Some days are just perfect :)

Today has been one of those perfect days! They say good things come in 3's so I think I've had more than my fair share today :)

Today started off with me getting a really wonderful email from one of my scrapping buddies Lee :) A few months ago we signed up to do a stamp swap but it didn't go quite according to plan. The idea was that you chose an unmounted stamp and created a card, ATC etc using that stamp... then you sent it to the next person on the list and they made something and sent it on until it eventually got back to its orginal owner. Lee sent her stamp to me but it didn't arrive :( After being missing for several weeks it finally turned up here and it's really cute:Lee created an ATC for me and I thought it was the perfect stamp for ATC's. Then I read Lee's note which said that she wanted to find another use for it so I got creating a came up with a tiny mini book which is just the perfect size for keeping postage stamps in! And here's the photos... unfortunately I took them at night so they don't look fantastic but you'll get the general idea: I sent off the mini book and Lee received and sent me an email to say that she really loves it, which is great! It's always so nice when you're making something and the recipient enjoys it :) I think I might just have to keep an eye out for that stamp myself LOL

Today has been all about 'girl time'! Mum came over today and we've had the best day together!! We've laughed, shopped, talked scrapbooking and just generally spent time together :) It's been a full on day and we've totally enjoyed ourselves! Mum arrived at 10am and didn't leave until after 7pm so we've definitely made up for lost time!! Thanks Mum for a really fantastic day!!

While Mum was here she showed me the photos from the walk she did for Breast Cancer. Mum and I did this walk together a couple of years ago and we were amazed at all the 'costumes' and I definitely remember her saying something about how she'd NEVER wear her bra on the outside of her clothes and she'd NEVER dress up in public like how other people were doing it... well here's proof that you should never say NEVER!!!

Hmmmm that wouldn't happen to be a bra on top of your shirt would it Mum??? LOL Mum works for New World and they got a whole heap of them together and wore their pink shirts and dressed up and here is my Mum proudly walking down the street in her pink leggings and dancing petticoat... and you don't think you're fooling anyone with that halo do you???Way to go Mum!!! So cool to see you having some fun!!

We also had Mikayla's birthday lunch today :) Since Mum was coming over today we decided to celebrate this weekend and Krystal actually catered the party for her sister... AWESOME work Krystal!!

Here's the cool feast Krystal prepared: chip & dip, cheese & crackers, purploes (first time we'd tried them and they're really really YUM!!!), asparagus rolls, fairy bread (Mikayla's only real request!!) and some very tasty ham & salad sandwiches:And here's Mikayla and her best friend Micaela! The only problem is when I call 'Mikayla' they both answer LOL

I had to put this photo in too (even though Mikayla isn't looking at the camera) because it shows her new watch that Grandma gave her for her birthday... the best part according to Mikayla is that the 'second hand' is a tiny blue butterfly that goes around... and try as she might she can't see HOW it goes around LOLThen it was time for the cake... the girls actually worked together on this! Mikayla made the top layer and Krystal made the bottom layer :) Great team work! Then it was iced and had a flake crushed up over it. Krystal made sure she had the 'artistic drips' over the side... she was very pleased with the result!And yes the sponge really was THAT yellow!!! I helped out a friend of mine recently with some online stuff and then she turned up here with a tray of free range eggs from her chickens... Thanks Jo!!! The kids were a bit worried that it wasn't going to work without shop bought eggs... but now they've decided that free range eggs are much 'happier' eggs LOLHappy Birthday Mikayla... so pleased you had a cool party :)

After lunch we went down to Spotlight for a 'look'... yeah right! We came away with some fantastic bargins... especially from the fabric department!!! Krystal has decided that she'd like to learn to sew and they had some great deals on flanellete so she's learning how to make pajama pants! So far she's cut out her pants:

And now she's using my sewing machine and learning how to zig zag the edges and sew a straight line... and she's doing an awesome job! So far she's got one leg all sewn together and she's starting on the second leg... unfortunately I think she wants to finish them tonight!!! It looks like I might be in for a long night!!!

Fantasy ATC

The latest challenge over on the ATC Dares blog is the theme... fantasy :) My first thought was to put a little pic of me inside a mountain of money LOL... well a girl can dream can't she???

In the end I chose a mermaid theme. I remember when I was little wondering what it would be like to have a mermaids tail and live under the sea... of course in my mind there was no school under the sea... or parents telling you to go to bed... or chores to be done!

