Everyone needs a little Kindness dont you think and yes it matters!!

Have you noticed the Kindness Matters stamp set?? its on page 71 of the Stampin’ Up! Idea Book and Catalogue (AU/NZ) – it is just the sweetest little set with three lovely butterflies, two sentiments and two little motif/decal images – its just gorgeousness in a box for just $22.95 (wood)!

Here’s a card I made to go with the Kindness Matters mini album I shared last week …

Recipe
Stamps: Kindness Matters, Creative Elements
Paper: Beau Chateau DSP, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Inks: Jet Black Stazon, Marina Mist, Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Big Shot, Designer Frames Embossing folder set, Lots of Tags Sizzlits, Pearl Jewels, Stampin Dimensionals, Stampin Sponges, Marina Mist Satin Ribbon

How sweet did this card turn out – I just love it!! The Kindness Matters goes so so well with the Beau Chateau DSP!

I hope you like this card as much as I do and if you’d like to see how to make this card or any others I have shared here on my blog then please feel free to contact me to arrange a demonstration.  Now is the perfect time to be a Hostess as you not only get all the gorgeous Hostess Benefits but you also get free Sale•a•bration sets as well!  You’ll need to be quick as I only have a couple of spots left for February!

Morning all!!

I’m busy finishing off some wedding samples for a customer who’s coming to view them this afternoon – so hard working out pricing as I dont want to charge too much yet at the same time dont want to rip myself off for my work and time!

Its another Saturday – last Saturday of our school holidays here before the girls embark on a new year of schooling and with my youngest starting High School it is a bitter sweet time for me but glad they’ll both be in the same school now so wont need to worry if one is running late on the bus or not!

Being Saturday that means its time for another Utah Divas Sketch Challenge and here is this week’s sketch …

Diva Sketch 173

Easy enough … and look no rotating or anything …

So Sweet!

Recipe
Stamps: Up in the Air (Hostess – Summer Mini), Charming (Summer Mini)
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Subtles Paper Stack
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Bashful Blue, Peach Parfait, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Modern Label Punch, Scallop border punch, Saleabration Organza ribbon, stampin write markers, rhinestone jewels.

How pretty and ‘springy’ is this card??  and what’s a ‘spring’ card without butterflies??

I love how this turned out and it seriously came about in like 25 minutes – must be one of my quickest sketch cards ever!!  This will be one of the cards for our next Stamp A Stack so if you’d like to make a couple of these be sure to book your spot for the 11th February!

Now be sure to hop over to the Utah Divas Blog and see what lovelies the other Designing Divas have got up to this week!

Yes its Saturday and time for another Utah Divas Sketch Challenge and I do hope the other sketchy Divas had a great time at Leadership in Utah!

I am feeling a bit weary this afternoon after hitting the shops this morning to do the ‘back to school’ shopping … Uniforms, Shoes, Back Packs, Books, Pens, Pencils, etc – the list seems to get longer and longer each year!  My poor body is starting to seize up so I’ll take some meds and go rest up a bit after I finish this post.

Here is this week’s sketch ….

simple enough hey?? well i had a sneak peek at what the other girls made and wanted to do something a little different – so unlike me isnt it?? well you will be surprised to know that I rotated the sketch (is that you I can hear gasping??) and here is what I made …

Recipe
Stamps: Easy Events, Tiny Tags, You’re Cherished
Inks: Jet Black Stazon, Pear Pizzaz, Pool Party, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake, Old Olive
Paper: Whisper White, Pool Party, Early Espresso, Spice Cake DSP (Summer Mini)
Accessories: 1/8″ White Taffeta ribbon, Whisper White Bakers Twine, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Modern Label Punch, Vintage Trinkets, sponges, aqua painter, stampin dimensionals

When I rotated the sketch all I could see is the sweet little grandfather clock from Easy Events – yes I used that set again!!  I did tell you that you’d see a few things made with it didnt I??

I do hope you like what I’ve made this week and be sure you pop over to the Utah Divas International Blog and see what the other girls have made.

Have a wonderful weekend!

I did my first workshop for 2012 the other week and it was good to get back into the swing of creating and sharing what I love!

As these ladies were a mixed bunch I thought I’d show how versatile our stamps are and have had the Easy Events stamp set since the pre-order back in August but hadnt actually inked it up so thought this was the perfect opportunity!

Easy Events is a great set with 8 sweet little stamps and all with different greetings so you would have something for any occasion your celebrating!

I made a little set of 8 little gift cards and here is the first four ….

Cute hey?  Wish I’d thought to use the little Christmas one at Christmas!!

Here is the other four …

Cuter still!!

I love that tree Stamp!

This set makes for a great quick and easy card and as I said before – for any occasion.  Now it comes in Clear Mount or Wood and I’ll share a tip with you that I do for these types of sets.  As you have an image and words on each stamp I tend to slice the words off the bottom of the stamp. If I had wood mount I’ll mount the words separately on the side of the block.  This way I can use the image by itself or I can always use my stamp-a-majig to place the words under the image as they should be.  It also gives me the opportunity to mix n match the greetings with the images!  So for example I could use the two birds with the ‘sending you love’ sentiment – now that would make a sweet Valentine card!

