It's New Catalogue Eve!

It's finally here! It's the eve before the release of the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue. It's very exciting, I can stop sneaking around with the new stuff and start showing them off! Sadly it means the end of the old, the retired products, the Summer Mini Catalogue and the 2008 Idea Book & Catalogue, but I'll always have them around for inspiration.

It's been a good week so far. Things have settled down at work and I got to enjoy a two hour body treatment at the Endota Spa in town. Talk about bliss, I started with a foot bath, body scrub, massage with scented warm oil, a soak in the deepest spa bath and then a full massage to finish. I didn't want to leave and don't know how two hours went by so fast. One word, two actually, HEAVENLY, BLISS!! Check out their website at www.endota.com.au to see what I mean!

Anyway, here's my card I promised to upload from yesterday:

Stamps: Fresh Cuts (new) & Embrace Life

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic Kiwi Kiss & Tangerine Tango

Papers: Stampin' Up! Baja Blue (In Colours 2009), Apricot Appeal, Whisper White & Vellum

Other: Scallop Edge Punch, Oval punches, silver brad, felt/paper flowers & White Gel Ink pen

Tip: Use the white gel pen to dot around the scallops and to add the flower centres.

Just like I said, a bit of colour can change everything!

Back on Deck!

I'm back on deck (nearly!). One more day and then things will back to normal at work. Canberra has been a crazy place the last few days! I look forward to relaxing with my new and old toys! In fact, it's been so busy the last few days, I have just opened my box that was delivered on Friday. It is full of last-minute orders from my customers (who I consider friends - if you're wondering :0) to take advantage of the nearly-finished 2008-2009 Summer Mini Catalogue and the retired products of the 2008-2009 Idea Book & Catalogue. There's only one day of ordering left but woohoo woohoo 1 April is almost here with all the new stuff!!

As promised I have uploaded one of the cards that I made yesterday. Inspired by a card I saw in the Creative Cardmaking magazine ( I love my magazines! ), I used the colours that I had on hand rather than rushing to buy the exact materials and supplies. The card is from the current magazine - so check it out for yourself! But here is mine:

Stamps: Fresh Cuts (new) & Embrace Life

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic Vintage Violet (In Colour 2007) & Old Olive (Stampin' Marker)

Papers: Stampin' Up! Baja Blue & Pacific Point (In Colours 2009), Whisper White & Vellum

Other: Scallop Edge Punch, Oval punches, Eyelets, Pearls & White Gel Ink pen

Tip: Use the white gel pen to dot around the scallops and to add the flower centres.

Tomorrow I will show off my card using the new In Colours as well as showing how a few little changes can make the card completely different!

New Look Newsletter

I've had a disaster with my camera! All the photos I took of my project's today have come out blurry! I now have to wait till tomorrow for better lighting to try again. So no new pictures today. Sorry :(

I have been working on my newsletter though, and I hope that one has worked! I have a new newsletter template designed just for me. I hope you like and by all means, feel free to make any comments or give feedback :) I will try to be brave .....

While playing at my table, there were moments of melancholy (yes, I admit it). In one hand I had the In Colours of 2008 and the other hand I had the In Colours of 2009. My heart is still with 2008 but I'm sure the new ones will grow on me more and more as I use them. Although I have to admit, they all blended really well together. Hmmm. Might try something there!!

I was playing/looking/snooping with the US Stampin' Up! website today, and this picture demonstrates the new In Colours so well. They are bright and they are funky. It's going to be a fun year I think!

Good Friend

It's hard to believe that it's almost the end of March, day light savings is about to end and we're well and truly in the months of Autumn. Funny that, we're still enjoying the warm sunny days here in Canberra with the refreshing coolness of the evenings. I'm sure it was only a few weeks ago I was complaining about the continuous hot weather of summer and here we are, 25th March and counting down to winter!

It's been a really hectic week so far. Work is absolutely crazy with long hours, loads of pressure and the possibility of working right through the weekend as well as long days at the office. It's a part of my job but when you see your kids for only a few moments of the day, it makes it that little bit difficult. Baby Matthew has been so clingy to me this evening as he hardly saw me at all yesterday and most of today. Poor little man, he doesn't quite understand things like that, although Big Boy Luke sure does!

I don't know about you, but the last week of March and the next few weeks of April is a really busy month for birthdays in my household. Mainly friends and extended family, the birthday season is here. Today I wanted to make a really snappy card for my good friend's daughter who is turning 19 this week. I wanted something a little bit more upbeat than my usual style, so I thought I would give you a sneak peek of one of the sets due to be released by Stampin' Up! next week (1 April to be exact) when the new catalogue goes live!

