Yes, it's late...

Okay. So it's late at night and I should be in bed. But I'm not. Why? Because I've come across a group called Improv Everywhere and it's so funny I can't tear myself away!

You've probably seen some of the things they've done, like a flash mob in Grand Central Station that froze for about 5 minutes. Here are some of my favourites so far...



I'd love to be a part of this!!

The Flag Page

My brother had an interesting entry on his blog about a test he did called "The Flag Page". It got me intrigued because the test is all about discovering what makes you happiest in life. So I did it too (I know, suckered in!). I'd love to hear your thoughts about what My Flag Page says about me...

Our House

We're finally getting to the end of the planning stage of our house, so I thought I'd share some pictures. We're hoping that building will begin in November.

Here's the stunning view that we'll have! We're overlooking the Derwent River, with an unobstructed view of Mt Wellington (although you can't really see it in these photos because of that huge tree!).

And here are our house plans. We've taken longer with the planning stage because we wanted to make sure everything was exactly how we want it to be. Because our block is sloping, the main living level is the first floor, with a rumpus and guest room downstairs.

And here's our kitchen plan in 3D.

And finally, here are our colour choices so far. We are booked in to see a colour specialist next week, so it will be interesting to see what we decide from there. But basically we've chosen a deeper colour carpet for the majority of the house, and the entry/kitchen/dining will be with a special kind of floor covering by Karndean. At the moment we've chosen a timber look.

The kitchen cupboards are "Latte" High Gloss wrapped vinyl (left sample) and the kickboards will be in "Urban Grey". The colour in between, "Chino", is what we're thinking for the splashback. And finally the benchtops will be a dark granite/granite look-alike, we still haven't decided!

Hope you like how it looks so far!

Photos of Olivia

I just thought I'd share the latest photo display of Olivia. It's handy having a cute subject!



On another note, here's a conversation I just had with Olivia. She really didn't want to have a nappy change and got a little upset...

Olivia:    No, stop it!
Me:         Olly, you need a nappy change. (pause, then attempt to make her smile by pulling a funny face)
Olivia:    No, stop it! No smiling anymore!
Me:         Oh, sorry. (pause) Are you sad?
Olivia:    No!
Me:         Are you cranky?
Olivia:    No!
Me:         What's wrong then?
Olivia:    I very sad...
Me:         Oh... Why are you very sad?
Olivia:    I have tears!


Hehe... too cute!

Playing

When Peter and Emily (my brother and his beautiful wife) came to visit, they brought me some goodies from Stampin' Up! Canada. I know that non-stampers won't be excited by this, but for all you SU! junkies, they brought me sets that aren't available here! And I've just finished some cards using one of my favourites - Animal Stories. It's such a funky set and the matching paper is just gorgeous.

Materials:
Stamp Set - Animal Stories
Card Stock - So Saffron, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Designer Series Paper - Tall Tales
Inks - Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Accessories - So Saffron Ribbon

Click HERE to visit my Stampin' Up! website.

Inkspirations Inspiration Challenge #13

I've finally decided to play along with a card challenge and the one I've chosen is Makeesha Byl's Inkspirations Inspiration Challenge #13. Here's the inspiration picture:


And here's my card!

I've used one of my favourite sets, Eastern Blooms, and one that my brother brought me from Canada called Heard From the Heart. I also got to play with two of my favourite inks - Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red. And I did one of my standard tricks with using two different heights of mounting foam to raise the embellishment flowers. It always looks cute.

The faux bow is really easy and effective too.

Hope you like it! Feel free to check out my other work on my website - Danielle Daws Designs

Materials:
Card Stock - Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper - Washington Apple
Stamps - Eastern Blooms, Heard From the Heart
Inks - Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red
Ribbon - Chocolate Chip

Cooking with Sarah

Olivia has a play kitchen that she loves, but she seems to love it so much more when she has a friend to share it with. When her friend Sarah came to visit, (Sarah's brother Nick came too, but he was busy with the play Dyson - well trained Mum!), the two of them cooked up a storm in their bright green chef outfits!


It's so cute watching them play together. Occasionally one of them will say "No, that's mine!" in a stern voice, but even then they seem to just go with the flow. Hooray for two year old assertiveness!

No such thing as "too many cooks" in Olly's kitchen!