Wednesday, December 14, 2011

{up, up... and away}

Hello there blog friends. I have a little share today of a new range of cards I have made with some floaty balloons on them.


I love driving into the city and seeing hot air balloons (I don't see them often, but just can't look away when I do see one).



I am way too much of a fraidy cat to ever actually go in one myself, but find them so lovely and majestic, gently bouncing along in the sky.


If you do fancy hot air balloons yourself and think that you might need some sweet cards to make your gifts look pretty, you can find them over at my Down That Little Lane Store:)

Have a lovely day wherever it takes you... perhaps it will be up, up ... and away... weeeeeee!

 

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

{holidays}

Hi there all. I can't believe that we are 7 days into December and I am yet to do a post this month! The time is flying by. It's a busy time for everyone, and we are no exception with the girls' birthday a week away, plus all the Christmas fun thrown in.

Our holidays have started off just nicely, with a little shopping, some fun visitors, and today, a little rain, which is lovely after a bit of a dry spell... perfect to stay home and do a spot of baking...


...using our most favourite recipe for the most scrumdiddlyumptious gingerbread...


...from my most favourite book in all the land.






All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, la la la, sissy can have the left and I'll take the right, la la la...


Our baking inspired me to make some gingerbread cards for Christmas...



Enjoy the rest of your week, thanks for stopping by:)

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

{thankyou}

Hi there all. It's an exciting and a little sad day today, as today marks the last day of school for my little cherubs. They have had a fabulous year in grade one and are very sad indeed to be saying goodbye to their lovely teacher, who I am sure they will crash tackle for a cuddle next year every time they see her in the playground;) At the same time, we are all excited about almost 8 weeks of sleep in's and Christmas holiday fun for us all.

I can say blogging will be a little patchy with the kiddles home.. but it has been patchy just about all year... so I suppose there is no need to let you know that;)

Before I go to finish off those last-minute little jobs before the holidays officially kick off, I wanted to share a quick link to a great blog about all things crafty. I did get a lovely email from Laura (aka Moags) to let me know that some of my Christmas cards were featured over at her blog Creativity Unmasked last Saturday in her {Six for Saturday} post...


... Thankyou Laura! When you have a little time, be sure to pop on over. Laura's blog showcases lots of beautiful handmade goodies, and is full of inspiration... you may even get some Christmas ideas;) 

Enjoy the rest of your week, thanks for stopping by.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

{love}


12 years ago today, back in the day before digital camera's and wotnot, I married the man of my dreams.


He is the most awesome husband, and the best daddy to our munchkins and I love him dearly. Happy Anniversary honey.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Oh Dear...

Hi there blog friends, I trust you had a lovely week. Mine has ended a little sadly, I have just finished drowning my sorrows in a Maccy D's Chocolate Frappe (beware, these things are DANGEROUS as they are just too readily available in the drive-thru)... after a morning that saw one of my 6 year old (7 in 2 weeks) girls say to me in the car on the way to school, "Mum, can we not do the kiss and cuddle at school anymore as I do find it to be a waste of my time" ... oh my... I do admit to having to fight back tears as I happily responded, "If that's what you want honey"... and that was it, off she strutted into her year 1 classroom leaving me out in the cold (well, hot and humid, but you get the idea) just like that. I guess one good thing (there are loads actually) about having twins, is that the other cherub has told me she still wants me to walk her to her classroom even when she is in year 12... she was super snuggly and kissy at the door... chalk and cheese they are!

Sorry... enough of the rambling... I took the rambling part out of my blog title as I figured my posts were mainly about cardy stuff... perhaps I should put it back in... anyways.. I did it again, ooops.

In amidst my tales of woe and sadness, I have been working on a couple of gift tag packs for little pressies for some special folk in our lives. I am still a little doily-crazy, so wanted to add some to my gift tags this year like I did on this card.


And anyone who knows me knows that it's just not right until the packaging details have been added.

