Vintage Moon cards

I loved these gorgeous Pink Paislee Vintage Moon papers when I bought them, and I still do! This card is the second of Liz's birthday card projects. Loved making this cute flower in the middle. I used my giga and mega punches, and just hand cut out that shape on the right.



Love the vibrancy and the variety of patterns in this range too, and hoo could resist this cute little owl! :) I've cut him and the branch out, and I've used Helen's technique of raising the edges of the leaves with some scrapdots! Thanks lovie for the excellent tip!!! Mwah!!

Some scrappy stuff for a change :)

I've really been inspired by some of the gorgeous projects that Liz has posted for the 2nd birthday celebrations at ScrapBoutique.

I saw this project on Jewls' blog and just had to have a go. I loved how easy it was to make, and only took about 30mins. I didn't decorate it much, as the papers were doing that nicely. Don't you just adore these gorgeous papers!! They are definitely my fav's of the moment!

Then I just wanted to keep scrapping... but the kids woke up! So, I set them to work cutting and pasting some of the goodies in their "useful box", which I created this card (another one of Liz's projects). I just adored this flower and will definitely be using this technique again soon! PS notice the super old papers I'm using up here.

More gorgeous Whiff of Joy stamps up for grabs!

Want to own some gorgeous Whiff of Joy stamps :) Check out the Whiff of Joy blog for more details.

Scrapbooking can be dangerous!

Yep, Erin has proved that scrapbooking can be dangerous! When she was 10mths old, she was playing on the floor in my scrap room, and must have picked up a tiny epoxy letter sticker (pictured below on the heart). Needless to say, we ended up at the Mater Hospital at 1am trying to remove it.

I designed this layout for Karen's challenge over at Scrap Pile.

The requirements were to use the following:
1. Lots of blue
2. Diecut cardstock
3. Transparency
4. Flowers and/or hearts
5. Ribbon

WOW... check out this blog candy!!!

Wouldn't you just love to win these babies!!! Check out Crafty Goings On for more info on how you could win!

Creative juices...

For some weird reason (most likely alcohol-induced) I began scrapping and card making like a woman possessed at the retreat. Although I didn't end up doing that much, I turned out a few layouts and cards that I was happy with.

I took this photo of Al just after a race at the State Titles in Gympie the weekend before last. I was actually testing out the aperture priority settings on my camera! They must have worked, cause everyone loves this photo of him, even Al himself!! I just hope I did it justice... this one was completely alcohol induced :)



This is Al, his 2 brothers and their Mum on Mother's Day this year. Loved this photo, but Al's hair is looking pretty weird... even he said so!! Al's on the far right.


This was my first create for the retreat. I tried mod podging the butterflies from a napkin, but I didn't peel the white layer off underneath, so it showed through a bit. I was still pretty happy with the end result though. Love this pic of Aiden and I on the steps of the cubby. He's such a cuddle pie!! Oh, and there's another one of Leone's famous lollipop flowers! Love them!! Thanks for showing me how to make them, Leone!


Here are the cards I made (sorry about the bad pics, I took them after dark :( )

I coloured the gorgeous Whiff of Joy stamp using Simonne's distress inks, and I just adored using them. I never even thought to use them before. Love the soft effect though! I added just a couple of those cute little roses (distressed them, and curled the stems), and they were the perfect addition. The heart card is from a PageMap sketch.


This pic is pretty dark, but these are really bright papers, and look much better in real life. These are the cards I created using some of the other PageMaps sketches. I also made a lollipop flower (thanks to Leone's instructions), and I used Simonne's gorgeous lace Martha Stewart punch!! Love it!


using up some 7gypsies scraps... a gorgeous StampinUp flourish & Martha Stewart lace punch, both courtesy of Simonne (both now on my MUST HAVE list), the gorgeous Prima roses that we ordered through Scrap Pile, and a quote stamp from Helen. Thanks girls for all your little additions to these cards!


and here's one I made just before I left for the retreat... I used copics to colour my new Whiff of Joy stamp that I won in Elisabeth Bell's blog candy! OMG those stamps are gorgeous!!!!! I used a mod podged napkin on transparency (thanks to KarenB), and some kindy glitz on the wings and clouds.

Simonne's Boogie

She may have to bribe me with her Martha Stewart punches to take this off (especially that gorgeous lace border one)!!! LOL!!!

Retreat news

I can't believe it's over, but we had the most fabulous time with the girls up at the Tablelands. Mel, thanks for looking after us and showing us the local sights in Malanda. I'll certainly have fond memories of my 31st birthday!

I took a heap of photos (as usual), so thought I'd share a few of the highlights from our little trip.

First things first, we went shopping!! Wahooo!!! AND I bought a Cuttlebug (or rather Al bought me a Cuttlebug for my birthday!). I loved having a play at Mel's place, and so did Leone (seen below performing her one-handed cuttlebug maneuvre).


We all scrapped up a storm...




Our wall of scrap...


We also managed to fit in a bit of sight-seeing while we were up there, and the countryside is just gorgeous... first stop, Gallo Dairyland... where they make the most scrumptious chocolates known to man (or woMAN!!!)



Rum and raisin, blackforest, coconut, mango, berry, caramel just to name a few. OMG they were yummy!!!


We also had a chance to check out Kuranda on the way home from picking the girls up from the airport on Thursday... Simonne tested out this gorgeous chair for us... loved that it was made from recycled railway tracks. How cool is that?

and Leone striking a pose too!

Kristy, Simonne and I


The mad old man coming down the hill on his homemade go-kart!


and then we headed up the road to taste some yummy Mango wines from the Golden Drop Winery.


On Saturday, Mel whipped up a delicious strawberries and cream sponge cake for my birthday! YUMMO!!! Thanks Mel, you're such a sweetie!!!


Our last night - having little drinkies


Simonne bought us all beanie kids that matched our personality as a special little surprise... can you tell who is who???


Just posing for the camera ;)


And a funny pic of Leone, Mel and I that I took on the way down the range when we stopped to check out the view...


The food was fabulous (thanks to Rosemary), the location was gorgeous (thanks Mel), and the shopping was great therapy (thanks Justine). You girls did a super job!

And a special thanks to Mel for organising and hosting the whole retreat, and the boys for putting up with Leone and I for the week! Can't wait to catch up again in September!


After a relatively painless trip home...


...I arrived home to a clean and tidy house and a gorgeous birthday cake that Al and the kids made for me, and YES, he decorated all by himself AND took this photo!!!! LOL! I think he's finally getting the hang of being married to a scrapper!!


What a birthday to remember!!! I'm so lucky to have such sweet friends and family. Thanks guys!