Lazy Long Weekend

Another lazy Sunday update. The Princess graded to her orange belt in Karate this morning so I'm making my next elephant ATC with orange in it to celebrate. Very proud of her we are. Received 2 more sets of elephant ATC's this week - one from Finland and one from Northern Ireland. Love both sets ... hosting a swap is so much fun.

I've moved out of the very messy Secret Room and taken over the kitchen table so I can create while having my foot up and still see the TV and be part of my little families hustle and bustle. Haven't really done a lot but having fun all the same.

No pictures this week.
Ciao

A pinch and a punch

First day of the month. First day of winter too. It has been an eventful few weeks here - on top of all the usual guff I have been making elephants, I sprained my ankle and we went to the Melbourne Zoo.

I don't know how I sprained my ankle but boy it hurts. The doctor tells me it will be at least a month before it feels better. I try to keep off it as much as possible but it aches at night and gets icy cold deep inside. aaarrrgghhhh

The Melbourne Zoo is a wonderful place and they are constantly upgrading the exhibits - such an amazing wonderland for two young princesses and their not so young escorts. I had a great time finding inspiration for my Elephant ATC's.

I'm hosting an Elephant ATC swap for the yahoo group artisttradingcards and am excited to say that there are 18 players made up of peple from Australia, the UK, the USA and Finland. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. Below are some of the ATC's I have made for this swap:

Dust Storm; Ruby; Lucky; Lasting Love; Family Tree and Elephant Dancing @41

blah blah blah

I am making the effort to write today purely so I don't fall back into the habit of not updating the blog. Haven't been well the last few days ... sickly child aren't I? I'm cold and feel dirty and could really go a coke right now ... oh and some chocolate too. Had a really lovely week catching up with Annie, cooking meals, chatting, drinking wine and laughing ... boy she makes me laugh. I've made some birthday cards for members of my team at work and been creating ATC's which I haven't scanned yet. Dear Heart has been working a lot lately and I miss him ... shock!

Contemplated whether I would try and start up a family day care here and then rejected the idea. This is my little family's haven and I can't spoil that. All the things I would have to put away to baby proof the house again is enough to make me reject the idea ... I love having my elephants and nic nacs out again after they went into hibernation when the Princess was tiny. At the moment I look after a boy of 5 and a girl of 2.5 on Thursday evenings and after the "poo" disaster this week (walls, clothes, toilet seat ...) I don't think I could go through the whole potty training experience again. The Princess was a nudist and pretty much trained herself so I had it easy.

So the search for meaning or at least a career is still on.
Ciao for now

Mistaken Identity

I spent a night tossing and turning because I was trying to work out what I would make for an ATC challenge with the theme "Brown, Pink and White". Finally I knew what I would do when I remembered I still had these pink heart faux seals and was really happy with the result until I went to upload the picture to the challenge photo folder and realised it was actually meant to be a "Black, Pink and White" theme. AARRRGGGHHH!!! Luckily I had to send off a Lady Of The Month ATC to Deb so this one is winging it's way to her - not her favourite colours but I hope she doesn't mind.

So back to the drawing board to make the correct ATC for the challenge. Decided to go with the same sort of design and the card below is the final result. Not 100% happy with it but enjoyed the challenge anyway. This one is called Daisy Dreams.

dem fishes got da blues

I had fun making this ATC for a Blue themed swap. I painted the background with watercolours then handstitched in four different shades of blue for texture and with all that blue I just had to add the fish - stamped in blue ink of course. To finish off I covered the whole card with 3 layers of clear embossing which I cracked after it cooled and rubbed blue ink into the cracks. I'm really pleased with this one.

Fanny's First Ride and Fanny Falls

These two ATC's were made for a Transportation themed swap. I couldn't resist when I saw these images - 1901 porn is really quite funny and so tame compared with what is published these days.

Avoiding the housework ... again

Hey Hey! I should be doing housework as I have an old friend coming to stay tonight - however being an old friend I figure she will cope with the state of the house. Annie is lovely and she makes me laugh!

My brain is finally back on track and I have been consistently going to work and not hating it :-o

But that does mean less time for making things. I'm really loving embossing powders at the moment - I purchased some Opals at Paperific a few years ago and haven't done much with them until now ... felt they were to pretty to waste which is crazy I know so now I am thinking they are too pretty not to use and just having some fun.

So bye for now as I am off to make something else (hahahahaha)