Gina's June Sketch Challenge

I missed playing along with Gina's challenge last month so I wanted to make sure I didn't miss the deadline this month. Gina has given us this sketch to work with.

For this card I used some of the images I had stamped at one of Gina's open stamp nights. Instead of ribbon I have used linen thread. I've also done some scalloped edges, paper piercing and used some gold brads. I've also decorated the inside of the card, something I hope to do more of as I think it just makes it that extra bit special. The sentiment says "Have A Great Day" and I know just the person I'm giving it to for her birthday coming up soon. Thanks for the challenge Gina. I liked this simple sketch and may attempt another card too as I have lots of friends with birthdays coming up.

Baked Eggs Recipe

Hello all. I thought it has been a while since I had shared a recipe with you so here I am with one. Now personally, I cannot stand eggs, loathe them with a passion but my darling husband on the other hand loves them. I dislike eggs so much I cannot bear to wash up dishes that have had egg on them, can't kiss hubby until he has cleaned his teeth after eating them and sometimes I can't even stand being in a room that has had eggs cooking in there so I guess you get the picture about me and eggs.

The other day while I was waiting in the hairdressers I saw this recipe for baked eggs. Now I am unsure which mag to give credit too, I think it was Woman's Day and I don't remember exact quantities off the top of my head but basically this is what you do.

I make 2 at a time but you can make as many as you want. To start grab 2 ramekin dishes and spray a little spray oil in them. In the bottom put some ham. I just used shaved ham torn up and some eshallots chopped finely. Mix the two together. Crack one egg over the top and sprinkle a little bit of grated cheese over the top and put in the oven for 7 mins (I left them about 9 mins when I cooked them) on about 180-200 degrees. I've made them twice and the second time I added a little bit of chopped mushroom in too. So simple for a Sunday brunch and the best thing is the worse I need to do is just crack the egg. These don't leave a eggy smell in the house. I just serve it with a muffin. If you like eggs I'm sure you'll enjoy this.

Keesh's Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #8

This week Keesh gave us this sketch to work with. I needed to make an Engagement Card and as I have no engagement stamps, the only thing I could use to fit the bill was this rub on of two champagne glasses. As the colours of the rub on where black, white and pink I had to run with that for my card (I hope the man doesn't mind the girly colours).

Christening Card

My friend Michelle's daughter Rhianna was Christened yesterday and here is the card I made for her special day. I don' t have any Christening stamps so it was a bit of a challenge, but this is what I ended up with.

Mandy Schiller's Scrap Challenge #1

Keesh has asked Mandy to hold a scrap challenge each month. Being so inspired after Keesh scrapped some of our wedding photos I thought I am going to do this. It has been so long since I last scrapped anything, over 12 months so that was just the inspiration I needed. Isn't this layout great too?


I found it hard finding pictures that are landscape as at least 95% of pics I take are the other way. I can see why Mandy turned the sketch around in her example, but these kindy pics fit the bill. My daughter Logan started kindy this year and these are some pics from her first day. She loves kindy and loves the page I have made for her too. Thanks for looking and thanks for the inspiration again Keesh and Mandy. I really dislike my handwriting so I haven't written a little story about the day yet. I'm going to practise writing nicely and then I'll fill it in.

Scrapped by Keesh

One of my favourite paper crafters Keesh has scrapped some of our wedding photos for her latest UStamp project. She is sending me the pages and tells me they look 100% better in real life so I can't wait to see them because I think they have turned out great here. Here is the link to her blog with the full story but thought I'd post her pictures on my blog too. Thanks heaps Keesh, I can't wait to see the real thing!!! You are one talented lady.

A Quick Card

The other day I punched out a scallop and cut down each scallop towards the middle (which is hard to see in this photo) to make a flower. I glued a green button with some linen thread tied in a knot through it to the middle. Last night I thought I should do something with it so here is my very simple little card. I also decided to use linen thread to sew a stem for the flower and used a rub on for the sentiment.

Another Criss Cross Card

Some time ago I made a criss cross card, see here and last night while trying to clean up my makeshift craft room (that would be one of the benches in my kitchen) I found this card I had made recently. I really need a better space to work in but that is an ongoing saga I have with my husband at the moment. I'd just love to buy or build again but hubby doesn't want to play that game. If the shed wasn't already packed to capacity I think I'd just move out there!!! I haven't added any sentiment yet until I know what I want to use it for.

Makeesha's Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #7

Keesh has given us this sketch to work with this week. I really liked the card I made for Bec recently and adapted it slightly to make another one for this challenge. I personally like the first card better but anyway, here it is.

Colour Create Week 15 Challenge

So much for the saying Blue and Green should never be seen. I stumbled onto the Welcome to Colour Create blog which has a colour challenge going at the moment, to create a card using blue and green and to add some paper piercing if desired. It just happened to be that I was in the process of making a card for a friend for a 60th birthday. This card was started a week ago but just needed assembling, so here it is. This is also the first time I have tried the faux silk technique which you can find the instructions for here.

