My 40th!

Hi Guys,

Warning, pic heavy, stamping light, post! Blogger playing up, have edited this about 6 times!

I have had an absolute ball over the last few days celebrating turning 40. Who would've thought being 40 could be so good. A HUGE thank you to my fabulous blog buddies, Andrea, Lee-Anne, Lee, Genelle & Sarah-Jane for your birthday wishes. It is wonderful how SU leads to amazing friendships, even amongst people who've never met. Love ya, gorgeous ladies!! I will take pics of the lovely cards I've been sent soon. If you want to see the card that the very lovely Andrea made me, click here. Isn't it gorgeous? It is even lovelier IRL.

I thought I'd update a few pics of my party. I just had a small gathering of about 35 people for finger food & cake. My good friends Ross & sarah had a 'lolly bar' at their wedding & I loved the idea, so i pinched it. (Card making is not the only area of my life where I CASE, LOL). I also saw these pics on Petronela's blog & really liked her use of the stripey stamp from the 'Cute & Curly' set for the lolly jar labels, so I CASEd that too. My colour scheme was Rich Razzleberry & Silver, which was so pretty.

Here are my pics:

The lovely balloon arrangements, the top one has 40's printed on it.

Lolly bags made using the Big Shot Fancy Favour die. The clips are from Smiggle.

The cake table & Lolly Bar, yummo!

A close up of the lolly jars. Love the Rich razzleberry ribbon & little 'Cute & curly' labels (thanks for the idea Petronela)

Front-on shot

A few of my guests.

I had a wonderful time and my guests mingled really well. The finger food was yummy, the cake divine & I was sooooo spoilt with gorgeous gifts, esp from my parents, a beautiful ring made from my Grandmother's engagement ring and Grandmother & Great-Grandmother's wedding rings. It is stunning & I looooove it (and you too Mum, MWAH!). I got a voucher for a helicopter ride over Sydney harbour, a voucher for a day Spa, Koorong Voucher, Colorado Voucher & Pandora voucher (my friends know me well) and lots of lovely jewellery. My aunt gave me a beautiful scarf from paris & a necklace from Ireland, yummy. I have fantastic choice in friends and am blessed to be in my family. My brother & family even arranged to send me a hamper, a big deal when they live in Russia. I feel very loved & very blessed!!!!

I promise to get back here with some cards soon, but i just had to share my party fun.

Love Fi xoxox

Another July Birthday

Hi Guys,

Just a quick post. This is a card I made for a mate who likes gardening & has renovated his house. I saw this card on Splitcoast & thought it would be perfect for James.

Here is my take on it:

I left off the scallop edge border in the interests of making it more masculine. I hope he liked getting it in the post. I got so confused around James' b'day. I thought it was the 2nd on the 1st and texted him a day early. It was only the next day when I saw all the good wishes on Facebook that I realised I'd been a day out. So I really had two '2nd of July' days this month and James got to celebrate twice. Night duty can do that to you!!!

Have a great day,

Fi xox

Recipe:

Stamps - Good Neighbours (SAB), On Your Birthday

Paper - Baja Breeze, Very vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss CS, Sweet Pea (USA ret) DSP

Ink - Markers in above colours

Accessories - Vintage Brad, Choc Chip ribbon, Dimensionals

Birthday Bonanza

Hi Guys,

I can't believe it is so long between posts. I sat down the other week and started a post in order to show you the cards I made for Mum's b'day, only to realise that I (shock, horror) forgot to take any photos of the cards I made her. Will have to go & take some. I have had two lots of only 2 days off this roster (which, when doing night duty really means only 1 full day off and 2 where you are at work for part of it) and with all my party plans, have had zero time to blog.

I have, however, been making some cards & projects for the 10 July/August birthdays amongst my friends and family, including three having 30th b'days in August. Busy time but lots of fun events.

This card is one I made for my mate who lives in Tamworth. Jenny is 44 but young at heart. No-one would ever think she was beyond her 30's. I really liked this sketch from an Inkspirations challenge designed by Cindy Major and this is the 2nd time that I've used it (see last post for the 1st card).

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

I hope she liked it.

Must go and get ready for work.

Have a great weekend,

Love Fi xox

Recipe:

Stamps - Crazy for Cupcakes, Extreme Elements (USA), Whimsical Words (SAB)

Paper - greeting card base, Taken with Teal & Whisper White CS, 'Sweet Pea' DSP (retired, USA only).

Ink - Rose Red, Taken with Teal, So Saffron, mix of inks & markers.

Accessories - Dazzling Diamonds, Heat & Stick Powder, Dimensionals, Rose Red & So Saffron ribbons, Circle Scissors, Dotto, Punches.

