L-INK-ed to paper

Get back on your Chair!

2012-01-24T10:21:00.002+08:00

OK, now get back on your chair! Grab a cuppa this might be a long one......
I know it must be a HUGE shock to see a post on this blog after sooooo very long, believe me there were certainly times when I didn't think there would ever be another one too. Most of you who are close to me know all the very heart wrenching reasons for my long absence from both the blogging world as well as the crafting world, not to mention my home in Australia!
Well I promise not to bore you all with details but lets just say I sure do hope for a better year this year.
The last post I made on here was of my gorgeous photos of my mum and dad, well unfortunately I had to return to England and was there for quite a few months nursing my mother through terminal cancer, she actually came through all the treatmeant really well and the Dr's were amazed at her tenacity and bravery. The Dr's ok-ed it for me to return to my family in OZ and said she would be fine for quite some months before becoming sick again. Unfortunately not long after my return my mother passed away peacefully in my fathers arms due to heart failure. It was a true blessing to all of us that she went while still being her normal self, not debilitated by the cancer in any way, she was up in her village shopping and chatting with all the locals that very day and everyone said she looked so well and happy.
Of course my dear dad has been left without his life partner and misses her terribly as we all do, we had a wonderful send off for mum and the little church was packed with friends and family from all corners of the world, this again was such a blessing to see all the lives she had touched while being on this earth.
To top things off, the day my mother passed my beautiful furry friend of thirteen years Coubah also had to be put to sleep. So a double whammy and more tears than I thought my body could hold. I know he is in heaven with mum having walkies with no pain and keeping mum company.
The day after I returned home from England I was sitting next to my darling daughters hospital bed side once again, she had to have another op and is now home making the most of school holidays before returning next week to work.
The day after her op, we noticed our other dog who was only nine had gone blind over night, so off to the vets again and unfortunately more bad news...he was diagnosed with canine diabetes and it was so severe that he also had to be put to sleep, apparently it is common in male poodles between the ages of seven and nine, he was a poodle mix and nine. So Whiddy is now with his mate playing in heaven too.
As you can imagine we were more than ready to begin this new year and start a new page in our lives. My crafting mojo went on vacation somewhere and forgot to come home, so I'm hoping that with some help from all the new products in my hobby room that hadn't even been opened from the new and exciting catalogue and of course now the release of the new SALE-A-BRATION catalogue today, I will be posting some new cards and projects for you to look at.
Thank you to all who have sent condolences and beautiful cards, thank you for all the many prayers that have been sent up for my family over the past year and of course THANK YOU for all your support and patience.
Please find all the new catalogues in my side bar on the righthand side, if you would like to see a hard copy feel free to contact me and I will be happy to send you one.

Gem's pages...

2011-07-17T13:48:00.002+08:00

I am really happy to be able to show these fabulous pages that were made in my scrapbooking class last week, they were made by the very talented and gorgeous Gem, who just happens to be nearly as gorgeous as her mum Ingrid who has kindly supported and encouraged me all the way with my Stampin'Up! business and my creativeness. I am very blessed to have such lovely ladies who come to my classes who have become very dear friends of mine. They all boost my confidence so much and always tell me how much they love their projects.

This was Gem's first scrapbooking class with me and I sincerely hope she will join us again when I return from England. She did such a wonderful job and I know she will put some gorgeous photos on it to finish it off. Well done Gem and thanks for the photos ;-)

Well this is most likely my last post before I fly out in the early hours of the morning, so take care and stay creative. Lots of inky hugs from ....

Happiness shared!

2011-07-16T11:18:00.003+08:00

Hi there paper crafters,
I had an absolute blast last weekend teaching this double page layout with my beautiful friends, everyone made these pages and did such a wonderful job. I was a bit nervous about this one as I'm not really a scrapbooker and have only recently begun to design some layouts. But it seems my worries were unfounded and all were really happy with their finished projects. Please click on picture to see up close ;-)

The photos were taken of my parents when I was last over in the UK visiting in March this year. We shared some wonderful memories and laughs together, it was made even more special by the fact I was there for my dear dad's birthday.

Unfortunately I now have to return to my homeland for compassionate reasons, my dear mother has just been diagnosed with cancer and is very ill, so I will be flying there on Monday morning to be with my siblings and family while we care for mum and of course dad. I have no idea when I will be returning to Australia but will stay in touch with you all via e-mail.

I want to thank everyone for their support and kind words,

Lots of love and inky hugs from....

It's been a while !

2011-07-13T11:03:00.003+08:00

Hi there inky people,
Once again I find myself apologising for my absence, well life keeps throwing me a googly and it seems to take me a while to get back on track. I've had a nasty bought of bronchitis and now some bad news from back in the UK, so please bare with me when I don't post as regularly as I would like to.
Now I thought I'd start the posts with these pictures of my little Pirate Tilda, I made her for my beautiful Daughter's 21st birthday, which of course was a pirate theme. I stamped the Tilda and then masked her before stamping the barrel, anchor and skull. I coloured the images in with Copic markers and drew the many little skulls arround the card with a white gel pen (hence them all being slightly different!)

I didn't have a very big choice of colours to work with as this is the first card I have made using my copics and Magnolia's other than the tag I made for home work. I only had one blue and two greens and three browns so I used my greys to change the tones of the colours for blending and shading.

I must admit to being quite proud of this creation and Elysia loved it too. I used some stamps from the Stampin'Up! set called Beware Pirates! on the inside and tore the paper inside the card to make it look like an old map. I hope you like it too. ;-)
Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave some nice comments, I'm in need of some happiness ;-) Lots of inky hugs from ....

A Little me time.

2011-06-22T12:06:00.002+08:00

Hi there papercrafters, well I finally gave in to my urge to try out copic markers and have joined a group of very friendly and talented papercrafters who get togethert every other Saturday to have copic classes with the very knowledgeable Deb J. Each week we get given home-work to do and we bring it back in the form of a tag which then gets swapped with the rest of the class. This is my very fist tag after my very first lesson, I am really enjoying the me time and having fun colouring in these cute little images. I used Stampin'Up!'s Crumb cake to make the base of this tag which is matted on SU's basic black card stock, the lesson was to colour in on Kraft coloured paper and I really had fun with this one.

I hope the recipient of my tag likes it and it wasn't too bad for a beginner, keep visiting to see more of my efforts in this new medium as well as my usual posts with StampinÚp! products of course.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your week, lots of inky hugs from.....

A bit of Nautical art...

2011-06-19T16:47:00.003+08:00

Hello out there in Blog land, I hope you have been enjoying a lovely weekend. I've certainly cheered up since my last post and can happily report that my nasty cold is well on it's way out!
I had a wonderful saturday and went to my second Copics class with my lovely friend and downline Michelle, who also happend to be celebrating her birthday ;-) After finishing our class I went on to my youngest daughter's house to attend a Neutrimetics party, lots of pampering and chatting, then off home to get ready for a dinner rendezvous with friends at a wonderful Chinese restaurant. Very Yummy! To top the weekend off, we rose bright and early this morning to ride the Harley out with fifty five other Harley owners, we all met up at Perth Harley's then rode out to Mundering wier for a quick refreshment, then onto Chidlow for a srcummy lunch before heading home. We were really lucky and only encountered some light rain just before reaching home, it was another fabulous day shared with great friends and really made me feel truly blesssed to be alive.

These two cards were made with the new stamp called sail Away, it's in the new Autumn/Winter mini and can be found on page 22 with the other a la carte single stamps. I used a brayer to colour the background fo the card above after embossing the sails with some clear embossing powder to resist the ink, I saw a card similar to this on the web somewhere and unfortunately have lost the name of the clever person I cased it from so if it's your's please let me know so I can give proper credit to you. The top card was water coloured using our very versitile ink pads which double as palletes very easily. I also used the little tag punch and tiny tags stamp set to add the embellishments, I think this one is appropriate to send to my brother as he is still working at sea like so many of my family members.

Oh well, take care, lots of inky hugs from....

bag shop.

2011-06-16T11:48:00.003+08:00

Hi there, I hope this finds you well and not suffering with a nasty cold like me ;-(
This card is one I made for a dear friend's birthday a couple of months ago. I had seen it on the net by the very talented Julia Leece. I just knew it would be perfect for my friend as she is a real bag collector and I was right because she loved it. It's hard to see in this photo but the little bags are sitting on a shelf in a shop window, (just click on the picture for a close up) they have been made with various stampinÚp! punches and stamp sets, the little clutch was embossed with clear embossing powder and I scratched the faux crocodile skin into the hot embossing powder. I hope you like it as much as I had fun making it.
Take care and keep away from those nasty colds, lots of inky hugs from.....

A few more birthday cards...

2011-06-14T09:14:00.002+08:00

Hello again inky people, I'm sorry for not posting sooner but I have had an awful cold and I'm not feeling the best right now. Here are a few more birthday cards that I received from some lovely friends. The butterflies are from the very sweet Wil who comes here for classes, I love the colours she has chosen and who doesn't love butterflies! The fabulous background stamp Bella Toile was used by Kathy who carefully coloured it all in with pretty subtle colours, then my gorgeous friend Lou lovingly made this classy card with black ribbon and of course a bird on it just for me. The next cards below are lovingly made by my dear friend Heidi who stamped those pretty daisies and Marie very carefully cut out all those butterflies to make the beautiful concord crush card for me, then Marg also punched out some butterflies to put on the regal rose card and last but but no means least the very elegant buterfly card from my friend and roomie Nic.

Thank you so much for all these gogeous cards, they are very special to me and as with all my cards I will cherish every one.

Lots of inky hugs from .....

birthday cards round one...

2011-06-08T20:48:00.002+08:00

Hi there friends,
Well I did promise some of my birthday cards and I don't like to disappoint, so here goes...
These first ones are from Michelle, Tracie, StampinÚp! and my dear friend Ronnie. Michelle made me the great Kenny K one of the girl by the lamp post and it came just in time to whet my appetite for my first copic markers class, the gorgeous little kitties were hand cut lovingly by dear Tracie who along with Mchelle are part of the Paper Charmers team. StampinÚp! sent me the pretty cupcakes along with a voucher to buy some birthday goodies and Ronnie sent me the lovely big flower card. The next cards were hand made with love by Jacqui who is fairly new to card making, so well done on such a pretty card, then there's a beautiful big pink flower with lots of birthday bling along the bottom from my far away friend Keesh who is celebrating the birth of her new baby boy a few days after my birthday. My dear friend Ingrid must of spent ages sticking all the intricate pieces of the flower card she sent me which was framed by a pretty diamond with scallop edges. The pretty pink card with faux stitches each side was from my lovely Paper Charmers team along with my yummy chocolate cake.

This last card was made by the very talented Ann G who Is another dear friend and awsome member of the Paper Charmers team,I had seen this hippo on a card she made last year and asked her to make one for my next birthday, well she didn't forget and came up with this very cute hippo for me. thank you to everyone who made these precious cards for me, I cherish every one of them.

Thanks for stopping by and please visit again tomorrow to see some more beautiful cards from my friends, don't forget to click on the pictures to see a close up of them.

Lots of inky hugs from .......

Birthday celebrations!!!!!

2011-06-06T11:42:00.002+08:00

Hello inky people,
I hope those of you in Australia are enjoying your long weekend and getting out in the sunshine (in WA).if not then lets hope you've found a bit of creative time to get inky;-).
I'd love to share a few pictures of my wonderful birthday that was just over a week ago, this first one is of my lovely family, my two grogeous daughters and my mother in law and of course my eldest daughter's boyfriend, unfortunately my younger daughter's boyfriend was busy working hard in Karatha. We all went to a restaurant right on cottesloe beach called the blue duck. We sat right by the window watching the waves crashing onto the beach and kite surfers whipping along in the wind. This one below is of me with my gorgeous hubby.
Here's some beautiful roses from my bestie who owns her own rose farm, so if ever you need flowers just let me know as she does fabulous bouquets and wedding arrangements etc. I have also put a few of my lovely cards underneath the flowers.
Now we're talking! CAKE! this yummy master piece was brought along to my Paper Charmers meeting by my gorgeous team. They all made beautiful cards which I will show you in the next post. Did I tell you how much I LOVE CAKE!!!
Thanks for stopping by and please come back to see all the beautiful cards that were hand made with love just for me ;-)
Lots of inky hugs from.....

Baby steps...

2011-06-05T22:28:00.004+08:00

Hello all, I know you have just fallen of your chair after seeing me post this card. I suppose you've been wondering if I had disapeared off the face of the earth or maybe decided to go to Spain!!!!
Mmmm "just an inside joke there". Still I do appologise for what seems an eternity from my last post and I will endeavour to try and be more up to date with some creative bits and pieces for you. So to start with, this card was made last week for the occassion of welcoming a new little life into this world of ours, his name is Josiah and was born to my dear friend Makeesha, she and her very proud hubby welcomed little Josiah into their family along with four beautiful siblings. How this child will be loved and nurtured by all these loving family members as well as lots of extended family and friends to help along the way.

I hope you like this little card which was made with one of our a la carte stamps called Baby Steps, I used basic grey, bashful blue, baja breeze and whisper white to make this card fit to welcome a baby boy. The perfect polka dots embossing folder was used as well as the pinking hearts punch to finish this card off.
Take care and thanks for stopping by, lots of inky hugs from....

Exciting news....

2011-05-23T10:17:00.002+08:00

Oh my goodness! have you heard the latest Stampin'Up! news??? There is a really good never before in Australia hostess promotion and you could have an extra $70.00 free merchandise just for hosting a qualifying party.

From May 23 to June 30 hostesses can earn an extra $70. in free merchandise when they host a workshop/party totaling $450. inclusive of GST and shipping.

Stampin'Up! is offering this amazing opportunity to all hostesses for a limited time. Now is the perfect time to host a workshop/party. So what are you waiting for just pick up the phone or tap that key board to drop me a line and book your spot for a fun stamping get together to watch a demo and do a make and take for free or maybe just have a catalogue party or perhaps you'd like to have a class where you pay a small fee to make three projects with some friends.

My contact details are here: http://charmainesinkyhugs.stampinup.net/ I can't wait to hear from you. Inky hugs from.....

Deals of the week....

2011-05-23T09:59:00.003+08:00

This weeks deals….

Page Description Regular Price Sale Price
137 119750 Daffodil Delight $16.95 $11.87
5/8” (1.6 cm) Satin Ribbon
137 119963 Certainly Celery $12.95 $9.07
3/8” (1 cm) Taffeta Ribbon
139 109112 Square Fire Rhinestone Brads $19.95 $13.97
139 109113 Square Ice Rhinestone Brads $19.95 $13.97

There are no limits to the number of Deals of the Week you can purchase and no minimum purchase is required. Be sure to hurry and purchase each week’s deals early so you don’t miss out!! When the new week’s deals start up on Wednesday night at midnight, the last week’s deals are over……. for ever! This offer finishes 24th May So please contact me here:charmaineblack@y7mail.com to place an order or organise your get together for some stampin'fun.

