Friends Forever

I LOVE Penny Black critter stamps and was lucky to have won some earlier this year from Kathy.   I saw this weeks challenge over at Penny Black blog was Penny Critters I thought of one of the sets I won called "Paint The Town".  It has some adorable critters.   So here's what I came up with.....



 I stamped onto white card and coloured in the hedgie and bee with Copic pens.  I then used a Nellie Snellen die to cut it out and then sponged the grass and sky while the image was still in the die.  Found some pretty paper from  A Pink Petticoat pack that was a freebie with Quick Cards magazine and a lovely pearlised card from Rosie's Studio.  Added the green ribbon and bow.  Popped the panel and all done.  I was really happy with the result.

Also entering this into the following challenges
Stamp with Fun ~ Anything goes
Penny Black Saturday Challenge ~ Friendship
Simon Says Stamp Challenge ~ Dies to Die for.

Today has been very spring like ~ super warm and sunny.  I managed a nice walk along the beach this morning and sat out in the sun for lunch.  Tonight there is an important rugby match on here in Auckland ~ The All Blacks (NZ) versus Les Bleus ( France) - our arch nemesis!!!!  My hubby is off to watch it live with his 2 brothers and his BIL.  Wishing our team all the best ~ GO THE ALL BLACKS~  I'll be watching it on the TV in about 2 hours time!

Thanks for visiting.

Dawn

Play Date Cafe Challenge #53 - Take Two

This was part of the idea I first had for the Play Date Cafe challenge... black, white and a splash of burgundy.  Not sure whether there is too much burgundy to count - but I like how this one turned out in the end.  I tried something new....

the pleated ribbon.  I stamped the Music background in Aged Mahogany ( the nearest ink I have to Burgundy) and added the pleated ribbon.  Punched out 2 Martha Stewart Monarch butterflies and layered together.  Added the black gems and put the whole panel onto black deckle cut card.   As the background is quite busy looking I haven't added a sentiment.

Had a fab day with friends, stamping and talking... got lots of cards done, mainly doubles of ones I have already made.... got 4 Christmas ones finished that I had done the blue backgrounds for nearly 4 weeks ago!!!!  Just needed to black stamp the three wise men and added the sentiment and layer the cards altogether.... more tomorrow on the others I made.

Got to run as we are heading out to a Pot Luck dinner with the Family Groups from our church... our group is meeting with other groups to eat and then watch the rugby.  The All Blacks are playing Australia ~  in Hong Kong of all places~~~~

GO THE BLACKS!!!!!!!!

I'm Back!!!!!!!!!!!

What an amazing 4 1/2 weeks..... but oh so nice to be home.... comfortable bed, a shower that - 1) isn't on a timer, 2) doesn't need the engine running to be hot, 3) isn't the size of a shoe box or 4) isn't over a bath and goes straight down and tea and toast for breakfast!!!!!!!!!

Really, we had the most wonderful time.  We started in England, arriving Thursday 19th August to be meet by our friends Yvonne and Michael at Heathrow  airport and had to navigate our way to Peter's sister who lives in Lee in London.

The "navigators" had to stop on the side of the road to consult with the GPS to find the way.  It was so great to catch up with SIL and her hubby.  We spend the night there before heading north.  We stopped of at Rugby - the town which gave the sport of Rugby it's name.... Peter is a devoted rugby fan... still plays occasionally, so it was special for him to visit this town and the school where rugby started.... Now my hubby is very inquisitive and seeing an open door way into the school, poked his nose in to see if we could get a photo of the school ( luckily it was still the holidays) and guess what.......  the porter ( Dave) gave us a guided tour!!!!!!  Through the school, the chapels, the auditorium, on to the fields.... the whole nine yards. 

 

A fabulous tour, followed by lunch at the markets in Rugby township.  I managed to find a stall selling scrapbooking and card supplies and picked up a mat stack by DCWC called "Once upon a Time" - full of lovely card, some with glitter as well.

Onwards towards Oldham by the evening to pick up "Dizzy" our home for the following 8 nights..... 

but more on that in my next post.....I intend to cover all aspects of the trip over the next few posts.

On a side note, many thanks to all of you who have been keeping my SIL Mary in your prayers.  The good news is that her tumours are non-malignant and her surgery went well and she is now in rehab and progressing well.  She has had to learn to walk again and is now onto using a walking stick.  

Now it's time to do some more catching up on the blogs.  So many to read - so much wonderful eye candy to check out....

Australia Sept 2009

We are back from our holiday to Australia - an amazing 10 days.  We arrived Friday 18th late morning and headed off to our motel  where we stayed till Monday night. Tues we headed off to Ellis Beach Bungalows till Saturday.

The first weekend was about the Old Crocs rugby tournament,  We had a contingent of 6 players - Warren, Bundy (my DH Peter), Roger, Clemo (Steve), Mike, and Fish (Mark) who gather a few hangers on to make up a team.  The main supporters - myself, Sheryl and Pru watched the first game, did some vital retail therapy and got back to watch the third and last game... Note we all wore our green beads - plus we had black pom-pom shakers as well.  The boys didn't do too bad.  Won one game, drew one game and lost one game.  Not bad for a pack of oldies playing in a heat of 34 degrees. 

Sunday was spend recovering.  There was a brunch held at the local yacht club where Fish won the prize for the best back... ( think it was because he was the youngest of our guys so the fitest)
Pru and Roger headed off early that day to travel by campervan for a few days before heading back to NZ via Vanuatu.   Sheryl and Warren had already had 4 weeks over in Aussie so they headed off home on Monday.

For Peter and I, Monday was an amazing day.  We headed off on a cruise and snorkelling trip to The Great Barrier Reef,  We went on the Reef  Magic cruise.  Pop over to their site and see the amazing video clip... it really is that good.  I had been worried as I am inclined to get a bit seasick but some Kwells tablets cured that.  I also was a bit concerned as I haven't done much snorkelling but it was so warm and the views amazing, I just did it.  We did the outer reef safari - with a marine biologist telling us about all the fish and corals etc.  To Peter's dismay we did not see a shark. I was disappointed as we didn't see any turtles either, but saw some amazing coloured fish including the Nemo fish - the Clown fish.  They are so colourful.

The next few days were spent at Ellis Beach just laying on the beach sunbathing, reading, going for a swim when we got a bit hot.  We found a lovely secluded bay about 3 mins drive away, that had the most amazing trees so you could have sun or shade. It was just so nice to do nothing all day.  Very tiring though!!!! Must have been all that fresh air and sun.
Visibility got a bit hazy on Wednesday and Thursday as a huge dust storm hit the east coast of Australia.  Cairns did not get it as bad as Sydney or Brisbane which were covered in red dust.   Saturday we travelled north up into the Daintree Rainforest to Cape Tribulation.  Stopped there to paddle our feet.  The water was so warm I would have loved to have a swim but the area is full of aquine  crocodiles and it is not safe to swim.
So that was our holiday.  A fabulous, much needed, relaxing time after a bit of a disastrous year.  
Thanks for stopping by.