ESAD Occasions Catalogue Blog Hop

By | January 24, 2016
16 Comments

Hi there

Welcome to the ESAD Occasions Catalogue Blog Hop for 2016.  You may have arrived from Rachael’s blog or just joined my page.
So what is ESAD?  ESAD stands for “Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators” and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin’ Up! demonstrators.

We love what we do & love to share with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors. We also share what we love in our ESAD Demonstrator community, through swaps, challenges, sharing knowledge, ideas & friendship, and we’re always there to help and support each other.

So if you’re a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to leave me a comment with your email address and I’ll contact you with information on how to join our wonderful group.
Yesterday I held an event for some of my ladies and here are the 12 cards we made using four new suites from the Occasions Catalogue.  Leave me a comment and let me know which one is your favourite.
First up we used the Botanical Gardens Suite and created these three cards:
Next up was the It’s My Party Suite:
After a break for afternoon tea we headed into the Going Global Suite (thanks to one of my fellow demos for this layout – it worked a treat):
And finally no birthday is complete without some balloons.  The top left and bottom cards use the Balloon Celebration set and the top right uses the Balloon Builders set.  Both these stamp sets coordinate with the Balloon Bouquet Punch
Check back tomorrow through Thursday to see each suite in full with full details of what was used to create these cards.
I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit to my blog – now it’s time to hop on over to Pauline’s blog.  Thanks for your visit and don’t forget to leave me a comment as to which suite or card is your favourite.

If you get lost here is a list of participants:

Flower Shop Fancy Fold

By | January 22, 2016
1 Comment

Hi there

I’ve had a couple of busy days prepping for an event tomorrow – I can’t show you the projects until 8:30pm on Sunday night (first Blog Hop of the year).

Here’s a birthday card I made last year for our neighbours birthday and forgot to post it on here.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Flower Shop, Endless Birthday Wishes
Card Stock – Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Blackberry Bliss, Very Vanilla
Ink – Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Blackberry Bliss
DSP – Neutrals Colour Collection
Other – Pansy Punch, Rhinestones, Dimensionals, Bakers Box Thinlits, Butterflies Thinlits, Window Sheet, Pearls, Clothespins

Happy Anniversary

By | January 19, 2016
1 Comment

Hi there

Today is my 14th Wedding Anniversary 🙂  We spent the day doing a ‘tiki tour’ of the Kaipara South Head and enjoyed a lovely picnic on the shores of Lake Ototoa, afternoon tea in Helensville then home via the back roads.

Here is the card I made Phil – he had to wait for me to photograph it this morning before I could write in it and give to him.  It was a bit a of late finish last night although I’m not sure why as I’ve had the idea in my head for ages!

You can’t really see on the photo above but I’ve used the clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush (new on page 24 of the Occasions Catalogue).  I did take a close up shot which is below.  Have you counted how many gold hearts there are?  That’s right – 14 – one for each year we’ve been married.  The sentiment is from the Going Global set and was perfect for this card.

Thank you darling for a lovely day and 14 fabulous years – here’s to the next (and more) 14 years.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Balloon Builders, Going Global, Teeny Tiny Sentiments
Card Stock – Sahara Sand, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Ink – Blushing Bride, Perfect Plum, Momento Black
Other – Banner Triple Punch, Metallics Sequin Assortment, Fine Tip Glue Pen, Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush, Dimensionals

Balloon Celebration

By | January 17, 2016
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Hi there

We had a lovely evening out at the beach last night – it was definitely the ‘calm before the storm’.  There wasn’t much wind and it was so warm sitting on the beach.  Phil got some lovely sunset photos – so happy campers all around.

It’s a busy birthday time at the moment – here’s a card I made for a friend whose birthday it was today.  I’ve used the new Balloon Celebration set from the Occasions Catalogue which is a ‘two-step’ set and coordinates with the new Balloon Bouquet Punch.  These two products come as a bundle which mean you save 15%.

I didn’t use any of the sentiments from the set instead going with Enjoy the Little Things for the front and Perfect Pairings for the inside.  Perfect Pairings is one of the FREE stamp sets you can choose from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue when you place an order of NZ$110 or more between now and 31 March.

And yes that is another tissue box – great for your bag 🙂

Supplies:
Stamp – Balloon Celebration, Enjoy the Little Things, Perfect Pairings
Card Stock – Wisteria Wonder, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Pool Party , So Saffron, Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant
Ink – Wisteria Wonder, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Pool Party , So Saffron, Elegant Eggplant, Momento Black
DSP – Back to Black (retired)
Other – Balloon Bouquet Punch, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Balloons or lollies – which do you prefer?

By | January 16, 2016
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Hi there

It’s a gorgeous day here in Auckland and we are about to head off to the beach for a picnic dinner – yum.