I have more projects using this set which you’ll be seeing over the next few days so stay tuned!!

If you would like to see how very versatile this little set is then please contact me today to book in your workshop – dont forget Sale•a•bration starts on 24th January so everyone gets to earn free stamps & accessories!

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!

A couple of month’s ago my gorgeous friend Melissa Garland asked me to help her with a sample for her Presentation at Stampin’ Up! Regionals and she asked for this Side Swing Card.

So I got to thinking and here is the card I came up with …

this is a sweet little card and uses a single piece of A5 for the card base – its just the score lines that need to be mastered!  I love the flowers in this stamp set and the paper I’ve used comes from the Cheerful Treat Designer Series Paper pack which is available as a Hostess gift.

I made another of these for my recent Latte Project Class with a Christmas theme …

This one uses the Letters to Santa Designer Series paper and the Merry & Type stampset and for the inside I’ve inserted  a little pocket for popping in a gift card.

You can download the tutorial at SplitCoast Stampers here or contact me to book a workshop and I’ll show you how to make one of these to take home.

Dont forget to check out the December Frenzy – just click the banner above!

Thanks for stoppin by

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.

Happy Sketchy Saturday!!

Well here we are with another Utah Divas Sketch Challenge and I’ve been good and not twisted or turned or done anything to the Sketch this week!!

Mind you, I did hit a bit of a hurdle as the stamp I wanted to use for this card was missing from the set I wanted to use but being its from Stampin Up! I wont have a problem getting it replaced

Here is this week’s Sketch …

Diva Sketch Challenge 162

Looks a bit like a porthole doesnt it??

I was in Canberra last weekend for Stampin’ Up! Regional training and one of the make and takes was quite similar and since I hadnt actually made the card up I decided to use the pack for today’s card – was rather nice of Stampin’ Up! to do that for me wasnt it??

Anywho here is my card …

I did change a couple of the colours from the Stampin’ Up! make n take and changed the Stamp Set as well as they’d used Big Top which I’m still a little unsure about!  I also thought putting the greeting in the circle rather than an image changed it around a tad and we dont always think to make the greeting the main focus on a card.

This image shows how the card opens – its a bit like opening a Birthday Present isnt it?? I love how this card turned out and I love the effect of the Wisteria Wonder Ruffled Ribbon under the Pretty in Pink Cardstock.

The Scalloped Circle you see used here is from the Perfect Pennants die which happens to be on sale this month as part of the “Sale to Die for” promotion so grab it today and save!

I hope you like my card and please make sure you pop over to the Utah Divas International Blog so you can go visit the other ladies on the Design Team and see what they came up with!

Thanks for stoppin by

I have a busy weekend coming up with not one but two Stamp A Stacks and both ladies wanted cards with the Stitched Stockings & Stocking Tag Punch so I thought I’d make a new card to share with them.

I have seen a couple of  cards recently and I wanted to combine a couple of the elements into the one card. So this is a result of the cards I saw from Jackie Bolhuis and Belinda Tubby – thanks ladies for the inspiration!

Here is my card ….

I love how this turned out and I’m happy too as I managed to use up some of my retired Designer SEries Paper!!

How cute are those mini Brads?? They are going to be perfect for alot of new cards where the other brads were too much or too big.

I hope you like my card and now I best be off and finish the kits for the weekend … just have to cut enough cardstock to make 30 of these little cards!!

Now dont forget when you hold a workshop and your sales reach $450 then you can get this stamp set and the matching punch absolutely free!! Now dont stress – if you still want the punch & stamp set you can purchase them during the month of October

Feel free to email or ring me to place your order or book your workshop in!

Are you running low on Christmas preparations? do you need to make more Christmas cards?? Well check out ‘My Events‘ on my Stampin’ Up! website or click the ‘events’ tab up the top and book in so you will have all the Christmas Cards, Tags, Bags and boxes you’ll need!

My apologies for getting my Sketch card up so late – I do hope all the Divas forgive me.

Yesterday I woke with a touch of the flu so yesterday was a bit of a struggle to get everything done and October is a very busy month so really dont have time to be ill but then do we ever have time to be sick?? I had my monthly Stamp A Stack yesterday so couldnt go back to bed even though I really wanted to but did end up crashed in my recliner not long after the ladies left and this is why one eats dinner at 9pm!

Anyhoo … Here is this week’s Sketch

Easy enough hey?

I love the simplicity of this Sketch and here is what I (eventually) came up with as my brain wasnt working so well …

Subtle Elements

Recipe:
Stamps: Creative Elements
Paper: Purfect Plum, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride
Inks: Versamark, Basic Black, Purfect Plum, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Stampin Sponges, Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Stampin Dimensionals

Well I must have been unwell … did you notice I didnt rotate it or adjust it in any way!!

I do hope you like my card and make sure you stop by the Utah Divas International Blog and see what the other Divas created!