A New Arrival...

Hi Blogging Beauties,

I would like to introduce you to Herbie.  He is a day-old lamb that was left by his Mum at my sister's farm.  They already have several bottle-fed lambs and so asked if I would take him.  Of course I said yes as I just LOVE baby lambs.

My sister has a rule at her house dont name a lamb until it is five days old.

This is because they can die very easily.

Unfortunately I am already in love with him and have named him Herbie after my deceased Grandfather because he is so wrinkly and reminded me of him.  I hope he stays alive so I dont get a broken heart!

Ellie and I are sharing the motherly duties.  I feed him and Ellie cleans him up.

They are so cute together.

Last night he slept in a box in our laundry, but tonight he is out sleeping with Ellie. 

I just went and gave him his late night feed and they both seem to be doing ok.

I hope the night goes smoothly for them both because I cant wait for more fun tomorrow!

Here is Herbie taking an afternoon nap.

I just had to share him with you.

Alicia xx

A Collection of Polka-dot Cards

Hi Blogging Beauties,

I have had these cards made from a long time ago...I think it was January...and I have never blogged them.

I bought myself a little package of goodies one day at Spotlight and came home intently on making cards.  I took a little photo of what I bught before I started the creating part.  I actually fell in love with the brown and white polka-dot paper which was on the back of one of these papers and I mainly used that.  The plain orange and plain aqua was on the back as well.

Then I got creating and made these cards.

The soil for my vegie patch was delivered today.

I just need to plant my seedlings now.

We are finally getting some nice spring weather and it really makes you want to get out into the garden.  I have been out in it a little bit cleaning up some dead plants knocked by the winter frosts.  I hope to post some photos soon.

Have a lovely Monday.

Alicia xx

Winner of my Candy!!!

Hi Blogging Beauties,

So I have finally caught up on commenting and I thought it was about time I drew my Candy prize as it has been going for about a month!

I used Random.org and the winner is....

Tanya from angelstimestwo

Congratulations Tanya and thankyou to everyone who entered.

I will be in touch with you Tanya.

I will put up some fresh candy hopefully this week.

Alicia xx

Create a Scene Challenge at Mad for Markers

Hi Blogging Beauties,

Before I get onto my card I just wanted to appologise for being such a bad blogger lately.  I have lots of comments from lovely people that I have read, but havent published yet because I wanted to return the favour and leave you a comment too.  I hope to get to those tomorrow.  Life has been busy and everything seems to be getting left to the extreme last minute including my posts this week!  I hope to turn over a new leaf next week and get right back on top of everything.  So thanks for being patient with me.


Over at Mad for Markers the entries for Ashlee's "Create a Scene" challenge are looking amazing and so are the inspiration from the DT!  I picked a Magnolia image for my card and I have always wanted to try a cloud background.  I visited youtube and came across this great video by Annika Ryan which I watched and tried to emulate.  I didnt have the same colours as her so I used what I had.  Then I watched a tutorial by Melyssa Connolly on how to colour grass and gave that a go too.  I have included links to the videos in case you want to check them out yourself.

The Copics I have used on my card are:

Reds: R53, R46, R59

Yellows: Y15, Y17, Y38, Y02

Hair: E35, E57, E37, E31

Skin: E11, E51, E02, R20

Sky: B93, B32. BG000, C-0, C-1

Grass: YG67, G99, GY63, YG03

Warm Greys: W-1, W-3, W-5, W-7

Since the image is so large, and the focus,  I kept the rest of the card fairly simple.

I hope you can find a little bit of time to join in our challenge!
The winner will have a GD spot at Mad for Markers.

You have a week left to enter.

Thanks for stopping by,

Alicia xx

Southern Girls ~ Decade Challenge

Hi Blogging Beauties,

It's time for a new challenge at Southern Girls!!
The challenge starting today is to create a card/layout/project following the theme 'Decades' - whichever decade you choose, or how you interpret it, is down to you!! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

You are playing along for some amazing prizes and the Design Team has heaps of inspiration for you, check all the details out here.

I went for an 80's theme card.

So I was trying to think, fluro colours and denim.

I used a cool Kenny K image that I received for the challenge.

I havent used one of their images for ages and they are so much fun to colour!

The Copics I used were:

Skin: E02, E00, E11, R20

Greens: G14, YG11, YG03

Yellows: Y02, YG00, Y08

Blues: B97, B95, B93

Pinks: RV06, RV04, RV02

Greys: C-0, C-1

Outline: BG10

Alicia xx

Green Sympathy Cards and Some Country Photos...

Hi Blogging Beauties,

I dont know where this week has gone.  The days seem to be just slipping away from me.

I am marketing again tomorrow and I dont think I have made anything new from last week's market!! So much for being organised with Father's Day cards.  Oh well...before we know it I can tell Christmas is going to be here and I will be in a dilemma over Christmas cards again!!!

Anyway, I have two green Sympathy cards today to share.

The first one I used a chipboard heart, coloured it in and then covered it with glitter.

The stamps are SU.  I put little pearls in the centre of the flowers in the fancier card.

The second one is a little more simple.

I could have made heaps of cards today, but I did a little blogging and then all of a sudden it is time to make dinner.  Oh well, there is always tomorrow!!

I wanted to share a couple of pics I took a few days ago of our place in the afternoon sunshine. We are nearly into Spring here and the blossoms on the Almond trees are the first sign of Spring time - such a very welcome relief.

This is a photo of a paddock.

Another paddock with Jacaranda Tree in the foreground.

Well I better get on with that dinner.

My brother and his girlfriend are coming out for tea so I better get a move on.

I hope you are having a nice weekend.

Talk soon,

Alicia xx

Pink Birthday Cards

Hi there Blogging Beauties, 

I went to the markets on Saturday and needed some cards in my stash so I was on a card-making mission.  I made some pink birthday cards....

I made lots of others too, but will save some for another day.

Life is hectic at the moment.

I am sorting out a few things and trying to get up to date.

I need to buy a new vachume cleaner and have been researching them today...

It is hard to know which one to get, on the internet 

no one can seem to agree on the best model!!

I hope to catch up on my commenting very soon and visit you.

I hope you are well and happy and life is treating you nicely.

Alicia xx

Mad for Marker's Spica Challenge

Hi Blogging Beauties,

Have you heard about the Mad for Markers Spica Challenge.

I made this cute little doggy card.

I coloured him with Copics:

Pinks: V06, RV06, RV13, RV34, RV23

Browns: E71, E57, E47 (a new brown combo that I love!)

Greys: C-0, C-1

Then I added some Spica!!

I used 00 Clear Spica on his bone and eyes.

I used 14 Blossom on his dog collar.

I used 01 Lavender as stitches on the pink heart.

I used 10 Black as stitches around the outside of the card.

I took a photo under the light so you can see the sparkle.

Do you have Spica's in your collection??

If not head on over to Sammi's store and stock up!

They retail for just $3.50 each or you can get a set of 12 for $40.00.

Click here to go directly to the store.

You still have a week to get your entries in and you could be our lucky winner who will receive three Spica pens!!  I will be hopping around all the entries this week and I cant wait to see what you come up with.

Happy colouring,

Alicia xx

Southern Girls Challenge - Black, White + 1

Hi Blogging Beauties,

It is a new challenge at Southern Girls!

This fortnight our theme is Black, White + 1.

I went with black, white and pink with a parisian feel.

This card was a special order for a lady 

who is treating herself to a trip to Paris for her 50th Birthday.

Wow!!  How inspiring!  Maybe when I turn 50 I might do something fantastic like this!

Do you like the flower I used?

It is from Manor House Creations.  You can see their blog here.

I hope you play along with our challenge.

Head on over to Southern Girls to check out this fortnight's prizes and to see the Design Team's wonderful inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by,

Alicia xx

Manorhouse Creations Cards and a BIG Question - Please help!!

Hi Blogging Beauties,

Finally some cards to share with you.

I have been making, making, making, just havent been posting many on my blog.

I will start to do a little catch up.

These three cards I have made using Manorhouse Creations products.

They are a new product now available in Australia and you can visit their blog here.

The papers are a lovely thick quality.

I hope to have a bit more of a play with these products today, 

if I can ever drag myself off this computer!

And now for my BIG question....

I am looking for an internet "space", ie. somewhere on the web to move our Aussie Cards for Sale site to.  It needs to be able to have multiple users so many people can access the site and upload their cards.  It needs to be able to have room to store a lot of photos and it needs to be easy access for customers to hop on and browse for cards.  Our Facebook page is one option, but I would like something separate to Facebook, our own space on the internet.

Something a bit like ebay, or etsy, but is exclusive to Aussie Cards for Sale so we can invite lots of Australian card makers to upload their cards and sell them.  

A big central online market place.

If you have any ideas can you please leave me a comment.

The only other time I have asked a BIG question on my blog I received a successful answer.

So I am putting it out there in the universe.

Please comment if you might have an idea.

Many, many thanks,

Alicia xx

"Thank You" and some Holiday Snaps...

Hi Blogging Beauties,

Thank you so much for your beautiful thoughts about my Nanny.  I really appreciated them.  We had a beautiful funeral for her.  The church was full and each of the Grand-kids had a special role to do.  We also spent a few days with all the family catching up.  It was so good to see everyone.  Luckily a few relatives are staying on for a couple of weeks to keep my Granddad company while he adjusts to life without Nanny.  I will be a frequent visitor no doubt.

Just before my Nan passed away Ben and I had taken a couple of days break away at the beautiful town of Port Douglas in far north Queensland.  We soaked up the lovely weather, ate our favourite seafoods and walked along the beach.  I think I managed to fit in a nap every day.  It was very relaxing.  I wanted to share a couple of photos....

This is the beach we walked along every day.  It was very windy and not warm enough for me to swim.  Other people weren't as precious as me and were quite happy to brave the cold water.

This is me having oysters for an entrée and a Caesar salad with prawns for lunch.  I have a bit of an obsession with seafood.  This was at the Courthouse Hotel.  I think my most favourite Hotel in the whole world!!  I don't eat seafood inland very often , because I am always a bit wary of its freshness so I always try to eat as much of it as I can when we go away.

We had a lovely time.  If you haven't visited Port Douglas I highly recommend it.  This was our second visit there and we are keen to go back.  We got our accommodation on sale at Wotif, so apart from the flights that cost a bit, it was a very cheap holiday.  All we spent our money on was food and because of the great pubs and restaurants you don't have to spend a lot of money to eat very well. 

 (I have included a map for any overseas visitors who might not know where Port Douglas is.)

I will be back with some cards hopefully tomorrow.

Thank you for visiting.

Alicia xx

A Tribute to my Nan

Hi Blogging Beauties,

I have been missing in action

Lots and lots of stuff has been going on.

But today I want to tell you about my beautiful Nanny.

She passed away on July 31st after being sick all this year.

The above photo is a picture of her and I four years ago at her 80th Birthday party.

I loved her very, very much and she was a big part of my life.

Her funeral is tomorrow and I am looking forward to celebrating her life.

Below is a picture of her holding me when I was just a baby.

She was an amazing woman who had eight children and twenty-two grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. I will miss her very much, but I know she is always looking out for me and helping me.

Alicia xx