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I have moved - no, not houses but blogs... If you have bookmarked this blog, you'll need to change it. I now live here. See you over there!

Simply sent card kits......

Did you enter the competition to win a Simply Sent Card Kit from Stampin' Up? Well I am very excited to announce that someone who entered via link from my blog won one! It was my mum! (No, it wasn't rigged!)
Congratulations Mum! Have fun creating loads of gorgeous cards ~ I know that you will have a ball.
I will get some pictures of her creations and post them here once she is done (won't I mum?)

World Card Making Day

I bet you didn't even know there was such a thing, did you? Well you can be forgiven; last year was the first year. World Card Making Day began in 2006 as National Card Making Day. It was founded by Paper Crafts magazine in an effort to bring card makers together at the busiest card-making season of the year.

World Card Making Day is especially for card makers around the world to:
- Celebrate the creativity of handmade cards and the personal connection that they create between friends and family,
- Kick off (and get a head start on) your Christmas card making. You know that if you don't start now, suddenly it will be December and there will be no time left to make your cards.

Why not celebrate World Card Making Day by holding a Stamp-a-Stack? Invite some friends over and make 10 cards (5 each of 2 designs) with a prepared kit that contains pre-cut papers, embellishments, glue and envelopes. All for $18. As World Card Making Day is in October, we shall celebrate all month long & I will have a special treat for you, as the hostess, if you book your Stamp-a-Stack anytime in October.

Contact me to book your Stamp-a-Stack today!

I've been busy

I had some time to stamp on the weekend and have been playing with some of the new stamp sets. Here's a few pictures from the Polka Dots & Paisley set. I really love this set, you can get a different feel depending on what colours you use. I had to use some glitter on one of these ~ you can just about see it in the picture if you look closely......








" I've received another RAK ~ I was blown away last week when a grogeous card arrived in the mail. It was from the lovely Claire Daly, just to wish me well and to let me know that she was thinking of me & my dodgy back. It's great to come home to mail that isn't a bill! As much as I would love to show it to you, photobucket keeps loading it upside down, which does not show it off to it's best advantage! When I can get that sorted out, I shall post it here.

I went to a workshop at Fleurie's to make this gorgeous little board book ~ it was a lovely small group and we had a ball. Loads of sanding and cutting and chatting! This is my book. I think I need some more embellishments!




I have some more cards to show, but as photobucket isn't cooperating today, I'll leave them for another day. See you soon!

Have you got a colour block?

Are you having a block with your colours? Can't get anything to look right? Looking for a different combo? Try this link ~ it's full of the Stampin' Up Colours and combinations. Or try your luck with an random combo. Go on! Try it now! I dare you!

What great fun!!

Another great night on Friday showing people the fun that can be had stamping. Here's a few of the smiling faces showing off their cards.....










This is one of the cards that we made using the "Petals & Paisley" from the Mini Catalogue. I love this set! (and of course the purple ~ you can never have too much purple..!)

Thank you everyone for making it such a great night ~ I look forward to seeing you again soon. Some sooner than others! There is a crop night this Friday in Ringwood, so it will be another night of cropping, creating and chatting! Mainly chatting I think!



I went to Fleur's on Sunday for her mini catalogue launch - it was great fun. She is such a clever lady, it was very inspiring. I've got a link to her blog on the side bar there if you'd like to see what we got up to.

I think that I will have to tap into the creative juices that are now flowing and get some creations happening. Father's Day is not that far way and Paperific is just around the corner and I have samples that have to be made, so there's no shortage of projects to keep me busy!

Hooray for Hostesses!!

This month you can be the star of the party when you bring the stamping festivities home with a Stampin' Up! workshop between 1 August and 15 September. Share the fun and creativity of stamping at your place, and you can get an extra party favor by adding one of three free pre-selected stamp sets to your already fantastic hostess benefits. Choose one of these pre-selected stamp sets with a $600 workshop.
Petal Prints
Nice & Easy Notes
All About U
(click the link to the SU catalogue to view the sets)

This special gift, a hostess appreciation set, is a thank you for inviting everyone to share the fun.

Contact me today to book a workshop!

First Workshop

I had my first workshop on Wednesday and it was a blast. I had the hostess with the mostess (Hi Trish!) and a great bunch of girls, who I think may be on the verge of being stamp addicts ~ It's not that hard with SU! products! We had a great time and got to play with some of the products and make a couple of projects. Thanks to Melinda, Ann, Rachelle, Kylie, Alison, Michelle & Trish for making it such a great day - I hope you all enjoyed yourselves. I look forward to seeing you again soon with all the goodies from the Spring Mini Catalogue that is released in 4 more sleeps!

