Lawnscaping Blog Hop: Celebrate The Holidays

Welcome!

Welcome to the first ever Lawnscaping Blog Hop!  I’m so glad you’ve made it here! You’re doing so well getting through the hop.

The theme for the hop is Holiday projects!! What’s not to love about the holidays.

You should have come my way from Samantha M’s blog. Wasn't her creation so cute! 

The blog hop was open to any holiday: Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, etc. Eeek, I discovered I don’t have any Lawn Fawn sets that match any of these so I had to get a little creative and I ended up going with Valentine’s Day. Probably haven't seen too many for this particular holiday along the hop, right? :)

Will be going shopping when the hop is done to add to my Lawn Fawn collection.

The hop runs from Friday, September 9th - Sunday, September 11th! Make sure you comment on all of the blogs along the way as there are LOTS of prizes to be won! All the details can be found on the Lawnscaping home page.

There are some fabulous sponsors for this hop too. Lawn Fawn are providing some fabulous prizes and another sponsor is Mold Muse.

You’re next stop along the hop is Marie / Legojenta‘s blog. I know she’ll have something fabulous to show us as well.

If you get a little lost along the way, don't worry! Head back to Lawnscaping to see the hop order and the yummy prize information!

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a lovely weekend.

                                      Michey xx

I stamped the typewriter from Just My Type onto white cardstock and coloured it in with Copics (see below for colours). I then created my sentiment for the typewriter and stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black and Jenni Bowlin Cough Syrup inks onto Vellum Cardtock and set them aside to dry. I stamped the 2nd part of my sentiment in VersaMark onto the bottom of the trimmed down white top note diecut and embossed with white EP. I then stained the whole piece with Barn Door Distress Stain and set it aside to dry. Once this was done I flicked water all over the stain to create the mottled effect. Dried this with my heat gun and then attacked it with my distress tool. Wrapped Pure Poppy twine around it and tied a button on top. I used a Glue Dot to keep this in place. Then I used low profile dimensional adhesive to mount this to the black top note diecut and then used the same dimensionals to adhere this to the card base. I had swiped Barn Door Distress Ink around this prior to sticking the mat down.

I glued the vellum sentiment over the top of the typewriter and curled it for some added dimension.

Created a sentiment for the inside of the card and stamped this in Memento ink as well. Found a random love heart in my stash and added this on either side.

Ah....I love it. :)

InLinkz.com

Additional items used:

Stampin Up Top Note Die; Stampin Up Whisper White & Basic Black Cardstock, Papertrey Ink White Notecard, Pure Poppy Twine & Button

Copics Used: W1, W3, W5 & R32, R37

Feel Better Soon

Happy Monday! And I have the day off. Was planning on doing a bit of work and then off to visit with my sister and the family, but they are down with a gastro bug - ugh! Cannot imagine how much fun that must be when you have two little dudes in nappies and you're suffering as well. :( Sad Aunty face.

So instead, I've cleaned up the craft space and will now do my work so I can play later. I'm participating in a sweet little blog hop later on in the week and I have a few ideas rolling around in my head.

Spring is really starting to show itself in my neighbourhood these days. The blossom trees are full of sweet little blooms and the magnolias are bursting with gorgeous abundance. :)

And the dreaded hayfever season is beginning to make itself known. Ha!

Anyway, here's a wee card I made for a dear friend who has been suffering with a lingering injury recently.

I adore these Pure Innocence images and got a few of their big sister, a la Modes, in the post last week!

Eek, cannot wait to get them inky and play with them.

Please excuse the Copic colouring on this wee poppet, my skills are a little rusty. And I realised that I diecut the image a little bit crooked. Ah well, its the thought that counts, right?!

I hand coloured the seam binding and clear rhinestones with a Y32 Copic marker.

This photo doesn't show it, but I also used my lemon spica to add a sparkly dot to every brown spot on the paper piecing and a silver spica to colour the umbrella handle and silver tab on top of the umbrella.

Im also trialling the inLinkz tabs down the bottom. I've seen them on so many blogs and loved the idea - a wee bit of effort to set up, but not too bad. If someone can tell me how to link up Papertrey images without them turning black (which I'm sure is a security feature of their shop and I understand that, but I am linking it back to their store) then help me out, puhlease. Got a wee bit frustrated with that one.

Hope you are having a lovely day where you are.

