Archive for the ‘ESAD-SU’ Category

cos the ESAD 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue Blog Hop is here!

I do hope you have got yourself a cuppa and a biscuit – maybe even a chocolate one as there are 25 lovel blogs as part of this New Catalogue tour!

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin’ Up!

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 its 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. Now if you’re not a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and would like to be please email me for a ‘no obligaton’ information pack.

Now as I’m the first in the blog hop you just keep going until you get back to me – easy   Also, if you happen to come across a link that doesnt have their posts up then scroll down to the bottom of the last blog post you were on and there will be a list of all the blogs involved.

We have blog Candy!

This blog hop we are offering blog candy for those who take the time and effort to visit every blog and leave a comment on all the blogs. All you have to do to be entered into the draw is to visit each blog and leave a comment on each one. Once you’ve done this email me and let me know you’ve fulfilled the requirment and  advised your name, email and location and I will enter you into the draw! How easy is that??

Now onto my project ….

One of the great new sets in the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue is called Artistic Etchings and I was lucky enough to be able to pre-order this set – one of the benefits of being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator is being able to pre-order stamps before the catalogues are released to the general public.

Now I wanted to make something more than just a few cards and I’ve mentioned before that I love using the Stampin’ Up! notecards.  So I designed a ‘bag’ that would fit the notecards inside.

So using the notecard size  I went about designing the little briefcase and I just love how it turned out. I deliberated for quite some time on how to get the briefcase to get the texture of a real bag and decided that it would be easier to just use my stamp pad to create the lines/scratches on it. Then I just stamped some of the images from Artistic Etchings on the case to mimic those luggage bags with stickers and labels on them.

The three little cards fit in the briefcase perfectly and it uses a velcro dot to close the bag.  Here are the cards …

Now as I was making the briefcase and cards I thought of making a concertina passport photo book. I then remembered that my neice and her hubby are currently living in the UK and have made a couple of trips over to Europe and in particular France so I messaged Cath and asked if I could use some of their photo’s to which she was happy to do so.

So I set to work on the Passport.  Again I made it the size of the notecards so it would fit in the briefcase – and this way I wouldnt have to make another bag!  I downloaded and printed the photo’s I wanted to use and then set about to create the concertina part. I placed the photo’s without sticking them down so I knew where to put my stamps.Once I’d stamped and sponged the pages I popped the photo’s in and tagged them and I was done.

The Paris label on the front was printed on cardstock using word and I then attached the frame from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge (which I’m glad is in the new Catalogue) and popped it on the front.  It might look involved but it really was quite easy once I’d worked out where to put what photo.

I do hope you like what I’ve made as I really did enjoy making these two little projects. It’s Cath’s birthday later this month so I’m going to send the briefcase and the passport over to her – I do hope she likes it!

Now its time to head off on your journey to the next Blog that’s part of the hop being the lovely Keryn Campbell from New Zealand (see I knew you’d need a passport!!)

Here’s a list of all the ladies participating in the blog hop just in case one of the links in the posts dont work …

and neither do old Catalogues!!  They are thoughtfully placed on the shelf for easy reference for ideas and motivation!

Yes today is the last day for both the 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalogue and the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue – it will be a sad moment when I put these two lovely Catalogues on the shelf but then when I turn around I’ll have a gorgeous new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue to not only purchase from but also draw some inspiration and motivation from.  It has 161 pages of gorgeous stamps, papers, accessories and samples to drool over and I know you will love it just as much as I do!

Today’s card uses a new stamp set – Friends Never Fade and some new Designer Series paper from the Greenhouse Gala pack.

This is a sweet and very simple card to do and it also uses the gorgeous Polka Dot Textured Impressions embossing folder.

I know you are going to love all the new Designer Series Papers and all the dies and folders for the Big Shot as I do and I cant wait to share more of them with you.

Now dont forget – tomorrow morning at 10am is when the ESAD “New Catalogue” Blog Hop starts and it starts right here!!  So make sure you kick the kids out the door early tomorrow and grab a cuppa and a couple of biscuits to get you through the 25 blogs who are all showcasing items from the new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue.

Catalogue Launch Party

I am holding two Launch parties for the new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue – yep not one but two!  I thought I’d hold two that way those that work during the week can come on the Saturday and those that done can come on the Friday.

So if you’d like to come along and see the new products and stamps showcased then please contact me today to reserve your spot. You can choose Friday 17th September or Saturday 18th September.

Now that Saturday also happens to be my birthday so there will also be Birthday Cake to share with you and as well as a couple of projects for you to make and take home we’ll also have a couple of door prizes and lots of fun and laughter … and chocolate   If you dont already have your catalogue you can purchase it on the day for just $10 (usually $12,95) or get it for free when you place an order of $100 or more on the day or book your own demonstration.

