Christmas Gift Giving Promotion

.
Just a short post today to tell you about a fabulous promotion that Stampin' Up! has running until 14 December 2009, where you can get a FREE punch (either the Scallop Square or Boho Blossoms) worth $35.95 for every $105 you spend on certain items from the IB&C (Idea Book and Catalogue). To download the complete list of items please click here.

Tomorrow I'll post a picture of a page I made with one of the items on the list, the I Wish Simply Scrappin' kit ($43.95). These Simply Scrappin' kits are awesome for making quick pages and cards, as they include a co-ordinating combination of cardstock, patterned paper and diecuts which goes together with little effort. I Wish has a Christmas theme, making it perfect for this time of the year, but as you will see tomorrow it doesn't necessarily have to be used on a Christmas page...
.

Sneaky Peak!

.
As promised, here is a sneaky peak of the door prize I've made for this weekend's event. Not the best picture I know, but that's what happens when you do photography at night (grrr!). Some lucky person will go home with this stationary kit on Sunday at the Tauranga Christmas Extravaganza - woohoo!! It has compartments inside that hold stamps, envelopes and greeting cards, as well as space for a notepad and calendar.


I got the template for this from the very talented Michelle Habib, who sells full instructions for making it on her website. I'm planning on making a few of these for Christmas presents, especially for some of my older relations. And if you're lucky I might just share the inside with you all sometime!
.

So Young, So Innocent...

style.
It seems my scrapbooking ladies just can't get enough of Heritage scrapbooking, but in order to make this page more versatile I have leaned towards more of a 'modern' heritage style.


This is my Third form (Year 9??) photo taken in 1986 when I was in my first year at boarding school. I can't believe how young and innocent (naive??)I look in this photo!

In order to give the page a timeless feel I have used the gorgeous Parisian Breeze DSP ($27.95), which is only available until the end of this month (sob!) when the Spring Mini catalogue ends. This DSP is a textured coverweight, so is perfect for those mini albums. I'm really going to miss it when it's gone... (can you tell!?!). I've also coupled this paper with the beautiful Great Friend set (also leaving in the Spring Mini!), which at $37.95 for five co-ordinating stamps is great value. In order to make the customised border shown below I used Baja Breeze ink to stamp the En Francais ($39.95) background onto glossy cardstock and then stamped the butterfly from Great Friend in Versamark before embossing it with white embossing powder (some students used clear embossing powder too so that the En Francais words showed though), and lastly sponging over the top with Baja Breeze again. I love how it all co-ordinates and really showcases this (modern) heritage page!

To add some extra special touches I have used a crystal brad, white half pearl and flower from the Pretties kit ($66.95 for TONS of bling!). The flower has been dyed with the Baja Breeze reinker to co-ordinate with the rest of the page. A few butterflies fluttering through the bottom left-hand corner symbolize my journey from innocence to... well, all that I am today!

Check out my blog tomorrow for a sneak peak of the door prize I am making for the Tauranga Extravaganza that is on this coming Sunday at St Johns Church in Bureta. I still have a couple of spaces left to fill so please contact me ASAP if you would like to join us for a fun afternoon of stamping and crafting on Sunday afternoon!

Cute Punch Art

.
I love cute punch art, and this owl and lamb are the cutest I've found yet! I can't take the credit for designing either of these though, as I found them both on my travels in cyberspace, but I have designed the cards that they sit on.




One reason I love punch art is because it extends the usefulness of my punches, and allows me to create unique embellishments for my cards and scrapbooking pages. Stampin' Up! currently sell 36 different punches and both of these cards only use 12 of them! Although I have been in love with Stampin' Up! for over a year now I have yet to complete my punch collection - but I'm more than half way there! How many punches do YOU own??

Owl Recipe:
Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Punches: Wide Oval, Scallop Circle, 5 Petal, 1" Circle, 3/4" Circle, 1/2" Circle, Round Tab, Boho Blossoms, Designer Tag
Stamps: Seeing Spots, Short & Sweet
Other: Vintage brads, cork, goggly eyes, Dimensionals

Lamb (cased from here) Recipe:
Paper: Almost Amethyst, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Creamy Caramel
Punches: Scallop Circle, Wide Oval, Scallop Edge, Boho Blossoms, Word Window
Other: Basic Black marker, White Gel Pen

Get ready for Christmas!

.
Christmas is just around the corner, and this year's Christmas is going to be EXTRA special because I will be spending it with my nephews and niece in Australia!!! Yes, I'm leaving on the 17th of December for Sydney! I'm really looking forward to having a Christmas with kids (because, after all, isn't that what Christmas is all about!). I'm a little bit worried about the heat (!!) but am starting to get even more worried about just how much I have to do between now and then; cards, presents, decorations - it's enough to make my head spin!!



Luckily I found some gorgeous easy to make ornaments on Gretchen Barron's blog, so I've got the tree sorted! I also made some of these ornaments for our Creative Inkers team swap on Saturday, which happily also had a Christmas theme, and put them on a little Christmas tree so that the other ladies could each pick one and leave behind a swap for me under the tree.


These gorgeous little origami ornaments are made using the lovely Ski Slope DSP paper ($19.95 for 12 sheets) from the Spring Mini Catalogue, which is only available for another 6 weeks. The advantage of using double-sided paper is that it is slightly thicker than regular paper and makes a sturdier ornament.

If you would like to find out how to make this then sign up for my FREE newsletter here. During the run up to Christmas I will be sending out regular Christmas bonus newsletters showing you a variety of quick and easy Christmas projects that even the busiest person will have time to do. And hopefully I will be able to fit some of them into my suitcase to take to Oz for my nephews and niece!
.

Converting Cardmakers to Scrapbookers??

.
Hooray, I've managed ONE blog post in September!! Sorry I have been such a slack blogger - as usual, life happened!

This month the Creative Inkers Team Challenge was to create a scrapbooking layout or project that would appeal to scrapbookers using Stampin' Up! products. One aim of this was to maybe convert some of our cardmaking customers into scrapbookers. Personally, I have had no problems converting the cardmakers to scrapbooking, but converting scrapbookers to cardmaking is another story! For that reason I created the following page which I cased (an anagram for "Copy And Share Everything") from the Spring Mini Catalogue (page 17) using the wonderfully masculine set Uncharted Territory ($40.95).



To get the effect shown on the card I was casing I firstly stamped the images onto acetate using StazOn Cotton White ink, then stamped the highlighted areas onto colored cardstock before cutting them out and adhering to the back of the acetate. I used a torn piece of Pacific Point cardstock to make the ocean and there you have it - a scrapbook page cased from a card!

I also used the stamp set Enjoy Every Moment ($62.95) to create the title and journalling block, and the background card is the very funky Ballet Blue - not a very masculine name but a very masculine colour!

I am holding a scrapbooking class this Sunday, 4th October, so please contact me to book in if you would like to become a scrapbooking convert!

When the cat's away....

.
The mice make cards!! The last 'Cat's Away Challenge' was to make cards for the three lovely ladies who have been away in Noosa, and what better than some cat cards! You may recognise one of the cards - it was my entry for the Corrosive Challenge #25. These are the three cards I made for Jacque, Patrice and Rachael:


All materials are from Stampin' Up! except for the Penny Black cat stamp. The greeting and background stamped on the Kiwi Kiss card here are from the set Cheers To You, which goes perfectly with the cat sipping a mocktail.


In the next two cards I changed around the layout and colouring, using my aqua brush to get a cool (and easy!) watercolour effect from my ink pads.



I haven't decided who is getting which card yet, but I sure hope Jacque, Patrice and Rachael enjoy them and that they bring back fond memories of their time in the sun!