No Time To Spare

Hi!

Just popping in to say I've been unwell and am in the process of unpacking (after our furniture and "stuff" arrived yesterday.) What this means is that I have not been able to create anything. :o(

Please bear with me whilst I get things in order and I hope to return soon. (Fortunately for me, our new abode has a designated area for my craft. Woo hoo!

Nardi

Who would have thought?

Who would have thought that creating with minimal tools, etc and creating in a very manual way could have me blogging less than 24 hours after my last entry? :o)

I was so happy with the outcome of my last attempt that I found myself creating late last night with my eyes nearly popping out from fatigue. hee hee

Here is the card that I ended up with. It is for a very special friend of mine who is going through the fight of her life against leukemia. Hopefully this will brighten her day a little.



Hope you have a great weekend.

Nardi

Moving...

I feel like the world's worst blogger...though I'm sure there are other blogs that make my posts look "regular". ;o) Anyway....

We have been busy moving interstate for my DH's work which has meant new schools and finding a house to live in as well as selling our "old" house. Thankfully we have got these items checked off our list though we are still waiting to move into our "new" house.

Living out of a suitcase has been interesting. :o) I think we take for granted many of our possessions that we use on a regular basis and so when you have limited items you have to rethink what you are doing, etc. One of the things that I miss from our belongings is my craft stash. It has been a few months since I've been able to take the time to create and boy do I miss it! I think I've been going into withdrawal!?!! ;o) So when my DH asked me if it would be too much to make a card for his friend's wedding I was willing and ready to "sacrifice" myself and venture down to a local scrap shop. I have to admit I was pretty restrained considering I haven't been around these items for a while but I will admit I plan to go back. hee hee

So here is the card I made with limited supplies. All cardstock and paper is measured using my kids' pencils and ruler and then hand cutting with scissors. It definitely took a lot longer than it normally would to get to assembly stage but I am happy with the result. Now I just want to continue creating. (Do you think the school will mind if I'm late for pick up?)



I like the combination of the cream and black. Adds an elegant element to the card and I felt that it would really work for this couple. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by.

Nardi

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!

It was my gorgeous husband's birthday on the weekend which gave me the chance to play with one of the new sets from The SU Spring Mini Catty. unfortunately withthe extra layers it hasn't scanned up too well but hopefully you get the gist of it all.

Contact me if you'd like any information about what was used.

Thanks for dropping by,
Nardi

Choo Choo!

Nope - I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth.... :o) Thanks to those who've been checking back and asking how things are going.

August has meant the release of the new Stampin' Up! Spring mini catalogue. Yes, I realise it is not yet Spring :o) but am so excited to see some of the new things Stampin' Up has to offer. Contact me if you'd like to see a hard copy of the catalogue or click here to see online.

One of the new stamp sets that has been released is one that has a train with carriages and caboose. It is soo cute and there is even a matching wheel so that you can lay some tracks for the train to go on. Here is a card that I made recently for a swap. The brief was to make it using something from the new Spring mini catty. I hope you like it.


I've used Choo Choo and On Track for my feature stamps/wheel and also used a bit of the new Ski Slope DSP which has some lovely papers that I can't wait to use.

Drop me a comment and I'll see you back here soon.

Nardi

Blog candy alert!

Check out Crissy's blog to see her beautiful creations and get the chance to win some awesome blog candy.

Hope your day is going well. I have some newly mounted stamps ready to go so am planning on getting them inked up in the next few days.

Preschool Thanks

Last year, to thank my son's preschool teachers, I organised for the class to join together to purchase gift vouchers to day spas for each teacher. They were a huge success for everyone and just a small token of how much we valued their imput into our children's lives.

To accompany the vouchers I came up with this card design. I really like the simplicity of this combination. [I have to say though, it was hard trying to get a photo that did the SU Soft Sky justice.]

Thanks for stopping by - see you soon!

