Mad for Markers big Copical blog hop!

Hello and welcome to the Mad for Markers BIG Copical blog hop! We are excited today to be hopping around the blogworld with bloggers from all over the world who all LOVE colouring with COPICS! 

If you came here from Ashlee's blog then you are right on track, if not then please go to Sammi's blog to start at the beginning!

Here is my card:

This is one of the very cute and whimsical Pergamano fairies.  I must say though that as cute as they are, I haven't had great success stamping with these stamps so far... I went over the lines of this one with a copic multiliner.  

The papers are from Crate Paper from a lovely kit I purchased from The Craft's Meow.  I cut the sentiment tag with my Slice machine and the buttons and lace are from my local emporium/junk shop at home in NZ.  I coloured the image with copics (see details below).  The sentiment is from Lili of the Valley and I have added Stickles to the wings of the fairy.  And there you have it!

Once you have completed the hop please leave a comment and vote for your favourite creations... and you and the person you voted for might receive a little surprise prize!!

But to get there make sure you follow the hop and leave some love for all the participants... your next stop is Jan Hunnicutt's blog.

Here are the copics I used:

Have a colourful day!

Arabella Chickie in Glyfada, Greece

Red, Orange and Yellow Challenge at Little Miss Muffet Stamps!

We had some lovely entries for the Numbers Challenge at Little Miss Muffet stamps and now it's time for a new challenge!  This fortnight it is reds, oranges and yellows... the warm colours... quite a tough one I thought!

I decided to use one of Barbara's monsters for my card... this one called Monster Bubbles is one of my favourites...

The papers are from October Afternoon, Cosmo Cricket and Echo Park and the ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl.  I have used a sentiment stamp from The Greeting Farm and added Glossy Accents to the bubble gum.  Monster Bubbles is coloured with copics (see details below).

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Scrapbook sisters - Anything goes
Digital Tuesday Challenges - Favourite Ice Cream colours (raspberry, mango and lemon sorbet)
Everybody Art Challenges - Anything goes
Ladybug Crafts Ink Challenges - Use red
Happileigh Scrappin Challenge - Use bright colours
Hooked on Craft Challenges - Anything goes
Scrappy Frogs Challenges - Use red

These are the copic colours I used:

Happy Thursday!

Arabella Chickie in Lavrio, Greece

We have a berth!

Yay!  We finally have a temporary berth after spending the last few weeks including the last three really bad days and nights on anchor... we are all sooo tired.  Unfortunately our berth is about an hour's drive from our homes, so we have to keep a rotational night watch on board the boat.

So... my husband is on watch tonight and I have come home to Lavrio (for the first time in 3 months) to get our little place sorted out again.  It was so nice to unpack all my crafting gear and set it all up!  I'm on watch tomorrow night and then if we are lucky we might get the weekend off!

Tonight I get to spread out and sleep in our giant sized bed all by myself!  It might be a little bit weird to have so much sleeping space after the tiny bunk I have been sleeping on for the last month or so.  But I'm really looking forward to the quiet of our apartment and none of that nasty wind or hull-slap noise!

Happy wishes!

Arabella Chickie in Lavrio, Greece.

Rocking and rolling...

Well we are back in the general vicinity of our home, but unfortunately we don't have a berth to go to yet, so we have to stay on anchor which means we have to stay on board and can't go home!  Very unfortunate and at the moment quite unpleasant as we are rocking and rolling around out here.  I have my fingers and toes crossed that the berthing situation will be sorted out tomorrow and we get to sleep in our big comfy spacious bed for the first time in 3 months tomorrow night (instead of our tiny wee triangular shaped crew bunks)!

I have a card to share today that I made a while ago, but hadn't got around to posting yet.  It is one of my favourites at the moment...

This supercute gnome and mushroom house are both digis from Pink Cat Studio.  I love the way they colour up... they always make me smile.  I have coloured them with copics (see details below) and added ribbon from my stash and embroidery thread and a wee charm.  The tag is a sticker from Crate Paper and the sentiment is from two sentiment stamp sets by Pollycraft.  The papers are from October Afternoon.

Here is a close-up:

And these are the copics I used:

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

Corrosive Challenges - Challenge #121 Ribbons and Bows

A Gem of a Challenge - Flowers and Charms

Challenge up your life - Circles

Crazy 4 Challenges - Add twine, floss or string etc...

Ciao!

Arabella Chickie in Anavissos, Greece

UK chickie update

The UK nestlings have flown to Brittany for a camping holiday in sunny France.  Thing is, the only sun they have seen is the picture of the sun that is printed on the inside of their tent windows.

