Magnolia Down Under : Flowers

We have a nice easy challenge for you this week at Magnolia Down Under, it's flowers. They canm be on yout papers, in your stamp, hand made whatever. I have used some roses and cherry blossoms from I am roses, and both my images have a couple of flowers in them (happy coincidence, this was in no way planned, lol!)
This was the first card I made when I got my Fairytale Maggies from Kellie, I had been dying to ink up the castle stamp for ages... and about 10 seconds into colouring it I wondered what I had gotten myself into, hahaha!! But it was all good and I love the stamp, I don't have many Magnolia backgrounds/accesories but this was one i had to have, perfect for this Midsummer Tilda to dance on the steps of (thanks heaps Kylie for stamping her up for me!) She is actually foam mounted but because the weather is still pretty craptacular I had to use the flash to take the picture, hence the washed out colours and general dodgyness (beyond my usual dodgyness that is :D) The Magnolia stamps and pearls are from Tickled Pink Stamps.
I can't wait to see what you all create with this fabulous challenge, for more stunning inspiration make sure you check out the amazing DT work here...

what a week!!!

Well... it started out busy and is now busy and stressful!! It was the boys birthday yesterday so we just hung out at home and played with the boys new toys (they got buzz and woody figurines and spent the morning on the couch with their dad watching toy story 2 and wiggling their toys at the screen, so cute!) and we had our mum's over for dinner and cake. Tomorrow we are having out immediate family, brothers, sisters, etc over for lunch... around 20 people! Hmmm... I had no idea there were that many of them, but it is just a bbq and a few bit's and pieces, I mace chocolate ripple cake and mars bar slice, yummy, and and we are having donut cake! (so excited by that) and hopefully all this sugar and chocolate will help with my stressed-ness... (either that or perhaps someone could just keep my mother away from me for a while, that would be nice too!!)

Anyways, i wanted to share bubby pic's with ya. Here are my little bugs on the day they were born. Awwww, they were so widdle... I can't wait to have another baby!! That is Levi on the left and Dallas on the right (check out the massive nostrils, they now easily accommodate 2 sultanas each with a little room to spare, he has tested this several times much to my displeasure!)And this is a piccy of them a couple of weeks ago, Levi hogging the camera and Dallas grinning away in the background.

Anyways, thanks for sticking around for the rant. I have been MIA this week and hopefully can catch up over the next few days. I will be back with a card for Magnolia Down Under in the morning so see you then :)

Perfect Poison... perfectly adorable!

Isn't she a cutie, another of those stamps I saw and instantly knew I had to have :) There seems to be one like that in every Kraftin' Kimmie release!
The weather here today has been appalling, drizzling constantly and overcast for the last few days to the photography is fairly shoddy :) I will have another go tomorrow if the conditions are better (fingers crossed!)
Now... imagine the greens in this card are a little brighter and not that drab dull colour that came up in the photo, and the image is a bit washed out too. I coloured the purple rose with my copics and was actually pretty pleased with how is came out. The leaves are a sizzix die and the black pearl flourish, along with the charm and stamp (perfect poison from Kraftin' Kimmie, did I mention that yet?) are from Tickled Pink Stamps. I love these flourishes and Kellie has them at a fabulous price!
This dodgy photo shows you where I have smeared on the glitter, hahahaha!!

I am also entering this card over at:

Kraftin' Kimmie - How charming
Stamp something - 2 of something (i have 2 roses)

Totally Gorjuss - Bling it on

Bubby update...

Ok, I just had one of those mumnesia moments when I wrote that last post, Levi was actually 85 cm and Dallas was 90 cm at 18 months!
Today Levi weighs 13.5 kg and is 90.5 cm tall and Dallas weight 16.5 cm and is 96 cm tall. So before long they will both be over 6 foot tall (at least I will have a few tall men around the house to reach things for me!) The worst part is the nurses always look at me after measuring them and ask "so how tall is dad?" Yes, I'm short, I get it, sheesh!
For those that noticed, yeah, in that last picture I was a little fed up, I was hoping towards the end when I had doctors visits he would tell me I was getting too big or something and we would have to take them out, hahaha... it never happened! By 36 weeks I considered begging him, lol.
I was so glad to hear I was not the only one to have tummy accidents, doors were not my friend for quite a few months, and I always felt so awful when I bumped the bump.
So, I hope to be back soon with a crafty post for you. I have a few images all coloured up and waiting to be carded. I have been getting a bit stuck with that part :)

What the...!

