Another quick Christmas card

Finally I managed to take a photo which show the dazzling diamonds properly. I'll be back with details later on. xx

Tonights Team Cyberstamp!!

The best thing about being a part of the Inklings Team is the awesome opportunities we get to 'meet' with each other and have regular training days and cyberstamps. Tonight is Margaret's turn at setting some fun challenges. The first is a sketch challenge and the second was to make a tea bag holder. I loved participating tonight Margaret!

Materials used: Soft Sky , chocolate chip, and groovy guava cardstock, Afternoon Tea DSP, Flower from Pretties Kit, soft sky stitched ribbon, dazzling diamonds, Stampin Dimensionals, "Like it a latte" and "Live your dream" stamp sets.

December is upon us...

And Stampin'Up!® have a great special this month when you spend $20 on regular merchandise you can purchase from a select range of products at 20% off. How cool is that!! Click here for the full flyer(or on the picture to enlarge) or email me with any questions you may have.

The marker promotion has also been extended until the 14th of the month so make sure you let me know if there are any that you need. At only $4.95 per marker they are great value.

Summer Mini is now available...

And it is gorgeous. If you would like a hard copy then please send me a quick email with your details and I will happily post to you. Or if you can't wait that long why not check out the website here.

I am also in the process of sorting out some retired stamp sets and papers for sale so keep checking in over the next few days.

Cute baby 'Onesies'

Aren't these just adorable. I've seen a lot of these around on splitcoaststampers and followed the directions from here to make these two baby cards. They were a lot of fun and so easy though That I will defiantly be making more.

I've been having a great time with my girls this week and managed to find some time to make a few cards.

The Christmas cards turned out better than I hoped using the 'faux tearing' technique. The were super quick to make as well using co-ordinating inks and ribbons and whisper white cardstock.

The second card uses both a colour and sketch challenge from Splitcoaststampers. Using Old Olive, Pretty In Pink and Ruby Red. I also used Black grosgrain ribbon, flower and pearls from Pretties Kit and Dimensionals. The stamps used are: Floral and En Francais backgrounds and Always from the Spring Mini

Individual Markers are here for a limited time Only!

From today until the end of the month only, Stampin' Up!® Has released all 48 colour Stampin' Write Markers singularly. Whether you just want to try one or get your favourite mixture of the colour families, now is the time to do it. At only $4.95 per marker they're a bargain.

Follow this link for more details and contact me to place your order.

http://www3.stampinup.com/au/ena/6186.asp

Christmas is just around the Corner...

And I'm starting to get a bit panicked. So far I've not put too much thought into gifts and things but since it's less than seven weeks away, I think I need to get moving!!

At least I've had fun playing with Christmas card designs. These last two were a lot of fun to make. The first uses: Always artichoke, River rock cardstock and inks,Holiday Harmony DSP, Styled silver hodgepodge and Rhinestone brads from the pretties kit. Along with some very vanilla wide ribbon. I've also used the stamps set 'Circle of Friendship' and 'Season of joy'.

The second was a sketch challenge from somewhere ( I can't remember but have seen lots of cards with the same layout). Using Old Olive, very vanilla and real red cardstock, Dashing DSP, Thin vanilla ribbon and the same stamp sets as above.

Finally some time to create!

The barrage of family has finally passed and we have spent our first nights alone with our girls. So far, Baby Savannah only wakes once during the night to feed so I am still feeling quite human. And finally I spent a little time making a couple of quick cards last night.

This first card was made using Sage shadow cardstock and ink, very vanilla cardstock and ribbon and DSP from the Fall flowers pack. I LOVE the new styled silver hodgepodge and used one of the circles and the brads here.

This card uses Wild Wasabi and Soft sky Cardstock and Double stitched ribbons, Spring Fling DSP, Flowers and half back pearl from the pretties kit and the rub-ons from the Cherished memories pack. No stamping at all!!

And a new piccy of Savannah aged five weeks!

Wow... Where did September Go???

Well, unfortunately September saw me in hospital or in bed for the most part. Another bout of pneumonia had the doctors guessing and had to keep a special eye on monitoring me and our precious little bundle who decided to arrive a few days late on the 24th of September! A special thank you to everyone who rang or e-mailed well wishes during this time.

I can now finally introduce our sweet 'Savannah'. Who arrived very quickly ( almost on the hospitals front door) weighing a healthy 9lbs 6ozs. Her big sister adores her and she is fitting in beautifully with our little family! We are very blessed with our girls.

Happy Birthday Cass!!

If only I had managed to make it on time. LOL. Sorry Cass but the thought is still there!

