Backyard wildlife

....................................................................I caught my backyard boarder out today. S/he had just arrived in his/her favourite tree for 'the daily nap' and of course my little dog let me know about it. I grabbed my camera and circled the tree, with possum eyeing me warily and dog leaping about in excitement. It wasn't enough to stop possum settling down to sleep right before my eyes, but that shot wasn't too interesting so I didn't include it here :-)

My Paper World Sketch Challenge #7

Nicola has a new sketch challenge for this fortnight. I was going to also submit it for Fiona's Alphabet challenge but that site has unfortunately been taken down (please note this, Lee). I needed a birthday card for a girlfriend also, so this card really has a number of uses!

I used Stampin' Up! cardstock - Old Olive and Whisper White. I used black Stazon ink, Always Artichoke and Versamark and embossed the flowers with gold. The flowers are coloured with Stampin' Pastels. That's a prima flower and a gold brad from my stash. The flowered paper is from the Be Yourself Collection by Urban Lily. I hand wrote the sentiment and doodled around the flowered background.

Love Challenge

Chris is having a competition about the theme of 'Love'. I thought this page in my mini album said a lot about that topic. It's a pic of my MIL at her 80th birthday party. She is so full of life and zest, even though she is in a wheel chair here after breaking a hip (playing bowls!!!! We had the party at the bowl's club and a cake with a fallen bowler on top!!!) so I am using this page as my entry. Today was the last day to enter for Chris' blog candy.

Mini Album instructions

Thanks for your sweet comments about my album, Lee and Chriss! I wanted to try and post the instructions up here for you since Lee was interested in making one, but can't seem to save them to my computer.

If you go here, you can see the instructions in the last box on the page. You'll also get to see all the other amazing albums people made for this competition! We still don't know who won but I think it will be Lizzy.

I hope to see an album made by you one of these days!

Oh and Chriss, I was thinking of doing something for Chris' competition on 'Love'. Thanks for reminding me!

Have a wonderful day :-)

Completed mini album

How was your Easter? We spent ours visiting with friends and family when we weren't at the excellent and fascinating church conference. It was good to have time to catch up and now we're still eating the leftovers instead of having to cook = more time for craft!

I did finish the mini album and plan to give it to my mother in law. I used pictures of her surprise 80th birthday party. I wound up adding a few more pages to the album to fit more photos in, and the design of the album allowed that to happen comfortably. Here's some of the finished pages (there are too many to post them all!)

I'd make another one of these. This pattern turns out nicely. And it allows you to totally customise your project with colours, patterns, embellishments, and even how many pics you want to add. You can have from four double pages to about eight, unless you want to make the album cover thicker and add more. I used six double pages here.

Happy Easter

Have a lovely Easter Sunday, everyone. It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day here. I'll be in church most of tomorrow - I plan to play a few musical items with the youngsters there and we are all enjoying the conference!

Am still working on the mini album in my 'spare' time so will post up some pics of it when it is closer to being completed. It's a great little project :-)

March Cybercrop at Scrapchat - Week 3

How's everything? I have been out a lot this week and have also had some computer connectivity issues. In fact, out phone line is still a bit 'iffy' and as it is Easter, the phone company won't be out to check on it for days, so if I disappear offline for awhile, it will be due to technical difficulties :-)

I am enjoying the cybercrop over at Scrapchat this weekend and am learning quite a bit through the challenges. This weekend we need to make a little album out of cardstock. It has pages sewn into it and they are bound on both sides of the album so they are interleaved inside. I've posted a couple of pics of my 'work-in-progress' for you. I get to decorate the album and find pics for it over the weekend. We need to include a verse of some sort and a chipboard monogram as well.

Will try posting it when completed, though it's a bit of a challenge to photograph properly. A video would work better!! I could just flip through the pages for you. on camera. But even though I do have a webcam, I am not sure how to make a video for my blog.....don't you need special software for that?

Scrapbook Wednesday

Every Wednesday I get a couple of pages done in my albums. I thought I'd share what I did yesterday with you. One of the Stained Glass Window pages has been shown before but I made it into a double page payout and think it resembles a quilt in my album. The other double page layout is from 1992 when we went to Alma Park Zoo again. It's pretty subtle - hope you can see the cut-out flowers and lacy matte I did for one of the photos.

I'm so enjoying picking out the best shots from years ago to do something special with - reliving my past. Lol!

Barbara's card

I made a card to give to a friend who is going through a tough time today. I followed Nicola's sketch for the fortnight and also tried out the faux silk technique. The materials are all from Stampin' Up! and are Bashful Blue, Pixie Pink, and Whisper White. The designer paper is from Basic Gray - Cherry Blossom. I used the stamps from God's Blessings and Happy Harmony. The ribbon, flowers and brad are from sources unknown :-)

Edited to add: I forgot to say I used my Crop-a-dile to dry emboss the pink cs! You can just see it if you click on the image to enlarge it. It's a lot less subtle in real life.

Sunday Powerscrap

At Scrapchat we have a chance to do a 'Powerscrap' layout in any 2 hour block we can manage to find on a Sunday. I am in church most of Sunday, but in the evening I do get a two hour block of time when I can think about this, so today I did the challenge. Anyone in the world can join Scrapchat and take part in the challenges, by the way! So feel free to investigate!

