Enjoying the Break - and a quick competition for you

Something I really love about this time of year is that you get the chance to catch up a bit. Well I do anyway - does everyone else feel the same? I was so far behind in December, and now I am working on catching up on stuff. It's a good feeling. Also the chance to make cards and scrapbook, just because I can. I actually cleaned up my craft desk a bit this week.... what a difference!

And I decided to do a challenge card so I went looking for a challenge. I found the "Limited Supplies Challenge" on Splitcoast, and submitted the card that you see here. It's funny how this card came together... I was cleaning my desk and found the little button/scallop punch embellishment you see on the card - I'd made it ages ago and had forgotten all about it. That was the inspiration for the whole card, and everything else just came together. Maybe that's a challenge for you guys - find an embellishment that you love, and build yourself a card around it. :-)

I haven't held a competition for ages, so I thought that it must be time. I have purposely left off the stamps used on this card because I want you guys to guess what stamps I used. There are 3 different sets used, and I think it's a bit tricky. All sets are featured in current catalogues here in Australia, not sure about the US though. But anyone is welcome to enter. Simply comment on this post and tell me which sets I used. (If you are reading this via the Feedblitz email update, you will need to click into the actual email to comment on the blog). What can you win? Well, how about a mystery selection of ribbons/hardware/chipboard/diecuts/papers. Kind of like a lucky dip box? Don't worry, I will make it worth your while! I know the winner will love it, and it costs you nothing to enter :-) The first correct response will win the prize.

I cant wait to see the responses. Have fun!

Sale-A-Bration is on it's way... That means FREE STAMPS!

Hello everyone! I hope your Christmas was wonderful and that you got to spend time with people that you love. We are taking some time off over the holiday break - my husband has a bit of time off work, and school and day care are both on holidays, so everyone is at home. To be honest I am just enjoying having little or no plans, and I must be doing it right, because I have been having trouble remembering what day it is! Right now DH is watching the cricket, and the kids are both having an afternoon nap, so I thought I'd jump on here and update you on what's coming up.

It is, after all, the biggest promotion of the year. SaleABration (SAB) is coming again, and it all takes off on January 1st with freebies for everyone - customers, hostesses and new Recruits. Those people in the know are probably already getting excited, but for everyone else, here's what happens:

For Customers - Receive a free Sale-A-Bration stamp set for every $100 purchase.

For Hostesses - Receive a free Sale-A-Bration stamp set with a $600 or more workshop, in addition to the normal hostess benefits.

For New Recruits - Choose any retail stamp set (a value up to $79.95) from the current catalogue when signing up with SU during the promotion.

Sale-A-Bration runs from 1 January - 29 February, 2008

If you would like a copy of the SAB catalogue please contact me at higgiz@bigpond.com and I will mail one straight out to you. Of course from January 1st you will be able to access the catalogue online, and I will make sure that I put the link here so that you can access it. The free stamps this year are beautiful again, and Im sure you will love getting your hands on them.

I have my own little promotion going on for the first week of January only - place a $100+ order with me before the 7th January and you will also receive a free Classic inkpad of your choice, valued at $9.95rrp. That's in addition to receiving the free SAB stamp set. Please note that this special is not offered by Stampin'Up Australia, and is only available from myself. To qualify for this special, you must place your order with me by 7th January 2009. To order please email me at higgiz@bigpond.com or call my mobile on 0412 375 552.

Finally, I wanted to show you a little triangle box that I made for a few Christmas gifts and also at workshops in December. So simple to create, but really cute. My downline Cheryl Andrews was the one who put me onto these - thank you so much Cheryl! I used the Chunky glitter from the latest Mini Catalogue because I LOVE glitter and had to have this chunky stuff. It sticks beautifully with the Tombow Multi-Purpose adhesive. I should mention that the price for the glue shown in the Mini Catalogue is actually incorrectly listed at $12.95rrp, but should actually be listed at $7.95rrp. Which makes it a great value adhesive - I've already used a ton of it, and I love it.

The photo below shows the inside of the box. Of course you could stick anything you like in there, but Chocolates always work well. ;-)

Making a List... and checking it twice...

Well I'm not sure that I'll have much time for checking this list. But I do know that I have a LOT to do before Christmas on Thursday. Are you a list person? I am - sometimes it seems that I cant achieve anything without one. I have days when I seem to achieve nothing at all - and those are usually the days that I didn't make a list. But by simply by having a list and making sure that I check each thing off as I achieve it, well it makes me feel like I'm achieving something, no matter how small.

Another thing that I've learned is not to make the list too long. When the kids were little I cut down what I could achieve to only one or two main things each day. Maybe doing the washing, or making dinner. If I did those couple of things then anything else was a bonus.

