Gailforce Stampers Mojo Challenge

What an odd title for a post.

Well, if you know the backstory, perhaps not.

Over the summer months, sometimes it can be hard to find creative juices (or "mojo" - thanks Austin Powers!) with the warmer weather beckoning us outside, school holidays in full force and other distractions.

It's very easy to lose your way creatively during these times, and so I was delighted when Anne-Marie, a member of the Gailforce Stampers team (headed by my upline, the lovely Gail) , recently challenged the rest of us to create a card conforming to very strict parameters.

The card could ONLY use the colours in the Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper (available in the current Summer Mini Catalogue), plus Whisper White for a neutral. In other words, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Summer Sun, Only Orange, Pink Passion and Pixie Pink. And if you know your Stampin' Up! colours, you know that whatever we made was going to be BRIGHT!

These are not colours I would normally reach for, let alone put together, so it was tricky. But a challenge is a challenge and needs to be met, and I managed it! Not once, but twice!

The first card can be seen above, and here is the second ... I should have put a sunglasses warning in this post, huh.

Anyway, thanks for the challenge Anne-Marie!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Card 1:
Stamp/s: Eastern Blooms, Short & Sweet
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Only Orange, Pink Passion, Pixie Pink
Cardstock: Pink Passion, Green Galore, Whisper White
Other: Tempting Turquoise 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
Card 2:
Stamp/s: Hello Again
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Pixie Pink
Cardstock: Pixie Pink, Green Galore, Summer Sun, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Other: Spiral Punch, Retro Remix Standard Stampin' Around Wheel

Haitian Disaster Relief

(from the Stampin' Up! website)

On 12 January, 2010 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, leaving in its wake devastation so overwhelming that the Haitian people and their leaders can only look for help from the outside to cope. In the past, when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers, when a tsunami struck Indonesia, when a hurricane destroyed New Orleans, and when wildfires ravaged Australia, Stampin' Up! demonstrators stepped forward and showed their commitment to making a difference in the lives of others. This time is no different.

From now until 28 February, 2010, you can partner with Stampin' Up! to make a difference in the lives of those who continue to suffer from the effects of this devastating earthquake.

Stampin' Up! will set aside $2 from the sale of every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set and donate that money to the American Red Cross' Haiti Relief and Development Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

Click the picture above to view the webpage at the Stampin' Up! website and download a PDF version of the flyer.

Contact me today to find out more about this fundraising effort. I for one will be buying this set.

Sale-A-Brate Good Times, Come On!

Yeah, I know, that is one of the lamer blog titles of all time LOL, but it's just that every time I hear the word "Sale-A-Bration", that song jumps into my head.

Yes, it's Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration time again. For those of you who haven't experienced this, I'll quickly explain ... from now until March 31, for every $100 you spend on Stampin' Up! merchandise (catalogue price, so that is excluding shipping) you receive a totally FREE Sale-A-Bration stamp set! There are four FREE stamp sets to choose from, they are only available during the Sale-A-Bration period, are not available for sale, and once it's over that's it, you can't get them any more.

To have a look at the stamp sets, click on over to the Stampin' Up! website (direct link to the Sale-A-Bration page here or on my Business Website here).

Being a demonstrator, I am lucky enough to be able to take advantage of things like pre-purchase on some items, including SAB sets. After much umming and ahing - it was a hard decision, I can tell you - I decided to get Good Neighbours (see the sample to the left) - it's so cute! The set consists of 10 stamps (admittedly they're kinda small), comprising three houses, three roofs, three trees and a cloud, so you can mix & match and make your own little town scene (a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig is almost essential here, by the way).

The sample shown here was made at the direction of my daughter, aged 11. I had made her a bookmark a few weeks back, which she didn't like because apparently the colours I chose "don't look good together". Her words. So she was given the job of choosing the colours for her bookmark herself.

While Gable Green and Perfect Plum is not a colour scheme I would have picked, it actually came out quite well in the end.

