I have a couple of new additions to the family to show you. Firstly here is a photo of our 7 week old granddaughter. What a sweet photo (Grandma might be a bit biased but who wouldn’t be proud). 😀
You can tell by her outfit that we have been having some really hot weather.
The second photo is another baby – he he he – it isn’t fully out yet, just a baby really. It is the first begonia flower for the season.
It is pretty but not as sweet as our new dgd.
Bye for now,
I thought you might be interested to know that I do other things apart from making cards :). So today I have a recipe for Spiced Port Cherries – albeit a little late for prime cherry time. We had cherries on our trees for the first time this year and we didn’t quite know how to cope with them. I bought a cherry pitter and that made the options easier. I found a recipe on taste.com.au by Michelle Southan. The slowest part is pitting the cherries but the rest is really straight forward.
Spiced Port Cherries
Ingredients
- 250 ml (1 cup) water
- 155 g (3/4 cup) castor sugar
- 1 star anise
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthways
- 1 x 8cm strip orange rind
- 700 g fresh cherries, pitted
- 250 ml (1 cup) port
Method
- Wash a 1 litre (4 cup) capacity glass preserving jar with plastic lid (I had saved some jars from store-bought jams) in hot, soapy water and rinse well. Drain on a rack.
- Place the water, sugar, star anise, vanilla bean and orange rind in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 mins. or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Add the cherries. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 3-4 mins. (I left mine much longer, perhaps 10 mins.) or until cherries soften slightly.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer all solids to the preserving jars.
- Bring syrup to the boil over high heat. Boil for 5 mins. or until syrup thickens. Add port and bring to the boil. Use a candy thermometer to ensure syrup reaches 85°C. (I didn’t have a thermometer just waited until it was bubbling rapidly). Pour syrup over the cherries and seal immediately. Turn upside down for 2 mins. Turn upright and set aside until cool. Store in fridge for up to 1 month.
My dh loves these with ice cream. In fact he likes them so much that when I suggested giving some to a friend he was unhappy. 😆
I have been trying some “Nigella” recipes and have found some which you might like so I will share over the next week or so.
Bye for now,
A crafting friend has asked me to make a 21st card for her niece. I like to make a couple of cards so that there is a choice, so over the next few days I will be posting these cards.
Here is the first one –
I used one of the cute girls from The Greeting Farm set “Miss Anya Bags” (there are 2 others in the set). Of course I coloured her with copics and paper pieced her bag. The easel card was made with Spellbinders dies. The pretty paper is from Basic Grey “Indian Summer”. The sentiment and banner die are from Taylored Expressions. Do you see the sweet little heart pins? They are also from Taylored Expressions. 21 are Thickers. The flowers are Wild Orchid.
The only requests were that the colours could be pink or purple, use a modern girl stamp and perhaps an easel card.
Okay one down, 2 to go. I’ll show you the other 2 when I make them over the next couple of days. A bit of thinking and planning needed before then.
Bye for now,
I woke up to a lovely morning. The wind has stopped (which is unusual for our place) and the air was much cooler than yesterday. Ahhh wonderful day. I walked up to the letter box to pick up the mail and nature was happy with the world too. The magpies were warbling, wrens whistling and bunnies playing on the grass. There were hundreds of butterflies and moths in the air. They must have been enjoying the cooler weather also. Here is a quick snap I took of the cabbage moths. I don’t mind them on the Statice but they have made a mess of our cabbages lately.
I had a browse around the internet and found this site with some beautiful butterfly (plus other gorgeous) images. CLICK HERE. This is one of the images from the site (this is the sort of photo I would like to take :D).
Bye for now,
Today’s card is for Mo’s Challenge #117 “Clean and Simple with a Mo Image”
I wanted to add the sentiment “Cheers Big Ears” but then I couldn’t think who I could give the card to so just settled for “Hi Sweetie” (said in a rather aristocratic way).
