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.

Oh my … I just checked and my last post was on 21st June!!  My apologies for being so tardy :/

We’ve had a rough week here with my Father in Law passing away early Sunday 3rd August and we had the funeral on Friday 8th July.  He was 96 years old and being the fanatical cricketer he was he would agree that he had ‘a good innings’!  Its always the good cricketers that are always out just before their 100 is it not? Being a veteran soldier he was given a lovely tribute by the local RSL and they also held the wake for him at no cost to the family which was very nice. It was a long emotional day but I do think Pop would have been proud. I must say though that “The Last Post” has not affected me they way it did Friday before and I dare say each Remembrance Day will be the same.

Onto a brighter note …

Here’s a card I made using the gorgeous Growing Green Stamp Set.  Sometimes it is hard to see uses for a stamp set full of flowers other than cards with flowers so wanted to share this idea with you ….

I originally  created this for a dude card however I’ve been informed that its not a dude card but a dudette card!

I’m thinking I might recreate this into a dude card using some Crumb Cake and replacing the twine bow with maybe some twine wrapped around the River Rock panel.

I just love this set as its images are just so lovely to water colour and as you can see it could be used for either male or female cards – regardless of what your kids say

This is another of those queasy cards which are suitable for any occasion at all.

I do hope you like this card and would love to hear what Stampin Up! sets you like to use for both male & female cards.

Dont forget that when you spend $100 or more during July you will receive a gorgeous Ice Cream Parlour gift pack of ribbon and buttons absolutely free – thats over $30 worth for free!  So email or ring me with your orders today and grab your free ribbon & buttons.

Well ok not quite but I dare say all Ferries have been anchored tonite – its blowing a gale here to say the least!

I’ve often said how I struggle with cards for those of the male variety but when I saw this gorgeous a la carte stamp Sail Away I just knew it would be perfect for many males and being an a la carte stamp and sold by itself its very affordable and suites any budget!

You simply do just need to add Ink & Cardstock!

Here’s a great super queasy card ….

I made this card for Mel’s workshop on the weekend and it really was put together in just a matter of minutes so you could whip one of these up while youre having a cuppa if need be – and your coffee wouldnt even go cold!

You could use this card for absolutely any occasion from ‘Thinking of You’ like I’ve done to birthday wishes or even a sympathy card.

Its simply just four different colours in Cardstock and some Linen Thread and your done!  The colours I’ve used are Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy and Confetti White Cardstocks.

What stamps do you always go for when making male cards?  and whats your favourite colour combination for those men folk?

ETA … Just thought I’d clarify the ‘Manly Ferry’ play on words for my International and ‘not so local’ blog visitors. In Sydney (where we live) there is a place called Manly and which is surrounded by beaches and a very popular holiday spot and tourist ‘must do’ and they have Ferries (water taxi’s) that go from one side of the harbour to the other and around circular quay. You can read more about Manly Ferries here.

Well today is day two of the 2011 Stampin’ Up! Convention and I thought I’d share my swap cards I made.

This first one was made using a sketch from Cards n Things Sketch #76 and I couldnt go to Convention without making a swap using the gorgeous Morning Cup Stamp Set.

Recipe
Stamps: Morning Cup, Take a Sip Wheel
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Elegant Eggplant, Pretty in Pink
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Lap of Luxury DSP
Accessories: Aqua Painter, Rose Red Stampin Write Marker, Circle Punches (1″, 1 1/4″, 1 3/8″), Scallop Trim Border Punch

For my second card I wanted to make a masculine card so immediately went for the French Foliage Stamp Set

Recipe
Stamps: Word Play, French Foliage
Inks: Early Espresso, Old Olive, More Mustard, Cajun Craze
Paper: Cajun Craze, Confetti White, Early Espresso
Accessories: Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Hemp Twine, Stampin Dimensionals

I hope some of the other demonstrators like my cards so I dont come home with too many of these.

