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: