Where does the time go??

My goodness - I cannot believe I have missed two days again!!
Life is madness around here at the moment!
It's my last day at work for the year tomorrow, and we have been spending the last few days organising farewell "things" for our principal. He is leaving after 14 years - amazing! And he will be sorely missed - but of course that means a MEGA party - or 7!! Well ok not 7, but we are up to number 4!!
The fold out scrapbook was his leaving card, and everyone signed it and then i stuck some pics in the spaces but then I had to write in the middle (cardmaking and calligraphy might SEEM like innocuous hobbies - but wait til someone finds out you do both!!) lol
Still - it will al be worth it tomorrow when he reads it :)

What does all this mean for you??? My camera is flat again, (also had Jordan's school prize giving last night so HAD to take photos of her getting her prize!!) and I haven't been able to take decent photos of the projects. However - this should all be remedied tomorrow :) Fingers crossed!

Day 11 - gift 11 - Emergency Card Kit

I cannot take credit for this - I am part of a secret sister swap group on splicoast, and this is one of the goodies I received from an angel on that swap. (obviously this uses product we cannot get over here, but the premise is the same).















An emergency card kit is a box full of cards, all ready to go, that can be used in an emergency!
The best ones (like this one) come from a simply scrappin' kit. They are so simple and easy to put together. All the sentiments and embellishments are ready for you to just peel off and stick on to your cards.
Make as many as you like, grab enough envelopes, and whack 'em all together in a groovy box - also made with the Simply Scrappin' Kit.

Easy peasy - done!

Day 10 - gift 10 - bling :)

These earrings use shrink plastic, cut out using the 1 1/4 inch circle punch. Punch holes using a 1/8 inch punch (retired) then bake in the oven according to instructions. When cool, join together and make some funky bling :)

Day 9 - gift 9 - a decorated vase

I love this idea. I have seen a few of these lately - and they all look stunning. And HOW simple!
Take one glass item (vase, drinking glass, bowl, etc etc) and the rub-ons of your choice. This one comes from the retired "hidden garden" set. Wipe the glass to remove any dust, then rub on your rub-on!
Done.
One simple yet gorgeous gift for someone very special. This one will be for me! I am going to fill it with m and m's or skittles and leave it on my coffee table. yummy :)

Day 8 - bit late! - fold out scrapbook

This project is the brain child of the amazing Makeesha. She did a tutorial on it for splitcoast. I adapted it using Parisian Breeze specialty paper, and Baja Breeze, Kraft and Chocolate Chip cardstock.
There are no pictures in mine - there wont be either! we are using it as a card for someone who is leaving work, so instead of pictures we are all writing on the pull out parts.
This pic only shows half the pull-out parts - we had already written on the rest, and I can't work out how to blur them!

foiled by technology - again!

Well, I have about 6 more projects ready to show you, but of course, the batteries in my camera went flat yesterday, and - where is the charger?? nowhere near the camera that's for sure!! And you'd think it would be in the box labelled "camera and ipod stuff" - but no! I mean, why would it be in there?????
Also - they are 3D projects, so don't fit onto my scanner very well! ;)

And I was doing so well with my daily postings! :(
Oh well - on the bright side you will get more than one a day on some days :)

However, I have now located the battery charger, and the batteries are getting juiced as you read- i will be back tomorrow with some more ideas on presents to make with SU! product :)

Day 7 - Gift 7 - Painted canvas

I LOVE this wheel!! I havent used it on a card yet!! lol - but I have made heaps of little canvases like this with my daughter and her friends.

This canvas is 4" x 8", and the neighbourhood wheel was inked up using Stazon ink. (you must use a permanent ink if you are going to colour in with water - "normal" ink runs)

This one was coloured using poster paints, but I did one a while ago using Stampin' Write markers. I have started another of those, and will post when it's finished. The marker ones take longer because they don't dry immediately on the canvas, so you have to be real careful not to smudge it all!