Sometimes people say "how do you find the time?" or "You have too much time on your hands" when it comes to finding the time to craft. But stamping and papercraft keeps me sane, and like they say - "It's cheaper than therapy!" The answer really is that if you love something you will find the time! So my house isnt often perfect, and I know there are things (like housework) that I should probably be doing. Recently I heard someone say that the problem with housework is that you do it, and then 6 months later you have to do it all over again! LOL!

Papercraft, stamping and Stampin'Up are my passion. I feel so lucky to have found something that fills my soul and gives me a sense of making a difference, whilst at the same time paying the bills! It's great that it fits around my family and other priorities. How could I not find the time? ;-)

Taking a little break...

So that's just about it. I've today done my last workshop for the year, and had a lovely time with some of my favourite customers. Tonight I will place the last order for Christmas deliveries and tomorrow I head off with my family for a short well-deserved break away. The kids are so excited to be going on holidays and I'm looking forward to getting away too.

I do have lots of stuff coming up in the new year - I am running new Stamp clubs for example. You might remember these from last year. I have enjoyed them so much and look forward to new ones in 2009. A stamp club is where we have a group of 6 girls who come along to a stamp club meeting every 2nd month and each time they spend a minimum of $50 on Stampin'Up products. This way we are always guaranteed to have a minimum of $300 per workshop, and this means that each member of the stamp club gets to host a club night once during the life of the club. The bi-monthly group will run over the whole of 2009. We will make different and interesting projects each time - a step-up from workshop projects. Club nights are held at my place on the NSW Central coast, so that means that you don't have to clean up your place beforehand! I have a couple of places left in my bi-monthly group at this stage. If you are interested please let me know either by email at higgiz@bigpond.com or on my mobile 0412 375 552. These do fill up quickly so please contact me soon. I will be away for a few days over the next week, but will get back to you on my return.

Please DO NOT RESPOND BY REPLYING TO THE FEEDBLITZ EMAIL... I wont receive your email. Make sure that you use this email address: higgiz@bigpond.com

Happy Stamping guys!

Linda H

Christmas Gift Ideas

Last night I held my first ever Christmas Gift Class - and I have to say that it was one of the best classes I have held so far (if I do say so myself!) It was a full class and I enjoyed the company of the girls so much! Thank you to those who came and had such a great night making all kinds of gifts. We made 4 gifts each so I kept them all pretty simple - you can see a sample of what we made in the picture above. After such a successful event I am thinking I would love to do it again next year.

Here's the inside of the pizza box with a Coaster Calendar inside:



I love what we made, but the best thing was the company and the fact that we had FUN!

:-)

Linda H

A couple of Last Minute spots left

Hello guys,

I know it's short notice, but I have just had a couple of ladies pull out of tomorrow night's launch and so I now have 2 spots available if anyone is interested. Here are the details again:

New Summer Mini Catalogue Launch
7.30pm, Friday 5th December
Narara Valley Baptist Church Hall
127 Narara Valley Drive
Narara

We will have 3 different types of projects for you to create for yourselves as well as prize draws, supper and good company! Come along and enjoy a fun night out. The cost for the evening is $10.

If you would like to join us please email me at higgiz@bigpond.com or call me on my mobile 0412 375 552. I will happily give the spots to the first people to call.

Hope to hear from you!

Linda H

December Ribbon Swap

Because December is traditionally a quieter month (from a product sales point of view)and to celebrate my new blog banner (see above) I have decided to do a couple of ribbon swaps to push things along a little. Anyone interested?

The ribbons on offer are the ones you see in the picture above. It's the new 1" (2.5cm) Double-stitched Grosrain Ribbon from our brand new Summer Mini catalogue. There are three colours, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip and Rose Red, and normally each roll of ribbon will cost you $19.95 for approximately 9.1metres, plus 5% postage. Until December 12th ONLY (and only via this blog) I am offering a swap where you will get 1/3 of each of the colours for $20 - so your postage will be 5c! I will run up to 5 swaps depending on numbers, and it will be first in, best dressed. Who's in?

Email me at higgiz@bigpond.com to let me know that you would like to join the swap. You can pay me via credit card, cash or Bank deposit, and I am happy to ship the ribbons to anywhere in Australia, so that they arrive before Christmas.

Please note: DO NOT REPLY TO THE FEEDBLITZ EMAIL THAT YOU RECEIVE IN YOUR INBOX - I WILL NOT RECEIVE IT! Make sure you email me at higgiz@bigpond.com.

Thanks guys, I look forward to hearing from you! In the meantime, enjoy the new banner on my blog (you will need to actually click into the feedblitz link to see it). Let me know what you think by commenting on the blog!

Linda H

Brand New Mini Catalogue released TODAY

Our Summer Mini Catalogue has been released today and we are celebrating! As always there is lots of gorgeous stuff to see and drool over... if you would like to see it click here. I'll be putting up lots of cards and other projects that I have made with some of the new products - I've been really enjoying all these products so much, and having lots of fun especially with the chunky glitter, new papers, and the scallop edge punch (which is my new favourite tool.)