Hahaha, nothing craft related today (probably) just wanted to share this pic taken of me 2 years ago today, it's pretty funny... now. This was 2 days before my boys were born and I am still convinced that I don't look that pregnant, you know, not that much bigger than a single... maybe it's just because it was me. I was always forgetting about the extra tummy closing the car door on it (don't worry, it did not hurt me or them!) or doing other stupid things :) Anyways, just thought I would share as I was looking through some old photos and getting all nostalgic/clucky, lol!!
We are off this morning to get the little whoppers all weighed and measured and what ever else they do to them for their 2 year check up... I have been dying to know how tall they are, I don't think they made it to 1M but Dallas would be pretty close, he was 95/96 cm at 18 months and Levi was around 90 cm. I will let you all know how they go, I can't wait, I'm easily amused and their growth has always fascinated me :)

i'm late i'm late...

... for a very important challenge!! The boss lady, Kellie, has been setting her DT some challenges recently to help out mojo along and after quite a few people asking us where they can join in too we have opened up our little challenge for everyone to play along with :) You can find Mr Linky and the DT's amazing work HERE...
The4 challenge is to use Black or brown, cream or white and pink, I have also used the sketch from Stamp with Fun for that final kick in the pants to get this card finished and here it is with the purrrrrfectly divine Evie. You can find her the doily and all the laces I have used in the Tickled Pink Store!
I hope you can come along and play with us!!

Lovely Lilith is back again!!

I'm back again, and today I have a Lilith card for you. This week Tickled Pink Stamps are sponsoring over at the Burtonesque Dolls challenge and the challenge for this week is to use skulls and black flowers.... done and done!! This card was so much fun, I have stolen... ahem, I mean borrowed Debbie and Kellie's idea of stamping on acetate, mostly because I did not have any DP what went with these colours (yeah, I don't always plan ahead when I colour) I made the green/aqua/teal (not really sure what this colour is) flowers with my scallop circle punch and then inked and glittered them. I also inked and heavily glittered the leaves amongst my roses too. They all blend together a bit in this photo but there is a bit more contrast in real life, I promise :) And you cannot really see it but there is a little bling flourish amongst my flowers in the top card. The skull paper is Magnolia, so spooky collection, this, the doily and Lilith stamp are all available from Tickled Pink Stamps store!! (and at the moment there is 10% off these items)

Ahoy there!

Hello hello, this is almost the last of my cards that I made on the weekend.. i think! I fell in love with this little pirate when I first saw him, isn't he adorable! After I ordered hi I found there papers and thought they would go great on a pirate theme card, add a pirate charm and some bling from Tickled Pink Stamps and that's pretty much it! This card is pretty simple, as I guess all boys cards are, so I keep thinking it is missing something.... don't you hate that! I will be entering this card into the following challenges:
Cooking it up with Katie - Recipe (charm, male card, 3 colours - blue green and brown)

Creative Inspirations - use punches or die cuts

Creative Inspirations Wednesday challenge - card for a child

Stamp Something - 2 of something ( have used 2 DP's)

The ABC Challenge - U for unused stash (I bought the sentiment and sword stamps in a set a couple of months ago and this was the first time i have used them, hehehe!)

What a doll

Ok, this is just a quick post... yeah, yeah, I know, but I am going to try and keep it short, lol! I Stamped up this Kimmie while I was a Deb's place on the weekend, along with about 80 other images, I thing Mr Mojo was a bit intimidated by all the other creative brilliance in the room and he ran away and hid, so I stamped :) Thanks Debbie, I am having a ball colouring everything in!
This is Charlotte, and she is completely adorable, I love that hair. You can get her from Tickled Pink Stamps and Kellie has today listed the new release Kimmies, and with 10% off, woo hoo!! She also has heaps of new stock in today including some doilies at a new reduced price and some flourishes with bling :) I have used the sketch from Creative card crew, so much fun and I will be using this one again!
I am also entering this card in:
A spoon full of sugar - Cute and girly
Creative Inspirations - A card for a child

Delicious Papercrafting... bring it on!

As I mentioned earlier I have been asked by the gorgeous Kristy to be part of her store DT, woohoo!!!
As a special welcome to her new DT Kristy is offering 15% store wide for 2 days so make sure you get in to Delicious Papercrafting and get yourself a BARGAIN!!
She has also launched a store blog so go and have a look, it is great to see the papers up close and being used!

Pink lady's retreat and... shock horror, I made a card!

