Flowers

Hi again Everyone. Well at last I have a good assortment of flowers, both realistic and fantasy, for my class in August. It has taken me quite a wee while to get them done and be happy with them. For some I have to say thank-you to various ladies out there in Blog Land for their very good tutorials which helped me no end. I did try to take close up photos but mostly they turned out blurry so I will just upload this one. You can always click on it if you want a closer look at any of them. I will just teach the construction of the flowers in my class but I will make a number of different projects embellished with them to show what can be done with them. I will Blog those as I complete them. Busy days ahead as I only have just over three weeks to our departure date and I want them all done before we go so that I don't have that pressure as soon as we return in early August. I still have quite a few birthday cards to make for birthdays whilst we are away too!!! Soooo I'd better say bye and go and get on with something crafty!!! Thanks for taking a look.

Survival Kit Enclosed

Hello Everyone and I hope you have all had a good weekend. I certainly did. On Saturday I taught two different classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon at the Sister Act shop on the beautiful Kapiti Coast here in NZ. Lovely ladies, as always and all produced nice cards to go home with. Sunday evening we went to our youngest daughter and her partner's place where they cooked us a beautiful roast dinner and we spent the evening just catching up and chatting. It was lovely and a real treat for me as I never get a meal cooked for me. It was wonderful not to have to think about what to have for tea and then prepare it not to mention the dishes after, although I do quite often get the dishes washed for me(no we haven't got a dishwasher!) Anyway on to a new week and a new blog. A friend is off to Oz this week to attend The Stampin' Up Convention so a couple of us put together this survival kit for her. Inside it contains - a pair of earplugs (in case your room mate snores), 2 pain killers(in case you come across a pain in the b*m)2 bandaids (so you can keep on craftin' if you cut a finger), 3 lollies(for extra energy), a pack of tissues (in case you are reduced to tears) and a travel size shower gel (for a soothing, relaxing shower after a long, hard day's crafting). I hope she gets a giggle out of it and that she has a great time at Convention. Off back to the craft table to make more flowers. Thanks for stopping by today.

Black, White and Red

Hello again and I'm nice and early tonight. I was supposed to go walking along the coast today but the weather was just too unpredictable so I stayed home, did some chores and made this little card instead. Also our Darling Granddaughter, Ashleigh, has come for a visit so that makes it a Super Special Day in my book!! I just love the easel cards (can you tell?) and suddenly my Mojo came out of hiding today and I had a mind full of ideas - this being one of them. I also love the black and white technique but this time thought adding red into the mix would be quite stunning. Love these little flowers too so it's love all around tonight because I love my little card!! I hope you do too. I'm off back down to the other room to spend more time with Ashleigh. Thanks for looking. PS I have entered this in the Sir Stampalot Challenge Butterflies and Blossoms http://sirstampalotchallenge.blogspot.com/

Vintage Folder

Hi Everyone- - I'm a bit late again but I've been watching Monday Night Netball. I love it and it was especially good tonight because the two teams I wanted to win did!!! Now there's a change. Add to that an hour long phone call from my Brother-in-Law in the UK and that's why I'm so late with this post. Anyway better late than never my Dad used to say so here it is. I made this a couple of years ago and came across it yesterday when I was looking for something else - as you do - and thought I would post it. I saw the idea in a magazine - as you do - and just loved it. I didn't have anyone to make it for so I just made it anyway - as you do!!! It was so much fun to do and I kept it in with some special things I have and haven't seen it in quite a while. It is nice seeing it again. I hope you like it. Right I'm off to bed as I'm a bit tired. We (Harold and I) got up at 1am again to watch Barbara Gray (one of my favourite stampers as if you didn't know). She was on the craft chanel in the UK and we watch it on the laptop. I can just hear you saying WHAT??? Why would you get up at that hour just for a craft program? Well I can tell you it is SOOOOOOOO worth it. Sad thing is that I can't record it to look at over and over so I have to make quick notes and sketches to remind me of the fabulous things she demos. The program is 2 hours long so we climb back into bed at just after 3am but of course my mind is racing with all the good things I have been watching. Hence I am tired tonight so 'night 'night and I'll be back soon.

Butterfly Easel Card

I hope all you Mums out there had a nice Mother's Day today and were perhaps a little bit spoiled by your families. I had a nice early morning walk with my friend Ellen and then spent the rest of the day just puddling about. I was mostly puddling with this butterfly easel card. I do love easel cards and have moved on from the basic shape to more adventurous ones like this. I also love making the flowers I used on it. They are so cool to do and easy once you have watched a tutorial (lots of them out there thank-you ). I use a little 'fat' heart shape for the small flowers and a scallap punch for the large ones. I am going to refine my butterfly shape a bit and then have a go at another one. I had phone calls from both our girls this evening to check I had had a nice day and then we had a SKYPE link up with a schoolftriend in the UK which is always a good laugh. So yes I had a nice Mother's Day thank-you. Catch you next time. Thanks for visiting.

Up, Up and Away

Hi and I hope you have all had a beautiful day wherever in the world you live. Here in Upper Hutt NZ it has been another glorious autumn day. It was a little cool this morning but the sky was clear blue and as the sun got higher so did the temperatures. Most enjoyable. Just the right kind of day to go up, up and away in your beautiful balloon. This is my take on another Barbara Gray creation. The hills are created with torn paper masks and sponged ink, clouds done in the same way. The small hedgerows I created using the same paper masks and the side tips of the conical shaped tree. The conical tree and the balloon are Clarity Stamps created and made by Barbara herself. All the other trees are from vaious sources. The little flock of birds, which I use a lot, is by Lavinia Stamps. Try Googling that name and have a look at Tracy's fantastic works of art. She is another lady who draws and make her own stamps. Aren't we lucky to have access to such talent? For the ballooon I first stamped it onto the artwork, then I stamped it onto suitable designer paper and cut out just the bag of the ballon, then used glue stick to stick it over the stamped image on the card. Have another good day tomorrow and thanks for looking.

Posh in the Park

Hello Everyone and sorry for the long gap (again). I am very busy just now. We go away for our annual overseas trip in just over 5 weeks. Before I go I have 6 classes to teach which will take care of 3 of the Saturdays I have left. Of course for each class there is at least one sample to make and a set of instructions to write. I also have 9 birthday cards to get ready to cover the time we are away (7 weeks) and I always send a card to our two daughters and 3 grandchildren, so that they receive them the day after we've left, to tell them how much I love them and to take care of them selves and each other whilst we are away. Add to that a few gifts of sets of cards to take to friends in the UK and you will see why I haven't been blogging very much. A lot of the things I have made in the above list I have blogged previously but this Special Lady tonight is new. I bought her a wee while back but haven't used her until today. She is an Ecclectic Images stamp and there is a whole family of them!! I think I may have to send (to Aussie) for some of her 'sisters'. We have had lots of exercise today. We cycled about 32kms and had our usual Wednesday swim (100 lengths for me) too. We are toughening up our rear ends, as part of our holiday is cycling from Venice to Florence, which is 285kms in 6 days. It is a great way to see the countryside and we get to take our bikes on the train through the mountains instead of having to cycle over them! I'm really pleased about that! Anyway I'm off to bed and I think I will sleep well tonight. Thanks for stopping by.