Bula! from Fiji

Bula! is the common greeting in Fiji and means 'hello'. We arrived safely at our destination and for those who had extreme cold weather for this time of year and even snow, this might warm you up a bit.



Happy Tuesday!

Happy Easter!

A few weeks ago I especially ordered a dozen white eggs from the greengrocer's for the sole purpose to blow them out and dye them. On Wednesday I blew all of them out with the help of a paper piercer and an ear syringe. You can read here exactly how to do it. I used stickers from the supermarket and two Martha Stewart's punches for the patterns. During the process of blowing out and dying them, I ended up losing 6 eggs. I'm quite pleased with the end result. If you're dying any eggs, I'd love to see some pictures.



I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Easter and let you know that we'll be going on holiday tomorrow until April 1st (no kidding!). I'll be back in a little while.

Look who's 8 today

Our little boy (not so little anymore) Ruben, turned 8 today. Technically speaking he wasn't born yet, as he was born at 2.32 a.m. in Portland, Oregon, which would be 8.32 p.m. Melbourne time. Well, at least my waters had broken by that time, so we knew it (we didn't know it was a boy yet) was on its way.



Apologies for the rubbish photo, but Ruben is always a tough one to photograph as he moves so fast and doesn't give you much opportunity to take any pictures (or I should just say, it was 8.00 a.m. and I wasn't really with it yet, lol). And this one focused on the bird rather than him, but I do love his smile in this picture. Don't you love his shaggy hairdo? You might think why does an 8 year old get cuddly toys, but he still loves them and especially Australian native animals, as it will be a nice memory of Australia. Have a great birthday, Ruben. I love you!

I made Ruben's card nearly a month ago and it wasn't really a surprise as Renee ran off with it after I just finished it, showing it to Ruben: 'Look what Mummy made for you'. This was actually the first time I used my favourite stamp.



Supplies used: cardstock - Bazzill, PPs - Chatterbox, ribbon - Basic Grey, buttons - Basic Grey, foam stamp - CK, paint - Making Memories, marker, foam alphas - American Crafts, punch - Fiskars, edge scissors - Fiskars.

Enjoy your Wednesday and thanks for stopping by. I love all your comments by the way.

Favourite stamp

My favourite stamp to use on boys' cards at the moment is the number stamp which is part of the Creating Keepsakes KOTM of December '07. Here's one I made for Ruben's classmate who was having his party today.



Supplies used: Cardstock - Bazzill, PPs: Chatterbox and ?, ribbon - Spotlight, buttons - Fancy Pants and Basic Grey, stamp - Creating Keepsakes, paint - 'Sky' Making Memories, happy birthday stamp - Stampin' Up.

For my Dad

Today my dad is celebrating his birthday. On these days I always feel a bit sad that I just can't pop round for a cup of coffee. Nevertheless I wish you a very happy birthday and hope you'll have a great day. I love you, papa! I know he's already received my card that I made for him, so I can share it with you.





Supplies used: cardstock - Bazzill Basics, PPs, Scenic Route, ribbon - Basic Grey, foam stamp - CK, paint - Making Memories, buttons - SEI, Autumn Leaves, clear stamps - Creative Café & Collage Press, foam alphabet letter - American Crafts, ink - VersaColor.

Happy Friday!

Crazy Hair

Today is the last day of our 4 day weekend and I must say it's been pretty good. After dutifully doing my ironing after lunch today, I felt I deserved some scrapping time. I set off to create a 8.5"x11" page, but it turned out to be a 12"x12" one. And remember my question a little while ago whether I should have my pictures printed or not? I'm glad I didn't because these pictures are much smaller than a standard 4x6.



And here's a close-up picture of the journaling:



Supplies used: cardstock - Bazzill Basics, PPs - American Crafts, Scenic Route, Stampin'Up and Amy Butler, bling - Prima Marketing, chipboard letters - Basic Grey, acrylic paint - sky and spotlight Making Memories, date stamp - Catslife Press, brad - Bazzill Basics, flowers - Prima, Heidi Swapp, Bazzill Basics, ink - sky Versacolor, corner rounder punch.

Thanks for stopping by!

My Dahlia

After a very tiring but enjoyable day in the city, we took it easy today and recovered. I created a card for Lauren, who's celebrating her 10th birthday on Tuesday, but she won't be reading my blog, so I can already share with you.