Dont forget to contact me and book your spot as my house is not huge and I want it to be comfortable for everyone!

Remember … ESAD “New Catalogue” Blog Hop starts right here at 10am tomorrow … so synchronise those watches now!

Its that time again – a new round of the Secret Stampin’ Sister program! I cant believe we are up to round 4 already!

I’ve received  a couple of gorgeous cards this month and I wanted to share them with you today.

How nice is this card?

These arent colours I would have put together but dont they look so very nice?? Colours used are Kraft (Crumb Cake), Baja Breeze and Elegant Eggplant.  I’m going to add this one to my Stamp A Stack Selection – I love it.

I love the touch of the Elegant Eggplant ribbon and the scrunched flower.

They have used the lovely Medallion stamp too – I thought it odd when I’d made those Medallion cards the other week and here comes one in the mail for me!

Now I received this card a couple of weeks ago and then yesterday I received the second card for the month of August.

How cool is this one?? and just in time for Father’s Day too!

This card is so neat … and I love how the tie and shirt have matching hankies in the pocket! Too cool – the Designer Series Paper used here is the Windsor Knot papers which will retire on 31st August but suit this card so well.

Now with every good suite the jacket opens up as shown below and the shirt layer opens to reveal a white background for you to pop your message onto …..

Now dont forget the Last Chance List and those items that are discounted even more than before – also I’m still offering free post on all orders up till 31st August so get on the phone or shoot me an email with your order and how you wish to pay.

Being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator has brought many wonderful people into my life and some of these just happen to be other demonstrators.  I run an online forum for demonstrators from Australia and New Zealand called ESAD (Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators)  and through this group I’ve met lots of wonderful ladies and also as we share our creations online with those demonstrators we find ourselves inpired and motivated by others.

One such card that inspired these cards today was created by Julia Leece – a demonstrator from New Zealand.

Here is my card in the lovely purple tones of Elegant Eggplant and Pale Plum

I love these colours together and will be so sad to see Pale Plum retire next week – its been one of my favourites over the four years I’ve been a Demonstrator.

I loved this card so much that I decided to make a few in different colours ….

The other colour combinations I’ve used here are Baja Breeze/Basic Black and Pretty in Pink/Chocolate Chip – these make a lovely Stamp A Stack card and the girls enjoyed making them here the other week. This is another versatile card that would suite any occasion just by changing the sentiment.

Now dont forget there is just one week left to order anything from the current 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue and the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue as these books both finish on 31st August.

Now as a special offer to my lovely and loyal customers from now until 31st August anyone placing an order of $100 or more I will pay the shipping and handling!  So this gives you a little more spending money right? Dont forget to check out the Last Chance List and the Availability List here.

So go grab a cuppa and have a good look through both catalogues and get your orders to me – you can email me or ring me.

Sorry for not posting the last couple of days … I got my birthday present early and have been playing with it and configuring it and trying to work out how to get it to do what I want it to do – what is ‘it’??  It’s an iPad!  I’m not as impressed as I thought I’d be but I’m slowly working it out.

If you remember I had my lovely friend Tanya come stay for a few days at the beginning of the month and one of the projects she brought kits for us (us being my lovely friend Lisa and myself) to make is this awesome 3d Truck complete with cards!

How cool is this truck? and doesnt every girl need a pink truck? I think so!!  Looking at the above image I’m thinking we could even pop on some swirls or flourishes around the fender. Now that would be cool would it not?

Here are the lovely cards we made to pop inside ….

They are like a gate fold. Now when I was making my cards I got a bit of a serve from the girls asking why I put the presents and pets in the back. Well when you move you have to take the pets right?? and there will also be all those housewarming presents you’ll need to pick up too!! Or maybe they are all the new stamps and accessories in the upcoming 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue!!

Now if you didnt want to put cards in the back of the truck you’d be able to fit in some coffee/hot chocolate sachets, chocolates, gift card, small stamp set, ribbons, brads, glimmer paints, gorgeous new sizzlits dies or some of the lovely new textured impressions embossing folders! So much to choose from!!

Now you wont fit the new Idea Book & Catalogue in the back of that truck but you can arrange your own copy from me as I have received my order of 4 boxes!

You can get yours by ….

• paying $10 plus postage. Now if you live close by and can pick it up or I can drop it off you wont have to pay the postage. Also, you will receive a rebate of $10 on your first order from the new catalogue of $100 or more.
• book a workshop & get it for free – its that easy!

Now if you do happen to purchase yours from me and after reading the book decide you need a workshop to earn the awesome new products for free then I will give you a voucher valued at $10 to use at your workshop.