Hello my lovelies, I hope your weekend was as eventful as mine was, I went on a stamping weekend with 4 of my fellow Pink Ladies and the new DT for Delicious Papercrafting... what did she just say, I will post about that later :) I'm such a tease, LOL!
And here is a piccy of us all on Sunday morning (I am still in my PJ's and have not brushed my hair, so it is a particularly flattering photo of me... any excuse, hehehe) From left to right we have Me, Kellie, Kristy, Debbie and Kylie. If was a fabulous weekend and I cannot thank Debbie and her family enough for letting us all invade their home, the food was sooooooo delicious and Richard, Deb's hubby, made the best drinks waiter, we were so spoilt :)
And to the surprise of both Kylie and myself, we actually got some crafting done! This is the first of the cards I made, with one of my new Fairytale Magnolias!! Yippi, I was so excited to get my hands on them.

The papers are Kaiser (I bought them at easter time because I thought they would be good for easter themed cards and then did not get around to using them) I have coloured her with copics and glittered the bubbles and the edges of her wings (which I cut out and layered up for dimension, not that you can tell in the photo!) and the edge of the papers. umm... I have added some pearls, net ribbon and a butterfly pin. Thanks again Debbie for letting me use your nesties, I so need the scalloped circles :) You can get this Magnolia stamp and lots more as well as the net ribbon in lots of colours from Tickled Pink Stamps.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

A spoon full of sugar - Cute and Girly

Creative inspirations - Punches or die cuts

Create 4 fun challenge - sketch

Just Magnolia - One for the girls

Magnolia Stamp lovers - Make it dimensional

Stamp with fun - Stripes

Black white + 1

Welcome to another week and another challenge at Magnolia Down Under, this week we want to see you create something using black, white (or cream) and one other colour. I have used Nobel Tilda perched on her piano for my card. This was another one of those cards I have had in my head for ages :)
I have added red glitter to her shoes and flower on her dress, I wanted her to have blinging shoes, lol! I have inked my edges and done some stitching for an aged/vintage kinda feel. Make sure to check out the DT work this week, they have outdone themselves again. Seriously, the DT ladies blow me away every week with their amazing creations.

New releases at Spesch Stamps

Hello everyone, today is release day over at Spesch Stamps. We have some fabulous new occasion stamps for you, including wedding, bride to be, expecting woman and our second engagement image, which I have used on my card today. I love these images!This fabulous image, along with the wedding image and Bonnie will also be available in clear polymer stamps!!
So head on over to here.. to check out the other girls amazing cards and then be sure and check out our new store site... please excuse any hiccups, as with all new sites we are still working things out :)

My first sweet pea card!

I love these sweet pea stamps, and they are so much fun to colour!! This one is a freebie from their site I got before I bought any so I could see how I liked them and if I could colour them :) You can get your stamps (I already have, lol) from Delicious Papercrafting, Kristy had some gorgeous stuff and a whole heap of new sweet peas just arrived!! I have used the sketch from Sketch Saturday, glittered the edges on my DP and my flowers and glittered tome sections of the butterfly wings (every time I post a card I really wish that glitter showed up in photos, I will have to work on my camera skills perhaps) Not much more to say, I have to finish packing for a little stamping trip to meet some wonderful blogging buddies (and hopefully we will all still be friends after they meet me in real life...!) Woo Hoo... one more sleep and we will be rocking out in the party cubby, lol!!!

Introducing Lillith...

Today is the final day of previews at Tickled Pink Stamps, which means you can now place your orders for the Lil Lolita's!!
Today we are showing Lillith, she is definitely my favourite of the release, and I think the fave of most, if not all, of the DT! I just love the dark and brooding feel to her :) All supplies on this card are available from Tickled Pink Stamps, the sentiment is from a Kraftin' Kimmie sentiment pack (love these) and papers are magnolia, so spooky (love these too, might have to get some more, hehehe).
As always, the DT have produced some of their finest work for the preview today, you can check it out here...
I would just like to thank Kellie for having me on her DT, I can't tell you how exciting it has been to be a Pink Lady and take this amazing journey with you, I am having so much fun!!

News flash...

So tonight we have some truly exciting things happening starting 8pm Victorian, Australian time at Tickled Pink Stamps.

Kellie could not wait any longer and has decided to start the Lil Lolita pre-order early, which is fantastic news for you. They will be sold separately for $10.65 AUS or you can buy the set of all 5 for $49.85 saving you $3.40….. And that’s not adding the 10% OFF sale either!

WHAT 10% OFF SALE….. That’s right to celebrate we are having 10%OFF all stamps in store, some will be at 20% OFF….

AND we have MORE exciting news, we will be stocking a range of absolutely adorable, well sort after stamps that are yet to be sold in Australia and NOT to be missed. Got you all thinking now haven’t I! They have been ordered in and will also be on a pre-order basis but will be shipped once they arrive!! (I am pretty excited about these)

Soon Kel will be stocking a few new ranges to come in June 2010 so keep your eyes out for some cute new ranges coming to Tickled Pink Stamps SOON….

