mini me

I make so many cards for other people  it is unusual to give cards to special people in my life. I made this card for a friend who was moving away and I wanted to give some of myself which i feel  I don't do often enough. I wanted this card to reflect me as a person. I used a picture of me as a very young girl. I happen to love this pic as my grannie actually made what i was wearing. we were outside the house where my family lived and my mum met my dad. my grannie, my mum and i are quite creative. my grannie who has passed had a great sense of colour ..as have I . This card  has words which mean a lot to me and is very symbolic. take a close look and get to know me better too. i hope you enjoy looking ... xx have a fantabulous day and kiss someone you love. xx 

classes at the settlement

I was very fortunate to be asked to work at The Pioneer Settlement in Swan Hill recently. I conducted daily classes for visitors .. the cards i designed were unique to the Settlement. I tried to make them a true souvenir .. I had locals and people all the way from Canberra. I had adults and kids alike staining their own book paper and distressing paper and gluing buttons. I had kits prepared and I think fun was had by young and old. It was a great experience and had very positive feedback. i hope I get the opportunity again. xx here are the cards I designed .

random work

A few items that i have made. The frame with mixed media squares is a workshop i taught and the work is by sandie bell, a fellow artist.. my frame got damaged moving house. sandie kindly allowed me to photograph her work. meeting mario rossi and tim holtz has been a life hightlight.my work seems to take on a different slant each time... i think thats what i love about creating... never having the same thing twice.. variation on a theme sometimes but never exactly the same... too boring for me ..lol xx  let me know what you think One of my other passions is baking.. the little pocket without the flower was oneof twenty five gifts for a recent re union with pals that i havent seen for some time. I hand died the paper and die cut the flowers.. the biscuits were cinnamon kisses. all in all they looked super..tasted yummo too. what do you think..very simple to make but very effective. the gals seemed to enjoy them and apparently there was NO sharing!! lol. xx 

Last year I designed  a canvas as a gift for a friend. At the moment I have started the opposite canvas for myself. The female angel for a male friend and the male version for myself. I would like to share the first canvas with you and keep you updated with my progress. I have been making the male torsos with paperclay and molds. It is such an empowering project... here goes . xx

gifts to alastair

A friend who manages The Pioneer Settlement in Swan Hill sadly has moved away. As a gift to him I designed a few cards to showcase the Settlement  for him to take on his new journey as a memento of his time here. I hope you like them xx

hi there guys. Have made a couple of cards in the last few days. One as a thankyou for a friend and the other a "just becasue". have a gander...see what you think xx

HI Ho peeps,

Well my insomnia is at it's worst... not getting any sleep  but hey. I have been busy with a few things.. I have been making some thankyou cards. I want to share one of them with you.. I don't often work in pink ..but I am proud of this little girl. I used alcohol inks to alter metal tape, sink washers and various little bits n bobs... this sort of card for me fills all my boxes but most importantly I am totally unique. This sort of card would be very difficult to teach as the same products used and vastly different results. I really relish that happening but a lot of adults want to re create your work..however ..the fun is rummaging around your stash to see what you can play with. Hope you like this ..leave me a comment if you wish. Have a great Sunday.. my Mum is travelling up to see me as I type so all is good in the world xx

well it has been a while...lost the mojo for a bit...nothing like having to make a card to boot you back...i am making three thankyou cards tonight. it is with sadness though that i wanted to make a sympathy card for my colleagues from last year who unfortunately experienced the loss of Angela, a very lovely lady who was part of the learning support team i worked with last year. I am happy with the result..yes i wanted it this black..the slight glimmer has not been picked up in the shot but my inspiration was from a scene from "The Forsyte Saga" .. the death of a relative and how people dressed for funerals in the bygone era...elegant but very much black all the way. I hope you agree. Angela... I am blessed to have known you xx

I love the French theme...they feature a lot in my cards...this one for a special friend xx

For a sweet 13 ...hand dyed paper...great background and insert don't you think xx

I don't often work in pink...i actually find it a real challenge. I was happy with this card I made for Sandie...maybe it is because it has shoes on it....one of my other passions in life..shoes.. It was lovely last weekend when staying with Sandie that all the cards i made for her were displayed on a stand in the bedroom i sleep in.I have all the cards that Sandie has made for me but i have no where at the moment to display. one day!! 

I love the tim holtz umbrella man. i made this card for a dear pal and used some old parts to decorate.i was really happy with this card..the colours and abstract look were effective.  i must do more with umbrella  man as he is a die you can use over and over.

