Blue and Green SHOULD be seen

How would you feel if you got a pressie that looked like this for your birthday? My boyfriend, Karl thought this was impressive when I handed it over to him on Tuesday last week for his 26th birthday! Little did he know I had been BUSY!!

Here is a photo of all the wonderful things he got throughout the course of his birthday...




I had all his presents colour co ordinated in old olive, whisper white and tempting turquoise to match in with the beautiful petals DSP that Karl has always said he likes. Above is a picture of his wrapped present (X files DVD's), an altered notebook (Thanks Margaret), A giftboxed CD (John Mayer), and a beautiful brag book which I made on the team weekend away.

Below is a picture of the CD giftbox that I made using the beautiful Makeehsa Byl's Make it Monday #6 tutorial which can be found here. I saw this and just had to make one. It is so so so easy and so so so cute. I was so impressed with how it turned out.






Here it is opened. It fastens with velcro which I thought made it look even more sassy and schmick! As you can see the CD fits perfectly! I will be making more of these for Chrissy Presents! JB Hifi will love me!







Next here is the cute brag book I made. My SU! Great great grandmother (upline x4) Jayne showed us how to make these on the team weekend away. I'm telling you now they are so super simple and easy. I had so much fun putting it together.



Here is pictures of the pages! They are about 5 3/4" x 5 3/4" in size. How cute is that boyfriend of mine? He's such a spunk if I do say so myself! I've done good!







Awwwwwww....







Here's a photo of the book opened! As you can see each page has slots to put whatever you like in them.



I added some journalling in some slots as shown.





And I also added this gorgeous Michelle Zindorf style birthday card into one of the slots. Karl LOVES landscape and nature and I must say he ADORED this card. He thought it was the best of everything I gave him. I'm pretty happy with it for my first effort! I must get me a brayer.





I also added the altered notebook in one of the slots which is again shown in the photo below with some of the goodies... Aren't they so pretty??





I always say I am going to do something like this and I feel so proud that I was able to pull it off.

TFL!

Cheers Big Ears,

Dani

P.S. Be back tomorrow for next months spotlight project!

Don't you love it when...

It's just all comes together?? I had all intentions on coming online and posting all the beautiful goodies that I created for Karl until I saw Kristina Werner's Colour Challenge number 20 and despite already not making the deadline I just had something in mind that I HAD to do and after I tried it the rest of the design just made itself I didn't even have to think about it and stew it over like I usually do. The card took me a total of 15 minutes and I am so in love with it. Pity I don't have any weddings coming up.

Here are the colours for her latest challenge... Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette (New US and Canadian In Colour), Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla. I substituted Pink Pirouette for Pretty in Pink as obviously I don't have it! Before I reveal my card I must say how pretty are those lounges?? I wish we had pottery barn here!

And here is my card. Have I mentioned that I LOVE IT??? Thought not! I love it! I had some difficulties photographing it due to the cover sitting up all the time and you not being able to properly see the certainly celery scalloped strip so the photo unfortunatly has to have my finger in it!

Stamp Set: Occasional Greetings, Always

Ink Pad: Choc Chip, Rich Regals, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose

Accessories: Certainly Celery Brads, Choc Chip Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Mat Pack, Corner Rounder Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Markers, Silver jellewry clasp

Thanks for looking! I hope you love my card as much as I do.

I will be back tomorrow with my boyfriends goodies...

Dani :)

Happy Father's Day

As you may be aware Father's Day is coming up very soon so I have been working on a few things. I made the following card on the Team Weekend Away at the start of August orginally for a fellow Inkling, Ryn to give to Miracle Babies Premmie Dad's and Loss Dad's, charities that help support fathers who have lost a baby due to it being Premmie . I absolutly loved the simplicity and beautiful colours of this card that I made a second one to keep for myself.

Stamp Sets: Lovely as a tree, Everyday Flexible Phrases

Ink: Old Olive

Card Stock: Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Fall Flowers DSP

Accessories: Twine (Thanks Carol), Old Olive Marker (Again Thanks Carol), Old Olive Wide Grosgain Ribbon, Dimensionals

I don't own this set but I keep getting more and more convinced that I must invest in it. It's a great set more masculine cards. It's funny since becoming a demonstrator my taste has changed dramatically. There's no way I thought I would ever want a set like Lovely as a tree and at the moment it is way up there on what I have dubbed my "I will buy" list as aposed to my "wish list." Lol! Have you ever seen a set and never thought you liked or would ever use and suddenly changed your mind. If so I want to hear about it. Please leave a comment outlining what set and why you like it so much now and even post a link to a blog or album where you have used that set. I will pick one at random next Wednesday 3rd September and that person will recieve something from me!