Enjoy your weekend, thanks for stopping by:)

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Christmas for the Littles

Hi there all and happy weekend. It has been a tricky couple of weeks in our household... we've had the trifecta of tonsilitis, middle ear infections and conjunctivitis roaming 'tag team' style through the littles. After lots of resting, nurofen and antibiotics, we seem to be on the road to recovery... yay!


We did manage one day together at school this week, and after a quick stop to post some orders at the local post office on the way home, the munchkins saw some Christmas cards and announced that they would like to buy some to give to their school friends {insert splutters of disgust and gasps of horror at purchasing mass produced cards here}, so we came home and made a little stash of cards for their school friends.


Okay, so I will freely admit that the 'we' is a bit of a stretch...when it comes to cards, I am a complete control freak and do like to work kind of alone... not something I am proud of, but I'm just being honest... I did let them write on them and draw a little picture inside each one completely on their own though, perhaps not enough to grant me mother of the year status, but they enjoyed the task nonetheless...


Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

A Christmas Card and A Giveaway Winner

Hi there all. I hope your weekend is off to a delightful start. It's a nice quiet one here in our little abode. Thankyou to the lovely friends in the 'land of blog' for your comments on my giveaway post and my rambling post that followed, I read and appreciated each one.

For last week's giveaway, I have drawn a winner, using the ever technical method of drawing a name out of a basket;) and the winner is Andreea - I will email you shortly to get your details to send off your little package of goodies:) Thankyou again to everyone who joined in.

Before I pop out to check that dear hubby hasn't passed out in the yard while mowing in the heat (a warm 28 deg (c) here today - not that high but it's really humid), here is a quick share of a nice and easy Christmas card design I put together today...



...I love paper doilies, I use them for wrapping pressies all the time, so I thought I would try and use one on a card. Pop over here and check out another crafty idea if you are a fellow doily lover... too cute:)

Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Thirty-three

I celebrated a little milestone last week, my 33rd birthday, it’s special to me as my lucky number has always been 3, so two of them standing side by side can only mean good things for the year to come. The day came and went with very little fanfare, the people that matter most remembered, and I had a beautiful day with lovely company. I have to share my birthday with the increasingly popular (here in Australia) Halloween (wasn’t this only supposed to be a US thing?), and, yes, my munchkins ran to the door halfway through their “Happy Birthday” song to me as some more trick or treater’s rang the doorbell, but, hey, that’s all okay.

With this milestone, I have been feeling a little philosophical of late, so wanted to share a few little things about myself, this doesn’t happen often, I may take this post down after a day or so as my self-conscious self takes over and I freak out about sharing a bit too much of me, so for now,  here goes...

What I know about life and about myself at 33...
*Good and true friends are hard to find... I have been kicked to the kerb more times than I care to remember by my own species – from an awful schoolies moment as the designated driver, to the horror bridesmaid moment of my own wedding, to a slow growing distance brought on by different stages of life amongst friends. I can count my true friends on one hand, and, I am, finally, now and only just now, like in the past few days, okay with this. I am learning that some friends are in our lives for a short time, some for a longer while, some forever, and some should have maybe never been there in the first place. I will freely admit that my best friend is my hubby, I call him daily to chat about what has gone wrong, what has gone beautifully, and everything in between, and he always listens... and even better, always takes my side;)
*You can’t make everyone happy... simple as that. I have tried to please everyone around me my whole life, it just doesn’t work. I am making a conscious effort to ensure that the precious souls under my own roof are happy and anything else is out of my control.
*I am far too short to wear long dresses, but have just bought 2 this week, I just don’t care anymore, well maybe a little, but I’m trying not to. Ok, so I look a little like a Gelfling shrouded in way too much fabric for my frame, I have had to cut off 3 feet of fabric so I don’t trip over and have had to redo the hems, but they are comfy and cool and easy to move around in with a young family without the world seeing my undies, and at 33, I am going to wear long dresses for the first time in my life (apart from my wedding dress of course), without a care as to how I may look beside a 6ft stunner.
*I love flat shoes, another problem when you are vertically challenged, but nonetheless, it is all I own and all I intend to buy for the rest of my life, so, shoe shop staff... listen up... don't tell me that a heel would make my calves look more 'elongated', as I may just kick you in the teeth with one of my flats that sits at the end of one of my non-elongated calves.
*I never wanted to live in a big city. I know that by ‘big city’ standards, Brisbane is not huge, but I never thought I would end up here. I wanted to bring up my children in a small beachside town, where you knew most people, and the local post office was the hub of the town, and weekends were spent fishing, and by the water doing ‘watery’ things. But... here I am... two houses and two munchkins later... I’m still here, I make it work, but if I could pick up my little family and run for the hills... err... shores... and still make a living... I would, without a doubt, or even a look over my shoulder.
*I don’t feel like I am in my ‘thirties’. I still see personalised number plates with any year after 1985, and think, ‘man, you’re not old enough to drive’... only to then do the math and realise, that they actually are.

