Cards & slowly but steadily more cards....

It has happened very slowly but I have been getting some Christmas cards finally made....a few each night. I started out with a colour theme of Stampin' Up's Razzleberry / Soft Suede / Peach Parfait, but threw that out the window the last few nights, and introduced blue to the Soft Suede and a touch of Razzleberry. I love the die cut I have used which I got some time ago from PaperArtsy, the Leafy Flourish, I use it all the time....a great size for card work. So here are a couple of samples from my work last night. I hope you enjoy non-traditional cards, for that is what these are!

Some Challenges I have entered this card in are:

BnW Challenge - Warm earthy colours

Craft Your Passion - Things with Wings

Kreative Stempelfreunde - Christmas

Lexi's Creations - Non Traditional Colors

Stamp & Create - Vintage

Victorine Stamps - Christmas creations

This card I used a Stampin' Up Stamp, & die cut, (my Stampin' Up demonstrator is Ann Craig) the Leafy Flourish and a Layers of Color flower. The distributor for Layers of Color here in Australia is my friend Lovely Linda.

Once again I have used a Stamp from Stampin' Up, the Layer of Color flower and the Leafy Flourish. I have dry embossed patterned paper as the back ground and in this card I have hand drawn on stitching.

I have entered this in the following challenges:

The Ribbon Reel - Color challenge
Christmas Card Challenge - Non Traditional
Creative Inspirations Paint - The Holidays
365 Cards - Soothing Colors
All Sorts - Blue and Brown
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Goes Christmas
Hiding in my craft room - Embossing
Mark's Finest Papers: Speedy's challenge - Christmas card

If you haven't made your Chrissy Pudding Yet.....

This came in the newsletter from our real estate agent Dan Cooper & so I thought I would try it this year. Last weekend I bought a basin (usually do the calico thing, but rather a basin for this one!!) Serves so plenty for everyone. Begin this recipe at least 3 days ahead.

Christmas Pudding with Cranberry Toffee Sauce

Ingredients:
100g each of dried mango, prunes, dried apricots, dried cranberries & Sultanas (I'm actually replacing the dried mango with figs)
100g Panettone crumbs or fresh bread crumbs
1/4 C Rum
Zest and juice of 2 oranges
1/2 C Plain flour
2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 C blanched almonds
200g light brown muscovado sugar
100g unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
Method: Chop the dried fruit into small pieces and place in a bowl. Add rum, orange zest & juice. Cover and leave at room temp overnight. The next day, grease & line a 1.2 litre pudding basin. Cut a 30cm square of baking paper and a 30cm of foil. Place the paper on the foil and fold to make a pleat in the centre. Cover over the basin, foil side up. then tie with kitchen strin gto secure. Place the pudding basin in a large saucepan & pour in enough boilinb water to come halfway up the side of the basin. Cover and simmer over low heat for 5 hours, topping up water as necessary. Transfer the pudding basin to the fridge & chill for at least 2 days or up to 1 month to allow the flavours to develop.

ICED RUM SAUCE:
300ml cream
1/3 C rum
1/2 C good quality custard
1/4 C Golden Syrup
grated zest of one orange
Method: Using electric beaters beat the cream to stiff peaks. Fold in the rest of the ingred. Place in a plastic container and freeze for at least 4 hours, up to a week.

Cranberry Toffee Sauce:
125g caster sugar
300ml cream
2/3 C frozen Cranberries
2 Tbsp Brandy
Method: Place sugar and 2 Tbsp water in a pan over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to med - low and cook, swirling pan without stirring  for 3 - 4 minutes until a golden caramel. Remove from heat. Slowly add cream taking care as the sauce may splatter. Return to low heat and stir until smooth. Add Cranberries and brandy cook, stirring until berries have softened. This can be made up to 3 days ahead.

On Christmas Day bring pudding back to room temp then reheat in a large pot of water with enough in it to come 1/2 way. Simmer for 1 hour. Remove Iced rum sauce from freezer 15 min prior to serving so slightly softened. Gently reheat toffee sauce. Serve.

Tags...

The Christmas Tree was put up on Dec 1 this year. The colour theme again was Purple / White / Silver, with a bit of pink and blue thrown in. All our presents this year are wrapped in purple, silver or white paper and I got to make some tags for my gifts last night at the final scrapbooking night for the year. Here is what I made and a picture of our Christmas tree before the presents went under it....took some pics with pressies but can't load them!!