And I love the colours they've chosen this time:



If you would like your very own copy, please let me know - either by emailing me at higgiz@bigpond.com or calling my mobile on 0412 375 552. Remember if you want to ensure that your order arrives in time for Chrismtas please have your orders to me by December 13th. Enjoy your Christmast preparations!

Linda H

Out with the Old and In with the New...

You have only 3 days left to order from the current Mini Catalogue. And then they are gone.

But the news isnt all bad... when one door closes another one opens - and we have our new Summer Mini Catalogue to look forward to. So I thought I'd give you a "sneak peek" at a card I have made with some of our brand new stuff. (If you want to see what's going out, then click here to see the Spring Mini catalogue - it will finish this weekend.) I cant show you the new catalogue until its release on Monday 1st December.

This card was inspired by one I saw over on Kristina Werner's blog. I keep my laptop on my kitchen bench most of the time and I was having a quick look at Kristina's blog after putting dinner in the oven for 15 mins... and that's when I got inspired. So I literally came up with this in 15 minutes and was really happy with the result. Hope you like it too. And how cool is that ribbon? And the Eastern Blooms stamp set? And the Bali Breeze Designer series Paper?? Enjoy!

Last week to order from the Spring Mini Catalogue

If anyone has their heart set on anything in the current Mini catalogue, I have to tell you that you need to get your order in by this weekend. Because the current Mini is scheduled to end on November 30th. This Mini has been my personal favourite so far, and there are several sets and papers that I will miss. So that means that you have only 5 days to order the following very popular items:

• Boho Blossoms Punch
• It's beautiful jumbo wheel
• Beautiful double-sided designer papers: Apple Cider, Summer Picnic, Holiday Harmony
• Blooms die cuts
• Satin Ribbons in Purely Pomegranate adn Chocolate Chip
• And of course the following hugely popular Stamp Sets: Season of Joy, Tags for All, Always, Celebrate Everyday, Tart and Tangy and One of a Kind.
  

We have no way of knowing which, if any, stamp sets and other items will make it into the new Idea Book and Catalogue which is due out on April 1st 2009. Last year, I thought I had a pretty good idea which sets and accessories would make it. I was so wrong! I got a couple of them right, but mostly I had no idea! So this time I'm not going to chance it... all I can advise is to grab anything you dont want to miss out on.

If you want to have a look at the catalogue you can click here




Just let me know at higgiz@bigpond.com or call me on 0412 375 552 if you would like to place an order.

Happy Stamping!

Linda H


By the way the basket shown at the top of this post is actually made from an envelope! It's really easy to do, and makes a great gift (especially with choccies inside). I've used the True Friend set to decorate it - with a bit of help from Baroque Motifs. I got the idea from Cambria Turnbrow's blog and she has some really wonderful ideas.

Sneak peek of my Last Minute Panic Cards - still 2 places left

On this Wednesday night (19th November) I am holding the last Christmas Stamp-A-Stack for 2008. It's called the Last Minute Panic class and will allow you to catch up on your Christmas cards - you will get to make 15 4x4 cards for a cost of $25. Yep, that's right, 15 cards. The cards are super simple, but they look great - I thought you might like to see a few of them here. You will also learn some cool techniques for adding simple embellishments to your cards.

I still have 2 places left at the moment, so if you would like to join us, please let me know at higgiz@bigpond.com or call my mobile which is 0412 375 552.

Refreshments and all supplies included, although if you have a cutter/paper trimmer it would be great if you could bring it along. If you dont have one, that's fine, you can use mine.

It would be great to see you here.

Linda H
higgiz@bigpond.com

I love how this turned out...

As you would know by now, I am into Simple cards. And this is super simple to do... but really effective because of the vellum layer over the top of the card. I used the Lovely as a Tree stamp set (again) and stamped the tops of the trees in Always artichoke ink on the Whisper white background. This I placed the vellum over the top and stamped more trees in mellow moss ink. I attached the vellum with a couple of jumbo eyelets and tied some Choc chip taffeta ribbon. The sentiment is from the Many Merry Messages set and stamped in brown.

The only thing I am disappointed about is that the photo doesnt do this card justice!

Hope you love it anyway....

Linda H
0412 375 552
higgiz@bigpond.com

It's been a while....

....since I posted a submisson for one of Kristina Werner's challenges. I really liked the colours of this one though, so I couldnt really refuse. Here is the inspiration photo:





And here is my card:




Simple but I really like how it turned out.

Hope you do too!