This week we were challenged like this:

"Your theme is your dream house! ..if you do a Google image search on mansions or something like that you'll get HEAPS of inspiration. You might even be able to print off a photo from the net to use OR you could always cut a photo from a magazine if that's where you've seen your dream home. It's up to you BUT...The following list has the requirements...at least ONE photo on your LO of your dream home - you HAVE to display some handwritten journaling but it can't be hidden!! and you have to use BLUE somewhere too...."

The sketch is borrowed from Scrapmaps. I used a lot of rough paper as I would if I was making a note to myself about what sort of house I was planning to build. I used the picture and plan of a house we are actually considering building, but in my searches I found another house I also liked, and am now thinking maybe we could incorprate the bits of that house into the the first house! The background paper is Core'dinations Harborside, I downloaded the plans and pictures from both the Orbit Homes site and the GJ Gardner Homes sites, I used old buttons from my stash and put paper 'x's' on some of them printed by the computer, used an ordinary felt pen to do the journalling, and also took paper clips and a bulldog clip from my office supplies. The old pin is to remind me of the style I like - old fashioned and classic - and I thought it went well on the page.

Scrapchat's March Cybercrop - Challenge #2

At Scrapchat we were challenged to make a hybrid page this weekend. Manda said:

"I'd like you do complete a traditional layout on ANY topic you like and use your computer as a tool in some way to make it! That's all hybrid is really!"

One particular picture was 'haunting' me so I went ahead and reprinted it for the challenge. In the 80's I was in a Bush Band called Mouldy Warp (he was a little hedgehog character in England who used to carry all sorts of musical instruments around with him). I enhanced the photo by lightening it a little, then cropping and printing a title on the page in colour. I also printed the words on vellum to add at the bottom of the layout. The background paper is Blush Blooms from Creative Memories (CM), I created the silver and tan paisley shapes with a CM punch, the arrows and flourishes are mostly hand drawn/cut/enhanced with metallic pens from CM, and the little brown arrow and 'play' word are CM stickers.

Stampin' Up! Alphabet Challenge

Over at Fiona's blog, she is running a challenge to work through the alphabet with cards made form Stampin' Up! We're up to 'C' now. Please feel free to join in - there haven't been too many players so far and it would be nice to encourage Fiona :-) If you have 'Carte Postal', for example, you could make a card with that set.

I'm working on a card with my only 'C' set - Canvas. That leaves me pretty free to do anything else, doesn't it, since Canvas is a background stamp. Woo hoo!

Wish I had Carte Postal though....lol!

My Paper World card 3 for Sketch #6

This time I decided to try Lee's faux cloissone technique to make my forst shabby chic card. I hope it strikes you that I did both those things!

I stamped my Reasons to Smile butterfly on a glossy magazine then embossed it with gold and cut it out. I used the paper they gave us in the Better Homes Magazine this month for the background behind the butterfly - it has been torn and sponged with Close to Cocoa ink. I added the gold brad, then mounted the background to the Close to Cocoa card and the butterfly to the background. Then I took some Pretty in Pink cardstock and stamped on it with a sentiment from Happy Harmony, sponged with Close to Cocoa and paper pierced it. I used my hot glue gun to add the gauze ribbon and gold cord, then hand drew the flourishes with black pen and enhanced with gold gel pen. A fun card to make!

Next time I make a faux cloissone image I would use a stamp with more open work on it though. I think it would show the effect better.

Another My Paper World card for Sketch #6

I have been using Nicola's Sketch #6 this week to make some cards, and this is what I made today. I may have another one in totally different colours etc to upload later. Am working on it now :-)

This one has Basic Grey Cherry Plossom dp, Stampin' Up!'s Daisy Field wheel stamp and Reason to Smile sentiment, Certainly Celery cardstock and ink, Close to Cocoa ink, copper and gold gel pens, Stampin' Up! grosgrain ribbon, and I sponge daubed it in various places in both shades of ink. I drew the flourishes with copper gel pen and water colour pencils.

My Paper World Sketch Challenge #6

Nicola set a challenge for this fortnight to make cards from the sketch pictured. I need to make quite a few cards this month so am starting off with the one shown here. I used Stampin' Up! Certainly Celery, Pale Plum and Whisper White cardstock, and a stamped background provided in a RAK (thank you!) I chose the sentiment from Stampin' Up!'s 'Blooming with Happiness' set, stamping in black Stazon and sponging around it with Lavender Lace ink. The little jewels are from Heidi Swapp and the grosgrain ribbon from Stampin' Up! I paper pierced the edges of the green cardstock too.

If you are a cardmaker and look at Nicola's cards, then also follow the links she has in her posts to the other people's blogs who have made gorgeous cards using her sketch, I promise you will be inspired.

I plan to make a few more cards with this sketch this week, maybe even becoming a BIT more adventurous with how I do it.

Guestbook & Thanks

Chriss, thank you for signing my Guestbook (see bottom of page)! I appreciate comments people have made there :-) And I fixed the last post so you can see which other page fits with the new one. I must remember to photograph my album pages before I put the sleeve protectors on. The protector causes haze/glare. Sorry about that.

I want to thank everybody for making comments on my blog too. It's such a delight to open up
my blog and find someone has taken the time to comment! You're all a big reason why I continue to blog and I hope I encourage you all by commenting on your blogs :-)

Will have a new card to post soon. Meanwhile, I'm off to see your blogs!

Pretty in Pink

This page goes with one I did a few weeks ago. If you saw that one, this one will make sense - he he.