Happy birthday!!

This card uses one of the stamp sets out of the new Mini catty, 'Bloomin' with beauty'. As well as the gorgeous pomegranate satin ribbon. The little bee is popped up on dimensionals and although the photo doesn't show it well there is dazzling diamonds glitter on the bee's wings and the flower centres. I also found the rub-ons a dream to use on the ribbon and the half back pearls just finished the card off nicely. Hope you like it. xx

What a busy Month so far...

It seems like an eternity since I've been able to sit at my computer and share what's been happening! On the family front, we will be welcoming a new baby in about five weeks ( Give or take) being 8 months pregnant is certainly a challenge with a toddler racing around but I so love it anyway. I've also been sick with Pneumonia but am on the mend now thankfully. One of these days I might actually share a photo of the preggy belly. LOL.

I've also started designing Christmas Cards. Yes! already! The problem I have is if I don't start them early they won't get done. The best bit is , I was able to come up with these six cards in just a few hours. I chose three base colours of cardstock ( Real Red, Old Olive and very vanilla) and the 'Dashing" DSP and the rest was a breeze. I also used my absolute favourite Christmas set from the new Mini Catty.

If you would like a copy of the mini then please post a comment here or send me an email.

Wednesday seems to be a good day for posting...

All of my creations for the week! The first is an 18th birthday card I made this weekend for a friends' sister. Love the colour combo of Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink and Old Olive. And as always a touch of bling with some Dazzling Diamonds.
The second piccy shows some 40th birthday invites I was asked to make for a friend. They were inspired by a swap card I received from the recent Stampin' Up! Demonstrators convention. Again, jazzed up with bling, ribbon and embossing. ( Matching envelopes were just the finishing touch)
The third card I whipped up while I was feeling inspired after making all those invites! I must admit I am now well and truly in love with the 'So Swirly' jumbo wheel, highlighted with the 'White gel pen'! It adds so much to the card I think! And I always love playing with punches- another favourite, the scallop punch, double punched to create this cute medallion. If you would like any more details please feel free to post a comment here or contact me privately. Take care xx

Just a quick post today as my beautiful girl is soon to wake from her nap! I made this gorgeous gift box and gift card set ( 3" x 3" cards) for the door prize at one of my workshops recently.

Using my fav stamp set 'Baroque Motifs' and 'Circle of Friendship'. They came together so easily that I almost didn't want to give them away! LOL

The colours I used were our beautiful In Colours, Soft Sky and Blue Bayou with a little Vanilla wide Grosgrain ribbon to finish. You may notice I've also used quite a few circle punches and the Scallop punch. I just love how they nest together so well! If you would like any more details please feel free to post your question here!

Posting frenzy

I feel as though I'm in a bit of a posting frenzy this week after having had time off blog land while we were unwell with the flu! Scroll down to make sure you haven't missed any of the good stuff and I have a couple of quick cards to show you all as well.

The first is a colour challenge to use: Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi and Certainly Celery. And the second card was made utilising some scraps left lying around my craft desk.

Super Starter Kit Special...

Have you been thinking lately that you might like to give something new a try but not sure where to start? What about starting your own stamping and papercraft business that is totally risk free?? With Stampin' up! you can!

During the 1st July until 15th August, Stampin' Up! is offering the already awesome Starter Kit at just $299 ( saving $25 off the usual $324) You can view the full details Here.

The kit has components which can be customised to suit your tastes and include everything you need to get started on your way to workshop wonder.

If you decide that workshops aren't for you then you can still just shop for yourself at a discount and be in with all the exciting things that being an Independent Demonstrator with Stampin' Up! has to offer.

Contact me today about joining my team and I will organise an information pack for you to look through and be here for any questions you may have.

Some Masculine cards...

These are the cards we made for my workshop on Sunday ( Hi Girls!). And we all had a blast! The card uses the 'Lovely as a tree' stamp set which would be awesome as a Chrissy card as well ( *think glitz and dazzling diamonds*) and it was so much fun to make. The original card layout was inspired from another Demo in our team, Linda Higgins.

This full card uses:

Close to cocoa, more mustard, mellow moss and glossy cardstock.

close to cocoa, always artichoke, mellow moss and old olive markers.

Lovely as a tree and Occasional greetings Stamp sets.

Scallop circle punch,hemp twine, jumbo eyelets and the awesome crop-o-dile.

And a selection of DSP from the 'Outlaw' range.

Masculine cards can be so hard to come up with sometimes but I think we all achieved this one nicely!

These are two cards which I made recently.