Linda H

Oh, forgot to say... I used the Linen background stamp on this one, the swirl is from the Baroque Motifs set, and the Thanks is actually a sneak-peek from a new set in the upcoming Summer Mini catalogue. The flowers were punched with the Boho Blossoms punch and 5 petal flower punch. The ribbon is white Taffeta, and the flower centres are half-back pearls from the Pretties kit. :-)

Stamp-A-Stack of Christmas cards - a few spots left on Tuesday 11th November

I still have a few spots left in tomorrow night's Christmas Stamp A Stack - you will make 6 gorgeous cards (3 each of 2 different designs) for $15 and take them home to add to your Christmas card stash. All materials are supplied, all you need to do is turn up! Classes are held at my home on the Central Coast, NSW. If you would like to come along then please email me at higgiz@bigpond.com to reserve your place, or call my mobile which is 0412 375 552. I will send you my address details when you book in. Oooops... forgot to say, tomorrow night is 7.30pm!

For other class options coming up, please see over on the right-hand side bar of this blog.

These are really fun nights, so I look forward to seeing you!

Happy Stamping

Linda H

Misted Markers

Hello everyone,

For those not aware, we have a promotion beginning tomorrow that will allow us to sell the Stampin'Write Markers individually for the first time ever! They will be available in all the colour families (but not the Neutral or In-color ranges) for a price of $4.95 each. So if there is a colour that you are dying to have, or you (like me) have managed to misplace a marker out of your pack, you can now buy it. This promotion will only run from 10th November to the 30th November, so get in quick and get the colours you really want. You can place your order with me via email at higgiz@bigpond.com or by phoning my mobile which is 0412 375 552. I can have your order shipped anywhere in Australia, so your Stampin'Up markers (and any other products) are just a phone call or email away.

With the Markers on special this month, I am going to be highlighting a few different ways to use them. The card above is one of the many ways that you can use Markers - in this case I have used Markers directly onto the rubber of my stamps, and then stamped the image onto Watercolour paper. I then misted the paper with water in a spray-bottle - the colours will run in different directions creating a beautiful and unique background. And you never know how it will turn out, so that makes it extra fun. This technique is known my various names, but I like to call it Misted Markers.

I really liked this one... what do you guys think?

Last Christmas Card Classes for the year

I wrote the title for this post, above, and then realized how scary that sounds! I have decided to run the last couple of Christmas card classes for this year. The first one is the last Stamp-A-Stack next Tuesday, 11th November, and I still have a few places left. We will be making 6 cards, 3 each of 2 designs, and the cost for this class is $15. Please email me at higgiz@bigpond.com or call my mobile if you would like to come along.

Then for all you late starters, I am running a special "Last Minute Panic" class - we will be making 15 cards (4"x4") for a cost of $25, on Wednesday night 19th November at 7.30pm. So if you need to get lots of cards done quickly, this is the class for you. All materials will be supplied. Don't think you can make 15 cards in a couple of hours? Well you can - these cards are beautiful but so simple you will be amazed at how quickly they come together. Classes are held at my home on the Central Coast, and I will give you the address details when you book in.

Finally, here's one of the cards that I am featuring at the Stamp-A-Stacks this month. It's a fun card to make and uses the "Season of Joy" stamp set yet again. Enjoy!

Linda H
0412 375 552

Christmas Stamp-A-Stack Monday 3rd November - 3 SPOTS LEFT

Hello all!

Just a quick reminder about tomorrow night's Stamp-A-Stack - at this point I still have 3 places left if anyone is interested. Not sure what a Stamp-A-Stack is? We will be making 6 Christmas cards - 3 each of 2 different designs. These nights are a great way to get on top of your Christmas cards. Some of the girls have been coming along regularly for the last couple of months and now have quite a stash of Christmas cards ready to go. It's not too late though - as well as making your 6 cards, you will get some great ideas, and get to spend a fun night with some others who are into Papercraft too. :-)

The cost for the night is $15 - all materials supplied. Classes are held at my home in Narara on the Central Coast, and I am happy to give you my address details when you book in. To reserve your spot email me at higgiz@bigpond.com or call me on my mobile.

Hope to see you there.

Linda H
higgiz@bigpond.com
0412 375 552

Happy Birthday Benjamin

My youngest turned 3 today... how amazing is that? I thought I would show you the card I made for him. Ok, so maybe he doesn't appreciate the intricacies of card-making at this point in his life (and let's face it, he's male - so he will probably never get it. I know that's a generalization, and my apologies to all you male card-makers - I know there are a few of you out there!). But all that aside... didnt this card come up cute? I have always loved this set, but have never actually owned it, so I borrowed it from my beautiful friend and fellow demonstrator Alex last week knowing that Ben's birthday was coming up. He had a lovely day... we had spider cupcakes (as you do) and he got to pick his favourite meal tonight (Tacos). Last night we went out for a birthday dinner with Nanna and Poppy (visiting from Port Macquarie). He received some lovely gifts and told everyone who would listen that he is now 3 (with 3 fingers extended). I just cant believe that he is 3 - he is still my baby boy.

Well that's it. All our family birthdays done for another year.

