Carousel Notes

Another gorgeous new product from our Summer Mini Catalogue is the Carousel Notes - Die cut scalloped circles in In-colours Groovy Guava, Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi. They coordinate beautifully with the Afternoon Tea DSP. They really appeal to me for use on scrapbook pages as journalling blocks, backgrounds or photo mats. However they can be used as cards as well and do come with the most gorgeous chocolate brown square envelopes (there worth buying just for the envelopes actually, hey Helene!)

Here's two scrapbook pages I completed earlier this week using the Carousel Notes, the first is a 12x12 page showing photos from our trip to Fiji in 2006 (Yes I'm way behind on my scrappin!) and the second is a 6x6 of Breanna's Preschool photo from last year:

Sorry the photo's are not very good - I really struggle to take photos of scrapbook pages - which brings me to some exciting news...you may have noticed my photos are looking a little better this week (except these) - well I got a brand spankin new fangle dangle digital SLR camera last weekend. AND I'm enrolled in a photography course starting next week!!! Woo Hoo!!! In case you cant tell I'm really excited about that! It should definitely help with getting some more professional looking shots of my cards, and I think its just what I need to inspire me to want to scrap again! Not to mention I should be able to get some great photos when we go on holidays to the Whitsundays in 6 weeks time! Can't wait to get stuck into it!

Oh and by the way I edited the Preschool name out of the photo - the Carousel Note doesn't have an ugly smudge on it IRL! and if you cant read the title it says "You make my life a beautiful thing" - and she sure does!

Mel's One Sheet Wonder Challenge & Nerine's Layout Challenge

I really enjoyed this challenge of Mel's, one sheet wonders (OSW) are something I used to do a lot of but haven't done for a while, so this was great! So great in fact, I did 3!!

Here's the first one, the one I'm entering for Mel's challenge - just because these colours remind me of Mel!! (Bright & cheery!)

For those of you who are wondering - what the hell is a OSW? The general idea is that you stamp an A4 or A5 page randomly then cut it up to make feature panels on cards. Here's is what the OSW sheet looked like before it became cards...

These are the four cards I made out of that A5 sheet:

Here are some close ups of 3 of the cards (lost the photo of the fourth card somewhere!):

Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Its your Birthday

Ink: Pink Passion, Green Galore, Lavender Lace, Brocade Blue

Paper: Pink Passion, Lavender Lace, Green Galore, Whisper White

The next OSW I did featured another Summer Mini Caty set - In the Stars. Here I was going for a kind of masculine look and endeavoring to use colours that I don't usually...here it is...

Here's the cards one by one...

Now with this last card I was trying to kill two birds (so to speak) and do Nerine's layout challenge...but...now that I look at it I think I may have gone two far from the sketch (the whole OSW panel is kind of an add on! oops!) I leave it to Nerine's discretion as to whether it qualifies...

This was the sketch...check it out at Nerine's blog

Stamps: In the stars, Short & Sweet
Ink: Summer Sun, Really Rust, Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Summer Sun, Really Rust, Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant

OK, last but not least, here is a sample card from my third OSW. This one featured the Garden Whimsy set and the colours are Taken with teal, Night of Navy and Close to Cocoa.

I hope you all enjoyed that HUGE post!! I'm sure that's got to be one of my biggest ever! Thanks for the inspiration Mel and Nerine!!

I'll be back in the next couple of days with not one but TWO scrapbook pages I made today!! So come back and visit again soon...

Makeesha's Inkspirations Challenge 3

Another lot of Challenges I've been wanting to do for a while now are Makeesha Byl's (I'm sure every one's already aware of her awesome website, if not, do yourself a creative favour and go check it out!) So having the extra day off work this weekend, and seeing as it was a rainy (stay inside and stamp) day - I actually got one done!! Here is the inspiration photo...

And here is my card...simple but effective I think...

Stamps:Bud Basics, Basics outline (wheel), Cheery Chat
Paper: Whisper White
Ink: Blue Bayou, Sage Shadow, Ruby Red (pad and marker)
Other: Blue bayou double stitched ribbon, mat pack & paper piercer, blender pen

Thank you Makeesha for a great challenge, I really enjoyed it and love this colour combo!

Leah's New Year Challenge

OK, I've made a last minute decision to post this...

