Circle and A Happy Easter with TCP

Before I get to this weeks challenge with The Crafty Pad

I would like to wish all my followers and my blogger friends ... 

A Happy and Safe Easter

I would also love it if you could come along and play with use this week!

This week the crafty girls have been going round in 

CIRCLES!

We would love to see circles! be it one or two or more!

I got up to making a 6 pack chocolate treat pack with matching card for my brother 

using the adorable Bunny 3 digi stamp from The Crafty Pad Designs.

This week The Crafty Pad has an awesome prize up for grabs too!

Our sponsor is the wonderful Letraset who have kindly donated a prize!

A quick recap on the rules for you all.

You have till Saturday evening 8pm GMT to get your entries in 

& you can enter as many times as you like.

You do not have to use a TCP image to enter, but we love to see them if you have them.

And your card or creation must be in theme to this weeks challenge of 

CIRCLES!

Thank you for stopping by!

Challenges this creation is entering with the help of the Feline Playful Girls:

4 Crafty Chicks - #34 Easter

Aud Sentiments - #26 Anything goes (6/-)
Crafty Sentiments - Easter (1/1)
PaperPlay Challenges - #16 Easter (1/2)
Rainbow Lady's - #149 Sweet treats for Easter (1/2)
Shelly's Images - Show us what you got (2/-)
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Easter (3/3)

Digital Tuesday - #107 Pretty punches

Going Grey With Scrap Creations - Digital Image (1/2)

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GDT with Pile It On - #17 Ribbon

Happy Easter folks!

Well today is also the last Sunday in April and my last
Guest Design Team post with the wonderfully talented girls at
Pile It On!

I have send them a HUGE big THANK YOU! for having me!

This week is an easy peasy challenge that I know you can all play along with!

#17 Ribbon!
Now who doesn't love ribbon!

To share with you this week and to play along with the challenge I have made another Easter bonnet.
But with Easter being today I have made this one with more of a SPRING theme and left out the eggs, chickens and bunnies.

This is specially for Ms Amy - Emilie's daycare teacher.  After the girls Easter Bonnet parade on Thursday (their hats were a huge hit!) she asked if I would make her one.  Ms Amy loves purple and with going with the 'Spring' theme she will be able to use this for Melbourne Cup day as well!

I also made this one a little different to the girls hats.  I have also added DP on the underneath of the brim and on the inside to hide the joins and the ribbon I have added a DP band at the top and the bottom. 

Thanks for stopping by to see me
and be sure to play along with us this week at

Challenges this creation is entering with the help of the Feline Playful Girls:
AiFactory - #77 Flowers in bloom(1/1)

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - #99 Flowers (1/-)

Crafty Purple Frog - Touchy Feely - Texture & Ribbon (3/-)

Shelly's Images - Show us what you got (1/-)

Amber's Crafts and Stuff - #6 Ribbon & Bows (1/1)

The Paper Shelter - Nature Inspired (1/3)

Everybody-Art-Challenges - #138 Pearls (1/-)

Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT - #24 Anything goes (1/1) 

Tuesday Throwdown - #45 Polka Dots (1/-)

Top Tip Tuesday - #30 Open Challenge (1/3)

Pile It On - #17 Ribbon (1/-)
A Gem Of A Challenge - #19 Pearls and or swirls (2/-)
Crafty Emma - #33 Spring Colors / Image (1/-)
Just Us Girls - 3d Template with a spring theme (1/-)
Shannon's Sentiments - Anything but a card (1/-)
Totally Gorjuss - #77 Bling it on (1/-)
Crafty Ann's - #39 Fancy Folds (1/-)
Delicious Doodles - Anything goes (1/3)
Fairy Fun Fridays - #51 April Showers or Flowers (1/-)
Fairy Knoll - Easter or Spring (1/2)
Fussy & Fancy Friday -  Springtime (1/-)
Inspire Me Fridays - #3 Anything Goes (1/-)

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The Girls Easter Bonnets Parade!

Easter sure is brimming in our house after the weekend!
Along with my energy - Yes this is 3 posts in a row for me today!

I picked the girls up from daycare on Thursday and found a little note in their mail box that next week (this Thursday coming) they are having an Easter bonnet parade and will if possible require a bonnet made at home.  

Well! I could not resist the challenge! 

