Mad for Markers Challenge 1

Heya....its the weekend and I've started mine with a lovely little lie-in.

But now I'm up and getting into my day - off to lunch with some girlies in a minnie, but just had to put up a new post. I've been pondering all week what to do for the MFM Challenge.....had to go and get me the actual Copics for the challenge (shoulda been harder than it was.....my heart gets overwhelmingly happy whenever I walk into my local art supplies store and see their wall of Copic colour!!)

To create my card, I first decided which image I would use.....and finally!! pulled out one of my new Magnolia Tilda's (not so new, I just haven't inked them up yet) and the appropriate markers and coloured away. These images are soooo gorgeous, I don't know why I simply haven't used them before now!! Maybe, just maybe, one day when I have more time to dedicate to crafting, I'll have inked up every stamp that I've just had-to-have over the past year and made something with them. I live to have such BIG dreams, lol.

Anyway, once Miss Tilda was coloured I then looked through my DP collection to find appropriately coloured paper and was immediately drawn to this piece from my Basic Grey Lemonade 6x6 pad. Cut to fit and distressed around the edge with Old Paper ink, plus a handdrawn pattern around its periphery. I used my oval nesties to cut and mat Tilda (sadly the biggest oval I have hacked into her cute little socks) and used the matching scallop oval to cut a piece from the same DP collection (I love that BG includes some distressed matching coloured papers in the 6x6 pads).

My mum has "officially" handed what's left of her sewing box over to me. Sadly her hands are too damaged by arthritis these days for her to do any sewing. One day I'll have some space created for a sewing station for myself (at the moment everything is packed away). The last little box of goodies she gave me had some gorgeous little ribbons and trims in it - including this gorgeous little white broderie anglaise type ribbon. I've layered that with some matching chiffon over the top to finish off my card. Still felt it needed something so added so dots with my white gel pen around the edges of the scalloped matt.

And there you have it. My first entry into the very first Mad For Markers Challenge. Stop by their blog and check it out for yourself. Sammi has a wonderful prize up for grabs for this challenge. I may create something else for the challenge yet. Another few days before it closes.

Thankx for stopping by for a peek. Michey xxx

CARD DEETS:

Image: Magnolia Tilda with gift

Paper/Cardstock: SU Whisper White, BG Lemonade, Flourishes Classic White

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Inks Old Paper & Frayed Burlap, SU Choc Chip (Pen for detail on edging of DP)

Others: COPICS!! (See piccie for colours used); Ribbons from stash, White Gel pen, Nestabilities

FFF, MTSC61, More Paper Piecing & CIC46

I've done it!! Two cards made from scratch and posted to my blog in the same day!! Woot......and I got the house cleaned & ran a few errands this morning too. I'm spent now though and will be climbing into bed in another moment or two.

What a line up of challenges this next card represents. I got my colour inspiration from TGF's Farm Fresh Friday Feb Colour Challenge and used Mercy's sketch to plan my layout. The colours also work for the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge and I couldn't help but paper piece Stella's dress. I've been following Dawn McVey's technique for tying bows and then I had to dress it up a little (for the first time ever) with a button and some twine. The twine I recycled from an invitation to a party I recently received and the button is the "spare" that came with the shorts I'm actually wearing today!! This one's going in my stash...not sure what or who for atm, but I'm sure it will be used in the not-too-distant future. So glad I buy too much paper and had lots of options for guava from SU in my stash with matching ribbon on the side. :)

Thanks for having another peek.

Hugs, Michey xxxx

CARD DEETS:

Image: TGF WS Stella (by the uh-may-ZING Amy Young)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper/Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White, SU Choc Chip & Kraft + DSP Afternoon Tea (retired)

Other: SU Groovy Guava Grosgrain, COPICS!!, SU Top Note Die, Cuttlebug (cut before I broke my littel green machine), Fiskars Oval Shape Template, Button & Twine from stash.

Btw, remember how I was telling you I broke my beloved Cuttlebug!! *sob* *sob*

Well its being replaced!! Yay!! And replaced with a PINK Cuttlebug!! I'm so blessed and excited. I hope to pick up my new pink baby on Monday!! My local scrapping store is the BEST, I tell ya. I had to drop the A,B,C, plates in to them today so I can get a whole new box of goodies in return and they were dumbfounded when they saw my "A" plate. Its green...okay.....but also is really rigid and firm and whilst the bottom and sides are solid plastic, the top is hollowed out in a honeycomb pattern (the up side). They showed me their "A" plate and its white and solid and has some flexibility to it. Just wondering if anyone else has had the same "A" plate as me??? They are now thinking its rigid nature may have contributed to the "breaking" of my green baby.