Lots and lots of rain!  And very cold water!  So, the chickadees are swimming in proper neoprene suits (who could dream of keeping them out of the water?) to prevent them turning into little icicles.

Fortunately, their mother hen has (as always) taken a good stock of activities like pens, crayons, paints, books, drawing paper to keep the little ones busy when they're 'tent bound'.

There is also an aquarium nearby and a children's disco that our 'big girl' is enjoying.  I am told she knows all the moves by now.

It does sound as though they are having a good family holiday.  The tent isn't leaking and they're basically warm....  doesn't sound as though they've managed to find another circus!  It was a huge hit last year.

April Blackbird

New Release Day 2: Meet Coriander

Hello there!  Well as I am writing this post we are travelling through the Corinthos Colpos on our way to the Corinth canal...  By tomorrow when this post goes live we hope to be anchored down in Sounio getting the final preparations finished for the guests to arrive in the evening.  We haven't yet decided if we will go all the way down to Sounio this evening or finish our journey in the morning... will see how we all feel on the other side of the canal.

So, today is day 2 of the new releases at Little Miss Muffet stamps for this fortnight.  Once again I only managed to get one card made as we have been really busy these last few weeks.  I have Coriander to show you today, but if you pop over to the Little Miss Muffet challenge blog you will also see the gorgeous Adela and Dida from a brand new Little Miss Muffet collection!

Meet Coriander... isn't she sweet?

Coriander is coloured with copics (see details below) and I have added Stickles to her t-shirt.  The papers are from October Afternoon and the Play sentiment is from Crate Paper.  The ribbon is from The Ribbon Girl.  

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

For Fun Challenges - Summer Fun

Scrap Creations - Anything Goes

Shopping our stash - Ocean theme and S things (seam binding and stitching)

Here is a close-up:

And these are the copics I used:

Happy TGIF!

Arabella Chickie in Sounio, Greece

Sage New Release

Yay!  We have internet again!  But we still haven't seen our apartment in 3 months...  We are currently anchored in a bay off the island of Zakynthos, but have been too busy to go and explore.  Tomorrow we go back through the Corinth canal to the other side to pick up guests... just that little bit closer to our little house!

UPDATE:  We decided to up anchor and leave now... so we are currently on our way to Sounio via the Corinth Canal...

This is going to be a quick post (because I have to go and provision the boat for 13 hungry boys)... it is new release day at Little Miss Muffet stamps again!  Today I have the sweet Sage (one of my favourite herbs) to show you from the Sugar n Spice dolls collection.

Sage is coloured with copics.  The papers are from October Afternoon and Crate Paper and the tag is from Maya Road.  I have added Stickles and Glossy accents to the heart on her t-shirt and Glossy Accents to her glasses.  Sage is available today at Little Miss Muffet stamps.

Head over to the Little Miss Muffet challenge blog to see what the rest of the team has come up with and to see the new Patriotic Horse.

And don't forget there is still one more week to enter the current challenge at Little Miss Muffet stamps which is Numbers.

Here is a close-up of Sage:

And here are the copics I used to colour her:

I will be back later to enter some challenges with this card... right now I have to run!

Okay, I'm back, provisioned as well as I could on an island...  Actually the produce was not too bad... there was a lovely guy in charge there who kept telling me to wait while he went and got the fresher things out for me!

So... I would like to enter the following challenges with this card:
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenge #10 - Seeing spots
Scrapalicious USA - Smile
Bearly Mine Challenges - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me Challenges - Bling it on

Okay, now don't forget to come back tomorrow to see more new release stamps from Little Miss Muffet stamps : )

Ciao!

Arabella Chickie in Zakynthos, Greece

Rumbling volcanoes, earthquakes, typhoons and tornadoes...

Gosh, our world is being buffeted about by nature.

The poor folk of Christ Church in New Zealand have been having an awful time of it http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/cold-and-shaky-night-canterbury-4227216  and our heart's go out to them.  It's enough to shatter your nerves.

Far away from the Skaky Isles, in good old New South Wales, we spent the night listening to the wind howl across the coast and I can see huge waves breaking on the beach.  Apparently, we're in for more severe storms today.  And I complain because I can't get my washing dry (my house looks like a laundry... washing everywhere - which I dislike intensely).

Mind you... I couldn't post this yesterday!  Our internet connection was soooo slow I had to give up.  Weather issues, I was told.

