SU! Convention 2010 this week

Only two more days for the annual Stampin' Up! Convention. This year it will be held in Sydney. The time has come around so quickly. I cant believe we are almost into June. It has been a very busy year for me and the last few nights have been dedicated to getting my swaps ready for Convention. I have only done 30 swaps this year as opposed to 60 last year. I just have not had the time to do anymore. My flight is tomorrow so I will have to pack sometime so unfortunately I have to try to veer away from my craft room.

This is one of the cards I have made for the swap. I was eating my dinner and trying to think of a design. I had my paper sitting next to me at dinner and when a thought came to my mind I quickly jotted it down. Of course they always turn out a little different to what you have in mind but I am happy with my final choice. I just love this Vintage Vogue set from the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue and of course the new colours I have chosen go well with the stamp set. I have chosen to use Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White.

Also from the mini is the Big Shot Die cut machine which I used to create my little leaves and that is exactly what the die is called (Little Leaves). I used the Eyelet Border Punch for around the outside of my circle which was cut out using the Circle Scissor Plus. I guess you could say that this card was almost all created using the new mini. If you have not already seen the new current mini it is a must as it full of so many beautiful items. I have used the Rich Razzleberry Refill ink to dye my Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon. Refills are available at present from the current mini. I used five drops of ink to three small sprays from my little spray bottle. I had about 10 pieces of ribbon per lot which did not leave any ink behind.

My other two swaps are masculine cards. One of them has already been featured on my blog using Circle Circus. It has been quite a hit so I thought I would do it one more time. I think we all have trouble with coming up with masculine card ideas.

Our May workshop was a lot of fun where we made a little gift box and two cards. One of the cards is shown in the Idea Book and Catalogue on page 72 using the Fresh Cuts stamp set and the Fresh-Cuts Notes. We used Old Olive and Chocolate Chip. I found the idea for the gift box online by the very talented Heather Summers, thank you Heather. This one can be made using the SU! Five in one Template. The original sizing was too big for what I wanted so I adjusted the sizing. The top of the box measures 7.5 x 7.5cm so it is a nice size for chocolates or other little trinklets you might like to give someone. Imagine it done up in Christmas colours and holly on the top. How gorgeous!

The other item we made was a little card that holds a teabag. I had one of these from the Swap at the Convention in Canberra last year. What a great idea and my ladies loved them. If you would like to join in on my workshops please dont hesitate to contact me. Remember if you have been eyeing off some of those goodies from the mini and there is too many decisions then you may like to hold your very own workshop and receive some of them as a gift for doing so. Its so easy to attain. I was amazed when I had my first workshop presented by Ngaire Anderson, my upline. I was so amazed at how quick and simple a card can be made up and how lovely they looked. I was impressed. So impressed that I decided to join Stampin' Up! From a very young age I wanted to open up a gift shop that sold cards. I have always loved the thought. Well now I have my own little shop right in my own home and I am loving it. It is great doing and sharing something you love to do. That is what Stampin' Up! is all about.

Anyway I must go and get some beauty sleep before my trip tomorrow. It will be a long day as we dont arrive until after 10pm and then we have to book into our room. On Thursday a group of us are climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I will admit I am quite nervous at this as I dont like heights but a challenge is good for you and that is why I am doing it. Hopefully I will be a proud one once I make it back to the bottom without chickening out. Wish me luck! I'll be back with some pics and to let you know how I went.

Thanks for popping by.

April Workshop

Peter and I arrived home last night from Broome after spending the long weekend relaxing. We actually went up for our nieces wedding. We had a really nice time and the first time I have spent so many hours by and in the pool at the resort. The wedding and reception was perfect. The bride looked gorgeous as they do and the new husband was very moved the whole way through.

The weekend before was our April Workshop where we made three Mothers Day/feminine cards. It was a workshop full of techniques. We did the faux leather card. (I got the idea from Jan White I think from one of our swaps. This is where you use masking tape and tear it into small pieces and place on cardstock, leaving no spaces. You then go over the cardstock with a Stamp Pad of your choice of colour. I have used Elegant Eggplant. Once you have done that then you will need to go over it with Clear Embossing Powder. There is no need to use Versamark as the embossing powder will adhere to the masking tape once heated with the Heat Gun. I used Pocket Silhouettes as my choice of stamp using a marker to colour (Elegant Eggplant, Green Galore) and then went over the buds with Crystal Effects.

