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Inspiration

15 June, 2010 3 Comments

Good Morning!

I do hope you are keeping yourself warm on these chilly winter days. Its days like today that it would be nice if our friends in the Northern Hemisphere would send some of their heat our way and I’d only be too happy to send it back during our summer – sounds fair doesn’t it?? if only we could!

Many times I have people say to me that they could never be a demonstrator as they don’t have the imagination and creativity I do. Thing is I dont think I have any more creativity than the next person – maybe I just use it differently.

I get my inspiration from many places but one I particularly get inspiration is the Stampin’ Up!® Idea Book and Catalogue or the Mini Catalogue.  These books are not only wonderful for showcasing the stamps and accessories we sell but it is full of samples and ideas – The Idea Book & Catalogue has over 300 ideas and samples to inspire you.

Here is a case of one of the cards from the current Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue. It highlights using the Big Shot with our Extra Large 2 step bird punch and the Perfect Polka Dot Textured Impressions folder.

This is a great card and very easy to do and I would love to show you how to make this card and all the lovely other items you can make with the Big Shot.  Don’t forget I have my Big Shot Bundles and you can find them on my Latte Specials page.

How would you like to get your Big Shot at 30% off??

Well you can! Just by joining the wonderful Stampin’ Up! family and my Stamp A Latte Team.  When you join Stampin’ Up! as a demonstrator and place your first order of $300 or more within 45 days you will receive a bonus 10% commission on this order so instead of 20% commission you get 30%.

If you join Stampin’ Up! before 31st July then you also get the Starter Kit at 20% off – that’s a saving of $65!!  Contact me today for your free information pack.

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: cardmaking, Classes, Creativity, Demonstrations, Friends n Family, Occasions, promotions, specials, stamp-a-stack, Stampin' Up!®, stamping, Techniques Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Super quick & easy cards

8 June, 2010 4 Comments

By now I’m sure you are aware of how much I love my job and how much I love Stampin’ Up!® and their products.

I had a Workshop on Saturday night and I wanted to show these ladies how you can make lovely cards quickly and easily. These ladies are all young mums so I know how precious their time is and how the budget doesnt always extend to paying $7 or $8 for one greeting card when purchasing them from a shop.

Last year at Sydney Regional Training for Stampin’ Up! we had a lovely lady visit from the home office in Utah, USA and she was telling us how good the Stampin’ Up! notecards are and you’ve seen me share projects using the Notecards since then.  Well here are three very quick and easy cards using the notecards, Thoughts and Prayers stamp set and 2 punches.

How sweet are these cards?

They are so easy – it was just a matter of stamping the tree from Thoughts and Prayers onto the notecard and then using the trio flower punch to punch out the flowers. I then inserted the brads and attached them to the card using glue dots.  The sentiment is stamped onto a scrap piece of whisper white and then punched out using the large over punch.  I’ve then popped that onto a scalloped oval punch out and stuck it on my card with Stampin Dimensionals. Add the ribbon and its done!  How easy?  Now with these lovely cards you could pop on any sentiment you wanted to as they’d suit birthdays or anything.

The beauty of these Notecards is that you get 20 cards and envelopes in a pack for just $9.50 – thats less than 50 cents a card!

Now dont forget that today is the last day for the Punch Deal of the Week where you can purchase any of the following punches at 30% off!

So ring or email me now so you don’t miss out on this great bargain – this deal finishes at 11pm tonight and I’ll have a brand new deal for you tomorrow!

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: birthday, cardmaking, Classes, Creativity, Demonstrations, Friends n Family, Get Well, Occasions, promotions, specials, Stampin' Up!®, stamping, Sympathy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Convention Swaps

26 May, 2010 4 Comments

One of the joys and highlights of Convention is swapping.  Its amazing to watch – and the chatter … wow! There’s nothing quite like making a swap and then realising that you’ve been talking to this person online for the last 12 months or so!

Here are the cards I made for my Convention Swaps …

This is one of my favourite cards and its been a hit with my customers too!

I actually made this card for my ESAD-SU Secret Sister back in March so havent been able to show it until now and the tulips are made using the very lovely Extra Large 2-step Bird punch available in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue.

