Of the new and old catalogues for Stampin’ Up!

This exciting phenomenon only occurs once every 12 months, so keep your eyes and ears open. You will soon hear the WHOOSH CRASH as the old catalogues are tossed aside with abandon, and the manic TAP TAP TAP of over 1000 demonstrators in Australia and New Zealand frantically entering their orders for brand spanking new products! The excitement is at fever pitch!

As for me…. I’ve been working on swaps for Convention - this is one that I’m only doing 10 of, as they’re a bit fiddly and time consuming to make too many. It’s a teabag holder, in a matchbook style. On the inside are two teabags, and the sentiment reads ‘Time spent with friends, is time well spent’. Awwwwwwwwwwww.

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And here’s the inside…

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This set is called Time Well Spent, and is a Level 3 Hostess set from the new 2008-2009 Idea Book and Catalogue. Can you believe that this was sent to all demonstrators as a gift in December? Stampin’ Up! are such a great company!

I’ve used Rose Red,Regal Rose and Certainly Celery cardstock and the main image is stamped on Whisper White cardstock with Rose Red ink. I used my blender pen to colour the edges of the image. The small Regal Rose flower is highlighted with the white gel pen.

NEW CATALOGUE OFFER

Lastly for this update… I have a way for you to get the Idea Book & Catalogue into your hot little hands for FREE. Well two ways really!!

1. Host a demonstration! Call or email me to book one now.

2. Place a $100 order during April. I will include a copy of the new 2008-2009 Idea Book & Catalogue for free with your order, saving you $12.95 (RRP)!

Hope you like the teabag matchbook, I must go and keep ploughing through this swap making bizo. I have a grand total of 24 complete now (which I will share with you before I leave for Convention) but as there are approx 300 demonstrators going, that is not going to cut it!

Thanks for looking!

And Basil Recipe champions from the last post - the cardstock is cut, and I just need some time to get it into the mail to you. Thankyou so much for your suggestions, there were some beauties. If you haven’t received my email asking for your address, can you please forward it to me at jenni.oliver@hotkey.net.au !

I need some help!

Today I pulled up all of our Basil (except for one plant, which I need for our traditional Friday night Pizza’s).

So far I’ve made one LITRE of pesto, and used a whole 500gm block of butter to make some basil and garlic butter. That’s in a roll in the freezer now so we can use it through the year.

What am I going to do with the rest of this basil? It’s too good to chuck!

Give me a recipe and I’ll send you a gift of 6×6 samples of SU papers that are retiring at the end of the month.

(Holy cow I went through my retiring papers and scrapbooking supplies this afternoon, and I have a pile about 8cm high!

*Australian residents only please!!*

There is one stamp set that I’m really going to miss - and that’s Mixed Bouquet. I use it so often and for so many different techniques, like crayon resist, two step stamping, emboss resist. Sigh. I hope there’s something so versatile in the new catalogue.

This was my make and take card for this month, I thought I should get as much use of my beloved Mixed Bouquet as I could, before it goes in my big discount sale to my customers.

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I’ve used Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie and Sage Shadow inks on Whisper White cardstock for the main image - and the other cardstock is the same colours. The Sage shadow strip has been pierced with the paper piercer in the tool kit, for interest, and the torn Pumpkin Pie piece was stamped using the Watercolour Vine wheel, in Pumpkin Pie ink. I WAS going to use the Bouquet wheel which goes with the Mixed Bouquet set, BUT it’s sold out already! :O

I think the Watercolour Vine wheel makes a good alternative though?

At the start of March, our town had a festival which included a parade and sideshows and rides for the kids. We had two stages, set up for bands and community groups to exhibit, and it was a gorgeous day so it was perfect.

We started out by walking down one block to where the parade was starting, there were plenty of lollies and chocolates being handed out by the parade participants - very memorable was Western Water Man, a superhero for the water conservation movement. I’m not sure how he survived the day dressed in purple spandex, but I was in awe!

Once the parade had passed us, we walked down one more block, to where the parade passed us again on it’s way to the festival grounds. Hehe, the kids had a ball collecting a second set of goodies!

Now Amy had been bugging us for a week, about this ride she wanted to go on, and she really ramped up her efforts once we got there. Kels decided she wanted in on the action, but Quinn sensibly declined the offer. After a short scuffle it was decided that I would have to go on with them, as there was no way David was doing it!

This is us waiting for the ride to fill up… all eager anticipation.

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OHO! Having second thoughts are we?

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And us in action - I was having a BALL but the kids, well, not so much!

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And you know what? They are REFUSING to come on with me next year.

Big chickens.

Kels went to a birthday party yesterday, and as per usual I had left it to the last minute to make a card for the little girl. Why am I so slack!?

Anyway I didn’t have time for fiddly colouring, so I grabbed Little Pieces, which I’ve only just bought - I can see that it’s going to come in very handy though!

I used my old tried and true easy card template - this one always looks good, and is QUICK!

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The colours are Regal Rose, Bashful Blue and Pretty in Pink - I just stamped randomly all over the whisper white strip with a few of the stamps from the Little Pieces set from Stampin’ Up! A bit of sponging on the edges and it was set to go onto the card front. The front is stamped with an image from Seeing Spots, just at the top. The other sets I used are the Tidy Alphabet (retiring) and the Happy Birthday is from a set called Eat Cake.

Three Bashful Blue brads, and some Pink grosgrain and light blue gingham ribbon, and it’s done.

Hope you like it!

Wow!  Thankyou to Sephi, who has given me the “You Make My Day” award!

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The rules for the You Make My Day award are to re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know through email or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times, and if you do, consider yourself really, really loved.

So… I’m passing the award to the following inspiring/funny/fabulous bloggers…. Marelle, Tracey, Carol, Sandie, Jan, Kerri, Claire, Gabbie, Yvonne, and of course, right back at the lovely Sephi!

Phew, quite a milestone I think! My father-in-law had a birthday get together with the family today in Bendigo - if you thought it was hot in Melbourne today, you should have felt it up there. I thought I would MELT, it was so awful.

Anyway, this is his birthday card. I’ve used Stem Silhouettes, which is fabbo for blokey cards I think. Very simple, and NO COLOURING!  Yay! Especially when I had to make it this morning before we left (oops)

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The colours are Really Rust, More Mustard and Basic Black with a dash of Pewter Hodgepodge and some black grosgrain ribbon as well. Apart from Stem Silhouettes, there are my two favourite backgrounds (both retiring *sob*). Print Pattern and French Script.

With all the brayering going on willy nilly everywhere, I thought I should give it a crack. The colours are the Really Rust and More Mustard, and it’s just onto Whisper White cardstock. I was fairly happy with how it turned out, given that my past brayering attempts have been complete DISASTERS. I guess I should have cleaned my brayer too (ahem) as there is a touch of the previous colour - alas it is blue - down at the bottom of the piece. Nevermind, all part of the charm :^O and a jolly good reason to bung some hodgepodge and ribbon on, to cover it up.

For anyone thinking about purchasing this month, I have my own promotion running, which is very simple - spend $100 on product, and choose a Classic Stampin’ Pad for free - so 10% more product for you!

Drop me a line if you’d like to order….. jenni.oliver@hotkey.net.au

Hope you like the card!