Good Morning and welcome to another Festive Friday Challenge!

Now with all the rushing I had to do in December to be ready for Christmas I am working on the theory that its never to early to start planning for Christmas!  So when Nicole asked me to join her Festive Friday Design Team I just jumped at the chance cos I really do need all the help I can get!

So for this week’s challenge I created my Christmas Planner – it was also a great way to use up some of the leftover ‘Letters to Santa’ Designer Series Paper pack!

Christmas Planner

Santa fits rather nicely on the front dont you think?  I even used the ‘naughty or nice’ image on my belly band that holds it all together to keep the image on the right spot when its all closed up.

So lets open up the planner ….

I’ve slid the belly band off and opened the front to reveal out little ‘petite pocket’ to house all our receipts we need for all the gifts for Christmas – this way you’ll know exactly where to find the receipt when those board shorts dont fit the nephew or that cardy just is not Granny’s colour!

Here we have the planner completely open. I also used the Letters to Santa Accents to decorate my pockets and pop the labels on.  I’ve got little lists in each pocket for Gift Ideas, Christmas Card List, and a Gift List.  Its a good idea to start your Christmas Card list early so you know how many you’ll need to send out at Christmas and then we can do a few each month so we arent in a tizzy 2 weeks before Christmas cos you dont have enough cards!  A little like me last December!!

I do hope you like my little planner and if you’d like to purchase the tutorial then please click on the paypal link below and the file will be sent to you.

Be sure to pop over to Nicole’s blog to check out what the other girls have created for this week’s challenge and to play along!

Wow is all I can say and thank you so much for all the gorgeous comments about my Enchanted Album I shared for the ESAD Sale•a•bration Blog Hop.

Recently we ran a Secret Stampin Sister swap within our ESAD group and I made that same album for my sister using Beau Chateau Designer Series Papers and the Kindness Matters Stamp set

Kindness Album

Those little butterflies from the Kindness Matters fit perfectly into the frame on the Beau Chateau Designer paper dont you think?

I am so in-love with these papers and the colour combinations and the ‘vintage-ness’ of the papers.  The greeting on this little pocket is from the Happiness Shared stamp set – sorry its hard to see.

The blue and soft suede seem to go so well together as well … not sure if you can see them in the photo but I have staggered those tiny pearls within the image stamped on the base page.  The flourish image comes from the Creative Elements stamp set.

I have had such a dilemma using these two pieces of paper but they seem to fit well with this double page spread.  Roosters and wire and the flowers in the rooster paper are on the memories paper but larger so they were perfect to cut out and layer on here with the ‘Memories’ word cut out.  A nice pocket for putting in some journalling or thoughts. Or maybe pop a journalling box on the left page and slot a few photo’s into the pocket – you decide!

Border with 'Pearls and Lace'

I love the simplicity of this page! The design is busy enough and if you added too much more it would be too much. So a simply border using the Lace Ribbon Border punch and some of our gorgeous adhesive pearl jewels.  So feminine and so very vintage.

I do hope you like this version of my little album and I do so hope that my sister liked it too!  I will be making a tutorial for this album so stay tuned for that!

Thanks for stoppin by

Good morning and welcome to the ESAD Sale•a•Bration Blog Hop

What 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.

You should have arrived here from Jacinta’s Blog but dont stress if you havent – just keep going till you get back to me!

Now onto my project ….

Enchanted Mini Album

I am a little bit excited about sharing this album today – not just because of the gorgeous Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper  and the Vintage Foliage Sale•a•bration sets, or that you can get both of those for free during Sale•a•bration but also cos this little mini album is the first one I’ve designed myself!

If you have a close look on the above picture you may see the little danglies I created with the ribbon & brad pack which is also available through Sale•a•bration!  Here’s a close-up for you …

I’ve just taken a brad and bent back the backs and tied the ribbon around the backs – cute hey?

Now lets open the album ….

I love this paper!!  I love how the paper matches the Stamp set perfectly and how Stampin’ Up! use their own colours to make it easy for us to match cardstock, inks and ribbons!  The sentiment on the right page is from the Summer Solstice stamp set.

Here I’ve popped in a photo matt on the left and a couple tags on the right for journalling.  I’ve popped a simple slit in the centre of the right page to slot the tags into.  I’ve used the Vanilla Satin ribbon with a piece of the pool party ruffled ribbon on top and embellished that with a couple of the brads from the Sale•a•bration Ribbon & Brad pack.

