Something new from our Catalogue - Bloom with Hope

LOVE this new set in the brand new catalogue - its called "Bloom with Hope" and its a new Hostess set.  I am looking forward to using it for lots of different techniques as its the kids of set that will work well.  I can see it embossed, watercoloured, simply stamped, masked.. in fact it is very versatile. So as a demonstrator I had an opportunity to get it early (it was free for me.. yippee!) and have a play.

Today I did something simple but subtle with it. I stamped it in Soft Suede ink onto Crumb Cake card stock, masking some of the stamps as I stamped more over the top. Then I used a blender pen with some Whisper White Craft Ink to lightly fill in some of the petals, and added a little Pear Pizzaz ink to some of the leaves. The sentiment is from the same set. I love that this is simple but so effective!

Have you booked into my launch events next weekend yet? I now am full for the Sunday afternoon event, but still have spaces at the Saturday evening event (5th July) so please click HERE to email me and book your spot. Its only $15 to attend and you will go home with 3 completed projects and of course a new catalogue. There will be prizes for everyone, and supper too. Its a great night!

So I hope to see you there.. or at a class or workshop soon!  Here's another shot of today's card for you:

Video Tutorial - How to make a Christmas Frame (well not just for Christmas!)

Today I made a video tutorial to show how to make the Christmas Frame I used at my Christmas card class last month. Of course you wouldn't have to use a frame like this only on Christmas cards.. you could use any style of stamp. But I liked using the Gold Foil to create a Christmas frame, and the combination of Crumb Cake, Gold, Green and either Red or Cream yelled "CHRISTMAS!" to me.  And I like the vintage effect you get adding gold to these colours.



The Designer Frames embossing folders (set of 2) are on the retiring list so if you want them you'll need to be quick! Visit the store to see all the discontinuing products...



I hope you enjoy the tutorial, and don't forget to come back and visit my blog here again soon :-)  And I've shown the full card below….

Pleasant Poppies with the New Blendabilities

I was having a play with the Blendabilities again today.. still working on my technique. But hey, you have to start somewhere right?  Having said that I love them! So many projects.. so little time….

Today I coloured the Pleasant Poppies stamp with the Rich Razzleberry set of Markers, and used a piece of "Moonlight" DSP at the bottom. It came up pretty nice for a simple card.

Don't forget these products are available in our new catalogue that will be released NEXT WEEK!  And Im having a launch if you'd like to get your hands on a new catalogue and be inspired with some great products and ideas. For more info click HERE :-)

New Catalogue Launch Dates… Come and Play with new stuff!!

So I finally have some dates for those that have been asking for them.  But I already know that you will need to be quick to book your spots as I have only space for limited numbers.

There are two dates:

Saturday evening the 5th July at 7.30pm at the Girl Guide Hall at Niagara park (next to Niagara Park Primary School, on Narara Vally Drive)

OR

Sunday afternoon the 6th July at 2pm at my house.. address supplied on booking.

The cost to attend is $15, and you will make 3 projects using predominantly NEW STUFF from our gorgeous new catalogue. You will receive a free catalogue (or if you already have one, a $5 voucher to put against any order that you make at the event).  There will be prizes and refreshments of course.

For these events I do require pre-payment to hold your spot.  Contact me by clicking HERE to book in and let me know which date suits you better.

All my classes are held on the Central Coast NSW.  I will have the full July - August class schedule up here on the blog shortly.

Looking forward to seeing those that can make it!  (If you can't make it, but want to see the new stuff, consider your own workshop. You only need a few friends around the table to make it viable, and everyone gets to make something beautiful! Lots of fun with friends AND productive as well :-) I'm currently taking bookings for July and August)

Acetate Butterfly Card

Yesterday I did some designing… its for a couple of upcoming workshops so I wanted to create something using some of the retiring items since they will only be available for another 10 days.  I was also aware that a couple of the ladies in my groups have expressed a distaste for a couple of colours. One lady was hoping I would avoid blue.. not because she doesn't like it, but because i use it too often lol. (Really? I hadn't noticed lol)  Another isn't a fan of pink. So I went with a totally different colour scheme… and this card is the result. Of course… it looks better IRL :-)

The items retiring on this card are:

Quatrefancy DSP (includes the Acetate sheets)
Beautiful Wings Bigz die
2013-2015 Incolor Designer Paper Stack
Field Flowers Stamp set (the sentiment)
Incolor Embellishments
Delicate Lace Tape

Of course the other items are continuing into the new catalogue… (Don't forget that if you want to order any retiring items before they are no longer available, then your best bet is to visit the Online Store.. just click the 'Shop Now' button to see the specials)  There are also some great weekly deals and Clearance rack items.