Using scraps

I set myself a challenge by doing a blind dip into my card stock case scrap section and same with the stamps. I had to make something up with whatever I found. Here's the result ~

The stamps used are from the In Full Bloom set and the Floral background stamp. I really love this stamp - it is so subtle, but puts a lovely depth into the background of the card. I better go - I've little time and lots of stamping to do!

Spring Mini Catalogue

It's nearly time for the Spring Mini to be released, (1st August) & I will be helping Fleur with one of her launch events - it should be great fun! In the meantime I will be playing with some of the new stamps.. I'm currently trying to decide on what design I will use for my Christmas cards this year. I had a go at CASEing one of the designs from the Mini catalogue ~ I was quite happy with it for a first go, but there will be more as the weeks go on as I tweak the design. Check back to see what I have been up to!

What a great day!

I spent all day Saturday over at Fleur's place and we were Stampin' Up! all day. For our first project we decided to each bring a challenge, something that neither of us had done before. Fleur had a doozy! It was a Waterfall card~ it was great once we got all the bits sorted out and attached them the right way! But we still have two lonely pieces leftover, I wonder what we missed? Clues anyone?
Here's my version of the waterfall card. When you pull the ribbon at the bottom, the little cards flip up and then down again. It's very pretty and a lot of fun to make and, now that I know how to, I'll be making some more
The second challenge (mine) was a swing card. I'm not too happy with the one that I made, so I will make another to show you later. We also made a few items with stamps from the new Spring Mini Catalogue. They are just great and I can't wait to do some more cards and scrapbook pages with them. I can't show you them just yet. But as soon as I am allowed to, there will be pictures posted here ~ so keep watching!
We also had fun making and decorating our bagalopes. You don't know what a bagalope is? If you have a Stampin' Up! workshop, I'll show you how to make one. All in all it was a great day, with good company, lots of stamping, lovely soup & fresh, homemade bread for lunch and entertainment provided by Lauchie. He's such a lovely chatty fellow, it was lovely listening to him debating the merits of various superheroes, would a cushion house keep out a monster dog and the different colour of the noses of Chip and Dale. All very important stuff!
If you want to see what Fleur made on our stamping day, head over to Fleur's blog - she's very clever!

Welcome to the world Amy Elizabeth!

My old neighbour (by old I mean we lived across the from each other when we were growing up) had her first baby this week - Amy Elizabeth. What a beautiful name! Little Amy couldn't have picked better parents in Megan and Wayne. I don't have a picture of her yet (still waiting for the wedding ones from 18 months ago), but here's a picture of the card I sent them with the pressie. It's very pink!

RAKs..

I received a lovely RAK (Random act of Kindness) the other day from the Stamp Happy list.. It was from Julie Price in NSW. As you can see it's purple and has butterflies ~ it doesn't get any better than that! It's a lovely surprise to get something like this out of the blue, it certainly brightens up your day. Now I better get on to some RAKs to send out to brighten someone elses's day!

Just add water..

Stampin' Up!'s watercolouring products make it easy for you to be an artist. Watercoloring is a great, cost-effective technique that anyone (yes, even you) can do! During July, the Just Add Water promotion is the perfect way to get started! Make a $50 purchase an you qualify to purchase the Watercolor Wonder Crayons or Watercolor Pencils at 25% off!

For every $50 you spend, you qualify to purchase another family pack of Watercolor Wonder Crayons or Watercolor Pencils. For example, if you spend $100, you can purchase the Earth Elements Watercolor Wonder Crayons AND the Watercolor Pencils for 25% off EACH.

Be ready to watercolour the moment you receive your order by including other watercolouring products as your $50 purchase! Choose a watercolour-friendly stamp set and Aqua Painters, watercolour paper, a StazOn pad, or pencil sharpener to round out your watercolouring preparations. Whatever you choose, let your inner artist come out to play!

Email me for further details.

Small Samples...

Well, here they are... my contribution to the 6x6 swap. It's great when you know good looking subjects... It makes it easy to make a page look good! There's Ethan in the bath and Chad playing hide and seek... Again, no room for journalling, but I think that they are self explanatory.

Scrapbooking...small style

I have signed up for a 6"x6" scrapbook page swap.. I thought that I would do a few today just to warm up... It's a very different thing to try and fill a 12"x 12" page to one a quarter of the size.. It felt like no sooner had I put a picutre on, than the page was filled. Here's my first few goes... there's no journalling as there just wasn't room! I wanted to use my SU! scrapping supplies and see what I could create just with paper and stamps.. (and perhaps just a little bit of the 'Recollections' paper range...)

Ethan is such a cute little man and the rosy red cheeks inspired me to use the Cranberry Crisp paper!

Doodling seems to be big.... I tried it on the next page ...

