Monday, November 30, 2009

Gift Boxes for Funky Homes

In my last post I showed you some cute gift cards that I made for Funky Homes in Liverpool Street, Hobart. I'm delighted to be able to show you some pictures of the gift boxes that I've made for Funky Homes as well.





Here's a close up of the embossing detail.



If you're in Hobart, it's well worth a look... And not just because my cards are stocked there!  :)


149A Liverpool Street
Hobart Tasmania
03 6234 7129



Click HERE to visit my Stampin' Up! website.



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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Gift Cards for Funky Homes

Some of you may know that a variety of my handmade cards are available to purchase from Funky Homes in Liverpool Street Hobart.  I'm absolutely thrilled to have such a fabulous store stocking my cards!  So I thought I'd share a few gift cards that I've made for Funky Homes recently.

I've used a retired Stampin' Up! set called Toy Box for these cards - it's such a gorgeous set!  And then I used Stampin' Up! markers and an aquapainter to watercolour the images.







I think they're cute.  What do you think?


Click HERE to see my Stampin' Up! website.



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Final Choices For Our House

We made the final choices for our house a little while ago, but I wanted to let it all settle before I posted any of it in case we changed our minds!

I don't think the photos do our choices much justice - they look much better in real life!

The carpet is a charcoal grey colour - we've had Bronte (our perpetually moulting ginger cat) lay on a sample for a few days and the fur doesn't seem to show up any worse than any other carpet we've had.

The floor in the kitchen/dining is called Karndean - it's a vinyl floor covering that's extremely durable and a lot more forgiving than tiles.  We've chosen a floating timber floor look.


This is a close up of the kitchen choices.  The large cream paper is the paint colour throughout the house - Hog Bristle - an awful name!

We've gone with "Latte" High Gloss wrapped vinyl for the kitchen cupboards and the front of the breakfast bar and the kickboards will be in "Urban Grey".  The benchtop will be a squareform laminex in "Mineral Harmony" and the splashbacks will be in a polished porcelain that matches the "Urban Grey" vinyl.


And finally, the bathrooms and the laundry.  The tile on the right is the floor tile and it's a creamy caramel kind of colour.  The tile on left is a matte white and that will go in the showers, behind the vanities and above the bath.  The smaller square tiles are feature tiles and they'll go (in a strip of three) up each shower and a single row will go over the bath.


Phew!


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UStamp with Dawn & Friends Year End Blowout

Under a week to go until UStamp with Dawn & Friends Year End Blowout begins!  I'm excited!


If you haven't heard of it before, it's a great network of Stampin' Up demonstrators and customers who link up over the internet to learn fantastic techniques and projects.  I did my first one this year - UStamp With Dawn and Friends Holiday09 - and it was brilliant!  I now have a binder full of awesome projects to complete and to use as a resource for my SU business.  Brilliant!



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Monday, November 23, 2009

And I Felt Unfit Before!

I was emailed this video a little while ago of a performance of the Kings Firecrackers at an Army vs. Navy game in the US.  Talk about super fit!  I don't think I'd manage 5 seconds with a skipping rope!






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Saturday, November 21, 2009

Bathroom Fashion

Olivia had a bubble bath yesterday and was proudly showing me the latest in Bathroom Fashion.

Here she is explaining the hat and scarf combination...


And this is the amazing Double Hat!


But this picture is my favourite. 


Cheeky monkey.

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #91

I've been busy today!  I have another challenge card for you!  This one is for Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #91 which is from Taylor VanBruggen's blog Taylored Expessions.  It's an amazing site - so many wonderful ideas!

Here's the sketch challenge:


I thought I'd take the opportunity to use some more of the new Stampin' Up! Summer Mini Catalogue products so my fantastic customers can see what's available.


I don't use Bold Brights all that often, (not because I don't like the colours because I do!), it's more that I'm usually drawn to deeper colours.  Having said that, I love these colours!  I used Pink Flamingo Designer Series Paper from the 09/10 Idea Book and Catalogue.  Aren't they vibrant?


Here's a close up of the stamp I used from For Everything.  I used a blender pen to fill the letters in with Summer Sun ink.


As always, I'd love to know what you think, so leave me a message!


