Christmas has come and gone

Well Christmas has come and gone, just where did the last year go, I'm not quite sure.  Here is a picture of our Christmas tree which I took at about 2am on Christmas morning just before going to bed,  the bike was just one of Olivia's many presents.

My Christmas tree is black, so I decided to make a few of my Christmas cards in black & white. I found a card while searching the net which I loved it also uses some of the Silver Glimmer paper out of the Summer Mini, I cased this card from Jan Farring, it is basically the same except I used the ornament punch and embossed the black piece around this instead of using the Mocha Morning Designer Paper.

Stamps: Many Merry messages

Ink: Basic Black

Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper

Other: 1/8" Black Taffeta Ribbon, Big Shot, Finial Press Embossing Folder, Clear Bigz Die Scallop Square, Ornament Punch, Tombow Adhesive, Mini Glue Dot. 

Thanks Thanks Thanks

For my Mini Catalogue Open on Sunday Home I decided to case the card from the front cover of the catalogue, but using different colours. This card is quick and easy but very effective, I changed it by using different colours and was very pleased at the way it turned out.

Stamp set: Pretty Postage

Ink: Island Indigo

Cardstock: Island Indigo, Pool Party

Other: Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon, Big Shot, Flower Garden Embossing Folder, Scallop Border Punch, In Color Designer Paper Stack,

  Basic Rhinestone Brads,  Mini Library clips, Postage Stamp Punch, 1" Square punch, Tombow Adhesive, Snail Adhesive

Summer Mini and December Frenzy

The 2011-2012 Summer Mini Catalogue is here and has some fabulous products these include Jewellery, Stamps, Designer Paper, Candy Wrapper Die. Needless to say there are a few of them on my wishlist. Click here to view online or your welcome to pop along to my catalogue launch on Sunday at 11-1pm or 2-4pm. Email me to reserve your spot or if you would like to place an order   

Are you ready for the Stampin' Up! December Frenzy sale. Get Fabulous Stampin’ Up! products up to 50 percent off, available from 1-31 December only! Click on the picture below for the list or contact me if you would like to place an order

A Window with a view

I just love this card even though we don't have snow in Auckland I still like Christmas cards with a snowy picture. This is a card I taught in class last week it is cased from Dawn Griffiths who has some fabulous tutorials on her blog. Lovely as a tree is another one of those must have stamp sets to add to any stampers collection

.

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Lovely as a Tree,

Welcome Christmas, Wood grain 

Ink: Black staz on, Bashful Blue

Card stock Whisper White, Early Espresso, Crumb cake

Other: Petals a Plenty embossing folder, Crumb Cake 1/2" Seam Binding ribbon, Early Espresso 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Word Window & Modern Label punches, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Glitter, Stampin’ Sponge, Dimensionals

A Cute little Christmas tree

I had some time to myself today so needless to say I headed for my studio to do some crafting. I decided to make a few Christmas cards, I used Pennants Parade stamp set to make a Christmas tree on my card. This set is so versatile, it can also be used as flags on a banner, ice cream cones, sails for a boat or even party hats.

Stamp Set: Pennants Parade, Teeny Tiny Sentiments

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Garden green, Real red, Versamark

Cardstock: Garden green, Real Red, Whisper White

Other: Big Shot, Stripes Embossing Folder, Petite pennants Builder Punch,

Gold Embossing powder, Tombow Multipurpose Glue

Embossing Buddy, Heat Gun 

A Little Twisted and a bit slack

I have been a bit slack with my blogging the last few weeks, but I did have a good excuse, I had family visiting from Sydney, two of my sisters and a niece, we had such a fabulous time catching up, one Saturday evening we all stayed the night at my Sister's in Orewa and had a girls night in watching the three Twilight Movies eating a fabulous dinner and drinking Midori's. (I went to Breaking Dawn last night). This was the first time in 5 1/2 years that five out of seven of us were together.
Needless to say I forgot to blog the Twisted Easel card I demonstrated at our Christmas themed WOW paperKRafters team event at the end of last month. I used one of my  favourite old fashioned stamp sets Winter Post. This card was based on a card my upline karen received from another Demo.

Stamp set: Winter Post, Kindness Matters, Snow swirled

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Riding Hood red, Old olive,

Stampin' Write marker Chocolate Chip

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Riding hood red,Very Vanilla

Other: Big Shot, Square lattice Folder, 3/8" Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon,  Decorative label punch,Metallic Brads, paper Piercer,Matt Pack, Distressing Tool,Stampin Sponges, Sticky Strip, Tombow Multi Adhesive

A little bit of Grunge Rock with Faux Silk

Sometimes it can be hard to decide what sort of card to make for the teenager in your life, depending on what colour you choose it would suit a female or male. I think this is a great stamp set to suit any of those occasions.

