Thank You Cards

I was asked to make 10 of these thank you cards for Ruth and Henry for their daughter Daisy's Christening this weekend. I made almost exactly the same card last month but this time I used the organza ribbon.

I took all (well almost all) of the things I needed to make these but I left the thank you stamp in the UK so I finished these off today using my stamp-a-ma-jig.


I am pleased with the finished result and hope Ruth and Henry like it too.

Supplies: Stamps: HOTP (QVC UK kit). Ink: Brilliance (Pearlescent Coral). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Blush), MME (Bohemia). Accessories: Bazzill Wings (Bitty Blossoms Flowers (Pink & Brown).

Stamp-a-ma-jig

WOW! How fantastic is this gizmo !!! It is from Stampin' UP! and it is called the "Stamp-a-ma-jig". You have to get one.

Unfortunately I could only photograph this with a reflection from the light which in one way helps to see the clear imaging sheet.

I stamped "Thank You" into the corner of the sheet, then..........


.......I positioned the sheet onto the card where I wanted the words to appear. I take the clear sheet away leaving the black stamp-a-ma-jig (handle) and replace with my wooden "thank you" stamp.


Viola !!! This gizmo is great for wooden backed stamps becaus you cannot see EXACTLY where you are stamping, this just makes it a breeze and a perfect image every time.

For the rest of this card see: 'Thank You Cards' post.

British Summer Time Ends

Well, it had to happen!!! Our clocks went back 1 hour - which means that come 4pm, it will be dark. Just as I was getting used to the great Australian "Spring", I'm now in the English "Autumn".

Oliver was calling for me at 5am (we hadn't yet turned our clock back!) so I went and picked him up and he snuggled in with Rob and I but I knew it wouldn't be for too long. He had nearly 10 hours sleep and he was soon asking for his breakfast. I was awake too so we went down stairs to eat together while daddy got some more sleep.

We are back in the UK

We have made it back. Rob worked until 1:30am Friday night so he managed to sleep through his alarm this morning. We came out of the gates and there was no one to greet us. I noticed a missed call on my mobile and it was from Rob. First thing he said to me was "I'm really sorry, I slept through the alarm!" It didn't take him too long to get to us but Heathrow airport is a mess.

Oliver had a good sleep on the flight from Sydney to Hong Kong. We were delayed leaving Sydney due to a thunder storm and the new A380 was at Sydney airport. The law states that ground staff are not permitted to work while there is a storm so we had to wait for it to pass. As we were taking off, Oliver was saying "faster, faster".

When we got to Hong Kong I had to wait to get the buggy and then we had to rush to our connecting flight. Luckily, one of the Cathay Pacific staff came with us and I am glad they did as we ended up having to catch a train and go this way and that. I'm sure if I was on my own, we would not have found our way in time. We were the last ones on board but we did not delay the flight as they were still loading the plane with food or our bags!! Oliver had another nice long sleep (thank goodness) as this is the longest leg - 12 hours !!

Now the mission of today is to stay awake until about 9pm tonight.

We are on our way back to the UK

Yes, a month has gone by and today we are heading back home to daddy. It has been really nice to spend time with my parents and my brother and for them to get to know Oliver again. As dad has been off work this week, he has been able to play more with Oliver instead of only an hour or two after he arrives home from work and before Oliver goes to bed.

When I look back at our time in Sydney, we haven't been out to do any sight seeing (only to the zoo) so it has been a nice relaxing time with only a couple of days where mum and I were out and about when my dad had his operation.

I am sad to leave but I know that WITHIN the next 6 months we will be living here permanently and Oliver has already made friends with Nathan and Hannah which was really nice to see.

Poppy is fine

Oliver came along to pick Poppy up from the hospital. We had to wait until his blood results came back and were ok before he was allowed to come home.

Dad showed us a picture of his arteries with the before and after shot of his stent addition. There are two other problem areas which will have to be resolved at a later date. It looks like he will have to have another one put in in about 5 weeks time as that artery is also critical but not like the one that was just fixed. Dad asked why he couldn't have them done all at once but the doctor said this was more dangerous than fixing them one by one. Who are we to argue with a doctor. Dad just thinks, the more times he goes in the bigger Mercedes the doctor will be able to afford !!! LOL.