Materials:
Stamp Set - For Everything
Card Stock - Confetti Cream, Tempting Turquoise
Designer Series Paper - Pink Flamingo
Ink - Basic Black, Summer Sun
Accessories - Dimensionals


Click HERE to visit my Stampin' Up! website.



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Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #44

This is my first time completing a Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge from Karen Giron's blog, The Sweetest Thing, and I had such fun using Animal Stories and the coordinating papers.  They're adorable!

Here's the card sketch for this challenge:


And here's the card I designed using the sketch:


Aren't the Tall Tales papers gorgeous?  They'll be available here in Australia on December 1st, as will all the stamp sets I've used.  The photo doesn't show it well, but the chocolate chip circle has "hello" from Hello Again stamped on it.


And a close up of the cute little elephant!


If you haven't noticed, I have the coolest watermark on my images now - thanks to Karen Giron!  If you'd like to buy your own watermarks from Karen for US$2.00, click here.  It's a bargain!

Click HERE to visit my Stampin' Up! website.


Materials:
Stamp Set - Animal Stories, For Everything, Hello Again
Card Stock - Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Confetti Cream
Designer Series Paper - Tall Tales
Ink - Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, So Saffron
Accessories - Dimensionals




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Inkspirations Inspiration Challenge # 15

Okay, I'm late posting this challenge - sorry!  I know it won't count, but I still wanted to post my card. 

The challenge is Makeesha Byl's Inkspirations Inspiration Challenge # 15.  This is the inspiration picture:



I found it so hard because I wanted something classic and simple, but everything I came up with seemed to be too busy!  I finally settled on using "Park Avenue Patterns", which my brother brought over for me from Canada.  I love the set - it's such a gorgeous background sampler.  This is the first time I've actually used it on a finished card! 






The ribbon is difficult to see, but it's a sheer black ribbon with satin edging.  I made the bow by creating two circles of ribbon and gathering them in the centre, then I put a Rhinestone brad in the centre.




Leave a message and let me know what you think!  Click HERE to have a look at my Stampin' Up! website.



Materials:
Stamp Set - Park Avenue Patterns
Card Stock - Basic Black
Ink - Versamark
Accessories - Heat and Stick Powder, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Heat Tool, Rhinestone brad, black ribbon (it has a sheer centre and satin edges)




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Thursday, November 19, 2009

A Conversation With Daddy

As Olivia's speech is developing, the conversations we have with her are becoming more amusing...


Night.  It's after dinner.  Daddy is sitting on the lounge and Olivia is playing on the floor.
Curtain rises.

Daddy:  Olivia, would you like to come and sit with me on the chair?
Olivia:    No.  (pointing to the dining room setting)  That is a chair.  This is a lounge.
Daddy:  Sorry.
Olivia:    It's okay.  (she climbs up and sits on the lounge)

Curtain closes.




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Saturday, November 14, 2009

Organic Outlines in Teal and Blue

I was so excited to have received an Honourable Mention on Makeesha Byl’s Stampin’ Up! challenge that I decided to use the same design for a card swap, but with different colours. Here are the results:







I'd love to know what you think!  Click HERE to have a look at my Stampin' Up! website.



Materials:
Stamp Set - Organic Outlines
Card Stock - Sahara Sand, Taken With Teal textured, Very Vanilla
Ink - Sahara Sand, Taken With Teal, Brocade Blue
Accessories - Hodgepodge




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The Wiggles!

We took Olivia to see The Wiggles in concert today - she was so excited!  We got to the Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart early because we knew that parking would be tight, so we had a bit of time to wait until the show started.  And like every performance, there was merchandise for sale on your way in.  Olivia scored pretty well!  Brian chose a Dorothy the Dinosaur tail for her and we also got her some Dorothy fairy wings and a wand.  It's the first wand I've seen that has a soft end! 


Here are The Wiggles in action.  They're fantastic performers and it's obvious they love what they're doing!  I'd commented to a friend recently that it was a bit sad that the last concert I'd been to was John Farnham and I went with my mum (no offense Mum!).  But guess what I found out today?  The Wiggles was the first concert for Olivia... AND Brian!


Olivia and I were pretty excited to see some of the acrobatics featured in the latest Wiggles DVD.  Talk about fit performers!




And one last picture... Olivia was mesmerised by the performance!



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