Anywho....that's it from me for now. See ya later. M xxx

Get Well Card; Mojo Monday 125; FlutterBy Wednesdays again

Hey friends.

Gosh its been a big week!! It seems like it's been weeks since I've posted, but its only been a few days!! Unfortunately, I've spent much of the past few days when I'm not working visiting my Mama in hospital. She's been a wee bit sick for the past few weeks, but things took a bit of a turn for the worse over the weekend and she's now lying in a bed in hospital. Luckily, she's here in the hospital I work in so I'm close by and go and spend and hour or two with her when I'm done for the day.

I had such plans to take new photos of my previous cards (see posts below) but got a call on Tuesday morning to say Mum had to come in to hospital and that put an end to all those plans. I have taken some new shots, just need a spare moment or two when I can handle staring at my computer again to change them over.

Anyway.....I needed some serious therapy by the time I got home last night and thought I'd better make Mama a 'get well' card. I wanted something bright and cheery and wanted to use another of Amy's darling Sweet November girls. I based my colours on this piece of BG DP (Ambrosia collection) and went from there. Then I remembered that I had printed off the Mojo sketch for this week and it all came together reasonably easily!! I had initially left off the bow as I had the card turned the other way - but it wasn't working. A quick turn to the right and a little bow and voila!! Magic. I know my Mum is going to say something about the PERFECT bow I managed to make for her card!! LOL!! I never, ever get them this good. Being tired and stressed clearly works for me, haha. :)

Now to go and get an appropriately coloured and lovely bunch of flowers to match.

Thanks for stopping by. Hugs, Michey xxx

CARD DEETS:

Image: Sweet November 'Fidget Goblinspider'

Paper/Cardstock: Basic Grey Ambrosia (6x6 pad); Flourishes Classic White Paper; Bazzill White Cardstock

Ink: Epson Printer Ink

Other: Copics, Stickles (yellow, red, orange/pink & Platinum); Ribbon (from my stash)

Darby & Bumbles & Challenge card!! SSSC55

(Hey Amy!! *waving*)

I've done it.....I made my first card using a Sweet November stamp on Saturday....actually make that Sunday!! My days are getting away from me.

I made it with 5mins to spare to get a new cartridge from Officeworks on my way home from church & work on Sunday so I could print off my new digi stamps. I printed them all baby!! Every digi stamp I have on my Mac to date was printed and is ready to get stuck into.....but I chose this gorgeous little urchin to start with.

Meet the darling Darby and her dear little friend Bumbles. I love, love, love Amy's drawings/images and am having so much fun colouring them. My prob is then finding matching DP in my stash to make my card. Darby was fine - I eventually got it together....but you'll see in my next post I had to add a dash to my local Scrapping shop on my list of things to do today (my day off!!).

This is a sorry card for my sis - she's a bit cranky pants with me atm (let's put it down to pregnancy hormones & maybe, just maybe, I've been a bit naughty) and I'll pop it in the post to her once I've taken it to work with me tomorrow and had a go at a decent photo. Midnight photography is such a dreadful thing (blast these tungsten bulbs!!).

Thanks for stopping by for a peek. Hugs, Michey xxx

Card Deets:

Image: Sweet November Stamps 'Darby and Bumbles'

Ink: Epson Printer Ink

Paper/Cardstock: Flourishes Classic White Paper; SU Whisper White; SU Petals and Paisley + Bali Breeze DSP (retired)

Others: Copics (of course!!); StarDust Stickles (my new fav); Kaiser Clear Rhinestones (coloured with Copic to match); MS Doiley Border Punch; American Crafts Ribbon

Another Birthday Card

I seem to have been on a card making roll this last week or two. And its great!!

Had an old College friend visiting Australia and, specifically Sydney again, this week. She now lives in the UK (London) and I hadn't seen her in just over three years, when I was in London on hols and stayed with her. She is affectionately known to us near and dear as the "Tyrant Tour Leader" as she powers us in and around London to see the sights. Its fantastic - I don't have to stop and ask for directions and she knows all sorts of interesting tidbits, its just that sometimes in her zeal for us to see as much as possible in the day or two we usually only have - she forgets to allow us to stop and revive with food and/or beverages as well!!

