hope you had a great day today. I will be blog-hopping and commenting tomorrow and doing a big catch-up so will see you then!

Six Simple Cards

Hi Blogging Buddies,

I have a colourful set of simple cards to share tonight.  Card stock is Rose Red and Regal Rose with SU DP.  The digi image is a Meljen Design and one of my favourites.  I added 3 large gems for a bit of sparkle.

I would like to enter:

The Creative Cottage Challenge - Bling it On

Lollipop Crafts - Glitter, Sparkle and Gems

I had a visit from a lovely friend from the Gold Coast and her three beautiful daughter today.  We had a yummy afternoon tea and the girls fed our baby lambs and played with Ben's guitars and sang songs on his microphone.  I am feeling a little sad tonight.  I miss my beautiful friends from my old school on the Gold Coast very, very much.  It has been 9 months since we lived there and I still feel like it is so raw...I really didnt expect to miss them so much.

I hope you had a nice day.  Thanks for stopping by.

A Buzz Birthday Party

Hi Blogging Buddies,

The birthday party for Ryan was lots of fun and nearly every present he got was a buzz lightyear something. The room looked very coordinated by the end of the night. We got him a little Toy Story 3 scooter from K-mart. My sister gave me that idea for a present. If you live in Aust and would like a scooter for only $25 go and get one. They are good quality and oh so cheap and the present was a really big hit. They also have a pink design as well...I cant remember if it was barbie or something else...Here he is blowing out the candles.

Here he is with his Mummy cutting up the cake.

The cake shop did a good job on the cake...Buzz's head

(he is a bit on the ugly side old Buzz I think).

A photo with his brother and Mummy and Daddy.

A photo of three generations playing that dreaded x-box! They were of course amused for hours. Ben had a ball!

The party was really fun. The birthday boy was exhausted by the end of it! So was I! Thought you might like to look at some of the pics.

For a Boy addicted to Buzz...

 Hi Blogging Buddies,

It is my nephew Ryan's 3rd birthday today.  We are going to his party later tonight.  My job was to make a Buzz Lightyear cake...but have you seen how tricky they are?  Spotlight had sold out of all the edible picture transfers and after googling different cakes and seeing how complex it would be to pipe on an image I did the next best thing and rang the cake shop.  For $60 they will make one for me.

I decided a card would be more up my alley so I found this image in google images and set about colouring it with Copics.  I copied all the colours exactly.  I decided to keep the card very plain because I dont think Ryan really likes ribbons, buttons or fancy bits and pieces, all he really wants to see is Buzz and his name on the card.  Well thats what I figured anyway.  I used cardstock to match Buzz's colours.

I would like to enter Buzz in two challenges:

Mad for Markers - Colour in a Digital Image with Copics

The Play Date Cafe - Colour Challenge Purple, Green and Silver/Grey

Thanks so much for popping over and visiting my blog.  I really appreciate your comments.

Two Plain and Simple Male Cards

 Hi Blogging Buddies,

Happy Sunday to you all! We are getting some beautiful spring weather here and that means I really need to get out and do a bit of gardening...hopefully I will get to that today.

This morning I have these plain and simple male cards to share.  I made one for my cousin and one for my uncle.  The papers make them almost like one of those optical illusions! Does my head in if I look at them for too long!

I thought I would enter them in:

Allsorts Challenge Blog - Plain and Simple

365 Cards - Keep it Simple

Crafty Catz - Stitching

Lollipop Crafts - Its a Boy Thing

I am off to catch up on all my blog-hopping today...can't wait to see what you have all been making!  Thanks for visiting, I hope you have a lovely day.



Southern Girls Challenge # 2 ~ Recycled Jewellery

The second challenge for Southern Girls starts today.

Southern Girls is a fortnightly challenge which means you have more time

to get your card or layout in.

This week you have to use a recycled piece of jewellery somewhere on your creation.

How cool is that! I am sure I could find a lonely earring, or an old necklace that I really dont wear anymore and add it to my work.