Easter!

It's getting close ot Easter and to go along with the pages I am making for my DD's album from 1992, here's what Easter looked like for her then.

Stained Glass WIndows

It was raining again here and what better to do on a rainy day than scrapbook? The regular Wednesday Workshop was a lot of fun today. We made Stained Glass Window layouts. This layout really only leaves room for one picture, and I thought this one of my DD and her cousins when they were growing up, posed with their grandparents, was a good one. It was taken in 1992.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow afternoon

I've been completing some more pages in my album but haven't had time or opportunity to take pics yet. I'll put that on my list of 'to dos' for tomorrow. Tonight it was blog surfing time!

Am I a Nerd? Are you?

Lee encouraged everyone to take this Nerd test, so I gave it a whirl. I'm not too surprised at the results, especially as they seem to be contradictory!





Oh and I am Peter Pan, closely followed by Sleeping Beauty, according to the 'Which Disney Character Are You' quiz.

Exploding Easter Box

At Scrapchat we have a Sunday Powerscrap challenge each week, which I try to get done between church services. It's a nice way to relax and enjoy the afternoon. Today we were asked to make an exploding Easter Box:

"Ok is everyone up for a little bit of adventure. As Easter is in two weeks, yes that's right, two weeks. My Challenge is to make a single layer exploding box suitable to give as a gift for Easter eggs. Don't be turned off by this challenge and think it is to difficult cause they are really easy as I have made a couple myself.

Here is the link to the blog with instructions on it ~ Exploding Box"

As I had never made one of these before, I thought it was a good opportunity to try making one. So I did. First I resized th epattern so the box would be a little smaller. I used Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Pale Plum, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue and Apricot Appeal cardstock. I used stamps from a big set I was given as a present so don't know who created them, and some acrylic stamps from Rhonna Farrer. I gold embossed every image and used Stampin' Pastels and a blender pen to colour them up. I used a copper gel pen to add a few accents here and there. Then I tied it together with a nylon cord from a camping store. When I give it to my DD for Easter, there will be gourmet yummy chocolate eggs in there, not this compound chocolate ick that I have in there for display purposes only. When it's Sunday the only place you can get Easter eggs around here is at a service station.

A Feminine Card

This was the easiest card to make! I used the Happy Harmony stamp set from Stampin' Up! and two step stamped it then sponge daubed the background. That's Barely Banana, Whisper White and Perfect Plum cardstock. The inks are Barely Banana and Rose Red. I used Versamark then gold embossed the sentiment. Gold cord and a gold brad completed this one for me.

A Teen's Birthday

Next I made a card for a teenager's birthday. Here I used the Stampin' Up! set Blooming with Happiness (which incidently also answers the challenge for the Stampinupalphabetchallenge since the challenge there was to use a stamp set starting with the letter 'B' ).

I used Stampin' Up! cardstock - Perfect Plum, Ruby Red and Whisper White. Inks were also Stampin' Up! - Ballet Blue, Barely Banana, Rose Red and Versamark. I two-step stamped the candles then used Dazzling Diamonds on both the candles and the cake stand. I sponge daubed the background around the cake and candles. The Sculpey Button with the beads in it was made for me in a swap and I tied it on with gold cord from Stampin' Up!

I used Victorian deckle edged scissors to finish it off.

It didn't scan well due to the thick button. Sorry it's a little out of focus.

A Masculine Card

At Scrapchat where the first weekend of the March-long cybercrop is happening, our first challenge was to make three cards:

"Choose one piece of patterned paper. I want you create a set of 3 cards...

* one for a male

* one for a female

* one for a child/teenager

You can use anything else you like, but each card must have that one patterned paper as a central focus, and must be clearly visible."

I completed the three cards this evening using The Glitter Mat Stack paper as my common background theme. Here's the masculine one.

I used the Stampin' Up! Size it Up wheel and Riveting stamp set, More Mustard and Whisper White cardstock, Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip inks, silver brads, brown cord from the local Scrapchop, and Burgandy grosgrain ribbon from Stampin' Up!

Tagged by Lee

Lee asked anyone in a fun mood to answer her tag. How could I resist that? If you feel in a fun mood, please do the same! Here goes:

4 Jobs I've Had: Traffic counter, real estate office receptionist, book seller, teacher

4 Movies I've Seen: I Walk the Line, Finding Nemo, The Green Mile, Shrek

4 Places I've been: Disneyland, Dreamworld, Australia Zoo, Birdworld

4 Places I've lived: California, Washington (USA), North West Territories (Canada), Queensland (Australia)

4 TV Programs I watch: Better Homes & Gardens, All Saints, ummmm, a couple of soaps

4 Radio Shows I listen to: I listen to classical music in the car, mainly

4 Favorite Foods: Chocolate, pasta, fresh salads, chicken kiev

4 Places I'd Rather be: I LOVE being home!!!!! I don't have much desire to be anywhere else these days...but I don't mind visiting family & friends and going out for coffee with DH

The Bags I Made

Thank you so much for your comment on 'my' bag in the last post, Lee. I did not make that gorgeous one, however. It was Melanie's original! I did play with the pattern last night and came up with a little bag and a card front though. I used my Creative Memories Custom Cutting System to cut the top of the bags, and i must say I am still working out how best to do the handles. I used thin paper for the inside and outside of the card bag (lying flat) and dressed it up with a bit of sparkly ribbon, crumpled paper and stick on jewels. I made the larger standing up bag with thin decorative paper and regular black cardstock on the inside, and it is much more durable. I learned a lot about my new Crop-a-dile tool in setting the eyelets, mostly how NOT to do them! Lol! It was fun though.

