Hey hey it’s Friday & tomorrow we head back to the farm.  we have been very very relaxed & rested & now we just need to get back into the mode of  ”doing things” .  The kids have had a bit of swimming, shopping, eating, fishing etc… & most importantly they have spent some very special time with their dad, which is something they just don’t get to do while we are at home becuase he works most of the 7 days every week, (I’m not complaining, I know that is part of farm life, but it is just so precious to see them enjoy his company & it is so nice for him to deal with the kids & I can have a “real break” )

While we have been away our 2nd daughter had her birthday.  We are generally away for it, so we usually do something before we go away or after we come home that involves her friends.  While we were away we went out for brekky, ate what she wanted for lunch (which in all honesty I can’t remember what that was….umwah!) & then we went out for tea to one of the local pubs, which is what she wanted to do & where she wanted to go.  She was tickled pink with all her pressies, she loves elephants & collects erasers, so she received elephants on things & some different & special erasers.  Amazing how simple little things like that can make a child smile & how precious that she is content with it…..not upset becuase she didn’t get a DS or Wii or something spectacular like that…..but that’s our Ebony

So onto the real reason why I’m here…..a card creation.  This is the card I made for Ebony, it didn’t have an elephant on it, but it was pretty close

I just love those Sherbert buttons from the Stampin’ Up! summer mini, must make a mental note to stock up on them before the mini finishes oh & that ribbon is oh so yummy!!!!

So the stamp set I used was Pun Fun as well as the Vintage Labels set from the Sale-a-Bration catty…gotta love free stamp sets

Cardstock is Kraft & Whisper White

Ink for the hippo, basic grey

Colouring pink pirouette & certainly celery with my aquapainter.

I wanted the hippo to ‘pop’ so I stamped, coloured & cut out, then stamped onto the whipser white base & moutned the coloured hippo with dimensionals….here is a close up of the dimension

this is such an effective way to make something stand out that little bit more…..

So that’s it for now,  I’ll post something else for you to have a squizzy at tomorrow….till then….keep smiling

G’day to ya!

I hope you are having fun today, maybe you are stamping, maybe catching up on housework……whatever it is I hope you are enjoying it.

Today I have a couple of quick cards to show you that I made for birthday cards lately.  I found some left over kits from workshops & they included some Groovy Guava cardstock from last year’s catalogue.

Now I know both of these are pretty simple, but I’m actually quite happy with how they turned out.  I coloured directly onto the rubber of the stamp to get the different colours on the images

Now I want to have a chat to you about things that have been happening around here lately & what is happening in the near future. 

Harvest is taking WAY TOOOOO LONG
Oh no it’s not that bad, it just seems like they have been at it for a very long time & we are usually nearly if not finished by now & we havn’t had much of a break from the slog of it all.  I’m not totally complaining, just having a little “vent”  lol
So if you don’t want to be bothered with my “vent” then I’m sorry I don’t have any more stamping related news for you, just personal stuff.
With Robby up super early & off every morning before the kids get up & then getting home after 9pm every night & him being totally EXHAUSTED after his long busy days, I’m feeling rather flat myself. 

Robby & I are true solemates & without him I’m a bit lost.  I don’t totally rely on him or anything,  I am my own person & I can do things without him & can enjoy my own & others company, but at night when the kids are in bed & the evening is cool & we have been busy all I want to do is sit & chat with him.  Most of the time he isn’t home but when he is all he wants to do is eat his dinner & go to bed & I’m completely understanding of that, it just gets a bit lonely when my solemate is just so tied up with other things.

I haven’t been stamping lately & I desperately need to as I have some secret santa things I need to finish off & some other cards & presents to do too
This morning I have been cooking up a storm, so I have enough food for the workers lunchboxes for another day or two & then I have a doctors appointment tomorrow (just a quick one to have some stitches removed), the bank manager is here on Thursday & then I hav a friend coming out on Friday, which will be super duper nice

So I suppose I am here trying to tell you I will not be back  here for a little bit.  I have kids concerts, end of school, work Christmas parties & lots of mailing to finish sorting out.  I will try my hardest to get here every now & then becuase I do have some pics I have been working on with some teacher gifts I have made, but I just really don’t want to promise anything.

I know you will understand that this time of the year is that bit extra busy for me, with not only Christmas, kids concerts but also harvest & finishing off paperwork for all of that, trying to make tonnes balance, find delivery dockets etc…..

I am truely sorry for not being able to commit to you on here, but this is one of the thing I love about Stampin’  Up! & this craft.  I love the fact that with Stampin’  Up!  I get to choose when I work & where I work & if life is busy then I can take a step back from my commitment to step back into it when I am ready & able to.  With stamping & creating I love how my inspiration flows & can come & go as it pleases, when it is gone I can totally concentrate on my kids & family (which are so super important to me) & then when it finally comes back I can share my creations with not only my family but also with you, my wonderful blog readers.