This set is called 'Good Friend' and it's quite funky and I'm sure has lots & lots of uses! I've also used Tangerine Tango, another new In Colour of the new catalogue and if you look carefully you'll see an absolutely gorgeous flower brad, also released next week. You'll be wanting to see the catalogue for sure!! So without any more delay, here it is...

Stamps: Good Friend & Occasional Greetings

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Green Galore & Tangerine Tango

Papers: Stampin' Up! Whisper White & Designer Series Paper - Ginger Blossom

Other: New Flower Brads, Scallop Edge Punch, vintage brads, Dew Drops (non SU) and Stampin' Dimensionals.

Tip: Stamp solid images onto Whisper White CS and cut into shapes. Use Stampin' Dimensionals to lift them up!

I'll also be sending out an email today (if not tomorrow). I was planning to hold an Easter workshop this Sunday however due to unexpected circumstances with work, I will now defer it to our next monthly craft night on Friday 3rd April. It's unfortunate, but I would rather give notice of it now - then at the last minute.

I'm back

So how has your week been? I look back over my week and marvel at how busy I am, yet accomplish many things but still have a 'To Do' list a mile long! I am trying to remember to take life in small pieces and enjoy every moment along the way. Sometimes easier said then done, but when I look at my kids, I realise time is precious and how fast it is going by. Baby Matthew is 16 months old today and I'm really struggling with the idea that he's not my little baby any more. In fact, now that he's walking, he just wants to run! Those days of just holding a baby and staring in wonder may be gone, but now I get my two boys giving me lots of kisses and cuddles.

Anyway, back to my week. My working week went in a blur. Busy at work all day and then busy at home all night, some days I'm just lucky to have the house tidy (Oh, I miss my cleaning lady!). On Friday night, it was scrap night at Trudy's. And boy, the group is sure growing! There were two more ladies to join us and they were much more productive on their table, then the table I was sitting at. I (as usual) was easily distracted by all the lively chit chat, but did manage to get my basic layout done. When I finish the page, I'll show you what I made!

On Saturday I went with my mum, Big Boy Luke and met up with friends at the Charny Carny. What a hot and dusty day that was! But BBL had lots of fun, even if we had to queue up for absolutely ages to go on any rides! Saturday night, believe it or not, but I left my craft table untouched (a miracle) and spent the evening with my husband and watching a DVD (Burn after reading if you're wondering!).

Today, I went with my WH and two boys and mum (yep, a full car load) to have breakfast at the cafe next to Yarralumla Nursery at Weston Park. My boys had a ball playing on the grass, walking down the paths and following the bike path along the lake. It was beautiful weather, beautiful company and yummy food. Perfect!

Today, I went through all my paperwork, my piles of 'stuff' on my craft table and all my customer orders. Everything now is up to date (hooray) and everyone has got all their orders and even back orders as of Friday. I now have new orders to put in, but that's ok. We're on top of the game.

I am also preparing for my Easter Workshop where I welcome all my friends to join me in making Easter paper crafts, be it cards, tags, boxes or scrap pages. Join me for a relaxing afternoon! Click here to visit my Easter Workshop page for more details.

I also made my April calendar page too, Easter theme of course:

Stamps: A Good Egg

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Yoyo Yellow, Tangerine Tango & Pumpkin Pie

Papers: Stampin' Up! So Saffron, Pink Piourette, River Rock & Whisper White

Other: Boho Blossom Punch, glitter, vintage brads and Stampin' Dimensionals.

Tip: Stamp solid images onto Whisper White CS and cut into small Easter Egg shapes. Use Stampin' Dimensionals to lift up some of the Eggs.

Well, that's it for me. I think I've chattered enough tonight, I've got lots more to mention, but I'll share it with you during the week (you have to have something to look forward to!)

St Patrick's Day

It's St Patrick's Day. While I used to celebrate in my younger single days, I have fond memories of celebrating St Patrick's Day in Cyprus back in 2005 with my Irish work colleagues. Obviously green was the fashion colour of the day, we had an Irish service, Irish music and dancing, and of course, Irish beverages (my favourite being Bailey's)!! Aahh, the memories.

To honour St Patrick's day in just the smallest way, I made a card for my sister, just to let her know that we're thinking of her (she had her appendix taken out over the weekend). She's recovering well (considering she's having a baby) and is enjoying the attention of having people cater to her every whim at the moment. I guess you should milk that one while you can!