Some challenges I have entered these into are:

CCEE Stampers - Decoration

Charisma Cardz Challenges - Last minute makes

Crafty Purple Frog - It's cold outside

Crimbo Crakers - Must be Christams

Crafting for all seasons - Must be Christmas

Crafty Creations Challenges - Embossing and Glitter

Papercraft Star - Photo inspiration plus bell or ornament

7 kids College Fund Challenge - Ornament

Stampontique Designs Challenge - Glitz & Glitter

Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge - Merry Christmas

Shaun's birthday present.....that I got to enjoy too!!

After cleaning for 5 hours on Friday (at my job) I headed home quickly to get the car loaded up, showered, lunched and then in the car with the husband & off to Sydney. For his birthday, 23/11 I got him tickets to 'Jersey Boys' the musical which traces the history of The Four Seasons. We have always loved their music but especially the album 'Oh, What A Night'.

It is a 3 hour drive to get to my dear friend Pam's place and we left an hour & a half later than what we had hoped to, so it was about 7.45pm when we got to Pam's place. Bob her dad had dinner all ready for us (he is there while his new house is being built) which was so yummy. The 5 of us enjoyed a meal and a devotional time to open Sabbath.

The next day we headed off to Redfern for the first time without Pam who had a family thing at another church as her father was taking the service in memory of Pam's mother who passed away about 6 months ago. At Redfern we serve a lunch for the mostly Aboriginal community there. Usually about 100 people come through & so Shaun & I had made over 300 sausage rolls & 6 cheesecakes to take up with us from Canberra. However, it was very quiet on Saturday. Nannette and Peter were there to help us and another couple came in and took the kids program. Johnny the pastor there came in for the service & of course, our friend Judy, a local lady & a regular helper was there to guide us. We were able to serve, clean up and be out of there much earlier than usual. Our dear friend Ronnie popped in too and was able to catch up which was great as I hadn't seen him since the Deadly Awards at the Opera House.

That night we headed out to drop Pam's son Robbie home (checked out his fantastic penthouse apartment which overlooks the gorgeous Sydney Harbour) then off to visit Paul's family and then out to dinner for a lovely Thai meal. I find it totally amazing that people can be so self centred. We had parked up on a block of land as the car park was full. When we had finished dinner we got back out to the car to find it totally parked in!! Paul managed to get the car out after about 1/2 hr of attempting to do so.....unbelievable!! Pam & Paul then took us to this amazing place (can't remember the name of it) but it just specializes in Baklava and other Middle Eastern sweets.....so much of it.....bit of a line up so didn't get to try any as it was sooooo late for Shaun,  but next time....will try and find some time to get there with mum....get some for Christmas!!

Sunday was a sleep in a bit and then packing up, loading up the car and giving ourselves what we thought was heaps of time to get into the city, find the theatre and parking. It was a matinee & started at 1pm, we got in there about 12.45pm. Hate driving in the Sydney CBD!! We had GREAT seats in the middle, 4th row from the front. Its a very small much more intimate theatre (Theatre Royal). The ticket also included a program. It was such a fabulous production and Shaun said the best birthday present he had enjoyed in years. It was nearly 4pm by the time we got out and 8pm before we got back to Canberra. Really great weekend!!

Christmas Is Coming....

Hello to everyone. I can't believe it is less than a month now til Christmas. I think it is really important in this crazy time of year to stop and pause for a minute and see what God has done this year in our lives. We started the year with high hopes of one of the best years of our lives, so many great things were going to happen this year.....well, they just didn't. The highlights though have been great.....the arrival of our granddaughter Alexia Laine, and some relationships restored that had been a long time broken. As for the rest if you can scroll through the blogs and get a bit of an idea.

We have been really blest in our new home.....it was a horrendous experience moving, especially as Shaun's been affected more with this 2nd bleed than he was with the first. We have been blest too with the friendships we have and the help we got from them during this very stressful time. I would especially like to thank our dear friends Denis & Marilyn & our other dear friend Keely for all the help we got, they are very special people.

It was exciting and sad travelling via skype with Shaun's mum & sister instead of travelling physically with them as planned as they journeyed around the world. They had an absolute fabulous time and I am sure it is something neither of them will forget.

