It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

Now that my birthday has been, December is here and I've finished a wreath for the front door, Christmas is definitely feeling a lot closer! I'm not as prepared as I usually am this year. For instance, I have no idea what we're acutally doing for Christmas. For now, I'm happy to leave it at 'just something' and enjoy each day as it comes.

So here's my 'poinsettia' wreath. Find Ronda's tutorial here. I just did mine on a flat piece of chipboard and boy was it a great way of using up some designer paper scraps (Stampin' Up! Letters to Santa papers in this case)!

Hope your Christmas preparations are going well.
x

Christmas Tags

Christmas is just around the corner! Bit of a cliche, I know, but it's true. Here's something to get you in the festive mood if you missed out on seeing these in real life on Thursday.

It's a little hard to photograph (being nearly 80cm long) but click on the image to see it bigger.

Now since I don't have a mantlepiece, all I have to do is figure out where to display them; the kitchen windowsill is looking good right now.

Props to Sharon Johnson for this one ;)

Butterfly Birthday

Last week we celebrated my daughter's first birthday. It was so fun to do something a bit girly and with Stampin Up! dies and colours, it was easy too! I did the decorations with longevity in mind and have now put the mobile and 3D art in her room. She loves to blow the mobile with us and points enthusiastically when asked 'Where are the butterflies?'

Before and...

After!

I wish you could see the framed butterflies better - they're more 3D in real life!

My cousin, who did all the catering (THANK YOU!), did so well matching her icing to our theme colours.

Me with the birthday girl. The M&Ms went down a treat!

'Til next time!

Go Confidently

My little (well, not-so-little, really) brother in law has just finished year 13 at school. I remember the sense of great accomplishment and how grown up I felt at the time so I wanted to share in that moment with him. Is it just me or does school still feel like it was just a couple of years ago?

I've actually been planning this card for a while. Now my Cupcake Builder punch has finally been used to make the clouds on this brayered background. And then I embossed it with the Stripes Embossing Folder. It's a really easy way to make something pop.

I'm really enjoying my new 'Word Play' stamp set. One of the wee perks with being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is they send you a 15% off card in your birthday month (on top of your normal discount). Happy almost Birthday to me :)

Christmas Cupcakes

Ok, so this post isn't really about stamping but I had to share a couple of cupcakes I made at a Christmas-themed cupcake class last night at Miss Bon Bon.

This one was my favourite. It was shared four ways at lunch today - the 'fewer calories' way to eat cupcakes! Needless to say I bought myself some glitter.

And, while everyone tried to get their snowmen standing just so, I went for the low-risk-of-toppling approach and took a bit of inspiration from our little friends Calvin & Hobbes... (If you're not familiar with Calvin & Hobbes, see some of Calvin's snow antics here.)

Hope your taste buds are tingling. xx

One Beautiful Baby Shower

I had the great privilege of organising my sister's baby shower recently. It was such a fabulous morning and I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make it special. We started with a colour theme (Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limade and Whisper White) and the feel we wanted for the day and rolled on from there...

The food table

Flowers (courtesy of a friend)

My first piped cupcakes - thanks very much to my special friend for teaching me (you know who you are)! 

Mini-bunting using Perfect Pennants Die

Yummy fruit with Greek Yoghurt (courtesy of my Mum)

Scrumptious bircher muesli (courtesy of a friend)

The bunting and favour table

Special thanks to my husband and the mum-to-be for helping me out with 30 favours!

Special treats inside each favour... yum yum

Just one of the many gorgeous single stems (courtesy of a friend)

The radiant mum-to-be (with her Tanzanian Kanga tied and holding the balloon baby at the back - one of the great African-flavoured games. Such fun!!)

