Quick Card Candy

Hello Blogging Friends,

Here is some Quick Card Candy for you to enter!
These materials can help you whip up some quick little cards for family and friends.

The candy includes:

6 1/2 inch Kaisercraft "Rock Pool" Paper Pad
Kaisercraft Rock Pool Sea Friends Collectables
Kaisercraft Rock Pool Collectables
(That is two bags of different die cuts)
Cream flowers
Green Flowers
Pack of 100 3mm Clear Self Adhesive Rhinestones
Pack of 50 6mm Clear Self Adhesive Rhinestones

To enter all you need to do is leave a comment on this post and be a follower.

Thanks for entering and thanks for following my blog.

Alicia xx

Mad for Markers New Release and Exciting News

Hi Blogging Friends,

You may have noticed I missed my Tuesday post.  Unfortunately the day just came and went and so did the next day...Nicholas has been teething and I havent had much time to get anything done.  But the good news is we have had a day of relief and my Mum has come to stay for a few days so a few windows of time are occuring again.

This card above and the journal page below are using new digi images designed by Sammi at Mad for Markers.  They are so much fun to colour and have only just been released.  Check out how everyone else coloured them up here.

I had a lovely time colouring these up for Sammi.

I am really enjoying making the Journal pages...I am loving writing a bit more.  I bought a new journal yesterday from Kikki K.  Pages already coloured, for me to get down a lot of thoughts circulating in my head that I really want to record, but feel a bit time-limited at the moment.  I didnt want to be dictated by backgrounds and pictures, sometimes just writing and doodling is enough.

I am also very excited about some cards I will be making for my cousin who is a Naturopath and healer.  She has her own company in Bali and you can go there and do a fasting program to lose weight, or just cleanse your body and get healthy.  They have yoga and massage and healings for their clients to feel healthy again.  The company is called Natural Instinct Healing  and you can read all about it and watch a promo video here.  All their clients are going to receive a hand made b'day card from me! A bit exciting especially as some of the clients are very famous...but I am sworn to secrecy on who they are!!

Lastly here are some photos of our beautiful Nicholas and Honey chilling out on our bed.  He is really starting to communicate a bit more with the sounds that come out of his mouth...little laughs for "I like this" and little grunts and groans for "I dont".  We began solids this week as he is a big boy and becoming VERY interested in food.  He has had baby rice cereal and carrot so far...so far so good.  He loves animals and enjoys seeing Honey whenever she walks past.  Luckily so far she has been quite tolerant of his "pats".

Hope all is well with you this week.

Thanks for stopping by,

Alicia xx

Spring has Sprung at Mad for Markers

Hello Copic Lovers,

Well, this is exciting, because it is my first post back with the Mad for Markers team since I had my baby Nicholas and I guess you could say I have been on Maternity leave!

It has taken me five months to get back on track with my colouring and card-making since Nicholas was born.  The Challenge this month at Mad for Markers is to create a Spring inspired project using G and YG markers.  I have used a Some Odd Girl stamp called "Smell the flowers Tia"you can buy this stamp in Sammi's store here for $9.  I have created a journal page using water colour paints for the background.  I coloured the image with Copics using these colours:

Grass: YG03, G94, G99, G14, YG23

Skin: E11, E00, R20

Hair: R59, E37, YR23, Y21

Purples: V09, V06, V04

After making this journal page, I realised I have not used really that many YGs and Gs so I thought I should make another card that is purely green. So I made this one for my neighbour whose birthday it is this week.  He loves skating and skate boards.  This stamp is also available in Sammi's store here.

For this card I used 

G21, G17, G28, G14, G05, G85

YG03, YG11, YG41, YG06, YG03

and B93 for the outline.

Link up your G and YG colour creations to our challenge here.  

Here are some pictures of Nicholas.

Don't forget to enter my candy here.  Only a few days left to enter!!

Alicia xx

My Weekly Post

Hello Blogging Friends,

How has your week been??  Have you heard the song "Days go By" by Keith Urban??  It hit me this week as I was listening to that song and the lyrics finally made sense to me...the weeks are just flying by, life is going by so quickly.  If you have never heard the song you can watch and listen here.  I kind of wish life would slow down a little...  Keith says we better start living...  I often think about this.  Trying to enjoy life and make the best of it.  I have been so conscious since we had Nicholas to enjoy and treasure every moment.  He is five months old now and has brought us so much joy.  Life is different now... I have very little time to make cards or blog.  I used to have so much more time...but it is replaced with other beautiful things like snuggling up to Nicholas and watching him smile, giggle and grow (and cry!).  It has all been about getting to know his personality and trying to figure out the things he needs and what makes him feel safe and loved.  