Recipe
Stamps: Cottage Garden
Paper: Cottage Wall DSP, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Old Olive, Lavender Lace, Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Perfect Plum, Lavender Lace, Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note die, Little Leaves sizzlits die, Polka Dot Impressions folder, Scalloped Oval Punch, Extra Large 2-step bird punch

This is my second card and its done using Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. This has to be one of the best value stamp sets and can literally be used for anything!

Recipe
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Paper: Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, Whisper White
Inks: Sahara Sand, Tangerine Tango, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive
Accessories: Stampin Write Markers, Always Artichoke Grosgrain Ribbon

I’ve used the masking & sponging techniques on this card. I cut a rectangle out of a scrap piece of paper to create the ‘window’ then sponged it in Sahara Sand. I then stamped the leafy image in the same Sahara sand ink. It gives a dimensional look dont you think?

Here is my last swap card ….

Dont you just love the Tote-ally Tess set ??  For this card I’ve renamed it Totally Onie as it has all of my favourites on this card – Rich Razzleberry cardstock & ribbon, Cottage Wall DSP, Stamps and of course – coffee!

Recipe
Stamps: Tote-ally Onie Tess , Sip by Sip
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Cottage Wall DSP, Whisper White
Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Jet Black Stazon, Orchid Opulence, Chocolate chip reinker, Going Gray
Accessories: Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon, Aqua Painter, Stamp-a-majig, Stampin Dimensionals

I’ve used the Paper Piecing technique for the Tote and used my Ink pads to watercolour with the aqua painter. I must say Tess was rather popular with the swappers.

Now here is a picture of all the swaps I received …

Now I did come home with some swaps of mine so if you would like one of my swaps then send me an email with your address and I’ll pop one in the post to you.


Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: cardmaking, Classes, Creativity, Demonstrations, ESAD-SU, Friends n Family, Occasions, Stamp Club, stamp-a-stack, Stampin' Up!®, stamping, swaps, Techniques Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Manager’s Reception

24 May, 2010 3 Comments

Well I cant believe its been over a week since I posted – I’m so sorry!

We had our annual Stampin’ Up! convention this past weekend in Sydney and I was rather busy getting ready for that and making sure the family had all they needed.

Convention Officially started at 7am on Friday morning however there was a special reception on the Thursday night for those who have achieved Manager level and above.  Stampin’ Up! does this every year though in the past it was held on the Friday evening so it was nice to be treated early :)

We were then seated  for a hello and update from the very lovely Shelli Gardner. Shelli is such a lovely woman full of grace and so giving of her time.  She expressed her thanks for all we do and how hard we work. We were then ushered into another room where they were serving hot chocolates in these huge cups. It wasnt like any hot chocolate I make at home – they drizzled melted chocolate down the sides of the cups and then filled them with steamed frothy milk – talk about divine!!

Mind you no one wanted to give the cups back as they were so nice and had the lovely image from the Share a Cup stamp set.  This is when we were told that it was OK as when we left we’d be given one of the these very cups of our own complete with the Share A Cup stamp inside!

How cool are these cups?

Now I know that you know how much I love the ‘occasional’ cup of coffee but this is one huge cup! Its probably the size of two soup mugs! So I think I’ll use it on my desk to keep my Clear Mount Blocks in and various other bits and pieces.

Stampin’ Up! really do spoil their Demonstrators and you will see more of that ‘spoiling’ over the next few days with my sharing from Convention.

If you were ever contemplating becoming a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator and joining my team well now is the time!  From now until the end of July you can join Stampin’ Up! and receive 20% off the kit price!  This means you now get $590 value for just $259! Who knows – next year you too could be attending the Manager’s reception and receiving your own free gift from Stampin’ Up!  There are many more rewards you can achieve so please dont hesitate to ring me if you wish for more details.

Not only that – I will have a bonus gift for you when you join my Stamp A Latte team. As I have a Demonstrator Business Website its even easier for you to join as you dont have to fill out any forms – you can do it all online! All you need is an Australian Business Number and a credit card – how easy is that? So ring or email me today if you need more information or any help at all with joining my team.