The first uses the Brilliant blue designer prints range of double sided paper along with some bashful blue cardstock. I've also used 'Frames with a Flourish' and the level 1 set 'For a Friend' for the centre piece. Some 'dazzling diamonds' finishes the card of nicely I think just around the little cloud bubble! This card was made using a sketch from Splitcoaststampers.

The second card is a gorgeously simply card using some 'certainly celery DSP and wide ribbon', Regal rose cardstock and ink, 'The Garden whimsy' stamp set and Dazzling Diamonds and Rhinestone brads.

Subscriber Only Blog candy...

One of the benefits of subscribing to my monthly newsletter is the offer of subscriber only give aways and being the first to know what's going on in my world and with Stampin' Up! This month's offer is a sample of In-Colour tags made by me using the gorgeous set 'Tagger's dozen' and our beautiful tag punches and co-ordinating double stitched ribbon.

And the lucky subscriber is Robyn Little who left a comment just a few posts down.

If you would please email me with your contact/ mailing details Robyn I'll pop these into the post for you this week.

Happy 60th Birthday to my Dad!

I made this card for my dad this week as it was his birthday on Thursday. The big 60! Unfortunately we were all struck down with colds and were in less than partying moods. But we still took him out for dinner and had yummy cake.

I have used: Chocolate chip, Kraft and old olive and Glossy cardstock

Old olive, always artichoke and chocolate chip markers

'weathered' background, 'lovely as a tree' and 'circle of friendship' stamp sets

designer label, 1" circle and 1 1/4" circle punches

and my new 'crop-o-dile' to create the dry embossed circles.

Thanks for looking.

I will be off line for a couple of days but while I'm gone I thought I would show a piccy my hubby took last month of my beautiful daughter and I at 'our' craft area!

I was working on some swap cards and she was working on whatever she could get her hands on. LOL! Though seriously, she loves craft so we try to do something 'messy' every couple of days at least.

I should be back on track by Saturday! Thanks everyone!

Just a quick congrats...

To the recipient of the pink baby card in my post just down there. After only 12 minutes in hospital and one push, a healthy baby girl was delivered to our friends and neighbours this morning! ( OK, it must have been hard still work but she laboured at home for about four hours before things really started happening!)

Super congratulations guys. We can't wait to see your new baby girl!

A Quick Love Note...

This gorgeous little love note took very little time to make beacause they come already scored with cute little envies to match from stampin' up! They are also a part of this month's promotion so make sure you check in later today for all the details! Super cute and great to have some on hand for those times when you just want to send someone a 'little love'.

A Quiet week on the blog front...

I had great plans for this last week of getting up to date with my blog but fell behind when we all caught colds! Nothing too serious thank goodness and all better now which makes for a much happier household. Nothing worse than a sick hubby and child when all you want to do is curl up in bed.

Anyway, I was able to get a few cards made this week which made it more bearable. So here they are:

The first two were sketch challenges from Split coast stampers which was a lot of fun to try. The 'Celebrate' card, I was trying to do something a bit masculine with DSP and also used some hodgepodge which I love. And the 'welcome' card is for friends of ours who are due any day now and are sure they are having a girl!

If you would like any of the details of these cards please feel free to contact me here and I will post the full list of products used.

More creations as promised...

These are a few more cards I've been making lately. The wild rose card was made for a workshop with Paulette and the girls on Sunday Arvo and they all did beautifully.

The Baroque Motifs card was such a quick and easy card to put together but it is such a stunning set I really don't think you could go wrong when using it. I also jazzed it up with the scallop circle punch and pretties kit- half pearls.

My first 12 x 12" Scrapbooking!

I now know why I am a Cardmaker who scrapbooks! When joining Stampin' Up! My initial reason was to get my scrapbooking up to date. ( Or started for that matter!) But fell in love with cards instead. These pages where my fist real attempt at 12 x 12 layouts and I must admit I am really proud of how they turned out.

My fist goal was to only use Stampin' Up! products, ( and I ended up using quite a few of my favourites in there!) and secondly was to show off my beautiful girl. And yes I am totally biased but she just constantly amazes her dad and I! Hope you like them too.

I'm sorry the photography is a bit ordinary but if you click on the photo's you should see them bigger and clearer.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you all had a wonderful day on Sunday either being spoilt by your kids, or spoiling your own mum. I did both and spent a beautiful day on the Central coast with my mum and daughter ( hubby was there as well. Better mention him 'cause he cooked us both breakfast.) And even found time to do some creating as well! Once I've charged the camera batteries some more I'll be able to upload what I've been up to.

My Baby is 2 Today!!