Stamp Set: Grunge Rock

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Melon Mambo,

Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Melon Mambo, Whisper White 

Other: 1 1/2' & 1 3/4" Circle Punches, Stampin sponge, Tombow adhesive, Glue stick, Tissue Paper

Hanging up my Christmas Stockings

I have  had some time to myself so I thought I would do a bit of crafting, I cased this card from Leonie Schroder while doing some Internet surfing last week. I had such fun making this card. I wish we had one of the old fireplaces to hang my stockings up alas we  have a modern free standing one, but we still manage to hang our stockings for Christmas.

Stamp set: Stitched Stockings, For the Holidays

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Old Olive , Pumpkin Pie, Versamark

Cardstock: Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip,

 Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Other: Clear Embossing powder, 2 Step Bird punch, Stocking Punch,

Dimensionals, Tombow Adhesive, Stampin Sponge 

Another Blue Christmas

Last month I blogged a card using the Snow Swirled Stamp set using Night Of Navy Cardstock and Ink, this card is a Stair step card again using Snow Swirled with Night of Navy. I taught this card at one of my classes .

Stamp Set: Delightful Decorations,  Christmas Greetings, Snow Swirled,

Ink: Night of Navy

Cardstock: Night of Navy, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Soft Subtles Paper Stack

Other: Rhinestone Jewels,  Bashful Bluer 1/4" Grograin Ribbon, Tombow Adhesive,

A sale to Die for

During November Stampin' Up! has a fabulous special 10% of a selection of dies and Embossing Folders or a Big Shot bundle which includes 2 preselected die's. If you don't own a Big Shot now is the perfect time to buy one.

Contact me if you would like any information about this months special

A Red Christmas

As promised here is the second card we made in class, this time I have used the new A la Carte stamp Welcome Christmas, I decided to make this card in the tradional colours of red and white. This is another of my favourite christmas stamps and of course I just love the tradional colours. This is was also my swap for the Stampin Fun day out in August. To get the crinkled look on the Cherry Cobbler piece I sprayed it with water then scrunched it up then opened it up to dry before adding it to the embossed Whisper White with Dimensionals.

Stamp Set: Welcome Christmas

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Other: Big Shot, Petals a Plenty Embossing Folder, Distressing Tool, Stampin Sponges,

Champagne Shimmer Mist, Tombow adhesive, Dimensionals

A Snow Swirled Christmas

I thought it was time to start some Christmas card classes seeing Christmas isn't that far away, so the first card we made was with a stamp set I love, plus I wanted to make one of the cards a little different so decided to make a Slider Card which I had seen on Mekeesha Byl's blog a while ago.

The inside of the card with the sentiment on just slides out by pulling the ribbon, I have stamped the sentiment at the bottom so that you can still write at the top.

Stamp Set: Snow Swirled, Many Merry Messages

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White

Ink: Bashful Blue, Night Of Navy

Other: Basic Rhinestones, Bashful Blue 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Stamp-a-majig,

Tombow Adhesive, slot punch

I will post the second card we made in a couple of days.

Fabulous Fun in October

For the month of October Stampin' Up! have a fabulous promotion if you host a $500 workshop you will have the opportunity to earn the Simply Stockings stamp set and matching builder punch for FREE as well as the usual Hostess benefits. Contact me if you would like to hold a workshop of your own.

 
WOW paperKRafters annual Christmas event

Saturday October 29th 1-5pm in West Harbour.

For $40  you will make 4  fabulous projects with instructions included. There will  be spot prizes, afternoon tea, plus $10 shopping on the day with any order over $50 - seats are limited so book your spot ASAP!

All you need to bring is adhesive, scissors and a bone folder.

Time for myself to stamp

Yesterday I had some time to myself so I decided to case a card I saw on Sandi MacIvers Blog,  it uses the stamp set French Foliage. I must admit this stamp set hasn't seen much ink so I was really pleased when it appeared in the new catalogue. I loved the way Sandi stamped and coloured her leaves. On my card instead of  designer paper I used a piece of Early Espresso with the debossed side up and Hemp twine with a brad instead of a piece of ribbon.

Then I  added a sentiment

Stamp Set: French Foliage, Just Believe

Cardstock: Confetti Cream, Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Soft Suede

Ink: Island Island, Lucky Limeade, Soft Suede, Versamark

Accessories: Antique Brads, Clear Embossing Powder, Hemp Twine, Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals, Tombow Multi Adhesive,

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays

Today I would like to share a couple of birthday cards with you, last week both my daughter's celebrated their birthdays. There's 3 years between them but their birthdays are 3 days apart. Needless to say it was a busy week with Fathers day Sunday last week then Bex birthday last Wednesday and Emma's on Saturday, then yesterday (Sunday) was Emma's partner Sonny's birthday. We had dinner out twice last week which I must say was lovely as we don't do that very often.
On both cards I have used the Mother of Pearl technique which is now one of my favourite techniques.
The first card is the one I made for Bex it is a complete case (except for the bird) of a card Dawn Griffiths made which I fell in love with.