The latest volcanic action in Chile has kept flights grounded in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide and between the ash and the earthquake travellers to NZ and back are experiencing delays and cancellations like never before. (I heard on the radio this morning that flights are resuming!)

We're experiencing flooding in NSW (not an issue for us... we live high on top of a hill!) and a lot of people have spent the last few nights in shelters while they waited anxiously to find out whether their homes and farms will be flooded.  Farmers are really suffering.  They've endured years of drought only to have the floods undo all the good they thought the rains were bringing. 

Farmers in the Northern Territory are facing 'going broke' because of the live cattle ban to countries deemed to be infringing animal rights issues.  There's a lot of tension about the subject, but isn't it quite something that we even got to know there is an issue?  One that can be sorted out and should be shortly.

There are so many Doom-Sayer's about at the moment!  What is it with that guys?  We have to remember that this is 'nature'.  This is how things have always been and always will be.  We've just been blessed to escape 'the real action' until recently.

This is not the beginning of the 2012 'end of the world' scenario so many seem to fear.  Remember the Y2K nonsense?  We even bought a kettle that had a tag pronouncing it 'safe' - which annoyed me dreadfully - load of money making tripe that was!

Think for yourselves guys! Look at history!  I remember sitting with a group of women as recently as 5 years ago.  They were all sure Australia would never see a period where we would have rain again.  The drought was here to stay!  Yeah right.

Modern communication means that we get to hear about 'everything' almost immediately.  It's made us all so much more aware of natural catastrophes and the ravages of poverty and war, and the contraventions of human and animal rights.  It's in our homes, everyday, we can no longer ignore the world around us.  It's in our faces and we're uncomfortable with it.  Which is great!  It means humanity is finally waking up!  Finally, we're actually pushing and shoving to get things changed.  We are no longer just pawns in a big game.

I love it!  In the end the world can only just be a better place because we are beginning to accept it's just such a small place and we are all so inter-connected.

Time to jump off my soapbox.

April Blackbird

remember me!

Hi there girls
Chickie is fast asleep, and as always, I sometimes feel overwhelmed with the vast array of things I need to achieve in those precious two hours whilst she is asleep!! However, today I thought I would sit down with a coffee and put finger to keyboard to say hi and also to catch up on all your posts! I realise it has been quite some time since I posted ...
My little Chickie is now a full grown Chickette - it seems that at the whopping age of 16 months old I have a little 'person' in my midst, full of her own ideas about how life should be! She certainly is an independent little thing, but so full of fun and love. Every day she blows me away with her lovely personality and also the amazing rate at which she is learning and developing.  I really am blessed!
Other than boring you with news of my sweet child, life here is, dare I say it, kind of quiet, not entirely, but by our standards, fairly! We seem to be in a stage of getting all the many things that have been up in the air finished. It's always nice to have closure. Who knows, one day soon, I may even open up that learn to crochet book and dvd I bought about a year ago! Where does the time go ...
I need to run and retrieve my washing which I can see blowing around the garden as I type this ... looks like a storm is brewing. It's certainly one way to get rid of the washing anyway, just let it fly away. Ha ha.
Anyway, love to you all, and always lovely to read your posts and hear what exciting things you are up to over on the other side of the world, (and even this side of the world too AB).I shall endeavor to post more often :)
NMC xx

Numbers Challenge at Little Miss Muffet Stamps!

Well it's that time of the month again where we have a new challenge starting at Little Miss Muffet stamps!  The challenge theme this fortnight is Numbers...  At first I thought this would be quite difficult as I don't really like to put birthday ages on my cards, but then I realised that it didn't have to be that kind of number.  Here is what I came up with:

The papers are a mixture from my stash... some October Afternoon, some Echo Park, some My Mind's Eye and the hopscotch panel is from Crate Paper.  I created the sentiment tag with my Slice machine and the sentiment stamps are from Pollycraft Designs.  The cute wee girl must be my favourite Sugar n' Spice doll from Little Miss Muffet stamps because I use her a lot!  Her name is Cocoa.

Here is a close-up:

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

Corrosive Challenges - #119 Summer colours

Crafty Ho's Challenge Blog - Summer - Let the Fun Begin

Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog - Birthdays

Catch the Bug Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Drunken Stampers Challenge #70 - Birthdays

Here are the copics I used:

Happy Thursday!  

And in case anyone was wondering... no, we still don't have internet.  I just spent an hour or so in an internet cafe writing a blog post and checking emails and drinking 3 coffees!  My knee is jittering along under the table... must be time for me to walk off some caffeine!

Arabella Chickie in Kephalonia, Greece