Finally a card!

I don't know how Mum's find the time to craft!  Here I was thinking I would have all the time in the world, once I became a Mum, but clearly I wasn't thinking straight!  I now have two little munchkins and between them, part time work, full time running the house and managing renovations, I rarely seem to find alone, guilt free time in my craft room (unless it's late at night).

Anyway, here is my latest... and probably the only card I have created in months... for my mother in law for mother's day.

She is 'Heart of Spring' from Ching Chou Kuik and coloured in copics:
Skin: E000, 00, 11, 21, 04, R20
Eyes: BG09, 05, 01, G03, 00
Hair: Y21, 26, YR24, E25, 29
Birds/Dress/Flowers: BV08, 02, 00, BG09, 05, 01, 000, G07, 03, 02, 00, 000
Background: R22

Enjoy your day!

Arabella Chickie in Auckland

Fairy Wishes

I'm back with another Tiddly Inks image today ... Willow fairy, and it just so happens that the latest challenge on the Tiddly Inks blog is Fairy Fun!  Yay!

Here's my card using one of the adorable new fairies... Willow the Greeting Fairy :)

I love these new fairies of Christy's, just wish I had more time in the day to get them onto cards!  

Happy Monday!

Arabella Chickie

Look Mum, no lines!

Hello all... This is my first attempt at 'no lines' colouring using a Tiddly Inks stamp from the Beach Babe clear stamp set.  I used a Memento ink called Desert Sand and coloured with copics.

I'm not sure that my colours are spot on, but I would like to enter this card into the current Pop of Colour challenge at Tiddly Inks.

The papers are all scraps from my stash (Crate Paper I think) and the starfish and icecream cone are rub-ons.  The sentiment stamp is from LOTV.

That's pretty much it from me... life is trucking along nicely for us.  I'm about 7 months pregnant now and I feel absolutely huge... way bigger than last time. I'm not sure I can get any bigger and I still have a couple of months to go!   The bubba in my tummy is very active and keeps me awake at night... I hope that's not a sign of things to come!  Lilian continues to delight us and is sleeping really well thankfully (cross fingers and touch wood that continues).  Tyron is very busy with work.  We are sort of house hunting to accommodate our expanding family, but can't find anything we like that is within budget at the moment.  House prices in Auckland (and particularly on the Shore) are out of control!

Hope you are all well!

Arabella Chickie

Fairy happy Tuesday!

Oops so I haven't posted in a while... does anyone else find it takes quite a bit of time to upload photos and write a blog post or is it just me?  I have quite a few cards to post now, so I had better get posting!

Here's one I made recently for the current challenge on the SOG facebook page which is to use your favourite SOG image.  This week my favourite image is Giggle Fairy, next week it might change though... there are just so many fab images to choose from!

Isn't she sweet?  I'm sure she's got a fun secret... maybe she just made a cheeky birthday wish?

On another note, I finally located my copic opaque white only to find that it had completely dried up in the last year and a half and I had to throw it in the bin.  After a few aborted attempts to purchase the new copic opaque white with the brush, I finally decided to purchase a Molotow white pen (following a discussion on white pens on the Kit and Clowder facebook page) and I must say it is fabulous!  I'm very please with it.

Image coloured with copics, papers from my stash, sentiments are SRM stickers and the charm is from my stash.

Have a lovely week!

Arabella Chickie 

It's an itty bitty Tiddly kind of Friday...

Hello! I hope it's going to be a great weekend for everyone!  I'm finally recovering from a nasty sore throat and flu-like virus... so glad to be coming out the other side of it!  I'm just so relieved that Ty and Lilian didn't catch it.  Phew!

So I saw that the latest challenge up at Tiddly Inks is to make a tiny creation (or ATC) and I couldn't resist making some Tiddly-licious pendants...

Each pendant is 1 inch square... a little bit fiddly, but such fun to make!  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them now though :)  I have coloured them with copics and added a touch of glitter.   Super  fun cuteness!

Happy Friday all!

Arabella Chickie 

PS I was super excited to find today that I have two featured cards up at the moment... one at Tiddly Inks and one at Little Miss Muffet Stamps!  

Anything Goes at Little Miss Muffet Stamps

Hi there!  I hope everyone is having a great week!  We had a fine day today (not a common occurrence in Auckland in winter) and I was hoping to get lots of washing done, however my washing machine fizzled out on the second load... doh.  Thankfully my amazing husband fixed it this evening when he came home from work...  something to do with the drain pump I think.  I'm so relieved... the poor machine lives to wash another day!   I bet it just can't wait to wash the load of dirty nappies I have waiting for it!

Anyway, enough of my domestic lows and highs... I have another card to share today that I made for the current challenge at Little Miss Muffet Stamps which is Anything Goes.  I used Summer Monkey for my card today which is an oldie but a goodie from Barbara.  On a side note, have you seen how many amazing stamps there are in the LMM store now?  I was blown away when I had a look just now. Admittedly it has been a while since I looked, but there are just so many to choose from!

Here's my card:

Anyway, off to bed early for me... I feel so exhausted lately!  It could be because our little miss has suddenly started waking up really early, or it could be my pregnancy rhinitis keeping me awake at night or it could just be that general difficulty sleeping while pregnant thing... who knows?!  Hopefully a few early nights will cure it though.

Ciao!

Arabella

Things with wings and sticky markers...

Hello again!  Two posts in a week... I'm on a roll!

Lilian is about to wake up any minute, so I'll keep this one brief... Here's a card I made for the current Wings and things challenge on the Some Odd Girl Facebook page.  I can't find this gorgeous wee fairy in the shop at the moment, so I'm not sure if she has been retired or if I just had a boy look.  The bird is from a clear stamp set called Gwen in Bloom.

I had so much trouble with my skin colouring markers on this one... I totally ruined her arms and I'm so disappointed.  I just read on the Kit and Clowder Facebook group about some tips to stop that happening (eg wiping the sides of the brush nib before closing the cap), so I'm going to implement them in my colouring time tonight.  I also can't seem to find my copic opaque white anywhere, so no highlights on her eyes until I find it...

That's it from me... the munchkin is awake!

Ciao!

Arabella

A long absence...

Hello, it's been a looong time!  Lilian has been keeping me pretty busy and her bedroom is right next to my craft room so I have had very little time to make cards for the last couple of years.  I never realised how sacred nap times would be until I had a baby of my own and now another one on the way!  I finally decided I would have to just make little bits of time to do little bits of crafting... I do feel a bit like I've forgotten how to colour and make cards though, so bear with me.  Here's one of my first attempts using a Tiddly Inks image entitled Wryn and Mo - Love you Most for the current BFF challenge at Tiddly Inks.

Excuse the poor lighting... it is the middle of winter here and we have not had many sunny days at all.

And here are a couple of pics of me, the bump (21 weeks) and my munchkin...

Challenges:
Tiddly Inks Challenge #136 BFF

I hope everyone is well in blogland :)

Arabella Chickie in New Zealand

Baby Lilian is here!

Hello!  Long time no see.... sorry.  I have other priorities in my life right now.  Our little girl arrived two weeks early on 3.3.2013, a great date for a birthday!  She weighed 6lb 4oz, but has been feeding well and regained her birth weight in the first week.  

I had a relatively uneventful pregnancy (apart from the move from Greece back to NZ and the fixing up of our house after it had been rented out for 7 years) but the midwife was a bit worried about Lilian's growth rate, so I was getting ultrasounds every second week for the last few months.  It turns out that it was a good thing that she decided to come early as there was a true knot in her cord that had not yet pulled tight thankfully and my placenta was not very big.

Me ready to go in for the induction...

My husband and I decided to use hypnobirthing as our method of birthing and I am pleased to report that it worked out really well for us and I didn't have to have any pain relief in spite of having to have an induction (due to my waters breaking) and be on a syntocin drip all day on the Sunday.  

We are all doing really well and Lilian is eating and sleeping nicely and not crying much at all.  She seems like a very contented wee baby which is nice.

I haven't done any crafting since we have been back in NZ other than to make some adjustable width 'elephant ears' for Lilian's car seat capsule...

She loves having her head massaged for her bath...

and sleeping with her hands up by her face...

I hope all is well with everyone in blogland!  I do intend to get back to card making at some point, just not sure when yet!

Ciao!

Arabella Chickie in Auckland, NZ

Some of my projects from Created from Color Advanced Class

Hiya!  It's been a while, but my head is not really in the right space for blogging right now.  I am currently struggling through my final project for the Advanced Class I just took from Created From Color run by Melissa and Kristy so that I can finally start to pack up my craft desk... only 3 more weeks left in Greece!!!

The class was fantastic and I learned a lot of new skills.  I highly recommend it to anyone who has completed the Basic Course and wishes to move onto more advanced techniques like radial and single source light as well as reflections and colouring to show distance. I only wish I had devoted a bit more time to it and had been in the right frame of mind.

Here are a couple of my completed projects...

Single source light:

Radial light:

Alrighty then!  I had better stop procrastinating and get back to the job at hand!  

Ciao for now!

Arabella

Princess Tia at Some Odd Girl

Oh my goodness! How could I have forgotten to post my most favourite image from this week's release at Some Odd Girl?!  Did you get to see all the fab new releases?  This one called Princess Tia is my favourite:

Isn't she cool?!  She's so much fun to colour... I love her!  The papers are from Crate Paper and the ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl.  I added googly eyes to the frog and Stickles around the place and the charm is from my stash. 

Here's a close-up:

I hope you enjoyed this week's new releases!  

Ciao for now!

Arabella

Fall Fun at Some Odd Girl

Hello There!  This week we are showcasing some fun new clear stamp releases at Some Odd Girl and today's set is a fun Fall set that has Tobie and Tia and Mae in it!  Check out the fabulous fall samples on the SOG blog from my bloggin' buddies!

Here are my two cards:

I just love Kristy's new images!  They're gorgeous and so much fun to colour!   I have coloured these with copics and used papers from my stash (Crate Paper, October Afternoon etc..).  The ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl and the charms are from my stash.  

Here are some close-ups:

And oops! I only recorded the copics used for one of the images:

Have a great day everyone!  Don't forget to check out all our new releases this week at Some Odd Girl!  You can preorder your stamps now for shipping later in the week!

Ciao!

Arabella

October Sketch Challenge at Some Odd Girl

Hello!  I'm back!  A bit late, but I did remember eventually!  It's the 1st of October today... wow the year has gone pretty fast I think!  Anyway, the 1st of October means a new sketch at Some Odd Girl... so pop on over and check it out!  My teamies' creations are awesome!

Here's my card using the uber cute Tobie from the Beach Day Buddies clear stamp set:

The papers I have used are from Hambly Screenprints and Basic Grey.  The sentiment is a sticker from  SRM and the crystals are from Prima.  I coloured Tobie with copics and kept the card pretty simple really!  The starburst behind Tobie was cut with my Slice machine.  

Here's a list of the copics I used:

Skin: E000, E00. E04, E07 + R02
Hair: YR30, YR31, YR24, YR27
Eyes: BG11, BG13, BG18
Singlet: BG0000, BG000, BG72
Shorts: BG11, BG13, BG18, B99
Jandals: R22, R24, R89
Ground shadow: W1, W3

I hope you get a chance to enter our challenge this month!

Ciao!

Arabella

Pssst.... did you hear?

Hiya Peoples!  I'm so sorry for my very sporadic posting... I actually have some news!   My husband and I are expecting our very first baby in March next year and things are going to a little bit hectic for us for a while.

As well as the normal pregnancy hormones that have completely stolen my mojo, we are also pretty busy with work and will be until we finish up here in Greece in November.   Then we have to find a way to move our stuff back to NZ, buy a house in NZ, cars, baby stuff and find a job for my husband all before March!  It's a bit of a stressful but happy time for us.  

So now you know... that's why I haven't been posting!  I'm finishing up on all my design teams now or shortly and will likely continue to only post sporadically for a while as my life takes a new direction.  I'll definitely update with some baby pictures in March though!

So... once again I don't have a card to share for Little Miss Muffet Stamps today, but I did want to let you know that there is an awesome new release over on the challenge blog today as well as a fabulous freebie in honour of Zoe from Make it Crafty's birthday!  Pop on over and check out what all the excitement is about!

I'll be back next week with some Some Odd Girl stuff!

Ciao!

Arabella

Kaylee's Closet Winter Warmth

It's our final day of New Releases this week at Some Odd Girl and today we have a new outfit from Kaylee's closet to share with you!  Check out Kaylee's Closet Winter Warmth over HERE on the Some Odd Girl blog.

Here's my card:

Isn't she great?!  She's just like the paper dolls I used to have!  I love her tres chic mix and match outfits!  I have used the base Kaylee from Kaylee's Closet, then stamped her jacket separately and layered it over the top of Kaylee's body.  I stamped the boots twice... once on white card and once on DP, then I cut the DP sections I wanted and adhered them over the coloured card pieces.  I find my little Xyron very handy for adding adhesive to the smaller pieces.

The papers I have used are from my Christmas Stash, mainly October Afternoon I think.  The ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl and the charm is from my stash.  The main sentiment is from the Winter Friends clear stamp set that was showcased earlier this week.   The smaller sentiment comes with the Winter Warmth set  I have coloured most of Kaylee with copics and paper pieced her boots.    I added glasses from the main Kaylee's Closet set and I added Glossy Accents to them.

Here's a close-up:

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

LEJ Designs: Winter Wishes

Art with No Boundaries: Anything Goes and Such a Doll

We hope you have enjoyed our new releases this week!

Arabella

New Releases at Little Miss Muffet Stamps today!

Did you see?  We have new Simple Sophia images being released at Little Miss Muffet Stamps today!  You can find them all in the What's New! Section of the Little Miss Muffet Store.  Check them out... aren't they gorgeous?!  This collection is called The Hills of Mooradale:

Arabella

Angel Gwen at Some Odd Girl

So have you caught up on all the fabulous new clear stamp releases at Some Odd Girl this week?  We have one more to come tomorrow!  Today's new release is Angel Gwen... head on over to the SOG blog and check out my teamies' awesome samples!

Here's mine:

Isn't she gorgeous?!  I love her pose.  I have coloured Gwen with copics and added Stickles to her halo.  The papers and charms are from my stash and the ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl.  The button is by Doodlebug Designs.   The sentiment and banner are part of the Angel Gwen clear stamp set and I cut the angel wings and heart with my Slice machine.

Here's a close-up:

And here are the copics I used:

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Bearly Mine Challenges: Anything Goes

Tuesday Alchemy: Peace, love and happiness

Crafty Cardmakers: Winged Things

There's Magic in the Air: Things with Wings

Whoopsie Daisy Challenge: Buttons and bows

We hope you are enjoying our new releases this week!  Don't forget there's one more to come tomorrow!

Ciao!

Arabella