I've been wanting to do one of Leah's challenges since she started them but it just hadn't happened so I made myself do this one, and even though the card is pretty ordinary I'm posting it anyway just to prove I had a go!!! The inspiration graphic was pretty funky but to be honest it didn't really get my creative juices flowing! I found it quite difficult to come up with anything. In the end I just kept coming back to the flashing bright colours and that's when the thought of the Josephs Coat technique popped in my head.

So on a piece of gloss card I sponged Pink Passion, Lovely Lilac, Yoyo Yellow, Green Galore and Tempting Turquoise. I then embossed the tiny stars from In the Stars randomly with clear embossing powder (yes I forgot to use my embossing buddy AGAIN - although I don't mind the effect here because it looks a bit like the milky way!). Then brayered black over the top. I cut the Josephs coat piece into four squares mounted it on Going Grey and whisper white (I really tried but I just couldn't get any More Mustard in there! then I just stamped the large star in Going Grey, mounted it on turquoise and was done.

Sorry about the glare in this photo...

Sorry its not great Leah, but at least I had a go this time! And thanks for the great inspiration on your blog - it's awesome!

Sale-A-Bration Creations!

It’s Sale-A-Bration time again at Stampin’ Up! and free stamps is what it’s all about!
Every year Stampin’ Up! gives customers, hostesses, and new recruits the opportunity to earn fantastic, FREE, limited-edition stamp sets they’ll enjoy for years to come.

Here’s how Sale-A-Bration works:

Customers When you spend $100 on Stampin’ Up! merchandise, you’ll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward. There’s no limit–for every $100 you spend, you can select another free Sale-A-Bration reward!

Hostesses When you host a workshop of at least $600 (before tax and shipping), you’ll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward–in addition to all of the regular hostess benefits!

Recruits During Sale-A-Bration, anyone who joins as a demonstrator can choose any stamp set–a value of up to $79.95–from our current Idea Book and Catalogue!

The Sale-A-Bration promotion started on 1 January and runs through 28 February, so don’t miss your chance to earn free products!

You can view the Sale-A-Bration catalogue via the link to the right...

Here are some of my creations made with the SAB stamp sets... The first card used the Botanical Blooms:

This next card uses the SAB set Polka Dot Punches

Polka Dot Punches again for the background hearts

This set is Yummy!

This is one of Makeesha Byl's Carousel Bags stamped with SAB set Polka Dot Punches

Lastly, these projects feature Botanical Blooms, Polka Dot Punches, and Yummy. The beautiful DSP for these projects is Afternoon Tea from the Summer Mini

If you'd like anymore info on other products used in any of these projects, or if you'd like to place an order and earn free sets! please send me an email.

Christmas RAK from Sharon

My very lovely upline Sharon Walsh, who is now located in Tasmania, sent me this lovely gift - a cherish album, and beautiful SAB card...

Sharon doesn't have a blog (yet!) so I thought I would share them with you all on her behalf. Aren't they lovely? I'm very lucky! Thanks so much Sharon.

Jackie Has a Blog!!

The newest Happy Stamper, Jackie, has started a blog - WooHoo!!
You can check out her beautiful creations here
Thanks so much for sharing with us Jackie!!

Altered Tea Chest

I picked up this tea chest for a bargain price because some of the painted detail on the glass lid had been scratched off (see bottom right hand side of border). That very fact inspired me for some reason - I thought I could take all the rest of the paint off the lid and then make it into a hair accessory organiser/storage box for Breanna. I had all of her hair things in a box and it was a pain to find anything, so this divided tea chest was the perfect solution.

So on Friday night I set to work with the new Bali Breeze papers from the Summer Mini - such gorgeous colours! This is what eventuated...

All the products I used are Stampin Up! Bali Breeze DSP, Pretties kit flowers, Felt flowers, Rhinestone brads, rub-ons, & ribbons.

Here it is finished off and in use - I know I'm a bit anal - but I looove how organised and coordinated this is!!!

I'm really happy with how it turned out - it's been a great idea - even Rick is putting things away in their correct section!

I'd love to hear what you guys think...