Edit (just for you , Lee!): The designer paper is from Walter Knabe and the cardstock, gros grain ribbon and orange swirl clip is from Stampin' Up! The brads and sparkly ribbon were from a RAK is received from someone anonymously (thank you again!) and the jewels are Heidi Snapp.

Tote Bag Link

Do you like this little tote bag? If so, go on over to Melanie's blog for a great tutorial on how to make it :-)

Hands, head and heart

Melanie Meunchinger from Hands, Head and Heart is a stamp designer/illustrator and design team member for Gina K Designs. She makes some great cards and writes really useful tutorials about how to make things. She also happens to be giving away some blog candy, so if you would like to see her work and go in the draw, here's your chance!

Feel like Cybercropping in March??

Over at Scrapchat we're having a month long Cybercrop, and anyone interested is welcome to join in the fun. There are even prizes being awarded. If you want to be part of it, come on over and register for the forum! Here's the details of the Cybercrop:

Week 1 ~ 7th March - Prize's donated by The Stampshak
Week 2 ~ 14th March - Prize's donated by Scrapbook N Bits
Week 3 ~ 21st March - Prize's donated by Peggy aka Patriciasmum
Week 4 ~ 28th March -Prize's donated by A Passion For Craft

Each weeks cybercrop will kick off at about 7.30 pm (Qld, Australia time), all chit chat will be in the chatroom. The game will be announced at 8.00 pm in the cybercrop thread with the challenge going up around 8.30 pm or as soon as the game has finished.

There is only one challenge per weekend so it should be fairly easy to participate in the fun.

All layouts are to be uploaded to the Scrapchat gallery by midnight on the Sunday of that week's challenge.

If you complete all four challenges you will go into the draw for an additional prize.

There may be a bonus challenge so keep an eye on the cybercrop thread.

Hope everyone joins in and has some fun!

Too tired!

I scrapped a few pages after dinner tonight and now am too tired to take pictures of them to upload. Am still working on my DD's album (this is a long-term project, btw). I continued on with the circle theme of the last two pages but changed colours and patterns. Will show you maybe tomorrow :yawn:

Hope you'll forgive me for being slack! G'night.

Oh, wait! We did get a copy of the house contract today. It's looking like we can become cautiously optimistic about it going through.

Scrapping Day

Wow - Far North Queensland has been experiencing lots of flash flooding today. We live a long way up from sea level so haven't had too many problems, but the flooding down on the coast has been worsened by the high tides they's been having as well. We had a lot of rain today but no flooding, thank the Lord.

In general it has been a little more calm around here today than it was yesterday so I decided it was time to do some album pages tonight. I have started an album for my DD who is now 21, as all of her childhood photos were in an unsafe environment. Lots of her photos were going yellow and brown or otherwise changing their colour and being eaten by acid from the old albums and the glue in them etc, so when I discovered Creative Memories I took most of them out of their old albums and am now picking the best ones to place in Creative Memories albums, since they gauruntee the photos will not deteriorate if kept in their albums for the lifetime of the owner. I heard they will last 100 years, so that'll see me out well and truly.

I used all Creative Memories materials. I used paper from the 'Little Girl' pack, and metallic and felt pens, and the vellum rose window is made with black cardstock and Kaleidoscope stickers, and I cut the circles out with the custom cutting system.

Oh the page with the three photos to the left is based on a sketch from Chris G over at Scrapchat.

Do check your old albums (if you haven't already) and see if they are keeping your precious photos safe. It's hard to get pictures back sometimes if they have deteriorated too much.

House News

We think we sold the house today - shock! It took some negotiating but we do have a contract. Settlement will be 31st May or sooner if the people who want the house can get financed.

I'm stunned. Again.

I won't believe it till I see our stuff being loaded into a moving van, I think.

No crafting got done in this house today. Maybe tomorrow things will be different. Maybe.

Things I Love About You

I missed the midnight deadline but I finished the little album. Here's some pics for you. I put the 5 Things on th eback of the tag on page 3. I think I'll save this for our anniversary in October.

I used Basic Gray Flint Pattern paper, a Bella Chipboard album, Stampin' Up! cardstock, ink & ribbon (Brilliant Blue and Mellow Moss), Make It Special brads, a black felt pen and a gold gel pen, cuttlebugged lettering, free hand flourishes and some lettering, a slit punch, a swirl clip, and green nylon cord.

Oh and there's one red velvet letter in there too.

Am crafting tonight

Ever had one of those days where all your plans had to change? A Passion for Craft has a great challenge open till midnight. It goes like this:

Simply create a chipboard album about your partner. These themes must be included in some way:

1. The day we met
2. 5 things I love about you
3. At least one photo

I intended to try this one out as an anniversary surprise for DH but today we had an offer on the house. We spent till just a couple of minutes ago negotiating. We're thinking about a couple of issues over night so still don't have a contract everyone is happy with, so there will be more discussions tomorrow.

My intentions to craft were a bit sidelined today! I'm working on it now and will see if I can make the midnight deadline...

