ONLY IN A HOUSE OF BOYS!!!!

Last day of the school holidays and still cant get outside to play!!! ARGGGH! Discover a xmas present that got stored in the shed and forgotten about (there is a god! LOL) One huge playdoh caddy. So I get out the ATC's I'm working on and we all "play " together at the kitchen bench!

But all to soon I can see a theme emerging.....

( disclaimer: All care was taken to raise these boys with manners and in a dignified manner but unfortunately in the nurture vs nature debate, the nature of three boys will always be overwhelming!!!LOL) scroll down...

" Oh I am sweet Connor , I am always totally innocent and I'm not actually hiding

a brown playdoh creation under the table called mr Poo!"

Please note this is a cat with a ball of wool as per instructions
and a dog with ....a fire hydrant? that wasn't in the instructions!


AHH! a cute little parrot from Daniel....

And the pies ta Resistance... Jarred made a Giant dog, which was really impressive. It was the giant wee that wasn't so impressive!!!
Oh lordy ...only in MY house of boys!!! LOL

LIGHT ON A GREY DAY IN MY BACKYARD

This is how far away I was, pretty amazing shots with my little Fuji finepix S8000fd.

Here's a couple of quick pic's that proved nature 1 marcy 0! LOL I missed the "money shot" that made me run for my camera ; a little bird siloetted by the wintery sky sitting on a bare branch with a rainbow behind him ...it was amazing. Then it started rainning again and all the birdy barr one dumb one with a camera flew away! LOL I stood there for half an hour waiting for that bird to pose again for me but no alas the moment had past! I was telling dh about it and showed him what I'd managed to taketo which he said ..."darl you know they're only sparrows!" killjoy! LOL

For SALE some over slightly used organs! LOL

I LOVE & MUST HAVE THIS...

Homespun Elegance - orange

OMG!!! The new stuff from CHA is poppin up everywhere and I'll need to sell and organ or two to afford my ever growing list of must haves!!! LOL

here's a couple of OS sneak peeks:

http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/cha-summer-2009-sneak-peeks/

http://stopandscrap.blogspot.com/

Here's a snippet of whats coming around here:

Check out MEMORIES2REMEMBERS BLOG for whats new....

http://memories2rememberblog.blogspot.com/

and for whats coming soon...

http://www.memories2remember.com.au/home.php?cat=301

BUT BEWARE DON'T LOOK IF, LIKE ME YOU CANT AFFORD TO!!!

( that organ for sale thing ...nah not gunna work!!! LOL

Here's a quick fix for you...

(AND I DON'T EVEN USE FLOWERS!!!LOL

I didn't dare look past page 5 of the coming soon so goodness
knows what other temptations lay in wait!!!)

(I'm abit prima obsessed I think!)

so for something with a more local flavour....

here are my latest acquisitions ...
KAISERCRAFT Q1

Offshore is perfect for all my Tuross Head beach pictures I just had to have these but there is another 3 or 4 lines that dazzle as well. Not being a huge fan of Kaisers recent stuff I loved everyone of these new lines. If you want a close up look buy SCRAPBOOK CREATIONS this month and the Kaisercraft catalogue is a freebie attached and lordymaudey its a feast to behold!

Don't forget to checkout the JULY sketch challenge at

ANNA'S CRAFT CUPBOARD

www.annascraftcupboard.com.au/gallery2/showphoto.php?photo=2904

and the new DT just been announced over there:

http://www.annascraftcupboard.com.au/blog/
( YEA! GO GEORGIA GO GEORGIA!!!! )

Hint to you all...Georgia Keays ...one very talented gal check her stuff out!

Last but definitely not least ...

Allcraftz reopens on the 4th of August

after stock take, a huge remodel and with an influx of new stock on the way.

So how do they re open with of course a HUGE sale!!!

They have totally killer sales so keep your eyes open for that:

www.allcraftz.com.au/

and as I've said before...

I'll say again CHA time is better than sex...

if it wasnt pc incorrect I'd be lighting a

cigarette right now...