Inky hugs from.....

E-mail problems....

2011-05-20T10:48:00.002+08:00

Hello out there, I'm writing this to let my lovely inky friends know that I recently had my e-mail account hacked into and all my addresses were stolen, you may of received a bogus email from my address asking for money due to me being stuck in Spain of all places! Well most of you know I have only just returned from a wonderful time in Melbourne at this year's StampinÜp! convention. I certainly wasn't in Spain and would definitely never e-mail anyone for money. Unfortunately because of this awful hacker I have had my life turned upside down and I'm now trying desperately to get things back to normal and retrieve all all your addresses so I can e-mail you. So to get my new address please either ring me or go to Stampin connection where I have posted my new address, beware the first one I put up was wrong by one letter and I have now corrected in way of reply to that post. I hope this all makes sense and if you don't have access to my number or Stampin connection just leave a comment here for me to contact you. Looking forward to hear from you soon, lots of inky hugs from....

WoooHoooo! I'm back with some deals....

2011-05-16T12:04:00.008+08:00

Hello there craft lovers, I'm sure you have all been wondering where I've been for the last couple of months. Well I was in England visiting my family for the first half and then getting over a nasty bronchial infection for the next quarter and for the last bit of M.I.A. I was catching up with classes and workshops as well a preparing for this year's Australian/New Zealand convention in Melbourne which I have just returned from.

I will fill you in on all the wonderful happenings from convention along with some photos a bit later on, but thought you really should know about this weeks DEALS OF THE WEEK

There are no limits to the deals of the week you can purchase and there is no minimum purchase either, so please contact me soon to make the most of these wonderful offers which give you up to 40% off the original retail price in our 20011 catalogue.

You may have seen the Stampin'Up! ad in the May issue of your favourite crafting magazine letting you know that throughout the month of May, Stampin'Up! are bringing you a new deal on there exclusive products every week! Check my website or this blog every Wednesday in May, and get up to 40% off a selection of incredible products from the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue!

There are no limits to the number of Deals of the Week you can purchase and no minimum purchase is required. Now is your time to stock up on your favourite products!

Be sure to hurry and purchase each week's deals early on so you don't miss out! When the new week's deals start up each Wednesday at midnight, the last week's deals are over . . . forever!

This week's deals:

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:35:49

Item Page
Description
Regular Price
Sale Price

120963
142
Stampin Pastels New Color Kit (19)
$28.50
$22.80

115957
151
Thanks Embosslits Die
$21.95
$17.56

114513
151
Sweetest Stem Embosslits Die
$21.95
$17.56

113483
155
Pennant Bigz XL Die
$74.95
$59.96

Thanks for stopping by, I'll be back soon....

And the winner is.....

2011-02-21T18:03:00.002+08:00

Hello there peeps, I have just put all the names who left some blog love for me over the past couple of weeks into a random name picker and it pulled out DONNA C, So congratulations Donna, you have won the blog candy. I will contact you soon to arrange delivery of your goodies.

Scapbooking for real!

2011-02-17T15:11:00.003+08:00

Hey there,

I hope this finds you enjoying a cuppa while browsing for inspiration. I thought it was time to get into the art of scrapbooking, I have many lovely friends who love to scrapbook and keep asking me when I'm going to do some classes for them, well after seeing the lovely page in our current mini (page 11) using the gorgeous presto papers I was inspired along with my lovely friend and now down line Ann to have a play day and create this double page layout. Click on the images for a bigger picture. We used the stamp sets "Friends 24/7", "Lovely letters alphabet", Elements of style and the new set called "Rough type" from the mini. I stamped the images in versa mark clear ink, then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. Then I used Certainly celery, Old Olive ans Soft Suede inks to go over the embossed images to make them appear like magic! The big shot was used to cut out the words "Life and Love" from the "Simple letters" alphabet die as well as all the pretty flowers from the "Birds and Blossoms" die. The little tag in the middle of the flowers is from the mini vintage tags which can also be found in the current mini catalogue.

I love this picture of miss E all dressed in period costume waiting for the "Flying Scotsman" steam train to arrive. She was mad on Thomas the Tank engine and was so excited when we took her on the special train over to Dartmouth for a day out.

I hope you enjoy this project as much as I did making it, if you would like to do this in a class with me please contact me here for bookings.

I promise to pull out a name for the belated blog candy this weekend, so if you haven't left a comment yet you still have a chance to win til Saturday midnight (WA time)

Thanks for stopping by, lots of inky hugs from .....

The only "Ember'' to fall on our house...

2011-02-13T22:25:00.002+08:00

Hello friends, as some of you will know this past week has been one of great trauma for those of us living in the beautiful hills of Perth. Last Sunday we were told to evacuate our property and flee for our safety from some very devastating fires which were way too close for comfort.
Unlike some of our dear friends and neighbours, we were untouched by these awful fires although none the less traumatised by their effects. On the very day these flames set our neighbourhood ablaze we were supposed to take delivery of this gorgeous little creature you can see in the photo, she was a gift from my dear friend Vivi, unbeknown to us she had purchased this gift for us on Australia day and was going to have her delivered last Sunday. Well needless to say that didn't happen. After taking our pets and a few necessary belongings we drove to Fremantle to stay with my eldest daughter where we waited to hear the fate of our family home, we feel so very blessed by all the offers of help we received from old and very new friends, we are so thankful for all your prayers and kind thoughts. We were allowed back to our property the Tuesday after the fires but were still aware of warnings for our area due to winds picking up and embers still alight. After spending yet another sleepless night listening to every sound including helicopters above and fire engines passing our front door on change overs we decided that perhaps it was now safe to take delivery of our newest family member, so my hubby picked her up on his way home from work and we introduced her to the other pets including our dear little blind kitty Polly, it wasn't love at first sniff for her and took her a couple of days to accept this new little bundle of fluff who she now cleans and plays chase with around the house. We have named her Ember as a reminder of the day she was supposed to arrive in our lives.
As before mentioned I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful friendships and to have been able to return to our family home when so many around me were not so lucky, I would like all who read this to take a minute in there lives to say a prayer or think positive thoughts for all those who now have to rebuild their homes and lives due to Black Sunday's fires and also for those who were effected by the awful floods and cyclone across the other side of Australia.

Hugs from....

And now for something completely different....

2011-02-04T13:15:00.003+08:00

Hello there,
Now just to throw you all off guard here is a couple of objects I made using one of my many other hobbies..Clay! These were actually two of the very first things I ever made and my hubby got them out to take some photos of them this week, he is teaching art as well as his usual subjects this year and thought these might give the students some inspiration to create, he's chosen mythical creatures as a theme for them to use.
This purple dragon is supposed to resemble the mythical "Purple dragon behind the fridge" you know, the one that steels the single socks and your keys ;-) This little sleepy fellow below was supposed to be a pear, yes you read correctly "a pear" You see this was my second attempt at pinch pots ( one of the first things you make in clay) we were told to take some clay home and make a pear using the pinch pot technique and well, this is my pear!

Of course everyone else in my class brought in their beautiful clay pears to put into the kiln and then the teacher saw this dragon. Who made this ? she asked, I told her how I had started out making a pear and then it just seemed to transform into this sleepy dragon with a belly button. I apologised for not conforming to the set home work and said I would do my best to make the project that was asked of me in the future. To be honest I was never good at any of the useful things you could make in pottery and seemed only to be able to make silly dust collectors like dragons etc.

I just thought you might like to know that little extra snippet about me, I hope you like my dragons and please come back soon for the usual programming "Stamping" which will resume soon. Heehehehe ;-) Lots of inky and clay covered hugs from.....

Lucky last step cards...

2011-02-01T21:58:00.003+08:00

Hello and welcome to the lucky last two step cards, I'd just like to take a moment to let any fellow blog surfers in Cairns know that we are praying for your safety tonight and tomorrow, I hope you can all stay safe in this awful storm.
I first saw these step cards on my favourite site SCS and there was a brilliant video on you tube how to make them by the very talented Jackie Topa. So these two cards are a very close C.A.S.E. of hers, the top one is the one my friends all came over to make and the bottom one which has the lovely antique brads on is more like Jackie's. I used some of our gorgeous Victoria lace to resemble some clothing hanging out of the draws and also to tie some cute tiny tags onto a safety pin from the trinkets collection, the two step bird punch was used for the top card's roses but I just hand cut the bottom one, I used a piece of music paper from the news print dsp pack. I really had fun making these cards and will definitely be making some more in the future.

I hope you liked these cards, don't forget to keep the lovely comments coming, maybe you could tell me which was your favourite step card. Take care, lots of inky hugs from....

Step card number two....

2011-01-31T23:01:00.002+08:00

Hello out there, I hope you have all weathered the various storms if you are in Australia, we've had some doozies that's for sure. As promised I have uploaded the second of the three step cards made at my last class, this one uses the gorgeous stamp called Baby Steps which can be found in the back of our current Summer mini catalogue. The little all in one suit on the hanger is from the wheel called Baby Tees, isn't it cute! I also used the woodgrain background stamp with some So Saffron ink for the chest of draws, finished off with some certainly celery brads for handles. The punches used were the curly label punch and the eyelet border punch.
I am leaving the blog candy up for grabs til the end of the week, so keep those comments coming for a chance to win some Stampin'Up! goodies.
Lots of inky hugs from.....

A Step Up! and some free blog candy ;-)

2011-01-30T19:43:00.004+08:00

Hello people, I hope this finds you a enjoying your day. It's been a while since I last uploaded some cards for you but as many know we have had a few traumas in this house over the Summer holidays and I've only just started stamping and creating again. So I thought I would show you this card which is one of the three that were made at my step cards class this week and last week, this particular one was designed and made at the ungodly hour of three am when the pressure kicked in and I knew I had to just get on with it! I think all the ladies enjoyed this one and it ended up being one of my favourites too.
I used the level one hostess set called Punch Potpourri, I love the fact that all the images can be punched out with our matching punches "no cutting out!!" I used Daffodil Delight cardstock as the base and finished off the punched out images with some of our gorgeous little self adhesive pearls, the sentiment is from one of my new favourite sets called Curly Cute, I just adore the script on these sentiments and they stamp up so well. I hope you like this one and if you do please leave a comment and be with a chance to win some FREE blog candy, I'm celebrating my third year with Stampin' Up! and would like to share the happiness with you ;-)
Lots of inky hugs from ......

It's Sale-A-Bration time !!!!!!

2011-01-27T01:10:00.002+08:00

Hi there peeps, I am here to tell you about the most wonderful sale of the Stampin'Up! year and it's called SALE-A-BRATION more fondly known as SAB to most of us. Everyone gets an opportunity to choose one or more of the very special and exclusive sale-a-bration stamp sets FREE, click HERE to see the SAB catalogue. There are a couple of ways you can take advantage of this great deal and one of them is to place a one hundred dollar order with me and then choose one of the sets free, if you have a get together with some friends and your combined order reaches the $600, mark not only will each person who spent a hundred dollars get an extra free set but you will get another one for having the party. There is no limit to how many sets you choose and this deal goes on until the 31st of March 2011.

Now for those of you who have been contemplating joining this wonderful family of Stampin'Up! this is one of the best times to jump off the fence and do it! You will receive an extra stamp set of your choice up to the value of $79.95 from the idea book and catalogue, it's never been easier to join up all you have to do is go to my web site HERE and click on join now, just have your ABN, a valid credit card and a current copy of the Stampin'Up! idea book and catalogue to choose your starter kit sets and colours. I have a special gift for those of you who join before Jan 31 2011 to welcome you to my team. I look forward to hearing from you soon,

lots of inky hugs from....

Good news...

2011-01-20T10:01:00.002+08:00

Hello there lovely people,
I want to start by saying a huge thank you to all the lovely people who have sent us e-mails with get well wishes for E and to say thank you for all the prayers that were said on her behalf, we were very pleased to be able to bring her home yesterday and tuck her up in her own comfy bed. She is feeling much better and well on the road to recovery, so we are very happy about that.
I promise to get some work up here asap for you all to see and also put up some long awaited blog candy for you to have a go at winning, Take care and I'll be back soon, thanks again for all your kind thoughts, lots of inky hugs from ....

M.I.A....

2011-01-18T07:46:00.002+08:00

Hi There Wonderful visitors,
I'm sure by now you have been wondering where the promised posts of artwork are, well unfortunately this past week has been a little distressing for us all. My dear daughter E has had a very nasty flare up of her S.L.E (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) she was diagnosed with it at the tender age of 17 and to be honest we have had a really good run, she hasn't been hospitalised for two years. After having a wonderful family day out, where we took our little God daughter for her promised fun day with us, skating, ice-cream etc. we came home and then E went over to her boyfriends house for a couple of hours. She came into see me on her return and I noticed a red patch on her arm, thinking it was perhaps a mossie bite or similar we disregarded it and carried on talking, then I noticed it had spread down her arm so I told her to take an antihistamine before going to bed.
I was woken at 6am to find she had now developed a rash over most of her body, but we gave her another antihistamine and she had a cool shower, things seem to settle down but I suggested she take the day off work and see the Dr just in case. We did this but after realising it was her S.L.E. he gave her a large dose of steroids and sent us home. By five that evening things got very scary and we realised it was time to visit the emergency department where she was very quickly admitted and put onto a drip with another massive dose of steroids and antihistamine intravenously. The Dr's there had no clue how to treat S.L.E and very obviously just treading water to keep afloat, we took her home when her symptoms had diminished which was about 12.30 at night. All was well until the early hours of the morning when we decided to ring all the hospitals to find out where there was an immunologist on call who might know a little more how to treat a patient with S.L.E. we were told to take her to Royal Perth which we did and that is where she has been ever since.
So my friends, that is why you haven't seen any new bits and pieces up here, I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the lovely people who have been sending well wishes and prayers for our daughter and I hope we can get some good news soon about when we can bring her home.
We have been sitting next to her bedside every day for around 8-9 hours then driving home exhausted and worried. I'm sure you can understand how traumatic this is for us and I truly hope to be able to post some happier news soon.
Thanks again for all your lovely e-mails, lots of inkless hugs from ......

I'm so excited!!!!!