I was pretty happy with the result when I created this one (although I did go through a few attempts that I wasn't quite as happy with).  And i hope those peeps coming to my workshops will like it too :-)

This year's New Incolors for 2014-2016 … want to have a sneaky peek at them??

Yes, Yes.. I know this makes two posts in one day! But Im a bit excited :-)

So the new catalogue is out at the beginning of July, and as with every year, there is much discussion and excitement created by the new Incolor range to be released with the catalogue. I got to see this year's colours for the first time at Convention, and my honest opinion was a bit reserved… I wasn't as taken with them as the previous ones, and wondered what I would make of them.

That was about a month ago, and now of course I have a set of my own. I've had a bit of a play. And guess what! Yep.. thats right… I've decided that I LOVE THEM. And then I have to remind myself that I do this almost every year….I start out not too sure.. and then I get to spend time with them and realise that they're not so bad after all. A bit more time and i am in LOVE. It's a bit like a good relationship actually lol.

So my pre-order goodies arrived at the beginning of this week (one of the perks of being a demo is getting some products FIRST!) and I've made some time this week to have a play with them. One of the sets I got for free was the "Work of Art" stamp set. To me, its a similar type of stamp set to Gorgeous Grunge. Not because the stamps are similar, but its great for creating an abstract look, and in particular for backgrounds. It's also great for showing off colour combinations, and thats what I used it for here.  I've stamped all 5 Incolors on this card (and the bookmark), but some i have stamped full-strength, and others were stamped off first (2nd generation stamping).  I love all the colour effects you can get, and how nice do they look altogether??

I think you are going to see a lot of these colours over the next couple of years. They will be current until the end of June 2016.

You'll have to let me know what you think!

Linda

Hello There, Hello Honey

Another quick card today…. I put this one together the other night whilst crafting with a friend into the wee hours… and was really just playing around with the new colours and some stamps. This is a simple one, but you can see how beautiful that new "Hello Honey" colour is… and the satin ribbon that the new colours will be coming out in.

These new colours, DSP, stamps and ribbon will be available in our brand new catalogue due out at the beginning of July! Want to see them?  Get a few friends together around your table, and I will come over and show you some awesome new products and teach you how to use them.  Everyone goes home with a project they created themselves! There is no charge, and these are a lot of fun…. Contact me to book your July and August workshops, and see what's new for yourself!

For a quick and easy card, this one came up pretty nice…

Have a lovely day!

Linda

Playing with New catalogue products… Kinda Eclectic

One of the stamp sets we got for free at Convention was a new one called "Kinda Eclectic".  And I think its going to be one of my favourites this year.  In particular I love the large sun-type image… I think it looks great in the background and I like the various images collaged together. Very effective, for not a lot of effort.  I've been playing with it a bit this week and it just seems to work, no matter what I do with it :-)

I used some new DSP on this card too ("Flashback"), and you can see 3 out of the 5 new Incolors on this one as well. The colours I used are Hello Honey, Blackberry Bliss, and Mossy Meadow. (And there's a bit of Crumb Cake thrown in too).  The ribbon is also new.. the Stitched satin ribbon in Hello Honey :-)

Its a simple card.. but I like how it came together….

World Cup Fever and the Hexagon Hive Framelit die

So I am doing my first Product Focus Class this week and I wanted to show you one of my class projects.

Product Focus classes are a new feature for me… and it will be interesting to see how they go. If successful, I hope to be able to keep them as a regular feature in my class schedule.  The idea is to focus a specific product and show several completely different ways to use it.  I thought this would be good for people who have purchased specific products, but are looking for different ways to use them. Or perhaps someone who is considering a particular product, and want to see how versatile it is.  I am going to offer the class at a discount for those that already own the specific product, or purchase it at the class.  Although it is certainly not a requirement that people own the die to do the class.

So this month the product featured is the Hexagon Hive Die.  I will be showing 3 very different projects, and today's card is one of them. I thought this would work well for a boys birthday card. But with all the hoo-ha over the World Cup in Brazil at the moment, I thought this was a great time to show it off.  And such an easy way to use the Hexagon Hive Die don't you think?  I was also able to use the Fringe Scissors to create the grass for the ball to sit in, and the pennant punch was used for the flags.

