For my beloved friend Steven

On 16th November 2011 a dear friend of mine Steven died at 32 years old. I have been in absolute shock since learning the news of his passing. I met Steven in 2005 when I went travelling overseas for World Youth Day and despite him living interstate we have remained close friends since. Yesterday I was able to travel to QLD for the day to attend his funeral and say goodbye. Heres a photo of me and my friend Steven in 2005 when we met in Germany.

To send my condolenses to his family I made them a card. I always struggle with sympathy cards. Never know what to put on them. Or how to find the right words. I used the latest inkspirations sketch to make a sympathy card. Here is the sketch.

I actually changed the sketch up quiet a bit to suit myself. I am happy with how it turned out though. Very vintagey. My photo wasn't very good as I took it whilst travelling and after the card got a little squashed in my bag. It looked even more impressive IRL

Stamp Set: Thoughts and Prayers, French Foliage
Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Stampin Write Markers, 2 1/2" circle Punch, Pearls, Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Victoria Lace Ribbon, Dimesionals, Sponges, Daubers

Thanks for looking. Have a lovely Day

Dani

Big News

Warning personal post!!!

Hi guys,

WOW, it's been a little quiet at my wee little blog lately hasn't it. I keep mentioning I have alot going on recently and have been pretty run off my feet. Well... now that everything is FINALLY official I would like to share my big news with you all.

One of my family members had a little girl 6 mths before I gave birth to my daughter Riley. Due to circumstances which I cannot go into the little girl (Lilly) was unable to be cared for by her parents and went into foster care. I couldn't fathom the thought of this little girl getting stuck in the foster system all her life and not getting to know her family so in August last year we made the decision to get assessed as foster carers for this little girl. And we were successful. So lots of months later after we went through all the paper work and formalities and all the rest we finally have a foster child. YAY! She has been living with us permanently since last Sunday (a week so far) and all is going pretty well. Riley loves having a big sister and someone she can play with all the time.

On top of this huge news I also have a new job which I am starting in 2 weeks time, Again this is another thing that has dragged on and on (Was supposed to start in November) but I cannot wait for the new possibilities it will bring. It will be a bit of a change from my current industry but I feel this is the best time for me to turn over a new leaf and learn something new.

It feels nice to finally share a little bit about what has been happening around here. I have been very busy but feel so blessed to be able to make a difference for someone who really needs it.

Now it wouldn't be a blog post without a card. I made a card for Lilly for her 2nd birthday back in December and keep forgetting to put it on here so this seems the most fitting post for it. I still 3 mths later really love the card...



Stamp Set: Butterfly Prints, On your Birthday
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Perfect Plum
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Whisper White
Accessories: Dimensionals, Pretty In Pink Satin Ribbon, SAMJ, Linen Thread, Big Shot, Top Note Die

Thanks for looking and hopefully I will have time to start creating again soon

Dani

Just Add Blue

Hi Guys,

This month is Depression and Anxiety Awareness Month. This is a great cause and something dear to my heart as I have gone through this myself and I know alot of people who have struggled in these areas. Please go to www.beyondblue.org.au for further info. Now to celebrate this the Just Add Ink girls have put together a great challenge this week. Just Add Blue and make it a just because card. Ie. Not a birthday, christmas, thank you, etc card a Card for no reason at all. I love that as I keep meaning to make a card like that and always forget. So this was a great opportunity to make something to send to someone for no reason. Here's what I came up with



I love the stamped vines. They turned out fab, I particularly love them because I've used 3 different images from three different sets and they blend in together so well. This card also has a few of my current things i'm in love with... Marina Mist, DSP stack, satin ribbon and rhinestone brads! I hope you like this card as much as me. Now to pop it into the mail for it's unsuspecting recipient!

Stamp Set: Just Believe, Pocket Silhouettes, Great Friend
Ink: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist
Cardstock: Basic Black, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Marina Mist DSP Paper Stack
Accessories: Rhinestones, Dimensionals, Basic Black Satin Ribbon, Pinking Heart border punch, SAMJ

Also I wanted to share some photo's of my gorgeous daughter Riley. She finally after months of frustration and encouragement started walking last Thursday. She is doing so well. Here's a photo of her this morning walking across the lounge room.