2011-01-12T18:38:00.006+08:00

I've just got to tell you all about something really exciting for anyone interested in the world of paper craft, Andrea Walford has just started the Paper Crafter's Library and she is offering a really good deal for any one who becomes a Charter member, there are heaps of comprehensive paper crafting video tutorials which cover a wide range of topics including card making, scrapbooking, stamping all filmed by experienced paper crafter's. There will be a web-based

community where you can learn, develop and share your love of paper crafting with other like minded people from around the world. Sounds great right! well if you're interested in knowing more you can click on my new blinkie on the righthand side of this blog and watch a fab little video all about it. If you are a demonstrator, just think of the amount of work this will save and time it will give back to you and if you are a paper crafter wishing to know more about how to use all those wonderful tools you have purchased but can't make it to any classes, then this could be for you too.

I'd love to know if you join up like me, so let me know here: charmaineblck@yahoo.com.au and I'll look out for you in the forum for a chat. Take care and thanks for stopping by, I promise to upload some work for you to see soon.

Lots of inky hugs from....

Hi there tourists ;-)

2010-12-17T13:11:00.005+08:00

Hello there blog tourists, I hope you're having fun with all the wonderful eye-candy on offer.

You would of just come from the uber talented Louise Ryan of 'Stamp to it"here: http://stamp2it.com/ and I'm so glad you made it this far down the list to come and visit me, have fun browsing some of the gifts I've made and then you can pop back to the "Inkspirations site to get back on board the tour in case you didn't start at the beginning, I'll pop the link at the bottom of my gift pictures and you can also find it on the right hand side of my blog.

Hand made Christmas gifts...

2010-12-17T12:30:00.002+08:00

Well hello and welcome to the tour, I hope you have enjoyed the wonderful array of goodies presented today. I have a few things to show you, all of which I have had lots of fun making up for friends. I had to make a couple of Secret Santa gifts this year and one of them was for my lovely down line Marryanne, I made this cute little art journal using one of Stampin'Up!s raw journals, I covered it using some papers from the packs called Love Letter and also from News Print. I added a wee bit of stamping and some shimmery new smooch spritz on the scallop flower. I love all the pretty ribbons down the binding and it seems that Maryanne really loved it too, along with the other goodies I put in her bag.

These necklaces were made using some large washers and covering them with designer papers and crystal effects, before covering them in the crystal effects I added some bling by way of Rhinestones and pearls. This was the first time I had a go with making these and I loved the way the turned out.

I made a little box which housed 16 Christmas tags to add to pressies, this was tied up with some more lovely ribbon which was a free gift from Stampin'Up! when you made a purchase of a special Christmas bundle.

You can never give someone a present without adding a bit of sweetness, so I made this treat pull box with some yummy chocolate inside.
I also put some green and red M&M's into skinny tube bags with a topper, this were given out to all my lovely card making groups and all my downline at our Christmas dinner.

some of the Christmas cards I made this year had a little gift box attached and held three very yummy scented candles inside, these were to burn on Christmas day in memory of loved ones who couldn't be with us this year.

You can't have Christmas without shinny! So this was my contribution to the glitz addicts out there, I purchased some plain empty glass baubles from our local craft shop and filled them with different coloured inks and glitters, it was a little time consuming but well worth the effort I think, I love the Tempting Turquoise one the best.

I hope you liked a few of my gifts and they will help to inspire you to have a go at making some yourself. Take this link back to the "Inkspirations" Challenge blog where you can find the start : http://www.inkspirations-challenges.blogspot.com/ have a safe and Happy Christmas,

lots of inky Christmas hugs from ....

A bit of Christmas Cheer.

2010-12-14T09:47:00.002+08:00

Hello there,

I hope you are all getting into the Christmas spirit! Well I'm begining to finally, I have organised a dinner get together for my lovely Paper Charmers team members tomorrow night and we are all going to exchange some hand made gifts. I will show you what I made for my secret Santa partner on the seventeenth because I will be part of a fantastic blog tour which is being organised by the very talented Makeesha Byl, she actually used to be my upline but has since taken a break from the Stampin'Up! world to do some exploring with with other craft products and spend some extra time with her beautiful family in Cairns. If you would like to visit her blog/ web site just click on the 'Inkspirations' link on my side bar.

This Christmas card is one I made when we did the big Stamp-a-thon back in September, it has a book mark on the side which can be torn away for a keep sake easily, due to it being perforated. I used the great set called Tree Trimmings and the new one called Perfect Punches which was a gift at this year's convention in Sydney. A jumbo eyelet was used to thread the ribbon through and the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder was used on the white card stock for some added texture. Hope you like it and it makes you feel a little Christmassy, lots of inky hugs from ....

Birthday butterfly for a friend.

2010-12-10T19:06:00.003+08:00

Hello there,
Well time has just flown past this week, with classes and demos to be done, all good fun though.
I saw this beautiful card on the very talented Teneale Williams blog in pinks a while ago and knew I would have to make one for a friend who loves butterflies, it was her birthday last month, so a good opportunity to make one up for her. I used the beautiful butterflies die with the big shot to make the butterfly and I stamped the images from the set called Elements of Style. I must say I really love this set and use it quite a lot at the moment. I stamped it onto some Bashful blue card stock which I then mounted onto some of our new Marina Mist, There is a little Vanilla taffeta ribbon rouched behind the butterfly too and the little pearls in the top right hand corner are from the gorgeous Basic Pearls and at only $9.50 for 150 of them you can afford to embellish everyones card with a little sophistication!
I hope you like it, take care and thanks for stopping by today. Lots of inky hugs from...

The New Summer Mini Catalogue.

2010-12-02T11:29:00.006+08:00

Hello there everyone, I have a special delivery for you today, the new Summer mini which will be with us from now until the 31st of March 2011. If you haven't had a look through it already you are welcome to have a browse on line by clicking on the mini catalogue image on the right hand side of this blog. Of course another way to see it in the flesh is to contact me here and we can arrange a get together for you and some friends to have some inky fun and take home a finished project as well as the new mini to browse through at their leisure.
Lots of inky hugs from...

Got Gingerbread man.

2010-12-01T01:03:00.003+08:00

Hello there, I am up late tonight and thought I'd just put this cute little gingerbread man from 'Got Treats' on here to Welcome December. This year has gone so fast and I can't believe how quickly Christmas is creeping up on us.

The weather was such a stinker today and it doesn't look like we are going to have a respite from it for a while which is part of the reason I am up at 1am, I can't sleep when I'm hot.

I have really enjoyed playing with the stamp set Got Treats and just love this cute little gingerbread man, I made his buttons with the crop-a-dile, he is a case from the catalogue.

Thanks for stopping by with me today, lots of inky hugs from....

December Frenzy.....

2010-11-29T19:17:00.003+08:00

Well have I got good news for you, Stampin'Up! have decided to make Christmas shopping easy this year, that's right! they've put together some special bargains to put a smile on your dile ;-)

The sale starts on the 1st of December and runs through to the 29th of December, So to make the most of these offers please be quick, there are no limits and they have some items are as much as 50 % off so you can purchase one for your friend and one to put under your tree too. Check out these fabulous deals below and contact me here to order on line and have them delivered straight to your door.

Item Page Description Retail Price Sale Price

119181 39 A Little Treat Wood-Mount Stamp Set $21.95 $10.98
120018 39 A Little Treat Clear-Mount Stamp Set $15.95 $7.98
119189 40 Tote-Ally Tess Wood-Mount Stamp Set $37.95 $26.57
111255 43 Daisy Dash Jumbo Stampin’ Around Wheel $15.95 $9.57
121482 56 Baby Bundle Wood-Mount Stamp Set $49.95 $34.97
119161 72 Autumn Days Wood-Mount Stamp Set $38.95 $19.48
120012 77 Pendant Park Clear-Mount Stamp Set $27.95 $13.98
113031 88 Tart & Tangy Wood-Mount Stamp Set $21.95 $15.37
115806 91 Fresh Cuts Wood-Mount Stamp Set $38.95 $27.27
115946 102 Wonderful Favorites Wood-Mount Stamp Set $39.95 $23.97
119167 104 Heard from the Heart Wood-Mount Stamp Set $38.95 $23.37
119185 105 Teeny Tiny Sentiments Wood-Mount Stamp Set $62.95 $31.48
105115 118 Pumpkin Pie Stampin’ Write Marker $5.75 $4.03
105106 119 Certainly Celery Stampin’ Write Marker $5.75 $3.45
100045 119 Pretty in Pink Stampin’ Write Marker $5.75 $3.45
105114 119 So Saffron Stampin’ Write Marker $5.75 $3.45
105111 119 Bashful Blue Stampin’ Write Marker $5.75 $3.45
105108 119 Regal Rose Stampin’ Write Marker $5.75 $3.45
105109 120 Bravo Burgundy Stampin’ Write Marker $5.75 $3.45
100069 120 Night of Navy Stampin’ Write Marker $5.75 $4.03
100082 121 Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker $5.75 $3.45
103104 122 Small Cello Bags $7.50 $4.50
111325 140 Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware $57.95 $28.98
112530 140 Circle Scissor Plus $54.95 $32.97
116681 161 Kind Heart Wood-Mount Stamp Set $11.95 $5.98

Friends never fade.

2010-11-29T14:32:00.002+08:00

Hello out there,

I hope you're keeping cool if you live in Western Australia it's a stinker today! The pool is looking mighty inviting that's for sure and I think I'll be sitting in there later on today.

I thought I'd show you this cute little magazine holder that I made, but of course it's for cards not magazines. I used the stamp set called Friends Never Fade and the matching DSP which is called Greenhouse Gala. I must admit that neither of these items were on my wish list when I first saw them, but since playing with them I now like them quite a lot. Hope you do too, lots of inky hugs from ....

25 and counting.

2010-11-25T23:12:00.002+08:00

Hello there,
I wanted to show you the card that I made for my hubby on our 25th wedding anniversary this year. I cased it from the very talented Teneale Williams who is a fellow Stampin'Up! demonstrator, her lovely card was done in vanilla and crumb cake. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to do one in silver and white for our silver anniversary. I used the new bird punch for the leaves as well as the two love birds, I also used the vintage wallpaper embossing folder for the lovely textured background on silver paper. I put a couple of rhinestones on it to finish it off, I can't show you the inside because that's private, but I used the new scallop trim corner punch which I'll show you on another card soon. Hope you like it, lots of inky hugs from...

A spooky hostess gift....

2010-11-24T15:27:00.003+08:00

Hi there craft lovers,
I know you must of thought I'd taken a little vacation for a while, but no such luck. Just really busy and also a little unwell, but I'm back with some pictures of work I did while M.I.A.
These two pictures are of a gift I gave to my hostess whoooo held her party on Halloween afternoon, we had fun making cards together and I finished off this cute little milk carton caddy with four milk cartons containing lollies (otherwise known as candies for our American friends and sweets for my folks back home in the UK ;-) Basically a good old sugar fix! I first saw this Halloween version done by a talented fellow Australian Demonstrator Michelle Merchant, who had posted her work on our demonstrators web site, just another of the wonderful perks to being a Stampin'Up! demonstrator and having access to so many great ideas. I really had fun making this gift up and the hostess really enjoyed her get together with friends, so a great day all round :-) Thanks for stopping by, lots of inky hugs from...

Whooo loves ya???

2010-11-10T21:02:00.002+08:00

Hello there and welcome to Linked to paper, I made this card a while ago now, but you know how things get put aside and then you forget about them :-) I did this one to show my downline team how to make the wood grain backgound stamp look like wood, I stamped the image onto Very Vanilla card stock and then used sponges and inks to colour and stain the card stock until it looked like the wood colour I was after, you can make it a light pine or a rich mahogany, just by adding different colours and strengths. It's a great stamp to play with and lends itself well to lots of images, I have used it with the sweet little owl from fox and friends here and also used the label from the lots of labels die for the big shot, as well as the little leaves die, the window punch the 1 3/8 circle punch and the scallop circle punch. I hope you like this little easel card. Thank you for stopping by today, lots of inky hugs from....

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas!!!!

2010-11-09T08:14:00.002+08:00

I know it seems early to be showing you a Christmas card, but everywhere I go there are Christmas decorations up and so I thought I'd better get started on some cards. I'm doing a few Christmas classes in the next couple of weeks, so this is one that some of my clients will be making.

It uses the gorgeous Dasher stamp from our A La Carte single stamps in the back of the catalogue, I've teamed him up with the sentiment from Contempo Christmas which is a very affordable set from this year's Christmas collection. The background stamp is En Francais and the DSP is from the Love Letter pack, then it's finished off with the lovely wide Real Red ribbon. The scallop circle die was used as well as the circle scissors plus for the inner circles, real red, very vanilla and basic black card stock were also used. A rhinestone jewel was placed in the center of one of the stars that are around his antlers, but you can't see it too well in this photo. I hope you like it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting with me and please leave some joy in my comment box, so I can see who stopped by :-) Lots of inky hugs from....

Project number two.

2010-11-08T22:24:00.002+08:00

Hi there, I think Summer is definitely well on her way, the temperatures have been getting hotter and hotter, great for getting your washing dry, but not so good for your plants.

As promised here is another one of the six projects that were made at the World Card Making day, this one was made using the Fancy Favour Die. The paper that decorates the little basket is made using the lovey Growing Green set along with Pear Pizazz, Blushing Bride and Crumb cake inks. The tag is one of the mew A La Carte single stamps from the back of the catalogue, it's called 'To and From Tag' Good name Huh!!!

Oh well that's it for now, thanks for stopping by, lots of inky hugs from...

Projects from World card making day.

2010-11-06T17:44:00.002+08:00

Hello there my lovelies, I hope you are having a nice weekend. I have had an all day class here today with a very gorgeous group of ladies, we made a beautiful writing compendium which turned out really well.

This picture is of one of the six projects that everyone had fun making at our World card making day, it uses the top note die and the lots of dots embossing folder for the big shot, it also uses the gorgeous little owl punch which I absolutely adore! Isn't he just the cutest.

The bag is made with Tangerine Tango and that poor tattered piece of ribbon is Daffodil delight, it was handled rather a lot and became a little frazzled on the ends :-). There is a little gold paper bag inside that you can put some goodies in for someone special. I'll post another project soon, thanks for visiting with me today, lots of inky hugs from...

Thank you!

2010-11-03T09:01:00.002+08:00

Today's post is to thank all those who were involved in making our World Card Making day event a wonderful success, I'm so happy to announce our final tally of what we were able to send to The National Breast Cancer Foundation. So Drum Roll Please.............
$1,900.94 I'm sure you will agree that is a good effort and I have already heard back from the NBCF with a lovely thank you for all we did. I know this amount is a mere drop in the ocean compared to what is needed to continue the much needed research that will help fight this awful disease for our future generations, but every little helps.
We will definitely be doing another event like this next year, so keep posted and get in fast, as everyone asked to come back to the next one, which made us so happy. It's good to know that all the hard work in organising and preparing for it was worth while.
I will post the pictures of the projects made on the day this week so please come back to see those. Thanks for visiting with me today, lots of inky hugs from ....