Have a great day!

Dani

Spotlight - Watercolouring Class

Hi all,

Wow! I have been busy busy busy and in amongst all of it I have fallen sick... again! It is killing my life. I cannot seem to ever recover from anything and this has been going on for 6 weeks now! Meh! Anywho! As mentioned here I am doing a class on my spotlight technique this month in watercolouring this Sunday 31st August at 2pm at my place and I have ONE more spot left. The class costs $20 with everything included to make 4 beautiful cards. So here is a little sneak peak of one of the things you will be making!! If you want the last spot get in quick before it fills up. Contact me via commenting on this post or email me with your contact details and I'll contact you to confirm your spot.



Today is also my very gorgeous boyfriends birthday and I have spoilt him rotten! I will be back to show you all the beautiful stuff he got! Happy Birthday Karl! Love you lots hunny!

TFL!

Dani

Blog awards

I promised I would be back to post about the blog awards I have been given from my fellow blogging friends. Today is also my birthday so I thought it is a better day than any to make my self feel better by showing off some awards I have recieved...





The first I recieved was from the very lovely Kari about a month ago (Yeah I know I have been slack) for well as the award says... Having a brilliant blog! Thanks a bunch for this award Kari it means alot that people even read my ramblings let alone think my blog is brilliant! Now I am supposed to pass this on. The hard thing about this is I have been so utterly slack that everyone whom I feel has a rocking blog has already been tagged already and just about everyones blog I visit is brilliant. I am going to however pass this on to the very lovely Rebecca Munro. Although she doesn't get to post all that often (Which I can relate to) she does have some pretty clever ideas and some pretty projects and I just loved getting to know her more on the weekend away.



The second I have recieved from my singing buddy, Chai Tea drinking and sci fi geek extrodinare (If that's spelt right) Carol Dunstan for doing what I do best and leaving lovely comments. Now if that wasn't a good intro I don't know what is! Now with this award were a few rules...

1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog
3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. you must link back to whoever gave you the award.

1. Well I'm going to be a copy cat and pain in the but and send this back to Carol. She always one of the first to comment on my work and give me encouragement. I really enjoy visiting her blog she has stunning work so I feel honoured that she comments on my work! Thanks Love!

2. I know she has already been tagged but I am sending this onto the lovely Kari Hughes. Not only does she comment on my work but she always sends me follow up emails just because she is so lovely and it always brightens my day if not give me a well earnt break (or 2) from work! :) Thanks Kari!

3. Kylie Swain. Again she also has such gorgeous and different work which inspires me and I feel flattered she leaves me comments. Thanks Kylie!

4. Lin Mei Yap. With her cute little voice and comedic blog who could resist but give this talented lady an award?? Thanks for all your encouraging comments Lin Mei!

5. Does the other side of Sydney count as "live in another part of the world"?? TOO BAD I say! The last person I'm sending this onto is Michelle Dyson. I had the plessure of meeting the beautiful Michelle on the team weekend away and she really encouraged me and helped where needed so Thanks Michelle. I look forward to meeting you again!

Ok that was really hard so to anyone who does read this that I did miss out I'm sorry! I love your work too! I promise!

Now to those people that will no doubt leave me Happy Birthday messages. Thanks in advance. I had a lovely day despite working. I got to have yummy dinner with my family at my favourite Chinese restaurant. They haven't changed the decor in about 50 years and the prices haven't changed either so it was a lovely night. I also got thrown a surprise birthday party from my boyfriend on Saturday! It was a lovely evening despite me working out the surprise a few days before... OOOPS! I will post some pics later on! I got given an ink caddy and a draw set to organise my very messy craft desk from my parents. I'll post pics later on also to show you some great ways of organising your stuff.

Anyway I will stop rambling as I was "Only going to do a short post." And say Goodnight! Sleep well and sweet dreams!

Dani

ATC swaps

Hi Everyone,

I know I have been quiet the last week or so. The truth being I have been SOOOO busy with work related craft stuff which has now finished due to the completion of our directorate day. I also have a million birthday's coming up in August including my own. I will try and be on here soon to upload some more of my recent creations.