This card combines my favourite colour of 2008, being the In Colour of Wild Wasabi with the new In Colour of 2009 - Tangerine Tango. They go so well together, especially with the new Stampin' Up! stamp set that is due to come out in the new catalogue next month! I promised to give sneak peaks - so here they are!

The new In Colours about to be released, are .... drum roll please ....


And the card I made today, while using only two main colours, used paper layering/piecing to it's maximum effect. Patience, Patience I tell myself while cutting the bits out. What do you think?



Stamps: Fresh Cuts & Occasional Greetings

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic Wild Wasabi & Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip Marker

Papers: Stampin' Up! Wild Wasabi & Whisper White

Other: Oval Punches, glitter, vintage brads and Stampin' Dimensionals.
Tip: Cut your Stampin' Dimensionals into smaller pieces for layering the smaller images


The photo doesn't show it very well, but I have used glitter on selected leaves on both background prints, as well as on the brads of the flower centre. This card has got four basic layers and then embellished layers overlaid on top. It sounds complicated, but not really! As you can see, I incorporated the green theme really well!


So Happy St Patrick's Day - wherever you are!

Today was Priceless Stamp Camp!

Gosh it is Sunday! Where did the week go? I've been a bit slow blogging this week, mainly due to my internet problems, with my connection dropping in and out, continuously. It's very annoying and frustrating. I just keep telling myself, it's not long till we move into the new place and we get a better connection. Woohoo!

Today we had our Priceless Stamp Camp. With six girls sitting around the table, one beautiful new born baby, me hovering and the boys out for the afternoon, it made for a lovely afternoon. And the time just flew by too! All girls, made a box with 4 gift cards, using the colours of Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate and River Rock. We then moved on to make a bonus project and a lucky door prize at the end. Here's a pic of some of the bonus cards that I had made earlier:

Stamps: Priceless & Occasional Greetings

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava, River Rock & Chocolate Chip (or Basic Black)

Papers: Stampin' Up! Groovy Guava, Whisper White & Purely Pomegranate

Other: Purely Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon, circle & scallop edge punch, glitter, vintage brads and Stampin' Dimensionals.

Tip: Use glitter to enhance the flowers

I also promised to send out the recipe for the Caramel Tarts that we had as part of Afternoon Tea which we enjoyed with coffee, tea and chocolate fudge slice!

Caramel Tarts:

18 (220g) butternut snap biscuits

395g can sweetened condensed milk

60g butter, chopped coarsely

1/3 cup (75g) firmly packed brown sugar

1 tbl lemon juice.

1. Preheat oven to 160c/140c fan-forced. Grease two 12-hole shallow round-based patty pans.

2. Place one biscuit over top of 18 pan holes. Bake about 4 minutes or until biscuits soften. Using the back of a teaspoon, gently press softened biscuits into pan holes; cool.

3. Combine condensed milk, butter and sugar in small heavy-based saucepan; stir over heat until smooth. Bring to the boil; boil, stirring about 10 minutes or until mixture is thick and dark caramel in colour. Remove from heat; stir in juice.

4. Divide mixture among biscuit cases; refrigerate 30 minutes or until set.

Tonight I'll do the tally and send out the results of the fundraising bit. It's great to be able to do your bit for such a worthy cause.

In Colours 2008

I'm confused! I thought today was Wednesday, then Monday, but no it's really Tuesday. It's funny how days get mixed up after having a public holiday! Bring them on - even if I'm confused!! Back to work though, and a really busy week ahead of me. I'm doing my bit to clean up Canberra, even if only a little!

All systems normal. Boys were back at school, the house was a disaster and piles of washing. Life keeps you busy! But when I look at what a normal, happy family I have with beautiful healthy boys, well you can just overlook the housework and chores and enjoy the moment. And also, find time to sit at my table. I cleaned that today, surely that is an accomplishment in itself. Cleaning in anticipation of the weekend and my expected delivery of new products from Stampin' Up! which I am so impatiently waiting for!

Today, I made a thankyou card for a lovely friend who made a beautifully embroidered towel for baby Matthew. People have amazing talent and creative instincts. I'm jealous (even though I confess to having a bit of my own :) creative talent! As promised, I used the In Colours 2008 of Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava with a few bits of this and that thrown in!

Stamps: Priceless & Occasional Greetings

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava, River Rock & Chocolate Chip

Papers: Stampin' Up! Groovy Guava, Whisper White & Purely Pomegranate

Other: Purely Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon, circle & scallop edge punch, glitter

Tip: Use glitter to enhance the flowers

I can hear Baby Matthew crying - so I must dash.... see you next time!

