My New Look

Wow! How cool is my new look blog!! I love it. I purchased it from the talented Michelle Laycock - there's a link on the side bar if you want to check out her work.

No projects today - I just wanted to try out the new look and say thank you so much to those who have left me lovely comments - every time I get one it makes my day!

I also need to say a big thanks to Leah for awarding me the "Cherry on Top" award:

The rules are:
1. Thank the person who gave you this award.

2. Copy the award onto your blog.

3. List three things you love about yourself.

4. Post a picture you love.

5. Tag 5 people you wish to pass this award on to.

So...three things I love about me...that's hard but I guess I would say... Firstly, that I am lucky enough to have a wonderful beautiful, healthy Daughter; Secondly, that I have had a good education; and lastly, that I have had a lot of experiences in my life - I've been to many places and done lots of things.

OK, now I have HEAPS of photos that I love, but for some reason the first one that came into my head was this one of Breanna and I in Fiji in 2006, I don't know exactly what it is about the photo - I think maybe because it shows a connection between Bre and I - but anyway I love it:

And finally the 5 lovely people I have tagged are:

Cassie

Mel

Natasha

Kylie

Nerine

It's been a while...

Wow...its been 6 months since I last posted...it doesn't seem like that long! I needed a bit of a break from blogging but I didn't intend to be missing in action for months. Anyway, sorry to any of you who have been checking in and seeing no progress, especially since I promised at Convention I would be back blogging as soon as I got home!!

So what's news your wondering...well I'm still a demo, I'm still doing the odd workshop and classes every so often. I did consider giving up SU! because of my day job and other commitments, but the fact is I just love it too much to give it away. I love the personal sense of satisfaction I get from creating something, and I love it when I can share that feeling with someone else by teaching them how to make it too!!

My family are all well, although we did have a horrid time a while back when Breanna got Scarlet Fever - an illness I thought was long gone from the modern world. Breanna turned 5 in April - OMG time flies, she's off to 'Big School' next year and cant wait.

On the creative front I have done a fair bit of scrapbooking and card making though I haven't taken photos of many of them. Here is a couple of projects from a while back... I may have cased the cards but it was so long agao I have no idea where from...the first is a card and cash wallet were for a friends wedding, the next is a sympathy card, and lastly a Twilight inspired journal which was a thank you gift for a friends teenage daughter who helped me out with tracking down something I needed for Breanna for Christmas...

As for the future of my blog, I'm giving it a bit of a make over and will be doing my best to post more regularly, I will be aiming for at least one post every couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the challenges that are out there as well. Until next time...K

How Cute...

I am one proud Mum!! Breanna had her first dance concert on the weekend and she did a fabulous job! I was terrified she would freeze or run off the stage, but she was wonderful and oh so cute...Here's a couple of pics - pretty crappy photography but you get the general idea.

Their item was called Rainbows and Friends...here she is

and here with some of her mini movers group (I've pixelated the other girls faces for privacy reasons)

Isn't that just gorgeous!

Now for some other exciting news...I'm off to Sydney for a four day weekend - YAY!!!! That's great in itself, but how good is this....Day 1 -we are going to see New Moon in the Gold Class Cinema in George St, Day 2 a whole day of Stampin' Up! fun at the Sydney regional (Woo Hoo), Day 3 Pearl Jam concert and day 4 Australian Museum to see the dinosaur exhibits!!! And all this while based in a 5 star apartment in Darling Harbour with Rick, Bre and my Mum coming along as our live in babysitter. I am so lucky, and very very grateful. Cant wait!! I'll be back with pics and details sometime next week (when I have gotten over all that excitement!)

Meet The Commander

As promised here's a pic of my new big black boy... the awesome Jeep Commander...

He's so cool I'm absolutely in heaven driving this baby! He has everything that opens & shuts and can just about drive himself! Woo Hoo!!

Its a Jeep thing...You wouldn't understand! (You would Bettina. What do you think? Rick cant wait to show it off at the next Cherokee Club outing!)

On a stamping note I haven't done anything for ages but the creative bug is biting again which is a good sign! I'm going to get stuck into making some Christmas projects real soon and I have a couple of workshops coming up - nothing like a workshop to get me motivated! So check back soon and hopefully I'll have something other than my new car to show you!

Forest Friends

How cute are the animals in the Forest Friends set!! I love them, and couldn't resist using them for the Spring Mini swap that my gorgeous friend Mel Hanlon organised. Here's my swap:

I love receiving swap cards in the mail, they were all gorgeous - I may take a photo and show you them all...later.

I haven't been doing much creating lately - my mojo has been on holidays...too much other "stuff" happening at the moment. But I do have some exciting news (for me anyway) I've bought a new car- brand spanking new (a Jeep of course for those that know me!) I pick it up in a couple of weeks - so I'll show you a photo of my new baby when I get him...he's big and black...

My AMM Vituri Handbag

For some time now I have been admiring the AMM Vituri Handbags...well a few months back I bit the bullet and decided to spoil myself...here is my cool personalised handbag...

Now the trim and lining is a very nice pale pink - extremely close to our beautiful SU! in-colour Pink Pirouette! See...