Thank you so much for calling by today & I do truely hope you enjoy your day.  I will be back before Christmas to wish you a Merry one, so until then

THANK YOU……….THANK YOU…………..THANK YOU for stopping by & understanding that life is a little busier than usual here

Hugs & happy thoughts coming your way

So how’s this 2 posts in one day…..I must have a temperature (lol)

Right now Robby & a couple of guys are putting up some new silos.  We have 3 already & have another 2 going up at the moment.  The silos are really quite big (they hold 1500 tonne) & I’ll show you a couple of pics so you can get an idea of what they are like.

We use the silos to store our lupins that we grow.  We sell them privately & need to store them until the buyers are ready for them.  Ok so here are a couple of pics of them going up right now

The silos in the right of the picture are the ones we have already up & finished.  The smaller one ont he left of the picture is the one that is being put up at the moment & the smallest one to the left is the 5th silo that will be going up, it has 1 ring on it & when they put the roof on I’ll take another couple of pics & post them so you can see how it happens

This is Duncan & Neville puting the bolts in.

This is a pic of the guys on the inside

Here is a closeer pics of the 5th silo.

Also we are harvesting & while I didn’t get a pic of the harvester working, I did get this pic of one of the field bins, this one has canola in it & is waiting for the truck to come & pick it up to deliver it to Geraldton

& what do you know…..a truck turned up while I was taking the pic

So that’s just a quick insite to what is happening in my part of the world right now

I’ll show you some creations tomorrow, so thill then……keep smiling

Good afternoon world

I want to start off by saying a big SORRY I haven’t been around lately.  I planned on being here, but between one thing & another it just didn’t happen.  That is one thing I love about being a Stampin’ Up!  demonstrator, I can fit it in with everything in my life & my life has been quite full of late.

So as the title says, MIA which is what I have been from here.

Stamping which I have been doing a fair bit of over the last couple of days, trying to catch up & get in front before we get more men to look after.

Prep, this has a bit to do with the previous one, stamping related, I have been prepping for (unfortunately not workshops, but) my secret sister & my USA swap sister, plus a couple of other swaps I am doing right now.  Also I am organising another Cyberstamp for some Stampin’ Up! demonstrators, [if you are a demo & aren't a member on ESAD-SU, which is a fabulous Yahoo forum for Stampin'Up! demonstrators, click here, you can join up & join in with all the fun] & just trying to get some helpers with tutorials etc… This is all on the go now, so it is under control. 

Family, well that is really the highest priority, even if it is 4th on the list *g*.  I have had Maddi home all last week with tonsillitis, she is back at school now & much better, but Tom has come down with a temp & just doesn’t want to go to school, I’m now just waiting for the other 2 to get sick now & then they would’ve all had some ‘special mum time’ …lol.  Other than illness, it has just been great to spend some time with them, changing bedrooms around, changing over to summer sheets etc…

Farming, or should I say life….lol *g*  Harvest started on Monday & they were going along quite well until yesterday & today ….WE HAVE HAD RAIN……GRRRRRRRR .  Rain rain can’t you hear, stay away till next year.  So the paperwork is up to date, the QA  is going along well & record keeping for each tonne of grain that comes off has started, it isn’t hard, just a matter of dedicating a day to set all the worksheets up to keep record as well as I can.

So now it comes to me……some me time……no not really, well I spose you could say last night (or should I say this morning) between 12 & 2 am was some ‘me time’ , it was so quiet, apart from the rain & wind. Just lovely to sit & stamp & resize some pics…..Oooo pics are done & ready to post so here we go

I have been cheatingcleaning & rearranging in my craft room & I found a heap of old kits that hadn’t been used at workshops & I thought i haven’t even thought about my Christmas cards…..hmmmm I could use some of these, the colours could be a bit different, but I like Christmas cards that are a bit different in colour

Now that i have said that i am going to show you a traditional Christmas coloured card, lol
This is one I did at a workshop a couple of weeks ago, it uses the technique….nah can’t rememebr it, hang on I’ll go find it & be back in a tick, Oh of course it is, GHOSTING, ok so here is the pic

All supplies Stampin’ Up!

Stamp set:  Fresh Cuts,  Season of Joy

Ink:  Kiwi Kiss, Versamark, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive

Cardstock:  Real Red, Whisper White, Old Olive, White Gloss

Accessories:  Brayer, Wide Oal Pnch,Two-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Distressing tool on Cutter Kit, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I really do like the way this card came up & just love that little BLING on the tree
Because I always cut extra kits for workshops I had a couple left over & decided I could have a go at making a card similar but different, here it is

 I didn’t do the ghosting tech on this one & I’m actually happier with it, I love the effect of the red Fresh Cuts stamp on the gloss
So I made a few of these, unfortunately I didn’t have that many extra kits, so there is only a couple of these, but I have heaps of other cards that I have made.  Unfortunately I can’t show you just yet, because I am going to use them in the Cyberstamp, but I will have some other things to show you soon. 

