Be Inspired To Create #1

Here is my very first 'Be Inspired to Create'. So what's it all about?? I love taking photo's, so I thought, why not take pictures from around my home and use them for inspiration. And that's what I've done. So you get to see bits of my home and things I love and also how I use that as inspiration to create.
For my first one I've take a picture of some beautiful hand cream and shower gel which I received as a gift when I had Caden. It smells sooooo good. And the colours I've chosen are:
Purely Pomegrante, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink & Certain Celery.
I've started off with an 8x8 scrapbook page of my gorgeous neice Amber. The base is Regal Rose, then a square of DP from Berry Bliss. The photo is matted onto Pomegrante. The chipboard letter 'd' has been covered in DP in Certain Celery with the paisley print and I've inked around the edges. I've used the 'Lifes Definitions' stamp set for the 'delight' sentiment and completed that with brackets made using the tab punch. I've also used my photo corner punch and the circle and scallop punches to make the embellishments. The page is completed with some Pomegrante stitched ribbon and brads.

Next is a card using the 'Priceless' stamp set. I've stamped onto the base card of Celery and then gone along with my glue pen and glitter. Looks nice and sparkly IRL. Next is a strip of pomegrante and regal rose onto which I've stamped some flowers in rose ink. I've created a tag and cut out the heart image to sit on the tag and finished off with some pink taffeta ribbon. The sentiment has been punched out with the oval punch and then matted onto the label punch out.

The layout of the card is really simple and works everytime.

Lastly I've made a little 'love note' card using the same stamp set. I just love the SU punches and how they make it so quick and easy to create. I've stamped the butterfly image twice onto white card stock and then cut out the second image so I could layer it. That sits on the scallop punch out which I've also paper pierced. I've added a strip of Celery DP and also paper pierced under that. And the card is completed with the Pink grosgrain ribbon. The happy birthday sentiment is from Family Favourites.

So there you have it, three projects using these very pretty colours. And by starting off with a scrapbook page, you will have cardstock left over to create the cards. It's a great way to use up the left over bits and pieces and create some cards for your stash.

If you want to use this colour inspiration for your own, leave a link with your comment. I'd love to see what you create as well. I'm hoping to be able to share these colour inspirations with you weekly. So stay tuned for the next one!!

All images © Stampin'Up 1990-2008

Picture Profile

The pictures tell the story: one beautiful baby boy, with soft skin, kissable chubby cheeks, gorgeous blue eyes, enviable eye lashes, cute button nose....... and I get to see this every day. Such a precious blessing!!!

What have we been up to.........?

I'm back again after a little blogging break. Though I must say I haven't had much time to update lately. It's been rather busy around here; but still good.
Since the last post, we've been seeing lots of family, going to Armadale a few times, getting back into school routines again etc.....
My sister Katie and hubby Ben came over from Tassie for 10 days to meet the latest additions to our family and extended family. We've had three babies born in the last 9 weeks on my side of the family. Two little boys and a girl. So I'm sure they will have fun as cousins growing up together. Katie & Ben spent a few days in Busso as well, which was soooo nice. The boys loved their company. We've been to Armadale a few times, for baptism and birthday's. This past weekend we had a big family dinner as we were all together, which is very rare, since we live some distance away. These times are very special and it was nice to be together.
Most of you would be aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. A few of us girls attended a 'National Blonde Day Garden Party' to support this worthy cause, at Chandeliers on Abbey, down near Yallingup. Was so nice getting out with friends, getting dressed up and having a great time together. We were part of a group of over 300 women in this one location, so I'm sure they raised a whole heap of money. It was also wonderful because all the money raised, stays in Western Australia, as it was from the Foundation of WA.
Now that the busyness is over for some time, we can relax around here. The weather is starting to warm up and the boys have already been swimming at the beach the past weekend. Lots of good times to look forward to for the summer. Even Caden had his first outing to the beach, getting some sand between his toes. Too cute!!
Well, enough rambling; I've included some random shots from the past weeks. Enjoy!!

Enjoying some tummy time; head up and looking around to see what's going on.

Sharing a moment with big brother Liam.

Two tired boys, on our way back from a trip to Armadale. But they didn't know they were sleeping this close to each other!!!!

Cupcakes and champagne at the National Blonde Day Garden Party.
Very proud brother Tyson, always loves to cuddle Caden.