As the year draws to a close and we prepare for our first Christmas in our new home, we hope that you too will have a wonderful Christmas. We thank God for being with us through everything, and we look forward to sharing his generosity to us with others not just this season but all year round. I pray that you will be blest and be a blessing to others. Enjoy creating wonderful memories with family and friends. Check out my recipe on the side bar.....it has become traditional to have it now every year. One of the physiotherapists I worked with a couple of years ago is Canadian and this was his families Christmas recipe. It is really Yummy!!

Enjoy this wonderful time of year. May you have peace and joy & a thankful heart this holiday season.

Love Debby & Family

TTT that got up but I forgot to blog!!

So this was a page I did for Triple T that did get up on the site.....it was a layout / colour / & theme. Hope you enjoy the pictures of our little granddaughter. She was only new born here, still in hospital. The colour was bright pink / black / gold, the theme was art deco kind of....

I used plain black card stock for the background inking on it in gold using the Layers of Color, Belle Brocade Art Stencil which you can purchase from Lovely Linda who is Layers of Color Australia. I really like the subtle, softness of this technique. I have used some double sided paper as a layer of the background but on only half, and then coloured the lace and flowers using copic markers that I purchased from Kim at PaperArtsy, where I also bought the flourish die cut. A bit of bling using pearls and it was done. Hope it inspires you to perhaps use stencils, or colors outside the box for baby pics!!

Some challenges I have entered into with this page is:

Creative Inspirations Paint - Anything but a card
Totally Gorjuss - Sparkle
Alphabet Challenge Blog - V is for Very Vibrant
Joyful Stamper - Inspire me Fridays

Happy Birthday Shaun....

Today was Shaun's 53rd birthday. He didn't have a great start....getting up at 6am to get over to the medical centre for some blood to be taken.....very early start for him. Then on to work....which is a bummer as he only works 2 days a week now, and today was a work day.

The family all came over for dinner tonight. I made the Thai Salmon parcels (cooked on the new barbecue) and a warm potato salad, and another salad which had fresh beetroot, roast pumpkin, cucumber, baby spinach and baby rocket, goat feta, finely sliced red onion, sliced cucumber & roasted pecans in it. The dressing was vinegar, oil & Maple syrup. It was yummy, although the boys had the BBQ set at 180 degree F instead of C....so it just wasn't cooking....so we finally got to eat about 7.30pm!!

Our son, Caleb came over with his daughter Lexi, as well as his partner. Our younger son, Tristan with his wife Carissa, and of course, our daughter who lives here with us, Tamazin. It was lovely. Because we are still unpacking I was unsure if we had some candles, but Shaun said he'd seen some so he went to look. The only ones he found as you will see were number ones....but funny enough, they actually added to 53!!m I had made a gluten free, dairy free Lumberjack cake. Here are a few photos I managed to get on my phone.

 Tristan & Lexi

Lexi with her Poppa

Time for a New Post....another page for Triple T not used!!

Once again, I have a page I completed for the Triplicate Trials Tuesday DT but sadly we closed before use. I had this photo in mind when coming up with the Layout design and colours. So here it is

The photos is of my mother & myself enjoy a 'cuppa' with my brother Paul in the foreground. This was taken not long after our arrival in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. My mother had just married my step-father, Peter Longrigg who was teaching there and we had moved there. This was his house at Korobosea, a suburb of Pt Moresby.

So I have used Stampin' Up double sided paper as the background over their plain card stock. Sadly, they did not have the right mint green so I had to find something at Bernadette's Scrap n' Stuff at the Richardson shops to cut out my circle. All other card stock was either SU or my own scraps. I made the flowers myself and the leafy flourish is from Kim at PaperArtsy....I just had to own that one!! The letters I have coloured but are from an old game that had belonged to my mother. The vellum butterfly comes from a SU punch as well with the pearls added.
Some other challenges I have entered this into are:
Get Hippity with Ippity - Embossing
Hooked on Craft - punches / diecuts
Make it Monday - Always Anything Goes
My craft spot - Hand made flowers
The Ribbon Reel - butterflies
Lollipop Crafts - Anything Goes
The Squirrel & The Fox - Summer
Craft your days Away - Embellishment Bingo
Squiggles & Giggles - Anything but a card

Sorry it's been so quiet....

Sorry things have been a bit quiet this end....I have had an interesting year, and kept going as long as I could with blogging, but I haven't done much crafting or anything for the last month or so, but thought I would put up some work I had done for Triple T which sadly has ended now. So here goes:

So this page was a layout I had designed for Triple T but it never got used as we closed down before it went ahead. The bird is from Stampin' Up, (see Ann Craig's blog if you want to see the catalogue) and the leaf die cut is from my friend Kim, at PaperArtsy, one of her many gorgeous dies she has in stock. Here is the original layout from Triple T. You can see once again I have used a favourite technique of sponging....I sponge everything!!