You can join now by clicking on the picture below

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: Creativity, Friends n Family, promotions, specials Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Diva Sketch Birthday

15 May, 2010 10 Comments

This weekend is a special Utah Divas International Sketch as it also happens to be our lovely Sketch Queen Carol’s birthday!

So Carol wishing you a doubly blessed birthday for today and may you be blessed with lots of love, presents and cake! Make sure you have an extra piece on my behalf!

Now as I’ll be at the Stampin’ Up!® Convention in Sydney next weekend and Miss E has her best friend’s birthday party to go to I thought I’d make this card for Alanis now.  Means I wont stress on Wednesday night when I’ve realised I haven’t done it!

Now Miss E and her friend are going through a ‘not pink’ phase so this is why we’ve gone with orange and red which are Alanis’ favourite colours.

Recipe
Stamps: Party Hearty, Sweet Little Sentiments
Inks: So Saffron, Real Red, Only Orange, Pixie Pink, Summer Sun
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Washington Apple
Accessories: Real Red Brad, stampin dimensionals, mat pack, paper piercing tool, circle scissor plus, snail adhesive.

I do hope you like the card. I quite like it even though these are colours I wouldnt normally use but I do like the Washington Apple DSP and should really use it more – its suitable for both male and female cards and projects.

I still have lots to get done before Thursday and am really excited to be meeting alot of lovely demonstrator friends I’ve made through the ESAD-SU group and some I’ll be meeting for the first time this year.

Thursday night is the Manager’s Reception – this is for all demonstrators of Manager level (me) and above to meet the staff from Head Offices in Australia and New Zealand as well as Shelli Gardner (CEO and Co-Founder) and the team from the Home Office in Utah.

Then Convention kicks off early Friday morning and finishes on Saturday night with the awards dinner.

Its all very exciting and really not sure I can wait another 5 sleeps!

Now its time to skip onto the lovely Max’s blog - Max is actually the lady who started Utah Divas group many moons ago and is very blessed as she works at the Stampin Up! Home Office in Utah, USA.

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: birthday, Birthday Club, cardmaking, Challenges, Creativity, Demonstrations, Friends n Family, Occasions, Stamp Club, stamp-a-stack, Stampin' Up!®, stamping, Techniques, Utah Divas International Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Vintage Sketch

8 May, 2010 10 Comments

Welcome to another Diva Sketchy Saturday!

I know its later in the day but it IS still Saturday!  Here is this week’s sketch from the lovely Carol for the Utah Divas International Sketch Challenge.  Easy enough right??

Well I was half way through my card when I thought that if I rotated the sketch it would make a great landscape card – and then I looked at the sketch again and yes its meant to be a landscape card!

Here is the card I made …

The cocoa on the blue was actually inspired by one of the coffee cups I have and think it turned out well.

I love this litte floral design stamp from Vintage Vogue – its so versatile and makes awesome background paper.

The Happy Birthday sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Messages and fits perfectly in the small oval punch or even the word window. I’ve added a small flower from the Trio Flower Punch for that extra little bit.

Now when I was making this one I thought that a flower in the place of the ‘friend’ layer would look nice so I made another.

Now with the second card I changed the ink to Creamy Caramel to stamp onto the blue and sponging around the edges.

The Happy Mothers Day Sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Messages.

I have been busy this past week making swaps for Convention and doing all those behind the scenes things for convention – making sure I have decent clothes and shoes to wear and all the other bits and pieces.  As a Convention Special I am offering free postage on all mail or telephone orders between now and 31st May. So if there is something you wish to order now is the time and the more you purchase the more you save!

Now its time to send you skipping off to the next Sketchy Diva being the lovely Ruthie!

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: birthday, cardmaking, Challenges, Classes, Creativity, Demonstrations, Friends n Family, Occasions, Stampin' Up!®, stamping, Techniques, Utah Divas International Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Funky Flutters

1 May, 2010 6 Comments

Good Morning all!

Its another busy day for me but that’s OK because I love what I do! Being a Stampin Up Demonstrator I get to go to people’s houses and share with them my love of card making, stamping and papercraft – and I earn money when I do this so to me there is no better job – well except for being a mum!

