My Calling...I Knew It!!!

Was on the P.A at work today, when a customer smiled at me, naturally I smiled back cause thats my job) and next thing he was in front of me...guess what he said..."you have a lovely voice, are you in a choir" (I always knew that was my true calling in life - just need to convince the family of it).

Course, when I told my fellow Team Members they laughed at me - some people just cannot see good talent even when its right in front of them...

You're My Best Friend!!!

Over at Truly Scrumptious they have a "scrumptious" sketch. This little Karens Doodles cutie is coloured with my copics (Narny says my dog looks blue and my card looks orange, and that I should tell you all its more of a rich orangy red) DP is K & Co "Que Sera Sera", brads (sanded to take the shine away), flowers are from Joanna Sheen (I had another version that made Zak weep so I had to change to this flower arrangement) I also coloured a couple with my copics to match, raindrops and button are from my stash, metal thingy is from SU and I made my tag. This is also for the following challenges:
Karens Doodles UK - use a tag (it may be small, but it's pretty cool)
Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog - colour combo brown,blue,green (all in there)
Allsorts Challenge - embossing (I embossed the background in dots and the stripes in distressed stripes).

Did you all notice how good my photos are...that was Zak again...explaining about lights and yellows, and close and far and zoom and no zoom - its what he learnt at Uni this term and it was all for the relatively low price of $4999.00!!!

OK, the family is calling as we are halfway through Hell's Kitchen, will catch you all later, have a good night.

Neeky's Natter - Cupcake Time!!!

Neeky (age 8) followed an old Sketch over at Craft Your Passion. Neeky used a Hanglar Stanglar image and coloured it with my copics, her DP is Heidi Grace and her buttons, ribbon and flowers are from Mum's stash. Neeky made the pin herself and Dad helped crimp the end.
Also for Our Creative Corner - blues and greens
The Shabby Tea Room - Popsicles and Pinwheels (Neeky used pinks, greens, blues)

Kick Your Heels Up!!!

Neeky and I sat down this morning and made cards, I'll show you her one later. I used the Tuesday Morning Sketches sketch and I love this digi image from Amanda Kastner, it comes with a poem sentiment which I have placed inside. I coloured this with my copics (as always), DP is BG Eva, there is clear spica pen on dress and all around the swirls on the DP, stickles on her shoes, pearls are Bazzill, flowers and ribbon from my stash, I made the pin and cuttlebugged the squares, phew no wonder I feel worn out LOL. I also made this for the following challenges:
City Crafter - pink, purple and pearls (they are all on there)
Everybody Art Challenge - pink and green (both are there in all their glory)
The Creative Cottage - pearls and swirls (the swirls are on the dp and pearls are everywhere)
ABC Challenges - X is for extra (this card has extra everything, sparkle, pearls, ribbon (3 types), layers (the image is 3 layers, the bow is a 4th layer)
Cute Card Thursday - reuse, renew, recycle (all the beads on my pin are recycled from old jewellery that was broken)

Another lazy day today, Zak is staying another week, its so nice to have him here, I do really miss him when he's at Uni (he's my boy, Mum's boy).

Swimmingly Summer!!!

DH asked me a make him a card for a friend, so I made him choose what he wanted. I followed the sketch at Mojo Monday, image is Phindy's Place "Quiet Afternoon" coloured with my copics, DP is K & Co "Classic K Margo" and Memory Keepers "Tiffanys", buttons and brads (which I sanded to take shine away) are BG, cord and rub ons are from my stash, sentiment is SU. I also completed this for the following Challenges:
Delightful Sketches - Its all about summer (swans, water, parks = summer)

Enjoy your weekend.

Sparkle Sparkle!!!