Winners are grinners....

2010-10-28T23:13:00.005+08:00

Hello there craft lovers, today I thought I'd show you a couple of our winners from the World Card Making Day, we were so blessed with such wonderful prizes to give out which had been donated from Stampin'Up!, Catherine Baudains, The National Breast Cancer Foundation, Vivi of Buds of May and a few items from my personal stash of goodies.
here is a picture of me presenting the large silent auction prize to Maureen who made the winning bid.

This is Sam presenting Sue with one of her many prizes, she let out the biggest squeal of delight when she won the big raffle prize and everyone just got so caught up in her excitement. Well done Sue!

This is me presenting the lovely Sharon with the first prize of the day, we had so much fun giving out the many prizes from the very generous Stampin'Up!

Thanks for stopping by today, lots of inky hugs from...

Pink sea part two...

2010-10-27T20:43:00.006+08:00

Hello again and welcome to part two of our World Card Making day event to raise funds for The National Breast Cancer Foundation. We were blessed to have such wonderful attendees to our event and a couple of them brought along their very new little babies, My husband even had a cuddle of one of them and took him outside for a walk in the fresh air.

This picture is of my gorgeous daughter Elysia who very kindly gave up her one day off to come and help in the kitchen, I'm so blessed with a wonderful supportive family.

Here's a few of our lovely ladies taking a look and a few photos of one of our sample boards.

I have some more pictures and stories to tell you, so please come back for the next instalment.

Thanks for stopping by, lots of inky hugs from....

A Sea Of Pink....

2010-10-26T23:11:00.009+08:00

Hello there,

On Saturday the 23rd of October there was a sea of pink at the Kelmscott tennis club and it was made by some gorgeous people doing their very best to raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The gorgeous pink cup cakes were made by Cassie, the family culinary skills don't stop there, her lovely dad Fred made some awesome curry puffs for the day too.

Here on the right is a picture of Ann, my very good friend and downline, she worked very hard with myself and Sam to make the day a huge success and most importantly full of fun.

This picture is of some of the lovely ladies who joined us for the day to make six projects , win prizes, eat, drink and have fun.

These pink goody bags were waiting to be picked up by each participant at the door, inside were all the necessities to make all six projects along with a few extra little bits and pieces.

The day was wonderful and from all the feed back we have had so far, everyone really enjoyed themselves and have expressed their wishes to do it all again asap. Well we will do it again, but not til next year when we have fully recovered from this one :-) I have a few more photos to show you and will upload part two tomorrow, so please come back to see the next part of our World Card Making Day event.

Thanks for visiting with me, lots of inky hugs from ....

Christmas has come early!!!!

2010-10-17T10:25:00.005+08:00

How would you like to dress up Christmas with some FREE ribbon ?
Create beautiful packaging to fit any Christmas gift with exclusive products from Stampin' Up! From 16 October-30 November*, there are two ways to get FREE ribbon:

•Get an exclusive package of ribbon for FREE when you purchase a Christmas gift-giving bundle!
•Get an exclusive package of ribbon for FREE when you host a $550 workshop!

Choose from these bundles:
.Gifted bundle: Gifted set and Holly Jolly Designer Paper (woodmount 124041; $66.90) (clear mont 124042; $56.90)

.Welcome Christmas Bundle: Welcome Christmas set and Christmas Cocoa Speciality designer paper. (W-mount: 124045; $69.90) (C-mount; 124046; $59.90)

.Season of Joy bundle: Season of joy set and So Swirly Stampin' around wheel. (W-mount 124043; $67.90)

.Delightful Decorations Bundle: Delightful Decorations set and Ornament punch. (W-mount; 124044; $72.90)

Choose from the following limited-time ribbons when you purchase a Christmas gift giving bundle or host a qualifying workshop:
Click on picture to see a larger view of ribbons.
Please feel free to contact me HERE to place your qualifying order or schedule your Christmas workshop.
I look forward to hearing from you, lots of inky hugs from ...

more projects from this year's Stamp-a-thon.

2010-10-13T09:12:00.001+08:00

Hello again fellow blog surfers,
I can definitely feel Summer on it's way, yet another glorious day in paradise! As promised, here are a couple more pics of this years Stamp-a-thon projects. This cute little milk carton was made by Makeesha and the stamp set used to embellish this one was 'Morning Cup'. I have to confess I'm soooo in love with this new milk carton die for the big shot. :-) This wonderful creation was one of the lovey Louise's, inside is a pocket each side for a gift card and message. Isn't it just a brilliant idea for Christmas. Well done Lou :-)

Oh well, I'm off to do another load of washing and then onto more cutting of projects for the next big fun raiser. I know what you're thinking...I must be mad!!!:-)

Take care and thanks for stopping by today, lots of inky hugs from .....

Some projects From Stamp-a-thon.

2010-10-12T18:36:00.002+08:00

Hello there people,
I'm sorry there has been a delay in my posting these pictures, I have had no Internet for two days, it felt like my right arm had been chopped off! Isn't it amazing how we all rely on our computers fro communication these days, I would never of believed that me of all people would be saying that! Oh well, here is a picture of the gorgeous little scrap album that Keesh deigned. Everyone loved making it and the new designer paper went with it really well.

This next creation was designed by the lovely Lou, I was so excited to see these stamps sets in our new catty and I think a lot of you were too. I especially love the extreme guitar man, as he reminds me of my hubby :-) Oh well, that's it for now, I'll be back soon with more, providing my Internet doesn't die again!

Oh by the way, for those of you came along to the Stamp-a-thon and really enjoyed yourselves, you may be interested to know that myself and two other demonstrators are holding a very similar event on October the 23rd, we have ten spots left. If you would like to come and join in the fun please contact me here: charmaineblck@yahoo.com.au I look forward to hearing from you, lots of inky hugs from...

Stamp-A-Thon News.

2010-10-09T21:47:00.005+08:00

Hello everyone,
I'm back from a very interesting holiday in Cambodia, where my hubby and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, but I'll tell you more about that and show some amazing photos at a later date.
This post is to tell you a little bit about our Stamp-a-Thon event for 2010, which was held on the 4th of September. We had yet another wonderful day of stamping fun, while raising some much needed funds and awareness for the National Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Makeesha came back over from Cairns to host the show as well as design three of the projects for the day, she not only designed, but cut her kits out for the day and brought them all over safely in her suitcase. Louise Ryan designed another two projects which were simply stunning and I did two also. So all attendees made 7 great projects to take home and lots of lucky people won prizes too. There was lots of food and refreshments on hand which was so beautifully presented by the wonderful helpers in the kitchen, Louise's mum, Keesh's mum and two of Lou's lovely downline too. We were also very lucky to have the gorgeous Ann Gerlach to help in so many ways on the day as well as in the build up to it. So a big thank you to all who helped make the day a wonderful one as well as a successful one. This is a picture of me with the star super woman who must have ever-ready batteries Makeesha :-)

Here's me with the most gorgeous Louise with a heart as big as all outdoors!

This is me with Ann, my ever calm and beautiful tower of strength. Thanks for your help Ann :-)

Here's a picture of just a few of the wonderful attendees, heads down and stamping their hearts out. I hope you all had as much fun as we did. :-)

Now for the news you've all been waiting for, DRUM ROLL PLEASE ........

The final tally of funds raised on the day is $5,476.93 So thank you to all those who came along and to those who made donations which made that sum possible. Makeesha, Louise and myself are very thankful to all of you, lets hope our contribution will help make the fight against this awful cancer a little easier.

I with the help of Ann and another fellow demonstrator Sam are holding another event on the 23rd of October to help raise some more funds for this wonderful cause.

Thanks for stopping by today and please visit again to see the projects which were made at this years Stamp-a-thon. Lots of inky hugs from...

Friends never fade.

2010-09-26T19:04:00.002+08:00

Hello there,
I hope this finds you all enjoying your weekend, I've had the day off today and went shopping with DH to Harbour Town in Perth, we were looking for two new suit cases for our up-coming trip and managed to find just what we wanted at a bargain price, so two happy shoppers!
This picture is the second little collapsible box that I made, this one uses the stamp set called friends Never Fade. The designer paper that matches it is called Greenhouse Gala. I must admit neither of these two products were really on the top of my wish list, but now I've had a play with them, I'm definitely warming to them both. I cut a couple of the petals from the flower out and popped them up on dimensionals before sprinkling them with a bit of dazzling diamonds glitter. The whole thing is really simple and quick to make, so makes a cute little gift to go with a home made card. I've used Baja Breeze ink on whisper white card stock and also some Choc Chip card stock. Hope you like it, thanks for stopping by today, take care, lots of inky hugs from....

collapsible trinket box.

2010-09-25T10:15:00.003+08:00

Hi weekend crafters,
I hope you are all enjoying a peasant start to your public holiday if you live in western Australia, the weather is certainly beautiful today. I busy keeping up with all my household chores, so that when I go away on my holiday to Cambodia next week, everything is left in order for my DD to look after for us. It is our 25th wedding anv. so we decided to forgo the party and go on a little break together, it's been a long time dream of my hubby's to go and visit Angkor Wat in Siem Reap to take photos of all the temples. He is a very enthusiastic photographer and loves to visit places that he knows will make good photos. So I think I'm going to choose where we go on our thirtieth:-)
Here are a few pictures of a little trinket box I made last weekend, I actually made two, so I'll show you the other one later. This one uses the flavour of the month stamp set which is Artistic Etchings. I hope you're not fed up with seeing it yet "LOL" I have also used the Love Letters DSP to decorate behind the Eiffel tower and keys, I also used just a tiny bit of the new platinum shimmer paint to highlight a few areas of the keys and tower. The great thing about this little box, is that it can be made collapsible which makes it easy to send though the post or keep folded in your sample box etc. I just stamped the sides and back, then put a closer on the front to hold it shut. The closure is made from one 3/4'' circle and a 1/2' circle with a brad in the centre.

Here's a pic of it when it has been collapsed. I will show you the other one tomorrow and "No" I haven't used Artistic etchings for it :-)

Thanks for stopping by today, lots of inky hugs from....

Every Moment ...Lucky last.

2010-09-24T15:26:00.003+08:00

Hi There,

I hope this finds you all in a happy frame of mind:-) I have just finished teaching a card class and had a lovely time chatting to my clients about all things stamping. We made three lovely projects and were very happy with the finished articles.

As promised yesterday this is the third item we made at regional convention, it is a scrap page and we used one of the butterflies from the new die for the big shot called 'Beautiful Butterflies'

it has two different sized butterflies and matching wings to attach to it, which make it 3D. We stamped the sentiment from Every moment across the butterfly and used the paper piercer to make a swirl of dots over it all, the scallop edge punch was used for the white trim and the 1 3/4 circle punch was used for the green scallop edge. I really liked the simplicity of this page and just need to find the right photo to go in it now.

Take care and thanks for visiting with me, lots of inky hugs from...

Every moment take three...

2010-09-23T09:08:00.002+08:00

Happy Wednesday to you all,
I thought I would keep on with the every moment series and this is number three, there is one more for tomorrow. I really love this new colour Daffodil Delight, it's such a warm yellow and even though I will miss our old Summer Sun, I think this one will make up for it.
I love the little pearl accent and you can be sure to see lots more of those little gems in the future, the new 1/8" taffeta ribbon is really pretty too, it makes a subtle statement and adds that finishing touch. The daisy image has been stamped on water colour card stock and I used a mask, then stamped it again several times to make it look as though there is a field of daisies basking in the sunshine. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it. Thanks for stopping by with me, lots of inky hugs from ....

Every moment take two...

2010-09-22T09:24:00.003+08:00

Hi there craft lovers,
I thought you might like to see another of the images from the Every moment set, it's no secret that I love all of God's creatures and I'm a particular sucker for birds, so it was a no brainer that would love this set for this gorgeous little one bellow.

Isn't he just adorable, sitting in the bull rushes, if you look carefully or just click on the image you can see all the little seeds from them flying in the air around him, they've been made using the spritzer tool. I must admit I've had mine for quite some time and rarely use it, but hopefully this will inspire me to get it inky a bit more often. The whole thing is done on a Fancy favour box, actually two of them, one upside down. I hope you like it as much as I do. Thanks for stopping by and I hope your week is going well, lots of inky hugs from....

Every moment.

2010-09-21T14:35:00.002+08:00

Hello there everyone,
You may of noticed that yesterday's post has been removed, I can't believe that not one person who visited here told me that I had already posted those projects for the blog hop! Can you tell I've been a little stressed out of late?? Well, I'm hoping that things will return to normal soon' What ever normal is' Any hooo, here is something new to look at, I made this at our regional convention which was a couple of weeks ago here in Perth, we made this and a few other items which I will endeavour to get up here in the next few days. The set we were given to make all the projects with is called Every Moment and I really love it, I do like water colouring though and if you didn't you may not be as found of it as I am. The little pearl is one from our new accessories, you can get little rhinestones as well, they come in packs of 150 and are varied in sizes, so you can find just the right one for your project.

At only $9.50 a pack they're a real bargain too. I'm loving all the new bits and pieces in our accessories section of the new catalogue, if you still haven't managed to see one yet just contact me for one Here. Oh well, thanks for stopping by, lots of inky hugs from...

Big Shot Blog Hop.....

2010-09-18T01:07:00.009+08:00

Welcome to the second blog hop for our new catalogue, this one is to highlight the wonderful Big Shot die cutting and embossing machine. You will most likely of just arrived from the very talented Bron Heslop's blog. I hope you are having a great time going through all the blogs and getting lots of ideas on how to use your Big Shot. Sharing ideas, taking part in swaps and on-line challenges are a few of the wonderful things we get to enjoy while being a part of ESAD.

What is ESAD?
ESAD stands for Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin’ Up!

We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors but we share our love
for what we do with each other as Demonstrators. We run swaps,
challenges, tutorials, product know how and cyberstamps and we are
always there to help and support each other when its needed.

So if you are a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

I hope you have been enjoying your browse through the blog tour and picked up plenty of wonderful ideas to use with your Big Shot, I have a few projects to show you and this first one uses the Milk Carton die. It's so cute and just right for filling up with goodies to make a nice gift. I have put ribbons, brads and various other bits and pieces from our catalogue inside the cartons, then made a little caddy for them, this will be a gift for one of my hostess'. I've used the new in-colour Concord Crush as well as the matching designer papers from the in-colour pack.