I also made a masculine card prior to the workshop using a new stamp set from the Mini Catalogue, Autumn Days and then went over the pine cones with Crystal Effects. I may use this one as my Convention Swap. Not sure yet.

The idea for the other card came from Lee Ann Greff, a very talented lady. It is called Josephs Coat Inside Out. I have used the new Medallion stamp from the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue. First of all you will need to stamp using Black Staz On the En Francais stamp onto white cardstock. (Unfortunately I have not got that particular stamp so had to use another one). Then using your dauber, colour sections all over with Barely Banana, Tempting Turquoise and Rose Red in that order, leaving no white spaces. Stamp the Medallion using Versamark and then use Clear Embossing Powder and Heat gun. Using your brayer in a patchwork type system go over sections with Rose Red and Tempting Turquoise. This will bring out the Medallion clearer.

Convention is less than a month away. It only seems like yesterday that I was at the Canberra Convention and that was 12 months ago. I thoroughly enjoyed the last Convention and am looking forward to this one. We may get some sneak peaks from the new Catalogue which is due to be released in September. We already know that we are having a Colour Renovation. At first I was a bit sad to see some of the colours that we will be saying goodbye to but after watching Shelli's video (Colour Renovation) I felt better as the new colours are gorgeous. I think we are going to be in for a lot of surprises this September.

In the meantime we still have our beautiful current catalouge and the fantastic Autumn-Winter Mini Catalouge. I just love this new mini. If you have not had a chance to see the new mini then why dont you email me jenchi10@yahoo.com.au and I will send you a copy. Then you can be just as excited as I am about it.

Anyway I must go to bed as it is almost midnight and I have work tomorrow. Tomorrow night we are going out to celebrate my God-daughters 18th birthday. Katie is such a lovely fun loving young lady and I am so proud of her.

Bye for now and thanks for popping in. :)

Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue

Hello everyone! I am so excited! This mini catalogue is the best one I have seen. We have the Big Shot, dies, new colours, papers, stamp pads, stamp sets etc etc etc. Please click on the image on the right hand side to see what is in store for you. The new colours, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Soft Suede are just fabulous and the Stamp Pads, Ink Refills, Cardstock and Ribbon are all a part of the new colour scheme in the mini. The new Clear-mount rubber stamps are also available along with the lovely grooved blocks to pop them onto. This mini runs from 1 April to 31 August which is great as there are so many products available. Please email me if you have any queries or would like to order. Enjoy and thanks for popping by!

Easter Workshop

Hello there! Gosh here we are in the middle of March. Where has the time gone?

Our Easter workshop is planned for 20th March and here is what we will be making. A little bit of punch art and working with the lovely Watercolor Pencils and Blender Pens.

The folded card came from someone's blog and I am sorry I cannot remember who it was but if you know it was you then thank you for sharing it with us.

The Box Card came from the very talented Amy Celona although I have seen this one quite often.

For the folded card you will need-

Cardstock- Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Whisper White.

DSP - Haiku

Stamp Pad - Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Stamps - Occasions For All Stamps (hostess gift), Always, Forest Friends.

Accessories - Bone Scorer, 1 1/4" Square Punch, 1 3/8" Square Punch, Lge Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Slit Punch. Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon, 2 pieces.

Cut the DSP 10 x 10cm and on one side fold in corner to corner. Do this for the other side also. Using a pencil mark a small cross in the centre where folds meet. Fold in each corner to fold line. On each corner (triangle) fold back the point until it meets the back, fold. There you have your folded shape. Using Versamark and the leafy stamp from the Always stamp set, stamp your More Mustard card. Use the Slit Punch to punch the corners out. Your Chocolate Chip ribbon is then placed onto the lower part of the More Mustard card leaving room for your folded shape. Tie the second piece of ribbon to make the bow. I used the Happy + Easter from the Occasions For All stamp set using my Stamp-a-ma-jig. The rest is pretty easy so give it a go. You dont need to use it for an Easter card. There are many ways to use this design.

