This card has a Old Olive background, a crimped feature of Elegant Eggplant and some Confetti White.  I have punched out the new Fancy Flower in Rose Red and then stamped the “For You” individual stamp in Rose Red also.  It has been punched out with the 1 1/4 inch Circle Punch and layered on top of the 1 3/8 inch Circle punch that has been punched in Elegant Eggplant.  The Scallop Edge punch and a turn back with a silver brad finish off this card.

Happy Stampin’

Bec.

I am going to show you each of our cards over the next few posts to spread them out (cause I am mean)….

Here is one of my cards:

You may not be able to tell but the little circle part with the outfit on it spins around.  I have used the new “Baby Bundle” Stamp Set, along with the Baby Tees wheel.  The colours used are Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue and Pink Pirouette.

We got to use the Big Shot on several of the cards and I did hear many of the ladies comment on how versatile it was, and how easy it is to use.  As you can see here I have used the Polka Dots embossing folder.  I have also gone crazy with punches on this card, using Scallop Oval, Large Oval, 1 3/8 inch Circle, 1 1/4 inch Circle, 1 inch Circle, Scallop Circle and Scallop Edge Border punches.

Gotta run, it is book week “family afternoon” at the school and no doubt my girls will find a book (or two) that they simply cannot live without! Plus a sausage etc etc etc

Happy Stampin’

Bec.

Here is one that kept me away from my craft desk recently, Pete loves it – it is very clever….

Nirvana and Rick Astley Mash Up

Now back to that Stampin’

With that in mind I would like to share some projects with above mentioned items…

I recently got some lovely happy mail from a Demonstrator in New Zealand.  I thought it was a lovely gesture, not only had she sent a card but she had also organised for 10 other women in her team to contribute cards/notebooks and sent them over.  To say thank you I made each of them a bookmark but also a Stepper Box and a few other items just for her.

The Stepper Box, covered with DSP Candy Lane, and some Felt Fusion flowers, they have a Rhinestone Brad through the centre.

Once you take the lid off the box opens out and this is what it looks like on the inside:

Inside was some earrings (Stampin’ Up! aside from the metal jewellery bits):

Some scissor/mobile phone charms:

And the bookmarks that use the Scallop Square Punch along with ribbon and beads:

Happy Stampin’

Part of my slackness with my blog is our busy social commitments around this time of the year.  Within our extended family I would estimate that 70% of our birthdays are clustered between June and September, with 3 of our kids birthdays in June and July.  There are many different ways that Stampin’ Up! featured in their birthday celebrations, here I would like to share the party bags I made (at the last minute) for Paige and Lily’s party.

My nephew Callum holding a masculine version in Mellow Moss (soon to be retired), it has been stamped with Bugs and Kisses.  Callum loves card making and has informed me that he is better at making cards than Nan and I, dontcha just love the honesty of children?  It actually was in fun and not as precocious as that sounds.

And here is my niece Bianca holding up the bag that all the girls received.  Made with Lovely Lilac (also going to retire tomorrow night).  It has been stamped with Garden Whimsy.  This bag is a design from Makeesha Byl and is super easy to put together.

Last but not least I wanted to be a little cheeky and share the following piccie.  My husband Pete is a supportive person, and appreciates (but maybe not always completely understands) my love of Stampin’ Up! and most especially the value of giving me some craft time.  Added into that was that this project was for his children’s party so really he was quite happy to help.  The problem was that he was tired, it was getting later and later, and he knows that often this job leads to another etc etc etc.  Getting the idea?

Anyway after setting him all up I walk out of the room and upon returning moments later this is what I find….

What you may not be able to tell is that he is thumping those stamps so hard that I was surprised that the image is not permanently etched into the table! His gorgeous face is squashed into his hand, which has become the only thing keeping him upright!  Just because I couldn’t help it I asked him “so honey don’t you just love stamping, I find it is so therapeutic”, he grunted but then I’m happy to say we both had a chuckle and got them done in record time.  The funny thing is that his stamping was excellent, the images were so crisp, the poor little stamps were probably too frightened to smudge!

My Dad retired at the beginning of the year and it is lovely to see a lot more of him.  I am very lucky to have my parent’s help, especially with babysitting on the day that I work.  While they are here they tend to get busy, it is amazing how much they get done.  I will often come home to a clean house, empty ironing basket and dinner! (No you can’t have them).  Dad has also nominated himself a “Mr Fixit” and potters around doing odd jobs. One of his projects has been enhancing the lives of our chooks, and he now refers to himself as “The White Winged Warrior”.  After a recent installation of some fabulous new nesting boxes I made him this card (cased from Tanya Kitto):

It seems you either love or hate this stamp set, “Rustic Rooster” from our nearly retired Catalogue.

The colours used here are Riding Hood Red, More Mustard and Bordering Blue.  I love the tearing, I think it suits the rustic style of the stamp, but once again I know a lot of people don’t like that look.

Thanks for looking!

Well after I have jumped onto my blog and deleted the 140 spam messages waiting for me I FINALLY have a post to share!

I am sorry about my absence, lots of boring excuses, I’m looking forward to a much more productive time ahead.  Our new office is getting some use, in fact Pete and I are sitting out there right now!  We are both completely in love with the new space and the fact that we have our bedroom back (for the last couple of months I was pretty much standing at our doorway and lunging for the bed as the path to get into bed was getting more and more narrow as all my craft stash was in there!  We are going to touch up the ceiling and some more electrical work needs to be done but I hope to have it to the stage of a launch party very very soon.

Anyway back in July I had a birthday, Pete gave me an iPhone that I had been nagging him for for ages.  I love it and as expected it has enhanced my life as much as I thought it would.  I got lots of other lovely bits and pieces that will feature in my office that I will share as they get placed/hung but I can share Linda’s gift.

The gorgeous packaging and card (I stole the piccie from Linda’s site).  Actually I have been turning the room upside down tonight to find the gift!

As you can see Linda has used Vintage Vogue (I’m so happy that this stamp set has made it to our new Catty so I will be able to keep using it for at least another year).  Linda has been using this combination of Certainly Celery and Pink Pirouette quite a bit lately, it looks fabulous.

And here is my beautiful gift from Linda, that her Mum Sandra made.  I love it and have wanted one of these for ages – a stylish place to put all those bits of rubbish that you accumulate during a decent papercraft session!

Happy Stampin’

Bec.

Just a quick one to tell you what the Postman dropped off yesterday….my brand new Catty!  It is even better in “real life” (as demonstrators we can already access the PDF).  Do you want one of your very own to cherish?  There are three ways to preorder your very own (I hope to have my boxes of catalogues by the end of the third week of August);

1. Book into our Catalogue launch to be held on September 4 at the Virginia Golf Course (as your registration fee includes a Catalogue)

2. Preorder one from me  (12.95 plus shipping if required) OR

3. Book a party with me and recieve your copy for FREE.

Happy Stampin’

Bec.

I know it has been ages but I am barely getting time to do what I have to do, let alone what I want to do!  As I realise that would pretty much be the case for all of you reading this I will stop whinging and let you know that the Stampin’ Up! Retiring List was published today!

All items are “while stocks last”, so if you want something I would suggest that you do not delay in placing your order.

All information is here: http://www3.stampinup.com/au/ena/7696.asp

Happy Stampin’

Bec.

$2406.04

The girls and I donated a lot of our expenses, so that is part of the reason the figure is so high, the other reason is because of our wonderful customers and their interest in our fabulous donations.  Thank you again to all involved.  A great result for a great night.

Happy Stampin’