Food, Glorious Food!

Hello Everyone!

As you may or may not know, this Wednesday is ANZAC Day. (ANZACs - short for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps). It is a day of national remembrance. An opportunity for every Aussie to pause and to commemorate the brave soldiers that died in military operations.

It's also a day for one of Australia's national foods - the ANZAC biscuit. Like a cookie, for any non-Australians out there, they were baked by wives and mothers of the soldiers during World War I, and send to the trenches in food parcels.

To remember our diggers, and to celebrate ANZAC Day, the new challenge at The Squirrel and The Fox is:

FOOD

That's right, we want to see all your creations that have anything to do with food. Our sponsor is Make It Crafty, and the lovely Zoe is offering a AU$15 voucher to spend online.

I used the Make It Crafty image "Ginger House Wife" for my card.

For the third time in a row,  I managed to create a card without buying any new supplies! The paper was the last little bit from a "foodie" card I made last year. It's from Nan's Favourite's Collection by Kaisercraft and if you look closely you can see it's covered with lots of old fashioned cooking images.

I used my Die-Namics ribbon border die on some red card and then affixed a piece of old lace to the front. I then hand-sewed on some buttons. The cream heart shaped buttons were recycled from the front of an old vintage blouse my Nan had. I also stabbed one finger repeatedly in the attempt. The swirl die is a Magnolia Doo-hickey die and the sentiment is from C.C Designs Spring Sentiments.

I wasn't at all sure about this card when I started but I really like how it came together at the end.  I hope you'll pop over to The Squirrel and The Fox and see what the DT have created. They always do such a great job.

Also entered into the following challenges:

Crafty Emma - Button It
Card Crafters Circle- In Stitches
Fussy & Fancy - Dies & Punches
Our Craft Lounge - Buttons
Opus Gluei - Flourishes
Lexi's Creations - Punches & Dies

Thanks for looking! I hope you all have a great week.

Tracey
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One for the men!

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. I can't believe the weekend is almost over and it's back to work again tomorrow. I remember when I was young that a weekend seemed to last such a long time. My parents were forever saying how quick the year was going and I would sit in a Maths class that seemed to go for a month and wonder how they could think that. Ah, another of the joys of adulthood. Who can believe it's already the middle of April?

It's time for another challenge at Sparkles Challenges. This time our theme is

MEN ONLY

and we want to see creations for the men in your life.

For my card I used "Aussie Santa" from Make It Crafty. I loved this Aussie Santa when I used him at Christmas, and thought he looked like a few Aussie blokes I know. Coloured in 'non-Christmas' colours, I think he is a perfect image for a male card at any time of the year.

For this card I used up the last of my 'men papers'. I finished off the corners with some white eyelets and used some thick string for that added blokey feel. The image was coloured with copics and the edges sponged in sky blue versa ink. Second card running I haven't visited the crafty store for new stuff - this is miraculous (and entirely unintentional. I've just been too busy!).

Our challenge this month is sponsored by Crafty Emma's Store.

Emma is kindly offering our winner a fabulous prize of £10:00 to spend in store. Please stop by and see what my fantastic teammates have created - they are such a talented bunch.

I am also entering this card into the following challenges:

Secret Crafter - A Man's Card
Crafty Ann's Challenges - It's A Man Thing
Shopping Our Stash - Masculine Card
Use It Tuesday - Anything Goes

Bye for now!
Tracey
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A very special award

You know what? When I started blogging about 9 months ago, I really didn't think it would stick. I had a habit of throwing myself whole-heartedly into hobbies, only to drop them a few months later in boredom. I was nervous that making cards would be the same thing for me, and starting a blog would be an exercise in futility.
What I didn't expect to find was this wonderful and inspiring community of people. I can't begin to tell you how much I love to find, in the words of my all time favourite character Anne of Green Gables, "kindred spirits" out there in blogland. I love posting about my card making endeavours and hearing everyone's encouraging words, and visiting their blogs in turn and taking inspiration from their own creations and hearing about their lives.

Recently I learned about a very special award - The Liebster Blog award.