Anyway, its also her 40th birthday in a couple of weeks (I can't believe most of my friends are now having 40th birthdays!!) and we all pitched in to get her a lovely Pandora bracelet and a few charms for the occasion. I felt that this needed an appropriate card too so pulled out my as-yet-uninked Flapper Anya and got to it. You can't tell, but I've coloured all the tassels and the feather in her hair with Spica Glitter pens too to add a little bling.

I also followed the instructional video from Dawn McVey for tying the ribbon. I had YouTube playing it beside me on my iPhone as I did it. Still getting the hang of it - but I think I'm doing okay. :)

Thanks for taking a peek. Hope your weekend is going great. Michey xxx

Card Deets:

Stamp/Image: TGF 'Flapper Anya'

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper/Card: SU Whisper White; Flourishes Classic White Paper (for the image); Basic Grey 'Indian Summer' collection

Others: Copics; Spica Glitter 'Red'; Brown/Orange ribbon (from Eckersley's)

MTSC59

Wow!! Just realised its after midnight over here and I need to get my tuckus into bed as I have an early start for church in the morning.

This is a card I whipped up this afternoon (make that yesterday afternoon, lol) for one of my bestie's who has a birthday today (Sunday) - though I'm not seeing her until next weekend. Its a semi-big one.....the one before 40!!

I knew which stamp set I was going to use and then looked for the right paper before colouring this delicious Anya set in.

My dear friend is a Psychologist working mostly with children, youth and families. She's especially busy (sadly) and also has some presentations to make in the next couple of months and so is in a super busy time. I wanted to wish her a year of finding time for herself as well as everyone she cares for and these little Anya's were perfect.

I've based my card layout on Mercy's Tuesday Sketch for this week and am so proud of myself for continuing to participate in challenges atm. Hoping it will continue and I will get better at it as the year progress.

I actually decorated the inside of this card too......Cut some of the DP to fit and rounded the corners and used the "after" Anya to finish it off. I hadn't planned on distressing the edges of any of the papers, but clearly I need to replace the blade on my trimmer as it 'distressed' them all for me. :)

Yellow is definitely not my favourite colour to work with.....but I think I've pulled it off. My dear friend does great things with yellow as she has beautiful dark skin and luscious dark hair.

Card Deets:

Stamps: TGF "Me Time Anya"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: SU So Saffron, BG Two Scoops 'Creme Brulee'; Flourishes Classic White Paper

Others: Copics, Stickles 'Cotton Candy', PTI Ribbon "Sweet Blush", White Gel Pen, WeRMemoryKeepers Corner Chomper

CIC #44

Hi there......I'm participating in my 2nd ever challenge!! Am definitely on a roll atm. :)

Firstly though, I'm apologising for the appalling photo of my card right up front!! Its definitely a shocker and I'm sorry. But the card has been given away and I can't take another photo!! It was a 3am finish and the party was that morning and my DSLR's memory card was full!! Anyways.....will be better prepared in future.

I made this card for a dear friend's birthday and since she loves cupcakes - I mean seriously loves them!! - I had to use a suitable image!! She's also a gorgeous, vibrant, often outrageous personality and so some suitable paper was necessary. Her's a glimpse into her world.....it was her 30th b'day and she decided to stage her own Sozympics with all her guests participating in various games/events in the chance of winning a gold medal!! Was a fun afternoon.

I chose a piece of BG JuneBug as my starting idea and just worked from there.

Sozzy loved it - and at the end of the day....that's all that matters.

Card Deets:

Stamps/Images: Verve 'Cupcake Affair'

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper/Cardstock: Basic Grey June Bug DP; Bazzill Card (Pink); Flourishes Classic White Paper

Others: Copics; Random Pink Ribbon x 3 from my stash; Nestabilities Die, WeRMemoryKeepers Corner Chomper

TGF CHA Relay Day 3: Toby

Given the time difference and all (we're 17hrs ahead over here) ....I frantically photographed my card this morning after another 2hr marathon making my masterpiece last night and was just about to click to upload it when I discovered the rest of the relay has been shelved. So I've taken the pressure off myself to get it uploaded (I am at work after all, lol).

Part of me is sad.....I was enjoying participating in my first challenge, but part of me is relieved. I'm heading out to a concert tonight and was not looking forward to coming home late and sitting up making a card in the wee small hours so it was ready to go before the deadline. I'm excited about the prince digi though - will definitely get lots of use out of him. He looks a bit more like Robin Hood "Prince of Thieves" than a royal prince to me, lol.