Next is... Christmas. Aaaaargh - I need to really get stuck into my Christmas card-making if Im going to make it!

Dont forget that if you need to stock up on any Christmas cardstock, ribbons, patterned paper, inks, stamps - or anything else that you need for your cards, you can get them all right here... click here to see a catalogue, or contact me at higgiz@bigpond.com or ring me on 0412 375 552

Happy papercrafting!

Pink for a Reason

For anyone out there who has been hiding under a rock, this past month has been looking a bit on the pink side. And for a good reason... October is the month that we set aside to raise awareness of Cancer in our society, and in particular breast cancer. And of course to raise money to assist with the research on the disease. Today, October 27, is offically "Pink Ribbon Day". One of the local radio stations was today broadcasting from the Brian McGowan Bridge here in Gosford NSW, and they called for Central Coast women to donate their old bras to then be strung up along the bridge. They ended up with enough bras to reach right across the bridge - so anyone driving along the Central Coast Highway this morning would have noticed hundreds of bras lining their way! What a fantastic effort raising awareness for such a great cause!

Of course many of you would have been aware that I have also been raising money this month for the Cancer Council, and I am really happy with the total. I wanted to raise $200, and I am happy to say that we made it! Thank you everyone for your kind donations! I haven't closed it off yet though, so if you still want to donate, I am keeping it open until the end of the month. The easiest way to donate is to follow this link:

http://nsw.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=56764

and fill in the online form. Or of course you can contact me at higgiz@bigpond.com and we can work out another way to do it - cash or bank deposit both work well.

And finally I wanted to post the progress of my own Mum, who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgekins Lymphoma at the end of last year. Many of you knew that she was originally given 6-12 months to live, that was if she didnt have Chemotherapy. But she did decide to have the Chemo earlier this year, and it was pretty terrible - it really knocked her around. This month she had her first scan since the chemo and has now been officially declared in "Remission". It has been such a relief for everyone! So that is my very happy news to tell you all - so many people have asked me how she is going, and so it's great to be able to share some good news with you.

So I am keeping with the large number of pink projects that I've been posting lately. Here's another one for you!

Enjoy!

Even More Pink

Some of you might remember that I did those cute coathangers and babysuit cards for my friend Margy's baby shower a couple of weeks ago (scroll down to see them). Well we only just made it in the nick of time because only 3 days after the baby shower Margy and Wayne welcomed little Lilli Claire to the world. I guess she will be needing all those coathangers (the guests at her baby shower made one each for her - 15 altogether) a little earlier than we thought!

Here's the card I made for her, using the All in The Family stamp set and Berry Bliss paper. Very simple, but I thought it was pretty cute. Hope you do too.

Linda H
0412 375 552
www.lhiggins.blogspot.com

Getting Ready for Christmas

I know, I know, none of us want to think about Christmas just yet. Truth is though, it's only a couple of months down the track, and if you have grand plans to make your own Christmas cards, then now is the time to get started (if you havent already). It certainly saves that last-minute panic!

I have lots of Christmas card ideas for you. You'll find some of them right here on my blog - like this one at the top of this post. But if you have trouble finding the time to do Christmas cards, then I would suggest that you block out an evening or day to get started. Or get together with some friends as a social occasion - and make it a card-making night. Or, come to one of my Christmas Stamp-A-Stacks - it means that you are setting aside a night to just concentrate on Chrissy cards. We make 6 cards (3 each of 2 designs) and that's a great way to get going. I will be offering several of these nights in the next few weeks, so here's a few dates to get you started:

Monday 20th October 7.30p0m
Monday 3rd November 7.30pm
Tuesday 11th November 7.30pm

There are other events and classes coming up, so please check my right-hand side bar to see them (You'll need to click into the actual blog if you are reading this information via my email updates)

To book into a class, just email me at higgiz@bigpond.com

Hope to see you at one of my classes soon!

Linda H

Birthday Specials

Thought you might like to see a card that I came up with today using one of the special promotion sets this month. It's the Pretty Princess stamp set, and I've made quite a few cards with it lately. (My daughter also turned 6 this month - guess which stamp set I used ;-)

Anyways I was having a play with my Markers and an aquapainter this morning - doesn't she come up beautifully when she is watercoloured? And that's just white gel pen used in the flower centres on the Background - it made all the difference to the card.

Normally this set of 7 stamps is $45.95, but this month only you'll be able to get it for $36.76 when you make any $20 purchase. That's 20% off! And it's not the only set on offer. To see what other sets are available click here. Or email me at higgiz@bigpond.com for a copy of the colour flyer.

Hope you like the card. It was really fun to make.

