Save the Date!!!

Mark your calendar for Sunday August 15th

What could be better than a day of stamping and cupcakes?  As many of you know, we adopted our puppy Rocky from the RSPCA last year after he had been found dumped in a rubbish bin.  I would like to give something back for all of the hard work that the RSPCA does, including saving the life of the little monster who is piece-by-piece chewing my home

I will be holding a fundraiser for RSPCA Cupcake Day on August 15th, and everyone is invited!

You can click on the image above to view my registered RSPCA Cupcake Day page, or for more information.

We will be creating cupcake themed projects, and of course eating cupcakes!

More details will follow soon, but make sure to save the date on your calender

to place an order, you can email me by clicking on my signature…

Fabric Friday: Mini Pencil Case

Welcome back to Fabric Friday!  This week I am showing you a mini pencil case that I made.  This was totally stressful, the banner last week was a complete piece of cake – this one required me reading a pattern!!!  I’m sure all sewing patterns are written in their own strange language.  I rang mum more than once asking for a translation   While the end product is far from perfect, and the layout is off-centre, I’m still really happy with it.  And I have at least one child who will be thrilled that I’ve photographed this so she can claim it! lol!

I have used the Sizzlits Little Leaves Die to cut out the teal patterned fabric.  I should stress here that the Sizzlit dies are NOT designed to cut out fabric, and doing so probably voids any warranty on them.  However, as you can see – they do cut through fabric.  I had to trim a couple of threads on the leaves, but nothing too stressful.  The flower is from one of the dies in the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet.  In addition to uppercase & lowercase letters and numbers, this set of dies also has some symbols, hearts and a flower.  Again, these dies are Sizzlits and not designed for fabric.

I have used a couple of Stampin’ Up! buttons as the centre of my flowers, and (attempted to) blanket stitched around the edges of the leaves and flowers.  The pattern I used has some other sizes of a similar design, so I’m sure they will improve as I get back into sewing.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the inspiration and start using your Big Shot for more than cardstock!  There’s lots of fun things you can do with it

to place an order, click below to email me

Keesh’s Sketch Challenge #25

I actually made this card on Saturday, but I’ve only just got around to photographing it and posting the pic. My kids are playing tag at being sick, the coughing is doing my head in!

This card is for the Inkspirations Challenge #25, which is a sketch challenge. You can see the card challenge here. I flipped the sketch around, because I thought the tree looked a little funny on the other side.  I don’t really know why, I made the decision while watching Toy Story – so who knows

I have used a couple of colours on this card which are retiring with the Colour Renovation.  You can see the full chart of retiring colours here.  If there is a colour that you just HAVE to have, I very strongly suggest ordering it asap.  This card also uses one of the punches which are available in the current Deal of the Week.  At 30% off, the Scallop Oval punch is a bargain – and it’s one of my favourite punches to use.

Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers, Best Yet

Ink: Basic Gray, Elegant Eggplant, Almost Amethyst, Lavendar Lace

Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Almost Amethyst, Basic Gray Patterns (from Level 1 hostess pack)

Other: Button Latte, Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Mat Pack, Basic Gray Marker, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Circle Scissor, Mini Glue Dots

to place an order click below to email me

June Christmas Card Kit

It’s that time of the month again – time for June’s Christmas card kit!

Card Kits are a super easy way to create a variety of cards without a huge outlay on embellishments from you.  Each card kit that I offer will be displayed on the Card Kits page (see link above), and I’ll feature them in a post of their own when first released.

Card Kits may be posted anywhere within Australia for only $1.50, and include all of the supplies you will need to create your cards excluding stamps, adhesive, scissors etc.  Please note that due to copyright restrictions the kits do not include stamped images.

I NEVER get around to making and sending Christmas cards (pretty slack, hey?), so I thought it would be great to get a head start on them for this year.  I’m sure many of you are just the same way.  We have the best intentions, but late November hits and no cards

As you can see I have used a couple of stamp sets on this card ~ Winter Post and Le Jardin Botanique (for the tree).

These cards are easy to create, with the kit you will receive a sheet of instructions and of course you can call or email me if you have any troubles.

The June Christmas Card Kit is just $10, plus postage of $1.50 anywhere within Australia.  Alternatively you may pick up the card kit from my place.

What you’ll need to complete these cards:

• A Christmas stamp set (due to copyright restrictions, I cannot include stamped images in the kits)
• A greeting stamp set of your choice.

Optional Kit Add-Ons at Special Prices for June only

• Winter Post Stamp Set $45
• Le Jardin Botanique Stamp Set $42
• Blush Blossom Classic Stampin’ Pad $11

If you would like to order the June Christmas Card Kit, you can email me or give me a call on 9733 0325 or 0425 815 857.