Now she has a little dressing up obsession atm. Here's a photo of her in her favourite hat (which I'm not in love with but hey) her glasses case around her neck (they are currently broken again) and a cow puppet in her hand. Shes so cheeky!



Hope you enjoyed everything I had to share with you!

Have a great day!
Dani

Last Chance List

Hi guys,

Sorry for taking so long to get this up. As you know the new Catalogue comes out on 1st September. I'M SO EXCITED! To prepare for it's release we have a copy of the Last Chance list which you can find here. The list is long to incorporate the colour renovation and reconfiguration of the punches. If there's something you LOVE on the last chance list and cannot live without you need to contact me to order it as these items will not be available after 31st August. Products are subject to availability so get in early before it sells out.

Also as the new catalogue is released on 1st September I am now taking pre orders of the new catalogue. Order your catalogue today and receive it by 1st September. Catalogues cost $12.95 however book a workshop with me and I will give you the new catalogue for free.

Can't wait to share the beautiful few catalogue with you all
Dani

Feeling at loss...

WARNING PERSONAL POST!

Hi Guys,

I was on such a role last week with my posts and Stampin' Up stuff and I felt so good about everything. My mail outs were going out on time, I was putting specials on my blog. I felt so organised. Then 'tragedy' struck two Monday's ago and I have felt very lost.

Last Sunday (6th June) I did a demonstration. I was in alot of pain afterwards due to my hips still being out of action that Karl (My partner) asked me to leave everything in my boot until he got home from work so I didn't strain myself anymore. By the time he got home, we forgot about it. The next day whilst we were home, somebody broke into my car and stole my bag that I took to my demo. It had all my regularly used tools, stamp sets, accessories in it, Plus a huge tupperware container with 100+ cards in it, bigshot stuff and a scrap album I've been working on for Rileys 1st birthday (which was last weekend). They took other stuff but nothing much of value. We reported it to the police but nothing has shown up. I have worked out that I lost over $1000 worth of products. But it was more the sentimental things (scrap pages, cards, etc) that I am extremly annoyed about.

I have other stuff to post from before my bag was stolen and am hoping to start getting back to creating soon, I just feel really lost and like my stampin' mojo is gone. I also just don't feel I can create without my Stampin' Scrub and my bone scorer. It seems so petty, but for me its something that brings me absolute joy and I feel like someone has just taken that away from me without a thought about how there actions affected other people. On the positive side, Stampin' Up will love my next order!

Thanks for reading and be sure to come back soon to see my mojo come back.

Dani

1st Birthday Invitations

Hi guys,

I have been very quiet the last month or so that's because not only have I been working ridiculous hours but my little girl had surgery 2 weeks ago. She has an eye condition known as congenital esotropia which means her eyes turn too far inwards and don't work together. Because hers were quiet severe surgery was recommended asap. So we forked out the money (Thanks mum and dad) for her to have it done. I thought I'd share a few photos of her cos who doesn't love photos of kids??



Here is a photo of her in her gown just before the surgery. You can see that her right (your left) eye is turned in and the other is veering in. This happened all the time. I have alot of photos where you can see it more prominently



Here's a photo taken last weekend after shes started recovering from the surgery. Her eyes are looking great and it has made such a difference to her. Before she was crawling but was a little uncoordinated now she just flies, she also has started getting into and up things (like our 15 stairs) so it has made a real difference. One of her eyes is drifting a little. We are hoping it doesn't drift anymore otherwise she may need another surgery in the future but for the moment we are so happy and proud of her.

Ok now onto the fun stuff... Stamping! Apart from the surgery I have also been working on my little girls birthday invitations. I can't believe she will be 1 in less than a month! Crazy how quickly time flies! I made 35 birthday invitations (And still didnt have enough for everyone). I decided to make it a butterfly theme so she has gorgeous butterfly invites and will have a matching cake and lolly boxes which I will share with you later on.