Last months ATC swaps were based on the use of Patterned Paper in your designs. I used the spring fling DSP for both the background and to make a beautiful flower. I used clear embossing to emboss the flower from the "Looks Like Spring" set and cut out to make a pretty and different looking image. To get the rough edge you can use a special tool but I just used my thumb fingernail around the edge to give it a frayed look. And here's what I ended up coming up with. I was rather quiet happy with it! Let me know what you think...

Here's a close up...

Also I have been nominated for some Blog awards. I keep forgetting to put them on here. I will be back with that in my next post.

Be good! Keep Trucking!

Dani

It's Challenge night!

Last Thursday night we had our monthly challenge night hosted by none other than yours truly. I set some rather difficult and different challenges to get peoples brains working. I wonder how you would go attempting them... Here they are



Challenge #1 - Create a card with the following colours - Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Elegant eggplant, Yoyo Yellow and Whisper White (optional)



Challenge #2 - Create a project using the following words as inspiration - Sweet, sassy and masculine



Challenge # 3 - Create this box originally created by Julie Buhler.



I have attempted all 3 challenges but have been crazy hectic busy and haven't had 10 minutes to stop and take a photo of them all so I just have Challenge #3 on display for today but please come back to visit in the next few days to see the other challenges.






Here is the box I made. I have used no stamping. I don't know what it is but I rarely use much stamping on 3d projects. I have no idea why and only just realised when typing this post. I changed the dimensions on the box to be 9" by 11" to fit normal sized cards so I can fill it with cards and send it to my grandfather for fathers day.








To ensure the lid wouldn't come off when you lifted it up by the handle I added velcro stripes to the front and back of the box. Gives it more of a professional look. I am so impressed with how it turned out I will definatly be making another one in the near future.








Paper: Close to cocoa, Sahara Sand, DSP paper
Accessories: Tab Punch, Jumbo pewter eyelets, Crop o dile, Scoring Blade, Choc Chip Grosgrain ribbon*, Rich Regals button in ballet blue.


I hope you have a lovely night. TFL!



Dani

Spotlight - Watercolour Challenge

I know all my posts lately have been about team weekend away but I really did enjoy it and It's the only really eventful thingthat's happened in my life at the moment. Todays card is another one I completed at Team weekend away incorporating some more colour challenges and some more watercolouring. I must say I was really happy with how these colours mixed in the watercolouring. The challenge colours were Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Orchid Opulence and Rose Red. Please let me know what you think.

Here's a close up of my watercolouring...

Stamp Set: Natural Beauty
Ink: Black Stazon, Basic Black, Orchid Opulence, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie
Card Stock: Watercolouring paper, Basic Black, Orchid Opulence, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red
Accessories: Aqua Painters, Corner Punch, Black grosgrain ribbon


Also to really test myself out and push my boundaries I am having a technique class at the end of the month featuring, you guessed it, my new found love... Watercolouring! I will be doing 4 cards. Some using the new spring mini sets and some christmas cards. The details are below

Who: You and bring along a friend (Hurry places are limited)
What: Watercolouring Technique class
When: Sunday 31st August 2008
Time: 2pm
Price: $20 includes all materials. Please bring your own tape. Afternoon tea provided

Please contact me via email or on 0420 974 200 to register your place in the class and get my address.

I hope to see you there!

Dani :)

Bloomin' with Guava

Ok Ok Ok! So i've said a few times I'm not a guava fan and I haven't used it much... Well I may have a little change in heart. Over the course of the weekend away we were set a variety of layout and colour challenges in our booklet which we could participate in if we wished. During Saturday I was asking for tips on watercolouring as I always thought I was a watercolouring moron and after recieving some great tips from fellow demonstrators Karen Oliver, Carol Dunstan and Alana Galagher who were a few of my table buddies I decided to tackle one of the colour challenges with some water colouring. The colour challenge was Groovy Guava, Blush Blossom, So Saffron and Wild Wasabi. I was so impressed with what I came up with and really thought the Guava looked stunning.

I added my card to the wall after showing off cos I was just so damn proud and left it to be. On Sunday we were all asked to vote for our favourite colour challenge card and our favourite layout challenge card without voting for ourselves. I was absolutly excited and taken back when low and behold my guava watercolouring card got the most votes overall and I won some rich regal buttons. Here is a picture of my prize winning card with the buttons I won. I'm still so psyched!