Operation

Mum and I took Dad to South West Private hospital today as he had an operation to have a stent put in due to his heart attack back in July. Apparently the doctor said his artery is critical and needs to be done urgently other wise he could have another heart attack.

We arrived at 1pm but the doctor was running behind so Dad didn't go in for his operation until 6pm !! Mum and I went to get something to eat and by the time we got back, dad had been taken to his recovery room where he was being monitored. We had a quick chat with him and we could see he was getting tired so we left him to sleep. I didn't have Oliver with me as I asked my friend (Veronique) sister, Vanessa is she could look after him and Oliver can play with her son, Nathan. Veronique then looked after Oliver when Vanessa went to work. Thank goodness he wasn't with us as there is no way he would have sat for 5 hours waiting quietly with Poppy.

It's A Girl!

Horaaaahhh !! My friend Karen and her husband Steve had a baby girl today - Kaitlyn Rose. 9lb 12oz, 54cm. Wow. We all thought it was going to be a boy, but no, it is a little sister for Hannah.

CONGRATULATIONS GUYS !!

I even made a boy card the other day so I was prepared. I will now have to make a girl card and keep the boy one for another baby - that could be you Janine !!

Taronga Zoo

This is our day out at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. It was a lovely warm day with the sun shinning.

As you can see we saw the Gorillas and this family were kind enough to have their photo taken with Nanny and Oliver !!! LOL.

When we got around to the lion's we were just in time to see them being fed. One was pacing back and forth as he knew what was coming and then you just had to watch him tear into his food as they were right in front of the glass window. The next window along were the tigers and they were already eating their food when we got there.

Oliver loves Giraffes so he had to climb on this baby giraffe and have his photo taken. There were a family of Chinese people who Oliver kept saying hello to so they wanted to take a photo of him as well. It was really quite funny.


This photo of Oliver and myself was taken as we were sitting down to watch the bird show. Some of the birds fly only cm above your head as they parade around. One flew right over Oliver's head.

Hannah's 2nd Birthday

It was Hannah's 2nd birthday today and we were invited to her little party. Poor mum Karen is having braxton hicks contractions and is hoping not to go into labour today. Hannah loved all her presents and everybody had fun.

Time to Play

I took Oliver for a walk today as both Mum and Dad went to work. I ended up going past Karen's house and Oliver wanted to say 'hello' to Hannah, so we knocked on the door and they were home. Karen still hasn't had the baby so she was glad for us being there as Oliver kept Hannah occupied and Karen and I chatted. It was a very warm day today - 36 degrees.

Hello Daddy !

Rob called when he got home from the airport to say he arrived safely but the landing at Heathrow was a little bumpy.

This photo is of Oliver talking to his Daddy. He cannot sit still and talk, he has to walk around the house and was told Rob he missed him. Bless !

Daddy Has Gone

Rob flew back to the UK today. He could only get 2 weeks off work and IBM even put on hold the start of a new project to wait for Rob to return to work. It's good to know they hold him in such high respect. They realise that Rob actually knows what he is doing unlike some other IT consultants who just blag their way through and take praise for work they had very little involvment in.

Dinner

The whole family went out for dinner tonight to 'The Barn' restaurant in Campbelltown. They really do lovely meals there. You can order Kangaroo and Emu as well. Not for me, I had chicken.

For those of you that know my brother Michael, you may notice he looks different - he finally cut off all of his hair and looks like a boy!!!

1000 Hits

Wow, my counter has reached 1000 hits. I didn't think it would be so quick for the counter to reach 1000.
Thank you to all of you for reading my blog. I hope it is not too boring and you get a laugh from it from time to time.

Ball Time!

They boys had a play with the ball today. Oliver was running back and forth kicking the ball all over the place.

We then went shopping and of course, Oliver spotted 'The Wiggles' ride so he had to have a go. All of these type of rides cost AU$2.00.

