Bad Kitty!

This little kitty isn't the only one around here who is bad...

MY BAD!! Again I haven't been keeping up to date on my blog.

Subsequently it is time for another challenge at Words 2 Craft By, 

and our quote this month is an interesting one by Benjamin, aged 11...

"I'm an angel at Christmas time, but the rest of the year I'm the real me".

Are there any parents out there who could identify that quote with

their little 'angels'?

I didn't have any images of angel/naughty children, but I did have this 

irresistible kitty digi stamp.

This is another digi stamp, trimmed with deckle-edged scissors.

How could you be cross when kitty puts on such a sad face.

Our kitty looks at us exactly the same way, when he knows

he has done something naughty (and it works every time!).

Image - Whimsy Love Me Anyway digital stamp

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Doodlebug Design Inc. Home For The Holidays

Sentiment - Digital freebie by Bizzy Bec Greetings North Pole (thank you Bec)

Gems are from my junk stash

For the chance to win a fabulous prize, pop over to Words 2 Craft By, check out the great inspiration by my teamies, then enter your own creation.

I hope your Christmas preparations are all going to plan...not long to go now!

Hugs,

Jennifer.  xx

One Cool Cat

I am such a bad blogger these days. It is already a month since I last added

anything to my blog, but this retirement business is crazy. I can't remember

being this busy when I was working full time, and raising our son.

Enough of my excuses...it is the second Wednesday in the month, and that 

means it is time for another challenge at Words 2 Craft By.

Our quote this month is such a fun one - 

"Life Is Better In Flip Flops"

While we here in Australia are experiencing freezing temperatures at the moment,

much of the Northern hemisphere is sweltering. This cool cat has the right idea about

beating the heat. The fabulous paper is from a precious sheet I bought several years

ago. Unfortunately it is no longer available.

Inside the card co-ordinates with the front.

A close up of the cool little dude. He is a digi stamp I bought many

years ago, and have never used (my bad!!). I put Glossy Accents

on the lens of his sunglasses and the ice cubes, but it does not

show in the photo.

Image - Whimsy Stamps One Cool Cat

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Art Stamps Australia

Sentiment - Stampin' Up

Dies - Spellbinder Scalloped Square; Crafts 4U Stitched Square

Umbrella brad is from my junk stash

For chance to win a fabulous prize, why no visit Words 2 Craft By, check out the great inspiration by my teamies, then enter your own interpretation of our theme, "Life Is Better In Flip Flops".

Until next time, thank you for visiting,
Hugs,
Jennifer. xx

Baby Teddy and Friend

I think a few of us have been having trouble with our computers and/or Mr Blogger,

judging by various comments on blogs. Last Wednesday, 26/11/14, I posted a card

which had been in my 'drafts' since 14/11/14. However, try as I might, the post

 insisted on publishing showing that date, not that of last Wednesday 26/11/14. 

That card is here.

Please don't throw anything at me, but I am feeling rather pleased with myself....

thanks to quite a few very late nights, I have finished 40 of my 41 Christmas

cards (the last one is for my darling John), and also my long annual letters to

friends. I posted the overseas ones 10 days ago, and the Aussie ones last 

Thursday. Even I am in shock!!

This pair of cuties was such fun to colour, and because the card

is for a 5 year old child, I wanted it to be bright and cheerful.

Those 3 little bells actually jingle when the card is shaken, and the resin

snowman is a button with the shank cut off.

This image is one of the first digital stamps I ever bought (if not

the first).

The inside of my card matches the front. The gold snowflake is from

a long garland of Christmas tree decorations I bought about 10 years ago.

Image - Whimsy digital stamp Baby's First Christmas

Colouring - Promarkers

Sentiment - Lili of the Valley

Paper - Doodlebug

Dies - Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped Circles

Punch - Making Memories Corner Rounder

Stickles - Ranger Star Dust

Bells, gold cord, gems, gold snowflake, snowman button are all from my junk stash

Challenges

A Creative Romance - 'Something Old' (digi stamp, gold cord, bells, gems)

Animal Friends #20 - 'It's Cold' TOP 3

Creative Card Crew #75 - 'Stripes'

Delightful - 'It's A Kid's World' TOP 3

Di's Digi Designs - 'For or With a Child'

Divas By Design - 'Jingle Bells'

Fairy Tale #105 - 'Animal Christmas'

Paper Creator's Crafts #33 - 'All About Christmas'

Penny's Paper Crafty #205 - 'Anything Goes'

Top Tip Tuesday - 'Buttons or Bows'

In a few days I will show you another of my Christmas cards, so until then, thank you for visiting, stay safe, and try not to get too stressed.