So that inspired me to make a co-ordinating notebook to keep in my bag...I used some papers and die-cut stickers from the Sweet Nothings Simply Scrappin' Kit...and of course personalised it with a beautiful picture of my darling girl....here it is:

I also stamped the inside pages using the priceless stamp set and Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette inks:

And of course I couldn't get the handbag without the wallet - so here is a picture of the complete set:

What do you think? If you'd like more info on the AMM Handbags ~ I got mine from www.craftainers.com.au (look under totes and bags - not sure if they have stock right now but they are very helpful so just drop them email).

I wish I got a dollar for every time someone asked me about the bag! We have been away for a short break in Sydney and I had to write the details of where I got it down for a couple of random strangers!! Its a great talking piece!!

Returning from Sydney and finally getting through my emails I got a nice surprise to find that the extremely talented and lovely Cassie (of the circle flowers fame -see previous posts!) has started her own blog - YAY!!! Do yourself a favour and check out her work here - you'll want to add her to your favorites!! I've also added a link to Cassie's blog from my Team members section on the right.

Until next time, Happy Stampin'!, Kaz xx

I'm Back...Temporarily...

Well I'm back from Convention 09 - I had an absolutely wonderful time, I'm full of inspiration and ready to stamp...BUT... I now have to go to Brisbane for work - What a bummer hey! I think I will try to pack some stampin supplies (probably the make & takes I didn't get finished at Convention!) in case I get some spare time!

I Had the best roomies ever!! Here's a pic of the gorgeous girls themselves - Leah, Julie & Mel. Thanks girls for making it such a great time!

So I'll be away for the rest of the week but I'll be back on the weekend to post my swap cards and few other cards I've been working on lately.

Go Diego Go!

I'm amazed that time has flown by so fast, but my little babygirl just turned 4 - OMG!
Breanna is a HUGE Diego fan, so her birthday was all about Diego. Here's the card I made featuring said Animal Rescuer:


Here it is with the wrapping paper that inspired the card...My Husband thinks I have a problem with insisting that things co-ordinate - I don't know what he is talking about!...

I was very proud - she went for the card first and loved it!

And here is one of the gifts unwrapped - baby Jaguar of course!

And then there was the cake...she asked for a Diego rainforest adventure cake with a mountain and waterfall...this is what Rick and I came up with...pretty good I reckon...and it was a hit with all the kids - especially when they realised the rocks were chocolate!

Here's a close up of Diego and Baby Jaguar in the rescue Jeep!

And I even made some Baby Jaguar Cookies...

So all in all Breanna had a great 4th Birthday. I was still sick, but other than that it was wonderful. Urgh I really hate being sick...my little virus turned into a full blown URT Infection which is really not fun...so apart from getting through the Birthday and Easter I haven't been up to doing much...and with only 2 weeks until convention I better pull finger and make some swaps!!

We're Back!

Hi everyone, thanks for all your well wishes for our holiday we did have a great time!! As with all holidays though it has come to an end all too quickly - back to work for us both tomorrow - bummer!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time on Hamilton Island. The highlight was probably the boat trip we took to hook island (were Breanna actually snorkeled the reef with us!), and then on to Hill Inlet and Whitehaven beach - the most beautiful beach you can imagine! Thought I'd share a few holiday snap shots with you all...

I love this first shot - we had the cocktail bar tender take it for us - I think its the only shot I'm in (I'm always the one behind the camera!) And before you all start freaking out - don't worry Breanna's was non-alcoholic and she thought we were all having juices - so no bad example set either!!...

This next one is of the view from our apartment with the resident Cockatoos visiting our balcony. The view was amazing, the water the most beautiful blue - this picture was on an overcast day so doesn't show it as well...

This last one is a shot I took of the sunset from one tree hill on Hamilton island...

I took about a 1000 photos and really gave my new camera and new photography skills a workout. I took some awesome wildlife shots which no doubt you will get to see when I scrap them on some of the UNREAL new papers in the new caty...which I have to say is absolutely gorgeous and only 3 more sleeps till I can share it with all my wonderful customers.

I'll try to be back tomorrow with a sneak peak item from the new caty. cheers, kaz x

Memories Project update

Wow, I am so happy - we now have a grand total of 102 layouts to donate!! Woo Hoo - we did it -we made double my pledge. How cool is that!!! Thanks so much to Vicki, Jackie and Tash who have added to the total.

Some More Layouts...

Woo Hoo were in the 90's! Jackie has just added 5 pages to our total so we're up to 94!

Here's some more samples - these were made by Ruta, Jodi, Dannie, Kerri-Anne and Shirley, (not shown in that order) Thanks again girls!

I think that will be the last of the lay out samples. I hope you enjoyed them and they inspired you! And I hope that the people in Victoria who receive them like them too, and that they help them to get back some of their lost precious memories.

This is what 89 Layouts looks like!