Nardi

A Quick Post

Just quickly popping in between shopping and picking up my dd from a birthday party but wanted to keep with my aim of regular posting.

I've been trying to work on creating a few cards for my stash. This is one of the cards I created with an adult male in mind. [It looks better IRL - struggling to get a good photo.]

What do you think?

Nardi

I'm Encouraged!

I received an Encouragement Award from the very talented Danyelle! She is so inspiring and I am very humbled to think that she has noticed my absence in "blogdom". Thanks Danyelle! Your creations always encourage me.

I would like to pass on this award to some friends whom have encouraged me in my creative walk and whom I'd like to encourage in their creative journey. (There are so many I could give this to but have just chosen a few.)

Hannah - Please share some more of your fabulous work with the world! You're an inspiration to me!
Joan - Someone who cares and encourages from across the otherside of the world. Thanks.
Chrissie - Who's creative joy is so contagious.
Susan - Who is always encouraging and building others up.

Thank you ladies! I hope you are all encouraged that your creations are touching the lives of others.

I'm still here!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year is shaping up to be a cracker! :o) Oh - Happy Valentine's Day for the other day. Hope it was full of love and romance for you - I know mine was. *vbg*

Since Christmas I've been spending time with my husband and kids as the Christmas holidays in Australia is the longest break in the school year. Then it was the usual busyness of getting the kids ready for school with the extra delight for our youngest son who started primary school this year. But now with school into its third week, life is settling down and I am excitedly looking forward to more craft time with only myself at home. With that in mind, my aim is to keep my blog updated regularly with my creations.

So in keeping with my goal, here is a card I made over my absence. I just love the 3D effect of the butterflies, don't you?

Don't forget to say hi! I'd love to see what you've been up to and I also like to know that I'm not talking to myself...again!@?! hee hee

Thanks for dropping by,
Nardi

Thinking of you

I finally got around to christening this stamp set but unfortunately the reason was for a sympathy card for my friend. I have to say I really enjoyed the little bit of watercolouring I had to do and am looking forward to experimenting some more with it.

If you like the look of this set, contact me and I can let you know how easy it is to get this stamp set for free.

Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. :o)

November has just gotten better!

Check this out!
Stampin' Up! is offering an Australian first - you now can purchase Stampin' Write markers individually for just $4.95 each! What a fantastic offer!
Now's your chance to stock up on your favourite colours without having to pruchase the whole colour family. They are so versatile with dual tips that offer different widths. I LOVE my markers as I can also use them to ink up my stamps and add a more personal touch to my work.

Here are the colours (and their codes) of the markers that are available.


But wait there's more!!
Purchase $20 of regular catalogue products and qualify for a 20% discount off all Stampin' Up! Rub-Ons.
The Rub-Ons are a fantastic way to add that little extra magic to your card, scrapbook layout or even glassware. Each package comes with a sheet of white Rub-Ons and one sheet of black Rub-Ons.

Contact me if you'd like to take advantage of one of these offers.
But remember - don't leave it too long as they are only available from November 10th - 30th, 2008.

Blast off!

Having two sons and five nephews, I am always needing cards for boys whether for family or friends. This card was for my eldest son's friend who turned 6 recently.
I think you can't really go wrong with rockets. :o) What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by - don't forget to say "hi"!

A reindeer by any other name...

I am participating in a couple of swaps at the moment, both image and card kits. Here is the card I made for my Chritmas card kit swap. Hopefully those involved will like it. [It is hard to see in the photo but the card is a very vanilla base.] No guessing required on which reindeer this is!?@?! ;o)

Thanks for visiting!
Don't forget to let me know you stopped by and I'll try my very best to return the visit. (I'm hoping I'm not talking to myself. Hee hee!)

All wrapped up!

My upline, Kim made a bag in a box as one of her creations for World Cardmaking Day. (Check it out here.) Lucky for me, she sent me the instructions so I could create my own. It is such a cool thing to make and looks great too. Here is one I made for a friend with a matching card.

