INKspirations 4U Colour Challenge #5

Tags

INKspirations 4U!, Textured Impressions - Elegant Bouquet

Hi girls!

Woo hoo! Skye has her FINAL exam this morning … 1 1/2 hrs Studies of Religion (it is a 1 unit subject) … and she will be all finished by 11am!!! She already has a big smile on her face! I am so proud of her diligence over the last few weeks … and especially after earning “guaranteed early entry” into uni … (meaning there wasn’t the same pressure to do well) … she was still determined to gain a good ATAR score and has been studying hard. I think we might go out for lunch today … after she has finished! Do you think that is a good idea??? I can’t believe that my 4th kid has finished school! Nanna is feeling a little old … AGAIN!!! Thank goodness I still have Sandy at school … I can pretend for a little longer!

This is one of the challenges that we had fun playing along with for the INKspirations 4U class. I thought this was a lovely colour combo … and this was my first card using the new Scallop Trim Border Punch. As much as I love the Scallop Border & Eyelet Border … it is lovely to have another one to play with. AND … this one has a coordinating corner punch to help create gorgeous frames! Fingers crossed we might be getting another sweet border punch in the next mini catty! Oooooh! Is that a hint? Yes … I did get my sneak peek copy of the new mini in the mail this week. You should see my “wish list” already!!! So … here is my card for this challenge …

I do so love those little mini tags … I have combined all the colours of the challenge into these tags. I haven’t had much of a chance to play with my Elegant Bouquet embossing folder … but I have so many ideas in my little brain for this gorgeous accent! Isn’t it pretty! My Christmas Stamp-a-Stack is all ready! (After 3 attempts in the design department!) I think the girls will be thrilled. Well … I might have time for a little play this morning before I pick up Skye … then off to lunch … then hair appt. So … a little more relaxed today after a busy week. Thank you to all those who were enquiring about Gav’s mum & dad. They are both  feeling much better! Hope you have a happy Friday! Stampin’ Hugs xxaxx

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A happy weekend!

Tags

Corner Bookmark, Faux Incentive Trip, Flight of the Butterfly, French Filigree Background

Hello my friends!

I thought it was about time that I shared a few memories from my lovely weekend. When we were at Convention earlier this year … our group of 6 Convention buddies decided that since we were not going on the official SU! Incentive Trip this year … that we would have our own faux Incentive Trip to “Pepps Resort” (Leonie’s house at Kiama). So … Leonie & Jenny spent a few days over the last couple of months planning all the fun! Unfortunately, Sarah wasn’t able to make it … we missed her!

Meet & Greet "Cocktails" - Me, Erin, Tracey, Leonie - Jenny took the photo!

But … We had an absolutely SUPER time! We giggled, ate, drank, danced, sang, slept a tiny amount … and of course STAMPED!!! We had an awards dinner … and a club dance … and it was a wonderful time of friendship and fun … all at the luxurious Pepps Resort which came complete with a cabana boy to fetch and carry! – Thanks Ronnie for putting up with all the noise & nonsense … and for going out to collect our scrummy seafood lunch (Fish & Chips) … that we ate by the resort pool!  So … my camera decided to misbehave while I was away … and I wasn’t able to take any photos. But … I did take some when I got home (on Gav’s camera) … so I could show you what we did. (Of course … some photos – that Jenny & Leonie took – are fun dancing ones … but they are only for those who were there to see! … and believe me … you don’t really wanna see this fat nanna whale dancing!!! )

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For the record … I did fill the acetate boxes with chocs! (And I only ate 3 left-overs!) There were lots of lovely surprises for us all … when we arrived! (Make sure you click “stop” on the slideshow … so you can view these gorgeous creations, properly!) Leonie had organised some gorgeous gift bags with scrummy hot chocolate dipping spoons … a little ‘table gift’ of chocs in a pillow box & a sweet ‘pillow gift’ (which appeared on our pillows just before bed) of a soap decorated with a gorgeous scalloped flower. (Smelt delicious, too!). Jenny had created a lovely individualised labels for the drink bottles … and a gorgeous triangle box gift wrapping for a Toblerone Chocolate … that we all received for being “the best roomies” at our awards dinner. I was extremely touched to receive a special award (a gorgeous potpourri cushion) as an encouragement award for reaching $50,000 in SU! sales. The girls wanted to “officially acknowledge” this milestone! (A special moment!) Erin & I had also made little friendship gifts. I found this bookmark idea on one of my favourite blogs … Denise has made several of these recently. She had a link to SCS with a tutorial on how to make these! (I have added a quick recipe at the end of this post, too!)