How many of us have a job we are passionate about and just love doing? If you are a stamper or crafter and would like more information about becoming a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator then please do not hesitate to contact me – even if it is just to get your stamping products and accessories at a discount.

Its Saturday again (where does the week go?) and therefore that means another Utah Divas International Sketch

Another sketch from the hands of the lovely Carol and again a sketch that has so many opportunities.

Now I have a demonstration this afternoon and the hostess has asked for cards that are girly and funky so I hope she feels this card fits the funky bill.

So here’s my card … what do you think? is it funky?

My 10yo told me its definitely funky as she helped me design the card. I have left the bottom strip off as Miss 10 said that if I put ribbon on the card there it would not be funky any more so what’s a mum to do??

Recipe

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly
Inks: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Whisper White, Orchid Opulence, Cottage Wall DSP
Accessories: Stampamajig, Butterfly Punch, Stampin Dimensionals.

I just love the Cottage Wall Designer Series Papers – they are so fresh and lovely … and maybe funky?? I am also glad we will have them for 5 months instead of the regular 3 months a mini catalogue runs for.

I’ve used the Flight of the Butterfly Stamp set with this card as my hostess wanted to see the butterfly punch in action. Now I did make another card using the butterfly punch but you’ll have to wait till tomorrow for that one!

Again you can see all the lovely creations the ladies have made following the links at the Utah Divas International Blog and if you skip along to the lovely Tiffany’s  blog you can see what she’s made and then just keep following the rest of the links to see them individually.

I do hope the ladies like this card this afternoon .. now I’d best be off and finish packing my trolley.

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: cardmaking, Challenges, Classes, Creativity, Demonstrations, Friends n Family, Occasions, stamp-a-stack, Stampin' Up!®, stamping, Utah Divas International Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sisters

22 April, 2010 3 Comments

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 :)

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: Challenges, Creativity, Demonstrations, Friends n Family, Occasions, scrapbooking, Soul Scrappers, Stampin' Up!®, stamping, Techniques, this n that! Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Coaster Calendar

29 January, 2010 9 Comments

Well yesterday my big girl didnt last long at her first day of High School – I had to pick her up after 2 hours as she was feeling rather sick – too many nerves I think but today she’s back and so far so good ;)   She’s made new friends and can you believe there are three girls in her class all with the same name! Hopefully today I will have the whole day to myself!

This calendar is one that I started before I went away on holidays – I had hoped to give a few as Christmas presents but that wasnt meant to be as I just had too much to do before we left. I can still send them on as ‘just because’ gifts.

So here’s the cover

Here are all the pages that make up the calendar

As you can see I’ve tried to make the months in colours that suite the season they are in – not always easy when most things Christmas have snow on them and well Christmas in Australia is rather hot!

I hope you like this little calendar and I will be running a class for this on 25th February and as my house is small places are limited to ring and book in today!

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: Classes, Creativity, Friends n Family, Gifts, Occasions, Off the Page, Stampin' Up!®, stamping Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

ESAD Colour Challenge

28 January, 2010 11 Comments

Good Morning all …. well today is going to be a big day – My oldest has her first day of High School so no doubt that will be a whole new adventure for all of us! Miss 10 starts 5th Grade – and mum has a day all to herself!!

I want to thank everyone who managed to survive the Saleabration Blog Hop on Monday – it was huge and we had so many new visitor and comments. Now you can still do the blog hop to be in the running for the Blog Candy as this closes on Friday. You can start here and will need to leave a comment on each blog then email me to advise you finished and I will put your name into the draw for the Blog Candy. Now be prepared as there are 41 blogs involved so you’d better go get a cuppa and some bikkies! I promise next time it wont be so big!

I have set a colour challenge to all the girls on ESAD and thought I’d share it with you too in case you wanted to join in.

Make a card, 3d item or scrap page using the following colours ….

Here is my card for the challenge ….

It’s actually a case of a card that the gorgeous Shelli Gardner (Stampin Up! CEO) demonstrated at Leadership recently in USA. I’ve used the lovely new “I {heart} Hearts” stamp set – this is also the set to purchase help raise funds for the Haiti Disaster Relief fund.  I love this set – it coordinates so well with the Stampin’ Up! heart punches.