I decided to use Melon Mambo, One of our new In Colours and will be a permanent colour as of September teamed with Regal Rose and Orchid Opulence (Which will leave us in September *tear*) to make her invites and really love the colour combo. I am going to try and continue this colour theme throughout the birthday party!



Here is the invite up close. I used flight of the butterfly and butterfly prints (From the summer mini) to do the stamping. I also used polka dot bg stamp and It's your birthday for the look who's turning one! (Thanks Tracey Eaton) Also how beautiful is the new In Colour ribbon?? It's my new favourite product cos you can use either side!



Here is the inside. I finished it off with more butterflies!

Stamp Sets: Flight of the Butterfly, Butterfly Prints*, It's your birthday, Polka Dot BG
Ink: Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Orchid Opulence
Cardstock: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose, Orchid Opulence
Accessories: 1 3/8" and 1 1/2" circle punches, Melon Mambo ribbon, dimensionals

Thanks for looking
Dani

Plum Daisy's

Hi All,

A few weeks ago it was my sister in laws birthday and I wanted to make her a card that she'd really like. She loves purple so I decided to use Perfect Plum and Pale Plum to make her card. My partner absolutely loves when I make cards using brayering so he wanted me to do a sunset type card using brayering. I thought using purple was a little out of my comfort zone but really like how the colours looked with a brayered background.

To get the background I stamped the Upsy Daisy Stamp Set in Black Stazon on Whisper White CS. I punched a circle out of a post it note on the sticky part and stuck it where I wanted my moon to go. Then brayered pale plum first until I got the colouring I wanted. I the layered over with Perfect Plum and blended the colour in to get the colours fading into each other. I then removed the punched circle and done! EASY! I was going to touch it up with some dazzling diamonds but my sister in law has a 2 year old and I just invisioned her playing with the card and removing all the glitter and spreading it all over the house! The glitter would really give it a pop though.



Stamp Set: Upsy Daisy, Sanded BG, Best Yet
Ink: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Black Stazon, VersaMark
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Basic Black
Accessories: 1 3/8" and 1 1/2" circle punch, Brayer, Post it notes, Dimensionals, Stamp a majig

Oh and before I go I have a photo to share of my beautiful daughter Riley. She is 6 months old today (doesn't time fly) and I feel totally blessed to have her in my life. Here she is in the bath cracking a huge smile! Doesn't she just melt your heart???



Thanks for looking!
Dani

A call for scraps

Hi Guys,

Are you a hoarder like me and keep scraps of cardstock "just in case" and then never use them? If so I have the perfect solution. The Inklings Demonstrator group I am part of has been doing alot of stuff for Westmead children's hospital including visits and making cards with sick kids. They are always on the look out for punched out shapes of cardstock, paper, DSP, Whatever, for the kids to play and create with. So next time you look at a scrap and can't decide what to do with it, punch out a few shapes, put them in a pile and when you get a decent amount send them to me (Or Jayne Mercer who is organising this) and we will make sure they get to the Children's Hospital. They don't have to be SU! product so any punches or cardstock you have will help!
If you want anymore information including my address so you can mail them to me please email me at danielle.fender@gmail.com

Thanks for your assistance guys!
Dani

Garden Daisy's

When I saw the new IB&C I was so excited that we were getting Upsy Daisy. I had seen it used on so many american demonstrators blogs looking so stunning that I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. In the following card I have used my markers to ink up the image and added dazzling diamonds on the flowers to really give it a pop!



Stamp Set: Upsy Daisy
Cardstock: Garden Green, Rose Red, Regal Rose Prints DSP
Ink: Garden Green, Rose Red, Regal Rose Markers
Accessories: Word Window Punch, Mat Pack, Dazzling Diamonds, Two Way Glue Pen, White Taffeta Ribbon

Also because I'm a really proud mum I wanted to share another photo for you of my gorgeous little girl. And for anyone who knows me well... YES She's wearing PINK! I'm not a big pink person so the fact she has pink on is a big deal. Needless to say I didn't buy it lol (Thanks Carol)



Thanks for looking,
Have a great day

Dani :)

Introducing...