World Card Making Day tomorrow 8th October - Come and support the Cancer Council

Just a quick reminder that tomorrow, Wednesday 8th October, is the day that I would love you to come to my World Card Making day event. I am using it to raise money for the Cancer Council. You've heard of the "Girls Night In" program that the Cancer Council runs each October... well I thought why not have a "Girl's Day In" and do what we love the most - make stuff! So I have cut up several different card designs for you guys to stamp and assemble (you can see some of the finished cards up above), and I am hoping that you will come along and enjoy some company and stamping with me. I will be asking for donations for the Cancer council - although I have suggested $10, you can make this amount any that suits you to make.

My aim is to raise at least $200. I have started the ball rolling by donating online myself at:

http://nsw.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=56764

Its so easy to do online, and you are welcome to do it this way too. A receipt will be issued to you by email straightaway for tax purposes. Otherwise, bring a little cash with you tomorrow and I will be happy to organize a receipt for you. All donations are tax deductable. If you are unable to attend, but would like to donate, then the online donation page is the way to do it.

In case anyone is interested to know why I am supporting this cause you may not know that my Mum has Non-hodgkins Lymphoma which was diagnosed just before Christmas last year. So it's a cause close to my heart.

We will kick off at 10.30am tomorrow. I will have refreshments provided, but feel free to bring a plate if you feel so inclined. Email me at higgiz@bigpond.com if you would like my home address details - I'm on the NSW Central Coast. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

:-)



PS The two cards on the left in the picture above are based on the designs in the Simply Sent kit "Sending Happy Thoughts", whilst the blue one on the right features the "Short and Sweet" stamp set. It was inspired by a card I spotted on Jayne Mercer's blog - thank you Jayne for the inspiration. All these products are currently on special to celebrate either World Card Making Day, or SU!'s 20 year anniversary. Remember that I will be donating 10% of any sales from tomorrow's event to the Cancer Council too. And at 20% off these are really good value for you too. Enjoy!

It's our Birthday...

.... and we're throwing a party! From 1st - 31st October Stampin'Up are celebrating 20 years in business by offering a 20% off special on selected celebration sets. To see that sets that are on offer click here. To take advantage of the special you only need to spend $20. (And we all know how hard that is to do! ;-)

I am lucky enough to own a couple of these sets so I will be using them extensively during the month of October at my workshops.

Also I should tell you that during October my husband is travelling quite a lot for his job, so I haven't been able to schedule many night classes this month. I do have a couple of day events coming up though - see over on the right-hand side bar to see what is on.

The next thing coming up is this Wednesday - Come and make a card to raise money for the Cancer Council. It will run at my house between 10.30am and 2.30pm and you can make a card, and have a cuppa. I will asking people who come to donate $10 to the Cancer Council. And I will be donating 10% of any sales made on the day. There will also be discounts on selected products. Email me at higgiz@bigpond.com if you would like my address.

If you cant make it but would still like to donate please go to my Cancer Council website :

http://nsw.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=56764

Thank you so much for your support. It's so great to be able to contribute something for this great cause.

In the meantime enjoy this little Card holder that I put together. It's based on the template of the one that we made recently at our Regional Training Day. Cute isnt it?

Hope to see some of you on Wednesday.

Linda H

Last day to order the Free Wheel special

Click here to see the details of this great promotion!

Without a doubt this special has been one of my customer's favourites! But it comes to an end tonight, 30th September 2008. Just call me before 9pm tonight if you would like to place an order, or you can email me at higgiz@bigpond.com to let me know which set you would like. I can have your order delivered anywhere in Australia. I will be placing the last order from this promo later tonight.

Linda H
0412 375 552

World Card Making Day Event - 8th October 2008

Each year we look forward to taking part in World Card Making Day, and Stampin Up comes to the party (pardon the pun) by discounting some product during this period too. So I wanted to let you all know that this year I will be running a WCMD event at my house at Narara on the Central Coast of NSW, and I've decided to make it into a fundraiser. This past year many of you would know that my family has been touched by cancer, and so it is a cause close to my heart. I've decided to open my home to anyone who would like to make a card with me, and I will be asking for a $10 donation to go to the Cancer Council. I will provide refreshments so that people can grab themselves a cuppa and a snack, but if you would like to bring a plate, it will be gratefully received. My doors will be open between 10.30am and 2.30pm, so feel free to turn up any time between those hours.

There will be some of the Simply Sent kits on sale at 20% off, so these would make great gifts if you are looking for something special. There are also some other discounts too. I have also decided that I will donate 10% of any sales made on the day.

If you are unable to make it to my house that day, but would still like to donate something then please visit my "Girls Night In" website:

http://nsw.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=56764


(Yes, I realize that it's not nighttime! But I dont think the Cancer Council minds what time we donate our money do you?)

Finally, it would really help me if you could let me know if you plan to drop in - that way I can make sure that we have enough cardstock for everyone. Im looking forward to it, and hope to make it a big success and something very worthwhile.