Phew, what a crazy week it has been, work in their wisdom have decided to give me way more work than there is hours in my day, so the pressures on but my days are flying by. Finally me time - followed a sketch over at Sketch and Stash Challenges, and used my pearl strip and that white sparkly fluffy strip which is stash I have had forever. This image is a digi from Sketching Stamper, I have coloured her with my copics and added stickles diamond and waterfall for some sparkle. Dp is Kaisercraft "Christmas Spirit" seems at the moment that I can't get enough of the Kaisercraft papers, these are some I have had since last christmas. I added buttons, brads, handmade my flowers and transparencies over the squares (which are hard to see), used my Martha Stewart punch and pink and green stitched ribbon. I also stickled the buttons, brads, sentiment and flower. I am also entering this in the following Challenges:
Fabs Big Christmas - stitched ribbon and/or toppers (if you look carefully you can see my pink and green stitched ribbon behind image)
One Stitch at a Time - two of anything on a card (my two buttons)
Christmas Card Challenges - recipe (I followed it 3dp, 2 buttons, 1 ribbon, transparency)
Bee Crafty Downloads - Pink and Girly (well, no male will get this for christmas!!!)

Thats all from me, after sport tomorrow (for the kids) hopefully the day will be mine mawh mawh mawhhh

It's My Lucky Night!!!

Ok, that is not how it sounds...simmer down DH LOL. I had a work seminar tonight and walked away with one of the spot prizes - a cellphone which will be perfect for DD christmas pressie. Then I was in the blogging world and discovered I made the top 3 over at Mad for Markers, so thanks guys, much appreciated, you have made my night.

Soda Pop!!!

Evening everyone, spent a bit of time today following this sketch from Digi Doodles, I used a Sassy Cheryls Digi image and coloured her with my copics. Dp is My Minds Eye "Ooh La La", I handmade my flowers with my new Nellie punches, added a few brads some pearls and lightly distressed my edges, sentiment is from Kiwi Stamping. I am also entering the following Challenges:
Sassy Cheryls - Make your own flowers (did that)
Charisma Cardz - All about bling (there a bit of bling on there)

Thats all from me, back to work tomorrow.

Going Goth!!!

Colour Create has a great Challenge on at the moment - white with two colours and an inspirational pic of Johnny Depp (come to Mama) as the Mad Hatter. I used this Goth image from Tiddly Inks and coloured her with my copics. In line with the challenge I chose reds and blacks as my two colours, used flowers, a bow, spiderweb like ribbons, brads, a few staples and a little bling on her dress. My DP is Kaisercraft Shaken not Stirred. I am also entering the following challenges:
Burtonesque Dolls - Creepy Birthday Card (I think it is a little creepy)
Crazy for Challenges - Paper Flowers (my two on the left qualify, thank goodness for premade flowers)

So thats all from me..Enjoy your evening.

Gone Fishing!!!

Evening all, I used the sketch over at Friday Sketchers for this card - turned the sketch on its side to make it work for me. Image is a Meljens freebie I coloured with my copics, I also coloured my fish charm with copics, DP is my new Kaisercraft "Rewind", border is a Nellie, brads and string are from my stash, added a little stickles to the flowers and I was done. I also created this for the following challenges:
Meljens - Fibres, ribbon or lace (I used black stringy stuff)
Stamp Something - Something Summer (nothing like fishing in the summertime)
Simple Doodles - Fun in the Sun (my little cat with his fishing pole is perfect)

Thats all from me, movie time at our house is calling!

Pearlilicious!!!

My fingers have finally returned to normal after attaching all those pearls one by one (who thought up that stupid idea, Denise). I used the sketch over at Card Patterns Challenge, digi is Karens Doodles "Cat and Mouse" coloured with my copics, dp is BG Green at Heart, Text is from Sentimental Sundays, I used my Wild Orchid flowers, Nellie leaf Punch, spellbinders for my flourish and cuttlebugged the printed DP, pearls were from a stash given to me by the Bride (remember the wedding earlier in the year). I am also entering this in the following challenges:
OLLCB - Flourishes and Pearls (yup, thats 107 pearls on my card - how did that happen I hate odd numbers!!!)
Shabby Tea Room - Summer Fun (whats more fun in the sun than a cat about to get a summer snack)
Karens Doodles US Challenge - Summertime (sunshine, cat and mouse best friends - yeah right)
Bunny Zoe Crafts - Nice and Girly (theres enough pearls, sparkle and pink to light up half of New Zealand)

Still not feeling 100% but no work tomorrow and a day creating should cure me...plus Zak comes home tonight, the littlies have made him welcome home cards.

Fun to Share!!!