Riley Renate Barenyi. My little girl was born on Friday 12th June at 2:07pm. She weighed 6 pound 11oz or 3025 kg. She spent some time in NICU due to fluid on her lungs but is happy and healthy now. My health has been improving since her arrival and I can now walk and get around alot better than before. Thanks for all your support over the last 6 months. It's great to have such a beautiful little girl to show for it.

Now I am better I am hoping to be able to work on alot more craft stuff so please watch this space.

Have a great day,
Dani :)

Moving House

Hi All,

Well today at 3:30pm I officially became a home owner. As exciting as this is it will mean I will be a little quiet over the next week or two as I we do a few little reno's (Gyprocking, Tiling, painting, etc.) and then move in. It will be difficult due to my health but I am hoping to get through it as smoothly as possible. I am hoping to be able to load up before and after shots of some of the rooms for you guys to see also.

Myself and Karl are both very excited that we have our own stable home that we can bring up little Smudgey (bub) in and looking forward to creating lots of memories in our place.

I thank you all for your patience and support within this time and look forward to being able to get back on board with stamping up and other projects (in my new craft room) very very soon!

Take Care
Dani (+1)

Happy 100th post to me!

Hi All,

WOW! This is my 100th post! That's really exciting as I started this blog not knowing if I would be able to post regularly or ever have any regular viewers. I am so excited that 100 posts and I'm still going strong. I thank everyone who regularly visits and enjoy my creations! You guys inspire me to keep sharing what I love with you all.

Today I have a card to share that has been floating around in my head for a good week or so. I had planned exactly what I wanted to create and the colour combo I wanted to use I just needed to get it out. As we are moving shortly (get the keys on Monday, so exciting!) and stuff is packed in boxes I didn't think I could get it created but on Monday it got the better of me and I HAD to make it. So I unpacked some stuff and whipped up this card. It was such good fun to make as it didn't really have a rhyme or reason and came out looking better than imagined. I hope you like it also.

It seems so poetic as the first card I ever posted was using priceless and my 100th post also uses Priceless! Trust me wasn't planned that way. Anywho! I stamped the small swirl on purely pomegrante CS in the same coloured ink. I then took my white gel pen and went over all the dots. Simple but stunning effect! I then stamped the love heart image and punched it out. I stamped another heart, cut it out and layered it on top with dimensionals to give a 3D effect. Here's a (slightly blurry) close up below

Stamp Set: Priceless

Cardstock: Purely Pomegrante, Bashful Blue, Going Grey

Ink: Purely Pomegrante

Accessories: White Gel Pen, Dimensionals, Bashful Blue Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 1/2", 1 3/8" square punch, scallop edge punch, bashful blue brads

Thanks for looking and thanks again for visiting and all your lovely comments

Happy Stampin'

Dani (+1)

Stamps for Sale

For SU! Policy reasons I have had to remove the items which haven't yet retired from my blog. I will put them back on here for sale after 1st April! Thanks for your Cooperation - Dani

Hi All,

I'm having an autumn clean out of all my stamp sets. I'm getting rid of most of my retired/retiring stuff. If you are interesting in purchasing anything please email me (danielle.fender@gmail.com) or leave me a comment at the end of this post (please leave a mode of contact) and I will contact you.

Postage will depend on the weight of the package. Please just ask if you want an idea on how much but just standard Australia Post postage prices. I am willing to accept direct debit, cheque or cash (depending on where you live). If you really like a set and think it is overpriced please let me know. I am willing to negotiate.

2007 – 2008 IB&C
Fresh Fillers $23.95 $10
Kanji $23.95 $10
French Script BG $33.95 $20
Flannel Plaid BG $33.95 $20
Fun Filled $33.95 $20
Nice & Narrow $43.95 $30
Simple Sayings II $30.95 $20

Hostess Sets
Riveting (Level 1) - $15
Reason To Smile (Level 1) - $15 RESEVERED

2008 SAB
Birthday Whimsy - $10
Friendship Blooms - $10
Friendship Blooms (Unmounted)- $15
Merci - $10
Lots Of Thought - $10 RESEVERED

I have all this information as a word document also but was having difficulty tranfering the information into here. If you would like a copy of the word document let me know and I will gladly email it to you.