If you would like to join us for the class I have 2 spots left on Wednesday morning 18th June at 11am.  The class costs $25 to attend, and all materials and lunch is provided. If you already own or wish to purchase the Hexagon Hive die, the class will be only $10. Click HERE to email me and book your spot. (Classes are held on the Central Coast of NSW)

Looking forward to it!!

Designing for my Retirement workshops this month with Beautiful Wings and Quatrefancy DSP

So right now we are in "Retirement month"… in Stampin'Up terms this means we are currently preparing for our gorgeous new releases due next month by saying goodbye to lots of products from our current (but about to end) catalogue. Not everything will go, but its definitely worth looking through the retiring lists to make sure that some of the items on your wish lists are not about to be discontinued.

I have a few upcoming workshops (or "parties") and have been thinking about what I can create for these. I want to use some of the retiring products, but not rely on them completely. Sometimes some of the products sell out before the end of the month, and I prefer to create with products that my customers can still actually buy, if they wish to do so.

So this is one version of a card I am thinking of doing at my workshops. (I have another in my head, but haven't created it to show you just yet).  This one is very simply done with 2 colours - Strawberry Slush and Crisp Cantaloupe, and the card base is Naturals White. I cut 2 butterflies with my Beautiful Wings die (retiring).. one from the acetate in the Quatrefancy DSP pack (also retiring), and the other from Silver glimmer paper. The button embellishment is Crisp Cantaloupe, and retiring too. The designer Lace tape is retiring, and so is the "Oh Hello" stamp set. This was a simple enough card… good for newbies who are learning about paper craft, but you could always step it up for more advanced paper crafters.

Hope you enjoy it, and I'll be back with more soon.

Linda

Introducing Project Life… available NOW!

You've probably already heard the news… Stampin'Up has partnered with Becky Higgins to bring you the Stampin'Up version of Project Life! This is AWESOME news for both scrapbookers and those people wanting to find out more about the Project Life system of scrapbooking!  Project life is a revolution in how we scrapbook… it has solved both of the main problems with traditional Scrapbooking (lack of time, and lack of money!) and made it easy for EVERYONE to access scrapbooking, no matter what their skill level, budget, or time availability.

I've put a link HERE to help you understand more about what its all about.  It's for anyone that already scrapbooks but is having trouble keeping up with all those photos. It's for anyone that has every been overwhelmed by keeping up with life's events and remembering dates. Its for anyone that still wants to traditionally scrapbook, but doesn't know what to do with all those "extra" photos and memorabilia. It's for anyone that used to scrapbook but it all just got too expensive, and too hard.

But you know what really sets the Stampin'Up version of Project Life apart?  The fact that it has been created to co-ordinate with all our exclusive colours! And thats not all.. there are matching framelit dies, and other co-ordinating products as well in our exclusive colour range. I'm talking about Washi tapes and other embellishments… all part of the new range to match Project Life!  So many of the existing Stampin'Up products that you already own will match perfectly!

Click HERE to see what items are available to buy now to get you started.  Or if you are ready to go then visit the ONLINE STORE… and click on "Project Life" to order.  And at the beginning of July, with the release of our new catalogue, you will be able to get your hands on additional products (such extra accessory packs, page protectors, stamps and later, albums) if you wish. But there's enough here to get you started RIGHT NOW!

Want even more??? I'm going to be running beginners Project life classes to introduce you to the basics of Project Life. The class will include page protectors, enough cards to create several pages and tuition. You will have a better understanding of how the system works and enough information to go off and complete your own Project Life album.  So come along and see for yourself!

Project Life Introductory Class
Dates: Tuesday 24th June, 7.30pm
Wednesday 25th June, 11am
Cost: $25. Includes page protectors and cards for 4 single pages, refreshments

Please book early as I need to order supplies for the group. Numbers are limited.  I am also considering a 3-month Project LIfe club to assist people in creating a completed album, but would really like to know who would be interested in this?  Comment here, or email me. I run these classes on the Central Coast of NSW, so if you would like to join me, just let me know. (Or I can come to you, if you wish to gather a small group together to learn more.  I am happy to travel anywhere on the Central Coast, the Hunter or Northern Sydney regions.)

Happy Creating!

Linda

Something really special from our Grand Vacation 2014 - Australian Demonstrators Swaps

You've heard me say it before.. but the best thing about being a demonstrator in my opinion is the camaraderie between demonstrators. In my nearly 8 years with Stampin'Up I have been able to form some of the most amazing friendships and connections, and getting together with other demonstrators that I know and love is one of my favourite things about Conventions and Trips.

