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