Explosion Box Card.

I used Kraft Cardstock for the box bottom. Measurements are 7.5" x 7.5" square.

Score at 2.5" on all sides. Cut off the corners from fold to fold which will give you an octogon shape. On each corner fold in to the fold line as shown. You will then be able to fold the shape into a box. For the Box lid you will need DSP (I've used Windsor Knot) 4 1/4" x 4 1/4". Score in from each side 7/8". Make 4 cuts as shown (just outside the score lines). Fold in the square flaps and adhere to inside the lid.

The Rabbit was punched out using Large Oval (Ears & Feet), Small Oval (Ears & Feet), 1 3/8" Circle Punch (Head & Body). 1/2" Circle Punch (Cheek) Large Punch using Cropodile (Nose). Old Office hole punch for eyes. Cardstock used for the rabbit were Whisper White, Basic Black & Regal Rose. I sponged his face, body and cheeks with Regal Rose. The eyes were done with White Gel Pen and other markins with Basic Black Marker. The For You stamp is from the Vintage Label Stamp set which part of the Sale-a-bration Catalogue which ends on March 31st.

The other Easter Card is pretty self explanatory using the Watercolor Pencils and the Blender Pens. Its amazing what you can do with a set of pencils. This also goes for the Watercolor Pastels and Crayons. You have all the colours you need to colour your special projects. The scalloped circle was done by using the Scallop Edge Punch and then cutting in so far and bending the strip around the Whisper White circle. I have used the Kaleidoscope DSP from the Summer Mini Catalogue which also ends on 31 March.

HURRY! Have one last look at your Summer Mini and Sale-a-bration Catalogues to see if there is something on your wish list. If you dont have a catalogue then have a look on the right hand and click on your choice. Remember if you spend $100 in the Summer Mini you will receive a free stamp set from the Sale-a-bration Catalogue. I will need orders by the 30th if you wish to get in before it ends.
I cant wait to show you the Autumn-Winter Catalogue. There are sooooooo many lovely goodies in this one. Until then enjoy your stamping and thanks for popping by.

February Workshop

Can you believe we are at the end of February which means the end of summer. It looks like we are in for some more hot weather before it ends though with next weekend in the low 40's. I am sure we will be in for some more hot weather in March before it starts cooling down. The weather has been perfect this weekend and so was February's workshop. Lots of fun and laughter was had by all. Our theme this month was masculine cards. I had a request to make the black and white card using Circle Circus. I have the instructions in one of my earlier posts. The Tempting Turquoise one was using Glossy White Card. I placed a sheet of Glad Wrap onto the benchtop and using Summer Fun, Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point Inks in that order I dobbed onto the Glad Wrap in various places. By using a water spray bottle (must be fine spray) I sprayed slightly three times over the ink. Waiting for the ink to bleed then held my piece of Glossy White in one corner and wiped it over the Glad Wrap. It will depend on how much water you have sprayed onto the Glad Wrap as to how your piece will turn out. Experiment as not one will come out the same. The tecnique idea of this card came from our Stamp Camp last year by the lovely Charmaine Black. Charmaine had brought along some plastic sheeting but as I did not have any I tried the Glad Wrap and found that it works quite well.
The other card was using Something Sweet in Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow and Windsor Knot DSP. I bought some Tic Tacs to place inside the Sweet Treat Cup.
You can also see a piece of the afternoon tea that I had prepared earlier. I found the recipe in last weeks Woolworths food catalogue. Almost every ingredient is a weight watchers item so we didnt feel too bad when we tried it out. The boys were lucky when they arrived home to find some still left for them.
There is only one month left with the Summer Mini Catalogue so if you are eyeing off any items in this catalogue then you will have to act soon and place your order. Also there is only one month left for the Sale-A-Bration catalogue where if you place an order of $100 or more, or hold a workshop to the value of $600 then you will receive a stamp set of your choice from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue. I think I have mentioned before that my favourite is Whimsical Words and I have found this one to be a favourite with my customers.
Stampin' Up! have given us a sneak peak for our next upcoming mini and there will be some great new items available. I am not sure if I am able to let you in on this but the Big Shot is one of the new items. Something worth waiting for.
Next workshop will be Easter Cards and a 3D project. For those of you who are not interested in Easter Cards I will have something else lined up.

