A Simon Says Challenge

I was browsing the Simon Says Blog and I came across their Paper Piecing Challenge, and thought it would be fun to play along. Paper Piecing isn't something I do too often, but when I have done it, I have had fun! (Hope I am not too late to post my card?!?)

Anyway, here is my card:



And a close-up of the cute little angel and her friend:



I paper pieced the 2 little ribbons in her hair and the piece of material that is wrapped around her waist. Simple but effective!

Hope you are having a good week so far. I have done 3 challenges in 3 days, so think I will give the challenges a break for the rest of the week!

Challenges are Cool!

So now I get the enthusiasm about doing challenges, it's quite addictive
when you get into it.

Today I have decided to take part int the Sketch Challenge that is up on Jen Del Muro's site i{heart}2stamp. I have always enjoyed her cards, and when I visited her site and came across her awesome sketch I had to give it a go!! This is her sketch:



Here is my take on the sketch:



And a close up of the cute little critter:



Don't you think the little image is adorable?!? It is from a stamp set available from SimonSaysStamp.com and is from the Woodland Creatures set. The set also includes a very cute owl, bunny, birdie and turtle as well as a few sentiments. Simon Says also has a huge range of other products and it is worth visiting their site. If you click on the Simon Says link in the sidebar, it will take you to their site.

Hope the week has started out well for you!

I'm Back!!

After I rather long absence from blogging, I have decided to get back on the saddle!! I have once again been bitten by the cardmaking and stamping bug, and have been making cards like there is no tomorrow! I have also decided to try and get more involved with other sites, and to do challenges etc. I am also SOOOOO very excited. My birthday is on the 21st of this month and I am going to be getting about 42 Copics Markers. I have been doing a lot of research, and truly believe this is the way to go. So I am counting sleeps until then (it's 9 by the way!), so I can get my hands on those little beauties, and then I can play!!

While doing my research I was browsing all the blogs under "My Favourites", and when opening Amy's blog - Prairie Paper & Ink I was over the moon to discover that when doing a post she lists the Copic Markers that she uses, she also does some amazing tutorial videos which are so informative and inspiring. So needless to say, her challenge was the first one I decided to participate in.

She does a Friday Sketch, and I thought this would be a perfect way for me to get started with a Challenge. Here is her sketch:



And here is my take on that sketch:





My card is slightly different, I don't have any oval Nestabilities, so I used a rectangular box for my image instead, otherwise I tried to keep it as close to the sketch as possible! Please (if you haven't already), Amy's site is a must see site!!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend. Can't believe it's nearly finished already!

Caera Cowl

Morning to my few blog followers. Today I am posting some photos of a recent knitting project. It is the Caera Cowl, a pattern I downloaded from the Zebra Knits site. Don't know how much use I am going to get out of it, living in a rather warm part of the world, but I was dying to try my hand at some cabling, and this seemed to be the perfect project. Once I got going, I had to pull it out and start again about 4 times!!, I really enjoyed knitting this, the cables were so much fun to knit.

Once it was finished, my hubby teased me about my "neck-warmer", but almost all members of the family have worn it, and we are still 2 or so months off winter, so maybe it will get used after all!









Sorry about the quality of the photos, they were all taken at different times of the day and in different parts of the house.

Hope you are having a great week!

Long time no See!!

Wow, can't believe it has been 3 weeks since I last blogged! In my defense, it has been a really hectic and trying 3 weeks. First hiccup, was having no water for a week! Yes, I said A WEEK! It's funny how we take things like washing our hands, running a bath and flushing a toilet for granted. When you aren't able to do those things it really makes life a lot more taxing!

On top of that Jamie has had tonsillitis for a month, and it ended up in him having them taken out last week Wednesday, and Caide had to go and see a specialist for a little problem he had in his nether regions (don't tell him I said anything!). So needless to say it's been a bit of a trying time.

I have managed to create 2 projects for my Simon Say's Design Team obligations, so I do have something to show you today! For this project I used the adorable owl from the Woodland Creatures set. He is just too cute. These are such nice stamps, and they stamp so clearly and precisely. I had a simple white frame lying around, and decided I wanted to make a little extra for Jamie's bedroom. I found a piece of pp that matched the colour scheme of his room and then coloured the owl to match the paper. Such a simple but effective project, and it's also a nice idea to give as a little extra gift at a baby shower.





Hope you are all keeping well. Hugs, Rene'

My Gilmore Vest is Finished!

Since being bitten by the knitting bug again, I have done little else. All my other hobbies have sadly fallen by the way-side! The wonderful thing about knitting is that I can create items for me. I have a vision of creating a new image for myself this year, and with the help of my new hobby, I hope to be able to achieve this.

The first step in achieving this goal, was to finish my Gilmore vest. In a record time of 10 days!! When I used to knit in the past it would take me ages to get anything finished. This time around I am more motivated!

I was so pleased to have a few rainy miserable days last week, and I was able to wear my vest. It really is a wonderful feeling being able to wear something that I have created. I hope this vest will only be the first of many items to come! By the way, this pattern is available for free over at Ravelry, the most awesome site for knitters!

A special thanks to my very handsome photographer. Bryce, aged 7. Didn't he do a good job!

Have a great week everyone!

Some Simon Says Goodness

My parcel arrived from Simon Says today, and I am over the moon!! The stamp set (which is exclusive to Simon Says) is so cute. I chose the "Woodland Creatures" set to work with, and these little critters are adorable, and I am going to be able to make such nice things with them. The little owl and raccoon are too dear, and there is also a little bunny in the pack that I will be able to use for Easter cards.

Thanks to Heidi and Heather for the other goodies included. I have always wanted some Hero Arts note cards, and they are as nice as I would have imagined them to be! I have never used Tim Holtz distress ink before, so I am going to have fun playing with that. Any guesses what I am going to be doing tonight??

Please go and check the Simon Says blog and shop out (just click on the cute Simon logo in the sidebar), they really do have the most amazing products in their shop, and for us international customers they have excellent prices on their postage, which is always a plus!

I will hopefully post some of my new creations soon, so don't forget to check back!