Here is a close up of the mother of pearl technique on the card

This card is Emma's card I used the same stamp set but stamped it differently

it also has the mother of Pearl technique but with sponging as well 

Stamp Set: Elements of Style, Well scripted (retired)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake textured, Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black,
Rich Razzleberry, Glossy card, Pretty in pink
Ink: Black stazon, Crumb cake, Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Certainly Celery
Stampin Write Markers: Pear Pazzazz, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Basic Pearls, Frost White Shimmer paint, Rich Razzleberry 5/8" Satin Ribbon (retired), Antique Brads, Modern Label Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Tombow adhesive, Stampin sponges

Esad New Catalogue Blog Hop

Welcome to the ESAD New Catalogue blog hop! This is my very first Blog hop which is quite exciting, whether you started with my post or you arrived here from the very talented Narelle Hodges make sure you continue by clicking on the link in each blog and you will enjoy a fabulous round of 25 projects.This Blog hop theme is the ESAD 2011/2012 New CatalogueWhat is ESAD?

ESAD stands for "Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators" and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin'! Up demonstrators.

We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors, but we share our love for what we do with each other as demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know-how, and cyberstamps, and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed.

So if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

My projects I am sharing with you today are all using the Delicate Doilies stamp set and some of the new 2011/2012 In Colours. I decided to make two cards and a pillow box. The cards are an Easel Card and a standard size card to show you how different they can look plus a pillow box.

Here is a close up of each card and pillow box

Easel card

and of course the Easel card folds flat for posting

Standard size card

the inside

On the Pillow Box I have added some Basic Pearls

then coloured them with the Island Indigo Stampin Write Marker

Stamp Sets: Delicate Doilies, Curvy Verses, Oval All, Short and Sweet, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White
Ink: Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder,
Stampin' Write Island Indigo Marker
Accessories: Basic Pearls, Island Indigo 1cm Ruffled Ribbon, Big Shot, Bigz Die Pillow Box, Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Decorative Label punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Dimensionals, Tombow multipurpose liquid glue, Sticky strip,

We are offering Blog Candy on this Blog Hop and there will be 2 winners – one from Australia and one from New Zealand. Rules for the Blog Candy are
1. You must visit and comment on every blog in the blog hop
2. Once you have completed the Blog hop they must email Sharlene (torresfamily8@hotmail.com) and advise your Name, email & location. If you are a winner then you will be contacted for your mailing details.
3. Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators are not eligible to win Blog Candy

Enjoy the rest of the blog hop the next stop on the way is Keryn Campbell check out what fabulous project she has created to share with you all.

Thank you for stopping by I hope you enjoyed my creations, don't forget to leave comments along the way.

Easy Events And Pennants Parade

On Saturday I had My Catalogue launch, and needless to say when my Ladies received their catalogue they all loved it, I think it is fabulous and one of my favourite stamp sets adorns the cover.

These are two of the cards we made on Saturday the first one was made using the Stamp set Easy Events and some of the new colour Lucky Limeade which is becoming one of my favourites out of the new In colours. I based this card on one I had seen on Splitcoast Stampers but can't remember who made it.

Stamp set: Easy Events

Ink: Lucky Limeade, Regal Rose and Soft Suede

Cardstock: Certainly Celery,Pretty in Pink,Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.

Accessories: Blender pen, Tombow Multi Adhesive, Demensionals

Te second card is case from the catalogue using the Petite Pennants Builder punch

Stamp sets: Pennant Parade, A Word for You

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Accessories: Regals Designer Series Paper stack,Rhinestone Brads, Linen Thread, Petite Pennants Builder punch, Paper Piercer, Tombow Multi Adhesive, Dimensionals 1/16th" hand held punch

A Fabulous new Stampin' Up! Catalogue for 2011/2012

Today is one of the best days in the Stampin' Up! year as the 2011/2012 Catalogue is launched. There are some fabulous new Stamp sets, five fabulous new In Colours, plus last years In Colours are still here for another year, new Designer Series Papers, gorgeous new Ribbons, designer brads, glimmer brads, new trinkets.

 I won't keep you waiting any longer click Here to view the new 2011/2012 Stampin' Up! Catalogue, enjoy browsing through the Catalogue, I am also having an open day at my place on Saturday September 4th where you can come and sit to browse through the Catalogue and make some cards with some of the new Stamp sets, See the post on the left side of my blog for info you can email me Here
On Saturday we had a Stampin' Up! Fun Day and needless to say it was fabulous, we all made cards to swap, I used the Forever Young set which is one of my favourites ( needless to say I have a very long wish list of favourites) as a demonstrator we get to preorder selected sets from the new Catalogue

 Here is a sample of one of our new sets

This Pirate is Retiring

I have always liked the Beware Pirates Stamp set and even though it is retiring I had to have it. This is the card I made, it would make a perfect boys birthday cards in fact I am sure there are some men out there that would love a pirate card as well. This is one Stamp set I will definitely be keeping.

Inside

Stamp set: Beware Pirates

Ink: Cajun Craze

Cardstock: Basic Black Cajun Craze, Very vanilla

Other: Big Shot, Textured Impression Embossing Folder,

 Distressing Tool,  Tombow Glue