Bonnets don't really work in our house but hats sure do - Chloe loves hats, and I think Emilie will be going down the same path as she loves everything her sisters does!  So ... off to the $2 shop the girls and I went.  I new I had tiny eggs left over from last Easter that didn't find a use but I needed a chicken to go with the eggs.  We found some adorable ones! - and being the girls hats, I let Chloe pick.  No guessing that she went for PINK for her and green for Emilie.

I aloud myself 2 hours per hat to get these done (never made one before, no template and was working blind) and I really surprised myself that I got each one done in under 45 mins while Emilie was sleeping.  Chloe helped - she picked the ribbons from my stash and passed me the eggs to glue on lol.

This is what us two mischievous girls got up too!

I wanted Chloes to be a real tall top hat like the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland (Chloe is loving that movie atm) and she has the MAD personality to match and pull it off.  Little Ms Emilie however is more quiet and sedated quite like a Mary Poppins so her hat is smaller in the height and not quite as (loud) and very soft and feminine.  Chloe wanted grass on hers for her chicken as well so I let her add some of my green flower soft.  We really had a ball making these!

As you can see, Chloe loves hers!  Emilie won't stay still for a photo of hers (never do photography with children or animals!).  My mum and I went op shop shopping today in hopes to put together a Mad Hatter outfit to go with the hat - I think we really might have hit the jackpot with that too! Shall edit this post Thursday after the parade with the pics! 

The card stock is white spot embossed and I added from my scraps the colored top as it was too much white (remember little people you can see the top of their heads).  All round, being my first attempt I am WRAPPED and I can assure you there will be more of these next year seeing as they were so quick, fun, easy and cheap to make!   

Thank you for dropping in to see me! 

Check back on Thursday for the pics of the parade!

Challenges this creation is entering with the help of the Feline Playful Girls:

Creative Inspirations - #57 Easter (1/-) ***EDIT*** Made top 3!

Dream Valley - #5 Easter (1/3)

I Did It Creations - #51 Happy Easter (1/-)
One Stitch At A Time - #58 Make it sassy (1/-)
Outlaws Challenge - CAS Spring
Scrappy Frogs - Hoppy Easter (1/-)
MyGrafico - April Anything goes ( /-)
2 Sisters - #35 Bingo - Embossing, Punches and Ribbon - On green hat (1/-)
Craft Your Days Away - #18 Easter (1/-)
Easy Craft Projects - #36 Easter (1/2w) (1/-)
Crafty Ann's Challenge Blog - Raise a smile (2/2w) (5/-)
Ellephantastic - #25 Anything but square or rectangle (1/1)
Our Creative Corner - 3d Easter projects (1/-)
Little Claire's Designs - #5 Animals (1/2w) (2/3) - I have the chickens
Shannon's Sentiments - Easter (1/-)
Card Makin Mamas - #19 Spring Colors (?/2)
Digi's With Attitude - #22 Spring has sprung (1/-)
Off The Wall Craftiness - #51 Easter - Inspiration pic but Easter nice & bright  (1/3)
Simply Create - #41 Egg-tra Special (1/-)
Stamp Man - Embossing (1/1)
Stampin' for the Weekend - #7 Easter (1/1)
Tellen's Place - Easter (1/1)
Totally Paper Crafts - Springtime (2/-)
Aud Sentiments - #26 Anything Goes ( 6/-)
C.R.A.F.T. - #98 Easter ( 2/?)
 Crafty Purple Frog - Texture & Ribbon (2/-)
DYSU - #15 Scallops - Green Hat (1/3)
Dutch Dare - #108 Fancy Folds (1/2)
Rainbow Lady's - Springtime (2/2)
Crafts and Me - #30 Ribbon (6/-)
Creative Belli - #115 Eggs/Bunnies - Old stash is the eggs I brought last year and the ribbons
Creative Card Crew - Spring (2/-)
Flutter By Wednesday - Pastels & Butterfly(s) - Green Hat
Little Red Wagon - #Easter
Penny's Paper Crafty - #51 Easter(2/-)
Sisterhood of Crafters - Easter (2/3)
Creative Craft Challenges - Embossing  (2/3)
Papertake Weekly - Truly Dimensional (2/-)
Delightful Challenges - Easter (1/1)
Craft Your Passion -  You've been spotted - Use Dots (1/-)
Die Cut Dreams - #87 Easter
Incy Wincy Designs - #90 Bright & Bold - Pink Hat
Lexi's Creations - #38 Anything but a card  **EDIT linky missing**
Make it Monday - #33 Anything goes
Stamp-N-Doodle - Easter
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Let the mice play!

