That always reminds me of Kyneton Tech-High School - it was our school motto! Along with ‘Out the Gate by ‘88′ which was the motto for our Year 12 level… but I guess that gives away my age so I won’t be telling you that! Ahem.

Anyway, I’m here to say that, (as if you hadn’t noticed), I’m not really using this blog at the moment. If you would like to see what I’m doing now, I have a Stampin’ Up! blog which you can see HERE. There will be at least a monthly update there, with Stampin’ Up! promotions and bits and pieces of what I’m up to.

I’m spread way too thin these days with family, and work, and Stampin’ Up! commitments, so I’m trying to simplify.

Onwards and upwards my friends!

Well, obviously I can’t be trusted….. it’s over 3 months since I even logged in here!!

Slacker!!

Now, I do have an official Stampin’ Up! website, where you can find out what promotions are going on, and see some card samples and the like…. and now they’ve added a blog there too!

The link is here if you’d like to see it, and feel free to sign up for the newsletter - when I figure out how to send one, you’ll get one LOL!

And because I’ve been a bad girl, here are some things I’ve been working on lately…

A set of Ikea wooden drawers that I’ve painted with white gesso, and then covered each drawer with pieces of Kaleidoscope Designer Series papers… I really like how it turned out!

And a layout I made for a display board, oh, what feels like years ago, but was actually May last year. I made it a specific size, so that I could frame it after the show….. ahem. Well, it’s done now, and I’m happy with how it looks, sitting on top of the Ikea drawers in my newly moved craft room. (Half moved anyway, how on earth did I get so much STUFF!) (Rhetorical question that, I know exactly how I got it, heh heh)

And last but not least, a card we made at our last Stamp-A-Stack here at my house…. the colours are Brocade Blue, Mellow Moss, So Saffron and Regal Rose. I know that the saffron ribbon is no longer currently available, as it was part of a promotion a few months back where it was in a free ribbon bundle, but sheesh, I have so many rolls of it here, it seems a shame not to use it!!

Anyhoo, it’s back to the old housework for me, for now…. don’t forget to check out my official Stampin’ Up! site, because the specials get loaded up there FOR me, and you don’t have to rely on my unreliable self to find out what’s going on!!

And that’s a GOOD thing!!!

Splutter! Cough! Sneeze!

What is with all the cobwebs and spiders and dust in here? Surely Halloween is over?

I just KNEW it was too soon to be posting that my mojo had returned. Twas an aberation, that owl, one of those unexplained mysteries. I’ll never know what made me think I had a creative bone again - I’m ashamed to say that it was obviously not true at the time.

However…. on the cusp of a new Mini Catalogue, I am determined to start using this blog again!!

Hoopla!

To ease myself into this unfamiliar territory (I couldn’t remember my login details for goodness sakes!), I’m just going to go easy on myself. And post one of my Stamp-A-Stack cards for November. Here goes, I’m a bit wobbly still…..

Holy you-know-what! It worked!

Gulp.

Ok so this one uses Kiwi Kiss as a base, Riding hood Red, and Pacific Point. The stamp set is Spotlight on Christmas, and the greeting is from the level 1 hostess set Best Yet.

And really, at this point, I’m so overwhelmed with myself that I’ll end the post here.

Gosh.

I am almost too scared to put this in writing, BUT…… I think my mojo is making a slow return!!!

HOOPLA! (And not before time I might add!)

I admit I got a bit discouraged when my blog was moved to a different server and I lost my recent posts (gaaah don’t they know how long it takes and how much I put into those posts??!). And with work, and helping out at school, and being sick with the most malingering cold I have ever had…. well… stamping just took a backseat.

I had a class today though, we’ve started our Christmas Stamp-A-Stacks with my lovely regulars, as well as a couple of newbies. So while the class was going on, I was making a card for my daughters friend, who turned 10 today, and it needed to be done before she left to go to the party. Nothing like leaving things to the last minute!

This little girl is apparently obsessed by owls. Oh well, you are thinking, this one will be easy because Stampin’ Up! have Owl stamps in the catalogue now.

OHO!

Yes, indeed they do.

Unfortunately I do not have any of said owl stamps sitting on a shelf in my home just waiting to be used.

Curses!!

Sooo I did the next best thing and used my friend Google, to find some punch art owls to copy. There are so many cute ones out there!

Here’s my effort, which is a bookmark with the birthday message written out on the back (Amy wrote ‘I hope your birthday is a HOOT!’ LOL!).

Now I have to say, that I am loving myself sick over this little owl. I’m not usually that keen on punch art, but I can see myself making more now I’ve HAD to today!

I actually found a really good tutorial on YouTube, which you can see here. The only real difference between the tutorial and mine, is that I used the smallest heart punch on the Stampin’ Up! Heart To Heart punch to make the feet, and the beak… and there’s one other punch in there too, which I’ll tell you about some other time….. like in August when I’m allowed to!

The Sam is stamped in Choc Chip ink using the Short Order Alphabet.

Hope you like it!

My next post will be to show you the most awesome gift I received from one of my downlines, Helen. And all because I loaned her a retired stamp set! Hmmmmm I wonder what else I can lend her…..

Well, after doing SO well for a couple of weeks, I fell off the blogging bandwagon yet AGAIN! I have heaps to tell you about Convention, and classes and product shares, but this post is just a quickie - to tell you all about a Papercraft show I’ll be part of this weekend….