 

Corner Bookmark - My gift for the girls!

Our Make & Takes were fun! Erin did a funky Cottage Garden card with a lovely colour combo. Tracey had designed a gorgeous Medallion Christmas Card that looked so sparkly with the Gold Champagne Shimmer Mist sprayed over the top. Jenny used the pretty Potpourri Punches heart stamp & some fab embossing to create a lovely window card. Leonie’s was a sweet card using the Because I Care flower stamp … that was multi-coloured & a little shimmer paint painted on … and it had a lovely scallop trim border. And … mine is one of the cards I designed for my Stamp-a-stack on Saturday … so keep watching for a post soon with details for this card. (The Rich Razzleberry card on the right!)

Incentive Make & Takes - click this pic to ZOOM!

We also had some fun doing some sketch challenges! Leonie wanted to try some … because she has always found these diffficult to do. I think by the third she was feeling a lot more confident … and quite excited by the results. I will share the recipe details for my sketch cards … in some later posts. (Keep watching! ) I was thrilled with them … I got a chance to play with my BRAND NEW Christmas Cocoa DSP & the Welcome Christmas stamp set … that are part of the bundle offers for the “Dress up Christmas” promotion. Mmmmm… I just love these new products!

Well … I did have this post almost ready to go yesterday … but got called out to “rescue” Gav’s mum. Mum had arrived home after a cataract operation yesterday morning & Gav’s dad decided it was a great time (NOT) to have a “turn” … and ended up in an ambulance on his way to hospital. He is home again … and ok (with follow up needed) … but it meant mum had no way of getting to her follow up appointment at the eye specialist in the afternoon. I kinda had to drop everything and run into town to take her to the appointment. And … then I offered to stay with her … until we heard news of dad. (She wasn’t up to going up to the hospital.) So … at 6.30pm … I buzzed home … ate dinner … and buzzed out to Bible Study without the time to finish this post! Anyway … you didn’t really need to know all about the family dramas … so I won’t bore you with any more details.

Phew! That was a bit of a marathon post. But … I did want to put a memory of our stamping weekend on my blog. I kinda feel like this is a stamping journal … and these special moments are worth recording. (Thanks for allowing me an indulgence!) Hope you have a lovely day. I need to get my packs cut for my class on Saturday … (I had hoped to get those done yesterday, too!) … so I had better keep moving. It is also my “mum day” (with MY mum) … perhaps she will help me out? I probably won’t get back today with anything new … but hopefully tomorrow! Stampin’ Hugs xxaxx

PS: A special thank you to Jenny who sent me a disc of photos today … in a beautifully decorated case! Thanks so much Jenny for your thoughtfulness. I will treasure the memories saved in these pics … and I have added a few more to my slideshow! I wish my camera was working … I would love you all to see the gorgeous CASE that Jenny made!

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Brayered Elegant Bouquet

Tags

Cottage Garden, Tiny Tags

Hi guys!

Yes … I am in a hurry again! Just trying to get this online before the boys get back from Touch Footy. But … I am expecting them at any minute … so I think that might be wishful thinking! I told you on Friday that I was going to show you a card using a technique where you add ink to an embossing folder using a brayer.  I totally forgot to show you yesterday … (where is my brain???? ) so here it is now! …….

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This is a fab technique … and quite eye catching! The embossed panel is actually whisper white cardstock. I have included details for this technique in my card recipe. The ink was brayered onto the “raised image” half of the embossing folder. You can actually do this on either side … and it would give a slightly different “look”. I am hoping to find some time for blog hopping tomorrow … but I also have a stamp-a-stack to cut packs for! But … fingers crossed … I will be able to pop by and visit my blog friends SOON! Well … gotta go get dinner on the table … the boys are home! Sorry this is so short! C U tomorrow. xxx

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More Christmas ideas …

Tags

Dasher, Napkin Ring, Tea Light Holder, Triangle Chocolate Placecard, Vellum Christmas Table Decorations

Hi girls!