I'm on a cardmaking roll...maybe being ill gives me mojo!!! Finished this card yesterday, but ran out of time to blog it for you all. Anyway this is a sketch from One Stop Craft Challenge - had to turn it sideways to make it work (yup, thats me, always gotta be awkward). I used this little cutie from Mo's Digital Pencil (I am loving her images at the moment), I coloured these guys with my copics as usual, the DP is BG Lime Rickey as are the buttons and brads. I lightly distressed the edges and handmade the sentiment myself (I am just so clever, sometimes I amaze myself), used nesties and a SU punch to finish. I also created this for:
Allsorts Challenge - Buttons (I used four BG Lime Rickey buttons)
Our Creative Corner - Gotcha Cornered (normally my corners are blank so spruced them up with these corners and brads)
Just Us Girls - Digi Image (way to go Mo)
Pile It On - Summer Showers (my little guy has "showers" of dripping ice cream)
Cupcake Craft Challenge - One for the Boys (this is perfect for some little guy)

Thats all from me, I need to rest my weary fingers from the card I just finished...but you have to wait till tomorrow for that!

Let Me Be Your Hero!!!

I am starting to get a feel for these male cards (I am following the KISS philosophy -keep it simple stupid). Over at Tickled Pink they had a sketch which I followed, my image is from Mo's Digital Pencil coloured with my beloved copics, DP is a half sheet of Kaisercraft "Superhero" I found that came from who knows where. Brads, button are random from my stash, sentiment is from Scrapping Sisters. I am also entering this in the following:
Stamp with Fun - Fairytale (superheros are sort of a fairytale...aren't they)
Magical Crafts - Male card (my superhero fits perfectly)

Must fly, cooking chicken and baked potatoes for tea (have I mentioned how much I love winter food)...oh and Grandma turned up with chocolate mousse because her dinner guest cancelled (what a shame, but lucky for me;0)

Christmas in June!!!

Still at home and feeling completely sorry for myself. This image may look familiar...I coloured it a week or so back, but got carried away and coloured grass and we all know there is no grass at the North Pole, so I cut out the grass, but it didn't fit with the card. Amazingly I didn't scrunch it like I usually do when I make a boo boo and today I decided to put it to good use. I followed The Corrosive Challenge Blog sketch and used this Chrissy Armstrong image from Whimsy Stamps. DP is Kaisercraft "Christmas Carnival", I added a few button, stickles and the quote I found on the internet. I am also entering this in:
Christmas Card Challenges - use scraps (I went white for my card because I have heaps of white scraps, and most of the DP was scraps from other cards)
One Stitch at a Time - Celebrations (christmas a wonderful time to celebrate)
Fab's Big Christmas Card Challenge - no brads, no ribbon and a little birdie (found it hard not to use brads, I love em, I think the bird on the letterbox fits)
Secret Crafter Saturday - include a quote (my internet sourced quote - at christmas sometimes this is how I feel)

So thats it from me, CSI is calling, have a great night.

Going Mad!!!

I have had the flu all week, and the kids are starting to go stir crazy as we haven't done anything. Trace took The Wahs for a sleepover and Neeky made crocodile tears and then became my shadow - which is hard to do when I hardly move from the couch. Anyway long story short I decided to do a quick project with Neeky and a challenge at the same time.
Over at Mad for markers the Challenge is to colour on something other than paper. So I got out the poly shrink, now polyshrink and copics are a bit of a problem as you normally use stazon to stamp the image (we all know stazon and copics equals big mess) anything else tends to bleed. So I studied a few places on the net (sorry guys, can't remember where I went), and decided to stamp the image on white paper and place polyshrink over the top and colour. When we finished colouring I stamped very carefully over the image with memento ink (its all I use) then we shrunk with our heat gun.
This is my image - a Sarah Kay cutie, colured with copics (very quickly), photo shows the size difference from before and after I shrunk it.
Neeky chose a giraffe from Hero Arts I think (leave me alone, its the flu, it messes with whatever memory I have left) and my favouorite that she did is the Rachel Anne Millar stamp that we did in a patterned circle (we put the polyshrink through the cuttlebug). The giraffe now stands about 1cm high and the RAM is about 2.5cm across.
NB you really don't want to make them too fidgity...my poor girls arm just fell off!!!