This is a fantastic way to individualise your presents even more. I know this won't be the last time I make one of these.

Contact me if you would like to hold a workshop and learn how to make one of these for yourself.

Eden's card

My youngest son had a birthday party to attend for a little girl whom he now just loves! (Sibling of his older brother's friend.) As I am friends with her mother I realised that a very girly card would go down well especially if I included her favourite colour, purple. Both the birthday girl and her mum loved the card (and thankfully it was found before the end of the party as it went MIA for most of the party).

This is a style of card that I think would work beautifully as an invite especially for a 'tea party' or the like. (I especially love the alphabet which was available last year in the Australian Stampin' Up! Summer mini catalogue. Sadly they did not continue it but the reamining sets of the "Scribble" series can be found in the latest catalogue. Contact me for more details)

Thanks for dropping by!

Aaarrrgggghhhhh!

A little while back we went through an avalance of children's birthday parties to attend. (For all those with children I'm sure you understand that "If it doesn't rain, it pours!?!") So here is one that my 6 year old son was quite happy to take along as part of his gift.

Thankfully I was a little prepared and had watercoloured the map for another card at the same time as a week later the same son had a "pirate's party" to go to. This time he wanted the ship, not the pirate as the feature. It doesn't grab me as much but that might be more due to the choice of materials rather than the images. Regardless of my critical opinon both my son and his friends enjoyed their cards.

So what do you think? Arrrrrrgggghhh you a pirate lover or a lover of the pirate's ship? ;o)

Until next time - thanks for stopping by.
Nardi

Birthday celebrations!

Everyone loves celebrating their birthday and being treated like a princess or a prince - I know I am one of them. I have to admit that I was not disappointed last week when I celebrated another birthday with my lovely family. (This included a surprise interstate visit from my sister for a few days.) I still have some presents to redeem and possibly receive ;o) (you know who you are ... hee hee) which is always nice to stretch out the celebrations and give me somem things to look forward to as well.

Another event that we can all join in to celebrate is the 20th birthday of Stampin' Up! To celebrate, Stampin' Up has a great offer for the whole month of October.

To join in the fun, just spend $20 on regular Stampin' Up products and then you can choose from 5 preselected birthday/celebration stamp sets at 20% off the regular catalogue price!

You can choose from:

Page 37 - Big Bold Birthday
Page 38 - Pretty Princess
Page 51- Birthday Best
Page 55 - Crab And Company
Page 118 - Short And Sweet

Contact me if you'd to purchase one or more of these sets or for more details. Deliveries can be made right ot your door, Australia wide.

It's been a while...

It has been quite a while since I have been here and I have been extremely touched by those of you who keep coming back to see me, have contacted me by email, leaving a comment or have even sent me cards. It has really been encouraging in the midst of everything that has been happening. So a BIG thank you to my lovely Blogging friends. (((HUGS)))

No matter what is thrown at you in life, things continue to push on regardless of whther you are ready or not!?! ;o) One practical example of this is the need for cards for various occassions. Hopefully over time I will be able to share a little of what has kept me sane over the past months. :o)

Here is one that I made during my blogging absence for my DH's supervisor. He is in the Navy Reserves and is also an avid ornithologist (bird watcher) and so was happy with the reference to both interests in his card. I have a long way to go in water colouring but I at last giving it a go and hope to one day see some improvement...(she says with fingers crossed.)



Thanks for dropping by!
Nardi

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Boatloads of Love; Ahoy, Matey;
Inks: Basic Black;
Cardstock: Blue Bayou; Night of Navy; Watercolour paper;
Extras: Crop-A-Dile; Round Tab punch; blender pen; mounting tape; eyelets; watercolour pencils;

M.I.A.

Sorry my blog has been so quiet of late. The busyness of family life as well as a big serve of ill-health has delayed me posting. I do have a few creations I am wanting to share so with more energy each day, I hope to update my blog within the next couple of days.
Thanks for stopping by.