I do hope you are having a good week and you’re all busy buying lots of lovely goodies for mum for Mother’s Day this Sunday – you haven’t forgotten have you??

Dont stress if you have just give me a call to arrange a gift voucher and receive a bonus $5 on top of what you pay for mum! She’ll love you forever … and so will I!!

Now onto the Technique Challenge for the Soul Scrappers forum ….

I thought this week I’d look at frames – well not because I need to get my eyes checked but I have this really lovely stamp set called Frames with a Flourish and it gets so neglected. <awwww>  So I pulled it out this morning and thought well lets see what different ways we can use it. I am sure you have those ‘frame’ sets or dies in your stash that you just ‘had‘ to have yet rarely use.

So first off I thought that I could use that dotty fancy frame as a pattern on my background so came up with this ….

I’ve just used the stamp to create the pattern on the background Pretty in Pink piece and stamped in Regal Rose. It works quite well with the staggering of the images I think.

I then took the square floral frame from Frames with a flourish and stamped it in Regal Rose onto Whisper White. I think cut around the frame and then sliced it in half diagonally.

Then using the two corners I attached them to my photo and used them as photo corners.

I then layered the photo and the photo corners onto a Pink Pirouette mat so that you wouldnt loose the photo corners into the background.

I’ve then stamped the dotty frame onto Whisper White and created my page title with that piece and here is my finished layout …

Its a little cute dont you think?? so is that kid!

I even attempted a ‘boy’ layout ….

What do you think? does it pass??

I’ve used the circle frame from Frames with a flourish and the party hats come from Party Hearty stamp set.

Now stamps arent the only things we have frames in. There is also now our lovely Big Shot and all the awesome dies. Here is a layout I’ve created using the Top Note die …

I’ve used the die to create the Journalling box and also the photo descriptions and just switched the colours around on each of them.

Well I hope you’ve liked what I’ve done for the challenge and feel free to have a play yourself and either post your creation over on the Soul Scrappers Forum or comment on this post and insert a link to your blog post or online gallery. I do have a little surprise for the Challenge Winner soit could be worth your while to have a play and enter.

Hello and I do hope youre having a great week!

Its a busy one here so I wanted to get this post in before I get stuck into the kits and demonstration preparations for the two demonstrations I have this weekend.

A few weeks back in my Technique Challenge over at Soul Scrappers I ran a challenge for the ladies to create their own Designer Papers using their stamps and inks. Sometimes we spend hours or even days looking for that perfect patterned paper for our layouts when we have all the tools we need to make our own original papers. This layout – yes I did do some scrapping – was inspired by the sample in our current Autumn-Winter mini catalogue and as my sister and I both love purple well I just had to change the colours!

Due to me creating this layout on a 12×12 piece of whisper white it became very hard to photograph so if you’d like a closer view just click on the photo and it will enlarge in a separate window for you. This photo was taken in December when we had the whole family together – and this only happens every 20 years or so – it takes us all that long to recover!  Just kidding – its hard to get everyone together these days as some of us have grown up children and we are all busy in what we do – it doesnt help that we are spread across three states of Australia.

Here is a close up of the layered flower on the main photo/layer.

I’ve just stamped the two sized flowers in different inks – Rich Razzleberry (love this colour!) and Pale Plum.  I’ve then layered them and popped a half pearl from the pretties kit in the centre.

You may notice the ribbon is also ‘gathered’ which is a neat trick using sticky strip and I’d be happy to show you if you’d like to know how.

I did add a couple of extra flowers to my layout and the sentiment as well which was done using Wonderful favourites.

Its funny how close you become to your sister when you move out of home and get married yet while you were in the same house you hated each other so there is hope for my girls yet!!

I do hope you like this layout. It is very plain but I think too that it is enough

It’s what we’ve all been waiting for now for a month and now we can share it with you and I am sure you will understand our excitement!

Its the new Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue!

just click on the catalogue above to view online

How beautiful is it??

In addition to the many exciting new stamp sets and accessories found in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue, I am very excited to introduce three new innovative products:

• The Sizzix Big Shot
• Clear-mount repositionable rubber stamps
• A new style of Punch

You are just going to love it all and the new product lines also open up a whole new world to add to your scrapbooking and cardmaking!