Christmas Blues (in a good way)

With Christmas just around the corner I did a bit of the old 'use-up-what-you-have-on-hand' and made a stocking out of scraps of blue Stampin' Up! ribbons, white felt and assorted buttons (which originated from my Mum's collection). Next time I think I'd just do all of it on the sewing machine as the blanket stitch edging, while effective, took white a long time. And if you know me well, you'll know I like things quick and easy! Anyhow, here's my prototype for our upcoming Christmas Craft night with the gals...

 

Hawaiian Notebook

I recently made up a little notebook for guests at a friend's bridal shower to write encouraging words in. Since I didn't have any notebooks to cover I did this one from scratch! It was a bit of a challenge having never done any tropical-themed creations before but I had a lot of fun.

The flowers are stamped on watercolour paper and coloured in with Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight and a touch of Early Espresso. Blender pens make a novice look like a pro don't you think! Ahh, so deceptive! I also added some shimmer paint to give it a bit of glow.

I didn't photograph the inside but the pages are made of Naturals Ivory cardstock with a layer of stamped Calypso Coral at the front and back. And apologies for not-so-good photos taken inside at night...

Needless to say I had wonderful feedback from the bride-to-be and the book (well, the words in it really) has already become something very special to her. In a little while I'll be able to post some of the photos of decorations I've been doing for her wedding. In case you're wondering about my lack of posts, there are many celebrations coming up and you'll get to see everything before Christmas! Hmm, Christmas, just 10 weeks away.

Just Add Ink #83

With my husband away over much of the weekend, I took the opportunity to do a little scrapping and thoroughly enjoyed it! Bron at Just Add Ink has challenged us with a sketch this week which I especially wanted to see if I could do in a layout. Here is the result:

The fabric yo-yo below is the one that Penny is wearing on her clip in the photos. It was made by a friend of mine and I have dressed it up with an antique brad.

Perhaps my favourite part of the layout is this: a peekaboo feature that lies behind the journalling...

...which turned into a great game when I showed the layout to Felix. Twins!

Oh, and if you're wondering, the striped background is straight inkpad to textured cardstock. 
'Til next time
x

Sneak Peek Butterfly

Can someone please tell me how it has been an entire month since my last post? Life sure has been busy with sick kiddies and starting to plan for several events for the coming season...
(Children all better now, in case you're concerned!)

With the coming of Spring, Stampin' Up! is releasing their new Idea Book & Catalogue and, naturally, I'm very excited!!! While new products aren't for sale until September 1st, I am allowed to give you sneak peeks of things I have been making so here goes...

These little butterfly cards have been doing the rounds lately (and for good reason!) but doesn't it look exquisite in one of the new 2011-2013 In Colours? I might just have to feature these at my daughter's first birthday in November. They're just perfect for Spring and Summer parties. I'm sure warmer weather has been on the minds of many in the middle of this cold snap.

Want to learn how to make these? Book a workshop with me from September and start collecting some really great Hostess Rewards from the new catalogue.

Birthday Boy

Amongst all the baby cards in the previous post, I also did up a bunch of birthday ones. These two are my favourites for boys.

This one was modeled off a cool masculine card we did at a training day recently. The Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder really is perfect for many things! And it was fun to do something a bit different. I haven't done a buckle card in such a long time!

I reckon bright is the way to go when it comes to boys (I'm a bit over earthy colours for masculine cards). The outstanding numbers from the Celebrations papers were the perfect countdown for this wee rocket.

Oh Baby Baby

I recently did my first markets (child-focused products only) and wanted to show you some of the baby cards I made. I didn't sell much on the day but I still consider it a great experience and, to be sure, none of these cards will go to waste! Is it just me or are there heaps of beautiful pregnant ladies at the moment?!
$5 each if you're interested. Haha.

This one is modeled off the explosion box lid we did at a class recently.

Don't you just love the bird punch? Love this vintage-feel colour combo of white, Blushing Bride and Crumb Cake with a hint of Pear Pizazz.

One for a girl or a boy...

This card and the one below are a Mother/Baby set. I adore the beautiful Love&Care Hostess set in the Autumn/Winter Mini.

Spot the new Big Shot machine fan!

