Sweet peas, salvia and lavender

Spring has sprung!

I picked these this morning.

There's a crazy un-seasonal cool easterly wind blowing, so they are a bit battered looking.

Sweet peas are nearly my favourite, right up there with pansies.

They flower later up here on The Darling Downs than what I am used to in the sub-tropics.

The great thing is that they self seeded, so they came up just where they were last year and the trellis was ready and waiting, but the crop was much thicker.

The salvia was dormant throughout the long cold winter but has sprung into action the last couple of weeks and is nearly at its peak now, however will flower well until April I would think. Then I will cut it back again, it will lay dormant and the cycle will repeat.

As for the lavender, it loves the cold and flowered all winter.

After a good pruning at end of winter it has surged ahead and all the bushes

are laden with beautiful lavender heads.

The fragrance wafting throughout the house......sweet peas mixed with lavender is just heavenly.

It's a very respectable 19c here today and I wish it would never get any warmer.

Oh I do dread the summer.

However I have heard that the La Nina weather pattern has returned (I think it only briefly disappeared for a couple of months in winter) and it's looking like we could be in for a cooler and wetter than normal summer (just like the last year with the terrible flooding experienced in Queensland and some other Australian states).

 Let's hope that we do not experience the devastation of flooding and all the negatives

that come with it again this year.

The people, the local, state and federal governments and the economy

just would not be able to take it again.

Hat on Stand & House card

This beautiful Stampin Up hat on stand stamp is so nostalgic, I just love it!

It's the first stamp I have ever coloured in and I used Aquarellas and a water brush.

The corner die cuts are by Cuttlebug and the sentiment stamp by

Our Daily Bread Designs.

The oval and square are Spellbinder Nestabilities.

I will send it out one day, until then I will enjoy looking at it.

Friends card

A Garden and a rocking chair.

I made this card for my Mum.

She loves gardening and it's a thankyou card for helping me with some housework last week.

Her and Dad drove one and a half hours to my place, so it was a big day.

I am still no good after falling nearly 3 months ago.

Pain.....I AM SICK OF IT!!!!

This is another card I just had to make.

It's my 1st attempt at using the rocking chair stamp from Our Daily Bread.

It's not the best I suppose but still it was fun.

I have read so much about stamping, Copic Markers, diecuts etc etc since I became housebound with my bad back.

After a lot of research about methods and prices I decided I really did not need copic markers.

I have seen courtesy of You Tube many tutorials on colouring stamped images and found to my delight that Aquarellas and even Distress Inks can be used instead of Copic Markers.

I would dearly love to try them out but the expense cannot be justified in my case.

I do not make any money from making cards.

 I am flat out making one a week because of my pain levels.

So when I do make a card with a stamped image I have been colouring with my Aquarellas

and then painting over them with my newly purchased

Water Brush, which once again I discovered thanks to You Tube.

So many wonderful techniques and tips are to be found on the tutorials they present.

Thanks to all the wonderful crafters out there in blogland who take the time to post video tutorials.

It is so great especially when one is housebound.

Bless you all.

Pretty in Pink

Made this card a couple of days ago.

I just love this new silhouette die cut by

 Marianne Design Creatables, Charleston Lady.

I ran a pretty Kaiser Craft Journal Tag, English Rose Collection 

through my Cuttlebug,

mounted the lady on it & then layered onto a

Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Four.

The 3D flower & leaves LR0164 & die cut borders LR0155 are also by

Marianne Design Creatables.

I backed the cut outs with Scor-tape and sprinkled with glitter purchased from a cheapie shop.

The pink glitter card was purchased from a cheapie shop as well, in a pack of 4 with matching envelopes.

I added some green crystal stick-ons and some rose patterned ribbon from my stash.

Our scottish terrier, Liza, would like to show you around our garden.

Bee on Lavender

Plum Blossoms

More Plum Blossoms

Goldfish pot with wire lid,

no more stolen goldfish...

To all you cats & birds, sorry...

NOT!

Hoping to replace these crooked

stepping pavers soon,

they were here when we bought

the house 2 yrs ago

Bought these Australian Magpie garden ornaments in Canberra a couple of years ago, they are made from pre-loved corrugated iron..I just love them & when we 1st got them our dog actually thought they were real...
funny story!