Oliver & Hannah

Karen and her little girl Hannah came over this morning. This is Hannah and Oliver colouring in. This is the first time I have met Hannah and she is so adorable. She has beautiful curly hair and she most certainly looks like her mum - sorry Steve!!! LOL. You cannot see just how tall Hannah actually is (but so are both her parents) and she only turns 2 on the 19th October!!

Karen is due to have her second baby any day now so I am really glad we are here as this will be the first time I have been around when a friend has had a baby. I have bought my craft stuff with me so I can make a baby card as Karen and Steve don't know what sex the new addition will be. Very exciting.

A Little Off

Oliver was a little off colour today. Rob and I went out early to open up a bank account so if we buy a house we can use that account and when we move over, we have one already set up. I then went to the shops with my friends Veronique and Vanessa (who both have children), so Oliver wanted to then come along. He hasn't slept very well since we arrived and has been sleeping with Rob and I (which is a rare occurrence) and he has a cough too so I think today was the day it all caught up with him. He fell asleep within seconds of me putting him in the car and the journey home is only a 5 minute one.

Poppy's job tonight was to read Oliver his bedtime story. We could hear the two of them from down stairs (well, we could mostly hear Oliver interrupting Poppy!!) LOL.

Warm Day

We (Nanny, Rob and I) went for a walk to Mount Annan shops to get a few groceries and Oliver had to ride his new bike. It even has a little hood on the top for some shade and it was needed today. The temperature got to 36 degrees. On our way back home we walked past the great big pond and we saw some ducks.


When Poppy got home from work he spent some time with Oliver drawing !!! Poppy would draw and Oliver would scribble over the top of it. They had fun.

We made it!

Hoorraahhhh, we are in Sydney. We had an interesting flight with Oliver. I'm not in a hurry to repeat it but he did pretty well considering we flew direct with just an hour and a half stop over. He had a run around in Hong Kong airport so he used up some of his energy. He fell asleep about an hour before we landed in Sydney and we were trying to wake him up on touch down - his eyes would open for a second or two then they slowly closed. It was funny.
When we got to my parents house, Oliver had a ball - he had so many toys to play with. He has all sorts of toys including a three wheeler trike.

AUSTRALIA!!

Yes, you guessed!! We are on our way to Australia, but only for a holiday - not quite ready to move just yet. We will be making this journey again in a few months time though when we MOVE to Sydney.

Disneyland Paris - Day 3

Can you see Oliver???? He is somewhere on the horse. I think he picked the biggest horse. LOL.

I'm not too good on rides that go sideways so I sat out on the tea cups. Ruth, Henry and Fred on in another cup while I looked after Daisy.

Another photo of Oliver and myself with Fred.

We all got a fast pass for the Indiana Jones Roller coaster ride which we were all looking forward to. Unfortunately, when we went back, the ride was closed. We didn't get to go on it.

Disneyland Paris - Day 2

Paris has some new rides and one of them is 'Cars'. Here are all the boys having a blast. This was the longest queue I think of all the rides - 40 minutes. Eventually they made it to the front while Ruth, Daisy and I waited on the side lines with a lovely hot chocolate in hand.

If you are wondering where I am in this photo, well I am behind the camera.

Here I am with Rob and Oliver.

Disneyland Paris - Day 1

Our first day at Disnelyland Paris and it rains !! We spent the first few hours by ourselves as Ruth, Henry, Fred & Daisy were still on their way. They arrived around lunch time so we all went off to eat together and then hit the parks again.

Everyone had a good time despite the drizzle. Fred and Oliver get along so well and Daisy is just so adorable.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by Jayne. I've read a few of these on other blogs so here goes!


1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car) Bill Omega

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream, favorite cookie) Vanilla Chocolate Monty

3. YOUR FLY “GUY/GIRL” NAME: (first initial first name, first 3 letters last name) K Swa

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Pink Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Anne Bankstown

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters last name, first 2 letters first name) SwaKy

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink and add” the”) The Brown Rose

8. NASCAR NAME: (first names of your grandfathers) Phillip George

9. STRIPPER NAME: (favorite perfume, favorite candy) Pleasure Rasberries

10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s and father’s middle names) Joan Frederick.



That was fun. Now to tag some new people. OK I tag Karen, Anna, Cheryl.