I feel very honoured to say that three of my fellow bloggers have nominated me for the award in recent weeks.
A huge thank you to Jacqui, Helen and Elaine. Please visit their blogs and you will see why they were nominated for the award by their own blogger followers.

Liebster is German for dearest, beloved or favourite. This award is bestowed on blogs with less than 200 followers who deserve more attention. Here are the rules that come with this award:

1) Link back to the person who gave it to you and thank them for thinking of you.

2) Post the award to your blog.

3) Give the award to 5 bloggers (with less than 200 followers) that  you appreciate and value.

4) Leave a comment on the blogs of the five people you have chosen to let them know.

 

This was harder for me than I expected, for so many people have more than 200 followers and are ineligible. I have found that of the inspirational, wonderful bloggers who have less than 200 followers, some are already displaying the Liebster award. BUT in the spirit of acknowledging their blogs and driving awareness of them, they will just have to receive it more than once. :) Hopefully they can then pass it along to some other worthy recipients I haven't discovered yet.

My five Liebster Award winners are:

Linda from Squirrel Snippets - Linda was the person who first got me interested in card making! Together we have created the challenge blog "The Squirrel & The Fox". After over 25 years friendship it's nice to be surprised by a new common passion.

Shaz from Shaz's Crafty Corner - Shaz was the first person to give me a chance at becoming a DT member and I now work with her on both Sparkles Challenges and Ruby's Rainbow.

Margaret from Black Shadow Creations - I know Margaret received this only recently, but I can't not pass it on to her again. Margaret has such wonderful creations and I love to visit her blog (and to see her black lab Shadow's gorgeous photo). She always leaves such wonderful comments on my posts.

Helen from Helen's Stamping Corner - Helen applied to be part of The Squirrel & The Fox DT when we started in June, and has been a wonderful and encouraging team member. Her cards are so very sweet and she is such a lovely lady!

Ann Marie from My Eclectic Spirit - I've just 'met' Ann Marie and have recently spent a lot of time looking through her previous posts. She is so incredibly talented - I know I will be stalking her for a long time to come.

So there you have it!

Until next time,
Tracey
x

Things With Wings

Hello Lovely Blogger Friends!

Oh it feels like forever since I posted. Life has been a bit of a rollercoaster of late. I started my new job and that meant a return to the dreaded 1.5 hour commute to the office, plus lots of meetings and inductions and, interestingly, tours of bakeries.

Here is some trivia for you. One of my new company's bakeries is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and produces 1.9 million loaves of bread each week. That's a LOT of bread!!

After my first week at work I had a week off where I holidayed to the Gold Coast with friends. I could really get into this 'work one week, take one week off' business, but sadly it was just something I'd already organised and paid for and my new employers were happy enough for me to go. In typical Tracey fashion, after successfully avoiding all the various colds and flus while working, I got sick on holidays. I'm almost better now and last night I fortunately redisovered my crafty mojo just in time for our latest challenge at The Squirrel & The Fox:

THINGS WITH WINGS

Our sponsor is once again the fabulous Bugaboo and they are offering our winner 7 digi stamps of their choice. The DT and I were lucky enough to use their images for our DT work and here's mine:

My image was coloured with copics and everything - that's right - everything else was from my stash. Leaving my work until the last minute meant I had to cobble this one together from things I already had in my crafty supplies, for midnight crafty shops are still on my wish list. At 1am I finished cutting and colouring and then I had to set my alarm for 7.30am to finish it this morning.

I used my Die-Namics ribbon border punch and various Spellbinder dies. The lace flowers were a last minute addition when I violently took against the buttons I had planned to use originally. I am so pleased to use them again, they are just beautiful. I dug out my very first Cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss the swirls on the blue cardstock. The pearl stick-ons are a lovely pale blue, but it's hard to see that in the photo.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter Sunday today, whatever you decide to get up to.

Also entered into the following challenges:

Crafty Emma - Pearls and Swirls
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - Things with Wings
Truly Scrumptious - Lace
The Pretty Little Ribbon Shop - To Die For
The Ribbon Carousel - Spring is in the air
The Crafter's Cafe - Spring with Pastel Colours
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Pearls and Lace

Tracey
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A Dragon Bearing Flowers

Do not adjust your computer screen, I really am back for the second post in just two days. How I wish I could blog and card make this frequently more often, if only I didn't have to work!

