Is there such a thing as too much chocolate?!

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I never thought there could be but after making 12 dozen chocolate truffles on that one rare day of summer heat prior to Christmas, I found there was! Maybe that’s why they say don’t lick your fingers when cooking. as one can over indulge in chocolate.. who knows! 🙂 Anyways as a consequence I had to rethink just what I could put in my little boxes I was making for what I thought was going to our last Tuesday Chewings before Christmas.

The theme was, I thought, “Christmas with Attitude”. As it turned out the theme had become a technique  but that was okay as luck would have it my contribution was very Big Shot orientated so one could say my technique was… the Big Shot. It was… Big Shot, Big Shot, Big Shot, Stamp, Punch, Pierce, Cut and Construct. Oh, and add a little glitter if you are that way inclined!!!

It was one of those rare occasions when, unlike my chocolate truffles, overindulgence wasn’t a requirement, less is more, and the really big plus… what I had in mind was exactly what my hands created. And let me tell you, that in it’s self is a very, VERY rare occurrence! This was it… what do you think?

All I wanted was a little box to hold truffles. Nothing fussy and after playing with colour combinations such as pink and purple, I stuck with the traditional white, red, and green. During the Christmas ribbon promotion I had been lucky enough to receive a roll of the Christmas Real Red Polka Dot Ribbon, which is incredibly red I must say so wasn’t that easy to combine with any DSP but I think I got away with it with the wonderful Christmas DSP of Stampin’  Ups!

I love this DSP, Jolly Holiday, although at first I was extremely hesitant to purchase any. Have no idea why but ’twas, but on seeing a customers order of it I quickly changed my mind. The colours, although traditional, aren’t bright in the usual sense, and are slightly muted so even though they work brilliantly at Christmas, they can quite easily be adapted for projects at any time of the year!

You can’t see in this photo but the flower is being held together with one of my favourite antique brads (we won’t mention how many sets of these I’ve bought, suffice to sayA LOT) and once I’d secured the brad (and cut the wings off the brad with my Craft and Rubber Scissors from Stampin’ Up! Gosh I love this ability of these things, so much more civilised then my old pliers!) I spritzed the flower with water then gently scrunched it up before unfolding it into the shape I wanted.

The other thing I adore is this Big Shot Embosslit Die, although the Embosslit Die itself says THANKS, thanks to the new modern label punch, you can stamp and punch out whatever sentiment you prefer. Now, I ask you… how cool is that?!

PROJECT RECIPE
Stamp Set: Party Hearty
Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive
Classic Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Jolly Holiday DSP, Antique Brad,
Polka Dot Real Red Ribbon, Red Stampin’ Glitter, Dimensionals
Modern Label XL Punch, Sticky Strip, 2-Way Glue Pen, Big Shot,
SU Bigz XL Box #2,SU Bigz XL Flowers Folds, Embosslit Die Thanks,

Oh, and if you should be wondering what I finally decided on filling the box with, eventually I thought “outside” of the box, and filled it with something that would be useful for after Christmas… six strips of Panadol!!!


Maybe not as tasty as chocolate, but after Christmas, mighty handy let me tell you!

Oh, and have yourself an... Inkee Fiddling Day!

Joanne x


When did the wrappings on cucumbers change?

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And who made the decision to change the wrapping from cling film to cellophane without consulting me? What’s with that? Now instead of utilizing what’s already on there after you’ve cut it, you now have to add your own layer of cling film. What a waste. Obviously a males decision! 🙂

And you don’t have to tell me I already know what you’re going to say… I need to get out more… LOL! Apart from the grocery shop first thing this morning, nothing else on my list was achieved but nevertheless, it was still a good day. I feel my fog is lifting. Fingers-crossed!

There’s a good chance you are tilting your head right now asking yourself why this card looks familiar and that’s because I did something very similar with water-colouring not so long ago. This was the original card.  I was very eager to play with my Crumb Cake Classic Ink that had just arrived. It was ink at first sight – I just love the colour!

For this card the base is Baja Breeze with Crumb Cake bordering the Whisper White. I just love the Elements of Style stamp set. The bird is stamped in Riding Hood Red and sprinkled with dazzling diamonds. I have to say I also rather like the Crumb Cake taffeta ribbon. What’s NOT to love about Crumb Cake?!

Card Recipe
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Stamp Set/s: Elements of Style
Classic Ink: Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Crumb Cake Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals,
XL Modern Label Punch, Antique Brass Brads

Oh, and have yourself an... Inkee Fiddling Day!

Joanne x


Is it the week-end yet???

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Don’t you just hate it when days of the weeks get a feel to it? Today has felt like a Friday ALL day – even Master Nine was settling into the afternoon as if it was the beginning of the week-end until I asked the question… “it is Thursday today isn’t it?” Always the kill-joy I am!