The gorgeous new scallop trim border punch was used, as well as the Lovely Letters alphabet, I used Tangerine Tango and Concord Crush ink.

This next project uses the Top note die and the Vintage wallpaper embossing folder. I have used the set called Artistic Etchings and the News Print designer paper.
The ribbon is 1& 1/4''Real red Striped grosgrain , I have used the Lots of Tags die set for the little tags. The inks used were Ridinghood red, basic black and soft suede. I have put some of the designer paper inside the barrel of the pen. A card is never fully dressed without an envelope, so I added a couple of matching images to the envelope to make the gift set complete.

I used the distressing tool from the cutter kit to rough up the edges of the paper, a jumbo eyelet to hold the basic black 1/4'' grosgrain ribbon.

I hope these projects inspire you to get your big shot out and get creative. Don't forget to leave a nice comment on the end of all the blogs and you could be in with a good chance to win some yummy blog candy, just visit all the blogs, leave a comment and then write Leonie Shroder to let her know you have completed the hop. Good luck! Now it's time to visit with the lovely Pauline Bennetts. Have fun and just in case you get lost here's the list of all the blogs in this hop...

Nikki Sadler - http://www.inkyart.com.au
Angela Purdie - www.kintakards.webs.com
Richelle Fletcher - http://stampinwithrichelle.blogspot.com
Shirley McAvoy - http://stampingelephants.wordpress.com/
Carole Stedman - www.carolestamping.com
Carol-Ann Torrie - http://queen-of-scraps.blogspot.com
Sherylee Tutt - www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/sherylee/blog
clare mcilhatton - www.crafty-cow.com
Andrea Buckland - http://creatingcardswithandrea.blogspot.com/
Susan Joyce - http://www.catsinkcorporated.blogspot.com/
Ann Gerlach - www.discover-ink.blogspot.com
Dani Fender - http://danifender.blogspot.com
Bron Heslop - www.bronheslop.wordpress.com
Charmaine Black - http://www.l-ink-edtopaper.blogspot.com/
Pauline Bennetts - http://paulinebennetts.com/stampede/
Bev Watt - http://stampinovation.blogspot.com/
Vicki Were - http://www.stampinvickistyle.blogspot.com/
Jo Weedon - http://www.scrapandstampin.blogspot.com
Kim Conway - http://kimconwaycards.blogspot.com
Jane Norrish - Http://www.janenorrish.com
Jacinta Argent - http://jacintascreations.blogspot.com
Monique Fielder - http://stamping-with-moni-q.blogspot.com/
Jan McAnulty - http://cardcaperswithjan.wordpress.com/

Inky hugs from...

New Starter kit...

2010-09-03T00:14:00.004+08:00

Check out the new starter kit and the new lower price ...... For more information, just contact me Here.

Good news....

2010-09-02T23:31:00.004+08:00

Hey there stampers, have I got some good news for you.
But to begin with I would like thank all those who are visiting via the new catalogue blog hop and a special thank you to all those who leave lovely comments of encouragement. Of course we are all super excited about this gorgeous new catalogue and I for one have a wish list that goes for ever! If you don't have a copy of your own, you can see a down-loadable version over on the top right hand side of this page, just click on the pretty new front cover of the catalogue and you will see the whole thing right before your eyes:-) Of course if you are like me and need a copy to drool over with a cuppa in a comfy chair, then you can get hold of one by contacting me HERE and I'll gladly send you a copy straight to your door for $12.95, or pick up for $10.00, or you could speak to me about arranging a fun stamping session for you and some friends, that way you can have a copy FREE as a thank you gift from me.
There is another way you get get hold of you very own copy and that's by taking advantage of this months very generous special offer for new recruits. Not only is the new starter kit now lower in price but it has a whole new range of goodies to choose from. As a special offer for the month of September, you'll not only be the proud owner of a Stampin'Up!® starter kit, but you'll definitely be one of the in-crowd, because along with your custom made kit you will be given all the new yummy in-colour products, including markers, card stocks and ink pads. So that's not only $415.00 worth of stamping and business supplies, but an extra $84.00 worth of new in-colour products absolutely FREE. All this for just $289.00 What a bargain! Imagine all the benefits, like at least 20% discount on all your purchases, unlimited access to lots of special web sites for Stampin'Up! demonstrators and a free copy of every new catalogue and mini catalogue released, there's so much more. Just double click on the picture below to see all the details or pop over to my Stampin'Up! web site HERE to see more information about this wonderful opportunity.
Have fun browsing, lots of inky hugs from....

New Catalogue Blog Hop.

2010-09-01T01:28:00.002+08:00

Hello and a big warm welcome to all the blog hoppers, you will have joined me from the very talented Mae Collins: http://maecollins.blogspot.com/ I hope you are enjoying your browse through these amazing new products that have arrived with our new Stampin'Up!® catalogue for 2010/2011, I'm having so much fun with the new stamps and colours and I can't wait to get hold of more items off my very long wish list. Of course one of the many perks of being a demonstrator is that we get sent a catalogue to look through a while before it is released, we also get to order a few new stamp sets to play with as well as some designer papers. Another wonderful perk of being a demonstrator is being a part of the online group called ESAD.

What is ESAD?
ESAD stands for Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin’ Up!

We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends, and wonderful blog visitors but we share our love
for what we do with each other as Demonstrators. We run swaps,
challenges, tutorials, product know how and cyberstamps and we are
always there to help and support each other when its needed.

So if you are a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

Here are some cards I've made with some new products:

This card has been made with the set called Party This Way, which was a gift for all demonstrators that attended Convention in Sydney earlier this year (yet another perk!) The Letters have been cut out using the Big shot and the alphabet set ''Timeless Type Junior Alphabet''. The card stock is Old Olive, More Mustard and Riding hood red, the Designer paper is from the pack called"Newsprint" which contains so many yummy papers that lend themselves to be used in a shabby chic style, there are newsprints, music sheets and lots more script styles all in black and white, so you can grunge them up with some inks. The faux ribbon on the top is just some soft suede paper folded and then I drew some faux stitching over it to make it look like I had sewn on it. The little buttons on the bunting are from the "Buttons" die for the Big shot.

This next card also uses the set called "Party This Way" I have stamped the candle from this set, randomly over the Riding hood red card stock with some Versa mark ink, then sprinkled over some clear embossing powder before using the heat gun. The Green card stock is Old Olive which is mounted over some of the newsprint designer paper which is over some basic black. All those cardstock pieces were punched along the bottom edge with the scalloped edge punch. The Arrow is stamped onto some Pacific Point, the base card is More Mustard. Both of these cards were inspired from looking at Jaime Pearson's work.

This card uses the set called "Artistic Etchings" and is a definite favourite of mine from the new catalogue, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one and do some collage stamping. I've used some more newsprint DSP and I cut out the tag from the "Four Labels" set for the big shot. I've used Riding hood red, Basic Black and Soft Suede inks. The scrunched flower was made with some Riding hood red and newsprint papers, I put a rhinestone from the "Fire" pack in the centre.

This last card uses a set which has been carried over from the old catalogue, but I have used some yummy new in-colours and they are as follows: The beautiful pink is called Blushing Bride and is such a warm tone that makes it so easy to match up with so many of our colours. The green is called Pear Pizzazz, it fits fits in so well between our Certainly celery and Old Olive, it's another colour that will coordinate well with lots of our main colour families, I'm sure you will soon fall in love with these new in colours and the good news is we will get to play with them for two years. I have stamped the images from "Inspired by Nature" with Old Olive, Blushing bride and used a chocolate Chip marker direct to rubber for the domes of the flowers as well as the faux stitching. I've embellished the card with two clear Rhinestone brads. I hope you have enjoyed looking at a few products from the new catalogue and you are now ready to continue your hop to the next blog with Lynn Powell http://www.lynnpowell.com.au Just in case you've got a bit lost on your tour I will add the whole list of blogs below. Please don't forget to leave a comment which will give you a chance to win some amazing free blog candy, all you have to do is visit all the blogs on the list and leave a nice comment on each one, then just e-mail the lovely Leonie Shroder here to let her know you have completed the hop and wish to be entered for the blog candy give away. Good luck!

Leonie Schroder - http://www.stamp-a-latte.com
Keryn Campbell - http://kerynscards.blogspot.com
Vicki Were - http://www.stampinvickistyle.blogspot.com/
Aly Adcock - http://www.inkyaly.blogspot.com
Juliette Chapman - http://juleskraftikrafts.blogspot.com
Kristine Thompson - http://www.inkspotcreations.typepad.com
Jo Weedon - http://www.scrapandstampin.blogspot.com
Jan McAnulty - http://cardcaperswithjan.wordpress.com/
Karen Southwell http://www.kareniescrafts.blogspot.com
Kim Conway - http://www.kimconwaycards.blogspot.com
Jane Norrish - http://janenorrish.com
Pauline Bennetts - http://www.paulinebennetts.com/stampede
Gemma Coumbe - http://www.gemmacoumbe.blogspot.com
Genelle Little - http://www.stampedecards.blogspot.com
Sharlene Meyer - http://www.magpiecreates.com
Susan Joyce - http://www.catsinkcorporated.blogspot.com
Rhonda Statham - http://rhondastatham.typepad.com/
Monique Fielder - http://stamping-with-moni-q.blogspot.com/
Andrea Buckland http://creatingcardswithandrea.blogspot.com
Bev Watt http://stampinovation.blogspot.com
Lisa Ryder http://www.lisaryder.com.au/
Claire Mcilhatton http://www.crafty-cow.com/
Mae Collins - http://maecollins.blogspot.com/
Charmaine Black - http://www.l-ink-edtopaper.blogspot.com/
Lynn Powell - http://www.lynnpowell.com.au/

Lots of inky hugs from...

Last Chance List.....

2010-08-01T23:11:00.003+08:00

The Last Chance List! Oh my! Yes it's finally arrived, the list of all the stamp sets that are off on their retirement. I actually went through all my own sets today and chose the ones I just can't bare to part with and then put all the ones I need to let go into a big box. I then wrote out a list of all the sets and wheels that I'm letting go to new homes, where they will hopefully be given a new lease on life and be inked up into pretty cards and scrap pages. If you would like to see my list please contact me here. It's been a long wait for our new catalogue, 18 months to be exact, but in only one more month we will have it in our inky little mitts! I'm getting so excited and today us lucky demonstrators got a sneak peak of all the wonderful goodies coming our way.

I can't show you anything, but just be sure you will love all the fantastic new colours, stamp sets, papers and accessories. I am building a wish list as long as my arm already.

Of course to make way for all these wonderful newbies, we have to say goodbye to few of our old favourites, some of which are marked down as much as fifty percent off. So here is the list for you to peruse and print out, please make sure you order your favourites as soon as possible before they are gone for ever. Just contact me for any help with your orders or questions here. I look forward to hearing from you soon, lots of inky hugs from .....

Stamp-A-Thon is back.

2010-07-30T12:32:00.005+08:00

I told you something really EXCITING was coming and I wasn't wrong. I have the link to the registration form for Stamp-A-Thon 2010. Each year this event gets bigger and better and this is the fourth year that Makeesha Byl has held this amazing event to raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Research Foundation. I was very honoured when she approached me for help to run it last year along with Louise Ryan, so of course it was a no-brainer for me to jump in with both stamping hands to help out this year as well. We are pleased to announce that it will be held at the same venue as before which is Free reformed Church, Armadale. Church hall. 84, Fifth rd, Armadale. Time 9am-4.30pm. When: Saturday the 4th of September 2010.
If you were one of the participants last year I'm sure you will want to join in the fun again this year. We would love to see some new faces at this years event as well as familiar ones, so be quick to register and save your seats for this amazing event.
Here is the link to the registration form: http://www.makeeshabyl.com.au/pics/bcf2010.pdf
We look forward to seeing you, and sharing the fun while raising funds for this very worthy cause. Lots of inky hugs from ...

Something EXCITING is coming.....

2010-07-30T09:15:00.005+08:00

Hi there craft lovers,
I just thought I'd give you a heads up, later today there will be a post up here to tell you all about our up-coming Stamp-A-Thon in Sept. That's right another day of incredible fun and stamping extravaganza! For those of you who have attended in previous years you'll know what I'm talkin'bout! Makeesha, Louise and I present you with an amazing day of stamping, fun, prizes, food and refreshments, but this year we will be giving you something really special on top of all that.......It's the new Idea book and catalogue for 2010/2011, I KNOW!!!! excitement hey, so in your goodie bag will be all the bits and pieces to make seven amazing projects on the day, a new idea book and catalogue (usually retails at $12.95), a $10.00 voucher to be redeemed on the day and lots of chances to win some terrific Stampin'Up!® products which have been donated by ourselves and of course the very generous company of Stampin'Up!. So who wants in????
All you have to do is come back here at around 12 noon today Western Aus. time and check out the registration form , send it off to the lovely Makeesha to hold your seat for you and we'll see you at the Stamp-A-Thon. Don't forget, this is all held to raise funds for the National Breast Cancer Research Foundation, so all profits from the day will be donated to this very worthy cause.
Lots of inky hugs from.....

The lucky last...

2010-07-29T21:26:00.002+08:00

hello there paper crafters, I'm sorry this is a bit late for you. I was a bit busy with preparations for a downline meeting yesterday a well as few chores I had run down the hill. Anyhooo, here are the last pictures of my creating space, it's actually the adjoining room and I have taken over a bit of it with this great unit from none other that Ikea, it was on sale and Hubby talked me into it, not that it was too hard to do so "LOL" I bought these gorgeous matching boxes to go into the cubby holes, they are great to fit 12x12" papers in, I haven't really decided what's going in the other ones yet, but I'm sure they will be full of bits and pieces before too long. You can see I have a couple of my Stampin'Stack n'stores which house all my buttons, brads and eyelets etc. in two of the cubby holes. Here is a picture of the sun set outside my window the evening we took these pictures, I often see this when I'm working in my room. I was sitting in there yesterday morning and a huge flock of White tail black cockies flew into the trees outside my window, we have a huge macadamia tree right out side there and they often sit in there eating the nuts and looking in at me with their great big eyes and their beaks full of yummy nuts. I love to just sit and watch them playing and eating, I feel so blessed to have all these wonders right out side my window.

It was great to be able to show some of my wonderful downline my newly renovated room last night when they came to our monthly get together, I think some were shocked to see how small it actually is in the flesh, so to speak. I also think some thought I am a bit OCD or anal for want of a better word, I'm a bit of a neat freak, but that stems from living on a boat for the first part of my life. When you live in a confined space, everything has it's place and you have to keep everywhere neat and tidy, so it doesn't get thrown around in any large seas if they arise.