..and last but not least.. A picture of mum that I just love... I have been wanting to do something with this forever. I still want to do a larger page, but I had a copy of this in small format and it fitted perfectly... The colours haven't scanned just quite right, and it's a bit crooked ~ but you get the idea....

And after all that.. I'm still not happy with the page that I did for the swap... I shall just have to keep playing until the inspiration hits the bulls-eye..!

It's been a week since I last posted.. not a good look, I know. I have some pictures to post but they're still on the camera! My laptop went off for open hard disc surgery earlier in the week and I have been making a list of all that I have "lost"... Nothing major.. just many hours trawling the 'net gathering ideas. Let's hope I get it back soon.

I have my first workshop/s booked for next weekend (thanks mum!) and am starting to get things ready.. How excitement..!! I want to show them SOO much stuff as there are so many wonderful SU! stamps and their products make creating so easy.

I have made the little hostess gifts, and the wee bits 'n' pieces that will be on the table for the guests.. I shall put pictures up afterwards, so as not to spoil the surprise...well for mum anyway (hi mum, if you're reading this)

I have also joined a scrapbook swap.. A 6x6 page.. It should be interesting and totally new for me.. Luckily my friends are producing gorgeous, photogenic children, so I will have some inspiring subjects to choose from!I promise some photos really, really soon!

Cybercrop

I was part of my first ever cybercrop last Friday - it was hosted by my upline Jayne. She set the challenges and we had to complete them.. It was a great experience.. This page is from the first challenge Jayne set.. it was a sketch from the SU! website (here's the sketch if you would like to see what it's based on... http://www3.stampinup.com/images/WorkshopWizardintl/30-4579925.jpg )
and here's my take on the sketch....
The backgrounds are created using SU! stamps and the papers are from the Earth Elements colour family. I've embossed the "PASTA" and cut them out with the tag punch (love it!!). Yes I know there is no jouranling.. that's what the big blue sqaure is for... When I get it done I will change the picture. I was pretty happy with this for my first 'cyber' attempt.

The second challenge was to choose a card from the catalogue that uses a set you'd never buy and make the card again using a stamp set you own. We could change the colour scheme if we didn't have the same colours but the layout must be the same. I picked a card from page 88 of the current catalogue to interpret... I didn't have any of the "hardware", so made up my embellisjment from a couple of cut out leaves from the In Full Bloom set.


I can't wait for the next team get together..!

Diaorama card..

I saw this on Jenni Oliver's blog and thought that I would give it a go.. I have stuck to one stamp set "In Full Bloom". It was great fun and it folds flat for posting, which is a bonus! I may have to make more of these...

Watercolours..

I didn't think that I would like it - but I love it!! I have discovered the fun to be had with the different ways that you can watercolour with SU!'s inks and pastels.... And going even further out of my comfort zone I played with a bit of pink last night.. here's the results....

What do you think..??

The June Promotion has been announced!

You can get 30% off on one of these four fantastic stamp sets (click on the link to see each set in more detail) Greetings Galore -Eat Cake - All the Best or Heartfelt Thanks with the purchase of a colour family of Stampin' Write markers.

Here's how it works. Purchase one of these colour families of Stampin' Write markers Bold Brights - Earth Elements - Rich Regals or Soft Subtles for $57.95 and get 30% off one of the four stamp sets mentioned above. Each colour family has 12 markers in each colour family. Buy two colour families of markers and get 30% off two pre-selected stamp sets !
This offer is only valid till the end of June - So email me now to place your order!

I love Versamark..!

Here's some fun that I have been having with my new stamps and the Versamark pad.. It's fantastic for adding depth to background papers...

These cards were really quick and easy to make - my favourite kind..!

Here's some samples...

I have been playing with my new kit... Sooo much fun! ~ Here are some samples using the Brocade Blue.. it's amazing what you can do with just one colour.


Now to have some fun with the Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun and Night of Navy card stock.

More show and tell tomorrow!

I've done it!

I've finally done it.. I've signed up with Stampin' Up! and have become a demonstrator! My kit has just arrived and I am about to get started. I have joined a great team - and my upline Jayne is great. I met my new team the INKlings on line the other night and they are all fantastically supportive of this new kid on the block.

Now that I have loads of new stamps and inks to play with.. I better go and get stamping! I shall check back in when I get something to show you!

In the meantime, you can check out the new Stampin' Up! 2007-2008 Idea Book & Catalogue on line. It's a 161 page full-colour publication and it's full of fantastic ideas for cards, scrapbooks and gifts. If you'd like a copy then please email me and I can send you one. The catalogues are $12.95 ea and come with a $10 gift voucher for orders over $100 (can only be redeemed through me)...OR you can view the Idea Book & Catalogue online here.