Anyways, here's my Toby card!! I had a bit of bother colouring him in.....I couldn't get his fuzz right and the more I played and blended, the darker he became. Oh well - so he's a dark furred teddy. I think I'll get lots of use of this digi and one of my besties who's having a boy bubba soon will be getting this card.

I also followed Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge for the layout - another FIRST for me, YAY!!

On a sad note.....while cutting out my label die last night I think I killed my cuttlebug!! Actually, was while I was trying to feed it through again to get the embossing sharp that did it. Seriously bummed!! I tried to run through a plain piece of cardstock in an embossing folder afterwards and it was definitely wonky!! Shame. I had waited and waited and saved and saved to get one in the first place and it's definitely had good use since I got it...but it was still only 4 months old!! Have to wait until the next craft show and get another at a GREAT price. Any suggestions or advice on whether to get a Cuttlebug again....or is there something better on the market??

Card Deets:

Images: TGF Toby

Ink: Versacolour Cement (around extreme edge of blue mat & white base)

Paper: Flourishes Classic White Cardstock, SU Parisian Breeze, SU Soft Sky

Others: Copics!!, Copic Multiliner 0.3mm, MS Punch Train, Nestabilities Label Die, White Gel Pen

TGF CHA Relay Challenge 2: Charlotte

Here I am again with Card No 2 for the TGF CHA Challenge.

I managed to get my printer hooked up to my iMac at home (finally!!) and printed gorgeous Charlotte onto proper cardstock. I did a test run to make sure the ink was colourfast with my darling Copics and, whoop-glory, it worked!!

I had a bit of a chat with wee Charlotte about papers and colours, etc. to find out what took her fancy. Wouldn't ya know it, she loves Pink Lemonade!! lol And I tried my hand at paper piecing for the first time.

Anyways, I need to get this loaded up into the gallery before work gets crazy busy this morning!!

Hopefully, I'll be back with a new card tomorrow (or tonight) for Relay Challenge 3!!

Card Deets:

Images/Stamps: TGF Charlotte (Digi), Verve 'Fairy Tales'

Card/Paper: Flourishes Classic White Cardstock, Basic Grey Lemonade

Ink: None (again)

Others: Copics, White Gel Marker Pen, Copic Spica Glitter Pens (Gold & Turquoise), Misc (yet beeyewdifull) Pink/Red ribbons, adhesives

Birthday Cards Part 2

Here are two more birthday cards I made this year.

Amy's Card:

Amy is my middle niece and is a very sporty girl. A real chip of her daddy's block (and he's my twin). I didn't think a girly girly card would fit her as well as my other niece....so hunted through my images to find the "right" one.

Rock the Farm Anya was right on the money!! Cute, but not too girly and feminine, if you know what I mean.

Amy's fav colours are purple and yellow - her football teams colours, go figure.

I didn't mind the purple - its my favourite colour too.....but the yellow, hmmmmm - well I did it - though its not in my top 10 of favourite colours or colour combos.

The photos all look a bit different in colour, I'm sorry - definitely need to think about setting myself up with some proper lighting and all for photos in the new year....can't get the right colour temp on my DSLR for night photos atm....and since that's often the only time I have to get a snap.....will have to consult my fellow photographer buddy for his opinion. :)

Jeanette's Card:

One of my Mama's dear friends needed a birthday card earlier in the year too!! She's a lovely older lady so I went with a card of lovely flowers.

I tried to remember what I had seen in Jeanette's garden when I was last there and themed my card around that. I used some of SU's past InColours. This was card was also CASE'd from someone's blog, but I can't for the life of me find the original post (if its you, please let me know so I can give credit). :)

This was also in the days before I discovered Copics....so my colouring is done by dabbing a fine paintbrush into the stamp pad and applying colour that way. Labourious and time consuming compared to my favourites, the Copics. :)

There also some razzle dazzle on this card - though its a little hard to see. I DD'd all the little blossoms on the lower panel. And made a matching envelope as well. Fancy, schmancy.

Thanks for taking a peek-a-boo.