Hugs, 

Jennifer. x

Trimming The Tree

Can you believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve??  Tomorrow morning both John

and I have appointments with our Doctors, then we have to tackle the daunting task of

supermarket shopping. I hate it at the best of times, but.....Christmas Eve, no sireee!

Because of the extreme heat here we really can't shop a few days before Christmas. 

After the 41 degrees C days we have just had, we had a 'cool change' yesterday and 

today-38 C! It's almost 11pm and although the airconditioner is on in the loungeroom, our

bedroom is still 30 C, so methinks I will be sleeping in the same place as last night - on

a cotton blanket on the loungeroom floor in front of the airconditioner. It is predicted that

tomorrow will be the same as today, but Christmas Day will be cooler (28 C)...bring it on!!!

I made this easel card for some lovely friends with whom we will be 

spending Christmas tea. They have already received it, and their

kiddies loved it.

A closer look at the cute image, coloured as always with Promarkers.

Image - Whimsy digi stamp Trimming The Tree

Colouring - Promarkers

Paper - Imaginisce Summer Peppermint Stripe

Sentiment - Recycled from a card received last year

Punch - Martha Stewart PATP Snowflakes

Foil star, and peel-off stickers are from my junk stash

Thank you for visiting, and "happy crafting",

Hugs, 

Jennifer. x

Santa's Puppy

Hello fellow crafters,
I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, and most probably preparing in some way for Christmas, be it shopping, card making/writing, even cooking. Gosh, it is approaching fast, isn't it.

Tonight I have a simple little card which I will send to my brother and sister-in-law. A few months ago, they lost both their little dogs suddenly, only 3 weeks apart (one was 13, and one was only 9).

The base card is from one of the multi packs, with a Christmas tree aperture, I bought several years ago. Some of my non-crafting friends commented once that "nothing is safe around you crafty people", and I answered proudly "that's great, isn't it" - the red, green and gold holly and ribbon background paper is for covering Christmas cake boards!                                   

Inside the card, showing the tree window. The blank cards were tri-fold cards, but for some I cut off one of the flaps.

The image is 'Santa's Puppy', a Whimsy digital stamp, coloured with Promarkers. It is the first digital stamp on which I have generously applied Stickles. If I apply Stickles to an image, I always do so after the card is completely assembled. However, this being a digital stamp, I learned a valuable lesson. That is, because the Stickles is waterbased, the ink of the image 'runs' when the two meet. I didn't want to discard the finished card, so applied tiny gems to the puppy's hat, but these only partly obscured the blurred ink. I know my brother won't mind, especially since he always 'bins' cards immediately after opening them.

A close-up of the Cheery Lynn 'Holly Flourish', and the poinsettia made with the 2 smallest petals of a Spellbinders die. 'Joy' is from a clear set of Kaisercraft clear stamps, cut out with deckle-edged scissors.

Challenges I would like to enter are -

Whimsy #53 - 'Traditional Christmas Colouring' (2nd entry)

Crafty Sentiments - 'Christmas' (2nd entry)

I will catch up on visiting your blogs tomorrow night, as I am having trouble staying awake tonight. Until then, thank you for visiting.

Hugs,

Jennifer. x

Bathing Beauty

Hello fellow crafters,
My card today is yet another easel card - I love making them. It is for a lovely young lass, Connie, who will be turning 12 next Wednesday. By coincidence it is also her baby brother's first birthday. That is our dear little Russell, or Tiger, as John calls him. I finished his card about 2 weeks ago - you can see it here . Yes, they were both Halloween bubs!

Don't look too long, or you may damage your eyes...I think I went a tad overboard with colour! Connie has such a bright, bubbly personality, I wanted to create a card to match. The reason for the thong (or flip flop) theme is because I nicknamed her ages ago (for reasons too lengthy to explain) "Connie Thong". I had to search high and low for the DP.

This view is the card lying flat, as it appears in the acetate presentation box I always use for dimensional cards. The large die-cuts, and the small one on which I stamped my image, are cut using Framelits Dies which my friend Margaret lent me while she was away in Italy. Thank you so much Margaret. 