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it :-)

Oh well, that's me for now, I'm off to a wonderful weekend of stamping with the Stamparoos, at our annual stamp camp. I really look forward to seeing all the girls I went to Sydney convention with and catching up with all the other demos who I haven't seen since last year's camp.

I'll take some photos for you and post them when I get back, thanks for stopping by.

Lots of inky hugs from ......

My creating space part 2....

2010-07-26T09:41:00.004+08:00

Hello again crafty lovers,
Well as promised this is the second installment of my creating space tour, in yesterdays post I promised you I'd show you inside that cupboard. As you can see there are a few spaces in these paper slots and that's because they have been arranged into their new colour families. We don't actually get the new colours until September, so these spaces are ready to welcome the new guys on the block when they get here. Don't they look yummy so far. This cupboard is again a recycled object from our local tip shop, I think it was from a government office. So here's a close up of my punches in all their glory, along with my ribbons which I seem to have too many of :-} You may be able to notice that the work surface on top of the cupboard is a nice fat slab of marble, another gift from hubby so when I do any heat embossing, I can put my heat gun down on there without fear of burning anything. When one of my friends saw it, she asked him if he could cut her a piece too, but she wants it for doing pastries on. Here is a closer look at part of my ever growing stamp collection, inside the cabinet is just my odds and ends, like tidy treys for embossing and of course spares of things etc.
Can you see my little lamb who sits watching over me, it's up on the left hand side of my cabinet, my mother-in-law bought him for me from one of my favourite shops, Koorong. I have just a couple more shots of where I have taken over the next room, so if you're having fun exploring my little space, please come back tomorrow for the last instalment. Thank you for visiting with me today, take care, lots of inky hugs from.....

My creating space....

2010-07-25T12:11:00.004+08:00

Hello there,
well this is certainly a long awaited post and after I convinced hubby to go and take some photos of my room late yesterday, this is what we came up with, so I'll give you the long shots first, then I'll show you some close ups in the next post.
So this first shot shows the right hand side of my room, where I have all my current stamp sets and some other bits and pieces in the little draws. This cabinet was on a verge clearance with the word 'FREE' scratched onto the front door of it, so of course hubby in his wisdom thought to bring it home just in-case I might like it for stamp storage. I just bought some stickers to cover up the scratch marks and hey presto! I had a new cabinet for stamps. This next one is of the desk where I do all my work, as you can see I have lots of natural light coming through there and I might add that those windows were also on a verge collection from some friends down the road, so you can see that this room is very much a re-cycled one, which my daughter is very proud of. The door is new, hubby bought it for me. I just let down the roller blinds at night or when the sun is too strong. I have five brilliant down lights as well. My bag from this years convention is hanging on one of those dog's bottom and tail hooks from Ikea.

This shot is the far left of my room, I have what I call my Big Shot Station on the work top and yes, this is also re-cycled from our local tip shop. I have a nice reverse cycle air-conditioner in my room to keep me warm in the Winter and cool in the Summer.

This is the back of my room, where my gorgeous hubby built me a wood panel to attach those awesome rails from Ikea on, they of course hold all my punches and also hold the hanging baskets in which my ribbons sit. Behind the wood is the glass panel which is the other half of the doorway into the spare room, which used to be my eldest daughter's room. I'll show you what's inside those cupboards in the next post.

Well, that's part one of the tour around my little space. This was originally just a brick sleep-out attached via a sliding glass door to the back of my daughter's room. It was never used as it wasn't really very nice and only had brick walls and paving for a floor. So hubby set to work and prettied it all up for me, putting a tiled floor in, building me a jarrah frame for my work top to fit into, which when it gets too old or messy can be popped out and then a new one dropped into the frame. Putting nice clean walls up etc. Then earlier in the year we had a nasty storm and we got water damage through the ceilings in my room and the room next door, that's why we had to re-do all the rooms again. But I'm really happy with my little space and I cant wait to show you around the rest of it. So come back tomorrow for part two. You can click on all the photos for a better look.

Thanks for stooping by, lots of inky hugs from....

My Birthday dinner.

2010-07-24T09:15:00.004+08:00

Hi there,
I hope this finds you all well, I have been quite unwell this week which is why there has been very little activity on this blog. So I apologise for that and hope that this week things will start to get better and I can start creating again. I thought rather than just let my blog posting stop completely, I'd show you some pics of my birthday dinner, which was shared by my eldest daughter and her lovely partner and of course my hubby. We all went out for an Indian dinner at on of my favourite restaurants called "The Elephant Hut" This picture is of my hubby, my daughter and me, I think we caught my hubby off guard and he looks a bit drunk, I can assure you not a drop had passed his lips at this point in the evening!

This next lovely photo is of My daughter with the love of her life, they've actually known each other since she was ten, we used to go on holiday down South every Christmas with his and one other family, It was always clear they had a crush on each other, but it wasn't until a family reunion six years after we had last seen them, that the sparks flew and they've been together ever since. They are both at Uni, but taking a well earned break from exams over in NZ at the moment snow-boarding.

This last one is of a very proud mum with her first born, I love this picture of us together. I can't believe she is actually 23 in a couple of months. It was a lovely birthday and we had a glorious meal as always, so if you live in Perth and you like Indian food, I highly recommend "The Elephant Hut" Take care all and keep away from those nasty cold and flu germs.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me, I hope you all enjoy your weekend and keep warm if you're in the depths of Winter like me.

Lots of inky hugs from.......

A card for a friend.

2010-07-19T14:56:00.002+08:00

Hi There craft lovers,
I hope you're feeling warmer than I am right now, it's freezing in this room and if you go outside in the sun it's really quite warm. I have a very sore throat and I'm just hoping and praying it isn't going to turn into something more sinister.
I first saw a version of this lovely card on the very talented Kirsty Brown's blog, she had made it for a mother's day card, but I thought it would also make a lovely card to say "Hi" to a friend. So here is my version, using the gorgeous paper from the Cottage wall pack, which you can find in our current mini catalogue. I also used the "Perfect Polka Dots" embossing folder with the fabulous Big Shot, also found in our current mini.
Thanks for visiting with me, lots of inky hugs from....

Polly and her favourite Stampin'Up! product.

2010-07-13T16:49:00.003+08:00

Hi There Peeps,
I just thought you might like to see our dear little kitty with her favourite Stampin'Up! product...It's the paper that they use to pack all your goodies in when they are being shipped out to our doors. Every time she hears that paper come out of the box, she comes running in to the room full of excitement. Because she is blind, all her toys make a noise ie: a ball with a bell in it and a golf ball on the tiles, but her most favourite toy of all is paper. Just like her mum! We had to leave this nice wad in the living room for her and even though we bought her this lovely soft furry bed to sleep in, she prefers to snuggle up in her nest of brown crackly packing paper. So there you go, yet another use for that wonderful stuff that keeps our goodies safe.
Thanks for stopping by, lots of inky hugs from .....

Another load!

2010-07-10T19:43:00.002+08:00

Hello there,
I hope this finds you enjoying an inspirational blog browsing session. I found this old photo of a card I had made way back in 08 when I first joined Stampin'Up! ® This set 'Loads of Love' was in my starter kit and I was just playing around with what I had and experimenting with colours. I thought it would go well with the last posting which used the same set. It's a very simple card and other than the scalloped circle which was added later the next year, it was a single layer which is rarely found these days. I went to Ikea today to buy a few bits and pieces to finish off my hobby room, so next week I will post some pictures for you, then you can see where I do my creating. Oh well, take care and enjoy the rest of your browsing. Lots of inky hugs from...

Christmas in July.

2010-07-07T09:44:00.002+08:00

Hello there,
I know not everyone reading this will be sitting in the cold of Winter, but over here in OZ we certainly are and all these frosty mornings have made me feel a bit nostalgic about celebrating Christmas in the Winter. So here's a Christmas tag I made a while ago.
Doesn't she look happy to be delivering all those pressies to loved ones, the stamp set used is called 'Loads of Love' it's on page 39 of the main catalogue. It was one of the first sets I purchased and it's so versatile. You can use it for all occasions and make it look so different depending on the colours you use with it. There are several different things for you to stamp in the back including puppy dogs, furniture, Christmas trees and more. I hope you have some fun stamping during our school break, I'm busy putting my hobby room back together, now that we have a roof and ceilings back. I will post a photo of my room as soon as it's all full with goodies again. Thanks for stopping by, lots of inky hugs from .....

Stamp sets to make you dance!

2010-07-01T10:08:00.003+08:00

Wow! have I got some bargains for you, for the whole of July Stampin'Up!® have put on a special to make you dance. It's the two step :-) For anyone who doesn't know about our very clever two step stamp sets, it's the easiest way to get colourful stamped images. Simply layer one image over another, or create a scene with adjoining images. Either way, it's fast stamping with amazing results!
Item ---Page--- Description ---Regular Price--Sale Price
116386 -39--- Loads of Love-- -$39.95--------$31.96
116342 -42- Big Bold Birthday**$53.95 -------$43.16
115860- 78- A Rose is a Rose**- $66.95 -------$53.56
116332 -86 --Playful Petals**--$52.95--------$42.36
115770 -98--Cheep Talk-------$47.95 --------$38.36
115946-115 -Wonderful Favourites$39.95 ----$31.96
119187 -14* Tiny Tags (wood-mount) $38.95- $31.16
118592- 14* Tiny Tags (clear-mount) $28.95-$23.16
119163 -31* Cottage Garden (wood-mount)$32.95 -$26.36
120003- 31* Cottage Garden (clear-mount)$24.95 -$19.96

Please feel free to contact me here for any information about these wonderful sets and how you can get hold of them. Don't forget the special for our fabulous starter kit is still on until the end of July, so get down of that fence and join in the fun!

Lots of inky hugs from ....

Lucky last swaps...

2010-06-30T18:34:00.002+08:00

Hello there,
I'm pleased to say that after five weeks, my hobby room now has it's roof and ceiling back up and so does the room next to it. We were one of the unlucky houses that got damaged in the storm that went through Perth a while ago and the ceiling in my hobby room and my daughter's room next to it got water damaged, in fact in my daughter's room the ceiling collapsed, due to the water getting in and making the insulation so heavy. I really wanted to give my hobby room a good clean out, but not like that! I'll have to take photos of it when everything gets back to normal in there. Any way I digress, here are the last of my swaps that I took to Sydney, all up I made 73 swaps to take and these particular ones made up 21 of them. I was inspired to make these after seeing the lovely Gale's in the UK. If you got one of them, thanks for swapping with me. I'm about to make a whole load more swaps for our upcoming Stamparoo's stamp camp at the end of July, then I have to make some more for regional convention. Mmmm what to make? These little birds were made using the gorgeous new two step bird punch from our current mini, the ribbon is Certainly Celery and the card stocks are Pink Passion , Pretty in pink and Certainly Celery. The base card is Kraft.

Thanks for visiting with me, lots of inky hugs from...

A few more swaps...

2010-06-29T08:25:00.002+08:00

Hello paper crafters,
I hope this finds you all well and with ink on your hands. I promised yesterday to upload some more of my swaps that I took to convention this year. So here for your browsing pleasure are a few more swaps, these ones were made using the fab new toy from my stash of Stampin'Up!® goodies, the BIG shot. I used the pillow box die, but instead of using card stock I used some window acetate to make up the little pillow box and put a card background inside which was stamped with the little flower stamp from Cottage Garden, I also used the tag image from that set along with the tag punches. I stamped the butterfly from the same set with some Staz-on Jet Black ink, onto a glass pebble which I then glued a magnet to the back of, making it into a fridge magnet to hold your stamp shopping list to your fridge! I made 25 of these swaps, so I hope you liked it, if you got one of these at convention and if you did, thanks for swapping with me :-) Here's a picture of one on it's own, sorry about the blurry photo.

Take care and thanks for stopping by, I'll upload the lucky last swaps tomorrow. Lots of inky hugs from....

A few swaps...

2010-06-28T09:38:00.002+08:00

Hello all in Blog land, I hope those of you that are in the throws of winter like me are keeping warm and for those lucky ones in warmer climbs, don't get burnt!
I never got around to showing you my swaps which I took to Sydney in May, for our annual Stampin'Up!® convention. So I thought I would start with these ones below, the first one uses Pocket Silhouettes and the owl is from our cute new set called Fox and Friends. The sentiment is from the new set called Teeny Tiny Sentiments also found in the current mini. These little flower ones are made with the die cut "Blooms" found in our main catalogue and the stamp set called "Seeing Spots". I stamped the little flower on an acetate window sheet to go in the centre of the circle collar, which was made with two circle punches. Inside each one was a lolly pop, the inspiration for these came from our monthly magazine "Impressions" which is sent out to every demonstrator full of ideas and cool techniques.

Hope you liked them if you got one of these at convention, I also made some other cards which I will post tomorrow. Thanks for visiting with me, lots of inky hugs from...

Deals of the week #4....Lucky last!

2010-06-22T23:20:00.007+08:00

Woo-Hoo! Roll-Up, Roll-Up, grab your bargains today!
Well, Stampin'Up!® sure pushed the boat out for this lucky last deal of the week, if you are in need of a few special accessories to finish off that project with a bit of bling or perhaps a stylish ribbon, then this is your lucky week. Take a look at these awesome deals below and treat yourself to some pretties. Contact me here as soon as possible, so you don't miss out on this incredible offer.

Page--Description--------------------Regular Price---Sale Price
149--Square Ice Rhinestone brads--$19.95---------$11.97
149--Circle Ice Rhinestone brads----$19.95--------$11.97
149--Square Fire Rhinestone brads--$19.95--------$11.97
150-Bashful Blue 1”double stitched grosgrain ribbon-$19.95-$10.97
151-Certainly Celery 5/8” grosgrain ribbon-$14.95-$8.97

Thanks for visiting today, lots of inky hugs from ....

Deals of the week # 3.

2010-06-15T22:23:00.007+08:00

TheItem --Page---Description --------------Regular Price-----Sale Price
114263 ---34A ---Happy Heart stamp set-- ---$41.95 --------$20.98
115792 ---57-----Greetings Eight stamp set---$49.95 -------$24.98
116330 ---78 ----Bella's Bloom stamp set ------$24.95 -------$14.97
113009---97----Enjoy Every Moment stamp st-$53.95-----$26.98
114283 --105--All Scallops stamp set ----------$55.95 -------$27.98

Don't forget these offers only last for a week, so if you like what you see...Grab it quick!

You can contat me here to make an order and see your goodies on your door step very soon.
Take care, lots of inky hugs from....

A Special birthday card.