I hope you like these too and they will be available as ‘Stamp A Stack’ cards after Convention.

Have you checked out this week’s Deal of the Week?  Check out all the details here

What a busy week its been and its only going to get busier!

What do you think of the new blog look? Like it? I do … I have been looking for that right theme forever – well it seems like it anyways. Then when I was browsing the Studio Press site by Brian Gardner the other night I came across this Pretty Young Thing them and it was ‘oh yeah’ and I just edited the graphics and took the hearts off and inserted the coffee cups!!

This Wednesday I fly down to Melbourne for the 2011 Stampin’ Up! Convention – its for 3 days of total Stampin’ Up! awesomeness and I cant wait!  This year I have the pleasure of sharing it with my gorgeous friend and downline Libby Dyson and being Thursday is Libby’s birthday it will be extra special!

So as you can imagine its only going to be busier this upcoming week. Convention finishes on Saturday night with the Awards dinner and then Sunday I’m hiring a car and driving over to see my mum, dad and sister in Cobden – just a little 3 hour drive!  Now I think I might have to stop in Geelong for a cuppa! I fly home again the following Tuesday – lets hope the family survives that long and the house isnt a total warzone when I get back!

Here’s a card I made a little while ago for a swap on ESAD – sadly my swap cards still seem to be travelling as they never arrived – obviously the Postie decided they liked them enough to keep them himself.

I really enjoyed making this card. I just love collage stamping and putting all the elements together and then sitting back and looking at the end product.

There seems to be lots of stamps on this card however its just the Nature Walk Stamp Set (Autumn/Winter Mini Catalogue), Teeny Tiny Sentiments and the En Francais background stamp. I’ve also added a piece of the Botanical Gazette Designer Series Paper and how cute are those little Library Clips??

I hope you like this card as much as I enjoyed making it … now I must duck up to the shops to grab some socks and a couple of scarves as it appears as hundreds of Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators from Australia and New Zealand descend on Melbourne so is a cold front! Talk about timing!!

Dont forget the great ‘Deals of the Week’ happening this week – just click the image in the sidebar or here to view them and dont forget they change each Wednesday so be sure to check back.

Now since I’ll be away you’ll need to email me your orders and from now until 20th May I am offering free postage on all orders so email or text me today with your order!

Yesterday I was creating projects for my new Monthly Gift Class and my apologies for not having them up today as promised.

While having lunch I was checking my Google Reader and came across the latest sketch from Unscripted Sketches and totally fell in love and therefore had to include it in my set of cards to go with the gift project.

Here is the Unscripted Sketch #96 …

Here is my card …

Recipe
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Woodgrain Background, Curly Cute
Paper:  Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla,  Elegant Soiree DSP
Inks: Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Early Espresso
Accessories: Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Photo Corner Punch, Daubers

I do hope you like this card and I sorry for the delay in posting my Gift Class details but promise they’ll be up tomorrow.

As a special offer to my valued customers from now until the end of March I am offering 10% discount on all email and telephone orders.

So now you can get more for your money and earn those Sale•A•Bration sets easier!

Ring or email your order through to me today!

Good Morning and welcome to another Utah Divas Sketch Challenge!

I have a busy weekend with a Demonstration today and tomorrow. Thankfully they are both doing the same Make n Takes so I dont have to unpack tonite and repack again tomorrow.

Here is this week’s sketch ..

This past week I heard that the father of a demonstrator friend is rather sick in hospital so I wanted to create a card for him to let him know that people are thinking of him and praying for him.

Here’s the card I created …

I wanted this week’s card to be of a male/masculine theme and thing I’ve achieved that.

The background on the base card is done with a wheel called Sandy Speckles and I just love it! I’ve also used it on the piece with the sentiment on it.

I do hope you like my card and now you can skip along to Ruthie B’s blog and check out her lovely creation. Now just in case someone has a broken link or doesnt have their project up as yet here’s a list of all the Utah Divas International Sketch Challenge Team ..