Thanks

Dani

Another Hospital Visit

*Sigh* I was so hoping to not end up back in hospital but unfortunatly got rushed there on Saturday afternoon after my pain got so excrusiating that I couldn't even stand. They admitted me for pain relief and all the fun tests. They have ruled out Kidney Stones completly. They have a few "theories" but no real idea what the cause is for my pain. They have put me on a pain management plan which I am positive will make things alot better and hopefully keep me out of hospital until baby arrives. I was discharged yesterday, It's so nice to be home!

I don't have alot of craft stuff to share. I was planning to work on some things last weekend but unfortunatly I wasn't able to do that. I did get to work on my baby shower invites a little whilst in hospital. They are nearly done so I will get them up to share with you soon.

On a positive note baby has been getting alot more active and stronger and Karl finally felt baby kick yesterday. So sweet! Baby is doing very well and all the tests on baby at hospital were very good which is positive to know.

Hopefully I'll be able to share some new things with you soon!
Dani

Going, Going, Gone

THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED DAILY AND REMAIN UP THE TOP OF THE PAGE UNTIL END OF MARCH. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE RECENT POSTS! - Dani

Last Updated 07/03/09

If you are interested in anything on the retired list please contact me promptly as once they are gone it's too late! I will (try to) update the retired list for you guys daily so you know what is gone and what is low in sales!

Stamp Sets
108748 Best Friend Numbers SOLD OUT
110255 Bundle of Joy SOLD OUT
112402 Short Order Numbers SOLD OUT
108720 Ahoy, Matey SOLD OUT
108747 Best Friends Alphabet Upper SOLD OUT
108740 Bareback LOW QUANTITY
108746 Best Friends Alphabet Lower LOW QUANTITY
112253 Dad's Day LOW QUANTITY
108849 It's Your Birthday LOW QUANTITY
112391 Everything Baby LOW QUANTITY
112310 Fabulous Flowers LOW QUANTITY
108923 Stipple Rose LOW QUANTITY
112272 Classic Backgrounds LOW QUANTITY
112316 Forever In My Heart LOW QUANTITY
112229 ABC Images LOW QUANTITY
108857 Linen LOW QUANTITY
108998 Beautiful Life LOW QUANTITY
110248 Polka Dot & Petals LOW QUANTITY
108765 Cheery Chat LOW QUANTITY
108929 Symbols of Solicitude LOW QUANTITY
108763 By Land LOW QUANTITY

Wheels
107565 Flip Flops Standard wheel SOLD OUT
107212 Mateys Map Jumbo Wheel SOLD OUT
103195 Gifts Galore Standard wheel SOLD OUT
107561 Garden Annuals Standard Wheel SOLD OUT
104279 Leaf Prints Standard Wheel SOLD OUT
106610 Basic Outline Jumbo Wheel LOW QUANTITY
104065 Fishy Standard Wheel LOW QUANTITY
107464 Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel LOW QUANTITY
107465 Speckled Jumbo Wheel LOW QUANTITY
107467 Birthday Jumbo Wheel LOW QUANTITY
106662 Daisy Field Standard Wheel LOW QUANTITY