Sweet Treat Snowman

This is one of the awesome new products from the Summer Mini catalogue - the Sweet Treat Cups.
The cups come in packs of 12, and are so versatile! I have seen some amazing things done with them. As soon as I get myself sorted where I am staying, i will have a play, but in the mean time, this is what I did with them.
Actually it's two products, because I used the co-ordinating punch - the 1 3/4 inch circle. This is the exact size of the treat cups, and enables them to slide through perfectly.
The snowman body uses 1 3/4 and 1 3/8 cicle punches, and his head is 1 inch. His hat ( yes i knw, it's a bit big! but snowmen aren't meant to be fashionable!!) is the round tab punch. Sentiments escaped me, so I put one on the inside! :)
Usually when you put lollies in the sweet treat cups, you would make a sliding door - which i will do! This one, I have stuck down to the backing.
Am heading off now to sort all my stuff out so i have a bigger place than the bedside table to create!! lol

Day 6 – Gift 6 - Calendar

 

This is another CASE from the catalogue – this one from page 12. The template i got from Splitcoaststampers. Printed it onto Whisper White cardstock, three months per sheet. Then decorated the bottom using DSP or stamps – I used urban Garden DSP, and the sets Pocket Silhouettes, Upsy Daisy and Fifth Avenue Floral, with kiwi kiss, baja breeze and not quite navy ink. Bind together at the top and ta-da, a groovy calendar!

I have other calendars to share later this month, so check back :)

 

Day 5 - Gift 5 - Framed Picture

this was such a hard item to take a photo of! the light kept shining on the glass, and you could see the mess from my packing and all sorts! In the end I enlisted my daughter to be chief paper-holder-upper!! She stood behind me holding white copy paper over the top of my head, so the shine didn't reflect!! funny! :)

Anyway........ this is a direct CASE from the 2009-2010 IBC (page 74 to be exact) i just changed the quote. I love it! This is such a simple but gorgeous gift.
The frameneeds to be a "shadow-box" type though - I tried it flat first - not good :)

Day 4 - Gift 4 - altered file folder

Not a very thrilling picture this one! but opened up - it's much more exciting!! This idea came from Patty Bennett, who used files in the US catalogue to create these stunning stationery compendium thingys. Well, we don't have the files, but I thought manilla folders would work just as well! And they did!! Basically the bottom is folded up, and a couple extra folds added, cover it in DSP, add a velcro dot and some stationery and you're done!

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This is covered in Parisian Breeze DSP -it's now retired :( I'm gonna miss that!

(my apologies here, as a lot of the items I show you over the next few weeks will use retired product - purely because I made these as actual gifts, and had to get them off before a certain date, and also because I like the finished product - but remember everything can be made using different patterns! These are just ideas!)

This pen comes from the other version below - these are so easy but effective. Just pull the barrel out from a pen, wrap the ink part in DSP,and slide back into the barrel. Voila, co-ordinating pens! how simple :)

This version uses Raspberry Tart DSP - this was my first one and I cut the paper too small! but my daughter loves it, so she now owns it!!

Day 3 - Gift 3 - Chocolate

Ok, so I know I said that I didn't want this to be about how to wrap or present gifts, but this is just too cute to not share :) Plus... it's chocolate!! hellooooooo?????
This idea came from Becky over at Inking Idaho, and is how I presented my chocolate to my swap sister from UStamp. Putting a band round the chocolate bars is such an easy way to co-ordinate little extras with the main gift. Here I have used Ski Slope DSP, and Riding Hood Red ribbon. The chocolate is Whittakers peanut slab - so many peanuts!! SOOOOO good ;)

Day 2 - gift 2 - Notepaper holder

This is a fabulous swap I received through UStamp.

The idea was to send a card, a handmade gift and some candy from your country.

So this is what I received. I think the notpaper holder itself is a bought one, ansd then Lorelie has removed ther cover, and created a brand new one of her own. I LOVE this paper. it;s so yummy! (Obviously a lot of this product is not available in NZ, but we can drool over it anyway!!)

And this is the card that I received. The snowflake is done using the two different size tag punches, and cutting them out as an outline. Check out the tutorial here

Day 1 - Gift 1 - Christmas Planner

This little treasure is the sneak peek I shared with you a few days ago.

I made these last year as gifts for the teacher aides at school - busy mums need planning time you know!

Of course, I forgot to photograph them then - but the tutorial was saved, and I saw another one a little while ago and thought - yes, they were fun! So we did these as one of our Stamp Club projects.

The base of the planner is a manilla folder with the bottom folded up, and then the sides folded in. Cover with pretty paper, stick in some lists, tie with ribbon - TA DA!! :)

Here is an awesome video that shows how it's done :)

good intentions.......

