Ornament Swap

I recently took part in an ornament swap organised by New Zealand Handmade - my swap partner was in the UK - so I had to get on to it quickly! This is what I sent her. My photo does NOT do this justice but I had to take the pic in a hurry, in order to get it in the mail to arrive in the UK before Christmas!
The ornament is made using the First Edition specialty paper - I love this stuff - it's thinner than normal DSP, so more manoeuverable (I have NO idea if that is spelt right!!) - perfect for the rosette. (I'm loving these rosettes too!! they take AGES to score but are so worth it in the end!)
The idea came from the awesomely talented Kimberley Van Diepen - and I didn't change much - added the Cherry Cobbler ribbon rather than the vanilla. You can't see it very well but the scallop square is covered in dazzlng diamonds, and the edge of the rosette is dipped in (contraband) gold glitter - it's so blingy in real life! love it!

I packaged it in a pizza box using retired jolly holiday paper, and the perfect punches stamp set with more bling.
I love the ornament, but wish my partner had been in NZ so I could have had a bit more time to play and jazz it up - but I hope she likes it!
I'll show you what I received in return tomorrow. It's SO cute! Not paper - but felt :)

ornament 1

I have been going through an ornament phase - I have seen a WHOLE heap of ideas on pinterest that i want to re-create, and a friend has put up her Christmas tree for the first time in a LOT of years, so she needed new decorations - hello!! She just became my guinea pig lol.

This is another CASE of Kimberley Van Diepen - like the ornament I made for a swap. It uses black instead of Cherry Cobbler, and I think I like this better. It's missing ribbon but I don't think that matters :)

I am loving the stitched stockings stamp set and matching punch. I am also loving pinterest - although I would NOT recommend it if you get easily distracted! (that's why my house is a pigsty and my Christmas shopping still is nowhere near done!! - you start looking and then two hours later - whoops!) Anyway.... I found this card on pinterest - and thought how cute it would be to re-create using the stitched stocking set. So I did. The light on this photo is rubbish, but in real life it loks really cute. I'll try and get a better shot - I have LOTS of pics to take of other CASEs from pinterest, so I should get on to that!

Paper Frame

The very talented Julia Leece showed us these frames at the Auckland big day out. I was having a play and the little girl I was looking after decided she wanted a go too!
Well, I got distracted, so mine isn't decorated - but here is P's flash frame :)

This uses a few retired items (she has free rein in my retired stash!) - but the cardstock is Not Quite Navy -I like the look of it. My version used Basic Black - I was going for the classic elegant look. I must finish it - and steal that ribbon idea! Am loving the faux bow look at the moment :)

as if I needed a reason.....

to keep drinking coke or pepsi!! Now I can say I need the cans :)
this was CASEd but I'm sorry I can't remember whose it was - but the original used DSP.
I wanted to do this for my second swap, but the only current DSP I had was Just Add Cake, and it just looked wrong, so I made my own using Vintage Vogue.
I love this card! It feels like spring!
the butterflies are made using soda cans, and I have a BAG full ready to be made into who knows what!! I have a few mobiles hanging around too, and I'll show you those another day.

the answers my friend....

are blowing in the wind.... I am obsessed with making windmills (or pinwheels) at the moment. I made a whole heap from (now retired) Play Date and Celebrations DSP to make a mobile for Connor's room - which looks awesome if I do say so myself, so I must take a photo and put it on here. but anyway.... I wanted to use them on my swaps so this is what I ended up with.
The windmill is made using Just Add Cake DSP - start with a 2 1/2" square and go here for directions. Simple as :)

rosettes are everywhere.....

I can't believe it has taken me SO long to give them a go! They look really tricky, and I HATE fiddling round with bits trying to get them to stick in the right place, but then .. Heather Summers to the rescue again! (This woman is a LEGEND! honestly!!) - there is a trick to these flowers - and it is twine!! So..... after watching this little gem of a video, this is one of the make and takes we did at my catalogue launch today.
The card itself is a copy of one I saw on the sample boards at the Big Day Out Product day in Auckland last weekend, and uses the free set we got Under the Big Top. This is not a set I would normally choose, but seeing the cute things we did with it (and no I wont be showing those - they need to be a surprise for the others who haven't had their regional yet!) I kinda like it! And I LOVE this card!
The rosette uses the Melon Mambo Designer Series paper stack - love those papers!!

Angry Birds

A friend of mine is hooked on this game, and she turned 30 last week - so I googled - and found this little gem :)
I made her a card and a bookmark - and I hope she loved it as much as I do!!

Health Warning

Stampin' Up! is offically bad for your health!!
Just kidding - but look what happens when you are in the middle of cooking your lunch, and someone posts in a forum that the new catalogue is available for demonstrators to see online. Well, obviously I had to go and see . . . . and well, lunch was forgotten!! until all of a sudden.... what's that smell???? oops!!