Deal of the Week #1

Throughout the month of June, we are bringing you a new deal every week! With the Deals of the Week, you’ll get up to 50 percent off a selection of products from the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue!

This week deals are shown below:

This offer is valid only until Tuesday June 8th, so be sure to email me your order asap!

Terrific Top Note Class

Would you like to see just how versatile the Stampin’ Up! Top Note Die can be?

Come along and make 4 gorgeous projects using the Stampin’ Up! Top Note die.  We will be making 2 cards, a picnic basket and mini photo album.  Projects will be revealed on my blog each Monday beginning today.

• Sunday June 27th at 1pm
• Places available: 10
• Cost $25. Includes all supplies required to make class projects.  Attendees will also receive a $10 voucher towards the cost of a Big Shot.  This voucher is only valid through me, not transferable, and valid only until July 31st, 2010.
• RSVP: June 20th.

Here’s a sneak peek of one of our class projects.

To book into this class, call me on 9733 0325 or 0425 815 857

Scrappy Sunday – What’s This?

Nightmare Before Christmas is a favourite movie in our house.  We just love Jack Skellington and all of his friends in Halloweentown.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you check it out.  It’s certainly a little different, but lots of fun.

On our first day at Disneyland we were lucky enough to spot Jack and Sally out and about in New Orleans Square.  And lucky is definitely the word – the line to meet them both was absolutely HUGE within minutes.  Both Jack and Sally were amazing replicas of their movie characters, with both the voice and mannerisms absolutely perfect.

This Scrappy Sunday page features our meeting with Jack and Sally, Jack dressed up as Sandy Claws, and a couple of photos of the Haunted Mansion dressed up for the holidays.

Beginning on Friday the 18th of June, and then the 3rd Friday of each month, I’m going to be holding Scrap Time classes at my home at both 12pm and 7.30pm.  Basically this will be a time to come over and use my collection of tools etc to make your own scrap pages.  Check out my Classes page for more information.

A Kind Word

A few weeks back I purchased a membership to Embellish Magazine.  It’s only $3 US, and at the time our Aussie dollar was so high that I think it cost me around $3.35!  Whatever the exchange rate is at the moment, it’s well worth checking it out.  This is an online magazine which features a LOT of Stampin’ Up! products.  The entire issue is based on a colour challenge – everything is in Kraft, Teal, Red and White.

This card is based on those same colours, and I’m really happy with how the combination looks.

Stamps: A Kind Word, Vintage Vogue

Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Going Gray, Taken with Teal, Riding Hood Red

Paper: Kraft, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Watercolour Paper

Other: Bigz XL Pennant Die (scallop edge), Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Button Bouquet, Linen Thread, Mini Glue Dots, Nestabilities.

Fabric Friday – Emma’s Birthday Banner

It’s been a *REALLY* long time since I used my sewing machine for fabric.  And we’re probably talking 5 years here, sure it’s been used for sewing cards and scrap pages but they are a little easier to sew.

Recently after visiting several blogs, I decided to purchase the Bigz XL Pennant Die for the Big Shot.  I found several ideas for this die which made it more than worth its price tag in my opinion.  My first project using this die was a pennant banner for Emma’s birthday party.  This is probably the most obvious use for this die, but I figured I was better off starting with something easy!  I ‘borrowed’ some fabric from mum’s collection – on a similar scale to my cardstock and DSP collection

You just wouldn’t believe how easy this was to make unless you did it yourself!  I cut two pennants at a time, which is 4 layers of fabric (you fold the fabric to create full pennant).  When I cut the warm & natural layer, I cut one pennant at a time because I wasn’t too sure how it would work.  It was perfect!

It was then just a simple matter of sewing the layers together (and I only really stuffed up one pennant!).  I used some 1 1/4″ Pink Pirouette ribbon folded over the top to join the pennants together.

Here’s a close up – please keep in mind it’s been a really long time since I sewed fabric

If you have any questions about this banner, feel free to ask away.  I hope to show you a different project each Friday using the Big Shot for fabric.

My baby is 4!

Today I want to share Miss Em’s 4th Birthday card with you.  I can hardly believe that she is 4 already!!!  I should be cleaning the house, ready for it to be trashed by a group of 3 & 4 year olds, but here I am

I cased the layout and colour scheme for Emma’s card from Renee Van Stralen’s blog.  By the time I got around to making her card, it was 10.30pm last night and I seriously needed some inspiration.  I haven’t changed much at all, but I’m really happy with how my card turned out.  Em is a little monkey, so I definitely needed to include the monkey from Fox and Friends.

Be sure to check back on Friday and I’ll show you the reason I didn’t get around to Em’s card until 10.30pm.  I got so sidetracked playing with my Bigz XL Pennant Die making a banner for today’s party that I forgot I hadn’t made a birthday card.