Here’s a quick post of two cards I’ve made for friends boys who are turning 10.  These cards use stamps from the new Balloon Buiders set in the Occasions Catalogue.  Instead of using them as balloons I’ve gone with a ‘sweet’ theme.  The design is the same – just different contents in the jar 🙂  Can you think of any other ‘contents’ this set can be used for?

First up we have Jelly Beans – ordinary and gourmet

and then Jaffas

I had fun making these cards – hope the boys like them 🙂

Supplies:
Stamp – Balloon Builders, Suite Sayings, Crazy About You
Card Stock – Basic Black, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point
Ink – Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise, Momento Black
Other – Large Numbers Thinlits, Little Letters Thinlits, Corner Punch, Black Embossing Powder, Dimensionals, Basic Black Marker, Aqua Painter

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Endless Birthday Wishes – part three

By | January 14, 2016
1 Comment

Hi there

Here are the final three cards from my gift set – I hope you have enjoyed this.  Leave me a comment as to which one you liked the most.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Endless Birthday Wishes
Card Stock – Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay, Delightful Dijon, Very Vanilla
DSP – Bohemian
Ink – Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay, Delightful Dijon, Smoky Slate, Momento Black
Other – 1 3/4″, 2″ and 2 1/2″ Circle Punch, 2 3/8″ Scallop Punch, Banner Triple Punch, Dimensionals

Endless Birthday Wishes – part two

By | January 13, 2016
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Hi there

Here’s a close up of the first three cards.  This was a fun project to make and I love the font used for these sentiments.  For the first card I covered a clear block I with all the sentiments and stamped in one go – so much easier and word by word.

For this card I adhered my strips of DSP to a piece of copy paper.  I trimmed the excess from the strips as I went.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Endless Birthday Wishes
Card Stock – Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay, Delightful Dijon, Very Vanilla
DSP – Bohemian
Ink – Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay, Delightful Dijon, Smoky Slate, Momento Black
Other – 1 3/4″, 2″ and 2 1/2″ Circle Punch, 2 3/8″ Scallop Punch, Banner Triple Punch, Dimensionals

Check back tomorrow for the last three cards.

Endless Birthday Wishes card gift set – part one

By | January 12, 2016
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Hi there

Well it’s been an ‘indoors’ day here in Auckland – great for crafting.  A friend popped round this morning and I helped her make 20 birthday cards for her colleagues at work – she is now set for the year.

Todays project is one I created last year but ran out of time to show you.  It’s a gift box filled with six cards so I’m going to show it to you over a couple of days.  I saw the tutorial for this box on the web ages ago – I can’t remember who the original creator was but thanks for sharing.

I only used one stamp set – Endless Birthday Wishes – for all the cards and teamed it up with the gorgeous Bohemian DSP.  The colour combo of this paper is so me.

The stamp set only has one image (plus heaps of words) but look how many different cards you can make.

I’ll be back tomorrow to show you the cards closeup.

OnStage Party Wishes

By | January 11, 2016
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Hi there

In November last year I attended the first ever OnStage Local event held by Stampin’ Up!  This event replaces the annual Convention which used to be held in Australia.  It is now being held twice a year (April and November) and the first Local one was held in Auckland, Melbourne and Perth for Australasia.  There are other Local events held all over the world with one destination having the Live event.  It was a great day and another benefit of being a demonstrator.  If you would like to become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator now is a great time to join – see the flyer below.  I would love to have you join my team so give me a call if you’re interested.

Now on with today’s project.  This is one of the projects we made a OnStage.  I made mine into a 4″x4″ card.  The products used for this card all come from the It’s My Party Suite.

This suite has a set of punches that coordinate with the stamp set – balloon, candle and cute cupcakes – no fussy cutting here 🙂  I can see this stamp set getting a bit of a workout.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Party Wishers
Card Stock – Melon Mambo, Whisper White
Ink – Melon Mambo, Mint Macaron, Crushed Curry
DSP – It’s My Party
Other – Party Punch Pack, Bakers Twine Combo (Melon Mambo, Mint Macaron), Dimensionals

Happy Birthday – something new, something retired and something free

By | January 10, 2016
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Hi there

Today’s post is a combination of products – a new stamp set from the Occasions Catalogue, a piece of DSP that has reitred and a stamp set you can get for FREE from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue when you place an order over NZ$110.00.

The sentiment is from the stamp set Party Wishes and is part of the It’s My Party Suite in the new Occasions Catalogue – watch out for more creations using this stamp set coming soon.

One of my favourite FREE products from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue is the stamp set Flowering Fields.  It has six lovely outline flower stamps which are great for colouring and this cute butterfly.  I have a project to show soon using this set and our wonderful note cards – keep an eye out for that post.
Supplies:
Stamps – Party Wishes, Flowering Fields
Card Stock – Watermelon Wonder, Basic Black, Whisper White
DSP – Back to Black (retired)

Ink – Momento Black, Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush
Other – Butterflies Thinlits, Rhinestones, Extra Large Oval Punch, Aqua Painters

Music Team Thank You Cards and Gift

By | January 9, 2016
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Hi there

One of the things I love about being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator is being able to make cards and gifts to give away.  Now if I wasn’t a demo I probably wouldn’t have gone out and bought cards and gifts for everyone but will a few supplies look what I made.  These are for the music team I’m part of at Church to say ‘Thanks’ for being part of the team.