2010-06-14T19:51:00.002+08:00

Inside

Hello out there in blog land,

I knew as soon as I saw this beautiful card on Teneale Williams blog, that I just had to make it for a friend's birthday. So I did and this is what I came up with, it's a little different to the original, but not much as it was in my eyes just perfect. Teneale is an amazing artist and very gifted. I love this style of shabby chic and the colours are so nice to work with. I used the sets called, Vintage Vogue, En Francais, Rustic Rooster, Tiny tags and Fifth ave floral. I used the mat pack along with the white gel pen to make some faux stitching around the edges, I did some of my favourite ribbon ruffling with some very vanilla taffeta ribbon and used one of the half back pearls from the pretties kit, attached by way of a build-a-brad. I hope you like this card as much as I do, thanks Teneale for your incredible inspiration.

Lots of inky hugs from ....

Easel card #2.

2010-06-10T14:29:00.002+08:00

Here's the other Easel card that I promised to upload, it uses the same stamp sets but different colours, Rich Razzleberry, Pale Plum, Apricot Appeal and Kiwi Kiss. Hope you like it, lots of inky ones from....

A floral tribute....

2010-06-10T10:38:00.002+08:00

Hello there,
My it's cold in the hills this morning, I must admit I prefer it to being too hot though. This card is a C.A.S.E. of a card I saw on an English demonstrators blog, I loved the colours, so thought I'd give it a go. The original is on Jen Moors blog and she is a very talented lady. I did another version of this in slightly different colours, so I'll upload that one next. It uses the gorgeous set Vintage Vogue and of course Curvy Verses for the sentiment. I love easel cards and think they make a lovely gift for people,because they're just a little different from the normal opening card. I hope you like this one, lots of inky hugs from....

deals of the week #2.

2010-06-09T09:32:00.007+08:00

Hello bargain hunters, if you love collecting designer papers as much as I do, you're gonna lurve this deal of the week. We have some of our yummy papers going out for as much as 40% off! I know, great hey. Don't forget this offer stands for one week only, so if you want to grab a bargain contact me here.
Haiku DSP (save 40%) Regular price$16.95 Sale price $10.17

Pink Flamingo DSP (save 35%) Regular price $16.95. Sale price $11.02

Raspberry Tart DSP (save 35%) Regular price $16.95 Sale price $11.02

Sweet Slumber Speciality Paper (save 35%) Regular price $22.95 sale price $14.92

Tea Party DSP (save 40%) Regular price $16.95 Sale Price $10.17

How about them apples! My dad always used to say that when something was really outrageous and I think these bargains are just fabulous, I hope you do too, remember to look out for deal number three next Wednesday and don't forget to contact me if you want to take advantage of these great savings. Lots of inky hugs from....

Tulips from bird wings...

2010-06-08T08:52:00.002+08:00

Hello there paper crafters,
I hope you have all had a lovely weekend, we a had a long one here in Western Australia, so that was a nice treat. I am off to my friends house for a day of creating in a little while, but I thought I'd give you a little spring time before I left, I know it's not spring here, but it is else where in the world. This is a C.A.S.E.d card from the lovely Nicole Derendorf. I have seen several versions of this card around, but thought I would have a go at this one as I loved the colours, which are our lovely Melon Mambo and the ever versatile Old Olive. I have used the two step x-large bird punch which is available in our current mini catalogue right now. The bird's wing is used to make the tulips and the birds body is trimmed down to make the leaves, isn't it clever?? I love it. I hope you like it too, enjoy your day, lots of inky hugs from .....

Are you sitting on the fence?

2010-06-06T13:23:00.008+08:00

20% off the Starter Kit!

That's only $259

Hello Fellow craft lovers, I mentioned in a post a while ago about the new recruit special that Stampin'Up!® is offering until July the 31st. If ever you have thought about joining this amazing company or just taking advantage of the amazing starter kit which has over $500. worth of goodies in it, then this is the time to jump down off that fence and take up this great offer. Never before has it been so easy and affordable for you to join.

StampinUp! welcomes all kinds of demonstrators to their family.

..........What kind would you be?

DISCOUNT DEMONSTRATOR: Likes the idea of buying stamps and accessories for personal use at a discount and occasionally sells to friends and family.

SHORT -TERM DEMONSTRATOR: Sells for a short period of time to earn a specific amount of money and stops when the goal is reached.

Hobby Demonstrator: Loves doing workshops and earning extra money when it is convenient, works for a lot some months and very little other months, likes to do workshops that are easy to book, doesn't like to work too hard to book workshops.

Career Demonstrators: Views a Stampin'Up! demonstratorship as a viable business with long-term career potential, pursues management and wants to move up the career ladder, loves attending Stampin'Up! events and has developed close social relationships with other demonstrators, works at her/his business in a consistent and outgoing manner.

As you can see, this is a flexible, fun business you build to suit your needs and desires. Make it fit for you by using your unique talents and style.

You can now join on-line by clicking on the "start your own business" button on my web site here, it only takes a few minutes and enables you to have access to the wonderful home web site, giving you down loadable templates project ideas and all the latest Stampin'Up! news. We are also privy to a number of great on-line groups just for Stampin'Up! demonstrators including the newly formed Stampin'connection group which head office has provided for us to show case our work and chat with fellow demonstrators about all things Stampin'Up!

Of course I would love to welcome you to my team of enthusiastic and very helpful demonstrators and we would love for you to share ideas and make projects with us at our monthly get togethers, as well as attend our stamp camps etc. if for some reason you are unable to get to these meetings I am more than happy to mail out swaps and project kits to your door.
So if you think this might be the time for you to join in the stampinUp! fun, there are just a few things you will need to complete your on-line sign up form and these include the following items:

1)A current catalogue, available here or by purchase from myself, to make choosing your stamps and accessories easy.

2)A valid credit card.

3)An ABN which is available here and free.

4)My pass word which is inked-up.

Here is the starter kit which can be changed to suit your needs and style. This is found on the back page of your catalogue:

If you love scrapbooking this optional extra is available as a once only offer to add onto your starter kit. This is also interchangeable to suit your needs:
If you would like any more information about this great opportunity to join Stampin'Up, please feel free to contact me here. I have a special gift for those who take advantage of this fantastic offer, giving you even more reason to sign up before the end of July.
I really look forward to hearing from you, lots of inky hugs from....

A lady bird thank you.

2010-06-04T12:52:00.002+08:00

hello out there in blog land,
I'm still without a roof and it's getting colder by the day, I am hoping that the roofing guys will be coming tomorrow to finish things of, then I have to clear out that hobby room for the ceiling to be painted. I made this card for one of my dear customers who loves lady birds, she took me out to dinner for my birthday last week and so I thought she'd like this card, I also managed to find some little lady bird chocolates to go with it. hope you like it, lots of inky hugs from a very cold ....

Friendship Quilt...

2010-06-03T08:39:00.002+08:00

Hi there Folks,
I was going to show you all the swaps I took to convention today, but they haven't been water marked yet, so here is a little friendship quilt which I made using the fabulous Big shot and the most popular die "The top note" I used the 1 and 1/4" square punch to cut out scraps of dsp from the Raspberry Tart pack and glued them onto the white card stock before putting it through the big shot with the top note die, this is the result. Then I drew on the stitches with a Stampin' write marker and added the buttons using the buttons die and some more raspberry tart papers, I finished the buttons off with a layer of window sheet cut with the same buttons die to make them shiny, you could put on crystal effects but that takes a while to dry and I wasn't feeling very patient that day! The ribbon is the new yummy in colour Melon Mambo which is the same as the base card. I hope you like it, I certainly had fun making this one. Take care, lots of inky hugs from....

Me and my room mate :-)

2010-06-02T17:39:00.002+08:00

Hi There blog surfers,
What A week I'm having, we have had our roof of for over a week now due to storm damage, the roof repairers have been re-constructing our roof since last Tuesday and yesterday I heard a big loud crash, I went to investigate the spare room (where I keep most of my hobby stuff) and there on the floor was the ceiling fan and light! Anyhooo, that was just the beginning, hubby went in to have a look first thing this morning and said the whole ceiling had dropped down by about 70 millimetres and I would have to clear it out immediately in case it was about to fall in completely! So believe it or not the whole room was cleared out in about an hour, good thing daughter number two is staying at her friends house for a while to house sit, because most of my stuff is in her room and on her bed. I have now found out that my entire hobby room needs to be cleared out too as that ceiling is also damaged and in need of repair, I've been thing about having a clear out for ages and I spose this will just make me do it a bit sooner...I feel a craft garage sale coming on! Mmmmmm.
The photo above is of my room mate Nic, we shared a room at last year's convention too. We had lots of laughs together and always look forward to the next one before the last one comes to an end, so here's looking forward to next year's convention in Melbourne.
Lots of inky hugs from.....

A little bird told me...

2010-06-01T16:44:00.002+08:00

Hello there craft lovers,
I hope you are keeping warm if you're in the Winter of Australia, we are certainly feeling the cold nights up here in the hills. I made this card a few weeks ago now, but thought it would be nice to show you all. It has been made using the wonderful new stamp called Medallion, I inked it up with creamy caramel and before stamping it, I thumped it with a chocolate chip marker to give it that old weathered look. The card stock is Kraft, soon to be re-named Crumb cake. The little bird is of course the new two step large bird punch also from the new mini. I hope you like it.
Take care, lots of inky hugs from....

The first of the June specials...

2010-05-31T23:03:00.005+08:00

I'm so excited to let you all know about the June specials which Stampin'Up! are holding all throughout this month, every week there will be a new weekly special put up for you and this can only be ordered in that week for that price, then the following week there will be another one posted and so on. So to start this promotion off here is the first weeks special, which is punches, please feel free to contact me with an order here to make the most of these offers.

So for one week only these following punches are going out for the very low price of $20.12, that's a whopping 30% off their usual price of $30.95. Take your choice of the scallop oval punch (a carry over from our last mini), the scallop square punch, the trio flower punch or the Boho Blossoms punch, at this price why not make it all four??

Stay tuned for some more convention pics and some art work. I will of course put up next week's offer on the 9th of June. Lots of inky hugs from...

I've been gifted...

2010-05-30T17:55:00.003+08:00

Hello everyone, I would like to firstly thank all those lovely people who popped over here to say happy birthday to me, thanks to the lovely Keesh who placed a happy birthday post to me on her gorgeous blog, I have had lots of beautiful birthday messages. I feel so blessed to be a part of this wonderful blogging community, all the great bloggers and visitors who take the time to write encouraging comments and share their amazing works of art with us all.

I was also awarded with the "Beautiful Blogger award a little while ago, by two very talented people, firstly Keesh who has the most amazing blog full of inspiration and beautiful art work and secondly the very talented lady Lee whom I met through Keesh at our team meetings, she has a beautiful blog here called "Lulla's Link" full of great works of art which she shares most generously with us all, so thank you to both of these very kind ladies for their gift of this award. I now have to divulge ten things about myself and then give you lucky people ten wonderful blogs to visit, so here goes.....

1) My husband proposed to me after two days and we bought our first house three months later and were married in the fourth month which was 25 years ago in Sept.

2)I was born in Sliema/Malta.

3) I was brought up on a boat and travelled all over the world, going to 8 different schools speaking in five different languages.

4) I don't eat cheese (I know, everyone thinks I'm missing out on something great!)

5)I have 9 siblings scattered all over the world and I'm the baby.

6)I was painfully shy and used to cry if I had to meet new people, before Stampin'Up® came into my life. (I bet loads of you are thinking "What the", but it's true).

7) I've had fifteen major surgeries and some people say I look like I've been attacked by a shark.

8)I went to a craft fair fourteen years ago to get some thread for my then hobby of cross stitch, saw someone heat embossing and got hooked on stamping. I never did finish that cross stitch project and it's still in my draw ;-}

9)It never ceases to amaze me how many beautiful friends I have made through this wonderful world of craft and I feel truly blessed having each and every one of you in my life.

10) Bert Reynolds fixed my bike chain once in Florida and when I asked him what his name was he replied with " you can just call me uncle Bert, honey" and Brigitte Bardot shared my ice cream in the South of France.

Well, I hope I didn't bore you too much and you are now ready to visit some of my beautiful friends at their blogs. These are in no particular order and it was very, very difficult to nominate just ten, I knew lots of you already had been given the award, so that made it a little easier, so here goes....

1) Margaret Knoops of Purple Buttons

2)Karen Thomas of Luv to stamp

3)Amanda Carr of Mandy's stampin spot

4)Samantha Fisher of Samantha's stamping studio

5)Ann Gerlach of Discover-ink (one of my very talented downline)

6)Trish Davies of Cody's nan's blog (another of my wonderful downline)

7)Nikki Pascoe of Perfect Paper

8)Mae Collins of Mae's Cachet

9)Tanya Kitto of Stamp n' chat (one very generous and kind lady)

10)Carl Marbach of Stuff by Carol (one of my lovely American blog frriends)

Have fun browsing those beautiful blogs, lots of inky hugs from ...

I'm home again.

2010-05-27T13:10:00.002+08:00

Hi There everybody peeps,
As some of you already know I have been one of the lucky convention attendees again this year and what a fabulous time we all had. This picture is of me with our amazing cofounder and CEO Shelli Gardner. I felt so honoured to have a photo with this wonderful lady and I couldn't get the grin of my face for the rest of the day. We all had so much fun meeting fellow demonstrators and sharing swaps with each other. Spending up big in the momento mall where you can buy all the great Stampin'Up! merchandise such as shirts, cardigans, drink bottles and soooo much more.
We were all privy to some amazing work shop wows presented by some of our very own talented Australian demos as well as some New Zealand girls too. The make and takes we did were awesome, but you'll have to wait a while to see those, because we used some of our fabulous new stamp sets from the upcoming catalogue. We not only received two great stamp sets in our beautiful convention bag, we were also spoiled with an extra set from Shelli during a general session. The screams of delight were deafening when all the sets were being given out.
The awards ceremony was just stunning, we were treated like movie stars arriving at the Hollywood award nights. We walked down the red carpet to be greeted by paparazzi photographers who took our pictures in front of a Stampin'Up! back drop and the cheers came from all the head office staff who waited to see us all arrive in our very best dress up clothes.
The tables were adorned with beautiful flower arrangements of tulips which were entwined around the inside of a large glass bowl, in the center of the bowl was a candle to give off a shimmering light through the tulips. The food was amazing as always and just so beautifully presented, you almost didn't want to disturb it. I said ALMOST!
The dinner was finished and we were then ready to be called up for any awards we had earned throughout the year, as well as cheer very loudly for all those who received them. There were plenty of special announcements throughout the evening about the year ahead and our upcoming catalogue as well as the whereabouts of next year's convention which will be held in Melbourne. We were entertained by a really good jazz band with a Frank Sinatra sound alike, he was so good. The entertainment didn't stop there however, we were also captured by the wonderful Fiji native dancers and drummers, it was a to announce the incentive trip for next year which will be held in Fiji. Oh how I would love to win that one, the dancers were so amazing and got several participants from the audience to join in with them, one of whom was Sterling Gardner, Shelli's husband. The whole night was an affair not to be forgotten and will stay with me for ever.
Thanks to Stampin'Up! for the most fun filled weekend I have ever had and I look forward to the next one, which will be a three day convention instead of two, so even more fun!
If you like the sound of all this and the wonderful friendships you make along this amazing journey, you may be excited to hear about the wonderful join up opportunity that Stampin'Up! is holding until the 31st of July this year. There is 20% off the already fantastic value starter kit., that makes it $259. instead of the already low price of $324. for an incredible kit worth over $560. you get so many goodies in your kit which is interchangeable, making it just right for your needs. I will be posting more about this amazing offer soon, so stay tuned. or you can contact me for an obligation free information pack here.
Lots of inky hugs from ....