I have received some lovely things in the mail again, they just keep coming in

So I will be back in the next couple of days to show you what my new secret sister has sent me, I also need to find the pics I took of the final gift I made to send to my secret sister last round, so I am working on that too

Till I see you here nex time…….keep smiling

What does Monday morning bring to you?  To me it is the start of a new & busy week.  But it also brings a fresh start to everything.

Today I am going to show you the birthday card I made for our daughter Maddison.  Maddi turned 7 at the end of August.  This card is very Maddi with it being pink & animals are her favourite, so it went down a treat.

This is it

I hope to start giving you more details in my posts soon, but if you want to know more details about any of these cards I have posted recently just drop me a line & I’ll let you know what I used.

I must go now & will be back in a couple of days with some special projects from my secret sister & swap sister in the USA, very special

Till then, keep smiling & take care of you

Hi ho, how are you going today?  I’m having a reasonable day today, we have had a business meeting  this morning and now onto……..life.  Ok so this week I have sorted out the uniform orders for school (I’m uniform co-ordinator), stamped, done some bookwork for the farm, cooked some yummy snacks & been down to Mingenew to collect the mail.

Can you believe there are more birthday cards?????  I still have quite a few to show you & I will actually have some of my work coming up soon

This lovely card was made by a wonderful lady named Kerri Donsky.  Kerri was super nice to me earlier int he year because she sent me one of the swaps she made to take to Convention in April & because I couldn’t go she felt sorry for me…….(lol) so she sent me one of her swaps, how super sweet is that

I love the way Kerri has made the pots that the flowers are sitting in, must made a mental note of this.  Thanks so much Kerri for your card.

Here we have a card made by Kylie Leusciatti.  Kylie is a fellow WA-ian, (she is in Kojonup).  The colours in this card are gorgeous & I do love these butterflies.  Thanks Kylie

 Now here is another lovely card made byt he lovely Jenny Hayward.  Here Jenny has used the yummy colour combo of Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery & Very Vanilla, along with the stamp set Baroque Motifs.  Thanks so much Jenny, I really do appreciate your thoughts & birthday wishes.

& finally for today here is yet another super special card made by the lovely Vicki  McSharer.  Thanks Vicki, it is lovely & I have case-d it to make some of my own.

Ok so that’s it folks.  Here are another wonderful collection of cards.  I feel so grateful these generous ladies took the time to make me a card each, the smile is still on my face when I look at them all.

Thanks for calling by, I really appreciate you taking the time to check in on what’s happening in my part of the world.

Till next post…….keep smiling

Hi again,  here I am with some more cards I received in the mail for my birthday.  I told you I was spoilt……

This lovely card is made by Carole Stedman  I love the colours she has used & the butterfly is just stunning

Thanks so much Carole, I love your card.

and this card is by Sonia Garbutt  Sonia has read my posts in the past and discovered that I love pink, so she made a card as pink as she could.  Thanks Sonia, it is wonderful & it uses my new FAVOURITE stamp set,Great  Friend out of the Spring mini

This super card was made by Debbie Robinson.  I love the rooster out of the hostess set – Rustic Rooster.  & Debbie has made this card look fabulous with “HIM”  (hehehehe)

I saw this card on Jesse’s blog a little while agob & did admire it very much.  I definitely did not expect to receive it in my mailbox.  I was so lucky.  Thanks so much Jesse, it is lovely.

So that is it for today.  i will bo organising another post for tomorrow so call back in & see what else has been in my letter box.  By the time I have finished these posts of what I have received I will hopefully have made some things of my own…..I can only hope can’t i?!

Till next time……..keep smiling

So here we are on round 2 of the birthday cards I received.  I’m not goin g to jabber along about anything much.  I just want to show you all the wonderful cards I received from my wonderful friends.  I want to let you all know how GRATEFUL I am to have such incredible friends (even though I haven’t met many of them in real life).

Ok so off we go…………………….