 

I’ve used the Whisper White Notecards and just done a simple design using last year’s Christmas paper – All is Calm.  The sentiment is from One Big Meaning and stamped in Lost Lagoon.  It’s a great set with seven different ‘thank you’ greetings.

The box is made with Lost Lagoon card stock and the All is Calm paper.  For the centre front piece I used the ‘stars’ from A Little Something and stamped them on Whisper White.  The sentiment is also from this set.  I used my markers directly onto the stamp so that I could have two colours.

Both sentiments are layered on Brushed Silver card stock (which is now retired).  And of course the box contains chocolates!

Card Class Thank You Gifts

By | January 8, 2016
4 Comments

Hi there

I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely summer weather 🙂  Well it must be sunny somewhere in NZ – it just wasn’t happening in Auckland today.  Never mind tomorrow is meant to be a better day.

I ran out of time last year to show you the ‘Thank You’ gifts I made for my card class ladies.  First off here’s a selection of covered Jotta notepads I made.  I tried to coordinate the mini pens with the DSP.

Supplies:
Card Stock – Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, Coastal Cabana
DSP – Sweet Taffy and Lullaby (retired)
Other – Mini Pens and Jotta Pads (non SU)
And then I made them each a tissue cover.  I keep one of these in my handbag and now need to make one to keep in the car glovebox.

Supplies:
Card Stock – Blackberry Bliss, Basic Grey
DSP – Moonlight (retired)
Other – Extra Large Oval, Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey Stitched Satin Ribbon (retired), Tissues, Fast Fuse

I’ve been making a few of these tissue covers lately – they’re quick and easy to make and you can get two covers from a sheet of A4 cardstock.  The first batch I made a few years had washi tape to keep the cover closed but I’ve refined my design and now use coordinating ribbon which lasts.

Check back tomorrow for some other Thank You gifts I made.

Botanical Gardens December Swap

By | January 7, 2016
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Hi there

Now that we are underway with the new Occasions Catalogue (and Sale-A-Bration) I can now show you some of my creations using new products 🙂

Last month at our team training we had a ‘swap’ and this is the card I made using four new products from the Occasions Catalogue.  I fell in love with the new Botanical Gardens Suite when I saw it at OnStage back in November.  Here I’ve used the new Botanical Gardens DSP, Botanical Blooms stamp set and coordinating Framelits (all three products come as a bundle which is great as you save 15%) and another new stamp set – Enjoy the Little Things.

As I was making 18 of these I decided to mix the components up a bit – some had the cut out on the left and some on the right, I used three different patterns of paper and three different coloured flowers.

The card base is an A4 sheet cut in half lengthwise (29.7cm x 10.5cm and scored at 14.8) – this made it easier to cut the ‘fern’ image out.

Supplies:
Stamp set – Botanical Blooms, Enjoy the Little Things
Card Stock – Mint Macaron, Very Vanilla
DSP – Botanical Gardens DSP
Ink – Cajun Craze
Other – Botanical Builders Framelits, Silver Metallic Bakers Twine, Dimensionals

Happy New Year

By | January 4, 2016
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Hi there

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years Eve and survived the ‘summer’ weather we had on New Years Day!

Today’s post is not a card but one of my past creative passions.  About November 2014 my then 20 year old nephew asked if I could do him another cross-stitch towel for Christmas as his one was getting a bit worn out (I had given towels to my nieces and nephews back at Christmas 1998 so I think he’s had a pretty good run for his money).  I finally got his new towel finished in time for Christmas 2015 so here it is:

He did get a 2015 Christmas present as well 🙂  He was very happy with his towel.

Now don’t forget the new Occasions Catalogue and Sale-A-Bration start tomorrow 🙂

Last post for 2015!

By | December 31, 2015
0 Comment

Hi there

We’ve just got back from seeing the latest Star Wars movie – very cool and a great way to round up 2015.  There are just a couple of hours left of 2015 – what a year it has been.  We’ve had our ups and downs this year that we hadn’t expected but I can say I am a stronger person for it – so that’s got to be good 🙂  I am looking forward to 2016 and what it will bring.

A family friend is celebrating her birthday today so here is the card and little gift I sent her.  Happy birthday Karenina – I hope you’ve had a great day with your family.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Awesomely Artistic, Crazy About You
Card Stock – Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Basic Black
DSP – Back to Black (retired)
Ink – Momento Black, Melon Mambo
Other – 1 1/2″ and 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, Wide Oval Punch, White Satin Ribbon
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and supporting me this year – I really appreciate it.  I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve and here’s to a great 2016.  See you next year.