When you book in I can supply you with my address details, so if you would like to come, please email me at higgiz@bigpond.com or call my mobile which is 0412 375 552.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Scrapbooking class this Wednesday 24th October

Just a quick reminder that I am running a "Beginner's Scrapbooking" class on Wednesday this week. Even if you have done some scrapbooking before, feel free to come and learn how to use the Simply Scrappin' packs, which I just love. I will show you how to incorporate stamping into your scrapbooks and we'll go over some design and colour ideas. The class is $15 and I still have a few spaces left. I'll have morning tea provided as well, as the class begins at 10.30am. Classes are held at my home in Narara on the Central coast of NSW, and I am happy to give you the address details when you reserve your place. Email me at higgiz@bigpond.com or you can ring my mobile which is 0412 375 552.

I hope to see you there!

Card for Molly Louise

In my previous post I mentioned that my friend Penny and her family had welcomed their new little bubby to the world. I wanted to show you the card that I made to celebrate her arrival. I've used the "revitalized vellum" technique again, and used the Nursery Necessities set for the star. I also stamped off the little flowers from "Little Pieces" on the vellum, and used the Polka Dot stamp on the background. Didn't it come up nice? And the Taffeta ribbon sets it off I think.

Very happy with this one. :-)

Margy's Baby Shower

My best friend of more than 2o years (!), Margy, and her hubby Wayne are expecting their first baby next month. How exciting! So this coming Sunday her sister Janet, niece Sarah, and myself are putting together a little baby shower for her. Janet and I were on the phone going over ideas for the afternoon, and trying to come up with something that would be suitable. Margy isn't really into "Party Games" and we were wondering what might work for an afternoon tea kind of occasion. I was making a card whilst we were chatting and Janet asked what now seems kind of an obvious question: "Why dont we make a card or something?" Now why, I hear you ask, didn't I think of that in the first place? I don't know!

So we are all going to make a couple of little projects. I thought I'd show them to you here. Hmmmm, anybody want to guess what gender baby Margy might be expecting?

Hope you like them Margy!


There seems to be a lot of little pink babies being born at the moment. My dear friend (and team member) Penny also had a little girl a couple of weeks ago. Her bubby is named Molly Louise and I'm hoping to catch up with them all in the next couple of days. So she will probably be the proud recipient of one of these coat hangers too. Arent they cute? I didn't come up with that idea by myself by the way... the coat hanger idea is featured in our Idea Book and Catalogue on page 59, so I copied the idea and just changed the colours. Some ribbon finishes it off. The baby suit card was featured on Lauren Meader's blog, and I just thought it was so sweet! And easy too, which is even better.

Back with more soon.

Using a Brayer

I bought myself a brayer earlier this year and have been playing around with it from time to time. Originally I wanted it to do the Crayon Resist technique - as an alternative to sponging. It gave a completely different result and I was really pleased with it. But it's not an item that I get out everyday. But I've started using it again lately, and wanted to show you a card that I made last night.

Firstly let me say that Brayering is not an exact science. Which means that you are likely to get a different result every time, and probably not what you expect. But that's exactly what makes it exciting.

My favourite thing to do with a brayer is to create backgrounds, and as you can see here, the backgrounds created are absolutely beautiful. For some reason the results are very atmospheric, which I just love. Certainly if you have mastered some of the more basic stamping techniques, you will find brayering a great next step, and a great way to get some really artistic results. I've used just two colours on this Background - Bashful Blue and Brocade Blue, and then I've stamped the tree stamp from "Lovely as A Tree" over afterwards. Really easy to do. Once I had stamped the trees, I felt that the colour needed to be moved around a little, and so I did that with my aquapainter to create a "halo effect" around the tops of the trees. I think it makes it look kind of misty. But after all this, I have to say that this card looks better in real life. :-) I will show you some other ones that I did soon.

Enjoy!

Bling Class Review

Well last week's Bling Class went well.. I've had some great feedback. And we made 3 lovely projects, if I do say so myself! ;-)

This was the last card we made, and I used the Holiday Harmony Double-sided paper from the Current Mini Catalogue on my Always Artichoke Base. I stamped the large swirl from Baroque Motifs, and then tied a piece of Purely Pomegranate Satin Ribbon (how scrummy is that ribbon??!) around the top. The Christmas tree is from the Season of Joy stamp set (my most favourite Christmas set this year), and I've stamped it in Purely Pomegranate ink, and then used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to position a versamarked image over the top. I used Heat and Stick powder to make it sticky before adding Dazzling Diamonds to the image. It looks even better in real life.

I have to say I was pretty happy with this card. If you have any more questions about this card or any other techniques, I am happy to help. And dont forget you can contact me any time to place an order which can be mailed to you anywhere in Australia.

Enjoy!

Linda H
0412 375 552
higgiz@bigpond.com

The last of the trip photos... and then I'll shut up ok?