This lovely card is by Bronwen Cornish, I don’t know that Bronwen has  a blog (sorry I can’t head you to more of her work).  I thought this card is so lovely that I case-d a few but I will show you those later.  I love love love the new paper out of the spring mini Bronwen has used.  She sold me on it & I just HAD to order it

This card & little box was sent to me by the wonderfully talented  Chantelle Huizenga.  Inside the little box was a lovely smelling bar of soap

This parcel took me totally by surprise.  I was speechless when I opened it up.  I can’t recall ever hearing from Lee-Anne Barry before, I had heard of her but not from her

Anyway Lee-Anne is from Perth & was so super lovely to send me this wonderful parcel.  Inside the bag was some tea bags, soap & a lovely candle & then there was a pack of stamps

I send birthday cards out to many Stampin’  Up! demonstrators as I am the Birthday Fairy on a demo group I am a member of & Lee-Anne thought that the stamps would help a little towards the cost of postage of all the cards, how sweet is that.  This card & bag is so super super cute, I just love it to bits & very PINK  

I now need to go re-size some more pics etc…. so I will be back tomorrow with some more cards, till then…..keep smiling

HI there & a  happy Saturday to you, I hope you are having a wonderful day today.  It is super lovely here today, the rain is falling, the kids are happily playing & it is just a wonderful relaxing uneventful weekend

I had started this post last Sunday but i couldn’t get any pics up & lost my patience so gave up

Not to worry I am here now & boy have I got some things to show you.  I don’t know that there is much that are my creations, but I have been super super lucky over the last few weeks.  Hopefully things will be back on track from now, but I’m not promising anything.  I have not been stamping for a couple of weeks & I’m feeling like my mojo is coming back……YIPPEE

Ok so I’m going to briefly fill you in on a few things that have been happening in my life, so if you get bored with all that garble, you best just scroll down to the pics

We had a wonderful time away, saw an awesome show (The Horseman from Snowy River), did lots of shopping & just thoroughly enjoyed each others’ time.   While we were away I was lucky enough to have a birthday & I love birthdays away becasue it means no cooking, cleaning or worrying about routine

To start with I’m going to show you a few pics of some of the birthday cards I received.  I was SPOILT rotten & this last birthday is the best one I can ever remember having.  So here they are

Check this out.  I recievd this parcel from the wonderful Jenny Adams.  In one of our online chats I had mentioned lurving Toblerone, so she SPOILT me with them & they were oh so yummy.  Thanks so much Jenny.  I also love the notebook Jenny sent me, it has a T on it, so hopefully this will deter the kids from using it.

This card is from the lovely Lisa Ryder  It is so purty & I love the pink, kraft & chocolate combo.  The flowers in the square at the bottom of the card have some Crystal Effects on them & create a really lovely effect.  Thanks Lisa

Here is a card made by the talented Jean McKenzie.  Jean has used Chocolate Chip, Kraft & Tangerine Tango (I think) & she has embossed (using a cuttlebug I think) onto vellum,  what a very clever idea Jean.  Thanks so much for the lovely card

I am going to appologise in advance for the pictures.  I’m not sure if I’m happy with them.  I have used my new camera (hubby bought me for my birthday) & I’m still trying to work it all out, I dont always have the patience to sit &  read the hundreds of pages in the book

We have had the kids’ athletics carnival,  I have been catching up on bookwork for the farm (which is much more than I had ever anticipated, but I am loving doing it),  we have also had the kids’ interschool athletics carnival which is the first time any of them have been in it & they were so chuffed at getting in there & we were extremely PROUD at the fact they tried so hard (& Robby came with us too, which is very rare).    We went to the local agricultural show (Mullewa Show) & I judged the scrapbooking & cards they had there, that was scary & FUN.  I have organised another online chat which was good fun & the ladies had a couple of scavenger hunts.  So that is a few things I can think of for now that we have been doing since my last post.  It doesn’t seem like much & I’m sure I’ve missed things out because we do seem to have been quite busy, but a nice busy

This is it for now, but I am going to work on some more posts to come over the days & they will show you all the other talented ladies in the Stampin’ Up! world I have been blessed by having them as friends.  Thankyou so much ladies for all your wonderful thoughts & caringness to have sent me gifts & cards, I am still smiling about having them all & it has been a few weeks since I received them & a BIG thank you to all my readers that have been so patiently waiting for me to get back on here to post some creations, I really do appreciate your comments.

Till next time……keep smiling

Good day, I hope your week is starting out to be a good one.  We have some illness in our household so it is all very easy going with kids home & not much eating happening.

Oh no (or should I say yes….??) I have another project from the July cyberstamp I participated in.  This card is one that I did for a sketch challenge I set on the Sunday.  I designed this sketch myself

& this is the card I came up with for it

I really loved this card so much that I made a heap of them to send to the ladies I sent the tins to in this post.

All supplies Stampin’ Up!

Stamp Set:  Baroque Motifs,  Great Friend

Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette

Cardstock:  Riding Hood Red,  Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Bella Rose dsp

Accessories:  Pink Pirouette grosgrain ribbon,  half pearls (from the Pretties Kit), Two-way Glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Stampin’  Dimensionals

It is funny how sometimes you make a card & you just love it to bits & can’t make enough of them……this is one of those cards     

Feel free to make a card using my sketch & I’d love to see your creations, just pop me an (erangy1797@bigpond.com) 

Keep enjoying your day & keep smiling