While the cat is away the mice shall play!

My hunky dorky little man Dylan is off visiting his dad in Sydney for the Easter school holidays.  It has been mighty quite without him around and only having the girls to entertain me - though as funny as they are, I have really started to miss him not being here.  

So over my busy little weekend, with thoughts of him popping in and out of my head I managed to throw in a bookmark and a room decoration for him.  We are in the transition stage with his bedroom at the moment and going through a color change from red and black Pirates to now dragons in greens, blues and browns. 

He often misses out on my crafty bits and pieces and the girls score a lot more as I seem to make more feminine things but these are just for him.  

We are currently reading the How To Tame Your Dragon series that he got from Crazy Nana (my mother) for Christmas.  And yes! The kids all call and refer to her as CRAZY NANA - can be quite a hoot when we spot her doing her shopping and they call out Crazy Nana! over here Crazy Nana Hello!, and she will come toddling over with a smile, kisses and cuddles for them and believe me; all that witness this outburst of Crazy Nana screaming all stop, stare and have a chuckle themselves! I used to find it embarrassing but I think the bond they have grown with her is priceless and I love it nowadays.

So onto the details - Lots of die-cuts, went a little crazy having some fun with my Mr Big :) for all you alike Sex in the City fans lol.  I added some of my leftover faux buttons to the wall hanging for embellishments and I used loads of my fav brown ribbon (I brought 5 rolls of this stuff and it seems to be never ending!)  The dragon image is a FREEBIE from Elizabeth O Dulemba that you can find HERE, and I have colored it with my water color pencils and added some glitz highlights to the wings and tail end.

I seem to be favoring my boys in this last week - maybe its a sign we need some testosterone in the house lol lucky for us .... only 7 more sleeps and Ben will be home for 5 days! PARTY! Ginkies Yes!  It shall be a big 3 for Chloe OMG!!!

Thanks for dropping in!

 

Challenges this creation is entering with the help of the Feline Playful Girls:

Paper Sundaes - #65 Texture
MyGrafico - April Anything goes ( /-)

Card Ideas - Lets hear it for the guys

Little Claire's Designs - #5 Animals (1/2w) (1/3) - Bookmark
Crafty Ann's - #38 Raise a smile (4/-)

Frosted Designs / Fabulous Fridays - Homemade/Handmade Embellishments - buttons

Paper Cutz - #87 Buttons & bows

Aud Sentiments - #26 Anything Goes ( 5/-)
 Crafty Purple Frog - Texture & Ribbon (1/-)
Crafty Sentiments - Bookmarks (1/1)
Crafts and Me - #30 Ribbon (5/-)
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For my mum

A Monday post for me!
(I actually have 3 OMG!)

I never post on Mondays so this is out of the blue for me but I have had a really crafty weekend - had a lot to think about and needed to get it out of my system and actually got more projects completed and crossed off my list than I thought was even possible!

First on my list was my mothers Mother's Day card (for the record in Aus it is the 2nd Sunday in May) so its 3 weeks away for me!  I got the card knocked over but am still brewing and stumped on the gift!

My notepad has jottings, ideas and sentiments everywhere in it for this card - This year, this day is a big thing in our family and even more so for my mum. She is currently going through a divorce and its messy.  It's my mums 1st marriage and they were together for 25 years, she built her life around him, did as she was told, never argued or questioned him, she just did it.  And the separation was out of the blue and I mean really out of the blue.  The weekend before we had all only been discussing Christmas camping plans and then WOW he just came home one day and said I'm leaving you.  

It is funny how a child can grow and be so different from their parent and their ways.  I often look at my mum and her life and look at mine.  I can honestly say if any man (or even child) was to wake me up at 3 in the morning and tell me I had not ironed their shirt for work and expect me to get up and do it would most defiantly be met with me picking the iron up and knocking them over the head with it!  My mother on the other hand, would, and has done several times, gotten out of bed and ironed the shirt!

She was a mess that November day he told her, and as a daughter does, I have stood beside her, held her hand, wiped her tears, organized solicitors, new bank accounts, wills and more, and I picked up the pieces of her life and have started gluing them back together.  Sadly, some things I will never be able to glue back into place :(  

As all people do, she has her good days and her bad days, but I know my mother is not weak and I know she has so much to offer this world - I just need her to believe it, and her to see it too.  I know she will in time, and that it won't just happen over night, but I made this card especially for her in hopes to get her started on her way.