Hugs, Michey xxx

THE DEETS:

Amy's Card:

Stamps: The Greeting Farm "Rock the Farm", Misc Alphabet stamps

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Perfect Plum, Barely Banana

Cardstock: SU Whisper White, Perfect Plum, Barely Banana

Others: Spellbinders Embossing Plate, SU Perfect Plum + Very Vanilla Ribbon, Copics

Jeanette's Card:

Stamps: SU Embrace Life

Inks: SU Basic Black, Groovy Guava, River Rock, Old Olive, Regal Rose

Cardstock: SU Whisper White, Ginger Blossom, River Rock, Groovy Guava

Others: Paintbrush, Dazzling Diamonds, Random Brads, Groovy Guava Grosgrain

Club Anya Blog Hop

Short and sweet....both in words and images:)

I know there's quite a list to get through in the hop.....so thanks for stopping for a peek anyways.

Here is a card I recently created for two gorgeous friends who recently got married (2 wks ago).

Sorry for the BAD photos....I forgot to take my DSLR away with me (I know, I know - what was I thinking) so had to use my iPhone.......and the sun was setting, romantic candlelight, etc....anyway they didn't turn out too badly. ;)

Card Deets:

Image: The Greeting Farm "Caketopper"

Cardstock: SU Kraft + Whisper White

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black + VersaColour Cement

Others: Nestabilities Dies, Copics, Spica Glitter Pens, SU Kraft Taffeta Ribbon

I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to make anything else for the blog hop.....life is outrageously out of control at the moment. Will promise to do much better next time. :)

Enjoy the rest of your hopping.

Hugs, MicheyMoo xxx

More Birthday Cards

Here are some more birthday cards I made for some of my family throughout the year.

First up is the second card I made for my twin brother.

The first was sent to him whilst he was serving with the Army overseas.

This one was for the family celebrations we had on his return.

There were several birthdays whilst he was away and we just waited and had one big party when he was back in country.

He's an avid fan of fishing and loves to head out when he can get some free time.

This little Ian was just perfect for him.

And, then I also made this card for my brother's partner, Cutie, for her birthday.

She's not a girly-girl and I so struggled with making her a card that wasn't tooo over the top with embellies and the like.

Definitely no fluffy bits, nor kitschy pretty things and definitely no big bows or lace, BUT I did have to bling Anya up with some stickles!!

And a couple of rhinestone brads for the corners.

I couldn't help myself and I definitely couldn't give out a card with absolutely NO bling on it - esp not if it was for another girl!!

Cutie's favourite colour is blue, so I started there and it all came together.

These two are some of the cards I whipped together in a couple of hours, together with the one I made for my niece (see earlier post). My MoJo was definitely my friend that day. :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, MicheyMoo

( ) ( ) ( )

Card Deets:

Dan's Card:

Cardstock: SU Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, Kraft, Whisper White

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Not Quite Navy

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Ian "Rock the Farm"

Others: Multiple Copics, Misc Brads in Navy & Glittery Yellow; Nestabilities

Cutie's Card:

Cardstock: SU So Saffron, Whisper White, Urban Garden DSP, Vellum (over the DSP)

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black; Not Quite Navy

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Princess Anya

Others: Various Copics; Baby Blue Stickles, Misc Brads in Yellow and Blue blingey, Giga scallop punch

Boy Wonder Turns 1!!

My darling nephew Cameron was 1 last Thursday and we had a little family party in his local park to celebrate the momentous occasion last Saturday.

Poor bubba was a wee cranky boy when we all got there - he'd picked up an ear infection, poor darlin, and was feeling very miserable. And is very clingy to mummy at the moment too.

After 45mins or so, Aunty Michey decided to work her "baby whisperer" magic and took him for a walk in the pram. Up and down and around and around we went and still no sleeping bubba - though he was content to lie there and watch the world go by. We had a little friend along with us as well and she talked and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked!! By the time we got back to the family 20 mins later, I think she was all talked out, the poor possum, and decided to go in and revive herself with a cold drink. I thought Cam and I'd just check out what was down the other end of the path in the hope that without 'Miss Cute Chatterbox' along he'd fall asleep. Sure enough, not 5mins later Boy Wonder was visiting ZZZZZ-land. One quick power nap later (35mins) and he was awake and back to his usual cheery self.

Such a transformation deserved a treat - his first piece of fairy bread. The look on his face was priceless. Bread he knows, but what were these sweet little round things that were in my mouth?? He didn't quite know how to eat them and it was cute, cute, cute!! Can you tell I'm in love with this little man??!! It was just sooooo nice to see his sweet little smile back on his face.