I think I need to own a shop,(sigh!) or win lotto!!!LOL

....and so ends another

tasteful dribble and drool session for me! :)

TECHNIQUE TUESDAY

(this ones for a friend of mine who doesn't "get" ATC's LOL lov ya darl!)

Last week before I got a shocking case of the flu I was playing with Tim Holtz Alcohol inks, glass paint, Maya road misters and embossing. I discovered that if I use overhead transparency film I can emboss over my inks and paint. This blog entry feels quite self indulgent...because it really was so much fun creating some examples for you to look at.

This ATC I experimented with taking colour away before I embossed the same stamp on the other side. Right or wrong (?LOL) I applied stazon stamp cleaner to my stamp then left it sit for five minutes on the inked side of the transparency. Then very lightly, blotted with a paper towel. The stamp actually had an interesting rainbow inked residue on it which I used on another atc. The only problem was I couldn't get the embossed image lined back up because (duh) I used a rubber stamp. You would get a better effect from a clear stamp! LOL :)

HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN EMBOSSED OVERLAY

Sometimes I see a stamp and think that would be awesome as an overlay. Well I came up with a way to manage that! I bought overhead transparency sheets from stationary store.

I stamped the stamp I wanted straight onto the overhead with stazon watermark stamp pad ( beware its can be a slippery job!) and embossed as normal with embossing powder.

TIP: with any embossing keep a clean small paint brush handy if you smudge your watermark ink and the powder goes where you don't want it, you can easily brush the powder away.

I did this on this project as some of the lines picked up extra thickness from uneven pressure on the stamp. So I thinned out the lines with a 000 paint brush. (if only your on lines and thickness could be so easily erased! RAOTFL!!! )

I think the overhead transparency handled the heat of the heat gun because of the thicker thickness (try saying that quickly five times! LOL) . I don't know that I would try it on a commercially bought one, for the melting warping factor.

I moved the heat gun around constantly, never letting one spot get to hot (and maybe melt! ) but I think the trick was to stick the overhead down first to stop it moving or warping.

I stuck mine to a cutting mat then after I embossed it I gently bent the mat to straighten everything as it cooled off!(no guarantee's are attached to this tip but it is something I'll be doing again! )

A CARD WITH A WILD DIFFERENCE

MATERIALS: IMAGINISCE -Wild Things PP, IMAGINISCE, Daisy bucket and the paper studio STAMPS, The paper studio adhesive ribbon ( been saving for ages dont know where it came from) AMERICAN CRAFTS Cardstock thickers, Urban Lily rub ons, Stazon inks, transparency, Tim Holtz alcohol inks, colour core card stock, foam core board, zig pens & MM & Jo Sonia paint.

This card was a little time consuming but fun for something different, a great prototype idea to have up my sleeve for other cards. Riley's one of my best friend boys, and oh so has my heart in his pocket! LOL I call him my smiley Riley! This card was inspired by the fact I gave him his very own texta's. That is why all the play pieces nature and animals are black and white, so he can colour them in before he plays with them.

All the animals are fixed to the front of the card with adhesive Velcro spots (just from woollies, how I saw them and came to this idea I couldn't tell you! raotfl) I wanted the card to be interactive not another boring birthday cards that get tossed aside for the prezzies. The games you could play are only limited by your imagination! (I tested it out on my 6 year old and nearly didn't get it back!) I have some idea that the monkey needs to be chased away from the picnic basket, that the tiger and lions could be leaping out from behind rocks and tall grass! My one hope is that he doesn't use the red texta too much! LOL

Majority of materials came from WWW. Allcraftz.com.au.

BUT WAIT THERES MORE!!!!

Got myself signed up for monthly swaps and an ATC circle ...seemed like a good idea at the time. I have been enjoying doing them but they're everywhere... I think I nearly ready for a layout or three...! LOL These were travel wishes, Time/vintage and Vintage/distress. Hope you like them...I think they are improving especially since I acquired a proof reader!!! LOL Thankyou Marnie!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

To my sons 8 year old BF, Happy birthday ANGUS!!!

Actually I was playing around with some paint and my new Tim Holtz stamps had just arrived and I couldnt help myself...I just had to have a play! Thats a clear transparency window and I've just added some paint behind the Daisy D Birthday rub ons.