Wow, that's a lot! Mum made another 9 and I managed another 7 so we are now at a grand total of 89!! Excellent effort I reckon. There will be more though - I know that Natasha and Vicki are both sending some so you never know we could make it to 100!

here's a couple of layouts I made using the spring showers papers. I also used the looks like spring stamp set and coordinating flower punch - (they are all retiring at the end of the month, and can you believe the papers are discounted to $5.96 for a pack of 12!) on the first one, for the second one I used the Live Your Dream set - both SS support the Bushfire Appeal - which has now raised over $58000 dollars!

Email me if you'd like any more details. Otherwise I'll be back in the next couple of days with the final total and some more samples.

Quick memories Project Update...

Well the memories project day was a big success thanks so much to Ruta, Jodi, Dannielle, Kerri-Anne and Shirley (aka Mum!) together we achieved an end of day total of 73 Lay outs!!!! Woo Hoo!! Were not done yet though, I'm expecting a parcel from Natasha and Mum took home a simply scrappin kit to put together and I'm hoping to put a few more together as well. But not tonight - I'm exhausted!

I'll take some pics of our layouts tomorrow and hopefully be back to post them here for you all to see. Good night

Retired List

Well the retired list is out and it’s HUGE!

SU! is having a massive clean out this year, which is sad because lots of my favorites are going, BUT that means there will be heaps of room for lots of cool new products in the new catalogue out on 1st April!!

And it gets even better – this year SU! has discounted heaps of retiring stamps and accessories by 25% and some by 50%!!!

The downside to this is that stocks are limited and once sold out that’s it. Some things have sold out already! So you need to act quickly.

Just a couple of points to note:
* Designer series papers are discounted 25% meaning they are $8.96 for 12 sheets double sided!!!! How cheap is that? There is even two packs that are 50% off $5.98 – Spring Showers and Spring Flowers – these are the ones that were left out of the caty pictures so if you’d like to see what they look like check out the 07-08 IBC or email me for a picture.
* Heaps of other awesome accessories like simply scrappin kits, rub-ons, chipboard and ribbons are also 25% off
* Ink pads will be going up to $11.95 in the new caty. Maybe now is a good time to stock up on a few new colours and beat the price rise.

Click here for the retired list in numerical order by page number (so you can go through the caty from cover to cover and see what’s going)
Or here to view it in alphabetical order by stamp set name.

Below is a list of those products which have already sold out or are in low quantity:

Item Number Product Description Availability
10756 Flip Flops Unavailable
109020 Wild Wasabi Classic Ink Refill Unavailable
109015 Soft Sky Classic Stamin' Ink Refill Unavailable
109016 River Rock Classic Stampin' Ink Refill Unavailable
109017 Purely Pomegranite Classic Stampin' Ink Refill Unavailable
100381 Earth Elements Eyelets Unavailable
100378 Soft Subtle Eyelets Unavailable
109019 Groovy Guava Classic Stampin' Ink Refill Unavailable
108748 Best Friend Numbers Unavailable
107212 Mateys Map Unavailable
105320 Basic Eyelets Unavailable
103195 Gifts Galore Unavailable
107561 Garden Annuals Unavailable
109610 Confetti Simply Scrappin' Unavailable
104279 Leaf Prints Unavailable
110255 Bundle of Joy Unavailable
112402 Short Order Numbers Unavailable
109018 Blue Bayou Classic Stampin' Ink Refill Unavailable
108720 Ahoy, Matey Low Quantity
108740 Bareback Low Quantity
108746 Best Friends Alphabet Lower Low Quantity
108747 Best Friends Alphabet Upper Low Quantity

Please contact me asap if you'd like to purchase any of these retiring products while they last.

More Scrappin'...

Well the memories project layout total continues to climb, I've added another two to the total and many thanks to Kerri-Anne who has completed 5 for this great cause! So were up to 31 now!! WOO HOO!!

So here's another sample...This one I put together using the Bali Breeze designer series papers (love love love them!) from the Summer Mini Caty which finishes at the end of this month...

I really liked the layout so I decided to make another one for myself with a gorgeous photo I took of Breanna at Jimmy's Beach a few weeks ago. I tweeked the layout a little and added a few more elements...The title "Cherish" is from the Cherished Rub ons - currently 25% off rrp! I've also used some felt fusion flowers and some extra wide rose red double stitched ribbon - also from the Summer Mini. This is how it turned out...

Here's another Bali Breeze inspired layout for the memories project...

And while I was on a roll...I did another layout of Breanna. This time having fun on her slippery dip in the back yard. I also used the Be Happy stamp set for this one - It's a great set for scrappin, I'm very sad to see it retire but its not one I'll be parting with! The title "It's the little Things" is from the Anchored Rub Ons which are retiring and are 25% off - $14.96 for two large sheets!

Memories Project Update

Thank you to everyone who has contacted me and offered to donate pages or come along and help on Saturday.

So far between my Mum and I we have made 24 layouts ready to donate. We have been trying to keep them as simple and universal as possible. We've mostly been using the same type of layout - one that will enable the recipient to have 1 large, two standard or 4 small photos. We were also mindful of leaving space for titles and journalling. Here's a small sample:

I am really enjoying making these - if only I could scrapbook my photo's this quick - I'd be caught up in no time!

I'll be back with more samples soon.