I soooo want to tell you all about my weekend away at Leonie’s (N) … but my camera decided to play up … and I HAVE NO PHOTOS!!!! It was such a fantastic time … BUT … I do want to show you some photos … so I will leave that post until I can at least get a couple from Leonie or Jenny! I also have some great cards to show you that we worked on at Leonie’s … BUT … I need to take pics of them … so I promise to pop back this week sometime to give you a full report about our fab friendship & stamping weekend!!!

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In the meantime … I mentioned in my blog hop on Saturday that I had designed a project for the latest INKspirations 4U – Christmas Edition online class & forum. I was so thrilled & a little nervous to be approached by Madeline to be a guest designer … but it was a fun experience! Even though the class is finished … the site will be open for a few more days if you would like to join … and download the 10 project tutorials that have been specially designed for this class. I did promise to share the project that I designed with all my lovely blog friends … so here it is … (click on tutorial pic to view 8 page PDF tutorial) —- PLEASE NOTE: IT IS BEST TO USE AN ELECTRIC (BATTERY POWERED) CANDLE FOR THE CANDLE HOLDER! I did mean to add this to my tutorial … but somehow I forgot! (Thanks Genevra for the enquiry! )

I hope you will take the time to check out my tutorial … and print it out to have a go! It really is quite easy … truly! Oh … and if you didn’t get a chance on the weekend … make sure you take a hop around the ESAD-SU! Christmas Blog hop that was running on Saturday. There are some fantastic Christmas decorations / cards / gift wrapping / gift ideas shared … and you will want to check them all out! Enjoy!  (Click on ESAD pic to begin blog hop!)

Well … off to do the newsletter … and other bits & bods! C U tomorrow! Stampin’ hugs xxx

ESAD-SU Christmas Blog Hop!

Tags

12 days of Christmas Surprise Tree, Guest Designer, INKspirations 4U!, Santa's Pants

Hi to all my blog buddies … it is so lovely to see you all … and it is also exciting to meet some new visitors! Welcome!

I hope you’re ready for another ESAD Christmas Blog Hop!

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin’ Up!

We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors but we share our love for what we do with each other as Demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know how and cyberstamps and we are always there to help and support each other when its needed.

So if you are a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

If you are not starting here on my blog for this blog hop … then I guess you have arrived from Kim Conway’s blog.  I hope you enjoyed her beautiful projects. And … I’m so glad you made it here! Look what I have to show you ….

I recently participated in an online Christmas Class … and one of the projects we did was a “12 Days of Christmas” Surprise Tree. So … I thought I would share this one with you …

Each of the boxes for this tree is able to be opened … and you can hide some sort of yummy surprise inside. The original project was made using a SU! Big Shot die to create each of these little boxes … BUT … here in AUS we don’t have that die … so I created my own template for the boxes. You can cut two each from one sheet of A4 cardstock. This pattern can be printed directly onto your A4 card and I have included the template for you to use! (Scroll down) It did take a little time to make up the boxes … but I did them all in one evening. It was kinda therapeutic! The top 3 boxes are Certainly Celery … the next 3 are Pear Pizzazz … the next 4 are Garden Green … and the bottom 2 are Cherry Cobbler! Each box lid (facing ) is sponged and spritzed with their corresponding inks! You can see that I have used a few different images to decorate … half are gold embossed … and the others are coloured with markers to create multi-coloured images! All are punched out except the Christmas Tree image at the top! EASY! All supplies are SU! except for the gold ribbon! Some of the images are from retired SU! Christmas sets … but many are still current. You can substitute any  of these images with your own! To finish the project … just lay all the boxes in the tree form onto a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock and trace around the edge of the tree shape. Cut around this shape and then use sticky strip to attach all your boxes to the backing card. You can then pop some goodies inside … and stand it up on your mantle … ready for the 12 day Christmas countdown!

So … if you would like to create this fun and cute project … here is the PDF template for you to print out! (Click on pic below!)

I hope you enjoyed seeing this little project. I know my kids are going to enjoy the countdown to Christmas this year with this Surprise Tree. They never seem to get too old to enjoy little Chrissy traditions!

BONUS PROJECT: Here is another cute project from the online class … (it was a fun one) … and will look great on my table filled with candy canes! I will pop back soon to show you the project that I designed for this class! UPDATE – 25TH OCT: Link for Christmas Table Decorations Tutorial.