She will also have listed tonight, new lace and not just Cream, but White lace as well. Ribbon Mesh in the most gorgeous of colours. Charms, charms and more charms and we have back in stock doilies (I so need more of these), one of my favourite things to use on cards next to my lace and charms….

The Magnolia Fairy Tale stamps have started arriving, along with the papers, so it should all be here by the end of this week. But once everything arrives it will be shipped out same day it arrives. Yippi!! I am so excited about these Maggies, can't wait to get stamping!!

So set the alarm, put the kids to bed early, make yourself a cuppa or pour a glass of champers and come join Kellie and the Pink Ladies to celebrate the beginning of Lil Lolita pre-orders and all the other exciting things. And check out the fabulous stamps coming in soon…

Happy Stamping and Think PINK xx.

Introducing Willow...

It's day 4 of our previews at Tickled Pink Stamps, only one more day and then all of these little lovelies will be available for pre-order in store!! Yippi! Today I have the pleasure of showing you Willow, isn't she a sweetie, and also very versatile with the big bunch of flowers, she would be perfect for any type of card. Be sure to head over to the store blog and check out all of today's preview cards,
the DT have come up with some wonderful examples and with everyone having such different styles there is sure to be one that appeals to you!

Introducing Lylah..

It's day 3 of previews at Tickled Pink Stamps, and today it's Lylah's turn.
She is versatile, birthdays, Xmas, mothers day if you like, pretty much any occasion where you give a gift :)
Make sure to head on over here and check her out!!

Introducing Evie...

Have you met Evie yet?
She is today's preview stamp at Tickled Pink Stamps. Check her out, she is purrrfectly adorable (hehehe)
We still have another 3 stamps to share with you so keep your eyes peeled, and a Happy Mothers Day to all you mums out there, it's a tough job but somebodies got to do it!

Ivy sketch

It's time, it's time... Today we are revealing the first of Tickled Pink Stamps first collection of rubber stamps, Lil Lolitas!!

Today I would like to introduce you to Ivy, isn't she sweet :) She will be available for pre-order (and arriving very soon) in store at the end of the previews (and while your there don't forget we have gift vouchers, perfect for mothers day!)

When I first saw her in that little apron and hat I thought 'Alice in wonderland' with a Tim Burton twist, lol! So, she got a blue dress and a 'mad' sentiment to match the mad hat, add our first sketch from Tickled Pink Stamps Monthly Challenges and there you have it... Here is another card I made with the gorgeous Ivy, no sketch this time, just playing around with some pretty papers and non Alice colours, hahaha! Ok, now you have seen her make sure you hop on over the the Tickled Pink Stamps blog and get yourself in the running for a great prize!!!
and then head over to Tickled Pink Stamps Monthly Challenges and get stamping!!!

Candy Alert!!

Tracey at Spesch Stamps has some amazing candy to give away and it is very simple to enter.
All you need to do is post this candy on your blog and leave a link in Mr Linky. The winner will be drawn on the 15th of May - the same day as our next release.
What is in the candy:
- Spesch Stamps Bonnie Clear Stamp
- Spesch stamps up coming release clear stamps x 2 (not telling what they are).
- Mad for Markers Neenah Solar white small pack of 25
- 3x Copic markers - E000, E00, E21 (the colours I use for skin colouring).
- Memento ink pad (forgot to put in picture)
- 3 x Imaginisce clear stamps
- Delish 6x6 paper pack
- Pink Paislee 365degrees 6x6 paper pack
- 1 metre of lace
- 4x bunches of gardenia's
- 7x bunches of cherry blossoms
- Pearl pin pack.
- Bella pearls
- Bella ribbon slides
- Nellie Snellen leaf punch

This will close on the 15th May.

Sneaks yourself a pink peek!

Keep yours eyes open midnight Friday because it’s all happening…. Make sure to head over to the Tickled Pink Stamps Challenge Blog HERE….. it is open to everyone worldwide as we now ship internationally (stamps only) and make sure your in for a chance to win something AMAZING and check out our first challenge…. And at midnight on Friday there are lots of exciting things happening over at the store blog HERE…. But for now here is a sneaky peek at what's to come... I'm trying not to burst with excitement, but it wont be LONG NOW, YAY….