But given I was seriously thinking of driving the children to school in my pj’s so that I could crawl back into bed as soon I arrived home as my head was still throbbing, I did VERY well today. I promised the children I would take their pocket money to Target’s toy sale first thing this morning so no matter what I was feeling, to Target I went… then to Woolies… then home to fix the garage remote… clean the shower…

AND the big one, after just a little prompting from others, I have everything sorted in the Studio that I’m “down-sizing“. This has been a work-in-progress for quite some time but I have laid it all out now ready to go. So if there’s any bits or bobs you thought you might be in need of just call me or come on round… I’m sure I have something for you! 🙂

The card below was for a party I had a couple of weeks ago. The recipients have been quite honest with me in the past regarding my cards – “you put a lot of work into them don’t you which makes it so much harder when we throw them out!” I do admire honestly in people but there’s that fine line isn’t there?

With that in mind I assembled this card with a basic yet striking colour scheme of Night of Navy, Crumb Cake, and a smidge of Old Olive. As you can see I’m quite into the cardstock ribbon folding at the moment. I find it such an effective alternative to actual ribbon or a simple strip of cardstock, it seems to lift the layout without overpowering it. And the Crumb Cake Classic Ink… well, I’m going to be using that whenever possible from now on!

Oh, and have yourself an... Inkee Fiddling Day!

Joanne x


Not tonight darling… I have to blog!

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A sign of the times I fear when no longer do you need to hold your hand to your head then declare… not tonight darling, I have a headache… these days when my poor darling asks if I’m coming to bed all he hears… no, I’m blogging!

But not these last couple of weeks! Goodness… it feels as if it’s been forever since I’ve blogged... the sign of good school holidays I must confess. Not that we went anywhere or did anything major but we had a blast nevertheless. Plus my “personal assistants” took care of any visitors we may have been having. How you ask?

Well… Miss Seven has taken a liking to listening to any messages on the answering machine we may have. Which is all well and good but unfortunately she then DELETES them. Why? Well, that’s obvious isn’t it, she’s listened to them…  be quiet my rising voice! My sincere apologies to anyone who was wanting to speak with me over the last couple of weeks, it was nothing personal, it’s just hard to get good help these days! 🙂

Even my mobile doesn’t fair much better. I have yet to discover just who is responsible but I know I have messages waiting for me but after a game or five has been played on my phone, strangely any messages that may have been there… aren’t! What’s that mantra again… I love my children, I love my children!

Anyways, the holidays began very well for me with the Stampin’ Up Regionals in Brisbane. Having not gone to Convention in May I was very eager to attend this but alas, my father was scheduled for surgery on the same day so it wasn’t to be. Then with only days to go and registration very much closed, surgery was postponed hence it was suggested “give DS a call, you never know“. I did and surprise,  I was in… a mere 36 hours before doors opening!

Now I needed swaps… along with some of my “Get Well Chicken Soup” cards and my “Elements of Style” water-coloured cards (will NEVER do THAT again the night before swaps!), I decided to do something with Moccona sachets. This is what I came up with… at midnight... so consequently I only did one other which  I  tweaked somewhat  but dang it, I forgot to take a picture of that one didn’t I!

On the acetate I’ve stamped with Black StazOn the mug from the Morning Cup stamp set complete with rising steam. That in itself took a little practise as when I first started stamping it I forgot I was basically stamping  on plastic so would press to hard and the stamp would slide across the acetate (LOL).

I also used a few other new “bits” with this little project. I used the “Thanks” Embosslits Die in Melon Mambo but covered the Thanks with a stamp from the Morning Cup set punched out with the new XL Modern Label (I LOVE IT!). Both ends have been punched with XL Double Petal Card (a punch I have a love/hate relationship with but more about that one another time…). The ribbon is the beautiful new white Organza with a Satin centre… very nice!

Oh, and have yourself an... Inkee Fiddling Day!

Joanne x


My new colour kit has arrived…

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and I have to say, I’m not disappointed as they are beautiful. Although I do tend to think something was lost in translation when it came to naming the colours as on the ink pad for Cherry Cobbler, in German I think it is,  it’s Chili. As for the Cajun Craze, once again it’s German I think, it’s called Terracotta, which describes them both perfectly. My apologies now should I use the international names mistakenly.

Anyways, I couldn’t wait to use the Crumb Cake (formally known as Kraft) ink pad as I so wanted to see what it looked like. To me it’s gorgeous, almost like a faded gold. I chose the largest stamp from the Elements of Style set to highlight the Crumb Cake. It did so beautifully… until I started water-colouring it. Sorry, I’ll endeavour to do a plain Crumb Cake tomorrow!

I’ve used the Cherry Cobbler card-stock and the Cherry Cobbler ink pad… love them!

Joke of the Day:

She’s a nature lover.
That’s surprising considering what it did to her!

Oh, and have yourself an... Inkee Fiddling Day!

Joanne x

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