It was also her choice to have the little house on there (I added the tree without being told *g*), and while I was sceptical at first, the bookmark ended up looking a lot nicer than I had thought.

To give you an idea of the size of the Good Neighbours stamps, the bookmark measures 7cm across and 10.5cm high. And for those of you who want more details, it's actually folded in half along the top (so it's actually a 21x7cm strip), with the Round Tab Punch stapled on for a tab, and magnets stuck inside so the bookmark grips the page and (hopefully) doesn't fall out.

If you want your own copy of the Sale-A-Bration brochure, or wish to place a qualifying order to get your very own FREE stamp set, contact me today!

Images © 1990-2010 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Good Neighbours (Sale-A-Bration set)
Ink: Perfect Plum, Gable Green
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Gable Green, Whisper White
Other: Round Tab Punch, Scallop Square Punch, 1-1/4" Square Punch, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Retro Remix Standard Wheel

Clearance Items selling out ...

You still have a few more days to take advantage of the Inventory Clearance Sale (until January 24th), however keep in mind that these items are only available until sold out, and some stock is already gone.

Stampin' Up! announced back in March 2009 that all the "new release" stamp sets would be die cut, and the older-style sets would be phased out as stocks ran out, to be replaced with die cut sets.

The Inventory Clearance Sale is a way of clearing out what's left, and apparently it's been pretty successful, as the following items are no longer available:

Item Number	Item Name
116376	Jumbo Outline Alphabet stamp set
111983	Just Riding stamp set
112370	Wild West Alphabet Stamp Set

These stamp sets are still available (in the die cut format), just not at the special price.

Learn more about the Inventory Clearance Sale at the Stampin' Up! website here.

Big Deal ...

Big Deal Alphabet, that is!

Currently, you can get between 25% and 50% off a range of Stampin' Up! goodies, one of which is this super cool alphabet set.

The letters are GIANT - the E shown here is 3.5cm tall! To put it in perspective, the card shown at the right is 14.8cm square (love square cards, but they're a bugger to mail, as I have to make my own envelope for them).

If you're a scrapbooker, and use stickers for your headings, you can probably see a few advantages in owning this alphabet ... you will have all the Es, Ts and Ms you want and never end up with a bunch of useless Xs and Zs left over *g*.

You can buy this alphabet set for only $38.98 until Januar y 24th - that's a saving of 50%!

See the full list of products on special here then drop me an email or give me a call to place your order.

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamp/s: Big Deal Alphabet, Baroque Motifs
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Pacific Point
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Whisper White
Other: Scallop Edge Punch

Happy New Year!

Another Christmas has passed, and we can all breathe freely for a little while at least ... while I enjoyed the break, there seems to be a ridiculous amount of pressure attached to Christmas - sorry, just got a little "bah humbug" there *g*.

Anyway, it's now 2010, and so far it's looking like a good year. Then again, it is only the 6th, plenty of time for things to go wrong LOL.

To kick off this year's posts, here is a snap of little gift card holders I whipped up for my nieces and nephew on Christmas Eve (nothing like the last minute for getting things done!). We usually find gift cards or cash are easiest, that way the kids can get whatever they want rather than end up with something lame that Auntie Chris picked up for them.

So each year I try to come up with a smart packaging idea. I was going to make little handbags, but that probably would have annoyed my nephew no end LOL, so after a little research online came up with these little beauties. And do you think I can remember where I got the idea from? Of course not!

Basically, these holders are a strip of cardstock, scored twice, with one side stuck down to create a little pocket. I stuck a piece of white cardstock under the top flap to write my message on.

And look! I've even cut into my precious stash of Designer Series Paper to decorate these - no stamping involved!

Images © 1990-2009 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Pixie Pink
Other: Washington Apple DSP, Petal Party Simply Scrappin' Kit, 1/4" White Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/8" So Saffron and Certainly Celery ribbons from September promo (no longer available, sorry), Horizontal Slot Punch, Scallop Edge Punch