Disneyland Paris here we come

Ok, we are off to Disneyland Paris this afternoon for 3 days, so we are back on Sunday.

I will post some photos when we get back as I don't know if the Disney hotel has internet access.
I think I am more excited than Oliver!!

DCM Challenge - Vrooooooooooom

Today's challenge is:

Cars, Boats, Trains & Planes is the theme for our Little Extra challenge this week. A good chance to stock up on kids cards and make a few of those poor, unloved "cards for men", maybe? How about "congratulations on Passing your Driving test" or "Got your Wings" for newly qualified pilots? - ok so we may be reaching a bit far with that one, but you never know! Basically, what we'd like you to do is put some transport on your cards this week, how you do it is up to you!

I made this card back in August and due to Oliver being unwell, I haven't had time to make a card today.

Been Busy Doing Nothing

This is Oliver the Pirate!! Ahhh, how cute!!

I've not posted this week as I haven't made any cards or been anywhere interesting to talk about. Mostly, I have had Oliver sitting on my lap wanting cuddles as he has been ill. First, he is contstipated (poor thing) and then Thursday morning (2:30am) he woke up with a very high temperature. I took him to the doctor and after looking him over, he said the temperature was due to a slight ear infection and tonsilitis which are not helping his contstipation situation. Oh dear!!! We've now got some laxatives and they are working a treat but it still seems to be painful for him to go. We are all very tired due to Oliver waking up and Rob is working all hours under the sun so he has been busy too.

We are off to Disneyland Paris next Thursday so while Oliver is down for his nap, I am washing the clothes in preparation and also clothes we need to take to Australia as we leave the day after we get back from Paris. Busy, busy, busy!!!!

Wedding in Manchester

We went to our friend's (Roger & Wendy) wedding in Manchester today. Wow, what a lovely day it was too. The sun was shining and the temperature was nice. This picture is not the best but we were sitting at a bad angle as you can hardly see Roger. Wendy looked absolutely lovely as did her bridemaid's. They were very grateful we drove all the way from London to attend their wedding and it was no trouble at all!!



Here are the boys together, Oliver drawing with the pencil set that was a gift for the kiddies to keep them occupied. Oliver be-friended Sophie who is Wendy's little neice and while Wendy's father was speaking, both kids went up to him and as Oliver likes to copy everyone, he repeated what Sophie was saying which was 'Grandad'. Everybody was laughing. The following morning while having breakfast in the hotel, Wendy's parents came up to us and I apologised about the interuption and they were saying how funny it was.

DCM Challenge

Friday's DCM Challenge is:

This week I dare you to use a Word as the main focal point to your card. It can be a name, a greeting or just a word that inspires you. You can use other text but only one word as a main embellishment. So dig out your dictionaries, die cutters, alphabet stamps, rubons or download a funky font and show us what you can do! The design team have come up with some fabulous creations to inpsire you.

I put this together for a friend who asked for 'Thank You' cards. The 'thank you' doesn't come out very clear on the picture (sorry about that!).



Supplies: Stamps: HOTP (QVC UK kit). Ink: Brilliance (Pearlescent Coral). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Basic Grey (Blush), MME (Bohemia). Accessories: Bazzill Wings (Bitty Blossoms Flowers (Pink & Brown).

Criss Cross Card

I didn't think I would be able to make this card until our holiday in Australia in 2 weeks time, but I made some time tonight while I wait on my friend Ruth to give me information for Christening Invitations she wants me to make.

The instructions for the Criss Cross Card can be found on SCS. I can honestly say it is easy to make - give it a go! Lots of samples I've seen have been in Christmas colours and they do look fantastic.

I hope the lighting is okay and you can see the colours of the base card properly. It is a lovely pale apple green colour.



Supplies: Stamps: HOTP (QVC UK kit), Anita's scribble flower. Ink: Vaersafine (Vintage Sepia), Brilliance Dew Drop (Coffee Bean). Paper: Bazzill cardstock, Wild Asparagus (Adorable Stripe/Light Blue). Accessories: Light Yellow Organza Ribbon.

