Today's colour challenge over on Splitcoast was to use Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral and Baja Breeze. These colours don't scream 'Christmas', but I think I pulled it off. My mum's staying and, as she so politely put it, "It's lovely, but I wouldn't choose it" ... hee hee. That's English for "I don't like this one" ...

Recipe
Stamps : Christmas Postcard
Ink : StazOn Black
Cardstock : Watercolour Paper, Naturals Ivory, Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Baja Breeze
Accessories : Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon, 1/2 Pearls, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch, Blender Pens & Reinkers

Mum & I spent a happy afternoon in the new basement stamping! We stumbled across this blog by 'Darlene' who just does AMAZING WORK!!! I absolutely 100% copied the hot air balloon card ... loved it! And then I followed a tutorial on how to make SU Markers look like Copics. Enjoyed EVERY second of it today. Mum did some great work too!

A Basement Facelift

Here's my messy basement before my Dad arrived to give me a makeover! What a MESS :)

Here we are constructing the IKEA kitchen cabinets. So easy to put together, and not horrendously expensive.

It took us 3 days to get everything finished ~ Dad can make anything!!! A few trips to Home Depot for 'emergency' supplies, like the 2" hole cutter drill bit which wouldn't fit into our drill! Had to buy a bigger drill just to make that one hole. Worth it though, now all my electrical wires come up through one point on the desk ... so neat and clever!

Here I am with Mummy making use of the new space. I'll show you what we made in my next post!

Happy Birthday, Terry

I wanted to tell you a story about my friend Terry. Picture this, you are in your mid-30's. You pack up your ENTIRE LIFE and wave goodbye at the airport to your Mum & Dad, board a plane with your dog in a crate, clutching the hand of your little 5 year old daughter and head to a new Country where your husband's waiting for you. Your 'home' is a strange apartment, furnished with a stranger's furniture. Your husband goes off to work that first day and you have no car, not one single friend nor a single family member to just give you a hug and tell you it's going to be OK. It took 6 weeks to find a home and move into what would soon become everything familiar.

Guess how lucky I got? I moved right next door to Terry. Oh my WORD. Poor woman must have thought I was a lunatic "where can I buy decent meat?", "where can I take Sarah to make new friends?", "how does this work?", "what do you use this for?" ... and she was a lifeline. In more ways than one. She made me feel like I had a friend, right from the first meeting. And I'm happy to say that 10 years later, she's still next door and she's still my lifeline. Our lives have changed a lot, I don't need her as much as I did in those first few months, but she's still my #1 American Gal and I love her to BITS!

Happy Birthday, Terry. We love you!

The card I made was really simple. I've made a pumpkin and a Christmas Tree card using this technique, so I thought I'd make Terry's card with a 3-D heart.

To make a 3-D shaped image, punch out 5 of your shapes and score down the centre. Fold Each shape and glue the sides together, then attach to the front of your card.

Recipe
Stamps : Floral Fillers, Perfectly Penned
Cardstock : Blushing Bride, Shimmery White
Ink : Blushing Bride
Accessories : Heart Punch, Pinking Hearts Border Punch, 1/2 Pearls, Blender Pen & Ink

October Club Projects

I had my Stampin' Up Clubs this weekend ~ the girls in Club make it so fun. These are the projects we made this month. They were a little bit 'tricky', lots of fussy-cutting, but well worth it :)

Karen Barber's Colour Challenge

Sending apologies for my lack of blogging. Lots of stuff going on around here which I won't go into on my blog ... but I lost my mojo pretty much completely after some news about my husband's health. I want to send special thanks over to the gorgeous and hugely talented Karen Barber who made my eyes widen and my creative mojo start rumbling this morning when she posted the Colour Challenge and THIS fabulous creation. The colours are Regal Rose, Lucky Limeade and Blushing Bride. Wowser ... what could be prettier! 

I decided to go 'vintage' ... well, my version of vintage anyway! This set is called Creative Elements and it's the first time I've cracked the box open to use it. LOVE IT! The sentiment is from Kindness Matters.

Recipe

Stamps : Creative Elements, Kindness Matters

Cardstock : Very Vanilla, Lucky Limeade, First Edition Specialty DSP

Ink : Crumb Cake, Lucky Limeade, Blushing Bride, Regal Rose

Accessories : Spritzer Tool & SU Markers, 1/2 Pearls, Word Window Punch, Limeade Ruffle Ribbon, Chantilly Ribbon

Online Ordering Tutorial BLITZ!

In conjunction with “About a Girl”, we are pleased to offer you the very first project in our series “Online Ordering Tutorial Blitz”!

If you place an online order with me of a $35 value or more (see our order suggestion below) you will receive NINE step-by-step photo tutorials FREE OF CHARGE, delivered direct to your e:mail. We have included everything you need for your Halloween Celebrations! All projects are planned around the Frightful Sight Suite of Products :

Scaredy Cat Stamp Set (w) 122555 $19.95 or (c) 122557 $14.95

Frightful Sight DSP 122351 $10.95

Black 1 ¼” Striped Grosgrain Ribbon 115615 $9.95

Totalling $35.85 for clear or $40.85 for wood

Check back over the next few days for more fabulous sneak peaks ~ and don’t delay, place that order today!

Here's a pic of our very first step-by-step tutorial you'll receive when you place your order. Isn't it FABULOUS? Robin came up with this gorgeous pin which is so fun to just wear, or attach to a Halloween gift bag. Yay ~ so easy to make too. Make sure you don't miss how to make it by placing your Stampin' Up order with me today!