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”

Regional Swap

Back in September, we had our regional training day – which is where we all get together and stamp, basically! ok, there is a lot more to it than that, but we do get to play with new products – which I can’t show you yet, but watch this space! It is also a good chance to meet with other demonstrators and see what they are up to, and swaps are a big part of that. This is my swap. It uses Seasons of Joy, and Many Merry Messages.

Lovely as a Sparkly Tree

 

This is a card that Sharlene originally did, that I showed my Stamp Club last month, and they LOVED it! In real life it is the most sparkly gorgeous card. Dazzling Diamonds are such an easy way to add bling to a card – and they go for miles! I have made about 12 of the these cards, and still have nearly half a pot left. Bargain bling!! lol

Punchy Christmas Tree

Another Heather Summers creation – this is one that I showed Sharlene, Patricia and Diane when we all got together here in Palmy – ooh ages ago now!! My camera has been dead for a while, but now it’s all good!!  

Happy Belated Halloween

My daughter spent the better part of last week punching out cardstock – my lounge looked like a recycling bin! I have been taking online punch classes with Heather Summers (the punch goddess!!) and the last one focussed on holidays – Christmas, Thanksgiving and Halloween to be exact. So, Jordan had seen some of the ideas and wanted to have a go – so she did! We had bats and pumpkins and ghosts and witches and frankensteins all over the place! Then she got inspired and wanted to try her own idea! And this little devil was born! How great is that!!

November Blog Challenge

Seems I read somewhere that November is blog posting month or something like that! And you need to post to your blog every day. So here’s my challenge to myself to do just that!

Check in from time to time and see how I’m doing!

N is for….November Promo

OK, it has been a while, but how lucky is that!! lol

I was really struggling to come up with an “N”so this works!!

Stampin’ Up! has put out a gift giving guide, which will help you find the perfect gift for almost anyone! AND…. not only that, but they will give you a gift for you too!

Spend $105 on product from the gift giving guide, and you will receive a scallop square punch FREE! That’s $35.95 of product free!! woohoo!!

Click on the picture below to enlarge and start making your list!

Call me when you’re done!