Sale-a-bration is here!

Our fantastic Sale-a-bration is here once again. This is a time I look out for as you are able to receive a free stamp set when you spend over $100 or hold a workshop to the value of $600. To view the beautiful stamp sets just click on the Sale-a-bration icon on the right hand panel. My favourite is Whimsical Words. This special runs from 25 January to 31 March 2010.

We had our group swaps this month and the theme was the Sale-a-bration catalogue. Although there were not many in this swap we all had a lovely evening at Ngaires and we stamped on well into the night. Here are a few of the swaps I received as well as the card I made.

My last workshop that I held at home was the 'I Wish' Scrapbook which was cleverly designed by the very talented Andrea Walford. The girls really seemed to enjoy the workshop and left feeling chuffed about what they had achieved. All the girls but one chose the 'I Wish' Scrapkit and one of them chose Love Sparkles. It was a very busy workshop but I found I was able to relax more once the girls were decorating their albums. I had most of the cutting and scoring done prior to the workshop but some of them had still had cutting to do. I did get my camera out but was distracted and did not manage to get a photo of the busy girls but I did get a quick one of Kay's done in Love Sparkles. (Really quickly before she left) Here is a photo of Kays and also one I made for a very dear friend who has just lost her daughter to cancer. My cat decided to hop up and try to play with the ribbon on the scrapbook. She always sits on the table or the chair next to me and watches me while I work.

Whimsical Words

Happy New Year! I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that 2010 will be a great year for us all. We had a busy Christmas and there was a lot of cooking both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. We spent Christmas at home with relations and then drove three hours the next day and had another Christmas with our youngest daughter on the farm. New Years was a lot quieter and I spent all day on New Years Day in my craft room. (A good start to the year). It was so relaxing and I enjoyed every minute of it.

There are only two more weeks left of the Inventory Clearance as it finishes on the 24th January. If you haven't already had a look at the list you dont have long to do it. Its on the right hand side of my blog. All you have to do is click on the icon. There are great savings to be made.

Well! We have Sale-a-bration coming up on the 25 January and it runs till 31 March. This is where each time you spend $100 of Stampin' Up! products you will receive a stamp set of your choice from the Sale-a-bration catalogue. If you have been eyeing off some products in the catalogue then this will be a good time for you to purchase them and collect your new freebies.

I have a sneak peak for you with a card I made on New Years Day ready for the Sale-a-bration swap with Ngaire's group. (my upline)

I have used Whimsical Words stamp set. This set has 6 stamps in it and is really lovely and I think will be very popular.

For this card you will need:-

Stamp Set - Whimsical Words, Always

Cardstock - Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla

Stamp Pad - Not Quite Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Versamark

Accessories - Stamp-a-ma-jig, Clear Embossing Pwd for sentiment, Heat Gun, Dimensionals, Daubers, Not Quite Navy Marker, Eyelet Border Punch, Ribbon - Pumpkin Pie

First of all using the heart stamp from the Always Stamp Set I took my Not Quite Navy Marker and coloured the edging on the heart. I stamped onto Very Vanilla Cardstock. Then using my Stamp-a-ma-jig I used the stamp from Whimsical Words and stamped on Versamark then Pumpkin Pie and onto the cardstock in the middle of the heart. I then used Clear Embossing Powder and then the heat gun.

On the Not Quite Navy cardstock I used the dauber and the Versamark and sponged around the edges. I used Versamark to stamp the sentiment all over the cardstock.

To get the pattern on the small Pumpkin Pie cardstock I used the Eyelet Border. If you place the corner of the card into the eyelet border and centre it in between the patterns and punch you will achieve this pattern. I used Stampin' Dimensionals to raise the heart so that I was able to run the ribbon underneath.