Unconvention for local demos

Well hello my friends. It's been a little while between posts and I have resigned myself to the fact that this might continue for a little while. I've been enjoying my new job! However my darling husband went away for work and managed to catch some germs and bring them home... and then he proceeded to share them with everyone. I held out, whilst I was caring for my family, but collapsed this past weekend and only got out of bed for more water and replenishments. And that is my excuse for the delay.

Anyway, way back at the beginning of the month a couple of local demo's who were unable to get to Convention decided that we'd hold our own. It was a lovely day, with way more talking than creating. Can't complain about that!


The lovely Kerryl taught us how to make these gorgeous flowers. They are a little bit fiddly, but worth the effort.


Then we made this gorgeous box to dress with the flowers.


I am not including the ingredients for this one, as I can't remember them that well, although I am sure that you can look at the pics and work it out.

Till next time, happy stamping...

How did you celebrate the Royal wedding?

In our house, we thought we'd make a big deal of it.... not because we are Monarchists, but because I have two daughters and doesn't every little girl love stories of Princes and becoming a Princess.

The first photo is a snippet from our table decorations.

Then a plate of handmade chocolates and chocolate logs. Miss 3 assisted in making the chocolate which is why the cherubs and bells aren't coloured very well with the white chocolate.



Then my sweet sister knocked up a batch of scones for our high tea.



We did cook up a BBQ (well we are Aussies, after all) and served it on the Royal Albert Old Country Roses fine china. The kids were impressed.... the hubby was scared!

Then we settled in to make crowns and watch the ceremony.



Here is my 10 week old niece... all crowned up.

And then "Princesses Gone Bad". I do love this photo. We tried to get a number of nice, normal happy snaps but couldn't get everyone to look at the camera.... but miraculously when we said "silly" photo, we all poked our tongues out and looked at the camera. Go figure!



Well I hope you had a great night celebrating the Royal Nuptials, as we did.

Okay don't forget to come back at 10am today as we have an ESAD blog hop on this morning, featuring our new Autumn Winter mini catalogue

Till next time, happy stamping...

Oh pick me... again!

My lovely friend, Madeline from The Stamping Studio, has presented me with this lovely award. I received this a few months ago, but figured, I'll try to follow some of the rules and play along again!

Right, 8 little known facts about me!

1. I am on a health kick at the moment!

2. I am still trying to bond with my new house! (six months in and we are still not friends)

3. Yesterday I worked out how to change a downlight - yippee! I can see again!

4. I find kids homework frustrating.... not the actual homework but getting the kids to do it!

5. I am trying to teach my daughter, Miss 8, to longstitch....

6. I cannot knit! Tried and tried and tried, but just can't do it!

7. My sisters are my best friends!

8. I hate cleaning bathrooms

Hmmm... yes I don't think you would have known those things about me, unless you are my sisters....lol!

Now to hand this award on... in no particular order.....

Kristy Strong (sewing related)

Lynda Shrimpton

Jamie Adcock

Mae Collins

If you haven't been over to see their work... get your mouse finger clicking!

Till next time, happy stamping...

Moi! A Stylish Blogger!

Well a little while ago I was awarded by the lovely Sandra Azzopardi, the Stylish Blogger Award. Thank you Sandra it's made me smile... and I apologise for not forwarding it on sooner.... but I thought I'd wait until Christmas Day and hopefully make someone else's Christmas a little bit more special!



Of course with this award come certain conditions..... Firstly I have to tell you eight things about myself....

1. I love Christmas.
2. I am a big child at heart - you'll find me starting water balloon fights :-)
3. I despise banana's - makes me physically sick just to smell them
4. I try to see the best in everyone
5. I am going to try and give up coffee
6. I just got a new puppy a month ago (well she's actually my daughters... but I seem to spend a lot of time with her)
7. My first craft that I engaged in as an adult was cross-stitching - I find it nearly impossible now that I have young kids.
8. I can play the piano, organ, recorder (lol) and saxophone - I have a flute too... but I can't play it proficiently

Okay part 2 - pass it on to eight very stylish blogs...... in no order and I wish I didn't have to stop at eight!

Jodene Tripp

Gardenia Pepworth

Karen Gower

Fiona Platzer

Jenny Adams

Marisol Gutierrez

Martha Lucia Gomez

Madeline Morcelo

Alright then, it's time for me to sign out and crawl into bed so Santa Claus can come.... I hope that you and your families have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a wonderful new year.