I am off to Leonie N’s today for a demo sleepover!!! We are having a pretend “Incentive Trip” … for those of our group of Convention roomies (6 of us) who didn’t make it officially to the SU! Incentive Trip! Leonie & Jenny have lots of exciting things planned! We are each organising a M&T … we are having an awards dinner … and just sharing lotsa giggles, yummies and fun! It is gonna be a hoot! All part of the fun of being a SU! demo. Sharing special times with demo buddies!

I hope you will enjoy continuing on your way around this ESAD-SU! Blog Hop (15 blogs altogether).  I’m sure you will find heaps of inspirational ideas for your Christmas preparations. Don’t forget to leave a comment before you move onto the lovely Jo Weedon’s blog … because I just LOVE to get feedback on my creations … and I do love to make new blog friends! You will know you have finished the hop when you arrive back here at my blog … after travelling around 15 gorgeous blogs! (I do hope all the links on each blog work for you!) Thanks again for visiting! Stampin’ hugs xxaxx

PS: The blog hop is due to begin at 10 am Sydney time. I will be away from home today … so I do hope this all works ok. If the links are not working … perhaps you could wait until 10am and try again! Thanks xxaxx

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Brayered Night Sky

Tags

Landscape Brayering Technique, Lovely as a Tree, Occasional Quotes - Level 3 Hostess

Hi girls …

I’m not sure why I am here … because I should really be getting ready to go to Leonie’s tomorrow. But … here I am … and I had better make this quick!!! This is a card sample that I did for my August Brayering class (Twilight Stamp Club class). The girls didn’t actually create this one … but I did a few samples for them to see different ways of brayering. I have found a few new uses for my brayer lately … adding ink to background stamps – gives a really even coverage of ink to the rubber! And … brayering ink onto the inside of embossing folders gives a fab effect. (I have a card using this technique to show you … will do that one on Monday!)

I hope you can see the pretty Dazzling Diamonds sparkle on the moon & the stars! I have also “ghosted” the trees – double stamping without re-inking the image to give a shadow effect. All the details for creating this card … including technique step-by-step … are included on my card recipe at the end of this post. You can click on this recipe to enlarge & print if you need to! I do need to give credit to Dany Piepgrass for the original idea for this card. I have tweaked it a little … but Dany’s card certainly was the inspiration!

Don’t forget to visit tomorrow to start your journey on the ESAD-SU! Christmas Blog Hop! You will know you have finished the hop when you arrive back at my blog … after travelling around 15 gorgeous blogs!  Note: Links to the blog hop won’t open until 10 am Sydney time – Sat 23rd. Well … gotta fly … lots to do! Stampin’ Hugs xxaxx

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Sweet Blog Friends!

Tags

Andrea Buckland, Gabbi Gerritson

Hello friends!

Question: What is nicer than finding some HAPPY MAIL in the mailbox??? Answer: Finding TWO LOTS of HAPPY MAIL in the mailbox!!! I never get tired of the thrill of opening an envelope when you know that there is something special inside! It is so lovely to receive something hand made … and to realise that someone has been thinking about you!

This card (below) was a gorgeous one that I received from Andrea Buckland - a SU! demo from WA. My special blog friend Lee-Anne (also from WA) sent Andrea B to  our SU! Convention in May with a special mission … to find ME and introduce herself to me! It was such a thrill to meet Andrea and hear the messages she had from Lee-Anne … to realise that we all share a special bond in Christ … and to really understand the blessings of my friendship with Lee-Anne (who I still have not met … but we hope to someday!) I was really touched that Andrea made a point of searching me out amongst all those demos!!! It is nice that we can now keep in touch via blogging … but even more wonderful to get a hand made “thinking of you” from my new friend! Thanks Andrea … I don’t have this stamp set … or this embossing folder … so this is definitely going into my display for my customers to see.

These two cards are from another new blog friend … Gabbi! Gabbi used to teach my daughter Stacey (yes! the mum to be!) when she was in high school. She has recently had a friend join SU! as a demo … and we had a chance to catch up recently at the Catty Launch in Sept. Gabbi has been “stalking” my blog for a little while … but is now one of my regular visitors and I just love reading her encouraging comments and I am so glad she is enjoying her visits here! Gabbi has been praying for Skye during her exams … and has sent a SCRUMMY block of chocolate for Skye (How did she know that Skye had almost run out of “study food”???!!!) and some special thoughts and prayers for her during her exams. And … she also sent me a card … to let me know that she is thinking of me too! (Mums of Yr 12 students also need some special thoughts, don’t they! ) I feel very spoilt and loved today!