Gypsyangel's Card Sketch Challenge

I'm getting some cards made tonight! I tried Gypsyangel's card sketch challenge at the Scrapchat gallery. This is also a first attempt at the chalkboard technique described here at Splitcoaststampers. I used the Stampin' Up! Time Well Spent stamp set again, and black, pale plum and mellow moss cardstock. I stamped the flower in white ink, chalked it up with Stampin' pastels, and did the sentiment in silver gel pen (the dots are silver and gold gel pens).

My Paper World Sketch Challenge #5

Here's a card I made with products from Stampin' Up! It's a response to Fiona's sketch challenge #5 at My Paper World. I used the Time Well Spent stamp set, with More Mustard, Brilliant Blue, Garden Green and Whisper White cardstock, and Stampin' Pastels in similar colours. I embossed with gold and black powders. There's a gold brad in the middle of the main flower. I drew the flourishes with black fine tipped felt pen, and used the Piercing tool and mat pack with both black and white pens to create the faux stitches.

I plan to use this card as a swap with friends in my stamping group and will certainly acknowledge Fiona's sketch when I do :-) Thanks, Fiona!

Shopping Day

I spent a lot of time in the shops today instead of in my craft room. I have an order for some gift boxes so was out checking the shops for likely gift items. This little town is nowhere near equipped to take on a person like me with such a task! I couldn't find boxes, baskets or trays in my price range anywhere. Guess it means a trip to the next town, and this Saturday is when that will happen.

Will post a pic when I have something completed.

Today was also a day I got to see a couple of customers and place nice stamping order! Can't wait to see the new stamps. They should arrive next week.

Bunny Situation

Just for a change, if you want to see some clever animations and maybe have a laugh, go to http://www.flixxy.com/short-film-animation.htm

Happy Everything!

I used all Stampin' Up! products to make this little card. This is the Greetings Galore set and the Itty Bitty Backgrounds set. Image is embossed in black and I used the Bold Bright cardstock range, then daubed Barely Banana ink on the background, then used the blender pen to use the inks and colour the little flower with So Saffron and Glorious Green.

It's a little rough but I thought the kids might like it, as well as the staff, since these are primary school places :-) I wanted to thank them for their past custom this afternoon.

Will let you know their reactions later!

Pre-Order of the new 2008-9 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue

If you live in Australia and would like your own copy of the 2008/2009 Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue, please let me know. I'm currently taking pre orders so that you can have your copy ASAP! Catalogues are $12.95 including postage.

If you place a $300 order or catalogue party order this month, you'll get a new catalogue for FREE!

May Paper World Sketch Challenge #4

Talk about just barely making it! I had a fortnight to complete a challenge for Fiona at My Paper World and just made it on the last day, in the last hour. It may be too late for Fiona but I did enjoy making it. I used Stampin' Up! cardstock and main stamp (Blooming with Happiness), some paper flowers and a brad from my stash, my paper piercing tool, and free hand for the flourish and sentiment. I used glossy white cardstock and sponge daubed with Stampin' Up! inks Pretty in Pink and Barely Banana. I embossed the stamped image in black before daubing.

Oh and a whole new sketch challenge begins at My Paper World tomorrow.

Davies Creek Day

It turned out to be a lovely day. We started out dutifully getting the place ready for the open house, then gleefully took off to explore. We took our dog and the Ute and found Davies Creek. It had been in flood only a week before, and the road in was corrugated and rough in places, but it wasn't so bad that we didn't want to keep going. When we got there it was worth it. We took the dog (who had to stay on a lead as them's the rules at the creek) for a swim, went wading and rock clambering (to a very limited extent!!) and I took loads of photos. The dragonfly held still just long enough.

It was hot so we came home to wash the dog and take a nap before making dinner. Then during our meal, a visitor came to call. A green one that begged for a pencil to have his picture taken with. DH couldn't resist lending a hand either.

Oh - the house didn't sell. Who wants to move anyway?

The photo that wasn't....

Thanks for all your good wishes about our soggy garage. We did in fact get it dry. Today was such a beautiful day I actually got four loads of washing done and dried in the SUN!

I had great plans to show you a panorama of the Tablelands today. We had some house inspections in the late afternoon, so DH and I bundled the dog (who tends to want to protect the house against starngers for us - a liability in the hosue selling business) into the car and drove off, me clutching my lovely and much-cherished camera. We drove about an hour to the 'right' spot and jumped out of the car. I spent some time finding a good place to stand to take the picture and got the camera all ready to click. I pressed down on the shutter button and ....nothing happened. I thought I must have forgotten to turn the camera on so switched the right switch, aimed, pressed, and ...still nothing. I thought it must be the light was wrong, that I may have the setting wrong. They all checked out. I tried different lighting by swinging around and focusing on DH. Again...nothing. I had to admit defeat and believe what I hoped was not true. I had to admit that the BATTERY WAS DEAD!! I then tossed the useless thing into the car and tramped around a bit instead, moaning about how wonderful the pictures WOULD have been, to DH's and the dog's amusement.

So I'm sorry, but there is no craft today due to us spending every spare moment washing clothes/linen and washing rain spatter off all the house windows, polishing and vacuuming the house, then making ourselves and the dog scarce so total strangers could tramp through. And there is no photo due to the inexplicable dead battery in my camera. But you already know that.