Now if youre playing once your item is finished upload your project to your blog or online gallery like flickr or photobucket then come back to this post and leave a comment with the link to your project to be in the running for the prize. I should have known the first time I use Mr LInky it would go MIA – I cant even get their site to load so my apologies for that.

You have until 31st January to create and upload your item and I will announce a winner – the lucky winner will receive a small prize in the mail.

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: cardmaking, Challenges, Creativity, Demonstrations, Friends n Family, Stampin' Up!®, stamping Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sketchy Hearts

23 January, 2010 11 Comments

Its Saturday again and time for another Utah Divas International Sketch Challenge from the lovely Carol.

Now I didnt see the word ‘top’ until I was cropping and resizing the sketch but then thats like me isnt it? to change or turn or do something to the sketch – Carol would think I was ill if I didnt change it in some way, shape or form!

I wanted to make a card using the “I {heart} Hearts” stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalogue as its the one that Stampin’ Up! have chosen to  help the Haitian Disaster Relief. With every sale of this stamp set from now until 28th February Stampin’ Up! will donate $2 to the Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund.

Here’s my card …

I hope you like it as much as the girls do.

I used three of the hearts to make a collage background and layered the saying over the top using vellum to give the background a muted look. You may also notice the sentiment stamp is one you havent seen as yet? Its a stamp from one of the upcoming ‘free’ Sale-A-Bration sets.

I love being with Stampin’ Up! and always know that when a country or area is affected with a disaster like this Stampin’ Up! will always find a way to help just as they did last February for the Bushfires that ravaged Victoria, Australia.

Now in addition to the $2 from Stampin Up! anyone who purchase the “I {heart} Hearts” stamp set I will donate my commision on this set and if you purchase the heart punches at the same time (either of them or both) I will donate my commission on those heart punches as well.

So contact me today to place your order and help raise funds for these poor people in Haiti.

Dont forget to pop over to the Utah Divas Blog and view the other cards made by the Sketch Challenge Design Team.

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: cardmaking, Challenges, Creativity, Occasions, promotions, specials, Stampin' Up!®, stamping, Techniques Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kaleidoscope Treasure Box

21 January, 2010 6 Comments

Hello all … hope youre managing to stay cool if youre in Australia and staying warm for my friends on the other side of the globe.

I’ve seen these Treasure boxes around for a while now and have always wanted to make one! It was seeing all the lovely ones that they lovely Lynda made that prompted me to sit down and create one. Actually its been finished for a little over a week but was just waiting on the butterflies which I never seem to get to so while hubby was playing with routers and interupting my internet service I decided to get those butterflies done!

Here is my finished box …

Isnt it sweet and how much do you love those new Kaleidoscope Designer Series papers in the Summer Mini Catalogue? They are sure getting a workout here at my house!

Now I got the idea for the butterflies from the lovely Kerri Hunter.

They are done using the five petal flower punch and just snipping the top petal off. I’ve then used some (retired) Gold Cord to wrap around the body and use as the feelers. They have then just been attached using the wonderful mini glue dots.

Here is another shot of the box showing the flower on the top of the lid.I’ve just used the large flower from the Pretties Kit then layered Pumpkin and Rose Red flowers from the Flower Fusion kit and a pink rhinestone brad to secure them all together. Its affixed on the lid again using the mini glue dots.

Now here is the box opened up …

Now how cute is that??

Can you imagine all the little goodies you could pop into the boxes? You could pop just about anything in there and I even thought of making one for my daughter and put in little encouraging sayings or notes of love and then roll them up and tie a piece of cord or string around them to secure them.

This would make a great gift for teens with earrings, necklace, bracelet and maybe some chocolate or a lip balm. Or for your favourite crafter and pop in some brads, buttons, flowers, ribbons, chipboard pieces and maybe some dazzling diamonds or embossing powder.

Would you like to make one of these? then contact me today and put your name down for my Treasure Box class.

So thank you for the nudge Lynda and to Kerri for those very neat butterflies.

Thanks for stoppin by

Filed Under: cardmaking, Classes, Creativity, Friends n Family, Gifts, Occasions, Off the Page, Stampin' Up!® Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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