As the chipboard letter was self-adhesive, I also embossed the back bits that were sticking out, preventing it from sticking to the backside of the card.



Supplies used: cardstock - Bazzill Basics, PPs - Basic Grey, ribbon - ???, clear stamps - Basic Grey Two Scoops, ink: Versamark, embossing powder - psychedelic StampWorld, chipboard letter - Basic Grey, scallop edge scissors, paper frill - Doodlebug, bling - Me & My Big Ideas.

I also had an attempt at the Dahlia folding that Ingrid referred to in her blog last week. I didn't put the flower on a card, but on Lauren's present. The wrapping paper is from Paperchase which I purchased at Borders.

Another Male Card

Today I created two cards, but neither of those I can show you yet. However, Mike is celebrating his birthday today, so I can show you the card I made for him. I hope you have a great day today, Mike!





Supplies used: cardstock - Bazzill, PPs - Chatterbox, ribbon - ???, brads - Bazzill, buttons - Autumn Leaves & Spotlight, stamps - Sassafras Lass and Heidi Swapp, ink - Versacolor.

Enjoy your Friday, it's already a little bit of weekend for me as Ruben and Rebecca had a curriculum day and Monday is a day off because of Labour Day. David is traveling at the moment, so I have the sole responsibility to keep the kids occupied for the next three days (today's basically over). I'm thinking of going into Melbourne City tomorrow and visit the botanical gardens and maybe watch the skyline from almost 300 metres height.

HMJ Mini Book

Yesterday I create another little keepsake for Dana of the pictures of Hayley. This way I could include a few more pictures. It's really simple. Amazingly enough most supplies I've had for a very long time and came to very good use for this little project. Today I just added the finishing touches and put it on film (or my CCD as it's digital nowadays) before I handed it over to Dana.

































Supplies used: chipboard album: We'R Memory Keepers, PPs: SEI, rub-ons: American Crafts and SEI, letter stickers & tag rim: Making Memories, bling: Prima, velvet butterfly: Jenni Bowlin, foam heart: American Crafts, stamp: Catslife Press.

Happy (UK) Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Barbara, I hope you'll have a wonderful day. David already spoke to his mum this morning, which technically was still Saturday in the UK, to thank us for the flowers that we had delivered to her. We chose to have them delivered on Saturday, just in case she was going to be out all day on Sunday. I believe she also received my card and gift on Friday (not bad for a 10k Miles journey). This is the card I made for her:





Supplies used: cardstock: Bazzill Basics, PPs and clear stamps: Two Scoops Basic Grey, circle journaling spot and ghost butterfly: Heidi Swapp, ink: VersaColor Turquoise, rub-ons: American Crafts, ribbon: Making Memories, flowers: Prima, bling: ?.

The other thing I made for her was a little album of 6"x6" made from cardboard, where I used the technique that Ali posted on her blog last week where she painted over KI Memories lace cardstock. So, that sneak I showed you wasn't the card, but it was this:





























The journaling is about favourite things of the kids to mark the time I made the book.

Supplies used: cardboard scrap piece that comes with many orders to protect 12"x12" paper, PPs: Making Memories 'Love Story' and Love Elsie, lace cardstock: KI Memories, chipboard embellishments, felt hearts: Making Memories 'Love Story', glitter chipboard letters: Junkitz, rub-ons: Basic Grey and Creative Imaginations and American Crafts, heavy clear overlay: Hambly, journaling sheets: Making Memories 'Noteworthy', ribbons: ?, Buttons: Making Memories and for the scalloped hearts and squares I used my Silhouette. I bought the shapes online for $3.00/each.

March: Birthday Month!

I just had a quick count and March wins with the most birthdays on my calendar. August also has 11 events, but two are anniversaries, not birthdays. I guess I can recover between April and July to gain new inspiration for August. Today is the first birthday. Have a good one Dave! I hope you liked the kids singing happy birthday to you on Skype?



Supplies used: cardstock: Bazzill Basics, PPs: Chatterbox, Rub-ons: Creative Café, Background stamp: Paperartsy.co.uk, Ribbon & buttons: Basic Grey, ink: VersaColor Pinecone, corner rounder.

I don't know whether my MIL has received her Mother's Day card and gift (?) yet, but I'll reveal them tomorrow. So, be sure the check back.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!