Lots of love,

Michey xxx

Additional Info:

Sentiment is from PTI's Scattered Showers Additions stamp set; Card base is from PTI's scored notecard set (great value, though smaller than the standard Aussie C6 size); Die cut is PTI's Mat Stack 4; Patterned Paper is PTI Happy Spots 8x8 Paper Pad; Image stamped on PTI's Stampers Select White Cardstock

Copics Used:  E02, E00, E13, E70, E77, Y32 + Spica: Silver and Lemon

InLinkz.com

Male Cards

Hey friends,

Just a short post to let you know I'm slowly finding my way back to this wonderful world of crafting. I have done a bit of creating recently as I needed a couple of cards. However, I think my MoJo is currently still on a break - so I'm thankful ya'll are around to inspire me and get  the creative juices working.

I have a dear friend from my ol' school days who has been especially kind to me and my family during this season of grief and loss. I had lost touch with him for many, many years and we really only connected mid last year after an 18 year absence. Anywho, I missed his birthday earlier this year and then he was kind enough to host me and some of my family when we headed back to Qld for Mum's funeral, so I needed both a birthday card and a thank you card to send with his gifts recently.

The birthday card was fun - my first ever attempt at emboss-resist!! I can't believe I haven't done this before now either - but the past year I've accumulated a lot of crafting stuff (alright, hoarded) and haven't really done all that much creating. Hoping that is gonna change here on out.

This card was inspired by the final week of the recent Summer Card Class run by Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire. I had been so excited about participating that I signed up the very first moment I heard about the classes. Unfortunately, Mum was at her sickest and passed away right in the middle, so this was the only chance I got to participate. I've signed up for Jennifer's next Inspiration Showcase classes though and can't wait to begin.

The thank you card I made was CASE'd and inspired by Claire from Waltzing Mouse Stamps. As soon as I saw her card here, I knew I wanted to recreate it myself and I think I really need to have another go as this looks nothing like Claire's masterpiece. Still, I love this set and how she has given us all the elements needed to create the layers and depth to this card.

I think that's enough from me for now. :)

Catch you all again soon. I'll try and find some time to pop by all your blogs and leave some love soon. I do miss you my dear friends.

Hope you are all well.
Much love, Michey  xxx


HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARD DEETS:
Stamps: Hero Arts Lucious Ledger CG302, Happy Definition CG269 (background); Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies (sentiment)
Inks: Distress Inks: Broken China, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Old Paper (distressing); Versamark
Cardstock/Paper: SU Sage Shaddow & Whisper White
Other: PTI Banner Dies, EK Success Punch; Twinery Honeydew Twine; White EP, Misc Silver Bullet dots, Glue Dots, Ranger Blending Tools

THANK YOU CARD DEETS:
Stamps: WMS Way Out West, Back In The Saddle (sentiment)
Inks: Distress Ink Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Stormy Sky, Mustard Seed, Frayed Burlap (background text); SU Basic Grey, Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock/Paper: PTI Kraft & Stampers Select White
Other: Ranger Blending Tools, Paper Snips, Dimensional Adhesive

I'll be back soon.

Hey dear friends.

I'm not apologising for not being around again as I've just reviewed my last few posts and it seems that that's all I've been doing.

You all know life has had it's ups and downs and challenges for me in recent times and I'm so grateful you've stuck with me so far.

I haven't created in the longest time and, whilst I think I will real soon, I'm taking a time out for myself now.

You'll remember from my last post that I mentioned that my Mama was ill and had herself a wee heart attack. Well, she was home for 10days before she had another on 29th April and was readmitted to hospital. She didnt really recover well from this second event and though rehab was attempted it was pretty evident that her body didn't have the strength needed to recover this time.

My heart breaks as I write these words, but my darling Mama left this life in the early hours of Sunday, 26th June 2011. I was sleeping by her side and will be forever grateful that I was able to be there as she entered into eternal life.

We buried Mum alongside her parents in Kingaroy in country Qld last week and I had my first day back at work today. I'm so thankful for the memories I have from being Mum's carer for the past 2-3 years, but this now also leaves me with a huge empty place in my life. Crafting is my sanctuary and I know I'll find my way back into my studio soon, but for now I'm going to focus on just putting one foot in front of the other and getting through each day.

It's also wee Charlie-boy's 1st birthday on Thursday and I'll try to grab some updated photos of the little dudes for you. Can you believe that little munchkin is 1 already.