Who knows what tomorrow may bring :-)

Summer Storms - Monsoonal Skies

Yesterday we had the biggest rain storm of the summer. It lasted for half an hour or more, drumming and pelting down. If I had been thinking about taking photos, I would have been able to capture the rivers that started up in my back yard that eventually found their way into a side door of the garage and flooded it. We were kind of busy mopping up and not taking pictures. I did take a picture of the sky afterwards, just when the blue sky was peeping through again. And we didn't have any more rain today for the first time in over a week of monsoonal trough activity.

Aussie Stampin' Up! Retired List

I know some of you are interested in Stampin' Up! stamps and accessories. Well, today I have the list of stamps that are going to disappear and be sold no more. It's a LONG list. I'm going to share it with you anyway. If I can help you with getting anything you might have had your eye on, just say the word :-) These things will only be available while stocks last. Oh - and go here if you want to see the current Stampin' Up! catalogue and prices. Just click on 'our online catalogues' on the right hand side of the page.

RETIRED LIST!
Everything will be available for puchase until March 31st 2008 UNLESS it sells out first. So get in quick!

Item # Product Description Page#

Catalogue Sets
108715 A LITTLE LOVE 47
108717 A NEW LITTLE SOMEONE 59
108718 A TO Z ACCENTS 41
108723 ALL IN A ROW 99
108724 ALL MIXED UP 62
108725 ALL NATURAL 54
108727 ALL THE BEST 56
108729 ALL WRAPPED UP 60
108730 ALL WRAPPED UP ACCESSORIES 60
108731 ALL-YEAR CHEER I 116
108732 ALL-YEAR CHEER II 116
108737 ALPHADOT NUMBERS 123
108735 ALPHADOTS 123
108736 ANCIENT ASIA 90
108739 ARTIFACTS 92
108741 BABY FIRSTS 58
108745 BECAUSE OF YOU 84
108749 BEST OF CLUCK 53
108750 BEYOND THE BASICS 100
108752 BIRTHDAY BEAUTY 62
108759 BUGGIES & BOOTIES 58
108762 BY DEFINITION 106
108766 CHEESECLOTH 106
109073 CLASSIC ALPHABET 121
109074 CLASSIC NUMBERS 121
108770 COLLAGE ALPHABET 123
108771 COLLAGE NUMBERS 123
108773 CROSSHATCH 104
108775 CUTE AS A BUG 85
108776 DAY-TO-DAY FLEXIBLE PHRASES 118
108777 DO THE HULA 52
108778 DOTTED 105
108779 DOWN TO BUSINESS 94
108780 DREAM COME TRUE 35
108782 ECLECTIC BACKGROUNDS 99
108783 EPHEMERA 106
108784 ESPRESSOLY FOR YOU 56
108788 FARM FEVER 53
108789 FAVORITE TEDDY BEAR 46
108808 FINIALS & FRAMES 91
108810 FLANNEL PLAID 106
108812 FLOWER FEST 71
108813 FLOWER FILLED 69
108815 FONTASTIC 104
108816 FRENCH SCRIPT 106
108817 FRESH FILLERS 100
108818 FRIENDSHIP FLOWERS 113
108819 FUN FILLED 48
108821 GIFTS OF JOY 31
108823 GLAD TIDINGS 119
108824 GLAM GIRL 60
108826 GOOD THINGS GROW 103
108827 GORGEOUS GRAPEVINE 88
108829 HANDLE WITH CARE 96
108830 HAPPILY EVER AFTER 49
108832 HAPPY HEARTS 38
108833 HEADLINE ALPHABET 120
108834 HEADLINE NUMBERS 120
108836 HEBREW HOLIDAYS 33
108837 HOLIDAY PRINT 26
108838 HOLIDAY SPIRIT 30
108843 I DID IT 109
108845 IN FULL BLOOM 70
108846 IN THE WILD 83
108848 IT'S SNOW TIME 25
108851 KANJI 93
108852 LABEL CLASSICS 102
108853 LETTERPRESS ALPHABET 120
108854 LETTERPRESS NUMBERS 120
108856 LIFE'S SPECIAL MOMENTS 49
108858 LITTLE HELLOS 43
108859 LITTLE HOLIDAY WISHES 28
108861 LIVELY LEAVES 86
108867 LOVING HEARTS 38
108868 MADONNA AND CHILD 26
108870 MERRY MINIS 28
108871 MIXED BOUQUET 74
108872 MON AMI 36
108873 MONKEY BUSINESS 52
108876 MUCH LOVE 39
108878 NEVER-ENDING JOY 36
108879 NEWSPRINT ALPHABET 121
108880 NEWSPRINT NUMBERS 121
108881 NICE & EASY NOTES 47
108882 NICE & NARROW 47
108883 OLIVE YOU 51
108885 ON WALKABOUT 82
108886 OPEN FOR TRADE 95
108889 PERENNIAL FAVORITES 78
108891 PETAL PUSHERS 75
108892 PLAY BALL 64
108893 POCKET FUN 61
108895 PRINT PATTERN 105
108896 PURE & SIMPLE ALPHABET LOWER 121
108897 PURE & SIMPLE ALPHABET UPPER 121
108898 PURE & SIMPLE NUMBERS 121
108899 QUICK THINKING 113
108901 RENAISSANCE ANGELS 30
108903 ROSES IN WINTER 70
108907 SEASIDE SKETCHES 80
108908 SEASON BY SEASON 111
108910 SET SAIL 90
108911 SIMPLE SAYINGS II 114
108912 SIMPLE SKETCHES 42
108914 SIMPLY CIRCLES 103
108917 SLEIGH FULL OF TOYS 33
109072 STAMPED FROM THE HEART 109
108922 STIPPLE CELEBRATIONS 44
109022 STIPPLE SHELLS 80
108925 SUPERSIZE SYMBOLS 124
108926 SWEET & SASSY 86
108928 SWEET TALK 35
108933 TERRIFIC TULIPS 76
108935 TIDY ALPHABET 123
108936 TIDY NUMBERS 123
108938 TRADING COLLECTION 94
108939 TREAT YOURSELF 61
108940 TRIMTASTIC 91
108941 TYPESET ALPHABET LOWER 122
108942 TYPESET ALPHABET UPPER 122
108943 TYPESET NUMBERS 122
108947 WATERCOLOR MINIS 68
108952 WELL-WORN ALPHABET 120
108953 WELL-WORN NUMBERS 120
108955 WHIMSICAL ALPHABET LOWER 122
108956 WHIMSICAL ALPHABET UPPER 122
108957 WHIMSICAL NUMBERS 122
108959 WILD HEARTS 105
108961 WINGED THINGS 84
108964 WONDERFUL WORDS II 114
108965 WORD BY WORD 104
108966 WORLD TOUR 92
108968 YULE BITS & BORDERS 24