Just Add Ink #73

This week at Just Add Ink it's a sketch challenge. And to celebrate their 500th follower there are prizes involved! So why not get going and enter something yourself! Here's my interpretation of the sketch.

I haven't done a layout for a little while so it was nice to throw one together. There's a lot of 'white space' on this layout so I used the large stamp from the Fresh Cuts set to create a bit of texture. It's done up in clear embossing powder with the Night of Navy ink pad stamped straight over it.

To get this effect with your ribbon, double the length you'd normally need, sew down the centre of the ribbon with needle and thread and gather until it looks right. I've heat sealed the ribbon ends with a lighter and then stuck the whole thing on the layout with sticky strip.

The blues, Night of Navy ribbon, circular embellishments and a bit of bling gave the page a bit of a modern nautical look which I'm very pleased with, even if I say so myself. Haha. Hope you like!

Explosion Box

Ok so here's my first ever video blog (or vlog, if you're getting technical). I felt like this kind of project didn't really work well in photos so tried video instead!

We're making these at my class on Thursday 23rd June; except, we'll be using the oh-so-cute Nursery Suite Specialty Papers. Email me for more details if you'd like to come along - it'd be my pleasure to see you!

With Love

I received this gorgeous card from my sister-in-law, Olivia, and had to share. She's so beautifully used the Level 2 Hostess Set 'Love & Care' in the current Autumn-Winter Mini.

Also, may I mention how proud I am of Olivia for receiving a 'Rising Star' award at the Stampin' Up! convention in Melbourne this weekend. Congrats on being 2nd place in all of Australia for your first year of being a Demonstrator. You so deserve the recognition for all your hard work and I'm sure your team and adoring customers would agree!
x

Just Add Ink #67

Check out the sketch challenge at Just Add Ink this week and have a go! Here's my little interpretation: A thank you card for the copious amounts of work our Landlords have done for us lately to make our house a better place to live. I've been wanting to try white on white for a while and enjoyed how it turned out but I seem to have picked all the difficult things to photograph - white, glitter and rhinestones! Anyway, hope you like...

Deals of the Week - every week in May!

May is an exciting month! All you need a little pocket money to pick up some great products going cheap. Check out the Stampin' Up! website evey Wednesday in May for the week's deals...

Email me if you'd like to place an order or would like a free catalogue (RRP $15.95).

Bumbled Birthday

Slightly stupid moment: So I sat down over Easter to make a birthday card for my cousin who is currently in France. I thought it would be nice to send something since it's his first birthday away from home and in a foreign country. I wrote in it, put it in an envelope and had it addressed ready to post only to realise I'd confused his birthday (October) for his brother's (May). Duuuuh, I thought something was awry. Anyway, thought you might enjoy seeing it. I'll make something else closer to the time...

Don't you just love this cake? It's from the new Level 1 hostess set in the Stampin' Up! Autumn-Winter mini catalogue, 'A Slice of Life'. It comes to life with the Blender Pens. You can get this set for free (along with other free products of your choice) when you host a workshop between now and the end of July. A workshop is a great opportunity to hang out at your place with a few of your mates on a cold Winter day/evening and experience for yourself how great the Stampin' Up! products are! Email me for a booking today.

Chocolate...mmm

This week at Just Add Ink we're having a little chocolate fun in the lead up to Easter. The challenge is to use a colour combo from your favourite chocolate bar. I've chosen the ever-so-sweet Black Forest! Mmmm. This means my colour combo is made up of - Perfect Plum, Concord Crush, Poppy Parade, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.

I haven't done much scrapping lately and I've been dying to do something with these photos taken in the early weeks of number two's arrival. Of course I remember how tired I was and how each of us was adjusting to life as a family of four. But what I love remembering the most are precious moments like these...

 

By the way, I had a hot glue gun available this week and so enjoyed making some ribbon flowers with buttons! The Stampin' Up! Organza ribbon worked a treat.