Staying cool

Tyson & Liam enjoying some 'cooling off' in our backyard pool. They have been having a great time together. Tyson always enters the pool with a big run-off and then dives into the pool. Funny to watch!!

Sisters

I've had the pleasure of my two sisters, Katie and Aimee, staying with me yesterday and today. Wow, it was so good to see them. We enjoyed a nice lunch yesterday and went for a beach walk this morning. The boys loved seeing their aunty's again as well. Was great to have you stay with us!!

Kyle & Cody sharing a moment at the beach yesterday afternoon.






















The gorgeous blue waters of Geographe Bay.......
Our back door step........
Our summer playground........
God's awesome creation.......

An update on my Christmas cards

Just a few more samples of what I've been busy doing these last few days. Having lots of fun trying different techniques and using all my Christmas stamps in many ways. I'm loving the new Holiday Thyme Designer Series paper. This pack has some gorgeous paper and you'll definately be making lots of nice Christmas cards using it.
















The big pile of Christmas cards; it's certainly nice to have so many cards on my desk at one time. Going to be hard to part with some of them!!

I'm going all blue for Christmas with these two. It's a different look, but I was really happy with the end result. The inspiration for these cards came from a Christmas card swap I joined in with Stampin'Up demo's from around Oz. I've changed the colours and layout to make it my own.

* The image from Scribble This is stamped in Basic Black on glossy white cardstock. I've hi-lighted some bits with white crayon. Then I've inked up my brayer using the Spectrum Blue ink pad and rolled onto the glossy white. You'll need to go over a few times to get the blended effect as shown on my cards. Then with a sponge, rub over the crayon to reveal the hi-lighted areas (crayon resist)

* Merry & Bright sentiment is stamped onto Bashful Blue and matted onto Brilliant Blue by using SU circle punches.

* With the smallest SU circle punch, I've punched random over the cardstock and used my glue pen and glitter for some added effect.

* Base of card has also been stamped with Scribble This. For a non-Christmas stamp set, this has truly been a very versatile set and I'm sure it's one I won't be parting with anytime soon.

All images Copyright Stampin'Up 2007

While you were sleeping....

"while you were sleeping, your mum was taking photo's ". How could I not take a picture of this? When I went to check on the boys earlier this evening, after we had put them to bed; this is how I found them. They had been busy making a cubby before bedtime, in their bunkbed. The boys had hung their quilt over the side of top bed to make a 'cave' (they called it). They had so much fun together, that they wanted to sleep in the same bed at opposite ends. When they finally fell asleep, they must have snuggled up together to have sweet dreams.
I know I've said this before: the friendship they share with each other is so special and I really love and enjoy how close they are. I hope this stays with them for many years to come.

The beach, a bottle of wine, warm weather .......

I took this photo on Monday night. It had been a really warm day, we were sitting on the beach with the boys having some dinner. It's the only photo I took because the batteries went flat on my camera. When I got home, I had a bit of a play to create some different looks of this shot with Picasa.

#1 Black & White

#2 Colour with a soft glow

#3 Focal Black & White

Note: The wine was very good.

Happy photo's

Here are a few pictures I took this morning before Warren's parents left.

The boys lazing around in our hammock.

Tyson and Liam with Opa and Oma Huizenga. The boys certainly loved having them around on the weekend. Now they call our shed 'guest retreat', Opa and Oma's room!!

Our shed 'guest retreat'

I wanted to share with you, some pictures of our little 'guest retreat'. We had a bathroom in our shed when we bought this house, so Warren has partitioned some of the shed to include a bedroom. Now we have our own little 'guest retreat' for our family and friends. We had Warren's parent staying for three nights this past weekend. They really loved their accommodation, had a great stay and we enjoyed their company. The lamp you can see in the first picture is a gift from them. Very nice.

Just a few more....

Yes, I've been busy designing Christmas cards. Getting quite an assortment now; it's going to be fun sending these ones out to my family and friends. Normally, I would mass produce one design, but this year I'm doing assorted.
This first card uses the Crazy for Christmas stamp set. I've stamped in black onto the Whisper White and then spot-lighted a peice of the image. The circle image has been raised and I've punch out with circle punch and then matted onto a Ruby red circle. The close up image gives you a better idea of the different layers in this card.

Stamp set: Crazy for Christmas, Print Pattern BG, sentiment from All Year Cheer
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Whisper White
Ink: Ruby Red, Basic Black
Accessories: Gingham, Hodgepodge hardware, SU markers to colour images, tag (non-SU) circle punches.

The other two cards are using Scribble This. I'm really enjoying using this set for Christmas cards, even though it's not very traditional. The first card uses Ruby Red, Black & Sage Shadow. The second card uses Bordering Blue, Night of Navy & Whisper White. Also on this card, I've used the verse from Wishing You (Spring mini).

Any questions, I'm happy to answer. Hope you are all having a wonderful day. The weather is really starting to warm up here now. I'm looking forward to the weekend. We have Warren's parents staying with us, the first guests to use our little 'retreat'. Hope they love it!! So with warmer weather on the way, we are sure to be going to the beach and enjoying some time outside and having a few BBQ's. Very nice!!

All images Copyright Stampin'Up 2007

Promotions for November

Stampin'Up have two great speicals for the month of November.

All in the Family
In honour of Stampin'Up Australia general manager, David Abbott, Stampin'Up are pre-releasing the stamp set 'All in the Family'. Recently, David Abbott passed away after a long battle with a rare blood disease. Stampin'Up worldwide, will be donating 100% of sales from this stamp set, to the Abbott family.

Item: 111998 All in the Family $73.95


Just in Thyme!!
To get ready for the festive season, Stampin'Up have on offer an exclusive Holiday Thyme double-sided Designer Series paper, perfect for making cards, party invites, gift wrap or scrapbook memories. Check out the patterns below.

Item: 107890 Holiday Thyme Designer series paper $14.95 ($16.95 value)
This item is available from Nov 1 - Dec 15.

To take part in any of these promotions or if you have any questions, please email me at chuizeng@bigpond.net.au for further details. I have both of these items on order, so I'm hoping to show you some samples very soon.

Christmas card in Navy

Everyone loved this card at my Stampin'Stack last Friday night. This card uses:

Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Whisper White
Stamp Set: Wishing You (from Spring mini)
Accessories: White grosgrain, mat pack

I've stamped the images onto the whisper white and matted onto Bordering Blue. The base of card is Bordering Blue, then layered with Night of Navy. I've finished off with paper piercing and white ribbon. The sentiment is stamped in Whisper white.





















All images Copyright Stampin'Up 2007

Sunset

Now that we have an extra hour of day light, due to daylight savings, we can enjoy going to the beach after dinner. It's espeically great on the weekends, and will be even better for the big school holidays.