Well, I was full of good intentions, and I did only miss one day! And in my defence, I was moving house - on my own! :)
Have moved out of my home, and am staying with my parents temporarily until I can find somewhere to live - So obviously I brought only the essentials - stamps, ink, paper, undies, deodorant, more stamps, catalogues, ..... priorities ladies!! :) you should have seen my dad's face!! their house now resembles a stamp sweat shop!! But hey - i have blog projects to finish, and workshops to prep for! very important!! :) who needs clean clothes??? ;)

Check back tomorrow for my first gift suggestions using Stampin' Up! product :) I am so excited to be sharing these projects with you!

Coming in December……

Most people do some sort of twelve weeks of Christmas blog/email post – where they showcase twelve Christmas cards/projects. Well, I had very good intentions of doing that, and they all turned to custard :) I am in the middle of moving house, and lots of end of year “do’s” – work, daughter’s dancing and all sorts of other things that frankly just get in the way of stamping!!

So.. what I have decided to do, is slightly different, with no limit on how many - (or minimum for that matter, but I’m pretty sure I have hit at least twelve!!)

The twist is that instead of showing you cards or packaging, I am looking at gifts you can make with Stampin’ Up! products. So pictures, and scrapbooks, and notepads and … well you’ll just have to stop by daily in December and see what else I have found to make :)

Sneak Peek and a cute clip

 

This is a sneak peek of a project I will be posting later in December, but I wanted to draw your attention to the paperclip – isn’t it cute?? I know the pic is blurry, but you can still tell it’s a heart :) These are super simple, and add a really neat look to a project. Kristina Werner has a fabulous tutorial – takes all of 30 seconds – if that :)

Seasons of Joy secret sister swap

This is a card I received from my secret sister Lisa (she’s not secret anymore!!) in the last round of a swap organised on Splitcoaststampers.

Not sure if you can see in the pic,but she has put crystal effects on the swirls making them extra shiny :)

O is for……

OMG!!!! I cannot believe i have almost made it through a whole month posting each day!! it isn’t as hard as it could be, if you schedule your posts in advance – the hardest part is deciding what order to put things up in :)

I can’t believe I stopped at N…. I’ll have to keep going right through to Z… but I’ll space the rest out a bit more – with REAL posts in between :)

Rudolph the Reindeer

This was not part of the class, this is a card I made last year – surely Heather Summers was the instigator – where else do I go for punch art stuff??? She used the Big Shot and some sizzix dies for his antlers – but I don’t have those, and I’ve seen these done like this with two oval punches somewhere before, so I did too :) His legs are some random twine rope-y stuff :)

Oh goodness!!

i got my dates mixed up, and nearly missed a day :) just changed my pre-scheduled posts (you didn't actually think I was on to it enough to sit down and do a post every day did you???), so now i'm making up for it and posting two today!! No pics with this post, just a hi :)

Ski trimmings

Ok, really bad title!! but it tells you what I used! This set is tree trimmings, which is only available for another week. :( And the paper is ski slope – also disappearing on the 30th. I love this paper – the snowflake patterns especially – I have hoarded some :)

This is a CASE – almost exact if I remember rightly – but I literally saw it loved it remembered it recreated it – then when i came back to find out whose it was, i couldn’t find them :( HATE that – not only because they deserve the credit, but also because usually if you like one thing, you’ll like the rest of their stuff – giving you more inspiration and CASEing opportunities ;) let me know if you recognise it!

Seasons of Joy

Another card I thought I had already posted – not sure what is up with my search/label function! The only reason I have it is so that I can find stuff I have already posted!! hmmm…. back to the drawing board on that one!!

This card uses a favourite Christmas colour combo of mine – Kraft, red and white. Not a usual choice for Christmas, but I think Kraft makes really elegant cards. The set Seasons of Joy is my one and only main catalogue Christmas set – I LOVE it and it is so versatile you really don’t need any others. (although there are a few I want – I know I would just keep reaching for this one, so I am restraining myself!)

Heartfelt wreath

I thought I had posted this card before – can’t find it, but I;m still sure i did! Anyway…. this very funky card is a one layer card – because it uses only one layer – I KNOW who’da thunk it??

The wreath is made using the outline flower stamp from Heartfelt Thanks, stamped around a 1 3/8” punched circle mask. So easy and yet so effective.

I don’t know where the original idea came from – all my customers and regular blog readers (I have some right???) will know it certainly wasn’t me!! I never come up with anything completely original!! Why would ya?? the internet is a wonderful thing!! I do however like to give credit when possible so if this was your idea, please let me know :)

Baja Christmas

This is the second of the cards we did at my Christmas class. This originally started off chocolate chip with a white embossed greeting – but  have NO idea where my choc chip card stock got to! So I changed it! I’ll post the original when I find the sample! Love this blue for Christmas – reminds me of the cold!! (also reminds me of tropical seas – go figure!!)