Till next time, happy stamping...

Want a super bargain????

Just a quick post today to let you know about some fantastic bargains that are available from today until the 29th December 2010.
Some items are up to 50% off. Click on the link HERE for more details and email me to place your order. Don't forget I can arrange delivery anywhere in Australia.

Also the Summer Mini Catalogue has been released today. Click on the link in my side bar to see the catalogue online.

Gotta go now and put my Christmas tree up!

Till next time, happy stamping...

Jodene and Andrea Rock!!!

Well it seems like ages ago... well actually it was... when I received, not one, but two Best Blog Friends Forever Awards. These were from Andrea and Jodene!


It is so nice to know that your comments are appreciated and I certainly know what they mean. I LOVE to receive comments on my blog. It helps me know if I am moving in the 'right' direction!

Anyway I'd love to send you in the direction of some of my Best Blog Friends Forever, who uplift and inspire me to continue on this fantastic journey!

These are;

Leah
Carole
Sandra

I hope to be back soon with more stamping stuff... yes I have been in my room creating!

Till next time, happy stamping...

I think I am back!!!

Who can believe that this first photo was taken four weeks ago! Yep, I've been in my new house for four weeks and it still feels like only yesterday! Thankfully the amount of unpacking isn't still here to be done.


I had so many craft boxes that I couldn't actually fit them in the room! You can imagine what hubby had to say about that!

This is a view from the doorway! As you can see I am sitting right at the window, so I can watch my kids as they play in the backyard - does that count as good parenting???

This is a view looking across from the left hand corner of the room. As you can see I have built-ins and I hate to admit this but they are full too!

This view is from the built-ins! Yes the desk is a creative mess already!

I also have in this room a Horn Sewing Cabinet and all of my sewing gear, so it's a tad bit squishy!

I now have this computer in the 'study' so I'll not be able to jump on for inspiration as easily. The only other craft thing which hasn't found a home in this room, is my A4 cardstock.... I really like keeping it in a filing cabinet and there is no room (and nor do I have a spare one).

Okay let's hope this is the beginning of some more exciting and regular posts. I have certainly missed being on here! And have lots more to show and tell you.

Till next time, happy stamping...

Just an update - no pictures

Well again this post is pictureless.... We have been in our new house for a fortnight now and we still are unpacking boxes... how did I accumulate so much stuff? I only have about half a dozen boxes inside to do now and then onto the garage and shed.

I did manage to get into my craft space this week and create some cards...but unfortunately I can't find the camera now! I will work on it for you!

I am also waiting on my internet to be transferred, so I haven't been able to blog surf and all those fun things! I think I'll lock myself in the study when I do and try and catch up. I have been missing you all!

Anyway I'd best keep going...

Till next time, happy stamping...

Still here!

Hi all,

Just a quick post to say I am still around. I am buried under a pile of packing boxes. We got our house later than anticipated, so I am more behind than I planned.

Today I managed to half construct my papercraft desk, so hopefully I will be able to get into the swing of things soon...

I hope you are all creating some wonderful projects...

Till next time, happy stamping...

The tidy up!!!!

I don't know what happened here.... I mean I know that my desk is full... too full according to my husband, but it really started going all out of control once we knew we were moving. I have barely had any time to do any stamping at all in the last month and I am missing it! I think my desk became a dumping ground, so here it is!


So after a big night out with my friends I decided to get stuck in and clean it up. As I am a bit precious about my papercraft stuff (you'd never know from the photo above), I decided to pack it myself. I can just imagine that the packers would have just referred to it as 'just paper' - utter blasphemy! Here it is halfway cleaned!


Aah the desk is clear! It's been a long time since it looked like that! But desks are for filling up aren't they?

Oh yes, and did I tell you I had to dismantle the desk, as I built it in this room! I think it took me four hours to build, but am happy to say it only took two hours to pull down!

So there it all is... my papercraft equipment all packed and ready to go. Hopefully I am starting to unpack it as you read! Yep, you guessed it! These posts have all been scheduled for the last week and half!

Till next time, happy stamping...

Holiday snaps

Well I thought I'd show you some of the things I have been up. In case you didn't know, we spent the school holidays travelling to the most northerly point on the Australian mainland. This has been something I have wanted to do for years.