Accessories
109020 Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Ink Refill SOLD OUT
109015 Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Ink Refill SOLD OUT
109016 River Rock Classic Stampin' Ink Refill SOLD OUT
109017 Purely Pomegranate Classic Stampin' Ink Refill SOLD OUT
109018 Blue Bayou Classic Stampin' Ink Refill SOLD OUT
109019 Groovy Guava Classic Stampin' Ink Refill SOLD OUT
100381 Earth Elements Eyelets SOLD OUT
100378 Soft Subtle Eyelets SOLD OUT
105320 Basic Eyelets SOLD OUT
109610 Confetti Simply Scrappin' SOLD OUT
111852 River Rock A4 Cardstock SOLD OUT
111851 Soft Sky A4 Cardstock SOLD OUT
105316 Rich Regals Eyelets LOW QUANTITY
101259 Black Hemp Twine LOW QUANTITY
108638 12"x12" In Colour Cardstock LOW QUANTITY
109186 Theatre Ribbon Originals LOW QUANTITY
105445 Soft Subtles Buttons LOW QUANTITY
111850 Wild Wasabi A4 Cardstock LOW QUANTITY
103981 Earth Elements & Neutrals Buttons LOW QUANTITY
100900 Gift Sacks LOW QUANTITY
105531 Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware LOW QUANTITY
105446 Rich Regals Buttons LOW QUANTITY

Thanks,
Dani

Retired Stamps and Accessories

Hi All,

Well it's that time of year again. We get a new catalogue on the first of April but it means that some stamp sets will retire from the 2008-2009 IB&C. I went through the lists this morning and was devestated about some (Paisley, Bud Basics, Bundle of Joy) but then delighted about others. Either way it means that we are making room for alot more exciting Stamp Sets and Accessories!

If you would like to view the retiring list they can be viewed in two forms. Click on the links below to go to the lists....

Alphabetical Retired List
Retired List Page Order

We are lucky this year that Stampin' Up are taking 25% of some retiring products so get in quickly as once stock is gone you will miss out. I will be selling some of my retiring stamp sets. Please contact me for a full list!

Cheers,
Dani

New Email Address

Hi All,

My email account got frozen during the week so I have set up a new account. I can now be contacted by email at danielle.fender@gmail.com . Please change it in your address books and send any future mail to this account.

Sorry for any inconvience this may have caused!

Dani

Blog Awards

Firstly I want to thank the academy, and my parents without whom none of this would be possible, my loving and supportive boyfriend, my fans and blog visitors and lastly and most importantly GOD!

Ok now I have the formalities out of the way I have been awarded 2 blog awards within the last few weeks. The first was the Kreativ Blogger award awarded to me by the lovely Kristy Young, Thanks Kristy.

The rules are to pass this on to 5 other Kreativ Bloggers... (I will do this at the end)

The second award I was given was the Butterfly Award. I was given this award from the talented LeAnne.

The rules to this award are as follows...

1) Post the award(s) logo on your blog
2) Add the link to the person who nominated you
3) Nominate 10 other blogs & post their links
4) Let those people know that they have received the award

As this one wanted me to nominate 10 and the previous one 5 I decided to just combine the awards together and nominate 5 for both awards. So my criteria was to find 5 blogs that are both Kreativ and cool. So without further ado here are the people I will pass these onto (In no particular order)...

1. Kellie Winnell - I've only just started following her blog but she has some gorgeous work and great and different ideas

2. Ryemilan aka Sam - This lady is seriously talented and way out my league. She has such a creative mind and makes fab projects!

3. Alana Galagher - One of my fellow Inklings. She always comes up with gorgeous projects and cool ideas.

4. Lin Mei Yap - Another one of my fellow Inklings. Lin Mei is the cutest most hilarious blogger I know. She makes really cool stuff with a different flair to them.

5. Tegan Swift - This is both an encouragement award and an award to someone who I feel for her mere age of 17 is really clever. Keep up the great work Tegan!

Thanks again for the ladies for the awards and to the other ladies enjoy the awards!

I have my 18-20 week scan today. I am really excited. We can find out the sex of our little smudgey (As I have affectionally nicknamed the bub for the moment) but I don't want to, I like the element of surprise. My partner really wants to find out for a variety of reasons and I am slightly tempted but I would rather wait and see. Either way just getting to have a look at the babies growth and progress is an exciting thing! Wish me luck!

Cheers, Dani (+1)

Inspiring Punched Flowers

Hi all,

Firstly I want to update you on my whereabouts the last week or so. Last Wednesday I went to the antenatal clinic for an appt with the kidney specialist he took one look at the way I was hobbling in pain and decided to admit to the hospital for montoring and further investigation. Unfortunatly there search came up fruitless so I ended up being discharged on Friday evening with the same advice as my last hospital visit - possibly kidney stones rest, lots of fluids and pain relief!