Full view of tags

I can see how very versatile this stamp set is going to be – from main images like the one on the front cover to backgrounds and borders! I used the same stamp on the tabs of the tags!

Same stamp again on the matt and the sentiment on the right as is used in this sheet of the Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper. Sentiment on the right is from the Hostess Stamp set Faith in Nature which you earn for free just by holding a Stampin’ Up! demonstration.

For the final pages I’ve just popped on two mats with coordinating ruffled ribbon.  You could used these for putting on a single photo, a collage of photo’s or some journaling – whatever you wish!

I do hope you like my little album and if you’d like to make this at a class please let me know as I’ll be scheduling them during February & March.

Now to continue on the blog hop you need to hop over to Alisa’s lovely blog and see what gorgeousness she has creating for your view pleasure

In case there are some broken links along the way here is a complete list of all the lovely ESAD ladies involved in the blog hop – now dont forget to leave the girls some comment love as well.

• Sherylee Tutt
•  Juliette Chapman
•  Alison Barclay
•  Corina Beyer
•  Christie Kunkel
• Jane Norrish
• Nicole Derendorf
• Jacinta Argent
• Leonie Schroder – you are here!!
• Alisa Tilsner
• Keryn Campbell
• Sharlene Meyer
• Madonna Dunn
• Joanne Kechagias
• Pauline Bennetts
• Monique Fielder
• Bron Heslop
• Felicity Fernandez
• Michelle Grech  
• Kelly Nelson
• Louise Layton
• Yvonne Walker
• Kathryn Ruddick

Hope you enjoy all the lovely goodies you see through the blog hop and if you wish to book your own demonstration or place an order please dont hesitate to contact me – as a special bonus for all ‘hoppers’ I am offering free postage on all orders of $100 or more from today to 31st January, 2012.

Good Morning!!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed your time with family and friends.  There is always such a huge build up to Christmas and its all over so quickly sometimes it can be a bit of a let down but this year I totally enjoyed it – well except for a few teary times when I thought of Dad and his first Christmas without mum but after I spoke to him on Christmas day he said he’d had a really nice day with my sister’s husbands family – they included him in their celebrations which is so nice and such a relief.

This was the first year I didnt buy my own presents. I gave a list to the girls and hubby and said ‘go shop’!! Well needless to say they did good and I think I should have done that years ago and now they’ve done it once they can do it again!

My Christmas eve was spent getting the food I needed to be as fresh as possible like fruit and bread rolls and croissants, then it was onto the gift packaging – and yes I have to make my own whenever I can – not really sure why as you can get such lovely bags and boxes these days but as I explained to hubby – I feel guilty if I dont! Silly isnt it??

There are always some we buy gift cards for so this is this year’s gift card pockets …

These little Santa pockets were so so easy to create … just some red and white cardstock and the tasteful trims die. Then you just add some black ribbon and a belt buckle!  Now the easiest way to make a belt buckle is to grab a can of Coke or Fanta or your favourite soft drink and once consumed remove the ring pull from it and thread your ribbon through that and wallah … instant buckle!

Now dont take that pull tab off before you finish drinking from the can or you’ll cut your upper lip and we dont want that! I suppose you could pour your drink into a glass but only creates more washing up and we cant have that!

Here’s the pocket revealing the gift card …

Each year I bundle up some cards that I make during the year to give to the families on Christmas Day and these are the gift boxes I made this year ….

Its a simple design that I got from Splitcoast Stampers but since their paper size is different to ours it means our cards are bigger so after a few adjustments and making the change to centimetres the gift boxes were then assembled with little fuss and quite easy to do. Now you dont just have to put cards in them – you could put bags of biscuits, lollies, coffee beans or bottles of marinades or candles or anything. I’ve used the lovely Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper with some Cherry Cobbler Cardstock and some Vanilla Satin Ribbon for the bow.

Here’s one of the bags up close …

There’s six cards and envies in each box and I try to choose a selection of cards to suite each person. So one family has younger kids so I try to pop in some birthday cards for young kids and to the newly weds I put in a baby card or two but for grandma its mainly birthday, get well and thinking of you.

Now to buy that many cards commercially they’d be paying at least $30 if not more so my work during the year pays off and I dont have to spend time and money in the shops buying something I’m not sure if they would use or not.