Birthday Card for Bec

My friend Rebecca just celebrated her birthday and here is the card I made for her (we just need to catch up now so I can give it to her). Again I used the layout I love from Keesh and this time I have placed a photo of her card at the bottom of this post. It is such a simple layout yet I can't get enough of it and my friend Mel showed me these great flower you make by putting punched circles in water and crunching up and allowing to dry. They turn out really well. I think she found it on someones blog who had entered a K Werner colour challenge. I also decorated the inside of the card this time. The card looks much prettier in real life. I only wish the photos showed this. I have been a bit slack writing the recipes for the cards lately so if I get a chance tonight I'll come back and add them in.

Some More Cards

Here are a few more cards I've made recently. The one of the left is similar to the one I posted recently that was inspired by Keesh, the one in the middle is another style of joyfold card and can be seen at the bottom of the tutorial here and the last features the glitter window technique which I have shown on my blog before inspired by Mae Collins. Again sorry for the photo quality.

Spoilt by Mel and Kel

It was my birthday recently and two of my fellow Stampin' buddies Melissa and Kelly spoilt me with these goodies. Kel surprised me with the "Wow Flowers" stamp set and some ribbon. By the time I took this pic I had already used some of the ribbon up and Mel made this beautiful "A Year of Cards" folder to keep cards in for upcoming birthdays and special occasions. I love it heaps. Again my camera has issues (it is never the operator) so sorry for the grainy photos. I know red flashing lights probably mean something but come on...just do it!!!!

Wednesday Night Creations

Last night I made a few cards, four in fact. Just simple cards for birthdays, special occasions, maybe even mothers day. The top card is a joy fold card. I've made one of these before but here are the instructions again. The bottom left and middle are inspired by a card I received from Keesh. I think nearly everyone knows Keesh, but click here if you would like to see her work (it would take me all day to find the link to her card that is a similar layout) and the card on the bottom right is a gate fold card. I have also made this style before and again here are the instructions for this type of card. Double clicking on the picture should make it bigger for you to see. Thanks for looking.

Baby Baby Baby

Hello there. Well I'm just about to go and feed my darling boy and off to bed after a busy week and weekend but wanted to upload this card for Leah's monthly challenge which is due by tomorrow. I've been looking at this gorgeous pic on her blog for weeks now and finally thought I'd make something tonight while watching Talia win So You Think You Can Dance. I'm so glad she won, she has been my favourite all the way through. Oh I'm a sucker for reality tv.

Anyway, here is the inspirational pic and my card. The colours were Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana and Whisper White. The photo has been taken at night but the card has been scored around the edge, on the top left is a pink button with a bow tied on it using linen thread and a yellow and blue button on the other two paper pierced scallop thingies. Talk soon.

Deshon's Retreat

For our anniversary we stayed at Deshon's Retreat (right next door to one of our favourite Wineries "Crane's Wines"). These were excellent little cabins with polished cement floors, king size beds which felt huge, lovely bath products, fantastic breakfast, great views... I could go on and on, but I might just show some pics. The first picture is taken from Cranes Winery looking at the retreats.

Tipperary Winery

Well we've had a busy week around here. On Monday we had an appointment in Brissy for Ky, Tuesday was my birthday (by the way, Shane cooked me the yummiest dinner....chicken and mushroom crepe for entree, herb crusted rack of lamb and vegetables for main and blueberry and white chocolate cheesecake for desert) and Wednesday we went away to the South Burnett area for a couple of nights as it was our anniversary on Thursday. The first night we stayed in a little cabin (come shed converted into accommodation) at Tipperary Estate Winery at Moffatdale near Murgon. Although nothing flash it was quite cute and comfy and we had the best views and the serenity (once the kids were tucked up in bed). Here are a couple of pics from our time there. I'll post another lot of pics in a minute from our second night at Deshons Retreat near Kingaroy.

Easter 2009 on Fraser Island

Well don't you just love it when your camera plays up on holidays, grrrrrr!!!! Anyway, we hopefully have it all sorted now but here are a few pics from our Easter on Fraser. I can't believe this was Logan's 4th Easter. She had her first trip to Fraser at about 10 weeks which was an Easter and Kyan had his first trip to Fraser last Easter at about 8 weeks of age. Oh how time flies.