Then it was time for lunch and afterwards, presents followed by blue robot cake.....I took some photos of these on my "big" camera and haven't downloaded them yet...just believe me when I say the cake was cute but very blue and very sweet and very much won't be had ever again!! lol

Of course, Aunty Michey had to make her wee bubba a cute card & who better than funky little Edward to use. Sorry the pic isn't any better.....I took it at 2am on my iPhone after I'd finished making it and then forgot to get a better photo when we were at the party on Saturday. :( My poor brain needs more than 4hrs sleep to function properly at the moment. (Might ask my sis to bring it to the next family gathering so I can get a better shot.)

Anyways, there you have it. Thanks for taking a peak.

See y'all again next time.

Michey xxx

Card Deets:

Cardstock: SU Kraft; Flourishes ?????? DSP

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: TGF Edward, Verve Party Time

Others: Various Copics (see photo), Silver Pearls, Corner Chomper, Taupe Embroidery Cotton

Pretty in Pink Anya

I've been so blessed in my life to have such wonderful friends....you know the kind, you don't see each other for a billion years, but when you get together its like you last saw each other yesterday. :)

Linnie is like that. We grew up in the same small Qld town together, though she is a year younger than I am and then we both joined the same church within a month or two of each other in our mid-late teens.

Linnie married one of the Pastor's sons and they moved to the "big" town nearby and not long after I moved down to the really, really "big smoke" (Sydney) and we lost touch.

I caught up with Linnie again at a women's conference about 3-4 years ago, amazingly enough. We almost missed the beginning of the meeting we were chatting so long. I visited Linnie & Sean early last year when I was on hols in Qld and got to meet their four great, and totally different, children. Three boys (14, 11 & 8) and their little girlie-girl (5).

Anyway....they moved closer to Sydney this year and I got to spend a day with Linnie and the kids when I was on hols in July. I even caught the train up and back so that I stayed 'holiday-relaxed' - so different when you can look out the window to your heart's content & read a book and not have to concentrate on the road.

I wanted to make the ladies a little thankyou card for being lovely hostesses and could not go past this gorgeous little Anya. They had spent some time showing me their lovely gardens - so an Anya with a basket of flowers was perfect!! I coloured her to match her DD's colouring - the most beautiful pale blonde hair you can imagine, and, of course, she adores PINK!!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek.

Michey xxx

Card Deets:

Stamp: TGF Miss Anya Collection, SU Baroque Motifs (background)

Card/Paper: SU Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, Sweet Always DSP

Ink: SU Chocolate Chip, Memento Tuxedo Black

Other: Various Copics, Pink Rhinestones, Cotton Candy Stickles, SU Top Note Die, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Sponge Daubers

Mother's Day 2009

Universally, I think we all have the same date (more or less) for Mother's Day - 2nd Sunday in May for us Aussies.

This is the card I made for my darling Mama (she hates it when I call her that, but its my affectionate term for her, actually......I think she hates it when I shorten it to Ma - hehe). I had just received my first Copics and used them to add some shading and definition to the image.

Mum loved her card, so much in fact, that its still sitting on her dresser almost six months later. Makes my heart happy to know its truly appreciated. :)

Didn't have a better sentiment to use at that time....or one that said what I wanted it say anyways. :)

My mama's health isn't too good these days - lots of my free time (the 0.5mins spare I have each week, lol) is spent taking her to many different Drs appts and I think - from memory (that's how bad this year has been) she was in hospital not long after this....or was it just before??? It must have been a week or two after. Whatever, right!!??

Sorry for the not so good piccie.....I took it on my iPhone and have yet to remember to take my digi cam with me when I visit to get a better shot. :)

Card Deets:

Stamps: SU Friends 24/7; Verve Fairy Tales (Sentiment)

Paper: SU Riding Hood Red, SU Pink Pirouette, SU Chocolate Chip & SU Pretty In Pink

Ink: SU Chocolate Chip

Other: Fiskars Oval Shape template & cutter, Various Copics, Pink Rhinestone Brads, SU Chocolate Chip Ribbon, Misc Spotlight Pink Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Sponge Dauber, Dimensional Tape

Thanks again for stopping by for a peek. :)

Michey xxx

Why is everything so embarrassing at fourteen??

My oldest niece turned 14 in June and I can't believe how much she has changed in the past year or so. The innocent, wide-eyed child has been replaced by a too worldly-wise young lady who thinks she knows more than she does. (Don't they all!!)

She still has moments of delightfulness, though these are somewhat infrequent these days. And everything we do/say is just SO EMBARRASSING!!