And this beautiful frame pays homage to that. For those of us that were able, before our recent Incentive trip with Stampin'Up to the Caribbean, we arranged a swap between demonstrators… the brief was 2" squares, Beach theme, and the colours were Pool Party, Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo and White.  The rest was up to those of us in the swap… to get creative and see what we came up with.  We gave them to each other on one of our get together nights on board the cruise. There were 16 of us involved, and we made 16 in total… so everyone involved got one of your swaps.. but there was one left over. Marelle Taylor took the extra one and put together a frame to give to our wonderful Head Office here in Sydney. We had the opportunity to present it to our GM, Aaron, at the recent Melbourne convention. Such a great thing to be part of, and a lovely to tribute to our fantastic head office staff.

As you can see… we are all very different in our approach!  I love that you can give the same brief to a group of people and everyone comes up with totally different ideas. And yet there are similarities too.

I hope you enjoy seeing what we Australian girls came up with!

Linda  xx

Sneak Peek of Stampin'Up's new Blendibilities Alcohol-based Markers… and my first attempt

One of the exciting new product releases in our upcoming Brand New Catalogue (out in July) are the Blendibilities Alcohol-based markers. We were lucky to be given a set of these at our recent Annual Convention in Melbourne last month, and the card you see here today was my very first play with them.  They will be available in various colour packs, and I only have the one set so far, but am anxiously stalking the mailbox, waiting for some more to arrive.

And what did I think? Well it was something very close to love at first sight, or first play, as I loved them the moment I started using them. Very easy to blend… and I would love to show you how too. I plan on running a beginners class with these in July, so stay tuned for that.  I think you guys are going to love them too!  The stamp shown here is also a new one, called "Blended Bloom"… and its a great stamp to learn how to use the Blendys :-)  I love the way they make the stamp almost look 3D when coloured.

Hope you enjoy my little card today, and i'll be back with more for you real soon.

Happy creating!

Congratulations to my newest team Manager!

Yesterday I got to do something that I really love doing…. I had a demonstrator in my team promote to the title of "Manager" this week. And yesterday I got to congratulate her!

Manager is a really awesome title… there are quite a lot of perks that come with it.  Things like Free Convention attendance to our Annual StampinUp convention, extra commission, free product allowances… etc  So its quite a big deal!

So of course I made her a card - you can see it above - and took over a bottle of sparkly bubbles. She has had a very excited week revelling in her new title, and I was really excited to share that with her.  One of my favourite things about my job is watching others succeed and grow. In fact, I might even get more excited about watching others than I do about my own success. I am so proud of her!

Congratulations Ellen, you've worked hard, and now you'll get to enjoy some of the rewards :-)

What I love the very most about my job…. BEING a Stampin'Up Demonstrator

Well today is my birthday, and i was thinking what special thing could i put up on my blog today to celebrate?  I decided to put up the thing that is closest to my heart… the thing that has brought me the most joy over the past 7 and a half years… and that is BEING a Stampin'Up demonstrator.  No job has ever brought me more fulfilment or ever connected me with so many wonderful people. Never have I been able to express myself and my creativity as much as I have in this wonderful wonderful "job".  I still pinch myself on a regular basis and can't believe that I actually get paid and feed my little family by doing something that I love so much.

Yes, its work. But I love that every demonstrator gets to do this at whatever level works for them. Want to do parties and classes? Great! Don't want to do them? Thats ok too.  I adore that flexibility and get to enjoy the perks of whatever level I choose.  I love working with a company that does not impose any kind of agenda on me. And I get to be creative and enjoy the benefits of that in my life.

So if you have EVER thought that this looks like fun and think you'd like to have a go… now is an awesome time to do it.  You can join Stampin'Up for as little as $85.. you will get to choose products up to $90 in value OR you can join for the regular price of $169 and get to choose products to the value of $235.  I know this is a ridiculously small price to pay to start a home business, but after doing this for so many years, I promise it can not only be done, but its totally worth it.

Joining Stampin'Up is quite honestly one of the best decisions I have ever made.  If you would like to find out more, please contact me for an info pack by clicking HERE and sending me a quick email. But don't wait around… this special price only goes until the end of June.  Or if you are ready to dive right in, click HERE and follow the prompts.  It's easy to do, and you just need your credit card to start.

$85 is such a bargain to get started! Be part of this great deal :-)

Creating with retiring goodies before the are gone! A little Christmas inspiration...