Our outdoor area,

Aussie rustic style.

Bench style seat made by DH

a couple of weeks ago.

We got this timber from the end

of the street where a neighbour

had dismantled an old cattle loading ramp.

Bird Cage with ornamental bird

I could never cage a bird, even feel guilty about this fake one being caged.

Hope you have enjoyed the tour

of our spring garden.

It's a lovely time of year.

Still cool days and cold nights

but all around

the plants are blooming.

We take full advantage of this type of weather because soon the long days will be hot & rapidly becoming hotter....

YUK!

So for now it's goodbye from us

and our scotty,

Liza.

The fruit of the spirit is in all goodness.

Ephesians 5:9



A quick postcard style card

         A quick postcard style card..

Tried out my newly purchased pre-loved rubber stamp

Antique Floral Postcard 

made by

River City Rubber Works

This is the back of the card

For the front I used quite a few of my newly purchased goodies

Martha Stewart border punch

I just love it!!!

Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Four

Marianne Silhouette Die LR0140

Cuttlebug Vintage (4 Dies in the pack)

Fiskars embossing corner punch

I made this tonight in just one hour.

Must be a record for me!

I am so happy with my new 'toys' and pleased with the completed card.

The yellow colour is out of my comfort zone but the I know my friend will love it. 

Hope you like it too, let me know what you think?

I'd love to hear.

Have a good day and thanks for looking at my card.

Cornucopia and hopefully new beginnings

This is a sweet little gift I made for a friend a while ago.

It was a lot of fun to make, in fact I have made a few of them now and have given them all as gifts.

One day I will have to make one for myself.

Hope you all have a great day and get a chance to make something.

Today I want to try out some new

Spellbinders Nestabilities

I recently bought on ebay and maybe just maybe I will get a card or two made....

very optimistic of me.

My back is no better.

I am still taking very strong pain killers and valium for the muscle spasms.

Why oh why was I such an idiot to be up on a stool and get off safely only to overbalance and fall completely backwards????

This occurred 10 weeks post-op and 6 weeks ago, when I was starting to feel quite a bit better and wanted to change something in my sewing room after I was inspired

by

Where Bloggers Create 2011

It makes me so cranky and sad to think I may have ruined my operation.

I'm sure you all know what it's like....all the time thinking of creating and making your home, garden, sewing room, whatever more appealing and just so.

I have not been for a decent walk since the fall and it's all very upsetting to me.

Just before I fell I was walking up to nearly 3 km in half an hour.

Now I am flat out walking around the house.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Oh well what's done is done.

I just have to hope that this is a temporary set back and things will right themselves eventually. 

All the thoughts I had lying in hospital for the 10 days post-op are now maybe just dreams.....

Thoughts of maybe I can be comfortable in a car as a passenger. maybe I will be able to go to the shops without pain, maybe just maybe I'll actually be able to drive a car again after 16 yrs. Maybe I'll be able to hold my soon to be born grandchild.....

Lots of maybes..... but also lots of hope.

Oh well in the end I know GOD has me in the palm of his hand and what will be will be.

Maybe my life will never be as I want it to be, but it's hard seeing other people just go about their business without restrictions due to immobility and pain.

And I did have a normal active life until 1994 and even for quite a few yrs could vaccum and clean etc then sewing became a problem and everything seemed to slip away until last October 2010 when I was rendered un-able to hardly much of anything.

My parents are like 20 yr olds compared to me, so I did not inherit this bad spine from them.

I know there are plenty of others in the world way worse than me but this disability takes it toll mentally and my husband, kids, parents and friends are all very supportive and helpful.

I would just like to take that worry away from them and get on with life.

I thank GOD that throughout all of this my sense of humour is always uppermost.

I love a good joke, crack plenty and love to hear them, so that is a major blessing especially in the face of the unknown outcome of my back operation and subsequent fall.

I'll leave you with this sentiment.....

Expect the dawn of a new beginning

in the

dark nights of life

Lloyd John Ogilvie