A natural creation

By | March 31, 2014
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Hi there

My cousin and his daughter are over from Australia at the moment and last night we went for a lovely walk around Ambury Farm.  It’s so nice having this farm on our door step in a big city.  If you live in Auckland and haven’t been there it’s a great place to visit – especially with the kids.

It was a beautiful evening and the sunset was amazing so I thought I’d share some ‘natural creation’ instead of one of my ‘craft creations’ 🙂

 This first one is looking back to Mangere Mountain and seeing the start of the sunset reflected in the East.

And here is the sunset reflecting in the Maunkau Harbour

These were taken with my phone camera and turned out not too bad.

I wonder if we’ll get another beautiful sunset tonight – don’t forget to check outside.  Have a great evening.

Whale of a card

By | March 30, 2014
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Hi there

We’ve had another beautiful day here in Auckland – it’s been lovely and warm and we are about to head out for a walk and enjoy the last of the day.

One of the guys at work became a dad for the second time – a little boy this time.  Here is the card I made for work to give.

I was a bit stuck to begin with and then I found I had some off cuts from the Sunshine & Sprinkles DSP from last years summer mini catalogue.  The card then came together rather quickly.  It uses products that were available in that catalogue but I don’t think the new baby (yet to find out his name) will mind!

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Baby Prints
Card Stock – Marina Mist, Whisper White
Ink – Marina Mist
DSP – Sunshine & Sprinkles
Other – Happy Whale Clearlits Die, Word Bubble Framelits

Well tomorrow is the last day of March so make the most of it 🙂

Happy Birthday Deb

By | March 29, 2014
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Hi there

What a beautiful day we’ve had here in Auckland.  Phil and I have just got back from a lovely 45 minute walk in the park.  It’s so nice to be able to get outdoors as I’m sure the ‘not so nice’ weather is not that far off!

Yesterday was my friend Debs birthday.  She recently found out she had Coeliac disease which means she has to be gluten free for the rest of her life.  So I thought I’d do up a parcel with some GF goodies snacks.  Of course you can’t just ‘wrap’ them up – you need to make a special wrapping or bag for them.  So here’s what I made to match the card we gave her.

I’ve had these white bags for ages so I thought I’d decorate the front and back so they’re not just plain white.  I had some spare panels from my attempt at brayering that were OK so I matted them, then adhered them to a larger piece of card stock that covered the front (and back).

 And here it is with the matching card (which I showed here).

Well we’re off babysitting tonight – I hope you enjoy your evening.

More Note Cards

By | March 28, 2014
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Hi there

Here we are at the end of another week and almost a quarter of the way through the year!  I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend as the last couple have been rather full on.

Today’s cards are part of my Christmas gift from my upline Jacque.  Our task for March was to finish three more cards and send them out – who will receive one in the post in the next couple of days?

These would be great to give as a gift to somebody.  You could stamp your images and then add a variety of sentiments to be added later along with some other embellishments for them to choose from.  How easy is that.

I hope you enjoy your weekend.

New desk accessories

By | March 27, 2014
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Hi there

As promised here are the new components for my desk at work.  My previous tissue box cover used to be in direct sunlight at our old office and it faded 🙁 so I thought it was about time for a new one – especially after I’d made 5 for the ladies at work I was feeling left out.  I’ve gone with the Kaleidoscope range of papers – my favourite from the new seasonal catalogue.

First off is my business card holder

my new tissue box cover – which will be kept away from sunlight!

And lastly my Post-It note holder – now I’ll never loose them on my desk

Business Card Holders

By | March 26, 2014
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Hi there

I’ve been wanting to make one of these business card holders for ages and I finally got round to it over the weekend!  They’re from Sam Donald – a very talented UK demo.

The first one is for my Stampin’ Up! business cards to sit in on my desk – I can also take it with me to workshops etc.

Isn’t it cute – so much better than the perspex container they come in.  I enjoyed making it so much I made one for one of the ladies at work to match her tissue box cover I made earlier in the year.