More butterflies with Spesch

I could not help but play some more with these gorgeous Kei images from Spesch Stamps. This is Kei with leaf. I went pretty girly with this card, bright colours, butterflies and lots of glitter (which did not really photograph, as usual!) These papers are so fun, they remind me of rainbow bright, remember her? I still have a quilt cover set with her on it :) If you think she is as adorable as I do head on over to Spesch Stamps and make her your own!

Delicious Papercrafting is OPEN!!!

Yay, Kristy has opened her online store 'Delicious Papercrafting' and she has a 10% off sale.
I was just shopping there and it's selling fast so be quick. She has the amazing sweet pea stamps and lots of gorgeous papers to choose from.
Kristy is giving away some delicious candy too. Hop on over to her blog for your chance to win.

...it's a sketchy kind of day!

Hello and welcome, this week at Magnolia Down Under we have a fabulous sketch for you all to play along with. I did not think I was going to get my card finished in time, it has been one of those mad weeks, and then today when I thought I had some crafty time on my hands and had intended to do my card (I had the image all coloured up and my papers chosen, it was just waiting to all be put together) I was told it was actually shed time, not craft time, and therefore spent the majority of my day in the back yard constructing a shed! I was THRILLED!! So anyways, I stole a little bit of time this evening and surprisingly got it completed, but because it was night my photo is really dodgy, so sorry about that, I might try and take another one if I get a chance... but I can't see that happening as I am off tomorrow to meet the lady who is making my wedding cake, and I have no idea what I want!! I have been looking at cakes for a year and cannot find a picture that I like. I kind of have an idea of what I am after, I can almost see it in my head but I am worried without a picture to show her what I am talking about she will not understand, I am not the most articulate person so getting what's in my head out in a comprehensive fashion will be interesting :) Anyways, I have also been informed that tomorrow is also shed time, as we have not finished. I thought when I knocked the drill flying off the top of the ladder and smashing onto the concrete this afternoon that it would be the end of my shed time and he would call one of his brothers to help... no such luck. Worst of all it this shed is just over 2M high and I am only 1.65M tall, and he needs me to hold things that I physically cannot reach, it's hilarious!
Anyways, back to my card, and sorry again for the poopy photograph, I have used Nobel Tilda from the raising the ceiling collection and masked her perched on top of gift boxes from the So Jolly collection. I coloured my doily up (details to come, hehehe) in a soft pink colour as the white disappeared against the DP, added some flowers and a charm, glittered a few edges and a couple of spots here and there on Tilda and her enormous prezzies and cut out my computer generated sentiment with my Spellbinders labels (love these!)Here is a little piccy of the charm as you could not really see it in the other photo.

Stamps. doily. charm, cherry blossoms and leaves are all from Tickled Pink Stamps, where we will soon be spilling out big news *squeal* I can't wait!

This card is actually going to be for my future Mother-in-law, she is a wonderful lady so I can say that without cringing, hahaha! I actually used to date this guy whose mother was the stereotyped horrible mother-in-law from hell, OMG! There are not words to tell you all how nasty and horrible and manipulative she was, phew, dodged a bullet on that one, LOL!

Wow, what a waffle that turned out to be, hoped you all liked my card and be sure to head on over to MDUC and take a look-see at the rest of the DT's magnificent work.

A Spesch-ial release blog hop

Hi and welcome to Spesch Designer Stamps first ever blog hop.
You should have arrived from Maria.... however, if you haven't, please click here to go to the Spesch Stamps Blog and start the Hop from the start.

Today I am going to be showing you Kei with net.
I am completely in love with this entire range of stamps, she is soooo sweet and I love butterflies (and Tracey got these stamps the day after I ordered my beloved MS butterfly punch, how perfect it that!) I think her expression in this image is adorable :)
I had planned to make a gate fold card for this little cutie to sit on, but I decided that rather than trim off the long edge to make the flaps even I would leave it as it was, this way I have a large flap on the left that sits over top of a smaller one on the right (if you get what I mean). I have used my Cosmo Cricket earth love papers (I think that's what they were, I have been cutting into them for a while now and the name is long gone, lol!) on a kraft card base. I have distressed and glittered the edges of the DP in my main panel and used my MS doily punch on the small side. I have punched the butterflies out of the same stripey paper and smothered them in kindy glitz. Some lemon coloured lace to keep the card closed and a butterfly charm and that's everything!
Thank you for visiting me today on the Hop, your next visit is to Shana.... Don't forget to leave a message on all of our posts for the chance to win the entire collection.
Have fun!

Hop list:
Spesch stamps blog
Maria
Fran - You are here, lol!
Shana
Sammi
Michele
Kaylou
Kimmi
Paola
Debbie
Tracey
Spesch stamps blog