So, for now, dear friends, I hope you are all well and happy. I'll see you soon.
Much love,
Michey xx

I'm Still Around

Hey friends,

Sorry I haven't been back here to post for a while. Life keeps getting in the way of my blogging. :(

For those of you who haven't heard my darling Mama had herself a wee heart attack almost 2 weeks ago. She was quite poorly for a few days, but has been improving in strength again during the past week. I took her home from hospital last night and, other than being quite tired, she seems to be doing okay. The cardiac team looking after her were planning on getting some surgery organised for her, but, sadly, she has too many other complications to make this a viable option. All about keeping her comfortable and managing her symptoms these days. Sadly, her treatment is considered to be palliative as any surgery to correct the multiple problems she has would more than likely prove to be fatal. We're unsure just how many days she has left here in this life with us....could be 1, 10, 100 or more. I'm all about making the most of those moments that count and making sure I have no regrets when that day does arrive when she is no longer with us. As much as I thought I was prepared for that day, these recent events have shown me you can never really prepare yourself to say goodbye to someone you love.

Plus my gorgeous housemate got married at the beginning of last week and it was truly one of the most stunning weddings I've been to in quite some time. I had a ball and loved watching my dear, faithful friend say I do to the love of her life. They are currently lying on a beach somewhere in Tahiti adjusting to married life. :)

And now I'm sorting out my home. I haven't moved - but there are changes happening here now that my roomie has moved into her new house with her new husband. I have changed bedrooms and have ordered some new furniture and changed the layouts of the living spaces. Still a wee bit of sorting and settling to do and then the hunt for a new roomie begins. :)

In addition, our Clinic has been the busiest in these first four months of the year than I've experienced in all of my 10yrs of working there!! Great for the bottom line (ie $$$), but given I work in a Breast Cancer Clinic, bad news that we've been so busy. And its not just us, the other Breast Surgeons at our Clinic have been quite frantic too.

I have been creating and playing with some new stamp sets, just haven't had a moment to photograph them or get them up here on the ol' blog-o. However, we have a lovely 5 day weekend ahead of us here what with Easter and Anzac Day and I have nothing much planned, except for an Easter service or two and attending a Dawn Service on Anzac Day. So hoping to get plenty of crafting time and grabbing a moment to take some photos of my creations whilst the sun is up. I'll post as soon as I can.

I was fortunate enough to attend a mixed media class with Nathalie Kalbach at my LSS on Monday and I still have the glimmer mist ink under my nails to prove it!! I'm not entirely happy with my creation but I LOVED playing with gesso and mists/inks to create a canvas. Watch this space for more of this. :) Plus I sat next to a new, totally delightful friend who flew up from Adelaide just to attend this class!

Its been quite a chaotic start to 2011. But I'm still here, still have my smile on my face and a hug and kind word for anyone who happens across my path. Just need to remember that I need to look after myself too, so I'm around for the long haul as well. And crafting is my first stop for "therapy" and "me" time - so hopefully I'll be here more often than not in the days/weeks/months ahead.

Happy Easter to all of you, my lovely friends.

Blessings. Michey xxx

PS: Since I missed my 1yr Blogaversary last year and I have a birthday coming up....I'm hoping to get a "candy" post put together in the next little while too. Mwah!!

HB to my Roomie

Hey lovelies,

Hope you are having a great day. Its Tuesday evening over here and I'm just about to pack up and head home from a big day in the Clinic. I know some of you have had snow recently (I wish) and are so over it and looking forward to spring/summer finally arriving, but here, our days have just started to get a little cooler and the nights a bit fresher and I'M TOTALLY LOVING IT!

I actually had to hunt out my favourite, comfy, 'home' cardigan and a pair of socks on Sunday evening. :)

Here's a card I created for my dear Roomie's birthday. She's a massive fan of GREEN and so each year I've used that as a starting place for ideas.

She's the person who introduced me to this crazy ol' cardmaking world more than 2 years ago. She's also getting married in 13 sleeps (11th April) and is moving out - so I'm gonna miss her big time, but at the same time am so mega excited for this next chapter in her life. Her husband to be is a darling and they are sooooo cute together.

I'm also entering this into Joy's current challenge. Again I've used Lucy as my inspiration and person to honour. I find myself drawn to her BLOG all the time and have used THIS as my card to focus on.

I"m also entering this into Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday Challenge #8 - Blending Technique!! My blending on the PTI doily is appalling!! I'm definitely going to give this another go this week and hopefully do better. I was pushed for time to get this card done and ready to give with my gift, otherwise I'd have binned that doily and started over. I also sponged around the edge of the dress form die and all over the stand to give it a little definition.