Check back tomorrow for the one I made for my work desk along with a new tissue box cover.

Auckland Extravaganza Projects – part two

By | March 25, 2014
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Hi there

Here are the last of the projects from Saturday.

This project was taught by Rachael and her team.  It’s a cute box that holds four tags and a book mark.  They’re all made using the Tag Topper Punches.  There are two styles of punches – the angled tag and the scallop tag which is my favourite.  These colours look so good together – very crisp.

The next project was taught by Sally and Heather – it’s a 3D card but can be posted flat and then the recipient just ties it together.  Here’s a view from the front

from the back 

ready to post
inside
and outside – I love this Sweet Sorbet paper. 

Remember you only have until Monday 31st March to place an order of $110 to get this paper (or other products) FREE.  So email me if you have an order to place.

Auckland Extravaganza Projects – part one

By | March 24, 2014
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Hi there

I hope your Monday has been a good one – mine was pretty good.  A group of us from work went out for lunch today to celebrate the Persian New Year which is called Nowruz.  We have a couple of staff from Iran so it was really nice to do something from their culture.  I had a yummy Lamb on rice dish 🙂

Here are two of the projects that were taught on Saturday at our Auckland Extravaganza event.  They are so much fun so keep an eye out for details of our next event which will be happening around July.

This first project was taught by Barbz and her team – I really love this colour combination.  It is a box made with the Envelope Punch Board and inside is a ‘card’ containing a hot chocolate sachet – perfect as the evenings are getting a bit cooler.

The second project was taught by Jacque and her team.  This project also uses the Envelope Punch Board – it’s such a versatile tool.  I’ve recently bought the background stamp ‘Hardwood’ so I might just have to give this card a go myself.

Have a great rest of the week 🙂

Happy Birthday Greg

By | March 23, 2014
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Hi there

What a beautiful day we’ve had here in Auckland – we’ve been for two walks which was so nice as they had predicted it would be wet today.

Yesterday was our neighbours birthday so I ran up this quick card for him.

After teaching this style of card at Stamp Camp last month I thought I’d make some more.  This paper is perfect for some of those ‘hard’ masculine birthday cards.  And I’ve gone to one of my favourite birthday sets – Bring on the Cake.  This set has a good range of stamps that are great for all ages.
I inked the front image with markers so that I could get multi coloured candles then recoloured just the centre part and cut it out and adhered it on the original image with dimensionals.

Supplies:
Stamp set – Bring on the Cake
Card Stock – Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, Naturals White
DSP – Birthday Basics
Markers – Bermuda Bay, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Raspberry Ripple
Other – Circle Thinlits, 2 1/2″ Circle Punch

Hope you have a good week.

Auckland Extravaganza

By | March 22, 2014
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Hi there

Today we’ve had the Auckland Extravaganza event with about 90 ladies attending.  It was a great day and everyone made five projects.  This is the project that Narelle and I taught.

It’s called a Matchbox Box.  This is normally made using the Envelope Punch Board but I changed it so that we used the Simply Scored Scoring Tool with the Diagonal Board – it was so much easier.  I left Narelle to teach the flowers as she is the ‘queen’ of making these flowers with the Spiral Flower Die.  And of course the box wasn’t complete till it had a Whittaker bar in it 🙂
The ladies all enjoyed the afternoon – with a number asking when was the next event 🙂
Supplies:
Stamp Set – Bring on the Cake
Card Stock – Real Red, Whisper White, Coastal Cabana
DSP – Fresh Prints Paper Stack
Ink – Coastal Cabana, Black StazOn
Other – Simply Scored Scoring Tool plus Diagonal Board, Spiral Flower Die, Small Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Sponge

Well I’m about to go and soak my feet – they’re a bit sore after being on them all afternoon (plus I’ve just been for a 45 minute walk!).

Catch you back here soon.