Butterfly Priceless

Happy Canberra Day! I hope you enjoyed your public holiday. A day home from work is always a good thing!

I've been busy, busy, busy! My WH (wonderful husband) worked all weekend, so it was pretty much me and my two beautiful boys. But boy, do they keep you busy! And not much time to sit down, relax and create. However, I have been busy preparing for Stamp Camp on Sunday. Lots of cutting, sorting, counting and folding! It shall be great.

All of this preparation has given me lots of off cuts and spare bits of paper, and mainly in the 2008 In Colours, Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava and River Rock. So that's my focus this week. In Colours of 2008 before we say a final good bye to them later this month. I'm really sad they're going but the new ones are just as great!

Here's today's creation!

Stamps: Priceless, Tres Chic & Occasional Greetings

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava & Chocolate Chip

Papers: Stampin' Up! Groovy Guava, Whisper White & Basic Black

Other: White Gel Ink

Tip: Use a circle cutting sytstem to make it easier.

Back to the preparation table I guess! I hope you're checking the Retired List. Your favourites are selling out fast!

Back in Action!

Have you noticed my absence? From my Blog that is! I have been busily updating the Retired List page so that it shows which products are already sold out or at low quantities. They've been going like a flash!

I do have a number of really good excuses :) Firstly, and mainly, I caught the flu bug or should I say, it finally got me! Both my husband and I started to feel headachey and blah on Saturday and it got worse from there! I suspect we caught some of Baby Matthew's bug from the previous week. I also went to a three day course (here in Canberra) for analytical reasoning and decision making. Sounds impressive and the course was. It looks at your own thought processes and how it works. A great course (despite having the sore head, runny nose and annoying course!) And then .............. before you know it. The week has gone!

Lots of news thought. I've been busily preparing (when I've felt up to it) for the Priceless Stamp Camp next week. Last night we had our monthly craft night! And while I normally talk a lot, and procrastinate a lot, I did work on two pieces. A mini-calendar page for March using the Priceless stamp set and my Babushka doll which has a few more things, but she's almost done. Very productive! Here's the calendar page for my show and tell!

Stamps: Priceless

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava

Papers: Stampin' Up! Rose Red Cardstock, Whisper White, Basic Black & Groovy Guava

Other: Glitter & Dew Drops

Tip: If you don't have the calendar stamp set, print off a mini version from one of your software programs or any of the free websites that are around!

I tried to use as much of the colours for the Priceless Stamp Camp to get a feel for them. And I like!

You'll have to wait for my doll though. You can't see her till she's finished :)

The SU Retired List is here!

Lots to announce today! Firstly and maybe most importantly. Stampin' Up! have released their 2008-2009 Idea Book & Catalogue Retired List. This list is choc-full of stamp sets and accessories that are to be retired and never seen again :( But the good news - they are retiring to make way for the new stuff which comes out in April! This will bring our Australian catalogue more in line with the US catalogue and their fantastic products. Make sure you have a look at the retired list and see what you've been wanting (but putting off for another day) and even better! Some of these products are 20% off their normal retail price. Click here to see the list.

You'll be pleased to know Baby Matthew (BM) is feeling much better. Unfortunately he seems to have shared some of the bug, so the rest of us are sneezing and sniffling. We did our best to keep the bug away, but it wasn't to be I guess. But I did have time to take some photos as I promised! To finish off our With Sympathy feature, I wanted to show this card that my lovely dad's wife made (and sent to us).

Stamps: Polka Dot Bunches (SAB Set) & Sentiment (unknown)

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic Black and Soft Sky

Papers: Stampin' Up! Always Artichoke & Cream

Other: Circle Punch & Black Ribbon

Tip: Use your inkpad to ink the edges of the Always Artichoke cardstock pieces.

The card also had a beautiful sentiment that was just perfect for the occasion the card was made for. I will post it here - for all our future reference:

Those we love don't go away,
They walk beside us every day,
Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed and very dear.

I have used this beautiful card as the template for a birthday card.

Stamps: Polka Dot Bunches (SAB Set) & Congrats (SAB Set)

Inks: Stampin' Up! Classic Black, Chocolate Chip & Always Artichoke

Papers: Stampin' Up! Wild Wasabi & Designer Series Paper Wintergreen

Other: Circle Punch & Black Ribbon

Tip: Use the sentiment stamp coloured with the Chocolate Chip marker direct onto the card.

That's it for now. I've got dinner to prepare!