Stampin' Around Wheels
101420 BABY TIME 58
104070 BLOOMIN' 70
105951 BOLD SNOWFLAKES* 24
105750 BOUQUET* 74
106749 BRIGHT BULBS 31
105518 BUILDER BITS 64
107481 BUTTERFLIES & BLOSSOMS 84
103094 BY THE SEA 80
103296 CANDY CANE CHRISTMAS 28
104312 HOT TO DOT 40
107463 LEAF FEST* 71
106062 LEAVES AWASH* 76
102254 LOVE SWIRLS 36
103543 ONLY ORNAMENTS 30
101090 PAW TRACKS 46
107476 ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES* 54
105448 SIZE IT UP 92
104160 SQUARE PEGS* 101
107480 TRUE HEARTS 35
104893 TWINKLE 25
103749 WASH DAY* 59
105033 WINGS & THINGS 84

Accessories
105094 BOXES & TAGS BOOK KIT ACCORDION ASST 4
105093 BOXES & TAGS BOOK KIT ACCORDION ASST 5
105092 BOXES & TAGS BOOK KIT ACCORDION ASST 6
105091 BOXES & TAGS BOOK KIT ACCORDION ASST 7
105101 BOXES & TAGS BOOK KIT SADDLE STITCH ASST 4
105100 BOXES & TAGS BOOK KIT SADDLE STITCH ASST 5
105099 BOXES & TAGS BOOK KIT SADDLE STITCH ASST 6
105098 BOXES & TAGS BOOK KIT SADDLE STITCH ASST 7
106581 BOXES & TAGS PETAL CARD BOLD BRIGHTS & EARTH ELEMENTS
105074 BOXES & TAGS PETAL CARD WHISPER WHITE & VERY VANILLA
105067 BOXES & TAGS POCKETS & PIECES ASST I
105068 BOXES & TAGS POCKETS & PIECES ASST II
108632 BOXES & TAGS TINY TAKEOUT BOLD BRIGHTS & EARTH ELEMENTS
107245 BOXES & TAGS TINY TAKEOUT CONFETTI WHITE & KRAFT
104583 BRADS VINTAGE
108624 CARD STOCK BUCKAROO BLUE A4
108625 CARD STOCK COOL CARIBBEAN A4
108628 CARD STOCK CRANBERRY CRISP
106562 CARD STOCK GOING GRAY A4
106683 CARD STOCK IN COLOR 12X12
108629 CARD STOCK IN COLOR A4
108627 CARD STOCK MARIGOLD MORNING A4
106531 CARD STOCK SAHARA SAND 12X12
108626 CARD STOCK TRUE THYME A4
108623 CARD STOCK VINTAGE VIOLET A4
107231 CLASSIC STAMPIN' INK REFILL BUCKAROO BLUE
107228 CLASSIC STAMPIN' INK REFILL CRANBERRY CRISP
107230 CLASSIC STAMPIN' INK REFILL COOL CARIBBEAN
107227 CLASSIC STAMPIN' INK REFILL MARIGOLD MORNING
107229 CLASSIC STAMPIN' INK REFILL TRUE THYME
107232 CLASSIC STAMPIN' INK REFILL VINTAGE VIOLET
107225 CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD BUCKAROO BLUE
107222 CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD CRANBERRY CRISP
107224 CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD COOL CARIBBEAN
107221 CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD MARIGOLD MORNING
107223 CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD TRUE THYME
107226 CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD VINTAGE VIOLET
104302 CORD COPPER
104303 CORD GOLD
104304 CORD SILVER
104328 CRAFT STAMPIN' INK REFILL VERY VANILLA
104308 CRAFT STAMPIN' PAD VERY VANILLA
107405 DESIGNER SERIES FOUR SEASONS
105366 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER CAMBRIDGE 12X12
105365 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER OXFORD
104136 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER POOL PARTY
107295 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER RECOLLECTIONS
107062 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SARAH
107308 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY
104135 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER SLUMBER PARTY
107406 DESIGNER SERIES PAPER TREEHOUSE
103280 EMBOSSING KIT
104281 ENCORE INK REFILL COPPER
104280 ENCORE PAD COPPER
105317 EYELETS BOLD BRIGHTS II
105315 EYELETS SOFT SUBTLES II
100395 FANCY FIBERS BRIGHTS
100396 FANCY FIBERS EARTHS
100397 FANCY FIBERS NEUTRALS
100393 FANCY FIBERS REGALS
100394 FANCY FIBERS SUBTLES
103321 GIFT SACKS OATMEAL
103890 METAL EDGE TAGS BRASS WHITE CIRCLE
103888 METAL EDGE TAGS BRASS WHITE SQUARE
103894 METAL EDGE TAGS COPPER WHITE CIRCLE
103892 METAL EDGE TAGS COPPER WHITE SQUARE
104184 POST EXTENDERS
103378 PUNCH CORNER ROUNDER SMALL
102686 PUNCH HANDHELD RECTANGLE
104407 PUNCH NOTCHED CORNER
104406 PUNCH PAPER PIECING
104405 PUNCH SQUARE CONVEX
101637 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" APPLE GREEN
102712 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" BLACK
100538 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" BLUEBIRD
