A milestone post!

I'm sure that I've got some balloons somewhere, and maybe even one of those little noisemaker thingies with the paper curl that go "blllllaaaaaattttt" when you blow in them. Because this is Post # 100, a number I was never convinced I would actually reach.

In celebration, another card.

What a surprise.

I didn't actually make this one today - far too hot for stamping (it's another scorcher in Melbourne, with the temperature in the 40s, hoping for the cool change to come in quickly. They are telling us that it will be down to a top of 19 on Tuesday). So here's one I prepared earlier.

More pink. Again, another surprise.

I really, really like this set. The bold flowers just really seem to work well, and look great when coloured with markers as shown here. And I've used the smaller sprig of flowers in Pixie Pink to add texture to the layers.

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Live Your Dream
Ink: Pixie Pink, Old Olive
Cardstock: Old Olive, Pixie Pink, Whisper White
Other: Stampin' Write Markers in Old Olive, Pixie Pink, Rose Red and So Saffron

Happy anniversary to me!

Oh, and I changed my header again. Just because I can.

Getting the most of your Chalks

Recently a few girls from Gail's downline met up at Eildon for a stamping weekend (waves to Anne-Marie, Coral and Gina). We had a great time - the location was tranquil, except for the motorbikes down the road, the weather was perfect, even the mossies weren't too friendly.

While we were there, we actually managed to do a little stamping (!!!). Shown to the right is the table during our Sunday morning session - this is a whole bunch tidier than it was the night before!

Aside from making up some little notepads (so easy to cover with a little cardstock and then decorate with punches & stamps!) I whipped up this. I stamped with white craft ink onto Basic Black cardstock, then used my Stampin' Pastels to colour in the flowers. Originally I coloured the entire petal area red, then tried one with blue, then tried Gina's suggestion and coloured just the tips of the petals blue ... bingo! That was the winner.

So I did the same thing with the tiny flowers and the butterfly to fill in the space on the right of the card.

I really, really like this one!

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Live Your Dream
Ink: Whisper White Craft Ink
Cardstock: So Saffron, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Basic Black
Other: Stampin' Pastels

Girls' Nite In

Every so often, one of my friends will call for a Girls' Nite, where we stamp, chat, snack, chat and maybe stamp some more. These Nites are a great way of escaping from "real life" and just having some time to be yourself, and can be invaluable halfway through the summer school holidays *g*.

Our most recent Nite, held here at my place, resulted in some great cards from Liz, which she has kindly allowed me to show you.



Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Embrace Life
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Whisper White



Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Live Your Dream
Ink: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Always Artichoke, River Rock, Whisper White



Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Ocean Commotion, Short & Sweet
Ink: Groovy Guava, Blue Bayou
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Whisper White

There is one more card, but sometimes Blogger doesn't play nicely and won't let me upload the cards the right way up, grrrr. Next time ...

A Little Thank You

I haven't really been stamping much this week (blame Christmas ... I do!) but thought I had better share something or no one will bother to visit me at casa del stamp.

Here's a little 3x3 thank you card I made for my friend and coworker Sharon. She has been my most consistent customer since I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and I wanted to show my appreciation. So I bought her a nifty little travel mug and made this card to go with it.

This set (Live Your Dream) is actually pretty darn nice. The big flower stamp is handy to colour with markers (as shown here) or used as a "shadow" effect ... I think you could even make a nice "garden" border with it stamped at different heights along the bottom of a piece of cardstock. Must try that one day soon.

Stamp sets: Live Your Dream
Ink: Old Olive, Regal Rose
Cardstock: Old Olive, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Whisper White
Other: 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Stampin' Write Markers in Rose Red, Regal Rose and So Saffron

Live Your Dream

As promised, now that the Summer Mini is officially here, I can upload samples for you to see.

First up, some of the stuff we made at the Stampin' Up! Victorian regional seminar which was held on November 8 at the Melbourne Convention Centre. These seminars are awesome! We get to listen to inspirational talks from Stampin' Up! staff and local demonstrators, see new ideas, watch great demos and do our own make & takes with all materials (including the stamp set) provided!

So these are what we made:

First up a tall thin card - something of a change from the usual "A5 folded in half" shape. I like it. We've used a piece of the Afternoon Tea designer paper which coordinates well with the cardstock colours that were used, and the yummy 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon.

Do you see the stitched detail? Ha! Fooled you! We used the paper piercer and piercing template from the Crafter's Toolkit to make a little row of holes, then drew white lines on with a gel marker to simulate the look of stitching. Yes, I could have brought it home and used my sewing machine, but that would have involved getting it out, making sure it had white thread in, plugging it in, actually sewing the card and then packing the darn thing away again. Too much like hard work.

Images © 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!®. Contact me if you wish to order any of the supplies used to make this card.

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Live Your Dream
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Confetti White, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky Textured, Afternoon Tea Designer Paper
Other: 5/8" Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, Crafter's Tool Kit, White Uni-ball igno gel pen

Next a little folder which is designed to hold a set of 3 Love Notes and matching envelopes. The little Love Notes cards are only 3 inches square, and are so cute. Unfortunately I *still* haven't quite finished them, but you can admire the little folder in the meantime ...

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Live Your Dream
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Afternoon Tea Designer Paper
Other: Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, silver brad, White Circle Aluminium Metal Edge tag, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 3/16" Corner Rounder punch

Thirdly, we have a "matchbook fold" card ... this has a little fold at the bottom, and the top flap tucks into it like a matchbook. The result is very effective. You probably can't see it in the photo, but we used the journalling lines stamp on the white tag, so it looks a little like a page taken from an exercise book.

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Live Your Dream
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky
Cardstock: Soft Sky Textured, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Afternoon Tea Designer Paper
Other: Groovy Guava double-stitched grosgrain ribbon, White Circle Aluminium Metal Edge tag, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, 1/16" Circle punch, Linen thread

And finally, a 6x6 scrapbook page. I really must find a nice photo to put into this. We got to play with the square scallop punch on this one - it makes an interesting element and ties the page together at the top.

Supplies used:

Stamp sets: Live Your Dream
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Whisper White, Afternoon Tea Designer Paper
Other: Soft Sky double-stitched grosgrain ribbon, Silver Brad, Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Square Punch

Next time I go to a regional seminar or the Stampin' Up! Australian convention (next May in Canberra!), I am going to take my trusty Stampamajig ... it's the only way I'm going to get those sentiments stamped straight *sigh*