Here are the details,

FROM PICTURE TO PAGE -papercrafters show 2009

Traders, product demonstrations, make-and-takes, FREE raffle, FREE parking,
FREE kids card-making area, drinks, snacks,light lunches, bar available.
Make-n-Takes, Classes

Why do people love this show?

Our traders and customers all mention:
* show specials
* the friendly atmosphere
* fantastic demonstrations
* helpful knowledgeable traders
* value-for-money tasty lunches & snacks
* traders with unique products that you will not see at other shows
* the free area for the kids to have fun while you enjoy yourself shopping

The Whitehorse Club
298-336 Burwood Hwy
East Burwood Reserve,

East Burwood Mel Ref: 62 C7

Sat 16th May 9.00am-4.30pm

Sun 17th May 10.00am - 4.30pm

 Entry fee $8.50 adults
Kids under 12 free entry

I’d love to see you there, so pop past on the Sunday and say hello! If you’re there today, say hello to the fabulous demonstrators manning the stall, and enjoy a free make and take!

I’ve made a heap of samples for the show, so there’s at least a month worth of blogging taken care of when I get them back - hooray!!!!!!!

The other Stamp-A-Stack card I mean.

I thought it was about time I pulled poor old Simply Said off the shelf - I’ve hardly used it since I got it for free after attending the last Stampin’ Up! Regional training day in Melbourne!

It’s a simple card, but that makes it great for a Stamp-A-Stack - the colours are Rose Red, and Always Artichoke. The little flowers are coloured in Rose Red with a tiny dot of white gel pen in the centre to make them really stand out. The base card is Naturals Ivory, which is a lovely neutral cardstock. You only need the tiniest piece of Rose Red double stitched ribbon to finish this off, which makes your ribbon go even further.

Hope you like it!

OK, so I DO like some of the other images in this set .

I’m loving this colour combination too - I’m making something quite similar for one of my Convention swaps. This is Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze.

I got out the old crimper for the Kiwi Kiss piece, just to add a bit of texture to the card, and then wrapped a piece of Baja Breeze cardstock around it and secured the ends with silver brads. The Thanks sentiment is stamped in Kiwi Kiss, which is really growing on me!

Again I’ve used the inkpad plonking method on the basecard to add a distressed sort of look to the background… and it doesn’t dirty any stamps either

Hope you like it, and hope the Stamp-A-Stack ladies like it too next weekend - they’re making this one!

I held a Team Get Together on the last weekend in March, which was a heap of fun - but it had some other benefits too. I got to stamp a couple of images from brand new stamp sets that I don’t have yet!!

Upsy Daisy is one of those sets, and here’s what I made with the image I stamped out…

These colours are Kiwi Kiss (yes a new one!) and Cameo Coral. I plonked my coral inkpad all over the basecard to get that distressed look. The Upsy Daisy image was inked in Kiwi Kiss first, and then I wiped off the ink from that tall flower, and coloured it direct to rubber with my Cameo Coral Marker. I stamped the sentiment in Kiwi Kiss, punched out the oval shape and just mounted it with Dimensionals to make it stand out a little.

Hope you like it - this set is definitely on my wish list!

Yes, the moment we’ve all been waiting for…… the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue is here!! We have some really REALLY nice stuff in this one, and I’ve actually found time for some creating as well, which is a bonus!

So… just in time for Easter, here’s the first cab off the rank…

I LOVE this little rabbit from Greetings Eight! So cute to colour - I used my blender pens and inkpads for this one. The Apricot Appeal box is wheeled with the It’s Beautiful jumbo wheel (yay it made it to the big catty!). The other colours are Cameo Coral and Certainly Celery for the box, and some Tempting Turquoise and Taken With Teal added in for the little eggs in the image. The box itself is just a variation of the old 2-4-6-8 box - I love how you can change the measurements and end up with something different.

Thanks for looking, and don’t forget - I can show you how to make these in a fun workshop if you’d like to book one… you get a free copy of the Idea Book & Catalogue too when you host a demonstration!!

If you don’t already have a demonstrator, and would like a copy of the all new 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalogue, contact me and I can organise to have one sent out to you - it’s FULL of great idea’s for cards, scrapbook pages and other projects, as well as containing all our fab Stampin’ Up! goodies!

You may think that I’m on a roll here, or that I’ve finally gotten my act together and will be posting regularly now..  I mean, two posts in two days! It’s almost miracular! (Is that a word?) Be not deceived my friends, I actually wrote this YESTERDAY and scheduled it to appear like magic today! It’s something I will try and do more often, but I make no hasty promises, which I may regret later….

Yep, this is the other Stamp-A-Stack card for next weekend! Something much more my usual style, and also a last farewell to Natural Beauty, a really pretty stamp set, and one which is so nice to watercolour.

And now you know what my kitchen/dining/sunroom area looks like too!

Colours are the usual suspects… Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Sage Shadow. Using the Perfect Plum to create the leaf background meant I could get away with using Eggplant Grosgrain ribbon on this one, a real blessing as we don’t have Perfect or Pale Plum ribbon. I’ve watercoloured with my favourite method, the good old blender pens and inkpads…..  just LOVE that.

Cheerio for now, hope you like it!