105372 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" BURGUNDY
105373 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" CELERY
105374 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" CHOCOLATE
100455 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" CREAM
101666 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" LIGHT ORCHID
101926 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" LIGHT PINK
105378 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" NAVY
102682 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" RED
103064 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" TANGERINE
101156 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" TAUPE
102119 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" TURQUOISE
102819 RIBBON GROSGRAIN 1/4" WHITE
104257 RIBBON ORGANDY NARROW GOLD
100589 RIBBON ORGANDY NARROW IVORY
103019 RIBBON ORGANDY NARROW LIGHT PINK
104256 RIBBON ORGANDY NARROW NAVY
104258 RIBBON ORGANDY NARROW OLIVE
104253 RIBBON ORGANDY NARROW SILVER
101613 RIBBON ORGANDY NARROW WHITE
104260 RIBBON ORGANDY NARROW WINE
106807 RIBBON ORIGINALS PREP SCHOOL
106809 RIBBON ORIGINALS RUSTIC RETREAT
106806 RIBBON ORIGINALS SEASIDE
106808 RIBBON ORIGINALS SWEET SHOP
107453 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN' ALL THE TRIMMINGS
107456 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN' AT HOME
107454 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN' OUT & ABOUT
107457 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN' PARTY PIECES
107455 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN' TICKETS & TOKENS
107460 SIMPLY SCRAPPIN' TODAY & ALWAYS
108509 SIMPLY SENT A WISH FOR YOU
108511 SIMPLY SENT FRIENDSHIP SHAPES
108512 SIMPLY SENT GOOD THINGS
108510 SIMPLY SENT REMEMBERING YOU
105580 SPECTRUM PAD BLUE FROST
101492 SPECTRUM PAD CELEBRATION
105579 SPECTRUM PAD COTTON CANDY
101336 SPECTRUM PAD PUMPKIN PATCH
103953 STAMP-A-MA-JIG IMAGING SHEETS
101460 STAMPIN' AROUND CARTRIDGE & REFILL WHISPER WHITE
103017 STAMPIN' AROUND INK REFILL WHISPER WHITE
101040 STAMPIN' EMBOSS POWDER BLACK DETAIL
100442 STAMPIN' EMBOSS POWDER CLASSY COPPER
101428 STAMPIN' EMBOSS POWDER CLEAR DETAIL
103342 STAMPIN' EMBOSS POWDER GOLD DETAIL
101781 STAMPIN' EMBOSS POWDER SILVER DETAIL
100963 STAMPIN' EMBOSS POWDER WHITE DETAIL
103174 STAMPIN' PASTELS APPLICATOR REFILL
105543 STAMPIN' PASTELS BOLD BRIGHTS
105544 STAMPIN' PASTELS EARTH ELEMENTS
105547 STAMPIN' PASTELS NEUTRALS
105545 STAMPIN' PASTELS RICH REGALS
105546 STAMPIN' PASTELS SOFT SUBTLES
103648 STAMPIN' STACK
107239 TAG SHEETS CONFETTI WHITE & VERY VANILLA
107240 TAG SHEETS KRAFT
105369 TIMEWORN COLLECTION PAPER HEIRLOOM
105368 TIMEWORN COLLECTION PAPER RUSTIC
105367 TIMEWORN COLLECTION PAPER WEATHERED
105395 WIRE WORKS METALLICS
105812 WRITE ME A MEMORY FONT CD VOL I

Antarctica

I've received my first Circle Journal from Ali at Scrapchat! She has put together a Paper Bag Album and her instructions were to make a double paged layout of a dream holiday destination. I had to also incorporate a tag with journalling on it about why I wanted to go to my chosen place. I chose Antarctica and found a great website here with pictures I could download and print, as long as I kept the website's watermark on them and put these words on the pages: "Use of pictures courtesy Paul Ward - CoolAntarctica.com". I cut the Antarctic pics out with deckle edged 'postal' scissors to make them look like stamps. I photoshopped a pic of me to look icier, then used my Creative Memories tools to create the curvy bits of paper. I've used Heat and Stick powder, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects, some snowflake brads, some silver, gold and copper gel pens,a black felt pen for the journalling around the photos and on the back of the removable tag, some nylon cord from a camping shop for the tag, some Ballet Blue ink and the Rivetting stamp set from Stampin' Up! and a Bella stamp set for the snowflake stamps.