Adriana
Alisa
Barbara
Becky
Elizabeth
Jeannette
Leonie
Ruthie
Tammy
Carol

Have a great weekend!

I thought I’d pop in today and share a card made using another couple of challenges …

Firstly this week’s Utah Divas Colour Challenge ….

Combined with this week’s Cards & Things Sketch Challenge …

Now I am expecting a gigle when my lovely friend Lisa reads this post!

The tree on my card reminds me of our ‘road trip’ to the Stampin Up! Convention in 2009 in Canberra. As we were driving into Canberra Lisa was sitting behind me going ‘Ohhh purty trees’ and was getting a wee bit excited …. or maybe it was because it was her first time away from all three children and hubby in some time?

Here’s my card …

Recipe:
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, More Mustard, Very Vanilla, Regals Paper Stack
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, More Mustard
Accessories: Stampin Write Markers, Stampin Sponges, 1/4″ Grosgrain ribbon

This is another ‘queasy’ card to put together and really is suitable for any occasion and for both males and females.

Now dont forget we still have the Flood Relief Appeal going – when you purchase stamp sets to the value of $30 or more Stampin Up! will donate $2 to the Queensland Flood Relief Appeal. You have until 15th February to get your orders in to help with that.

Well its been so so hot here the last few days I’ve tried to do as little as possible. It was so hot last night that I decided to pull out the sofa bed and sleep in the lounge room in the air conditioning and think I’ll be doing the same tonight!  I hate heat like this but its nothing compared to what is unfolding in North Queensland – they have a cyclone approaching and its now been upgraded to a Category 5 – I dont think we’ve ever had one this severe in Australia. The worst I can remember here is Cyclone Tracey in Darwin in 1974 and that was a category 4 so I am asking if you will join me in praying for the Queensland people yet again – as if the recent flooding up there wasnt enough.

Today I wanted to share with you a card I made for the Stamp A Stack I did at my Aunt’s last month. I wanted to show the versatility of a stamp set to show that you can use the Just Believe for a masculine card as well.

Recipe
Stamps: Just Believe
Paper: Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Naturals Ivory, Woodland Walk DSP
Ink: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake

I truly love the versatility of the Just Believe stamp set and think this card would make a great card for both male and female.

This is also one of those ‘queasy’ cards so perfect if you need a card in a hurry and for any occasion.

Now I was about to do some stamping however Miss Misty has other plans ….

Time is one thing we all seem to crave yet can never get enough of!

I was so glad to see the Sense of Time stamp set included in the new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue. Its a great set to use for cards for those males in our lives.  I’ve even seen some great feminine cards too and when I do find some ‘time’ I might make a couple.

This card today is one we will be making at tomorrow’s Stamp A Stack.

Recipe:
Stamps: Sense of Time, En Francais
Paper: Chocolate chip, Ridinghood Red, Very Vanilla
Inks: Chocolate chip, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Basic Gray
Accessories: Stampin Sponges, Corner Rounder, 1 3/8″ circle punch, 1/2″ circle punch, Crop-a-dile, Jumbo Eyelets, Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Hemp Twine.

Would you believe that when I started making this card the layers and card base were totally different colours??  I so need some of the new colours to play with and cant wait to get them! Hopefully my orders will arrive early this week.

2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue Party

If you are local to me you might be interested in my New Catalogue Launch.

I’m actually holding it over 2 days – this way those who work can still come as can those who are free during the day. They are are 17th and 18th September – both starting at 10am and going through till 1.30pm – as the Saturday (18th) is my birthday there will also be some birthday cake to share   There’s be door prizes and lots of fun and laughter – not to mention chocolate and coffee!  There’ll be bonuses for you too if you place an order or book your own demonstration on the day.  Places are limited so please be sure to reserve your spot!

Well I’d better go get the kits sorted for tomorrow’s Stamp A Stack so the girls have something to create