The photo is of our family out having a barbecue at Black Mountain Peninsula with Black Mountain in the background with Telstra tower on it. This was taken quite some time ago....the kids are all grown up now!

Some challenges I have entered this into are:

Art Impressions Stamps - Red / Green / Metallic
CCEE STampers - 2 Die Cuts or 2 Punches
Crafty Ribbons Challenge - Anything but a card
Forever friends - Something old, something new
(I've use old paper stock & new die cut!!)
Just for Fun- Use your favourite technique 
Saturated Canary - Autumn Colours
Shelly's Images - Anything Goes
Frosted Designs - Die Cuts
Prairie Fairy Fridays - Anything Autumn
Fairy Tale Challengeblog - Photo Inspiration
Stampin ' with the Dragon - Food related

Time of my Life

I managed to get ahead in my DT projects before we moved and went on holidays, so I didn't have to worry about it, however, I have only just managed to get into my blog since we have come back from holidays and our old house was settled today!! So here is my effort for Triplicate Trials Challenge #12.

So the time of our life was to be a trip to Europe, however, we were unable to but my Mother-in-law, Pat and Sister-in-law, Tippa were able to go on without us! This was my inspiration for the card.

Here are some challenges this card fitted and so I entered it:

ColourQ - colour challenge
Craft-room Challenge - For a Man
Fresh Brewed Blog - Anything Goes
Little Darlings Challenge - Not Square
Anita Be Stampin - Anything Goes
Crazy Amigo Challenge - Time (of my life???)
Creative Craft Challenge - Fancy Edges

Triple T Challenge #10

At first when I saw the challenge I thought what am I going to do. I liked the colour combo and the layout but the theme....mmmmmm, it was a puzzle. Then I accidentally found this photo of our daughter some years ago where she had gone to a Youth night at the church called 'Beauties & Bogans'. She had decided to go as a BOGAN in MY WEDDING DRESS!!!! I thought she was more a beauty but I maybe a bit biased....LOL!!! I once again have used a Webster's page....I do love them as you don't have to add a lot to them. I popped over to my lovely friend and Stampin' Up consultant to buy some cardstock & she wouldn't let her give me any money. I was complaining (I know it sounds weird) about the generosity of Ann to my husband, who laughed and said she is like a drug dealer who gives free drugs out to get ya hooked!!! We all had a good laugh when I told Ann. Thanks Ann for my free hit!! LOL!!! I used a combination of butterfly stamps, the large one I got from Kim at PaperArtsy, and the smaller ones are again Layers of Color, which you can get through my friend Lovely Linda. I punched the flowers out of white and colored them with copic makers to match what I had used on the Butterflies. The leaf flourish is a die also purchased from PaperArtsy.....I love it and can see it being used a lot on cards as it is quite smaller than anything else I have used previously, and really well priced!! So as you can see, I opted for a scrapbook page rather than a card again. I am looking forward to seeing what other people have come up with especially in a card format. Hope you will join in with us and if you have a look forward to seeing your creation at Triplicate Trials Tuesday!

Here are some challenges I entered into:
Heart Song Inspirations - Anything Goes
Hookedoncraft Challenges - Anything but a card
Marianne's Design Divas - Bloom & Grow
Woodware USA Clear Stamps - Anything Goes

Floriade 2011 A Feast of the Senses...

It's a busy week as I prepare to head off to Sydney for The Deadly Awards. However, I have 2 friends down from interstate who wanted to catch up with me at Floriade yesterday. So rushed off to my cleaning job first thing, got through that a bit quicker, got changed, chucked on some make-up and rushed to town. Realised I probably didn't have much cash for the parking meter, however, thought it will have to do. When I put the money through it just kept going straight through, & I would try and keep putting it through and it wouldn't stay put....great, what am I going to do....however, it was registering that it had gone through and so I printed up the ticket, collected my money and headed into the park!!

I got in, met up with my friends and had a coffee with them before they headed home. I managed to take a few photos, buy some earrings to wear tonight to the awards before having to leave. Again I only had my camera in my phone so had to make do but for anyone who hasn't been I am sure you will get the idea of how spectacular Floriade is.....and it's free!! So if you are planning a visit to our fair city, this is the time of year to come.