Contact me today to arrange your workshop and get your free catalogue!

Just a quick note that a few of the ESAD girls are busy making samples to introduce the new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue to our lovely customers and blog readers.

So be sure to check back on the 1st September so you can start hopping along and viewing all the gorgeous art work. You can start here on 1st September and all the projects will be up at 10am Sydney time so mark your diaries!

How many times do you walk to the letter box and your whole being drops when you see all those window faced envelopes (aka Bills)??

Being a demonstrator for Stampin’ Up! I make many sample cards to share at demonstrations or with my loyal blog readers like yourself.  I have quite a few more cards than I need so its nice to throw one in the mail and send to someone ‘just cos I can’ and its always lovely to get one back – how excited do we get when we see an envelope in our letter box that does NOT have a window??

I know I get very excited as do the girls – they want to know who its from and why they sent it to me.

Now being that I’ve been with Stampin’ Up! now for nearly 4 years – ooo its my Stampin Up! Anniversary next month! I’ve met many lovely people and many of them have become friends.  One of these ladies is the lovely Leonie Newman – who also happens to be in my awesome downline – well she’d have to be great with a name like Leonie wouldnt she??

To my surprise Leonie sent me a little gift last week – she had told me during one our online chats that I should keep an eye on my letter box.

This is what I received ….

Leonie did tell me that she saw this Coffee Sleeve and thought of me immediately — not sure where she gets the idea I’m powered by coffee?!?! I do appreciate the thought as how often have you bought a coffee from a take away and its too hot to hold??

Now the card ….

I love the colours and paper Leonie has used.

This type of card is called a ‘swing’ card as the top swings up to reveal the message or greeting as shown below.

If you would like to learn how to make one of these swing cards then contact me today to arrange your demonstration or class

To Leonie – thank you for blessing me with your friendship and your gorgeous gift!

Now if you’d like to become a demonstrator and join my awesome Stamp A Latte team then please contact me as soon as possible if you want to save $65 on the Starter Kit.  This promotion goes until 31st July which is this Saturday and I’d love for you to join my team and reap the rewards (and all the new friends you’ll make) just as I do!

Benefits of joining my team this week are ….

• Save 20% on the starter kit price – you pay only $259 (a saving of $65)
• Earn 30% commission on your first order within 45 days of joining (use this on items in the new catalogue or Big Shot!)
• Join my wonderful team of over 100 demonstrators
• Pre-order from the new catalogue before it goes ‘live’ on 1^st September
• Get a bonus gift from me when you join my team (to the value of $35)
• Gain access to my Stamp A Latte Team forum
• Gain access to the ESAD forum and network with over 500 demonstrators
• Gain access to the Stampin’’ Up Demonstrator website
• attend my team meetings

If you would like more information or have any questions please dont hesitate to contact me.

Thanks for stoppin by

Welcome to the ESAD Christmas in July Blog hop!!

I do hope you’ve come prepared for a wonderful ‘Christmas’ journey so if you havent got your cuppa and some biscuits you’d better go get some now … I’ll wait till you get back to continue.

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin’ Up!®

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 its needed. There is also the online chat networking that is available whenever youre online.

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.

You should have come here from Clare’s blog but if you havent dont worry … just keep hopping until you get back to me.

Now, like all good bloggers, we all LOVE comments so please be sure to leave us a comment as we just thrive on them!

I have had one of these Simply Scrappin’ “I Wish” kits for eons – maybe even last Christmas and I hadnt pulled it out to use so I thought I’d better take this opportunity and use it before its retired.

Here is what I created ….

We have ….

• A Christmas planner
• A Gift box with toffees inside
• A Gift Bag
• 6 Christmas Cards with matching Envelopes
• 8 Christmas Tags

Now all of these things I made with just half of one of the kits – oh and I had quite a bit left over that I didnt use including adhesive die cuts, cardstock and patterned paper.

So I could still make a bundle more cards, tags and even a scrapbook layout if I wanted to – or I might even dress up a canvas for the Grannies for Christmas.  So just imagine how much you could make with a full kit!

The Christmas Planner

I love the idea of these planners so when I was making projects for this blog hop I thought I’d love to make one of these so I went looking online for ideas and maybe a tutorial.

After spending half a day (I kid you not!) of looking and not really finding what I wanted I sat down and decided to design one myself!  So I did and I love how it turned out!

The Planner takes one sheet of 12×12 cardstock to create then I’ve just added pieces of the Designer Series Paper and adhesive die cuts from the kit to decorate it.  Easy!

Here are a couple of shots inside the planner ….

Then we have the cards ….

These cards were actually made using the Stampin’ Up!® Notecards.  Using the Notecards made them so quick and easy to put together and they come with envelopes so I just stamped some snowflakes from the Snow Swirled Stamp Set and I was done! Easy!

