You've gotta love unplanned weekends!

The Chittering Valley

This was our road about 10.30pm Saturday night with a 3/4 moon - you can just make out some stars too .... along with the misty fog along the water ways - cool huh!

Ok - this one you have to use your imagination a little - I saw a dog leaping towards a ball!

I'm not sure of the exact size but I would say the statue stands 15-20 foot tall - impressive!

Perth - taken from South Perth

Serpentine Dam

Canning Dam Wall - built 1933-1940 (we couldn't view much of the dam as they were repairing the wall and had it closed off to the public)

Got to spend lots of time with Brian this weekend and some time with Damian so it was a great weekend. Went for a drive out the Chittering Valley Saturday as there is a new Budhist Temple being built and I noticed the fabulous (and very large) statue last time I was out that way but didn't have a camera. We then headed into Bindoon for a wonderful bakery lunch (real pies ... Brian had Kangaroo and I had lamb & rosemary ... yummo!) before heading home. We got home fed the fur & feather children then headed off to Perth to have a quick dinner with Damian and then off to the Perth Hockey Stadium to watch the Challenge Cup - WASPS (Wesley & South Perth - Damian plays for the WASPS) v's Freo ... WASPS defeated Freo 2-Nil ... good game but it was ssssooooo cold by the time we left!

Sunday we took off for Serpentine Dam - somewhere we used to visit 2-3 times a year (or more) back when I was a kid and the smell of the flowering wattles/accacias (sp?) and burning wood brought back so many memories! From here we wandered onto Canning Dam then via the back roads we ended up in Kalamunda before heading home. I so love the hills at this time of year ... everything is green! Anyway - just wanted to share a few photos of my weekend!

Playing with fire ... again!

Been a while since I posted but that is because I first had computer - camera issues then we had a major computer crash (new screen? - still waiting for this one to be fixed) ... anyway long story short I have a new 'puter and seem to have all the computer-camera issues sorted! :-)

We were cleaning up the house yard the other day and one of the trees which had been tormented by termites also caught fire - as the tree was mainly hollow it created a chimney and occasionally it got a little explosive - cool huh!

The same day I also found this little critter in the house - most unusual colours! Obviously I relocated him to the outdoors where he belonged!

Lastly - this is one of the many and varied arachnoids (sp?) that make our yard their home!

The dance of the flame

Has been a while since I posted anything but life has been busy! We've started cleaning up around the place and today is the first day we are allowed to burn without a permit. I took the opportunity to snap a few shots ... it was facinating watching the flames dance!

Separating Craft from Life

Good morning blogworld
Ok - I have been toying with the idea of running 2 blogs one for my craft/creative life and one for me ... so I've set up a new wordpress blog Chelle's Craft Blog and am trying out that blogger system to see which I prefer. My craft blog will be for anything arty, creative, card making, off the page type stuff and this blog I will continue with our life here .... but that could become boring and monotonous!
Take a peek and let me know your thoughts - currently there is only 1 post - but I hope to get a chance to do some creating later in the day and post something NEW!

Mother's Day Flowers!

Well aren't I spoilt ... my little man bought me these gorgeous flowers yesterday for Mother's Day :-) I also got to spend most of the afternoon with him

This is what happens when your eyebrow/eyelid come in close contact with a hockey ball! You end up in hospital and have to wait 1.5 hours to have your eyelid glued back together! No it's not me .... it's our little man! Playing an extra game of hockey for another team. He still managed to umpire a game later that night ... thankfully all is good.

In-Law's 50th Anniversary Album

I found this great chipboard album the other week so have scrapped it for my In-Law's to put photos in from their 50th Anniversary Dinner. This was my first chipboard album and I quite enjoyed decorating/scrapping it! I didn't want to over do it as my Ma in Law is more of a simple taste lady I think. :-)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL MUM'S OUT THERE!!!

Still working my way through new toys & rubba!

I have been dying to try out the Upsy Daisy stamp set since it's arrival in our house last week and last night finally got my chance. Oh, I like, I like! I initially stamped the image using Barely Banana ink and then using a stipple brush I added some Tangerine Tango (love this colour!!!) to the image before stamping. I used the large oval punch for the sentiment and then punched out 2 in Tangerine Tango to create the background for the sentiment. I then got to play with the new Eyelet Border punch ... it's so delicate it looks like lace! The main image is sitting on pop up glue dots - not sure you can pick this up in the photo.

Products used to create this card - Stamps - Upsy Daisy; Ink - Barely Banana & Tangerine Tango; Cardstock Barely Banana, Tangerine Tango and Whisper White, Accessories - Pop Up glue dots, large oval punch eyelet border punch & stamping sponge for inking around the edge of the main image. Non-SU item - stipple brush.

Fixing up the flower pot card

Had to fix the flower pot on my flower pot card today. I'd stuck the sides down with double sided tape and of course when you inserted the tag it got stuck! lol So I made a new pot for the card and instead of adding double sided tape down the edges of the pot I've just added 2 brads to the top which works much better! I've also eliminated the sentiment on the outside and used the background stamp sanded and inked the edges - I think I like this version better!

You can view the original card here: Mother's Day Flower Pot Card

Retired Stamp Sets FOR SALE!

FOR SALE!

I've had a clean out and finally listed my retired Stampin' Up! stamp sets on E-bay - if anyone is interested you can find my listings here: http://shop.ebay.com.au/merchant/aura_belle

I have a 100% feedback. Starting price is 50% less than their original selling price. Lots of sets in as new condition. All sets are mounted. If you have any questions ... ask away!

SETS FOR SALE

• ALL I HAVE SEEN
• HUNG UP ON THE HOLIDAYS
• POLKA DOTS & PAISLEY
• STIPPLE SHELLS
• TAGGERS DOZEN
• LABELICIOUS
• POLKA DOT PARTY
• SASSY STEMS
• BACKYARD BBQ
• LOOKS LIKE SPRING
• SIMPLE SOMETHINGS
• BIRTHDAY BEST
• BEYOND THE BASICS
• GREETINGS GALORE
• THE SNOWFLAKE SPOT
• BIG PIECES & LITTLE PIECES

I also have a few 2008-2009 Idea Book & Catalogues available!

S2GSC9 Twisted Thursday Sketch

Really loved the sketch from Shirley's 2 Girls - Twisted Thursday S2GSC9 this week so had to play along. The twist this week was to add dimension which I think I managed quite well. I added Crystal Laquer to the main image on the poinsettia flower and to the oval in the centre of the sentiment. A perfect chance to get a Christmas card or two done! Not sure if I'll mass produce this exact same card as it took AGES to colour the 3 images!

You can check out the sketch & all the details here: Paper Therapy

Products used to create this card: Stamps - A Flower for All Seasons & Cute & Curly; Cardstock - Confetti White (card base); Whisper White, Cranberry Crisp & True Thyme; DSP = Paper Holiday Thyme; Accessories - Curly Label Punch, blender pen; ruby red SU marker; Cranberry Crisp ribbon, Artichoke brads, Crystal Laquer & lots of dimensionals! :-) All SU products except the Sakura Crystal Laquer