Speaking of work, today is a momentous occasion, for I started a new job today. Instead of marketing salt, gravies and cooking aids, I will now be do the marketing for a premium bread brand. I am very happy to be in a new role in a new company, and out of the toxic environment I battled for the last 6 months. Sadly I am back to the horrible 1.5 hour commute each morning but it will be a small price to pay to enjoy work again.

Anyway, enough about me, for this post is about the new challenge at Sparkles Monthly Challenges and this month our theme is

MOTHERING SUNDAY OR SPRING

Now it's so nice to be part of a UK Design Team to 'experience' life on the other side of the world. Obviously it's Autumn here in Australia, but seeing all the Spring themed work from my teammates really made me wish it was Spring.

I chose to do a Mother's Day card for my DT work, getting in nice and early for Mother's Day in Australia which is in May.

Now if I was to ever meet a dragon I'd like for it to be this fellow - Fergus from Wild Rose Studio. Isn't he the cutest?? I usually colour this little fellow in greens and pinks but thought I might try something different for this one and used greys, beige and red. I'm not convinced I like it yet.

I hope you'll visit the Sparkles Challenge blog and enter your own Spring or Mothering Sunday creation. Our sponsor this month is Di's Digis and they are offering a $10 prize to our lucky winner.

I have also entered this card into the following challenges:

Crafty Creations Challenges- Mother Goose or Fairytale
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges - Mum's the word
Crafty Sentiments Designs - Things with wings
Lexi's Creations - Mother's Day
Craft Your Days Away - Mother's Day

Until next time,
Tracey
x

Lace at Ruby's Rainbow

Hello All,

It's time for another challenge at Ruby's Rainbow and this time yours truly got to choose the theme. Those of you familiar with my cards will notice that I have a certain fondness for using lace on my cards so that's what I've chosen!

For my DT creation I have made the following wedding card.

I fell in love with this Tiddly Inks image the moment I saw it on a friend's blog and had to buy it for myself. It was such a beautiful image to colour with my copics.

The papers are all from the Kaisercraft collection. The lace is an exquisitely detailed piece that was once again from the stash rescued from my Grandmother's house. Pearls and flowers were from my stash - this was the first time I have used these types of flowers on a card and I'm pretty happy with the result.

I hope you'll join us at Ruby's Rainbow this fortnight for our lace challenge - otherwise they might not let me choose the theme again. :)

Also entered into the following challenges:
Totally Stampalicious - Flowers
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Anything Goes
One Stitch At A Time - Use a Digi

Until next time,
Tracey
x

All you need is love

Hello All,

It's time for another challenge at The Squirrel & The Fox and this time our theme is an easy one:

LOVE

Either show us something you love to use, or make something for someone you love. For my DT work this fortnight I created a card for my hubby for our wedding anniversary.

My husband AJ and I have been together for 20 years this year, we met a lifetime ago when we were just 18. It took us twelve years to get married, so this was our 8th wedding anniversary.

Now I have to confess that I forget our wedding anniversary every year. I remind myself at the end of February that it's coming, and then remember again a few days after it's past. This year I figured there's no way I'd forget it, after all, I'd made him this card.

Our wedding anniversary is the 6th. On the 7th, I proudly said to AJ "Happy Wedding Anniversary!" for him to reply "Oh yeah, Happy Anniversary. Wait, wasn't it yesterday?" *Sigh* I tried.

This card was made using the gorgeous Monkey image from Bugaboo stamps, coloured of course with copics.  Bugaboo are once again sponsoring The Squirrel and The Fox and offering our winner 7 free digis.

So what are you waiting for? *grin*

Also entered into the following challenges:

CMC Copic Challenge - Fuzzy, Wuzzy, Furry Animal Antics
Digi Doodle Shop Challenge - Animals
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Feathers and Fur
Crafting When We Can - Animals

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Tracey
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