Pic 1: Here are the kids playing in the rock pools in front of Happy Valley where our place is. Normally there isn't so many rocks out put after the recent cyclone action there were quite a few to keep the kids busy with exploring. In this pic is my goddaughter Charlee, Logan and Lewin. Charlee and Lewin's little sister Trinity is in the background with their mum Jenny. This was little Triny's first trip to Fraser and you can just see a glimpse of Kyan (the blue hat) and my hubby Shane. Pic 2: We saved a little turtle from the rough seas. He stayed with us a couple of nights and regained some strength. Hopefully he survived. Pic 3: Logan made a little outdoor nest for the Easter bunny using twigs, leaves and grass and was very excited the next morning to see the Easter bunny had left some treats in there. Pic 4: Here are the kids with their Easter treats. Our little boy Kyan unfortunately has some food intolerance issues and couldn't get stuck into the chocolate, but loved playing with his Bob the Builder torch.

Mel's Weekly Challenge #15

Well, I'm back from our week on Fraser for Easter. I will try and post a few photos when I get a chance however we had problems with our camera while we were over there so I'm not sure how many good ones we have. I hope you all had a great Easter break with lots of chocolate treats. This week Mel has set the challenge to create a card featuring faux stitching. So here is the birthday card I made for my god daughter Charlee who has just turned the important milestone of 5 years of age.

Grandma's Easter Egg Recipe

I mentioned in an earlier post, how much I loved my Grandma's homemade solid Easter bunny each year. Every Easter, wrapped in alfoil, all the kids got their very own massive solid bunny. It would take ages to eat. Sadly Grandma passed away last year and I really wanted to make her recipe this Easter for my little girl to try. I managed to track the recipe down and made some bunnies and eggs. Beware, these are not the healthiest, but what chocolate is? So here are the ingredients and instructions. I usually double this recipe.

4 ounces copha (that is 1/2 a standard block)
1 cup of icing mixture
1 cup of powdered milk
3 desertspoons of cocoa
1 teaspoon of vanilla

In a medium to large saucepan, melt copha over low heat until melted and warm but not hot. Take off the heat. Stir in sifted icing mixture and powdered milk. Add the cocoa (I sift it in too) and the vanilla. Put mixture into molds and set in the fridge. Too easy.

Makeesha's Inspiration Challenge #6

I've had lots of birthdays lately to make cards for, so at least I'm getting the chance to play along with a few challenges. This week Keesh has given us an Inspiration Challenge. I needed to make a card for my dad and these colours are quite manly. I even managed to incorporate 2 silver brads into the card to go with the spoon in the picture. Without further ado (how old fashion does that sound), here is the inspirational photo and my card. Thanks for looking and a big thanks to Gina for the use of some of the stamps and punches used here at her open stamping night on Monday.


Supplies Used -
Card stock: Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Paper: Prints DSP Certainly Celery, DSP Afternoon Tea
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Sanded Background Stamp, Loads of Love, Grants clear stamps - Birthday
Other: 2 silver brads, chocolate ribbon, round tab punch, photo corner punch, paper peircer, watercolour pencils.

Another Easter Basket

My daughter made one of these very simple Easter baskets at kindy yesterday using a 12cm square piece of coloured paper and a 1 inch strip for the handle. I made a quick one up this afternoon as I had some homemade Easter eggs to give to Logan's Nana when she comes over today along with her other Easter gift. The homemade Easter eggs I make are my grandma's recipe. We loved getting our solid bunny each year from her as kids. If I get a chance later (I'm suppose to be packing for Fraser Island), I'll pop back and share the recipe. The little tag says "eggstra special easter wishes".

Easter Basket

Keesh made another great project for Make it Monday last week, an Easter Basket, see here. These are so easy to make and I'm really happy with the finished product. My daughter is going to give this one to her kindy teachers. I hope they like it. I used some raffia instead of tissue paper in mine. Here is a pic of it empty and with some eggy goodness in it.


Supplies Used -
Card stock - Barely Banana, Whisper White
Paper - DSP Spring Showers
Other - Scallop and Circle Punches, a little chicken thing I had in my craft supplies, raffia, 2 large brads and some easter eggs!!!

Our Mums and Bubs Group

Hi, just thought I'd post a quick picture of the kids in our little group. 5 has turned into 9, but the girls still hold the balance of power. It is so hard to get them to all look at the same time.

Gina's April Challenge

Brown + Pink = Baby Girl Card!!! As soon as I read the instructions for Gina's challenge this month, it screamed baby girl card and since I have a few friends expecting, it won't hurt to start stocking up on baby cards again. This month Gina challenged us to making a card using the sketch below but we also had to use the colours Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa and Whisper White, mmm some of my favourites. I really like the way this card turned out although the photo really doesn't do it justice. I might try and take another one tomorrow. The little bootie and sentiment are both raised up off the card. Thanks for looking.


Supplies Used:

Card stock - Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa and Whisper White

Paper - DSP Berry Bliss

Ink - Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa

Stamps - Oh So Lovely, Grant clear stamps "Baby"

Other - Brown Check Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Scallop, Circle and Slit Punches, Paper Piercer, Blender Pen