Anywho, that's enough from me for now. I hope to be back a little later this week with another post. I'm off to see Cyndi Lauper with one of my besties on Thursday night!! That should be fun - not that I actually know any of her latest music, I'm hoping she cracks out the good ol' classics - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and True Colours - then I'll make sure to sing as loudly and crazily as I can. Heeeeeee.

Big hugs lovelies.

Michey xxx

CARD DEETS:

Cardstock/Paper: SU Kiwi Kiss, SU Whisper White, MME Stella & Rose

Stamps: PTI Signature Series: Dress Form (Sentiment)

Inks: Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Inks Old Paper

Other: PTI Parisian Lace Die; PTI Signature Series: Dress Form Die, PTI Chartreuse Button, PTI Twine

Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #3 & Jay Gees Nook Challenge #5

Yes....It's me again!! Two posts in one day.

I managed to grab a few moments this week to create. I'm almost done creating my new studio/cave and my mojo is bubbling on hold until I can really let loose in there. :)

I whipped up another card on Monday using Chupa's sketch for this week which can be found here.

And I used Jay Gee's Nooks Current Challenge #5 here for my colour inspiration. (Plus I was absolutely busting to use some of my new MME paper!!)

I'm not sure yet if this is the birthday card for my sister....or one for the stash.

I'll pop back here soon and add the card deets.

Now it's time for la-la land for me. I'm supposed to be up at 7am to head to a conference and it's already 12:30am!! Eeek.

Michey xxxx

CARD DEETS:

Joy's Honouring Challenge

Hey folks,

A quick post today as I'm uber busy.

The sweet Joy of Less Is More blog-o had a week of honouring some of her favourite inspiring bloggers last week. Did you stop by.

I loved it and I loved the idea.

Anyway, at the end of her week she set up a challenge for us to participate in as well.

All of the blogs that Joy highlighted last week are in my Top 10 of faves to pop on by as well. So I picked another, sweet Lucy, to honour with my creation. I love Lucy's blog and every card/creation she posts is fabulous.

This card of hers caught my eye and I used it as the inspiration behind this card I have made (because I've needed a stash of sympathy/thinking of you cards just recently, sadly).

Thanks Lucy for the inspiration....and thanks Joy for the challenge and the motivation to get creating.

See y'all again real soon.

Michey xxx

Card Deets:

Cardstock/Paper: SU Crumb Cake, PTI Vintage Cream

Stamps: PTI YOTF: Lily of The Valley (May)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black (Image & Sentiment), SU Basic Grey (Sponging)

Others: SU Kraft Taffeta Ribbon (Retired), Button from stash, PTI Rustic Cream Twine

Copic Candy!!

The lovely Lisa is about to open a brand new online store!! Heeee!! So exciting for her.

And to celebrate she is giving away a few (ie: LOTS) of Copics to a lucky candy winner.

Check out her new store blog for more details and to sign up to maybe win. xx

YAY! for Birthdays

Hello again,

Thank you for all the lovely comments left on my previous post, they mean so much. The rebuilding process for Qld (both in SE and Nth Qld) following the floods and cyclone as well as the fires in the Perth area will take quite some time, given the vast area of destruction and devastation. And some fairly significant storms/showers/rain patterns continue to roll through the SE area as well. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Also, for our neighbours in NZ following last week's earthquake. There are still some significant aftershocks hitting the Christchurch area, hampering recovery efforts and adding to the fear and distress of those in the area.

Now...onto happier things. Here's another card I made recently for a birthday.

I purchased this Penny Black stamp from my "new" LSS and couldn't wait to get it inky.

And, I remembered to stamp this one on watercolour paper as I was planning to colour with my Distress Inks and blender pens.

I used this super cute paper from Prima's Jack'n'Jill collection as my inspiration for colours and it all came together from there. The 6x6 page already has the cream distressing printed around its borders, however, as this was cut to fit the Australian A6 card size (1/2 of an A5) I had to add to the distressing by swipping my PTI Vintage Cream around the "new" edge.

I've been guilty of hoarding several packs of Thickers for some time now....and here I have actually used them for the first time!! I likey....and need to accept that when you buy these lovely things, you need to use them and if they run out or you don't have the right letters left....you need to buy more!! Heeeee...my note to self for the day.