In my quest for better organisation, and after much Pinterest research I have come up with this arrangement on my fridge.  From the left: a Weekly Meal Planner and Shopping List, A Daily Planner, A Weekly Planner and a Weekly Planner Job List for each day of the week.  This has been working well to keep me motivated in cooking dinners and cleaning the house.

Ooops! I have nearly forgotten to tell you about the cards at the top.  These were published.  A set of Ten Quick Cards.  They are actually little note cards and have been very handy in sending out little notes to family and friends.  Made using Kaisercraft Hummingbird papers and die cuts.

Lastly some pictures of Nicholas growing.
He can sit up in the bath now and splash.

We have bought him a toy he can sit in and bounce in and play with moving toys.  It takes batteries and makes noises and lights flash etc.  This is to assist me do a few little jobs around the house and to give him a bit of learning and fun.  He loves it for short time periods.

Lastly a photo of Nicholas and I playing around.  He loves to be held up in the air.  The teeth are still bothering him.  The two bottoms are making their way up, but it is now the top gums that seem to be causing him distress.

Well thats it from me for another week.  

See you again soon,

Alicia xx

Father's Day Cards with Photos

Hello Blogging Friends,

It is Tuesday today and time for my weekly post.

Today I have two Father's Day cards I made using photos to share.

I struggle with Father's Day cards...putting a photo on them makes it so much easier and quicker and the recipient tends to like it a lot.

The one above is my Dad and I back in 1980.

The one below is the one I made for my Grandfather.

Lastly a photo of my beautiful Nicholas.  Can you believe he is sitting up now for short bursts and has cut two teeth!!  He is growing before our very eyes.  My heart overfills with love for him.

I hope you are having a wonderful week.

See you again soon,

Love Alicia xxx

A Preview of Some Exciting New Images and a sale on Copics!!

Hi Blogging Friends,

Tuesday again! Here I go frantically typing this blog post while Nicholas has one of his little "naps".  Oh how I wish they would lengthen out a little so I could get just a tiny bit more done!  But I cant complain, as I know of one baby from Pilates that doesnt sleep at all in the day...so I am very blessed Nicholas can have up to five naps a day...just means this post might be a bit frantically written as I have a lot to say!

Sammi has introduced a NEW Digi Designer at Mad for Markers who has designed some VERY CUTE images which are a delight to colour :) They are called "As the Crow Flies" Digis... 

The lady who has drawn the images is Ardith Trumpy and she lives in a small farm town west of Chicago, Illinois.  Having been a stay at home mom to three, now grown children, she always seemed to be doodling and sketching their antics.  Having spent years investigating various art media and enjoying many varieties of art, there is always one constant… she always seems to come back to drawing cute little people.

Here is the lovely artist....

These images will go on sale tomorrow at Mad for Markers.  There are more images to come too.  I had a play with just two of them and coloured them up with Copics and put them onto some pages in my Art Journal.  The first one is called Sara Waters.  The second image is called Holly's Flower Boots.

These pages were done in a bit of a rush...so I was happy with how they turned out.  Nothing like a time limit to get you crafting and colouring!!!  Most of my colouring is done in bed now as Nicholas can happily sleep or play while I can colour.  He is already becoming a fan of Copics! As you can see he likes to grab them and suck them.  Would you believe he has two teeth coming through now! Oh my! We have had some tough times as they really do make him upset.  He is normally such a happy little baby...

If you like Copics then you need to go and check out Sammi's SALE at Mad for Markers.  Also there is a colouring in day coming up in Sydney for those who love to learn new things and colour with friends.

You might remember me saying last week that we were going away for the weekend.  Here are a couple of pics.  We met up with my family while we were there.  My brother has just come back from a holiday in Europe.  He brought Nicholas back his very own official Barcelona Soccer Outfit.

Below you can see Nicholas is nearly sitting up on his own. 

Well, I have to leave it there as Nicholas has been up for awhile now and is sick of blogging!

I will be back on Saturday with my Mad for Marker's post.

Have a great week!!

Alicia xx