I’m thinking it might be a bit too Clean and Simple. Don’t get me wrong, I like the result, but perhaps I should have added a few more fancy bits and pieces ‘cos “Spike” is looking a tad cross (or is it just aloof). “Spike” is a fun image from Mo’s Digital Pencil.
I coloured Spike with Prisma coloured pencils blended with gamsol. I have only tried this technique 2 or 3 times and I am really pleased with the result. My inspiration for coloured pencil on Kraft comes from “Dorcas” of course. She has a wonderful blog. Click and have a look. Not much else to tell you about this card because it really is Clean and Simple.
Bye for now,
I have, what I think is, the cutest mini card to show you today. It is for Wee Memories Challenge #82 “Mini”.
The mini card fits into a mini envelope of 110 x 85 (4 1/4″ x 3 1/4″ approx.). So you can see it is pretty small. The card shape is made with a Spellbinders Die set. The tiger print paper (and I also have zebra print) has been in my stash for years – I knew it would come in handy one day :). The digital image is so cute and is from TiddlyInks – “Uggabugga” and it is coloured with Copics. I wanted to have the sentiment read “How Old?” but even though I thought that was funny the person I will be giving it to might not see the joke, so I computer generated “Another Birthday”. In the inside I think I will put – Yabba Dabba Doo, Happy Birthday to You.
Bye for now,
A week ago we had temperatures in the high 30°s C. Today our top temperature was in the low 20°s C. What is going on? I thought it was quite ironic that I was inside colouring a pretty summer image for a card today and at the same time looking out of the window at an almost drizzly(at times) grey sky. The card I was making is for the Copic Oz “Summer” Challenge.
Here ’tis –
I chose this digital stamp because it bought back childhood memories of lying in the dry grass naming shapes in the clouds and making daisy chains – perfect summer laziness :cool:.
The image is from Mo’s Digital Pencil “End of Summer” coloured with Copics of course. The paper is from a pad I use a lot My Mind’s Eye “Mabel”. The sentiment is from PTI. I thought the card and sentiment could be used for a range of uses – thank you, just a note, thinking of you, etc. I love the apricot coloured crinkled ribbon but I only have enough for one more card I think so I’ll have to be very particular about when and how to use it now.
That’s all for today, bye for now,
Here is Lucy’s Day 4 Sketch –
and here is my version –
Close-up of the nest.
The nest is made with The Cat’s Pajamas “Rolled Nest” CutUps and stamp set “A little Birdie Told Me”. The eggs are Kaisercraft pearls. The sentiment and paper are from PTI. The nest is fun (but the photo is not – sorry).
It won’t be possible for me to make a card for day 5, just ran out of time. 
Bye for now
Haven’t had a chance to finish a card yet so I thought I would show you this lovely pendant I was given for Christmas. My ds visited Italy last year and she must have bought this and stowed it away for a special Christmas present. I believe it is a Murano Glass pendant from Venice.
It is so pretty but unfortunately it was difficult for me (amateur) to photograph. I think you get the idea though. That should inspire my cards surely?!
Bye for now,
My computer is still at the doctors 😥 so I’m working from a laptop and I’m very unsure how everything will turn out.
Today’s card is for Day 3 of Lucy’s Sketch Week.
A niece has graduated from Uni so this card is for her.
The sketch really stretched me. Until I added the embossed background I was unhappy, but in the end I think it has turned out okay.
Now let’s see if this posts properly……
Bye for now,
“morning. I am back with a card for Day 2 of Lucy’s Sketch Week. Here is the sketch –
and here is my card.
You must be thinking that I have the holidays mixed up – Easter :?:. Well the answer is that I am trying only to make cards which I will definitely use and won’t sit gathering dust. It could be called “planning ahead” but that sounds a little too organized. 😆
I am having trouble with my PC. It must have some bugs so I am taking it to the “doctors” today. Don’t know when I will get it back, boo hoo! Very often I just can’t upload photos etc and that is very frustrating so I’ll just have to use another source if I am going to post again soon and that’s not as easy. Nevermind.