Just a quick one this morning as we are heading off for a day of play and adventure somewhere. We haven't decided yet! By 8am we had already done the presents and breakfast and got into the serious play with new toys. ( Thank goodness we remembered the batteries and have discovered it is much easier when you set it all up the night before and just wrap over the top. Made for much quicker play time and happier child not waiting for boxes to be opened!)

This is the card I made for my princess. If you would like the details please post me a comment or email me and I will fill you in tonight! Have fun xx

Some Cards for Another Team Swap!

I know I'm mad after doing swaps for convention then turning around and doing another but I LOVE an excuse to get creative ( and means Hubby can't say much when I tell him they have to be done or else! The housework can wait! LOL)

It's also a fantastic resource when you are able to participate in team swaps, which this one is and a great place to share ideas. If you would like more info about how you can become a part of my team, please get in contact and I will send you out a DVD and info pack to look through.

These cards were made using the absolutely gorgeous In Colours, River Rock and Purely Pomegranate with some Watercolour paper, Basic Black and Very Vanilla thrown in as well.
I was also able to use my level 1 set: Oh, so lovely- Both large circle punches and the delicious Scallop Punch. Add to that some designer paper in Pomegranate and River Rock Double stitched Ribbon and your done! Hope the girls like them!

Two more to show today!

These cards were also made using mostly new In Colours and new stamp sets. Both of these cards also have some added 'Bling' from the 'Pretties Kit'. They are on their way to two friends of mine ( one is my downline also) whose birthday's are on Wednesday. I hope they like them both.

If you would like more details about either card, please feel free to send me an email or leave a post here and I will post it. Right now I have my gorgeous almost two year old to go play with! Have fun xx

I Love, Love, Love the new In Colours!!

Ok, So you get the idea?? The new In Colour range has really inspired me this last few days now that I have begun to play with all my new things! I have quite a few cards to make this month so I am trying to do one at least every few days.

This first one to show is for my Brother-in-Law's birthday this weekend. It's always hard coming up with ideas for masculine cards so I scoured the 2008-09 Idea book and catalogue for inspiration. I chose a card on page 70 for the layout and then went from there, changing colours and stamp set used.

For this card I used:

Stamps: Touch of Nature, Happy Everything, It's you Birthday

Cardstock/Inks: Close to Cocoa, Choc Chip, River Rock and Blue Bayou.

Accessories: River Rock Double Stitched Ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware slide, Scallop Punch and Circle punches and Paper Piercing Tool.

Did you know??

That Rub-ons are not only for cardstock?? They also work really well on glass, plastic, wood, photo frames, candles and most nonporous surfaces.

I had an extra jar lying around from IKEA so decided to jazz it up a bit using our gorgeous new rub-ons from the "Anchored" set. These come with both a white and black sheet and will give any project that extra flair!

And of course filling the jar with lollies was worth it too!! ( That should read to my hubby... "But honey, we need these lollies for my display ideas!!!)

I also added some of our new Double stitched ribbons in Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava Just because I love them! What do you think? Great gift idea?

New Goodies to Play with!!!

I have to apologise for my lack of posting this last couple of weeks, However we have been busy. As some would know we have just returned from the annual Stampin' Up! Convention (this year was in Brisbane) and it was the most exhausting, exciting and exhilarating two days of Stampin' fun and learning. Not to mention chatting and catching up with demos from all over Australia and participating in all kinds of swaps and getting FREE stamp sets as well!! ( Will photograph them later for you to see!)

Anyway, here is a card I made last night using a new set called 'Fun and Fast Notes' and the new In Colour, 'Purely Pomegranate'. I also used the new 'Double stitched Ribbon', rhinestone brad from the 'Pretties Kit' and an old favourite, 'Crystal effects' and 'dazzling diamonds' on the flower head! Hope you like it!

I made this card for my Aunt's Birthday and it is now safely on it's way to her. I must admit I really like the way this one turned out. And I was able to use a bit of 'Bling' from my stash of odds and ends for the Buckle. The second photo show the insert which reads 'Someone like you should be celebrated every day!' If you would like any details about this card please feel free to get in contact.

A cute Easter card...

How sweet is this little card. I received it from one of my downlines, Leah, for Easter. Such a lovely surprise in the mail. She has used the 'Bunny Hugs' stamp set which is only available until the end of the month along with the rest of the Summer mini catty products.

I have also received my New 2008/2009 Idea book and Catalogues. So if you had one pre- ordered then it will be in your hot little hands very soon. If you haven't pre-ordered then there is still time and you will be amongst the first in Australia to see all the gorgeous new goodies we are getting!