A Box for the special someone with the sweet tooth!

How cute is this box?  These Acetate boxes are so easy to make and you can put anything in them from toffees to candles!  Oh if you are buying someone a gift card you could pop that inside and then fill it up with toffees or Werther’s Caramel Chocolates – now I did buy a bag of those but they umm disappeared … well one does have to do quality control do they not?? I do know that hubby took two of them – the hide of some people!

A Gift bag …..

How nice is this little bag?  Now you could put just about anything in here too … a CD, stamp set, punch, set of car keys, toy car even (being a replica of the new one in the drive-way maybe? please Santa???)

Not forgetting … the gift tags ….

Now these were fun to make and I will probably make a few more – but how cute is that Penguin??  I do so love Penguins   I’ve been eyeing off this Punch Pals set for a couple of years now and thought why not?? My customers need new stamps for their Christmas Stamp A Stacks!

Wow .. .I apologise this post is so long!  I didnt mean for it to be so if you’ve got this far I thank you from the bottom of my Christmas heart!  It does happen to be my favourite holiday and its a shame its all over so quickly.

Now before I go I do have to tell you that if you do happen to see those Werther’s Caramels to grab one bag for you and one bag for me cos they are D-I-V-I-N-E!

Now that you have got this far its time to hop onto the next ESAD Blogger in the Blog hop being the gorgeous Gardenia Pepworth

Now dont forget to leave everyone a comment

Today I had a workshop for a group of ladies who are new customers and I wanted to make their ‘make n take’ simple but elegant and the hostess had told me they wanted to see the Extra Large 2 Step Bird punch in action.

So this is what the girls made today as their make n take …

How sweet are these cards?

They are so so quick and easy to make. Its also a great way to use up some of that Designer Series Paper that you have in your stash. Actually the ones we made today used the 6×6 paper sheets from the Patterns Pack II Level 1 Hostess Gift. I also used the awesome Stampin Up! Notecards that come 20 to a pack with envelopes for just $9.50!  What a bargain!

These pads of paper are so versatile and great for card making or 6×6 layouts or matting.  In each 6×6 Patterns Pack you get and assortment of 5 colours in 60 sheets of double sided paper – and all for free – just by hosting a Workshop and qualifying for the Level 1 Hostess Benefits.

My cards above were inspired by a sweet card I received from the lovely Genelle Little which is here for your viewing pleasure ….

I met Genelle through the ESAD online forum I run for Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators from New Zealand and Australia.  Its a great group for inspiration and getting ideas from other demonstrators so if youre a demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand click on the link and join today!

As you are aware I run an online group for all Australian and New Zealand Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators called ESAD (Extra Special Australian Demonstrators). We regularly run swaps for the members as these are great ways to get new or different ideas to your own.

This month we have a swap for a Technique Book which I’m a part of.  All the participants had to choose a technique different to the other participants and make up an instruction and sample page for each participant. So I had to make 12 instructions & samples for this swap and the technique I chose was Collage Stamping.

I love doing Collage Stamping as you can make it your own and create lovely effects and it gives the look of your very own designer series paper.  Now while I was making my samples the other day one of my daughter’s friends was staying over and she asked why I was putting butterflies on the patterned paper – I then explained what I was doing and that I’d stamped all the images on the cardstock myself.  She then exclaimed “Wow how cool!!”  Now this does boost one’s self esteem to no end!

Here is the sample I made for the swap ….

After deliberating for what seemed like days on what set and style to make I decided on this gorgeous “All a Flutter” stamp as the main focus and then popped in some flower stems, leaves and script.

I really do love the final sample and I do love that butterfly!

I’ve coloured my piece using the Stampin Pastels. I love the soft muted tones you can get with the Pastels and they also blend so well!  Now to ensure that the Pastels dont keep rubbing off I’ve given them a light spray with my hairspray.  This just helps to set and protect your artwork from rubbing off.  You dont need an expensive fixative – just the  cheapest hairspray does the trick.

Now as part of the swap we also had to make one card or project using our technique so I thought I’d use my sample and do one of the challenges from the Cards and Things Challenges Blog run by the lovely Krista Driessen.

Here’s my card …

I love how this turned out and I’ve added another butterfly over the top of one to give it more dimension and make it that extra little bit special.

Recipe:
Stamps: All a Flutter, Organic Grace, En Francais
Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Blush Blossom
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Mellow Moss, Versamark
Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Circle Die, Circle Scissor Plus, Stampin’ Pastels, Sponge Daubers, Crimper

Here’s a close up of the layered butterfly …

Starting September I will be starting new Technique Classes so if you’d like to book your spot please email me today.