There are two fabulous prizes one for New Zealand/Australian entries:

This cute little package from Embellish It.

And a prize for international entries:

A $10 gift voucher at Digital Delights by Looby Loo

Plus we choose a Top 5 as well...so there are plenty of opportunities to win!

You have to be in it to win it they say so pop on over the Southern Girls for some inspiration from the Design Team and to enter your card.

PaperPlay Challenge - Coffee and Cream

It's my week off from designing a card at PaperPlay this week...but I thought I would let you know about the challenge, if you hadn't seen it yet.

This week it is a colour challenge....my favourite!

The colours this week are Coffee and Cream.

The prize is a $15 gift certificate at Phindy's Place 

and wow do they have a large range of great digi images!

Hop on over to the PaperPlay Challenge Blog for some great inspiration

and to link up your card.

A Dragonfly Present from Carol

 Hi Blogging Buddies,

I couldn't resist sharing this beautiful parcel Carol sent me in the mail all the way from America.  For my regular followers you may have seen Carol's name in the comment sections of my posts.  Carol comments on every single post I make and is a wonderful blogging buddy.  One day when she comes to Australia she is going to come and visit me!

Carol made me this beautiful dragonfly scarf herself, and she gave me this gorgeous dragonfly necklace and last, but by no means least her stunning dragonfly card.

My sister is going to be so envious because she just loves dragonflies...and so do I. 

She told me that dragonflies symbolise freedom.  After a quick google search I found that there is more to the symbol of the dragonfly.  I cut and pasted a bit of info from this website here.

Symbolisms of the Dragonfly

Maturity and a Depth of character

The dragonfly, in almost every part of the world symbolizes change and change in the perspective of self realization; and the kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life.

 

The traditional association of Dragonflies with water also gives rise to this meaning to this amazing insect. The Dragonfly’s scurrying flight across water represents an act of going beyond what’s on the surface and looking into the deeper implications and aspects of life.

Power and Poise

The dragonfly’s agile flight and its ability to move in all six directions exude a sense of power and poise - something that comes only with age and maturity.

 

Defeat of Self Created Illusions

The dragonfly exhibits iridescence both on its wings as well as on its body. Iridescence is the property of an object to show itself in different colors depending on the angle and polarization of light falling on it.

 

This property is seen and believed as the end of one’s self created illusions and a clear vision into the realities of life. The magical property of iridescence is also associated with the discovery of one’s own abilities by unmasking the real self and removing the doubts one casts on his/her own sense of identity. This again indirectly means self discovery and removal of inhibitions.

Focus on living ‘IN’ the moment

The dragonfly normally lives most of its life as a nymph or an immature. It flies only for a fraction of its life and usually not more than a few months. This adult dragonfly does it all in these few months and leaves nothing to be desired. This style of life symbolizes and exemplifies the virtue of living IN the moment and living life to the fullest. By living in the moment you are aware of who you are, where you are, what you are doing, what you want, what you don’t and make informed choices on a moment-to-moment basis.

This ability lets you live your life without regrets like the great dragonfly.

The opening of one’s eyes

The eyes of the dragonfly are one of the most amazing and awe inspiring sights. Given almost 80% of the insect’s brain power is dedicated to its sight and the fact that it can see in all 360 degrees around it, it symbolizes the uninhibited vision of the mind and the ability to see beyond the limitations of the human self. It also in a manner of speaking symbolizes a man/woman’s rising from materialism to be able to see beyond the mundane into the vastness that is really our Universe, and our own minds.

My favourite symbolism is "living in the moment" I think.  What is yours?

Thank you so much for my beautiful gift Carol...I will treasure it always.

Sympathy Cards

Hi Blogging Buddies,

I have two sympathy cards to share today.  I made these with some free papers I got in a craft magazine.  Stamps are from SU "Close as a Memory".  I bought this set because I dont have any appropriate sympathy stamps and I was finding sympathy cards really tricky to make.  This set makes them quick and easy and appropriate I think.  The top one I stamped in Creamy Caramel ink the bottom one is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink.  I like the bottom one the best.  I was going for a clean and simple look for these cards.