Okay that is all for now and hope to post again soon.
HAPPY NEW YEAR. It was perfect for New Year’s Eve last night – a very hot day then it cooled down wonderfully in the evening.
Today we are off to the Werribee Open Range Zoo (nearly put “free” range – oh dear). Haven’t been there before so that should be interesting. The Werribee Mansion is also on my list of things to visit, but not today.
Today’s card is for Lucy’s Sketch Week – Day 1. I entered a card in Lucy’s Sketch Week last year. I know this is a boring thing to say but it is really true “this year has just flown”. This is the sketch supplied by Lucy.
Here is my card –
Quite different from my usual style but I’m liking it. The little monkey is a die set from Provocraft. The other die is a lion which I don’t think is quite as cute. The sentiment is from PTI.
I’ll be using this card for a baby boy. If I don’t send it off soon he will be too big for the little clothes I have for him. He must be 2 or 3 months by now. The little set is size OO so I hope they fit.
By for now,
Welcome back.
I’ve been browsing through my digital stamps and sorting them into folders under company names. That’s the only problem I have with digi’s, I tend to forget what I’ve downloaded and where I have put them. While browsing I saw this cute puppy and thought it would be perfect for an upcoming birthday. Mmmmm but should I use it? Animal fur is a problem for me – I am never happy with the results. Well here is the card – that fur is still a problem. Anyone have any useful tips for colouring animals?
The digi stamp is from Cuddly Buddly “Toby Tumble You have Mail”. The paper is a new pad I bought (yes I have weakened and bought some new paper, but I have been doing well, my purchases are way down on previous times). It is from My Mind’s Eye “Away we go”. Coloured with Copics of course :). The leaf die is from Magnolia. Can you see that I have raised the circular frame and puppy’s paw and letter with foam tape to add a little dimension?
Bye for now,
Ahhh relaxing days of summer, don’t you just love them! Guess what I have been doing on this lovely day. I don’t think you would have much trouble guessing that I have been playing in my craft room making cards :D:
The lovely image is a La-La Land stamp – Genie Marci. Isn’t she a sweetie! You will probably laugh when I tell you that I was trying to make a Moroccan inspired card. The closest I could come to the beautiful arches was this Spellbinders die and the papers I used were from My Mind’s Eye “Hazel” paper pad. The one thing that I think I did get close to the mark with are the beautiful gem embellishments. They have been in my stash for a long time just waiting for the right card. They are from Prima. You will notice I added 3 for 3 wishes :). The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley.
I’m off now to add this card to the La-la Land Crafts Customer Gallery.
Have a relaxing day.
Bye for now,
I hope everyone enjoyed Christmas. I did for sure.
On Boxing Day I have had time to relax and do a little crafting – oh happy day! I thought that the All that Scraps Challenge “Treat Holders” sounded like something I would like to enter. This is what I came up with –
It is a variation on the pillow box. Instead of opening at the ends, I have glued them closed and you can open the treat holder at the front (like a purse) by undoing the bow and slipping the button off. I got the idea from this article by Martha Stewart HERE.
The digital image is “Birthday Gretel” from All that Scraps. I have coloured the image with Copics and also have added a little paper piecing on her hair ribbon and tunic. I used both sides of the paper by October Afternoon, one side for the pillow box and ribbon, the other side for her tunic. I used Spellbinder Circle Dies to partially cut the image out and then attached it to a Martha Stewart Mini Doilie. In between the 2 layers I added a loop of red ribbon so that the tag could hang from the button on the front of the box. I’m not sure if you can tell from the photos that I have added some Kindy Glitz to her wings, candle flame and clothing and Dimensional Magic to the balloons. There are some small dots of Liquid Pearls on the cupcake.
I haven’t entered a challenge for quite some time so I am very happy that I have been able to sit and enjoy myself instead of feeling under pressure time-wise.
Bye for now,
Cards & Co
Cards & Co 