How can my nephew be turning 16???

Hi again,

As the title suggests, I can not believe my nephew could possibly be that old. Hardly seems any time since he was a baby. He lives in Russia and wants money for his b'day but we are sending over cards (of course!). I made one from Mum & Dad & one from me. I am pretty sure I am safe to post it here before we send it as he's not likely to be perusing my blog LOL.

Firstly the one from the Grandparents:

I took the layout & basic idea from here and the grunged it up a bit and moved the stars around. I love stars for male cards. I finally got 'Wonderful Favourites' when it was on sale earlier this year and it is such a handy set. Perfect for a card from Grandparents. I couldn't use 'favourite' as there are 2 grandsons. I took inspiration for the colours from the 'Sweet Pea' DSP, again sent to me by Lavonne (wow Lavonne, you're a life-saver!!!). While I really love our Aussie DSPs it has been a bit 'light-on' for male papers (the 'Urbans' & 'Windsor Knot' have been the main ones with suitable 'boyish' papers). I really like this stripe from the 'Sweet Pea' papers for guys. I used the fabulous alphabet sizzlits (exclusive to SU) with the 'Big Shot' for the '16' and the 2 star punches. The silver embossed star uses a PTI stamp set that co-ordinates with our star punch. The little stars are from a retired SU set that is too handy to give up. The colours are 'Taken with Teal', 'Pumpkin Pie' & 'Basic Grey'.

Now for the card from me:

I must be honest & say that I was thrilled with how this turned out. I took the layout from a past Inkspirations Sketch challenge, #29 (se below) and inspiration from this fab card by Louise Ryan. I have been meaning to CASE it for ages, but then really liked this layout.

I have once again used SU 'contraband' from the States. I love, love, love these 'Extreme' sets. I think there might be a riot if these don't turn up in our next Catty. There is a large number of demos who have been asking for them for a few years now. They are so good for teen boys. There is the 'Extreme Elements' set used for the background image on the circle, & then individual stamps, this guitarist, a skateboarder, snowboarder, surfer & dirt-bike rider. Who couldn't find a use for at least some of those images????

Anyway, back to the card. I started with 'Night of Navy' CS and stamped it in Silver Encore ink using a retired stamp set (Starring You???). I stamped my background from the 'Extreme Elements' set in 'Night of Navy', 'Pumpkin Pie' & 'Kiwi Kiss' & black embossed the guitarist image over the top. I cut out the image, plus 2 more circles in 'N of N' & KK CS using my 'Circle

Scissors' (with lots of Dotto, that is absolutely essential in getting great circles). I cut two rectangles of CS in KK & PP & distressed the edges using my 'Cutter Kit'. I stamped them with 2 of the 'Extreme Elements' images. The Circle is raised up on Dimensionals. I used yet another contraband stamp from the US set 'Four Square', inked in N of N on Whisper White CS. I loved this stamp for boys cards. (thanks again Lavonne!). I backed it with a square of 'N of N', using my square punches.

Well, that is about it for today. I have a few more cards up my sleeve so hopefully will post a bit more frequently. Thanks for popping by. Must have a cuppa & then face cleaning the bathroom (uugh). Then I'm off to take Dad shopping for Mum's b'day (you never read that Mum, LOL).

Cheers,

Fi xox

Olivia's 1st birthday gift

Hi Guys,

Where does the time go? Still haven't had time to complete a challenge before the expiry time. I have, however made 5 cards this week. I know at least 10 people with birthdays in July & August, crazy!

As I was looking back through my blog, I realised that I never posted the wall art that I made for my friend's daughter's 1st birthday. I apologise for the photo, I forgot to take a photo with my camera, this was taken on my phone.

Olivia has 2 walls in her room that are quite similar in colour to Rose Red so I went with the yummy 'Raspberry Tart' DSP. The lovely Lavonne sent me the embosslit die from The US SU catty, so lovely. I had originally made this using the butterfly punch but liked the variety in butterfly sizes that I could get with the die. I hope it shows up in our next catty.

I stamped the background with the grass stamp from 'Inspired by Nature' in Kiwi Kiss, inspired by a blog entry that I can't find. Let me know if you recognise it (rats thought I'd saved it). The name is made by covering 'on Board' chipboard letters with DSP, laborious but effective. The flower is a 'Flower Fusion' with a little 'Old Olive' brad. It is in a frame that I found in Target, sadly the last one, it didn't even have a box. I must get to Ikea as I think they sell shadow box frames. I had the matting made by an on-line company. I was so happy with it when I got it in the mail

Thankfully my friend really liked it, as did her family.

Must go & hang up washing (fun fun!).

Cheers,

Fi xox