I havent entered any challenges for quite a while so I thought I would enter some with these two cards:

Alphabet Challenge - U is for Unused Stash

(these papers have been hanging around for ages wanting to be used)

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Anything Goes

I did it Creations - Keep it Simple

Would you like to see a more recent photo of our pet lambs?  They are gowing up quickly.  They are still on three feeds a day but they are very strong and quite rough!  It was hard to keep them still for a photo.  They sleep with the chickens at night because we are still cautious of foxes prowling around.  The chickens dont quite know what to think of them!

Thats about it from me today.  Hope you had a great one.  Thanks for popping by for a visit.

Smash Book Recipe Card ~ Health Slice (with choc chips)

 Hi Blogging Buddies,

This is my last recipe card for now...my little book is starting to look a little fuller!  This is called a Health Slice...but to make it healthy you are meant to add sultanas or dried fruit instead of the choc-chips...but we always add the choc chips.  I normally do 1/2 a cup of choc-chips for a less chocolatey version...but if you are a choc-o-holic try the full cup and see what you think.  This slice takes 5 minutes to mix up and put in the oven.  It is super speedy and a great lunch box treat.

 For this recipe card I have used papers, a note card, and flowers all from the Prima Annalee collection.  The Craft Garden stocks these products and you can purchase them here.  The Annalee collection is very vintage.  The cute little girl stamp is called Fairy Flora Frame and Girl and can be purchased here for 1.95 pounds, or $3.20 Australian, or about $3 American.  So cheap and such a cute little vintage girl I think.

 I am using the beautiful butterflies again...I just love them I ink them with vintage photo so they get that aged look and spray them with a little gold glimmermist.  And below is a close-up of the flowers also inked and glimmermisted with matching buttons on top.

Today was a pretty rough day for me...I will sum it up in two words: "feral children".  Thank God I have tomorrow off and then two more working days and then holidays for two weeks!!!! Yay!!!!  I cant wait...think of all the lovely crafting goodies I could create! I am so grateful to have such an enjoyable hobby to focus on when work seems really yuck.  Crafting is theraputic and cheers you up I reakon....don't you agree?  I hope your daywas better than mine.  Thanks for stopping by.

Smash Book Recipes ~ Banana Cake

 Hi Blogging Buddies,

Another Smash Book Recipe card tonight.  This one is yummy Banana Cake.  My Auntie's recipe that we have been using since I was a little girl.

 This time I have used papers and flowers and a note card from the Prima Jack and Jill collection.  How sweet they are! You can order them here from The Craft Garden.

Do you like the flowers? They come with the papers when you buy them (here)...saves looking for matching flowers.  I think they look cute with the buttons on top.

I have been at one school today and go to another one tomorrow...you should see how versatile I am becoming!  It is pretty exhausting though...thank goodness it pays well...otherwise I would not be as keen.

Hope your Monday has been fun.

Smash Book Recipes - Date and Pecan Loaf

Hi Blogging Buddies,

A happy Sunday to you all! I have had a great Sunday actually...spent doing some of my favourite things.  We also went and got some more wood for the fire...still feels like winter here.  We have a dvd to watch tonight and a sweet curry in the slow-cooker.  Something I have learnt today...I actually like Winter.  But I dont like it at school especially on playground duty - yuck! 

I have another recipe card to share with you today...hope you are not tired of them, because there is still a few more to come.  This one is a very old Women's Weekly recipe from Grandma's Recipe book.  Published around about the 1950s I think.  Ben loves this recipe so it qualifies for the special book I am making.

I have used papers and flowers and a notecard from The Craft Garden online store...I love their stuff and have just ordered some more little bits and pieces from there.  This paper and note card is from the So Cute Collection which you can buy here.  Oh, and aren't these felt flowers so cool!  I am in love with them! You can get them here as well.  Close-up picture of the flowers below.

Well, I'm off to feed the animals and put them away for the night.  I hope you had a lovely weekend.  Thanks for visiting.