I was wondering the other night if mermaids wish they had feet??? So I came up with this:

I made the background on white gloss card using alcohol inks and then stamped on top of it with denim ink using bubble wrap (love that technique!) Then I added a bit of a shell theme with a stamp, silver ink and clear embossing powder. The mermaid was left over from another project I'd done and then I added some paua pieces and the metal jandals brad (that sucker is HEAVY!)

The challenge doesn't close until next Wednesday so if fantasy is your thing why not have a go??

The mojo is flowing :)

Last year when I came home from SENZ I just couldn't scrap at all! My mojo was completely zapped... this year I just can't stop creating!!! I've got ideas galore and I've actually managed to get several bits and pieces done (some I can't show you because they're for swaps).

First off here's the ATC I made for Challenge #2 on the ATC Dares blog. The theme was Retro 1950's so I went with a 1950's diner idea similar to my memories of watching 'Happy Days'. The ATC was made from 2 different photos from the net.. one for the background and one for the diner plus some epoxy stickers that I've had for ages (not sure of the brand):

Dare challenge #3 is up and this time the theme is 'Fantasy'... got to get started on that one!

Now for some Fiskars stuff! A couple of months ago I got asked to be a guest designer for Fiskars and they sent me a lovely box of goodies to create with. It's all been featured on the Fiskars blog in the last week so now I can share the projects with you :)

First up is the card I made for my sister's birthday. I loved the shine on the paper so I went with some silver numbers cut out with the cuttlebug (Hippee Chick font) and I used some of the vellum ribbon and ran it through my cuttlebug using an embossing folder... works quite well!

Then I used some of the paper I got sent to create a layout of me and my niece playing in the puddles while her Daddy was doing the 'Tough Guy' challenge. We had a huge amount of fun getting wet and dirty!! I made the letters from white cardstock using the cuttlebug (Red Tag Sale font). Then I added some chalk and doodling before adding some dimensional magic... when they tried I 'cracked' them a bit and they ended up looking quite cool :)My final project was a mini album created for my other niece. She'd been out picking flowers with her Mummy and they sent me the photos so I made her a mini album to remember her day :)The day before we went down to SENZ Miss Kody came for a visit to Auntie's house and I gave her the mini album.... she LOVED it and kept saying 'Me' 'Me' everytime we turned a page and she saw the next lot of photos... VERY cute!!Kody's 19 months old so I didn't think the embellishments would last for too long... but I didn't think she'd be quite so quick to do this!!!Have to admit though that when her Mummy tried to get the book back of her and Kody said 'MINE' I was quite thrilled LOL So cool to see your creativity being appreciated... even if it is only so she could wreck it a bit more!

Today is also Miss Mikayla's birthday! My 'baby' is now 14!!! I wanted to make her something really special and I had a lot of ideas... a mini album of her growing up, a canvas, a hand-made journal but in the end I got busy making her an 'M' for her bedroom wall.

I'm stoked with how it turned out... and so was Mikayla this morning when I gave it to her... I definitely did hear the word 'awesome' come out of her mouth!! Happy Birthday Mikayla!!! Love you lots babe :)

SENZ - Part 2!

Well tomorrow has finally come LOL To be honest, I've just been so busy processing and sending orders, catching up on sleep, getting back into our routines and starting the 4th term that this is the first time I've had a chance to sit and get myself organised.

Friday morning I had my first class... and I was totally blown away by Lusi! She really is the sweetest, most positive person and she's got such a lot of talent! We began the class by getting the very very latest news... Lusi is pregnant with her 4th child!!! Looking forward to seeing updates on her blog! And trust me... Lusi doesn't let pregancy slow her down... she got us all around her table and shows us about 10 different techniques in less than 10 minutes... truely makes your head explode with all the fab new ideas!