The only thing I'm not keen on with this card is the shadowing I added under the stool on the image. I really need to practice getting that right. I also purchased a new circle cutter, but need to start driving it a bit better. I don't tend to waste to much paper/ribbon/DSP etc, when I'm creating so I stamped this wee fellow in the corner of my watercolour sheet, however, the circle cutter really needs the paper to be 'grounded' on every side whilst cutting. The image moved a bit and ended up not being cut perfectly along the lower left of the circle. Out came the distress tool (actually I just use an old craft knife for this) and a few swipes to roughen up the edge around the entire image and voila! no evidence of crooked cutting left to be seen. Really going to have to work to overcome my reluctance to stamp in the middle of a sheet of paper!!

I'm awaiting some new stamps/papers/dies from PTI, Hero Arts, MFT and Sweet November Stamps to arrive any day now!! Eeeee.......might need to go home and clear away the items I've been using during the past week or two so I can get inky with the new things when they arrive.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs,

Michey xxxx

CARD DEETS:

Stamp: Penny Black (I'll come back and add this stamp's name once I get home)

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (image), Tim Holtz Distress Inks (various - watercolouring)

Cardstock/Paper: SU Kraft (base); Prima Jack'n'Jill 6x6 DSP; SU Blush Blossom (Retired - matted underneath image); Watercolour Paper (A5 pad purchased from art store)

Miscellaneous: American Craft Thickers; SU Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon; PTI Vintage Cream Ink; Circle Cutter

Hello Friends

Hey lovely blog buddies,

Sorry its been so long in between posts. What can I say. Life has been busy and full, some good and some really not good.

All I can say is.....thank you for sticking with me in my absences.

And for those of you who have used other methods to contact me and encourage me....bless you!!

It truly means the world to me.

Last year ended in a frenzy of busyness. Work practically took everything I had to offer and then some, but I made it to Christmas with my mind and my heart intact, even if the body was a bit bruised from the stampede.

I worked through the Christmas/New Year period as I had planned my holidays for early January.

I took my dear Mama home to Queensland to visit our family and friends up there.

And we made it through five days of solid, heavy, rain at Noosa on the coast.

After all my planning and scheming to get Mama up there, we were not really able to see all that I had planned as there was so much flooding going on.

It truly did not let up. Then we ventured up to Toowoomba, which is about 20mins from my hometown of Oakey.

Yes....we were there when the floods came through. We were safe, thankfully, though our room was flooded and my suitcase was soaked through.

We were unable to leave when we had planned though as all roads around Toowoomba were cut by flood water or pavement damage.

Whilst I was incredibly stressed whilst I was there, partly because I was unable to contact my family and friends and partly because it was stressful for Mama and her frail health, in hindsight, given what my family has lost and had to endure, it was so insignificant.

Sadly, I know some who lost their lives in the floods as well as too many who lost property, houses, possessions, livelihoods!!

My heart is broken for you Queensland and, if it was truly within my ability at this moment, I'd be back up there in a heartbeat helping out.

So, I haven't had much time to create lately, though I've managed to produce a card or two when the need arises, it's usually under pressure and I don't have the luxury of sitting and creaing just for the fun of it at the moment.

My roommate is getting married in just over 6 weeks and then I'll be changing bedrooms and creating my very own little crafty cave in our garage!! I'm too excited. A space of my own to set up and leave up for crafting!! Yay. I won't have to put everything away when I'm done and will have everything there at my fingertips to use. Double Yay!!

Anyway, I'm sure you stopped by to see a card, right??!!

Here's one I made last year as a gift for a gorgeous girlfriend.

Kraft and black - does it get more elegant than that??

Be hard to imagine. :)

I've stamped the chandelier images with Versamark and then embossed with black EP directly onto some printed Kraft DP by Basic Grey.

I added some pleated Kraft coloured grosgrain ribbon I picked up at Spotlight and then wrapped this and made a bow with a thin strip of black satin ribbon.

Adhered it to a Kraft base and there you have it.

I hope to blogging a little more regularly from now on and certainly/definitely so once I've made the move and set up my new little "happy" place.

In fact, one of the reasons I haven't been blogging is that our ISP at work blocked access to Google and blogger back in late October. This meant that I was unable to log in to view my own blog, create new posts and leave comments on other blogs as well. I could have done it from home, but honestly, I get home exhausted most evenings from work and by the time I've done dinner, etc., I did not want to go sit in front of a computer again.

I've constantly checked access at work and yesterday discovered - to my absolute delight - that I can now log in again!! Whooopppeeeee!!

So hopefuly that means I'll be back to some regular sort of posting and updating of this ol' Blog-o of mine. Mind you - this is ususally done at the end of the day so we'll see. Its already after 8pm on Thursday evening here now!! Eeeee.

Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this looooooong post.

Much love.

Michey xxxx