I am yet to realise the blessing of marriage and children in my own life so make the most of my brother's and sister's little ones. Three girls (though one now lives in heaven - see my earlier post) and a darling little boy.

This gorgeous fourteen year old niece is actually a step-niece and joined our family as a blonde, 18mth old darling. She is the one who has the greatest hold on my heart as we have walked some incredibly sad days together and she used to have lots of sleep-overs at Aunty Michey's.

I don't get to see nearly as much of her as I'd love to these days, however, I try and get a visit in whenever I can. She and I have both recently discovered that gluten is definitely NOT our friend - so we have some funny conversations about what we can and cannot eat and how we get around it.

Anywho, in my previous post I mentioned that my brother had been away for the first half of the year and missed almost all of the family birthdays.

We mostly waited until he got home and had one big combined family birthday bash at his place. In order we celebrated: Jo's birthday (sister); Mum's birthday; Jo's 1st wedding anniversary; Dan's (twin brother) & my birthdays; Jess' birthday (niece) and Cutie's birthdays (Dan's partner). And now we've just had my other niece's 12th birthday and my brother-in-law's birthday.... and Dad's is coming up...then its the bubba's 1st birthday!! Phew. Christmas will be just around the corner then!!

So I had several cards to make for the party - and after all my fluffing around ended up with really only 1 day to do so!! Thankfully, I had stamped and coloured the images during the week, using my favourite new toys - Copics. But I still had to work out layouts and colour schemes etc.

I knew Jess was definitely not going to be impressed by the 'cutesy' images from TGF, so I used one of the Anya's from the Rain/Snow/Shine set and just hoped that I could make Miss Anya suitably appealing, and not toooooooo daggy. :)

IT WAS A WINNER!! Thankfully these gorgeous Anya images are right up Jess'alley - which is great as I have 5 more images that I can use for her cards now!! Yay!! Plus there are some new stamps that have been released recently that I think may need to find their way into my collection and are perfect for teens!!

My biggest difficulty with this card was finding cardstock that matched the Copic colours/blends I had used. I ended up digging out my retired Bali Breeze DSP and matted it with some random red from Kaisercraft paper that I'd picked up at the scrapbooking shop (I can't remember what the print is on the other side). My flatmate has a corner rounder punch - but I couldn't find it so decided to use my scallop circle punch and was even more pleased with this result than if I'd just had rounded the corners.

Recipe:

Card Stock: SU Soft Sky, SU Bali Breeze DSP, Kaisercraft, SU Whisper White

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Anya Rain/Snow/Shine "Rain"

Others: Various Copics ;), Scallop Circle Punch, Various Ribbons from Spotlight, Pearls coloured with a Copic to match (R46), Dimensionals & Cotton Candy Stickles on the umbrella, ella. ;)

Thanks for dropping by.

Michey xxx

Gurl Bubba

Its funny....towards the end of 2008 and early in 2009 there were six of my girlfriends/family having babies. I'm grateful and thankful that all mums and bubs (and dads) are safe and sound and continuing to thrive. Can you believe that there were five boys and only one little princess!! They were kind enough to space them out for me though, with one arriving every month from Sept through to January (December had two - though one (my darling nephew) arrived early in the month and the second (the princess, born to my cousin) in the middle). I'm sure they all had me in mind when they were planning their pregnancies too!! LOL!!

Since then.... no one in my immediate world has had a baby or announced that they're expecting. Though I'm off to a couple of weddings in the next few months - so now need to get cracking on some wedding cards.

Anywho, since I'm of an age where lots of my friends & family are procreating, or thus considering such for the near future, I thought I'd get ahead and have a little stock of both girl and boy baby cards on hand.

Here's a quick one I whipped up one afternoon.

The little bubba is a cute-as Stamping Bella image that I got at my local scrapbook shop. I coloured "her" in with my copics and then added a little fun sparkle with Stickles. Until I had actually decided on the colour of the bathmat and then matted this on the pink scallop circle it could have been either a boy or girl. Easy peasy. The sentiment is from SU.

Recipe:

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pink Bazzill Textured 12x12

Stamps: SU 'For A Friend', Stamping Bella "Bella Baby Bubble Bath'

Ink: SU Basic Gray

Others: Various Copics ;), Stickles (Baby Blue on bubbles, Gunmetal on outer edge of bathtub, Cotton Candy on bathmat), Pink Rhinestone brads, Misc Pink Taffeta ribbon from Spotlight, SU Pewter Hodgepodge hardware.