Mel's Challenge

Well it's been so long since I did one of Mel's challenges I was determined to have a go at this one, although as she said it was a doozy!! The colours made me cringe big time (orchid opulence - urgh!). Anyway the challenge was to use whisper white, orchid opulence, barely banana, certainly celery, the kissing technique and dimensionals. I made two cards - Rick said that neither was blog worthy (I tend to agree) but I'm showing them anyway...

This first one uses the elephant from Wild About You kissed with the Paisley Background stamp. The sentiment is from the Sale-a-bration set Congrats.

The second card uses Bodacious Bouquet kissed with paisley background, and the corner flourishes are from the Yummy Sale-a -bration set.

Welcome Jackie!

I'm very very excited to announce a new Happy Stampers team member...welcome to the SU! family Jackie Thomas!!!! I've lost a wonderful customer in Jackie, but I'm stoked she's joined the team, she will make a great demo- she is so nice and soooo talented...here's the Christmas card she made for me - isn't it great! (I hope you don't mind me sharing it Jack - and sorry about my crappy photography)

I'm really hoping Jackie will start a blog one day so we can see more of her wonderful work (hint hint nudge nudge - no pressure Jack!!)

Enjoy your SU! journey Jack - I know you'll love it!

First Card for 2009!

Here is the first card I made in 2009! It's a cute 'onesie' card (original design by Lauren Meader) for Rick's cousin and his wife who welcomed a baby boy into the world on New Year's Eve!

Stamps: Nursery Necessities

Paper: Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Whisper White, Sarah DSP (retired)

Ink: Brocade Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Other: Scallop circle punch, 13/8 circle punch, eyelets and crop-a-dile

Live Your Dream - Regionals Make & Take Set

Here are some photos of the make & takes we did at this years Regionals. They feature the stamp set Live Your Dream and the gorgeous Afternoon Tea DSP - both from the Summer Mini catalogue - available now!

I'm posting these pictures for Kerynne (Hi!) who spotted these at a workshop I did in December and loved them so much she has booked a class specifically to make these projects - so if you're one of Kerynne's guests these are the four projects we will be making - 2 cards, a love note folder with 3 love notes and envelopes and a 6x6 scrapbook page (you can bring along a photo or add one later).

If your not one of Kerynne's friends but you'd like to attend a class to make these projects let me know by email, I will run another at my house if there is enough interest.

Happy New Year!!!

Hi everyone! Thank you to all the my loyal blog followers who have been checking in - sorry I took so long to post. I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and I wish you all the best for the New Year - hope its the best yet!! Wow, I cant believe it's 2009 - does anyone else feel like 2008 was a complete blur? I'm hoping for a great 2009 but I do hope it goes by a bit slower!

So what have I been up to? Well...I had HEAPS of Christmas creations to show you back in December but that went out the window when I got caught up in the Twilight saga - if you haven't read the books do yourself a favour and get them now - However be warned once you start you cant stop and all 4 books will need to be read - you just cant get enough and have to know what will happen next. Apart from the Crosstitch (Jamie & Claire) series by Diana Gabaldon, these are the most compelling books I've ever read. If you're not into books check out the movie - its no where near as good as the book - and I think seeing it without having read the book you would miss a lot of the details - but anyway its a close second that's for sure! You can check out the film trailer here (I downloaded it onto my iPod so I can get my fix whenever I want! - yes I'm a complete addict - I know its sad!) And one other little note of warning - you will fall in love with Edward Cullen and no mortal man will ever measure up again!

Ok, that's my twilight rant. In my real life (as opposed to my fantasy world of gorgeous vampires and werewolves!!! ) I have been really busy with all the usual Christmas and New Year stuff, we've had a few short breaks away and been getting some house and yard work done. Sadly I haven't really done any crafting at all and its back to work for me tomorrow.

Thank you to all my lovely friends, customers, downlines that sent me gorgeous hand made Christmas cards - they are all beautiful.

I made some post-it note holders to send to my downlines for Christmas, here is a picture of some of them:

While I'm in catch up mode...3 lovely bloggin sisters recently gave me awards - thank you soooo much. This beautiful butterfly award from my lovely friend Mel Hanlon and from the very creative Leah Weir

And this one from Sharon at Stampin & Scrappin


Thanks again ladies for thinking of me. I'm not going to tag any other bloggers - I think everyone has already got them (cause I'm so far behind!!!!)

I'll be back with some cards to show you later