Stamp Sets: Bloomin' with Beauty, En Francias (Thanks Bec)

Cardstock: Groovy Guava, Blush Blossom, Watercolouring paper

Inks: Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi

Accessories: Grrovy Guava double stitched ribbon, Hodgepodge hardware, So saffron brads, Dimensionals, Aqua Painters

Technique: Watercolouring

I used the new Bloomin' with Beauty set from the brand new spring mini catalogue. If you would like to recieve your copy or place a workshop so you could have a play with the new stamp sets please contact me.

Now because I am so damn proud of my efforts and want to challenge myself further I have decided that this months Spotlight is the watercolouring technique! So stay tuned all this month to see if I can really watercolour or it was just luck!

Happy Stampin'

Dani xoxo

Team Weekend away Rap up

Hi everyone,

As noted in my last post I went away for a weekend away with the demonstrator team that I'm apart of, The Inklings, run by the very talented Stampin' Up guru, Jayne Mercer. Jayne organised so much for us and made us a variety of cute treats including cupcakes embellished with Brads and punched flowers. If you want to see some of the great stuff she organised check out her blog here. She really is a talent and did some great stuff for us. So from me, Thanks heaps Jayne.

Ok onto the weekend itself. We arrived Friday night and I got stuck into our cards in boxes. Card in boxes are something that most people on the weekend participated where you made up a card prior to the weekend commencing and made enough for everyone participating (in this case 18) and then you had 17 cards to make up over the course of the weekend. It was fun becuase you got some new ideas, new techniques and got to play with some new products you may not have used before. I got 10 done on the Friday night which is a fairly good whack considering how tired I was. I finally retired to bed at 12:30am! Below is a picture of my card in a box which uses last months spotlight product and my fav technique, Ghosting or versamark resist!


and a close up...

Saturday I got started on the rest of my card in boxes and finished them up. I then started on an album shown to us by Jayne on the Friday night. which kept me entertained. I will show that at a later time due to it being a gift. We also got to do some archery where again our talented leader was dubbed the archery champion of the world. I then played with some more products and attempted some challenges and stayed up to the very late 1:30am.

We then finished off our projects on Sunday including challenges and before heading home. Here is a photo of the Challenge wall that was completed during the weekend. I think it's quiet impressive. There were also prizes given. I will come back and reveal those later on...

Ok the grand rap up... What did I honestly think of the weekend? Well I have devised a list of positives and negatives to share with you all.

POSITIVES

* A weekend full of scrapping, creating, card making and SU! products

* Meeting demonstrators whose blogs I admire

* Getting away from reality and have some well earned ME time

* Going to such a lovely spot

* Not having to cook, clean or leave my desk every 5 minutes. Not even to grab someones product I was borrowing (he he Alana)

* Singing to stupid songs in conversation with Carol and having others join in. Come on everyone... "C is for Cookie, That's good enough for me..." *Tumbleweed blows over* Ok I guess not!

* Eating lots of peanut m&m's and not even caring

* Being able to converse with others about something I love and have them actually interested.

* Lots of cupcakes, chocolate, cookies, and naughty stuff delivered straight to our craft room. I really need to train my boyfriend better!

* Racing Alana on the pirate ship slippery dip and watching it come to a crashing hault... hehe!

* Winning something over the weekend... I NEVER win anything!

Ok so that all sounds good what could be negative??

NEGATIVES

* The extra hours I invented prior to the weekend in between 10pm and 11pm not kicking in so I had extra stamping time when I got my second wind

* The need to sleep. Who really needs sleep? It's only I vital function of living... Damn you sleep!

* Stealing from Ryn - Not having a massage therapist on hand for that much needed rub me down from all that strenuous (ok i can't spell) stamping. And while the request is in for a massage therapist can he be male and topless ready to feed me strawberries?? hehehe

* Lasange being served at lunch. I hate lasange with a passion.

Ok with all that said... I think my weekend was FANTASTIC and wish I could go away on one again next weekend and since thats not going to happen I'll just have to settle for next year. You can come along too next year if you sign up as demonstrator within the next year. So start saving now and join us all next time.

Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow with the new spotlight for the month!

Happy Stampin'

Dani