Now is a wonderful time to join STampin’ Up! because not only do you get such great value in your kit but you can now select stamp sets from the new Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue as part of your kit! How cool is that?? So if you would like to get more information on becoming a Stampin’ Up! Independent Demonstrator and joining my “Stamp A Latte” team then please feel free to email or ring me.  There is no obligation to join – I am just happy to answer any questions you might have.

Do you want to see and touch all the new products but dont want to join? That’s not a problem – I can bring the goodies to you so you and your friends can see them up close and personal. You can have a play and we will even make some projects for you and your friends to take home – just ring or email me to arrange your demonstration.

If you would like your very own copy of the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue please contact me and I will deliver or post one to you.

You may remember last week and the Technique Challenge I did for the Soul Scrappers forum well here is the second layout I created.

I’ve created this layout using Washington Apple Designer Series Paper and the cute little Fox and Friends stamp set which is now available in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue.

This set is so much fun to create with as those little critters are just so darned cute! I can see it being used for baby cards and gifts, birthdays, baby announcements and of course layouts remembering trips to Wildlife Parks and Zoo’s as I’ve done here.

Now that you can purchase this set in the regular wood mount (as we’ve always had) or you can now purchase it in Clear Mount which comes in a gorgeous DVD style cover for easy storage and now you’ll be able to fit so many more stamp sets in a small space so hubby will think you’re not spending as much – well I wont tell him if you don’t

Now in celebration of the new Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue we’ve arranged a couple of blog hops again with the Extra Special Australian Demonstrators group and you can start by visiting Andrea Buckland’s blog. Now when you’ve done the blog hop and visited and commented on each blog you then need to email Sharlene to advise her your contact details just in case you happen to be the lucky winner of the blog candy!  Now dont fret that I’m not involved in the hop this time as we will have another on 7th April which I will have something very purty to share with you!

Good Morning!!

Its been a rather hectic week this week and hoping I do catch up to Friday very soon! I’d hate for Saturday to start and me still being stuck on Wednesday – that just wouldnt be fair!!

Its my turn again to host the Technique Challenge over at the Soul Scrappers forum that was started up by the lovely Erika Martin. We have over 500 members there now in just two months so thats an awesome achievement on its own! There are lots of Challenges, Sketches, ideas and wonderful people to share their talents and help so if you are a scrapper 0r even if you’d like to be a scrapper then pop over to the Soul Scrappers forum and check it all out!

My Technique Challenge this week is to create your own Designer Series Papers using your stamps. Being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator I love the papers they have and how they all coordinate with the colour families and stamp sets but sometimes you want a paper just a bit different or maybe in different colours.  So today I’m going to share with you how to make your own papers using your stamps and inks.

Supplies needed:

• Cardstock,
• Inks (I used Versamark, Mellow Moss, Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst and Apricot Appeal)
• stamps (I used Vintage Vogue and En Francais)
• Stamp a majig
• chalks ( i used versamark and chalk for the script in the centre)

I love using my stamps to create designs and the perfect patterned paper for my layout.  This way I can have colours that match my photo’s and I can make my own embellishments and accents and not only that – you know that no one else will have this designer paper you create yourself!

Technique Instructions:

• Start off with a piece of plain cardstock.  You could use any colour however I found those of the Soft Subtle family and lighter shades would be  better as you need to see the design youre creating!  I tend to use Whisper White or Very Vanilla  as my base and then build these up with colour.
• I first used the swirl from Baroque Motifs to create my border. You can use the stamp a majig to do this too so that you get the right swirl in the right place if you wish but you really cant go wrong with this stamp!
• Then I inked up the larger flower from Vintage Vogue (Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue) and stamped randomly in Pretty in Pink. I then did the same using Apricot Appeal. I then used the smaller flower to ‘fill in the gaps’ using Barely Banana and Almost Amethyst.
• I then tore up scrap paper to cover where I’d stamped and filled the centre in using the En Francais background with Versamark. I then grabbed my pastels and my handy sponge and ‘popped’ the script. Doing the centre this way gives it a softer hue rather than stamping it in the Creamy Caramel ink.
• Now look at your page and see if you are happy with the result. You may feel the need to fill in any ‘white space’ either by sponging or adding some more small flowers or maybe some leaves.