A weekend of parting with my hoarded stash this has been for me- A realization that yes! Really and honestly ... Life is short!  The pink jeweled flower embellishment and the charm on this card is a metal necklace I picked up over 10 years ago in Sydney and over time it became dress up jewelery for Chloe, then she broke it, and it ventured its way back into my stash for over a year now.  It has always been too pretty to use, until today, I after all, have to use it at some point so why not now!  

The image was a freebie from Karen's Whimsy, the sentiment on the front is computer generated, the sentiment on in the inside (God has) is from Gingers House  - she has so many gorgeous free sentiments - Check her out please, she is well worth the visit! The Mother's Day digital stamp mixed in with my wording came from Paula and this particular one can be found HERE - she also has some adorable freebies too!

Long post too! So sorry - I promise I will zip it up now and go back to crafting :))

Right after I show you my fav pic of my mum - taken on my wedding day, and she has her gorgeous adorable mini princess Chloe - the two are 2 peas in a pod - specially when it comes to shopping and shoes!  There really is no hope for me!

Thank you for dropping in to see me!

Challenges this creation is entering with the help of the Feline Playful Girls:

Quirky Crafts - #8 Sprakly, punchy, Easter and or Spring (2/2w) (1/-)

Alota Rubber Stamps - #57 Mothers Day (1/-)
MyGrafico - April Anything goes ( /-)
Sliekjes - #4 Spring 
A Gem Of A Challenge - #19 Pearls and or swirls (1/2w) (1/-)
Secret Crafter - #130 Stitching real or faux (1/-)
Crafty Ann's - #38 Raise a smile (3/-) ***EDIT** Made top 3

Delicious Doodles - #21 Stitching (1/3)
Totally Paper Crafts - Springtime (1/-)
Aud Sentiments - #26 Anything Goes ( 4/-)
Paper Crafting Journey - #8 Use a freebie (1/1) *** EDIT*** Made top 3

Pixie Dust Studio - #70 Say it out load, include a sentiment (3/-)
Rainbow Lady's - Springtime (1/2)
Crafts and Me - #30 Ribbon (4/-)
Creative Card Crew - Spring (1/-)
Truly Scrumptious - #55 Vintage (2/-)

Easter @ The Crafty Pad

Wow it is only 1 more week till Easter all ready!

It only feels like yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas

and I was busy making cards & gifts to send out.

Where does the time go?

This week at The Crafty Pad
we are challenging you to EASTER!

We want to see those bunnies hopping, chicks hatching, eggs 

breaking open and what is Easter without some CHOC???

Let your creativity flow and why not get started on some of 

those Easter gifts & treats if you are way behind on!.

Wondering what I got up too?

I made an adorable acetate gift box & matching card for hubby.

Don't you just love Gum Balls! 

I could not resist buying these a few weeks back when I saw 

them in Woolworths & instantly thought of this creation!

All those gum balls with the bubble DP just looks so yummy!

lol I hope it gets mailed before I get to tempted to have a sample try myself :$

This week I had a fun play with The Crafty Pad Bunny image 

and my copics.  She's a cutie of a bunny with that 

adorable huge bow and you can purchase it HERE.

Need another reason to come & play with us this week?

Well ... 

How about this fantasic prize of a £10 Gift voucher

from Joanna Sheen.

Remember you do not need to use a Crafty Pad image 

to play along with us or to be in the draw to win the random 

prize, so why not join us this week?  We would love to see your 

creations and of course we would love to see a 

Crafty Pad image if you have one.

Be seeing you soon I hope ;)

Challenges this creation is entering with the help of the Feline Playful Girls:
 AiFactory - #76 Party Animal (1/1)

Aud Sentiments - #26 Anything Goes (3/-)
C.R.A.F.T. - #98 Easter (1/?)
Dutch Dare - #108 Fancy fold (1/2)
Moving Along With The Times - #94 Chocolate (3/3)
 Crafts and Me - #30 Ribbon (3/-)
Little Red Wagon - Easter (1/-)
Penny' Paper-Crafty - #51 Easter (1/-)
Sisterhood of Crafters - Easter (2/2w) (1/3)

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