Late start to the new year...

Hello again lovely crafters!

I apologise for my lack of attention to my blog so far this year. I've been feeling a bit sore, sad, and sorry for myself. I had to have all four of my wisdom teeth out - not a pleasant experience, let me tell you! The bottom two were a bit tricky to get out, being in rather stupid positions, and I was wallowing in pain, misery and self pity for a couple of weeks. I know... I'm a total sook!! Anyway, before I was really on the mend from my dental drama, I went through the heart breaking experience of having to say good bye to my beloved Stoli.

He was an old man (almost 15), and he never really recovered from having surgery last year to remove his ears - which were riddled with cancer. He developed a thyroid problem that medication wasn't really helping then on top of that the small cancerous spot on his nose became really agrgessive - basically eating his nose away. I promised him after his ear surgery that I wouldn't put him through any more, and sadly on January 22nd he made his last visit to the vet. I know some people might think I'm silly, but I know others will totally understand how heartbroken I still am - to the point that I'm bawling my eyes out while typing this! He was my best friend for nearly 15 years, and we had been through a lot together. I will miss him every day, while telling myself that I made the best decision I could for him.

So...while I dry my eyes, blow my nose and try to recover from the dreaded "red blotchies" that accompany my crying out burst, please enjoy the few cards I have managed to make. I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head for future projects - and who knows, I may even get around to making, photographing and blogging about them!

A birthday card I made for... ummm....someone special...?!?! (So long ago now that I can't remember!!)

The card I made my husband for our 11th Wedding Anniversary :)

I promise I won't leave it so long next time!

It's nearly Christmas!!!

I have no idea how a whole month has passed by... I'm sure I must have zombied my way through the odd day here and there! I could claim that this project took me most of that month to make, but 1) that would be a lie, and b) I would hope it would look a bit more blinged up if I had spent a month on it!

Most years we try to get the kids a Lego advent calendar instead of the chocolate type you get at the supermarket... I figure they are mental enough without having chocolate for breakfast! This year, though, since I have all these cool toys and my mad skillz, I thought I would try making one for the hubby and I - since chocolate for breakfast can only help us get through the day!

I found an awesome tutorial on Brenda Quintana's blog. It has videos, step-by-step photos and written instructions - hard to get it wrong! It's made just that little bit easier by using the Petal Card Punch for the box fronts. I strayed away from the traditional Christmas red & green to keep with my turquoise and silver/white decorating theme

So here it is... let me know what you think!

And just to continue the theme...

here's another card with an owl :) This one, however, is a PIRATE owl - so it's totally different!

It was for a birthday party, and as usual I left everything to the last minute. Since I was running short on time and inspiration for a pirate card for a 6 year old, I am not ashamed to say that I completely "borrowed" the layout from Tobe, over at Stampin' with Tobe. One day I'll come up with an original idea ;)

Now I'm off to finish preparing for my Christmas workshops....and I have a horrid feeling I forgot to order a particular colour of cardstock :/ Might be time for some last minute creative editing!

An Owly card for Charlie Chuckles

You guessed it... I'm back with *another* owl! I think my little obsession may be getting out of control ;)  I love this set (Owl Occasions), and I love the little man I made it for - my honorary nephew, Charles!

I decided to use the new Framelits dies to attempt an interlocking gate card. Sounds fancy, but was actually pretty easy, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Here's the front - the island indigo frame opens to the left, then the central frame opens to the right.

And here's inside:

It's funny how much I'm using Summer Starfruit at the moment... when I first saw the new colours I really didn't go much on it. It really grows on you though :)

Anyway, we've got yet another party to go to tomorrow, so I need to get my mojo on and make a pirate card - stay tuned!

JAI#138 & Mojo#262

Another last minute dash to enter a challenge!!

I really did mean to get it finished earlier.. honest! But since my darling husband has abandoned me for the bright lights of San Francisco, I've had my hands full with the boys - and I mean FULL. Plus I've been doing a few small DIY jobs around the house which have had to be the priority in the child free minutes I can spare :) So after a quick and easy dinner, watching How To Train Your Dragon with the kids (resulting in a slightly traumatised 7 year old), and a *reasonably* speedy bed time routine, I managed to get a card done!

Here is my effort for the colour challenge of Summer Starfruit, Basic Grey & Whisper White at Just Add Ink and the sketch challenge Mojo Monday.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with dates and details for my Christmas worshop!

Mojo261 & PP115 Challenge

After a bit of a drought, it is now raining blog challenge entries here in mINKs land! I spent a blissful day crafting (with some awesome company!)  and managed to come up with a card to suit the Paper Players challenge #115 and the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #261

I used the ribbon, yellow & grey, and birthday combination from the Paper Players and chose basic grey with one of the 2012-2013 In Colours: Summer Starfruit. I must admit to now being overly attracted to it when the new colours first came out.... but it really grew on me after a while :)

Anyway, enough waffle... here is the card!

Ribbons!!!

Who wants FREE RIBBON?!?!

Answer: Everyone!!

Stampin' Up! have an awesome offer for October where you receive a free roll of the spiffy new In Colour stitched ribbon with every $60 purchase! Raspberry Ripple and Gumball Green are great Christmas colours, and a bit of ribbon is just the thing to spice up your cards this season.

If you would like to make a purchase, or host your own workshop to take advantage of this awesome offer, just let me know!

OR

You could stay tuned for details and sign up for my Christmas Stamp-a-stack! We will be making some very simple, but gorgeous Christmas cards and you can have a practice working with the new ribbons too!

JAI 137

Not only has it been a while between regular blog updates, it's also been a while between challenge entries! There have been a few I wanted to do, but time just got away from me and I didn't get the entries finished in time. But this week, I DID!!! 

Here is my take on the sketch challenge over at Just Add Ink - set by my lovely upline, Mae (*waves* Hi Mae! Yes, we must catch up soon... let me know when you're free :) )

Happy Hour is one of my favourite sets... the one I *had* to have as soon as I saw the new catalogue! Given my love of a good cocktail, and the name of my craft room being "The Margarita Lounge", is it any surprise? :) It's a really versatile set, with phrases to suit birthdays, Christmas and just because! I'm sure there will be a lot more posts with this set in the future :)

Two by Two

Two by Two is one of the new single stamps on offer in the catalogue. It's so cute!!! It's perfect for baby and little kid's cards, and great for working on those colouring skills!

And speaking of colouring skills... I'm off to work on mine a bit more :)

Make A Cake!

I think this set will be one of my favourites from the new catalogue. It works for kids and adults, birthdays and weddings.. and it's just cute!
This is the first time I've had a chance to get it inked up since it arrived... so many new toys to play with, and so little time!!

I've got a few more cards in progress, with some more of the new catalogue pretties, so stay tuned!!


Oh, and one last thing: I can sew!!! Sort of :) I got a pretty new sewing machine last weekend and I tried it out by making a cushion for my craft room couch....with an owl, of course!! For someone who had trouble sewing in a straight line, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out :)