On the bright side - it was SO worth making another batch of cheese on toast!! This catalogue is gorgeous!! I am so excited to share it with all my customers come September 1st.

Retiring List is out

Wow - the retiring list is out, and I am super excited! There are some bargains to be had on there this year! Some products are up to 40% off, so it's worth checking out!
The list can be found here, and will be updated as items become unavailable. Remember these items are only available while stocks last, so you need to get your skates on if there is anything you just CANNOT live without!

butterfly bookmark

Here's another project from my kid classes. Uses mostly retired product, but looks so good!

On a related note: how is it kids can look at my version (it's green and brown and nicely colour-cooirdinated thank you very much!!) and then look through my retired DSP stash for a colour combo of their own and think "hmm.. purple (rich razzleberry from the cottage wall paper), red (real red cardstock for the middle butterfly) and orange (only orange patterns pack) - with a celery ribbon (the only option!!) and ...... a blue button (non-SU!) - yeah that'll look AWESOME!!!" It hurt my eyes, hence no photo, but you know what?? She was SO proud of it, so who am I to judge?? :)

This is the other donation I made to Handmade for Christchurch

It is a double sided pendant - made with a washer.

Yep - a typical hardware store washer.

It's covered with Designer Series paper, and then covered in crystal effects. Leave to dry for a good 48 hours, then stick it on a string.

Ta da :)

Flower brooches

Because of my HUGE absence, I'm still catching up on showing some of last years projects. This is a funky brooch made using fabric and the Flower Folds XL die for the Big Shot. The colurs turned out quite fitting really, as I ended up donating this to "Handmade for Christchurch" which is a group of crafty chickies who decided to use their gifts to raise mney for the earthquake fund. They raised over $16000. Amazing huh? Check out the facebook page if you are interested.

What a hoot!

How cute is this little fella?? This is another project copied from Bronwyn Eastley.
I know I copy a lot - but that's part of the beauty of Stampin' Up! It has such amazingly generous demos who share their ideas and expertise - and I am just not creative enough to think of these things on my own!
This is made using really thin cork sheets (yes, our punches cut cork!) and is made into a magnet - I now have quite a few stuck to my fridge!

Strength and Hope Class

As part of our Making a Difference program, Stampin’ Up! is proud to partner with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® in the Strength & Hope Campaign.

Throughout the 2011 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue sales period, Stampin’ Up! will donate $2 from the sale of each Strength & Hope set to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).

Even though this set is in the Autumn Mini which finishes on 31st July, I have a class coming up on Saturday August 6th at 2pm. It's such a gorgeous set, and this was the only time I could fit it in.
We will be making this card set. This is an idea from the last round of UStamp. It is almost exactly the same as the instructions except for the ribbon, as I didn't have the satin - so I changed it a bit.
I still have a few spots left so if you are interested in attending, please contact me on 06 357 8970
And if you LOVE the set, and want to do your bit for the Breast Cancer Research foundation, then order this set today!

A Year of Cards

Get frustrated at the cost of store bought cards?
Want to make your own but don't really want the outlay of all the "stuff" you need?
Then this is the class for you.

Come along and make 38 cards - 12 different designs for use throughout the year.
There is a variety of sentiments and occasions. Birthdays, thank yous, kids, babies, male and female - all are covered.
For just $50 you will have a stack of cards to tide you over for every possible eventuality.
Bookings are essential so please contact me to reseve your place.
Payment required in advance. No payment, no place.

Vintage vogue class

These are the cards we made at the Vintage Vogue class I held earlier this month.
I CASE'd most of these cards a LONG time ago - and I'm sorry but I can't remember who they were from. (If I know I'll state it)

This card uses Sahara Sand as a base - with Bravo Burgundy. So elegant. Love the two score lines - they just add a little something.


This was a swap from Convention 2010 - vintage and all the sponging and antiquing isn;t really my thing, but I love this colour combo.


So simple but so effective I think

Not a card, but a piece of art in a simple IKEA frame - am going to paint the frame white, but for now, it looks ok :)

finally back in the swing!

It's been a long time.. hopefully there are still some people out there that check my blog!! If not - well I'll have to rustle up some viewers!!
It's school holidays, and I've got kids classes on. I have two themes going - "butterflies" and "punch art". The kids I've had so far are REALLY creative, and have done an awesome job! I forgot to get pics, but have more classes next week, so will try and remember.
Here's a peek at one of the projects we are making in the buttefly class.

This is a keyring made from felt put through the Big Shot with the Beautiful butterflies die. Yep - the Big Shot cuts felt. It cuts cork and soft drink cans too - but more on that later!

I blatantly stole this idea from Bronwyn Eastley - an incredibly talented Aussie demo - along with a few other ideas too! But those I'll post another day!