A note for you.

2010-05-14T09:14:00.002+08:00

Hi There blog surfers, How's the waves today? It's pretty cold up here in the hills this morning and I think I might have to have a bowl of hot porridge for breakfast today. I was going through some old cards the other day and came across the little note card holder we made at regional convention a couple of years ago with the set called Live your dreams. So I thought I'd make the same set but with an up to date set from our current mini and this was the result:

I used the beautiful Kiwi kiss satin ribbon which has very vanilla on the other side to tie it up. I used the new in-colour Melon mambo which is very vibrant but matches up well with Kiwi kiss and I used the set called Vintage Vogue (Love it!).

Thanks for visiting, lots of inky hugs from...

Heritage scrapbook page.

2010-05-13T09:59:00.003+08:00

Hello there, I hope this finds you all well, we had a great downfall of rain last night and it was such a shock to hear rain, it actually woke me up with a start. It's lovely to see everywhere begin to green up again, I love the winter months. This next page has been inspired by two very talented Stampin'Up!® demos, the first one is Teneale Williams who used this technique and stamp to make a lovely card for one of Makeesha's challenges, the other one is Sarah Klass who made this scrap page up to display a gorgeous photo of her little girl. It's one of those pages that you can change the look of with just a different colour or a bit of sponging, as I have done here to make it look oldy worldly. I have put in a photo pf the steam ship Marion and the journaling tells all about her. I've used a piece of very vanilla 12x12'' card stock and then added the kraft A4 and a five inch by A4 piece of Baja breeze to do the emboss resist technique on, there is a strip of very vanilla which I have used the eyelet border punch on and of course the two top note pieces, the little flower was made by punching out three scalloped circles from baja breeze, then putting them through the crimper several times (and I mean SEVERAL) til they start to break down and you can peal them aprt. Then scrunch them up and put a brad through the centre to hold them together. The big gorgeous stamp used for the tech part of the page is our wonderful new very versatile Medallion stamp from the mini and the little lacy bit around the topnote is from Vintage vogue. Soft Suede, Kraft and very vanilla cardstock surround the photo, I have sponged some creamy caramel and soft suede ink on the edges of the cardstock. You can click on the picture to have a more detailed look. Hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by, take care, lots of inky hugs from...

Thank you card for vet.

2010-05-11T14:34:00.002+08:00

Hello there, I hope this finds you all well, I thought you may like to see one of the cards I made for Polly's specialist. Some of you have very kindly been asking for an update on our dear little adopted fur baby. Well the day we were hoping wouldn't come happened last week on Tuesday, she had to have one of her eyes removed, hubby picked her up from the vets and brought her home with an Elizabethan collar on. This was of course to stop her scratching at and tearing her stitches, but you try telling that to her! She was so distraught and thrashing around the room, trying desperately to remove this cumbersome bucket from around her little head. I was trying very hard to calm her down but to no avail. So I told hubby to ring the vet and ask advice, to which he said 'give her fifteen minutes to calm down, if that hasn't happened bring her back in to be kept in over night and be sedated'. Thank goodness she did eventually calm down and settle in our bedroom on her soft bed. It was a very sleepless night, spent holding her in my arms all night, but when morning came, she was much better and ready to have a little food and water.
This was all happening just a week after our old boy Coubah (German Shepherd)had to have major surgery too, so you can imagine the vet bills! Anyhooo, Coubah needs to be kept inside and have wounds washed and betadine applied three times a day, antibiotics and ear wash and drops done twice a day, his mate Whiddy has to be kept away from him, because all he wants to do is clean his stitches for him, so we now have three animals who all need to be separated from each other. This past couple of weeks have been very stressful to say the least, but Coubah now has his stitches removed and is doing really well, Polly had her first post op check on Sat. and the vet is pleased with her wound. She will have her stitches out on the eighteenth, the day before I leave for Sydney Stampin'Up! convention. So I will get to see her without that stupid bucket on her head and all those awful looking stitches removed from her sweet little face. It seems all though that was the worst eye, it was the one with most sight in it, so she is now completely blind, but already knows her way around and plays with all her toys etc. She sleeps on our bed every night and wakes us up in the morning with sand paper kisses. I'll keep you informed of her progress and upload some more photos of her soon, take care and give your pet a hug for me, lots of inky hugs from....

Third and final part of mini scrap album.

2010-05-09T19:29:00.003+08:00

Hello and a very Happy Mother's day to all the mums out there. I was very spoilt today and my daughters both made me feel very special. The eldest came over to visit and gave me the cutes little Eco bag with a cat on it and a lovely new top. My youngest got up early and made the most delicious roast dinner for all of us and my mother in law. I was so proud of her, she wouldn't let me any where near the kitchen and the end result was truly scrumptious! How appropriate to show you all this last collection of pages from Ingrid's cute little album on such a wonderful Mother's day. So please enjoy the pictures and come back soon for some more scrapbooking inspirations.

Take care, lots of inky hugs from ....

Rock-A-Bye-Girl part two...

2010-05-08T18:35:00.002+08:00

Hello there, I hope this finds you all enjoying your weekend, especially all the mothers out there. Lets hope you all get something inky to play with tomorrow! Well as promised, here is part two of Ingrid's beautiful little scrap album. This little flip book is just the best design to show off your loved photos and the original design came from a very talented demonstrator in Canada called Andrea Walford. I taught Ingrid and some of our great stamping buddies how to make this book in one of my Saturday classes, we made it with the 'I Wish' scrapbooking kit from Stampin'Up!® Which is a Christmas based kit with lots of great decorations to put into the finished Christmas album, if you would like to learn how to make one of these little albums please feel free to contact me and we will arrange a class for you and some friends to make it. Now please enjoy viewing some more of Ingrid's pages and do come back for the last instalment.

Lots of inky hugs from....

A Sunshine award...

2010-05-07T19:58:00.007+08:00

I feel very honoured today, as I have been awarded a beautiful Sunshine award from the very talented Sonia G . I was really quite shocked to find the message waiting for me saying she thought my little ol' blog was worthy of this sweet award, so thanks Sonia. I now have to pay it forward to some wonderful blogs which I visit on a regular basis, this is the hard bit, as I love soooo many! But here's a few to go and see. Make sure you leave some blog love in the comments from me :-)

7)Ann Gerlach (one of my lovely Paper Charmers team members)

Take care all and come back soon to see the rest of Ingrid's precious scrapbook. Lots of inky hugs from ....

Rock-A-Bye Girl...

2010-05-06T14:02:00.002+08:00

Hello there,
As in my previous post I told you it was Scrapbooking month, I thought I'd better honour my promise of showing you some gorgeous scrapbooking and these next pictures are of a wonderful little flip album which was made by my very good friend Ingrid. She has put together this amazing display of pictures taken of her sweet little grand daughter. The album has been made using the 'Rock-a-bye Girl' scrapbooking kit. Have fun looking at these great photos set in this beautiful little album. Well done Ingrid and thanks for letting me show this on my blog.

There are more pictures to come of this little album, so stay tuned and be sure to visit here again to see the rest. Lots of inky hugs from...

Scrapbooking Month...

2010-05-04T07:51:00.002+08:00

Hello there,

Did you know that the month of May is officially Scrapbooking Month?? So to celebrate this, I will be doing my utmost to show you some scrapbooking creations and believe me you are in for a treat, because some of these creations have been lovingly made by some of my very talented stamping buddies. This one above was made by me, it was to show some Stampin'Up! party goers how to make a mitred corner with our fabulous jumbo wheels. This wheel is very aptly named "So Swirly" isn't it gorgeous. I used a basic black ink cartridge in the wheel to make sure the ink didn't run out before I got to the end of this twelve by twelve page. The little flower was made with the scallop circle, I just spritzed the paper circles with water and scrunched them up, left them to one side until dry, then put a brad through the center to hold them all together and popped a pearl from our pretties kit in the middle to finish it off. The card stock used was Very Vanilla and Basic Black. The Stamp sets used to make the little embellishment in the bottom left hand side were "Life Definitions" and the "Defining Alphabet" I love using these two sets together, they're a real class act! I hope you liked the first instalment of scrapbooking month and you will be back to see the next one. Take care, lots of inky hugs from....

A pinch and a PUNCH for the first of the month!

2010-05-01T19:34:00.003+08:00

Hello there, Did you like the pun about a punch for the first of the month?? I thought I was being quite clever for a change. But all joking apart, this post is about the wonderful new punch style that Stampin'Up!® have released in our new Autumn/Winter mini. I love the fact that we can now stack our punches and they look so darne kool :-)

Starting with the new 2010 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue and continuing with all new punch designs going forward, Stampin' Up! has adopted a new body style for our punches! A few features of the new punch style:
Low-profile, rectangular punch body allows for easier stacking and storing
Punches lock shut for easier storage and transport
Dual labels on top and end allow for easy identification and selection when stored
Available in three sizes: small, medium, and extra-large
New punches allow for larger punched images and more intricate designs while providing greater ease of use.
Extra -large punch images also allow for two-step designs like the Two-Step Bird punch in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue
Larger, whole-hand handle design provides better leverage for easier use
Available in an exclusive Stampin' Up! colour
Part of Stampin' Up!'s commitment to providing demonstrators and customers with the very best crafting tools includes the belief in what we call continuous improvement. Essentially what this means is that even if something works very well, but we see a chance to improve it, we will work to make it even better. While new punch designs will be in the new body style, existing designs will remain in the existing body style for now. We will communicate any further changes as those decisions are made.

Clear mounted stamp sets...

2010-04-30T00:37:00.003+08:00

Hi There,
I told you there was more news coming about some groovy new items in our mini catty, well here's the scoop on the wonderful new clear mounted stamp sets and thier very ergonomic clear acrylic blocks....

Over the past few years, there has been enormous demand from demonstrators and customers alike for a line of repositionable clear-mount rubber stamps. Well, you asked for it, and now you have it! Starting with stamps in the 2010 Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue, Stampin' Up! now offers our exclusive stamp art in both traditional wood-mount, and the new clear-mount option. Our new clear-mount rubber stamps are the result of extensive research with the intent to maintain the very best image quality in the stamping industry, while at the same time offering the ease-of-use and storability inherent in repositionable clear-mount rubber stamps. Clear-Mount Rubber Stamp Features
Nine different sizes of clear blocks available individually or as a discounted bundle.
Blocks have ergonomic grooves on all four sides for easy grip and traditional wood-mount feel.
Stamps and blocks are durable and easy to clean with your Stampin' Scrub and Stampin' Mist.
Optional image labels on stamp backs let you decide if you want to see the image through the block or not.
Tight die-cutting for easy image positioning.
Large clear blocks can be used to create collages or spell words with alphabet sets.
Stamps store easily in standard, DVD-type cases with artwork on front and spine, making organization easy.

There's a new Big Shot in town....

2010-04-27T09:36:00.004+08:00

There's a new big shot in town--the Sizzix Big Shot for Stampin' Up! The Big Shot is a sturdy manual die cutting machine used to die cut materials for use on crafts, home décor projects, and even clothing--it's a big deal! You'll love what the Big Shot machine--a six-time winner of Creating Keepsakes Reader's Choice Award for best die cutting equipment and dies--can do for you.
Design your own custom pillow appliqués using the Scallop Circle Bigz die or make custom fabric flowers to embellish a quilt. From sewing to quilting to home décor, the Big Shot is the perfect tool for many types of crafting. The wide appeal to various types of crafters will help you expand your business in new circles. The Big Shot makes incorporating paper crafting into these customers' hobby an easy progression. Use our Stampin' Up! exclusive dies to create die cuts and stencils with our artwork and designs for all your craft needs.
Cut out eight of the same chipboard letter or 20 scalloped pennants in just a few minutes. You'll be able to cut and score 3-D items in seconds, and the projects will be ready for you to enjoy. Or create embellishments for cards, scrapbook pages, or any other type of project by cutting multiple images at once. The Big Shot works with ALL competitive dies, and the steel rule dies can cut through an impressive list of 50 different materials, including fabric, foil, and chipboard.

I will be showing some different projects that I have made using this incredible machine in the next few days, including some made with fabric. I'd love to show you some of the amazing things the Big shot is capable of doing, so why not book a work shop with some friends and I'll pop over to wow! you all. Contact me here to make a date to have some Stmapin'Up!® fun.

Stay tuned for more information on some more new arrivals in the Stampin'Up! family. Inky hugs from .......

Colour renovations....

2010-04-25T15:10:00.004+08:00

Hi There, I hope you are enjoying your blog browse. I thought you might like to know about some pretty special Stampin'Up! news. We are having a colour renovation to meet up with all the new colour trends that can be found in our everyday lives, such as textiles, fashion, house furnishings etc. Stampin'Up! wants us to keep up with all the modern trends of today's society and to do this they have devised a wonderful new colour family for us. We will be keeping 24 current colours and saying hello to 5 brand new colours, as well as bringing back 10 well loved in-colours from the past. One of our Neutral colours Kraft has been given a new name and will be known as Crumb Cake.

Every year we will be given 5 new in colours and these gorgeous colours will stay with us for two years, so 5 this year (In Sept) then 5 next year which means after this year, we will have 10 in-colours to work with. What joy! I always hated saying goodbye to the in-colours just when I was starting to love them.

There will be lots more info about this colour change in the near future, but none of these changes will take place for us here in Australia until our new annual catalogue arrives in September. So start collecting any of the leaving colours that you love, along with their re-inkers and any other coordinating accessories before September this year.
If you would like to view the new colour charts which show these changes please click on the charts above.