Things I learnt Today!!!

Sarcasm and the fact you're just kidding cannot be seen in a text!!!

Thats right, I texted this to Zak "I sick,if I die before you make it home remember you were always my favourite son" (he's my only son)
he replied "LOL, what if I make it home"
Me texted back (this is where I learnt sarcasm and jokes cannot be seen in a text) "I have the flu, its definitely terminal"
Zak texted "I ring now" the phone went seconds later and a distressed Zak wanted to know if he should try to get home, did he need a extension on his project...
I laughed, and said "just kidding" he yelled and said "*&^&****%^ &*^%% ()*^###, wait till I get home"!!!
So, lesson learned I will never be sarcastic or joke in a text again...at least not for a week or two.......

Get Your Motor Running!!!

I am loving this motorbike Dad, sketch I followed is Friday Sketchers, image is from Karens Doodles and coloured with my copics, DP is Kaisercraft "Pack Your Bags",I distressed all the brads and the DP. I am also entering the following Challenges:
Karens Doodles - Fathers Day Challenge (my whole card)
Stamp Something Challenge - Stamp Something Digi (my image and bottom sentiment)
The Creative Cottage - Fathers Day (my card)
Simple Doodles - Just for You Dad (my card)

Thinking of Summer!!!

Brrr, its been raining all day here, so it was nice to "getaway" into some summer fun. I followed the sketch over at The Pixie Cottage which also included using metals (my brads), image is from a NZ Company called Montarga, coloured with my copics. DP is BG Bittersweet, which I also used for my flowers, flower is Wild Orchid, Tracy gave me those sparkly things on my flowers (forgotten their name already), my sentiment is from a Dolly Mama stamp. I am also entering this in the following Challenges:
Papertake Weekly - Summer Theme (my lovely lady in her togs)
Our Creative Corner - Summer Inspiration (my lady with her ice cream)
Stampin for the Weekend - Summer/Travel (my lady again)
Paperplay Challenges - Flowers, sparkle (my handmade flowers and sparkle that Tracy gave me)

Tractor Time!!!

No work today, so sat down to do the Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge, I followed the sketch and used a image from Digi Doodles (the latest digi company I have discovered), their images are fantastic, I coloured this Boy and Vintage Tractor image with my copics, DP is BG Archaic. This card was great fun to create, I did all the things I normally try not to do! I srunched up the image after colouring then scrunched up all the papers, distressed all edges and stapled around the DP, a can thingy with a pull tab that I have had forever and a few brads later and I was done. I am also entering this in the Thursday Taggers Challenge - Texture (I think the metal can thingy with pull tab qualifies)
and the Pixie Dust Studio Challenge - Punch it Out (I used circle punches for all my circles)

Bloomin Beautiful!!!

It is so cold here that it was nice to create a card that felt all warm and sunny. I followed the Friday Sketchers Sketch using a Pollycraft image that I coloured with my copics, DP is BG Euphoria, brads and buttons are also BG, flower is stash stuff, and I used my new MS punch. I also created this for the following challenges:
Secret Crafter Saturday - buttons and blooms
Easy Craft Projects - buttons

They Really are Related!!!

Those of you who know me well and those who have been following me for awhile, will know that I am slightly accident prone, this usually occurs in the oddest of ways (normally through no fault of mine - innocent eyelid flutter happening here). Tonight Narny and Neeky proved they really are mine. They were folding the washing and next thing I hear shrieks of "help, help" I arrive on the scene to see Narny kind of doubled over sideways with Neeky sort of twisted backwards whilst facing frontwards leaning on the couch - whats up with that you may ask (and believe me I was wondering the same thing), "we can't move" they chorused "why not" I asked "Neeky's hair is stuck in my jacket zipper and we can't get it out" Narny cried "oh, is that all" I answered (living with me and my family, it takes a bit more than hair in a zipper to create a panic session), "Narny half stand up and Neeky you stand right up", seconds later they were freed and Neeky even kept all her hair...this time...
BTW how did it happen...I didn't dare to ask!!!