I love seeing what my friends are creating, too … and a photo doesn’t always do a card justice. So … it is lovely to have these to enjoy IRL! (In real life). Thanks so much to Gabbi & Andrea for making my day such a happy one! There is a beautiful spring breeze blowing through the window next to my desk … and the afternoon sun is shining softly. There are a few little lambs skipping around near their mums in the paddock up the back! It is just a gorgeous afternoon!

I have just finished planning for my Christmas Stamp a Stacks FOR THE THIRD TIME!!! Yep! This obsessively perfectionist demo wasn’t happy with the first or second group of cards she had designed … so all 18 cards (3 x 3 designs for both) went into her Christmas Card stash … and she started ALL OVER AGAIN!  I do hope my girls will be happy … I did want to do something special for them! And … finally I am excited with what I have created! I have added a sneak peek pic here! The previous sneak peek (a few posts ago) was just to throw you all off the scent! giggle! I already have 7 bookings for this class (30th) … Marilyn, Joanne, Lorraine, Julie R, Tanya, Christine, Trish … so if you want to come along … you will have to get back to me quickly!!!

Well … that was a bit of a marathon post!!! Sorry to rabbit on so much! I need to get a few things organised for the weekend but … I will be back tomorrow with another card.

AND … make sure you pop by on Saturday … because … I have a couple of cute Christmas Projects ready as part of the ESAD-SU! Christmas Blog Hop. I hope you will find some time to make yourself a cuppa and  relax for a little while and hop around the links of some fantastic SU! blogs to see some FAB Christmas creations!!  (ESAD-SU! – Extra Special Australasian Demonsrators for SU! … includes some of our lovely NZ demos!) There will be lots to see … so make sure you make some time on Saturday after 10am (Sydney time) to do some blog hopping! Note: Links to the blog hop won’t open until 10 am Sydney time – Sat 23rd. C U tomorrow! Stampin’ Hugs xxaxx

Just Believe – a new fav!

Tags

INKspirations 4U!, Just Believe, No Tie Bow, Vine & Blossom Wheel Stamp

Hi guys!

Skye is in the middle of her HSC exams … no. 3 today – Modern History. She was having a minor meltdown last night … claiming “she didn’t know anything” … and she was “going to fail”!!! This reminded me of the importance of being there for our kids when they need us. Skye is 18 … and pretty independent … but there are still times that she just needs a hug and some reasurrance from her mum!!! So … on all those days when I wonder what I really have achieved in my life … I need to remind myself … that this is the most important thing I could ever have done … be a mum!!! She is in her exam right now … and I am praying that she will be calm and will remember all the important info that she needs for this exam. (There is a HUGE amount of content in this subject!)

My card today is based on one of the challenges from Inkspirations 4U – Christmas Edition … and was a theme challenge! We had to design a card based on the picture shown above! Here is my challenge submission.

So can you see the different elements from the pic that I included in my card??? The squares on the throw rug … the colour combo … the plant silhouette on the wall … and the flowery type patterns on the cushions and furnishings! The secret to a good theme challenge … is just to stop for a minute and peruse some of the detail in the picture! Isn’t the Vine & Blossom wheel stamp gorgeous … and teams perfectly with the Just Believe Stamp Set (a new fav of mine). I inked the wheel stamp in Sahara Sand … stamped … and then went over the flowers with markers to add the extra colours! It’s also easy to get squares lined up … if you use Dotto (repositionable glue)   … and then go back and use your snail to adhere permanently once you have them positioned evenly. Did you notice that wonderful “No Tie Bow”. (See details at end of post) Can’t go wrong with this one. Anyway … I am off to finish my Stamp-a-Stack (for the 3rd time … just no pleasing this demo!!! ) … and I am desperate to send out some RAKs. I also need to do my M&T sample & kits for our “Incentive Trip” at Leonie’s on the weekend. (Our version of Incentive … for those who didn’t make it!) Plus I really really want to order a couple of the Christmas Bundles … because the Chrissy papers & ribbons look soooooo delicious! Better get to it! Stampin’ Hugs xxaxx

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