DCM Challenge

I have finally remembered to look at DCM for their mid week challenge as I try to do their Friday one. This time the challenge is:

Straight on to our Little Extra challenge for this week then:
Big & Little We'd like you to use items in pairs of Big and Little - so you need to have both sizes on your card ie big & little buttons, big & little die cuts, big & little hearts, big & little circles etc The theme of your card can be whatever you like this time, so that's nice of us, isn't it?

Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink: (Borders & Corners - OVAL). Ink: Versafine (Vintage Sepia). Paper: Bazzill, Basic Grey (Urban Coture). Accessories: Bazzill Wings Bitty Blossoms (flowers) in Teal OP & Apple Green, Papermania Pearl Brads (Green), Papermania button (yellow).

Victory is near!!

Yes, victory is on the horizon!! It took us 1 hour to get Oliver to eat his dinner tonight - Pasta with a tomato and basil sauce. He absolutely refused to eat one spoonful tonight so he was told he wouldn't be getting his cookie (we have had this cookie for 3 days as a treat for eating his dinner). We put his toys away and he could play with them if he ate, but no luck there either. He then went to be without his bottle or a story!! I was starting to cook our dinner and Oliver was crying in his cot. After about 5 minutes I went up to him and we spoke and he was willing to try some dinner. By this time his dinner had gone cold so a quick zap in the microwave and it was just warm. I put ONE spiral piece of pasta on his fork and he ate it !!!!!!!! OMG !!!! I sat him down and he wanted to eat some more.



We praised him and this is Oliver eating his cookie.

I think he is starting to realise that we won't be backing down so he might as well eat his food - 'cause you never know, he might actually like it.

Another Meal Time

Tonight we tried vegetables!! This is the one and only spoon that went into his mouth. Then he tried again but didn't like it. At least he is giving it a go. I shall try some pasta tomorrow.

Lunch in London

I met my former boss (Dan) and colleague (Kuldip) for lunch today in London. Oliver came along for the ride too as it is not grand parents day or nursery. Dan and Kuldip haven't seen Oliver since Dan's wedding last year so he has grown some ! To get to London we went by train and Oliver loves his train rides. He looks out the window and when another train passes in the opposite direction he gets all excited and says 'mummy, another train'.



This is Kuldip with Oliver.

I know I am obsessing...

This really is for the benefit of my parents who live in Australia as they don't see Oliver very often and know that I struggle to get Oliver to eat properly...

I got Oliver his dinner before I went out to my exercise class tonight. He had fried rice and while he was happy to eat it, after half a dozen mouthful's he came across a larger piece of bacon and that was it - he didn't want to eat any more! Oh well, no desert !!

I am off into London tomorrow to meet up with some friends so he will HAVE to eat what is on the menu !! I know I am being cruel *wink* but we have been toooo soft on him with his food - no more!

Burger Time!

This is the one and only mouthful that Oliver ate of his burger I made him for his lunch today. He was all excited to be having a 'burger' but he suddenly realised that it wasn't from McDonals !! He refused to eat any more. He also didn't get any treats. I wonder how long he will keep this up?

Big Boy!

I know, you are probably wondering what is so fascinating about a boy eating his roast dinner - well for those of you who know Oliver will know that he is the worst eater in the world. The only big boy food I can get him to eat are: McDonald's cheese burger meal, Chinese fried rice and tomato soup. Of course he will gladly eat chocolate and chocolate biscuits, ice cream and so on but not what Rob and I eat. I was watching the 'Super Nanny' on TV the other night and one of the problems she was facing was 3 year old twins eating pureed food !!! Now Oliver's eating is not that bad but it could be a lot better. Anyway, we decided to take the Super Nanny's advice.


We sat at Oliver's little table with him so he could watch us eat and we could encourage him. He didn't refuse to eat which was a good sign. The first thing he did eat was his Yorkshire Puddings - he likes them. We snuck some beans in one of his mouthful's and he ate it then we tried some chicken but he cottoned on to it and spat it back out. There probably doesn't seem too much difference in the 2 photos but he had a go at it. He did actually eat a couple more mouthful's after I took the photo. We gave him big cuddles and kisses for his effort. Let's see what happens tomorrow night.