...Well I will unless a brilliant photo surfaces that I have to share with you... but I think I need to finish off the trip photos for those that are interested. (I've had lots of feedback about the photos... all of it good!) I remember last year I was equally interested in the photos of those that went then... and it really motivated me to do it too. I thought... "If they can do it, why not me?"

So where were we?

Saturday was a leisure day and so Cheryl & Craig, and Greg and myself decided on a day trip out to Green Island. Unfortunately for us, although the day started out beautiful, the wind came up quite strongly and the trip out on the boat was a lot rougher than expected. Luckily Cheryl had brought along her supply of Sea-sickness tablets, and I dont know if that's what worked, but we all felt fine on the trip - unlike some unluckier passengers :-(




(Greg and me on the boat)



And here we have Before and After photos of Cheryl and Craig on the boat:



(That's Before)





And that is AFTER the big wave that came over the side of the boat! Poor Craig was directly in the firing line!





Looking across the reef from Green Island (isnt it beautiful?) I have to say that I was a little disappointed in how "touristy" it was on the island. It's such a beautiful place but it has been commercialized, which is a shame. But it was good to go there anyway. We did the glass bottomed boat thing, and even though it was very rough and windy, it was still amazing.





When we got back to the resort there was a photo call for all the girls... we all put on our bathrobes and headed down to the pool area. Here we are:




How much fun was that... we then headed back to our rooms to find the latest gift waiting for us:



And I have to say that of all the gifts that we received over the 5 days, this one was my favourite. It also went with the Safari theme of the evening - as we had our farewell dinner planned at the Lion's Den that night. Did you notice that the bag is monogrammed? I guess when you give 25 demonstrators all the same bag, it's a pretty good idea to put their initials on them!



And so off to dinner we headed. We had 2 full coaches to take us on the 45 minute drive to the park... somehow Greg and I were lucky to make it on to the "Karoke bus". Vicki Dean and Nicki Tidbold (both from QLD) had organised a CD with lot of party favourites and lots of the passengers were called up to sing their way through Michael Jackson, Cindy Lauper, Abba, and various other standards. It was a blast. We were all singing our lungs out, and the trip was over really quickly.

We arrived at our destination, and there were nibblies and drinks to start with right near the hippopotamus enclosure. (I tried to take photos, but my camera just didnt deal with the dark very well.) Then we walked up the hill towards the big cats. At the top we were lucky to have a fire-eater perform for us and he was really amazing:




(Dont try that at home!)

And then we were ushered into the most beautifully lit area where an amazing meal had been prepared for us. There were lanterns all around and it was fantastic. Our tables were literally in the middle of the lion's enclosure, with only a wire fence (including some electric wires) between us and the lions. The most amazing moment for me was when they let another pride in to feast on the chicken carcasses that we could see spread around on the grass. 10 or 12 lions thundering towards you at full pelt is not a sight that I will forget quickly! The fed a mere metre or two from where we were sitting. How amazing is that?

None of the photos that I took do this evening any justice Im afraid.

On arriving back at Angsana we were absolutely tuckered out after our big day, so off to bed we went.


The final day dawned, and we made the most of our last breakfast in Palm Cove. Here's mine (banana pancakes, with walnuts and maple cream) - did I say that I put on a few kilos - Im sure you can see why?!





And then back to the resort to finish packing and spend some last moments with some of the girls in the lounge lobby before we headed off.



This is Naomi, myself, Julia and Charlene.




Krista (from SU in the states), Emma (NZ GM), me, Karen and Aaron (Australia's GM).




Marelle and Dave.





Theresa and Jane. (Jane made me laugh sooo much - they are both lots of fun!)




Me and Miss Claire



Well that's it for the trip this year. I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my snaps. I am so grateful to SU for providing a reward like this.. it was so worth all the hard work! I really dont know how to thank them... maybe I should send them a card? ;-)



Bye Palm Cove - Im going to miss you!

Bling Class on Monday night 8th September - ONE SPOT LEFT!

If anyone is looking for a night out on Monday 8th September at 7.30pm, I still have one spot left in my "Bling Class". We will be making a few sparkly projects so if you dont mind going home looking like you've been to a disco then let me know ASAP if you would like to join us. I'm at Narara on the NSW Central Coast and the cost for the night is $15. Email me at higgiz@bigpond.com

First in, best dressed! Hope you can come!

Happy Father's Day

I am just about to head off to the Post Office to send Dad's card for Sunday, and thought that you might like to see it before I do. (I love my parents, but they are technologically challenged, and so will never look here - so I'm safe!) I've used the "revitalized vellum" technique on the background panel - it's a really cool background technique I think. Hmmmm, might have to do a backgrounds class one of these days... what do you guys think? This card also uses the "Spring Break" designer series paper - great for manish cards, although it works well for nearly anyone. Im having a bit of a green week this week, so you might notice that my last couple of cards have taken on that tone.

Back with more soon....

Happy Birthday Cheryl!

Happy birthday my wonderful friend. :-)