Now we camped and cooked using open fires etc. Here is our pot of vege's cooking one night. Our cuisine wasn't your standard camp tucker of tinned spaghetti or sausages on bread. Now meat and three veg was served often enough. In saying this, I will admit that I didn't do any cooking while we were away!



The photo above is trying to show the Undarra Lava tubes. These were formed from a volcano hundreds of years ago. It is simply stunning and the photo's do it no justice!

Of course, I couldn't just look up and this photo shows the roots of an old strangler fig writhing across the ground. I just loved the colours here!

At Lakefield National Park we stopped to stretch our legs and came across this water plant. The flowers on it fascinated me. They are about the size of a 50 cent peice, so pretty much what you can see on your screen. The petals are made up for the most wonderful little filaments. It's moments like these I wish I had a macro lens. LOL!

There were many lagoons in Lakefield National Park and I couldn't help but snap this water lily. I was quite a way from the edge of the lagoon as there are crocodiles in there. We also saw heaps of snakes crossing the road as we drove through here.

We visited the town Lucinda, which is how we chose our daughters name. So we thought we'd take here there to check it out. She wasn't very impressed - LOL!

It was actually quite nice there and this was the view from the small jetty. Not the 5km long one! Yes, they actually have Australia's longest jetty there!

Now I'd promised someone that if she behaved all term, I'd take her horseriding in the holidays. So here we are at Wonga Beach. Neither of us has much (read "any") experience at horseriding and if you have a good look at our horses you'll notice they are asleep. Certainly helped to make me feel better.

Now this was my main aim for the holiday - I wanted to see the most northerly tip of the Australian mainland. And of course, I was so happy, I had to give the sign a kiss! LOL.

Now if you take a close look and you went to convention this year, you may recognise the cap. Yes, it's the Stampin' Up!® one that we were given this year. So I guess you could say I took Stampin' Up!® to most northern part of Australia. LOL!

Now I can't think of a better way to finish my tale, than showing you the view the I had at the end of the day! This is sunset at Loyalty Beach. I took this photo, as I sat in my camp! That's one fantastic thing about camping, you get the best views!

Okay, I'll try not to talk about this trip again! Get ready for some stamping posts soon!

Till next time, happy stamping...

Another Award!

Oh boy! I didn't realise that there were that many people out there that enjoy my blog! I have just been awarded the Sunshine Award by Claire Harrison.


I need to pay it forward again... though thankfully I don't have to reveal anything about myself this time. LOL!

a. Nikki Stalker
b. Lynda Shrimpton
c. Andrea Lowcock
d. Jodene Tripp
e. Charmaine Black

I was also awarded another Beautiful Blogger Award by Liz Burnell-Latham, but was too scared to updated the previous post as the formatting was going berserk! So thanks Liz.

Till next time, happy stamping...

I am truly humbled...

It has come to my attention that I have been awarded the Beautiful Blogger Award. I was absolutely gobsmacked when I received the first on from Andrea. Then I received another email to let me know that Karen had also given this award to me. Thank you ladies for your encouraging comments.

This award is fantastic as you can pay it forward. Yep! Once you have received it you get to pass it on and let others know what you think of their blog. I am also required to reveal ten things about myself. So here goes;

1. I have four brothers and two sisters! Yep there were seven kids in my family!
2. I don't ever want to have that many children....lol!
3. I have travelled around Australia and visited every state!
4. I love playing tennis and volleyball.
5. I can play the saxophone and the piano...although I am a bit rusty now!
6. I can write with both hands (Not perfectly - lol - but it's legible)
7. I am quite good at remembering numbers - don't tell me your PIN!
8. I hate the cold.... brrrrrrr!
9. I joined Stampin' Up!® for the discount......
10. I love all my blog friends....:-)

Okay so that's a list of things that you'd never guess from this blog! Now onto the most important part. Paying it forward! Now this is not in any particular order....

a. Tanya Kitto
b. Tracey Old
c. Madeline Morcelo
d. Kerri Donsky
e. Andrea Buckland
f. Marelle Taylor
g. Madonna Dunn
h. Gretchen Barron
i. Linda Craven
j. Michelle Zindorf

I could have gone on and on.... but had to stop at ten.

So thank you for everyone who visits my blog. I love you whether you are stalking or commenting (but I'll know who to love if you all comment! LOL).

Till next time, happy stamping...