Prior to my discharge I had a niggling headache but dismissed it. I went home it got worse and worse. At 9pm it hit me so bad I couldn't stand up and had extremly blurred vision. I treated it like a migraine but it didn't go away. My partner rushed me back to the hospital Saturday morning at 5:30am in fear it was a new symptom, baby was in distress or I had a reaction to a medication they gave me (At this stage I was vomitting and couldn't hold medication down). After being checked and treated at Emergency they advised me that it was just a very bad migraine and told me to rest. Baby is all fine and doing normal for it's age.

My life has been such a whirlwind and this pregnancy hasn't been enjoyable. I pray that this is the end of all my dillema's and I start to get better. One good thing is I felt baby move and kick for the first time this evening. It was just a magical moment. And just in case anyone asks I am currently 18 weeks. Thanks again for all your continued support I appreciate all your prayers and thoughts!

Ok enough of my ramblings, Lets get onto some craft! Today i finally felt up to some craft. I saw Makeesha's current weekly challenge and remembered an idea that would fit perfectly and that I've been meaning to try for a while but haven't found the time. Here's the inspiration...

The flowers and colours are so pretty I was so excited to give them a whirl. The idea I've had is taken from my paper quilling days and adapting a technique I learnt and using my scalloped circle punch to make some cool 3D flowers. I don't know if I am 100% satisfied with the outcome as it is very different to anything I usually do but I think it was a fun card to make and really took me out of my comfort zone and got the "creative mojo" happening as Keesh would say.

I tried my best to get a photo of how the flowers are sitting so you can see more of the work put into them and how 3d they are. I hope you can get the idea.

Stamp Set: Occasional Greetings

Ink: Blue Bayou

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Soft Sky, Ruby Red, Sage Shadow, Blue Bayou, DSP

Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Pretties Kit (Rhinestones and cream half back pearls), Scallop Edge Punch, Mat Pack, Tombow Adhesive

I decided that this card can be for a wedding my partner is going to next weekend and he was happy with that as he really likes the card. He thought it was very innovative. If you like the flowers too and would like to make them yourself please let me know and I will post my first ever tutorial in how to make them.

Happy Australia Day and a big Happy Birthday to my dad who reckons Australia is generous to give him a day off on his brithday!

Thanks for looking,

Dani (+1)

Unfroggettable Valentines

As I stated below, I participated in Inklings Challenges over New Years. The beauty about these is there is no time limit so I did another one yesterday. The Challenge was to use Kristina Werner's most recent colour challenge to create a card, scrapbook page, etc. Obviously I didn't get to submit my card before the deadline but the colours were just so fab and stunning I couldn't resist playing anyway.

When I first saw these colours I had a million ideas go through my head. I then decided to use the frog from Unfroggettable (Thanks Merryl for lending me the set) as the colours would look great watercoloured. I didn't really have much thought to it but to water colour the frog but by the end the card took so much shape and actually has alot of meaning to me. My boyfriend gets called "Frog" my his family as a nickname. So I decided that this card would be perfect to give to my handsome "frog" for valentines day! I am so happy with it and actually feel a little organised for a change lol! Anywho enough rambling, Here's my card...

Stamp Sets: Unfroggettable, Short and Sweet, Polka Dot BG

Cardstock: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Watercolour Paper

Ink: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Black Stazon

Accessories: 1/2" circle and word window punches, Rose Red Brads, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals

Also if your bored and looking for something to do over the break (even though for some it's nearly up) check out a new British Comedy i've been watching lately called The IT Crowd. It's about IT nerds that work for a huge company in London. It's very silly humour which I appreciate and the seasons are very short (6 per season) so it's very easy to watch. If you have seen it please let me know also cos I'm a little obsessed and would love someone else to talk to about it!

Anywho thanks for looking.

Happy Stampin'

Dani