She's still sitting in my stock box waiting patiently for the next little girl bubba to arrive in my world.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Michey xxx

He got teefies.....

I started stamping at the end of January 2009 and by June - just about everyone in my family had received a handmade card - 'cept the couple who hadn't had birthdays yet. BUT my darling nephew hadn't received one either. He was born on 3rd December 2008 and had not had any significant things happen until June. I don't let that be what dictates me making cards - friends have also received 'just because' or 'thinking of you' cards, but a 6-7 month old can't really read or appreciate these. :)

Anyhow....word travelled through the family like wildfire that bubba had finally cut his first 2 teeth. Clever boy!! Aunty Michey was so proud and was NOT going to family night without a present to celebrate Cam's first big achievement!!

I needed an appropriate card for the moment too! Nothing using any of my girly papers and definitely no ribbon - but how to embellish a card without them.

I'm pretty impressed with the result. I think its too cute. I had seen someone make 'popsicle' cards/invites using the scallop punch to take a bite out of the top of the iceblock shaped cards and this got me thinking.....maybe I could do this to a corner. Afterall, we are celebrating NEW TEETH!!

I've used almost only Stampin Up for this card (I just realised). The baby image is from Greetings Galore. When I bought this set and was trimming and mounting the images I cut all the sentiments off so I could use them as a separate stamp and stuck them on the end of the stamp block so I could mix and match. as it took my fancy.

It was a whole bunch of fun making a card for a little boy. The photos haven't turned out quite so well. My last apartment was very dark and dimly lit - and I couldn't get the white balance on my DSLR to find the right temp. If I get a chance I'll play with the photos again so the almost white card stock is actually ... almost white. ;)

Recipe:

Paper Stock: Urban Garden DSP, Pacific Point, Textured Ivory Cardstock (Riot!)

Ink: Pacific Point

Stamps: Greetings Galore (retired)

Others: Scallop Circle Punch (SU), 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Blue Brad, Copics, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by again,

Michey xxx

Dan's B'day Card

It took a little while to upload another post - our WiFi has been on the blink since Thursday. Seems to have sorted itself out for now though.

I've been on a pretty wild ride since my introduction to stamping in January this year. Had a whole bunch of fun and found out just how addictive it can be to venture into this world. I'm not really into scrapping (yet!!) but love making cards for my family and friends.

Most of my family has their birthdays in the first half of this year, which kept me on my toes to come up with original ideas for each of them. I don't have a large immediate family, but its big enough when you take 3-4 hours to make each card (usually) and you also have a pretty demanding day job too!! :)

I have a twin brother who we all love and adore and he was overseas serving our great country for the first half of the year. Therefore we mostly put all our birthday celebrations on hold until he was back home and we had one great BIG bash!! But I couldn't let our birthday pass without making sure he got a little package and a little card to open on the day.

As soon as I found The Greeting Farm's website I knew I was destined to have this set. I'm an Army Brat (thanks Dad) ;) and now an army sibling. You may notice I made a little change to Ian's outfit here......no offence guys, but I'm Australian and my brother serves in the Australian Army - so I wasn't about to send him a card with USA on it. My trusty little knife removed that from the stamp permanently, meaning I can adjust it to suit whichever defence force I need it for.

I thought about where my brother was and what they usually wear when deployed and tried my hand at colouring the image to match. This was my very first attempt at colouring with Copics - so was very unskilled and have learnt a great deal about blending, etc. and also added to my collection since then. But I was impressed with my amateur efforts and my brother was absolutely stoked with his card - made my day, month, year (almost). My fav is the criss-cross effect on the helmet - supposed to mirror the netting I've often seen on the helmets of our mighty soldier heroes. :) Colourless Blenders are a marvel....I also used this to help "scuff" up the boots a little.

I've used a sheet of retired SU DSP for the background and picked the Chocolate Chip and Mellow Moss colours to matt the image.

From memory I stamped the image on Whisper White in Versamark and heatset it with Black embossing powder to give me an image that wouldn't bleed when I coloured it in. I've since purchased Memento Tuxedo Black for this purpose.

Here's the side view to help show the layering.

Recipe:

Paper: Outlaw DSP, Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Whisper White

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Colouring: Various Copics (didn't make a note, sorry) & SU Markers

Others: Pewter Brads (SU HodgePodge), Dimensionals, Black Embossing Powder

Thanks for looking.

See ya next time.

Michey xxx