That's it from me for now... sorry if you just fell asleep and hit your nose on your keyboard;)

Saturday, November 5, 2011

{change}

A change is as good as a holiday... right? What do you think of the new blog design? Leave a comment on this post, letting me know what you think, and I will send one lucky winner a little bundle of handmade cards as a special treat:)


... these cute little dogtags will be included:)

{Giveaway drawn Saturday 12th November - Aussie time and is open to everyone... everywhere}
 

Friday, November 4, 2011

Cute Mini's

Hi all, flying by with a quick little share of some new mini's that can be found over at my Down That Little Lane shop.







Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend:)

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Stoked

Hey blog friends. Just wanted to share a quick pic of the beautiful ad featured in Adore Magazine and Tickle the Imagination Magazine for Down that Little Lane...


... it would be fair for one to assume that I am more than a little chuffed that my little spaceman card has made the cut;)

Thursday, October 27, 2011

{Down that Little Lane} ... is open for business

Hi there blog friends. I am so excited that I can finally announce that I have been invited by the lovely Tessa of Down That Little Lane, to be part of the line up of sellers in her gorgeous new online boutique. I have so many exciting things to say about this new adventure, and am so thrilled to be a part of it, but, I think to explain a little bit about Down That Little Lane, Tessa's story of how her inspiration became a reality best sums it up...

"I was always looking for unusual gifts for birthdays and constantly evolving my home decor to accommodate unique pieces I found along the way. Over the past years, my friends were constantly asking me for recommendations, which got me thinking that there really wasn't a one stop shop where I could guarantee finding delightful gifts or homewares. I have spent the last 6 months creating this business by gathering the treasured places I have spent many years sourcing to bring into one online multi-store.

What's more, Down That Little Lane has the added benefit that it's easy to get to, and doesn't involve bundling the kids in the car, sitting in traffic or traveling long distances...Bonus or what!"

The site itself is just beautiful, and I have had so much fun tweaking and fiddling with my own little part of it all...


 ... the site is open for business today, with the official opening happening on 1st November. Grab a cuppa and pop on over for a look, you'll be blown away by all the beautiful treats on offer:)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

{Sweetest Christmas}

Hi there, I cannot believe how fast this year is going. While Christmas still feels so far away, approx 62 days to be precise, the copious amounts of decorations and Christmas paraphanelia in the shops is kind of getting me a little excited. I do admit to loving Christmas tunes also, and can't wait til I can start annoying the family with my yearly run of continuous playing of Myer's 'Spirit of Christmas' Cd's which I have bought every year for about 10 years - they will love me even more this year cos now I have the iPod, I can just load them all on and weeeeeeee, away we go! No more having to choose only 3 discs at a time on the stereo CD changer thingy!

To get in the spirit, I have made a start on my Christmas cards. I shared one lot with you last week, here is another set that I really love, anything that has baker's twine has to be a winner, right?


I love pink and red for Christmas instead of the traditional red and green combo.

Thanks for popping by:)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

{LOVE}

Hi there. A super quick share today of a cute little Penny Black stamp I bought recently...




...I couldn't stop at one ;)

Thanks for stopping by.