Here's a photo of our 'classroom' (from Lusi's blog)... and it's also the classroom I did Nic Howard's class in :)

Out came the kits and it was straight into it! This was the "Memories from Abroad" class where we covered a mini photo album and were supposed to do all the tabs etc to decorate... but we did a lot of laughing and heaps of talking so I was quite pleased that I even managed to finish my outside cover LOL Here's us all hard at work (photo from Lusi's blog)

Yep that's me in the centre (back) of the classroom :) Not sure what I'm up to... either inking or sanding by the look of it! Here's the inside cover of my album with one of Lusi's techniques... ink on bubble wrap... very cool! I've seen it done with paint before but not ink.... and I'm definitely going to be doing it again!Here's a close up of my album... really liking it now that I've gotten over the 'pinkness' LOL Not a colour I usually use but it 'fits' this album :)You can see I've sanded my photo... that's a first for me and I quite like the effect. I also sanded and inked the sticker... thanks Lusi for the ideas!And here's a view from the top:Since it's got 3 sections and I've got 2 sisters I'm going to use each section for some of my favourite photos of my girls and my nieces and nephews! Will be nice to have a mini album of photos that I love and I think it will be travelling with me whenever I'm away from home :)

At the end of the class Lusi got us all to share our albums and it was really amazing to see just how different everyone's albums turned out (Photo from Lusi's blog)

And here's a photo of all of our class with Lusi :) Yep I 'pinched' this photo from her blog too! I'm on the far left wearing the black jacket and Lusi is the very cool chick in the middle wearing the blue apron :)

When I got home I photographed the 'left overs' from the class... I'm definitely going to be able to get this album finished!!A big thank you to Craft House for the incredibly awesome class kit!!!

On Saturday morning I had my second class... I learnt some very cool techniques using one of my favourite products... Ranger distress inks! Anyone that knows me, knows I LOVE to ink!! In fact I find it incredibly difficult not to ink at least one thing on everything I do LOL The class was taught by Rachel Greig from Darkroom Door and I love Rachel's style of just getting in and 'playing'. In the class we made cards using some of her brand new stamps and I definitely learnt some great new techniques that I'll be using a lot!

Here's my first card:

And here's my second one:Cool stamps, cool techniques, great tutor and lots and lots of ink... what more could a girl ask for?

Thanks Rachel for sharing your talent with us!! Loved hearing about your time with Tim Holtz (totally cool!!)

After lunch on Saturday it was time for my final class... Prima Paintables with Nic Howard :) I'm so pleased I did this one... lots of new techniques and messy messy messy! I had such a lot of fun! Nic showed us some great techniques using Glimmer Mist and I have to admit that I'm becoming a huge fan of this stuff... it adds just a touch of glimmer to your projects (hard to show in a photo but totally fabulous in real life!) The layout I did in the class has become one of my all time favourites and I'm seriously thinking it needs to go on a canvas in my studio!!!This is a photo of my gorgeous nephew! As soon as I saw this photo I knew it needed a really special layout and Nic's class was just perfect for it! Nic also provided us with a second project but I wasn't too thrilled with how mine started out so I made this instead:Yes it's the same photo! I just love it :) I'm still not sure if I'm going to make this into the front of a card or put it on a small canvas... I just know that I love it!

Nic's class was another Craft House one and they provided a generous class pack once again! In spite of how much product I used I've still got all this left over:

I'm definitely going to be creating some more with Glimmer Mists and the gorgeous Prima Paintables!!! In fact I've got a wee mini album project in mind for this stuff :)

Nic is lovely and she's got a great style... thanks for a fab afternoon :) and thanks for signing my copy of "That's Life"! I bought Nic's book at SENZ last year and I took it with me this time so Nic could sign it.... lucky me!

Now you're all probably thinking that I didn't get a chance to shop... ha ha ha... yeah right! Actually I thought I was fairly restrained this year (at least compared to last year!) but I did get some lovely new things!

After taking Rachel's class on making Christmas cards I thought I NEEDED these stamps:

And Krystal did a make in take that required a purchase so she could make more LOL Here's the cute card that Krystal made:

And here's the stamps I HAD to buy her... along with the ones I didn't HAVE to have but they were just too awesome to leave behind:

And after taking Nic's class of course I NEEDED some Glimmer Mist:

They're really gorgeous colours (Vanilla Breeze, Wild Currant & Cinnamon)

And my final purchase was some lovely acrylic stamps and some paint dabbers:

Here's a photo of some of the gorgeous swap pins I received:

And finally here is a card made for me by Esther (from the Scrapbook Dreams forum). We met for hot chocolates in a lovely little chocolate shop I found (how did THAT happen??? LOL) and she gave me this card she'd made for me:

Thank you so much Esther! It was lovely to meet you and spend some time chatting. I'm looking forward to our next catch up (in a chocolate shop of course!)

And on that note I'm going to sign off :) There is one more SENZ installment to come... Krystal's classes... but she's not quite ready to share just yet!