Get Well Hannah

By | March 21, 2014
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Hi there

I hope you’ve had a good week.  Tomorrow I’m teaching at the Auckland Extravaganza so I’m madly rushing round getting everything together now so that I can have a sleep in tomorrow morning!

This week one of my colleagues daughter has been off school with a head cold – so I thought I’d make her a card and gift to help her feel better.

The image is from a retired set that I use heaps – Word Play.  It has some really good sayings.

An on the inside is the all important tissue 🙂

I’m sure chocolate will make her feel better soon – isn’t chocolate the answer to everything?

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Word Play (retired)
Card Stock – So Saffron, Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla
DSP – Print Poetry Paper Stack (retired)
Other – Midnight Muse Satin Ribbon, Ovals Collection Framelits, Scallop Circle Punch, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Brad, Dimensionals

Happy Birthday Mum

By | March 20, 2014
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Hi there

Today is my Mum’s birthday – she’s the BEST mum (and friend) in the world.

The other week Mum (and Dad) helped me prep the kits for the Tauranga Extravaganza so I thought I’d make Mum a card in the same design.

I’ve used some of my favourtie colours and products for this card.  The Pool Party card stock is the Core’dinations which I ran through the Big Shot with my favourite embossing folder – Decorative Dots.  I’ve given it a light sand which has made the dots ‘pop’ more off the card.  Can you see the pearls on the flowers and the sentiment?
I’ve had to delay posting this card in case she checked my blog during the day plus she’d find out what her present was before time – Dad, Phil and I have bought her a Texture Boutique Embossing Machine – I’m sure she’ll get lots of use out of it.

Supplies:
Stamp Sets – Petite Petals, Label Something
Card Stock – Naturals White, Rose Red, Pool Party
Ink – Rose Red
Other – Petite Petals Punch, Artisan Punch, Basic Pearls, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Rose Red Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Dimensionals

Happy Birthday Mum – I hope you’ve had a lovely day.

Note Cards

By | March 19, 2014
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Hi there

I thought I’d share with you some cards I’ve received in the last couple of weeks from my upline Jacque.  It’s so nice to receive ‘snail mail’.  These both feature the Note Card and Envelope set.

I really love the new scallop tag topper punch – it’s so versatile and adds a quick layer to your card.

If you’re anything like me you’ll have lots of scraps of DSP and this card layout is a great way to use them up – I think I’ll be casing this layout.

Summer Silhouette

By | March 18, 2014
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Hi there

Back again with another I made in the weekend.

I’ve used Summer Silhouette which is a two step stamp set for this card – have you tried two step stamping?  Two step stamping is where you image has two  parts to it – in this case step one is the stem of the flower and then step two is the actual flower.  You really need a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for this so that you align everything up properly.

For the inside of the card I used the smaller flower.  To get the lighter colour of flower I inked the stamp then stamped it first onto a scrap piece of paper then stamped on the card stock – the other two I stamped as normal.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Summer Silhouette
Card Stock – Rich Razzleberry, Crumb Cake
Ink – Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry
DSP – Polka Dot Parade
Other – Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder

Flower Shop and Hexagon Hive Thank You card

By | March 17, 2014
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Hi there

What a beautiful day it’s been after the wild weekend weather.  Hopefully it stays around for a bit longer 🙂

I need to send some ‘thank you’ cards out this week so yesterday I sat down and got creative.  I find my craft time very relaxing which I’m in need of at the moment.

Once I created the ‘base’ of the card it needed something to bring it alive so I’ve gone with the Flower Shop set which hasn’t seen ink for awhile along with a die has hasn’t seen light in – I don’t know how long.  Do you have supplies that sit unused for awhile?

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Flower Shop, Embellished Events, Petite Petals
Card Stock – Soft Suede, Naturals White, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron
Ink – Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede
DSP – Retro Fresh
Other – Hexagon Hive Thinlit, Little Leaves Sizzlits, Petite Petals Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch

Well I’m heading off to babysit the kids next door – enjoy your evening