Christmas Card Class

I have done this class a few times now – and am finally getting round to posting the cards :)

I’ll post one a day for the next few days.

This card is like one that another NZ Demo made – I’m sorry I can’t remember who it was – but I commented – that it was almost EXACTLY the same as the one I had made – and looky here it is :) This pic is flat, but standing up it looks like this

The strip of acetate across the middle means you can see the sentiment stamped on the inside of the card – very cool.Originally an idea from Dawn Griffith.

rooster split

Last but not least, here is the one and only black and white split negative card. This uses the Level Two hostess set Rustic Rooster. This one is especially clever as the split negative is done twice –once with the rooster and again with the French script.

negative upsy daisy

This is the second split negative swap card. This uses upsy daisy, and the curly label punch.

Edited to add: I thought I had mentioned that these were swaps in each post, but again, obviously not! Thanks for your comment, daffyscrapper, and i would love to take credit, coz it is stunning! but this card is not mine. This is Colleen's (I think - correct me if I am wrong! :) )

split roses

Here is the first swap I received for the split negative challenge. Isn’t it stunning? You normally see this technique done using black and white, but I find it interesting that only one of us did :)

24/7 Split negative

This is my challenge card for the split negative challenge. This uses Friends 24/7 and the cherish is from Baroque Motifs. This is such a fun technique. Normally I would have used the trees from Lovely as a Tree, but I wasn’t allowed to use that stamp set! So I was really challenged! But I do like this one :)

lovely as a … leaf???

Well, this one was totally different from anything I was expecting!! You set the challenge to use Lovely as a Tree, and you expect everyone to use the row of trees, or the Christmas looking tree. But no! This card uses another image, that I have to say I tend to gloss over!! And how awesome do these colours look?? It’s tangerine tango with Chocolate Chip and vanilla (ooh, that sounds delicious!! now I’m hungry!!)

Lovely Christmas Trees

This is the second swap card using Lovely as a Tree. This also uses Ski Slope DSP – i adore that stuff! It’s so Christmassy!

More Lovely as a Tree

A couple of demos and I are doing a monthly swap. We choose a technique and a stamp set, and have to create cards using those. This month the stamp set was Lovely as a tree (my choice, coz I wanted to share the sparkly cards!!) and the technique was Split Negative.

Here is one of the cards I received – I will share the rest over the next few days. 

This also uses the level one hostess set “best yet” – I love that set! i use it all the time in workshops. it has such a variety of sentiments. I also love these colours – not traditional Christmas colours, but they work :)

Fifth Avenue Swap

This card aslo uses Fifth Avenue Floral, but it uses the whole set this time. This is the last swap I received from Regionals (if it's yours, please let me know)
I love how the bottom is scalloped using the scallop edge punch - I never think to do stuff like that!! (it's hard to see in the pic, but it is there!!)

punchy windmill

This scute scallop oval punch card is from Teresa - it also uses the quote from Fifth Avenue Floral - I LOVE that quote :)

Lovely Tree swap

This is - yet again - another swap from Regionals. This one is from Sharlene - LOVE THOSE TREES!! Lovely as a Tree is such a versatile set - Christmas, masculaine, sympathy - any occasion really.

Swirly Friends

This is such a lovely colour – doesn’t show up very well on here. This uses DSP, and Priceless and Oval All. Oval All fits perfectly with the oval punches, and the scallop oval and the set are only available for a limited time now – the mini ends on 30th November.]

EDITED: I thought I had written on here that this was a swap - but no! Sorry to whoever made this! I did a whole heap of posts at once, and must have forgotten on this one. This was another swap from regionals. In asnwer to the questions - I think it is rose red, and the DSP has the same patterns from this year, but not this colour, which again leads me to thnk it's rose red. If this is yours, please enlighten us :)

Shimmery Christmas

This is another swap I received at the regionals. This uses A Wish for Peace -  don’t you love that dove? Bad pic, but it’s really sparkly and shimmery IRL

Swaps in return

This is one of the swaps I got in return – from Kathy McInnes. Kathy was a brand new demo, don’t think she even had her kit yet, and as a scrapbooker had minimum stamps. So she used the hostess set she had earned in her recent workshop, and borrowed the cardstock form someone else, and came up with this little beauty! Isn’t it gorgeous? This uses the Level 1 hostess set “live like you mean it”