I was rather happy with the result of this page and was a little hesitant to put a photo over it!

I was strong and placed the photo on a Pink Pirouette mat  – I’ve also used some rub-ons on the photo but what I did was put the white part of the same rub on up the top left of my photo and the opposite dark part over the bottom right corner and onto the Pink Pirouette mat.

I didnt add much to this layout as I didnt want to detract from the Designer Paper I’d just created and sometimes less really is more!

I made a couple of flower accents from the Vintage Vogue (Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue). One small one down on the bottom left and then layering both flowers in colours from the layout and a button from the lovely Sherbet Designer buttons.

From this close up you can see that I’ve stamped the larger flower in Pretty in Pink and the small flower in Barely Banana. I’ve then adhered the button to the top. I’ve cut a very thin slither of Apricot Appeal cardstock and threaded it through the button holes and tied it. Now you need to be careful not to pull the knot too tight as the cardstock will break and I know this for a fact!

I do hope you like this challenge and I now challenge you to make a layout using your stamps. You can then leave me a comment and insert the link to your image online or email me a photo of your layout.

Why not pop over to the Soul Scrappers forum and upload your challenge there – there is always a winner each challenge and a small prize. You can find the messages about this challenge here. Its free to join and there really are some wonderfully talented ladies there who share, encourage and inspire!

If you would like to learn how to do this Technique then why not come along to my Scrap A Latte Summer Flower Layout class on 7th April. Class is $15 and I provide all the supplies you will need. Bookings are essential as I only have a small house and seats are limited. There is no need to bring any photo’s as you can add them later.

Dont forget that the Summer Mini Catalogue and Sale A Bration finish on 31st March and you only have till then to …

• order anything you still want from the Summer Mini Catalogue
• earn free Sale A Bration stamp sets
• receive bonus stamp set to the value of $79.95 when you join my Stampin’ Up! team

You may remember that I told you that I had been asked by the lovely Erika Martin to be on her ‘Soul Team’ for the Soul Scrappers forum – well today is my first challenge! So I do hope you will go to the forum and join in on the challenges and fun!

This is my very first Technique Challenge and I hope you like what I’ve done. This is all a bit daunting for me to be on a ‘Soul Team’ with such talented ladies!

I thought at first using circles was a bit basic but I do know that some are new to scrapbooking. It also doesn’t hurt to go back to the basics and revisit some of the techniques we did when we started scrapbooking and maybe use them in different ways.

Here is my first ‘circles’ layout ….

I’ve used the Stampin’ Up! Love Sparkles Simply Scrappin’ kit for this layout and my lovely new Circle Scissor Plus. I have fallen in love with this tool as it makes making circles so so easy!

I’ve incorporated the circle adhesive die-cuts from the Simply Scrappin’ kit and then cut some more with the Circle Scissor in coordinating colours for this layout.

The large scalloped circle I’ve done by cutting out the largest circle with the Circle Scissor then I’ve taken the guard off my corner rounder and gone all around the edge for the ‘scalloped’ look.

Here is a close up of the “I love You” on the bottom left and the “you mean everything” embellishment

To make the “You mean Everything to me” I’ve used sentiments from the Always stamp set and the frame is from the Frames with a Flourish set.

Now the circle scissor just doesn’t cut circles – you can also draw circles with it!

It comes with two attachments – one for cutting and a holder for drawing – now you can draw circles onto plain coloured cardstock to make your own circle patterned paper!

With this layout I took my piece of Specialty Designer Series paper from the Sweet Slumber pack and drew some circles in pencil.

I then used those pencilled circles as a guide for journaling,

Once I had finished and the ink was dry I just used an eraser to remove the pencilled circles.

Here is a close-up of the end of the quote and my “flower” embellishment.

I do hope you like what I’ve done and if you want to do this challenge please and join over at Soul Scrappers to participate in the challenge. Go to the Thursday Technique Challenge 3 post for all the instructions for this challenge.

I can’t wait to see what you make!