This mini canvas was the final class I taught in naracoorte before moving away. this canvas belongs to one of my students and dearest friends Sandie Bell. My own canvas has been damaged(dropping it on the floor is not recommended) . All the embellishments are hand made and of course all the students whilst following the same plan looked different. I feel that is one of the greatest parts of teaching is helping people create their own art...sure be inspired by others but create work you can call your own .. it is nice for the artist to be recognised but a new artist is formed. xx

I have been asked to come up with a couple of cards I could maybe teach at the local community centre if there is enough interest. It is low budget so I decided to try to keep the cards to mainly paper and design my own embellishments. I bought some dylusions sprays by dyan reaveley at a craft show in melbourne recently. this is the card i came up with. i hope i get the chance to teach again. in the town i lived before i actually taught twice a month. i loved the challenge..after my first class..i was  a bit stressed but it got easier.adults are a little harder than children as they have a fear of messing up but it is great to see peoples confidence build and really enjoy getting messy... xx

isn't paper just amazing...there is so much you can do with it....i love inking, spraying, covering, embossing, dying and generally transforming it into something much more than i started with. together with metal...my weakness lol...i love it..however i have had criticism from one fifteen year old in my household...you have done that colour combo to death mum... break out a new one.... xx i challenge myself to do so... especially since it was my son who said it.if a boy has cottoned on well...just do it mom xx
hee hee

love ya Tom ...my very best critic and you give great praise too mate xx

here is a canvas i made for a darling friend when i went to visit. he was thrilled . i now want to make the male version for myself as i recently acquired a male torso.. anatomically correct too... hee hee . i loved the transformation once the silver paint went on ...lots of layers later my baroque woman was stunning  and lots of love now resides xx

a card for a little person whose Birthday party theme is rainbows. Hope she like the sparkles and colours. It is quite amazing that i find this sort of card the hardest to make. My customer was happy ...that's what matters xx

I am off to Melbourne in the morning to attend a paper craft fair. When I was reading the list of stand holders I realised that Practical Publishing International were going to be there. I have been fortunate to be associated with a magazine published by this company and my cards have been published. I thought a thank you card would be in order so here is a sneak peak. Hope they like it xx

I made these little pockets. I got the pattern from the internet and then made my own version. It is sometimes called the nappy fold ... used old text for the flowers and vintage buttons again.Imagination is your only limit to what can be achieved with this. xx

An 18th card..glitzy... and glorious.

I made this card for my mum. I wanted something different. um loved it. The colour combination was bold and beautiful xx

I don't duplicate cards but this is a variation of the theme. i loved the pink ribbon and the wooden Eiffel tower which I covered in Distress embossing powder...the lace I dyed with Distress stain. The corset is a stamp . This card took a while to make but I enjoyed the result.

this card was fun to make. this stamp was a present ..a friend bought it off e-bay and thought it was "just me" lol. the clip is a suspender belt clip ...very french

this card is very elegant. it is actually not in the collage theme which i usually do . i was pleased with the result .

this card was made to match the invite to the wedding that was received by my friend. she wanted the reply to  match ....this is a tim holtz die and it is a very versatile one. i use it often but always in a different colour scheme and try to vary what i do with it.

i really loved making this card. the gentleman was retiring from the agriculture area....it was rustic and the cardboard and hession was a great embellishment.

these flowers were made from the pages of old text..very delicate to work with but fashioned with vintage buttons ..this came up very well.

these colours work well for a masculine card ...

Hi there Bloggers, 

i am lucky enough to sell my cards to my friends to cover my costs. I have a few people who regularly  support me. This card is an engagement card for a friend. I hope she is happy with it. Let me know what you think xx 

This is a picture of myself taken by my clever teenager Tom, I said take a good one and well i am very happy with the result. I would love if Tom became savvy behind the lens and saw things from a creative perspective. Tom is very scientific but it seems he is quite good with the camera..maybe he could combine the both xx love you babe. (Tom is my strict censor.. very honest and has a keen eye. ) xx

I love the earthy elements I have included in this card. The tissue, jute, old penny and all the distressed look of a bygone era. This is another of my cards I have published.

My son turned 15 recently. I wanted to try adhesive metal foil...i am pleased with this for my first attempt. I have lots of ideas how to use this marvelous , versatile product. My cards always have a metal element of some sort on them. I am inspired by the silver balls in Adelaide's Rundle Mall...Ii researched this sculpture in Art at school...a long time ago.. Metal  rocks my world xx 

published card in Australian Simply Cards magazine