Happy Christmas.

It's never nice to be in hospital at Christmas.

I work at Auckland City Hospital and we work extra hard to bring Christmas cheer to our ward.  Once again I was asked to help with the decorations.  Every one has to walk passed our reception so we wanted to make it look extra special.  In the middle of the night I stacked up some boxes, wrapped it in brown paper and went to town with some paint.    I stacked up some fire wood (thanks Kim) and added some red and yellow cellophane with twinkly lights.  Voila a fire place!

With the JAI challenge Just add Christmas I had to enter again.  I just love Christmas!!

Tis the season to be jolly

I just LOVE CHRISTMAS!  

I even got caught singing a christmas carol in the car while I was sitting at the lights.  Well the man in the car next to me didn't know what I was singing but he could see I was enjoying myself.  I really enjoy making christmas cards so when I saw this weeks Just Add Ink challenge was Just add Christmas I had to make something.  I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do because there are so many options.  Any way I decided to make some shaker cards because they are always fun.

Thanks Kim once again for the loan of your stamp set Watercolor Winter.  I had fun designing the poinsettia.  In fact I made 7 before I was happy.  I used the small petal from the Blossom Petals Builder punch.  I then folded them in half and ran them through the crimper at a slight angel.

The little glass micro beads make a wonderful sound when you move the card around.

For shaker card number two I used white embossing to give the image that extra punch.  

I have never used my sticky strip with micro beads before.  It makes such a pretty effect.

I had a bit of time to play around with some sponging so here is the card I made.  I used Baja Breeze for the snow and Pacific point, Not quite navy and Night of Navy for the sky.

I had to share this lovely Christmas card Kim gave me this year.

Just add Balloons

This weeks JAI challenge is just add balloons.  Perfect timing because a little friend of mine is turning 3 on Saturday.  I decided to use the happy little monkey from the Fox and Friends stamp set.  The balloons are from the Owl occasions set (which I love) from the Christmas Mini.

Happy Birthday Asher!

Happy 40th Rob and Ray!

Last week Rob and his good friend Ray turned 40 so we had a weekend away together.  The boys have always been adrenaline junkies and in true Rob and Ray style they had to do something special.  What better way to get an adrenaline rush than to jump out of a plane!  With blue skies over Taupo it was a perfect day.  Thanks to the guys at Taupo Tandem Skydive the boys had a ball!

 Ray and Rob get suited up.

 Three, two, one!

 Woo hoo

 Rob had a grin from ear to ear all the way down.

 I held my breath until that shoot opened!

 Feet back on the ground.

 Happy birthday boys.

 We all had a lovely walk along the banks of Lake Taupo.

 Such a beautiful spot.

This is the card I made Rob.  He has a wonderful marine fish tank which he enjoys so much I thought it would make a great theme for his card.  I used masking tape and sponged the colour on in layers.  

Just add Delys Cram

This week I'm a little more organized and have got photos of my JAI challenge.  I was lucky enough to meet Delys a few weeks ago so it was great to case something from someone I know.  I must say it was quite hard making a final decision on what to do as her blog has so many wonderful projects.
I decided to try something new and saw this awesome folded star.  Delys has easy to follow instructions on her blog, so why don't you give it a go!

The Star opens up and gives you a handy place to write.

This is the star Delys has done.

Just add Pearls

This post and card is very last minute but here it is!  This weeks JAI card challenge is Just add Pearls. This idea is from a card I saw on splitcoast but I'm sorry I can't remember who made the original.  I loved the idea of not just using the pearls to spice up the flower but as an embelishment on it's own.

Stampin' Up Convention 2012

A few weeks ago I met up with my sister Chantell in Canberra Australia at the Stampin' Up Convention.  We had a fantastic time meeting heaps of other women crazy about stamping just like us!  

But the best thing of all was spending time with Chantell.

 This Years theme was I am......!

 The beautiful crisp mornings are perfect for a walk.

 And even a run.

 The view from our apartment was fantastic!

 No Chance of being stuck for ideas here.  In fact it's a little over whelming 

 Chantell and I spent quite a bit of time looking at these boards.

 Here are the girls from Klass Act whom I shared the apartment with.

It was just wonderful meeting the lovely ladies from JAI.

Convention Swaps

I'm going to the Stampin' Up Convention this week.  Chantell is coming too so I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself! I've been busy making cards to swap so here is what I'm taking.

 These little owls are actually magnets that can be taken off the background and on to the fridge.

 Up up and away!

 Here I used pocket silhouette and breyered the background.

 I love making different images with punch art.  Here I've used the butterfly punch as the body for a gorgeous woman.  I think she's waiting for the man of her dreams... or her girlfriends for a great night on the town.

 I made this card for my friend Kim's birthday, here I changed the colours around.

So I can't wait to meet all the other woman and see what creative cards they have made!

From Your Childhood

The theme for April's card challenge with Chantell and Kim was "From your childhood".  This was so much fun because we could think of so many things it was hard to decide what to do.  So here are the results.

Chantell

 A family friend knitted us all clowns.  Chantell loved hers so much that she slept with him every night.  She used his head as a pillow so much she squashed his nose flat.  The clown she has made here looks so much like her clown!  Hasn't he got a happy face.

Kim

Kim loves Ladybugs!  She used to collect them and put them in a jar to keep as pets.  She has made this beautiful shiny ladybug card.  The wings open up to reveal a place to write your message.

Nadine

I loved to play on the swings.  I had a friend Christine who had the coolest orange swing set.  I loved going to her house.  Here I am swinging with my brother Lloyd, sister Chantell and Christine.

Overnight Card Challenge

Last Month Chantell and I decided to have an overnight Challenge.  We used a card layout from page 55 of the 2011-2012 stampin' up catalogue to inspire us.

 Here is my card.  I liked it so much I decided to give it to my mum for Mothers day.

Chantell made this beautiful card using two step stamping.

Happy Birthday Kim

It was my friend Kim's birthday last week. she loves autumn colours so I made her this card.

I love quilting so using a quilting strip work technique was second nature.