Now in saying that in previous years I hadnt had much feedback other than the ‘thank you’ so I was asking hubby if he thought I should keep giving them to which he said yes you make great cards. Now I dont know if he was just saying that to make me happy but on Christmas Day everyone commented on how lovely the cards were – even a couple of the hubby’s mentioned it to me how much work I must put in them each year!!  So that tends to say it all and I thank God for that confirmation!

Stay tuned to my blog or Stampin Up! site for details of special classes coming up in January – we’ll be doing some Valentines Gifts and Packaging as well as a few Back to School ideas.

Dont forget Sale•a•bration starts on 24th January where you can earn free stamps, papers and accessories just by buying Stampin ‘ Up! products or hosting a workshop or joining my team.  So if you’d like more details about Sale•a•bration ior joining my team please feel free to ring or email me anytime at all!  Contact me to get your free Sale•A•Bration Catalogue today!

Friday was the last day of school here in Sydney for 2011 and that means Teacher’s Gifts!

I wanted to do something a little more than just a box of chocolates so I made some post-it note holders and Caitie made some Whoopie Pies to pop in with the chocolates.

Here’s all the Post-It note holders I made using the Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper Pack which will be part of the freebies for next year’s Sale•a•bration!

Actually the one of the bottom right uses paper from the Timeless Portrait Designer Series Paper pack.  I’ve popped in some Stampin’ Up! pens I picked up at Memento Mall at the Stampin’ Up! Convention in Melbourne.

Here’s a pic of a single Post It Note Holder ..

How nice is this paper?? I’m sorry to say that you wont be able to buy it … but I’m very happy to say that you can earn it for FREE during Sale•a•bration! There is also a gorgeous stamp set that matches the design on this paper – now you’re getting excited arent you??

Here’s the inside of the holder …

Comes complete with 2012 calendar!

The teachers were all wrapped with their gifts and here’s to 2012 and also means both girls will be in the same school with Emily starting High School – now just where did my babies go??

If you would like more information about Sale•a•bration! or to book a workshop in during the Sale•a•bration! period which goes from 24th January to 31st March 2012 then please contact me today to arrange your copy of the Sale•a•bration! Catalogue or book your date.

Happy Saturday to you! I hope you are well and if you’re anything like me your busy preparing for Christmas with shopping and what not.  We got our tree up last night – funny story as hubby wanted a 5 foot tree and we sorta ended up coming home with a 7 foot tree! Thats ok cos it was in sections so we just left one section out and wallah – instant 5 foot tree!! So glad he only got the box of 300 Christmas Tree lights and not the box of 600 lights!!

Now being Saturday its time for another Sketch challenge from Utah Divas International group and here is this week’s sketch …

Now I can see you imagining a lovely simple Christmas card with some snowflakes – right??

Well thats what I thought to start with but then my mind started to wander and since tomorrow I have a Project Class on I wanted to make something with this sketch – something that could be used either by the ladies coming or given as a gift for Christmas and this is what I came up with ….

I’ve used the new Spiced Cake DSP in the new Summer Mini Catalogue and I just love this paper and can see me going through quite a few packs over the next few months!

This would make a great gift for Mums, Dads, or students on their desk or maybe even as a Teacher Thank You gift.  It could lie flat on your desk or pop a couple of magnets on the back and attach it to the fridge.

I hope you like this little message centre and I hope the ladies like it tomorrow too!

Dont forget to stop by the Utah Divas International Blog for links to what the other Designing Divas have created with this sketch.

Wow what a day!!

Not only do we have the awesome December Frenzy starting today we also have a gorgeous new Mini Catalogue to celebrate!

2011 Summer Mini Catalogue

Please feel free to contact me if you’d like your own copy to be posted to you and I’ll include a special offer just for you!

Now if you’d like some ideas for using all the gorgeous new products in the Summer Mini Catalogue we arranged an ESAD Summer Mini Catalogue Blog hop to inspire and motivate you – just click on the button below to start you on your motivational hop!

click here to start hopping!

Contact me to place your order and if you mention you did the Blog Hop you’ll get free postage on your order!

Today I’m sharing a gorgeous project that was demonstrated by Melissa at Stampin’ Up! Regional Training in Canberra.  I loved it so much I just had to make one of my own and share it with my lovely customers

This is one of the projects we made at my first Monday Make-It Class this week.

