Everything Happens in 3s

It was a little while ago now, but 3 very special people in my life had birthdays in 2 days at the end of July. Just another opportunity to make more cards!!

The funky fold of this card was inspired by Hannah Butcher's card in Australian Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft Vol 13 No 11.

Stamps: Time Well Spent, Eat Cake, Priceless

Card: Taken with Teal, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Taken with Teal

Other: Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware, Petals & Paisleys DSP, Soft Subtles Stampin' Write Markers

Stamps: It's Beautiful Jumbo Wheel, Classic Backgrounds

Card: Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Glossy White

Ink: Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Regal Rose

Other: Simon On Board Lower Chipboard, Clear embossing powder, Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware

This card I made for one of Mel's colour challenges, and thought it would suit Dave too - love it when you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone!

Stamps: Eat Cake, Big Deal Alphabet

Card: Brilliant Blue, Green Galore, Yoyo Yellow, Whisper White

Ink: Brilliant Blue, Green Galore

Better late than never posting these!! Have a great day!

Another Colour Challenge from Mel

Mel has set another colour challenge, and for once I'm not e-mailing my entry to her at the last, last minute. She used a frangipani photo as inspiration and challenged all to use the colours Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Pretty in Pink and Apricot Appeal, with either Whisper White or Very Vanilla. I received the lovely Infinite Goodness Level 2 hostess set in my order that arrived while I was in Darwin, so thought this would be a good excuse to use it. This is what I came up with:

Stamps: Infinite Goodness

Card: Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Apricot Appeal, Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Garden Green

Other: Stampin' Pastels, Chocolate Chip 3/8" wide grosgrain ribbon

I look forward to see what everyone else has come up with too.

I think I'm a bit spoiled!

Yesterday, I hopped in the car after work to be greeted by a parcel (as well as my husband, beautiful girl, Mum and Dad!). What a surprise!! And made even better was that it was from my friend and upline Karen! For those of you who read her blog, you may recall I was lucky enough to have my number picked out first for her blog candy a couple of weeks ago. For those of you who don't read it - you MUST! Check it out here.

So, this is the gorgeous bundle I received - I was absolutely chuffed! Thanks Kaz!! You have inspired me so much yet again!!

Where have the past 2 years gone?

One event that has contributed to my not posting for a while was my beautiful little girl's second birthday. I have no idea where the past 2 years have gone and am constantly amazed by what she can do and how quickly she picks things up. Last year, I chickened out and only made the invites for her birthday party and bought a card, but this year I made a 'suite' that I am quite proud of. However, due to me not being organised enough and Paul and I only deciding 2 days before her birthday what exactly to do, only family received an invite.

If you would like the details of these projects, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Last but not least, as a dietitian, I cannot in good conscience send cake to childcare to celebrate Luana's special day, so here's the fruit platter I made this year - not really at all like I imagined (considering the supermarket did not have any yellow pears or honey dew, and I had a starfruit floating around in the fridge), but still pretty cool!! All the fruit was eaten (or at least tried in the case of the starfruit), so take that as a thumbs up from the kids!

Celebrations all around

Celebrations have been abundant in the lives of my family and friends lately - another gorgeous bundle arrived mid July, and yet another yesterday, we've had birthdays galore, and engagements; my cousin and my sister and her now-fiancee!! It's all been adding to my creativity - pity I have to work too and can't spend all day playing.

First up, little (well not-so-little, he was 10lb 7oz!!) Harrison arrived mid July. I was able to catch up with the rest of his family about a fortnight before he entered the world, but I will have to wait for a few months before I meet him in person.

Stamps: Wild About You, Big Deal Alphabet, Tidy Alphabet (retired), Polka Dots and Paisley

Card: Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Whisper White

Ink: Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Brilliant Blue, Summer Sunm Certainly Celery, Old Olive

Other: Petals & Paisleys DSP

Little Tayla arrived yesterday, but I have yet to make her card - stayed tuned!

One of my favourite cards of late (and just one of the many birthday cards I've made) has been the one I made for my cousin's 21st. I wanted to make something a bit speccy, but still man-enough. I think I got it!!

Stamps: Classic Stars Jumbo Wheel

Card: Not Quite Navy, Brushed Silver, Brushed Copper

Ink: Versamark

Other: Fall Flowers DSP, Silver embossing powder, On Board Simon Lower chipboard

Once again, this looks so much better IRL - the metallics really make it. We had a great day celebrating with Sam, my cousins and my grandparents (who travelled up to Darwin to celebrate) - and of course Luana was doted on all day.

The card that 'inspired' Sam's was the one I made for my cousins engagement. I like to use the colour scheme from invitations to inspire what I make, and this invite was black on silver. This is what I came up with.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Carte Postale

Card: Purley Pomgranate, Basic Black, Brushed Silver

Ink: Versamark

Other: Silver embossing powder

I think the Purely Pomegranate adds a little bit of romance. Now I need to come up with a really special card for my sister and her fiancee!! We are so excited!!

Swaps and swaps

I am always up for learning something new (that's why I think I'll never stop studying!), so I am usually one of the first ones to put my hand up for a new swap. This month is a little different due to massive commitments, but over the past couple of months I have participated in 2 that I haven't yet posted - Mel's Basic Grey Mini Catalogue swap and the Happy Stampers (the team I belong to) Watercolour swap. Here are my contributions:

I was really happy with how my first attempt at spotlighting worked - it really does look better IRL.

Stamps: It's Beautiful Jumbo Wheel, Itty Bitty Backgrounds

Card: Basic Grey, Ballet Blue, Pumpin Pie, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Grey, Ballet Blue

Other: 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, silver eyelet

I was a bit unsure about the watercolouring, but think I managed to pull this off - it's going to take a lot of practice to improve my confidence though!

Stamps: Oh, So Lovely (Level 1 Hostess set), Garden Whimsy

Card: Bashful Blue, Regal Rose, Watercolour paper

Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Regal Rose

Other: Certainly Celery Prints DSP, Bashful Blue brad, Rich Regals watercolour crayons, Soft Subtles Stampin' Write markers, light blue gingham ribbon

Sorry about the spacing, this is one thing I can't figure out on computers sometimes....

Thanks Mel and Karen for organising these swaps. I really enjoy being a part of them!