And those cute little feet and twinkle toes!

As for Stampin'Up and my creations....... well life hasn't allowed me much time for that right now. I've been doing little bits in my craft room, but nothing to post. As much as I do miss my stamping; I'm also just enjoying my little man and taking care of me and my family for now!

I'm still looking at everyone's blog, whether crafty or personal, and catching up with them. There's lots of inspiration going on at the moment and I love seeing it all. I know with the amount of photo's I've been taking, I have to start scrapbooking soon. Just to decide on which photo's - have sooooooo many cute ones. Til next time.....

A photo update...

Thought it was time to have another update on the boys. Got some great pictures of them together this morning. Don't they all look very handsome!! As you can see, Caden is getting very chubby. So cute.

Stampin' Up's 20th birthday celebration

October is a very exciting month for Stampin'Up as they are celebrating 20 years. As a special promotion they are offering 20% off selected stamp sets when you spend $20.00. Wow - how good is that. You can check out further details on the Stampin'Up website or click on the link to the left of this post. If you would love to join in with the fun, email me with your order and ask about my own special offer!!

I've made up a few 'love notes' using some of the sets included in the special. 'Love notes' are such fun, quick and easy to make and great to have in your stash. Makeesha's challenge for this week also included love notes, so I've joined in with the fun (her link is to the left if you want to check it out)

This first card uses Birthday Best, a cute little stamp set of four. (normally $25.95; now $20.76)
This card uses Like it a Latte, a favourite stamp set of mine. The sentiment is from Short & Sweet, which is another set included in the promotion. (normally $29.95; now $23.96)
And this last card is Crab & Company! (normally $52.95; now $42.36)

All images © Stampin'Up 1990-2008

Scrapbooking for Caden

If you keep up with Makeesha's blog (link is to the left) you will see she has fabulous tutorials each week. The last one was a Photo Board, which I thought was so cute. So I picked out a photo and whipped up this one with the supplies I had on hand.

Mine measures 8x8 and I've used some thin board which I've had stashed away in my craft room for ages. Hubby cut some up for me, once upon a time, and I knew I would have some use for them eventually. I've used Wild Wasabi cardstock for the base and used the star stamps from Nursery Necessities as a background. Then I've used some DP from Petals & Paisley and used the spiral punch along one edge. You will notice the elephants in the background (from Caden's rocker), so I've stamped up the elephant from the same stamp set in So Saffron and used the circle punch and scallop punch. The sentiment 'little cutie' on the tab is also from the same stamp set. I've finished it off with ribbon and also a clip.

This will sit nicely above my desk in my craft room.

All images © Stampin'Up 1990-2008

Some pictures....

Just sharing with you some pictures of the last week. We've been to Mandurah for a few nights away, as it's now school holidays. We left Saturday lunchtime and got the the park 'bout 3ish. Had great accommodation, a nice three bedroom unit fully self-contained. The park was also very nice and very kid-friendly. On Sunday, we went up to Armadale for the day for the baptism of little Dylan. We got to catch up with many family and friends, which was nice as some of them had not seen Caden yet. Monday was such a gorgeous sunny day. We went down to the foreshore - the boys played mini golf. We spent some time at the playground with a yummy cappacino from Dome. Then we headed back to the caravan park for the rest of the arvo. My parents came down to visit and we relaxed in the sunshine. The boys had some fun on bikes which we could hire.
So now we are back at home. Unfortunately, little Caden has come down with a cold and cough. He's a little miserable, finding it hard to breath being so congested. We are giving him lots of warm baths and showers and keeping him warm. Hopefully it doesn't get worse.
Here are some photo's.

I took these photo's of Caden today, while he was having a sleep. I love the sleeping pose - one arm in the air. He's been having lots of little sleeps which I'm sure will help him get better.

The boys enjoying mini-golf.

Kyle & Liam posing together on the Mandurah foreshore.
These are the bikes we could hire from the caravan park. The boys had a great hour of fun on these.

Kyle had Sports Day at school last Friday. Here he is in action, going for the Long Jump. He was in the orange team, which did come last, but he had a great day. He loves his sports!!

As I said before, it's school holidays, so there won't be much time for stamping. Hopefully the weather turns sunny again, and we can get out to enjoy it. Til next time.......