Top Note Frame

This frame uses the flocked paper from the Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Series Paper Pack and its so lovely and elegant.  You need the Top Note Die, Beautiful Wings embosslit and Beautiful Butterflies Die and the Creative Elements stamp set.

You could either pop a stand on the back as I have done or a magnet to stick it on your Refrigerator.

Just add a photo, 2012 Calendar or a stamped saying and it would make a beautiful Christmas Gift.

Dont forget today is the last day for the ‘Sale to Die for’ and get those special dies and folders at 10% off – click on the image below to view what  dies and folders are on sale.

Well this past weekend was huge to say the least!

We had Dad’s 80th Birthday last Thursday and as the family was coming to town for my niece’s’ wedding we thought it would be great to celebrate Dad’s special birthday as a family.  I picked Dad up from the Airport at 4pm and thanks to the traffic in the M5 Tunnel it took 90 minutes to get

home – it was Saturday there wasn’t supposed to be any traffic! It was like a weekday – seriously!! This trip normally takes 40 minutes – well on a good run at least!

We headed out to dinner after a short rest and it really was great to celebrate with all the family including my Aunt’s who don’t get to see Dad very often.  It was a lovely night although rather humid and seated outside.

While we were there we presented Dad with his card & gift. Now because there were so many people to sign Dad’s card I had to make it larger than the regular card. (yes I was the designated card maker!)

Gift Bag & Card

We had decided on giving Dad an ebook reader for his birthday and after some research decided to go with the new Sony eReader.  Quite a nice machine I must say – well I had to test it and load some books on there for Pappy!  As the box was a larger size I decided to make a gift bag to pop it in – obviously manufacturers do not take card-makers and paper sizes into consideration when they make these things! The Gift Bag stands 26cm tall and 16cm wide so it took two sheets of 12×12 cardstock and a fair amount of sticky strip to make the bag – there was no way this baby was falling apart!!

The card was cased from one I found on Amy Celona’s blog.  Amy did have a tutorial/template on her blog however it wasn’t big enough for the card I wanted to make so I ‘adjusted’ it to make it bigger. My card base is actually made from a piece of A4 and I just had to use the gorgeous flocked paper from the Morning Mocha DSP!

Vest Card open

Here is the card opened.  The shirt part actually lifts up and this is where everyone wrote their messages.  I loved making this card and it came together so well – the shirt and tie pieces are from the Well Worn DSP – fitting for a ‘shirt’ card don’t you think??

I do hope you like this card and it was great to be able to share such a lovely night with Dad for his birthday – its the first one he’s had without Mum since they met some 60 odd years ago so I know it would have been bitter sweet for him as the weekend was for all of us but more so for Dad.

Be sure you pop back to check out the wedding cards I made for my niece.

You may recall me talking about the Stampin’ Up! Convention back in May – with all thats happened since May it feels like a lifetime ago!

One of the awesome things you see at Convention is the demonstrations by the staff from the Stampin’ Up! Home Office in Utah and one of those was when Pam Morgan showed us the telescoping card. You should have heard all the wow’s when she shared this awesome card.

So when I got home I had to track down a tutorial on how to make these lovelies and thought it would be great to showcase them when we held our New Catalogue Launch in September.

Here is my first one using the colour paletteand a couple of the papers from Flirtatious Designer Series Paper pack.

Telescoping Doilies

This image shows the card closed and the following image shows the card open …

Telescoping Doilies - open

If you look closely these cards and held together by using brads and I’ve use the Glimmer Brads on this one.  The sentiments come from the Petite Pairs stamp set which is a great set full of lovely matching sentiments – one for the front of the card and another for inside.

Here’s another one I made using the gorgeous colours and papers from the Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper Pack.

Telescoping Paisleys

To give the card some continuity I simply cut one of the flower out of the patterned paper and adhered it to the top layer.

Telescoping Paisleys - open

I just love the colours in the Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper pack – so beautiful and rich! I just love how Stampin’ Up! have mastered the art of coordination! Coordinating everything from colours in their cardstock, inks, ribbons and patterened papers down to the images in their stamps to their paper designs as well.

I love these cards and they are rather easy to make – alot easier than they look! I’d love to share them with you and your friends at a workshop so contact me today to book your date!