I know I'm just a little early.. but there is a method in my madness!  As you know we are in retirement month, and this means there are lots of products that are in their final month of availability. (Like the Designer Frames embossing folders that are featured on the above card). But we also have a Carryover of Christmas products that are currently still available. The next Holiday catalogue will be out in September, but some of you might not realise we do still have Christmas items available from last year's offering in our Carryover flyer. You can see it by clicking HERE.

This card uses the "Evergreen" Stamp set, and the words are from the "Joyful Christmas" stamp set. I stamped the top of the tree in Always Artichoke ink, and then stamped it again for the lighter tree, so that it looks like it is behind the first one. The star is embossed in Gold embossing powder.  The ribbon is the beautiful Cherry Cobbler ribbon. All these items are available on the ONLINE STORE.

And even though you won't be making this particular card… I have my Stamp-a-Stack classes next week, and we will be making 3 Birthday cards and 3 Christmas cards. For more details click over onto the right hand side of this blog :-) and EMAIL me to book in.

I'm off to create with some new goodies now…..

Video Tutorial: How to use Coaster Board

Coasterboard is one of those overlooked items in the Stampin'Up catalogue in my opinion.  But its a great addition to your papercrafting and gives you a great look. I've had people tell me that the result looks like suede, or Wallpaper. Here I used the Beautifully Baroque embossing folder, but you could any folder of your choice. But I think a more ornate design works better than something plainer in this case.



If you think you'd like to create your own beautiful looks with Coasterboard, click HERE to visit the online store and order these items for yourself.  Coasterboard is quite inexpensive at $9.95 (plus P&H) for 8 large sheets that will last you a very long time.



To have a closer look at the Coasterboard, here is the link:

http://www3.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=129392



Have a lovely day and enjoy the video tutorial!

One for the boys…..The Minecraft Creeper Card

My son is 8.  And yes, I know that girls can play Minecraft too. But there is something about the virtual  building program that really appeals to little boys. And not-so-little boys.  When we were on the recent cruise in the US, one of the best things about the trip for my son was finding another friend to play Minecraft with. He is obsessed.  If I let him, he would play Minecraft, watch videos about Minecraft, read books about Minecraft, draw things from Minecraft and build Minecraft things out of Lego…. literally all day long.  Hence this card….

Its very simple, but you Minecraft mums, and Minecraft fans will recognise the Minecraft Creeper in this card. I used 3 shades of green for the background (Gumball Green, Wild Wasabi, and Pistachio pudding) and cut the squares with the 1" square punch. I used the smallest square in the framelits set for the eye and face. And the whole thing took less than 10 minutes.

To purchase any of these products or any other paper craft supplies, please visit my online store HERE.  Right now there are lots of reduced prices on products that are "retiring".. which means they are being discontinued at the end of the month to make way for our new catalogue due out next month (July).  And don't forget to check the big discounts in the Clearance rack, and also the weekly deals, which finish today.  Its all in the store.

Have a great day!

Spots left to learn this awesome background technique...

Wow.. Winter has arrived… not that you would really know with it being so warm of late.  But its June, and that means lots of excitement in the Stampin'Up world. First of all, in case you missed it, the Retiring Products list is OUT… (click HERE to see them) because this is the last month of our current catalogue. Then the brand new catalogue comes out at the beginning of July… with loads of new stuff to play with!  So excited to show you lots of "sneak peeks" over the next few weeks!

And I am now BACK on dry land and have planned a month of fun classes for you to come and learn more about this awesome creative pursuit.  This week I am featuring a technique class where you will learn a couple of different ways to use your Embossing folders other than just embossing! It's called "Embossing Folder stamping" and gives you really cool new backgrounds for your paper projects. Like the card above, which features one of these backgrounds.  In the class we will be making 3 projects, and all materials and refreshments are provided. I would love to see you there!

Details as follows:

Tuesday evening 3rd June, 7.30pm

or Wednesday 4th June, 11am.

Cost is $20, and you will go home with 3 completed projects.

To book in, email me by clicking HERE.

Have a great day… I'll be back with more for you soon :-)

Here are the products I used to create this card….

Card Stock A4 Strawberry Slush

$11.95

Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad

$9.95

Card Stock A4 Crisp Cantaloupe

$11.95

Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad

$9.95

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

$14.95

Beautifully Baroque Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

$13.95

Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar

$11.95

White Vellum A4 Card Stock

$10.95

Daydream Medallions

$63.95

Crisp Cantaloupe 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim

$15.95

Floral Frames Framelits Dies

$45.95

Champagne Glimmer Paper

$8.95

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

$149.95

Brayer And Rubber Attachment

$21.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.