Welcome Welcome to not only the greatest ever Blog Hop you’ll be on but also the very first one that the ESAD group has done!

Ok before we start … go get yourself a cuppa and a biscuit or three – this is going to be a long post!

What is ESAD? Well if youre a regular visitor to this blog then you will have seen me talk about it before so for all the new ‘extra special visitors’ today (not that my regular visitors arent special cos they just know they are!!) I’ll fill you in ….

ESAD stands for Extra Special Australian (and New Zealand) Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin’ Up!  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 the regular cyberstamp happens to thanks to the loverly Tanya!

So if you are a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand then please feel free to click on the button below to join our wonderful group.

Click to join ESAD-SU

Now before I share my project with you I also want you to know that if you do make it around to all 30 Blogs involved in today’s Blog Hop and if you make a comment on each one you are then in the running for some Extra Special Blog Candy.  The demonstrators from all over have donated blog candy for this blog hop and if you are the lucky winner you’ll be getting all sorts of parcels and you will truly think that Christmas has come early this year and that you’ve been a very good girl (or guy)!  Now if you do get to all and comment on all the blogs shoot me an email with your name and email address and then everyone who has also visited and commented on all 30 blogs will go in the drawer for the ‘extra special’ blog candy.

Now onto the project …..

Now I must say how in love with this project I am! It was designed by the very lovely Andrea Walford who is a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator in Canada.

I’ve used the new Kaleidoscope Designer Series Papers through out this project and they are just gorgeous!  Everytime my 12yo walks past my desk she stops, sighs and says “Oh I just love that paper!”  She’s been very good not to take off with it I must say … its very girly and very tweeny!

Now when you open up this Friendship box you will see just how it all works inside. There is a pocket in the inside left of the Box which holds the envelopes.  On the inside on the right you have clear pockets to slot in some cards.

I’ve inserted 4 pockets here but you could put in more – you may just need to secure it with something a little stronger like the jumbo brads or similar.

Here’s another view of the inside showing how the ‘pages’ flip/turn.

Pretty neat huh???

Now onto the cards …all the cards have been made using the Kaleidoscope Designer SEries Papers and the Nature’s Nest Stamp Set. I’ve used the new Chit Chat rubons for all the sentiments on the cards.

This first card is done using the dragonfly stamp from Nature’s Nest. I just love dragonflies and as soon as I saw this set I just had to have it! I’ve added a couple of flowers from the Flower Fusion kit and a clear rhinestone brad.

I’ve stamped the dragonflies onto Glossy White and then coloured with the aquapainter using the Classic Stampin’ Pads. I sponged some blue around the dragonflies so it wasnt so ‘white’ then applied the rubon greeting.

How great is this turtle??

I dont know about you but ever since Finding Nemo I immediately say ‘duuuuuuude’ whenever I see a turtle so I had to name this stamp ”Crush” did I not? I love that movie!

I’ve stamped ‘Crush’ onto Watercolor Paper in Jet Black Stazon then going from my lightest colour (So Saffron) and built up his shell using More Mustard, Old Olive and Always Artichoke. The grounding is done using Going Gray.  He looks like he’s just about ready to travel along the EAC dont ya think?? I love this sentiment too as its just so very true – Friends make us strong!

See I told you it was a long post didnt I??

Now I must say that being a Stampin Up demonstrator and getting to preorder the upcoming stamps is not only wonderful but you also learn so much!  I wanted to find out if there was any symbology (see i even learn new words!) and there is so much with the Peacock feathers – some of it is good and some not so good.

I was amazed to learn that Peacocks can eat poisonus berries and the like and not be affected in any way – wouldnt that be good if we could bottle that for all those that have allergies to various things.

This is a very quick and easy card. The Peacock feather is stamped on whisper white in black stazon and then I’ve just used the Taken with Teal Ink to colour in the feather and my markers to colour in the ‘eye’.  Its a bit hard to see all the colours in the eye from this photo but I did try to make it as realistic as I could.  another great sentiment from the Chit Chat rubons.

Now the last card I made for this set is of a birds nest with eggs.

Now I’m not sure why but I ‘had’ to paint them blue – then I thought what bird lays blue eggs??

Now I was going to tell you but I wont – I will give an extra prize to the first person to guess that right! So when you leave your comment just add the answer at the end.

Can you see that I snuck in my Baroque Motifs?? I do love that stamp with all the swirls and leaves – its just gorgeous!

I do hope you like this project and if you would like to make one of these I’ll be doing classes in the new year so contact me before Christmas to book your seat.

Now before you click on the next blog to visit as part of this Blog Hop I thank you for putting up with such a long post and I thank all the other Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators participating in this blog hop!

Now dont forget to pop a comment in so youre in the running for the awesome blog candy!

Your next stop on the ESAD Summer Mini Catalogue Blog Hop is Lisa Ryder – she’s a lovely lady and a dear friend and I just know you will love whatever she’s made!

Thanks for stoppin by