A close-up of the little cutie, coloured with my Promarkers.

A close-up of the flowers, and the little thong I made from fun foam, found in most kids' craft shops.

Inside the card, showing the tag, with ribbon loop, for our personal greeting, and the pocket which holds it.

The inside panel with the computer-generated greeting raised on 3D tape.

The back of the card which actually becomes part of the front decoration when the card is flat.

I would like to enter my card in the following challenges -

Ladybug Crafts - 'I need a 'P' '(pink, purple, punches, pocket)

Penny's Paper Crafty #99 - 'Ribbon and/or Buttons'

Whimsy Inspirations #52 - 'All Things Sparkly'

Bearly Mine #58 - 'Easel Card'

Cheery Lynn - 'Texture'

IMAGE - Whimsy digi stamp 'Lexi's Beach Ball', coloured with Promarkers.

DP - Art Stamps Australia 'Thongs'.

INK - Tim Holtz distrss ink 'Picked Raspberry'.

DIES - Stampin' Up 'Labels Collection Framelits'; Memory Box 'Catalina Border'; Cheery Lynn 'Butterfly -    small'; Spellbinders 'Scalloped Ovals', 'Scalloped Heart' and  'Scalloped Rectangles'; Cuttlebug 'Heritage Corners'.

PUNCHES - Martha Stewart 'Branch' and 'Loop Hearts' PATP; Carl 'Sakura'.

SENTIMENT - Computer generated 'Curlz' font.

BRADS -'Kaiser'.

Flowers, Gems, Stickles, Ribbon, Fun Foam - all from my junk stash.

Just an update on my appointment with my Dr. on Tuesday...while my liver tests are still fairly elevated, they are stable. I have had liver problems since childhood, and have to have regular tests. However, sometimes, like earlier this year, my levels skyrocket and I often finish up in hospital. My levels are never within the official Normal Range, but until they settle down I have to have blood tests every few weeks. (When in hospital I have had to have blood taken 4x per day!). The growth (not a cyst) on my kidney is benign, but has to be checked annually, and my 'ladies department' problem is still ongoing, but surgery is now looking unlikely - thank goodness! As for my hand, it will be another few weeks before we will know if the cortisone injection, 2 weeks ago, was successful, or if I will need surgery. 

I must now go and prepare dinner...we are having grilled fresh fish, salad, and herb bread. It has been 35 degrees C today, so I thought a nice light meal is in order. John had an appointment with his neurologist today, down in Newcastle (he has Parkinson's Disease), so we took the opportunity to go to the fish co-op where the seafood is always lovely and fresh.

Until next time, thank you for visiting.

Hugs, 

Jennifer. x

Hugs

Hello Fellow Crafters,
I didn't think I would have a card to post today, but then I remembered that I had this image already coloured, and all the punched and die-cut parts done, so it didn't take too long to put this together. This is such a cute image by Whimsy Stamps. I purchased it, and another a few weeks ago from Bizzy Becs, and have several more on order from her. They are so easy to colour and so adorable I know I will be adding many more to my collection.

I coloured the image with Promarkers...I so love them! The little birdies on the First Edition paper, the roses, and the Bazzill used for matting look as if they are a rusty brown colour, but IRL they are the lovliest deep, antique rose pink colour. I sponged the white circles on the front and in the inside, and the greeting tag with Ash Rose Versacube ink while the die-cuts were still in the die.

Even in the close-up of the little cuties, the glitter does not show up very well. All the little birds on the backing paper are fully glittered, the tiny pink punched flowers have glittered centres, and the butterflies, flowers and gems in the image are glittered.

Side-on view

                                The inside of the card is decorated to match the front.

Stamp - Whimsy Wee "Sweet Blossom'
Cardstock - Bazzill
Paper - First Edition 'Spring Feast'
Ink - Versacube 'Ash Rose'
Dies - Spellbinder, Cuttlebug 'Baby Face' alphabet
Punches - Martha Stewart, Carl
Other - Flowers, Ranger 'Crystal' Stickles, from my junk stash

I will be entering this in the following challenges -
          Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Challenge - Anything Goes
          I Love Promarkers - Anything Goes
          Cute Card Thursday - A Touch of Sparkle


Until next time...happy crafting and thank you for looking.
Jennifer. x