Stampin' Up! Get Your Santa On! Centre Step Card Idea

Hi all! Been awhile since my last post, sorry about the "hiatus", but I won't ramble on too much except to say lift can be "challenging" at times, have had odd things happen like a broken finger and that rotten flu knocking me down twice in the last few months, anyway I'm sure everyone gets my "drift" and my aim is to resume regular posting and sharing ideas again.

I have still been holding my regular classes so I'll be posting some of the projects I've been making over the last few months as well.

Meanwhile I'll share as many christmas projects as I can create between now and "Ho Ho" to which the countdown starts tomorrow Dec 1. First one being this centre step card I made with the Stampin' Up! holiday season stamp set called "Get your Santa on", I've coloured the Santa suits with Stampin' Up Blendabilites, alcohol markers which are an exciting product that was introduced in this years' annual catalogue. I'm discovering the Blendabilities to be very versatile and useful in more ways than colouring images on paper! I'll share some of those ideas as well! I will be sharing another post in a few days instead of a few months, this time! ......cheers for now, Sue :)

Getting Happy Mail ready for the new Stampin' Up! catty!

Hi all! Well what can I say, yes there has been quite a "lapse" since my last post however that has been due to a major "house move" and big changes to some of my life however I'll leave that long story alone and just be happy to say my lost "mojo" is finding itself and I'm feeling relaxed and settled enough to get back into some creative fun!!

Nothing like a new Stampin' Up! catalogue release due very shortly to inspire flagging creativity!! I received my "big brown box" of preorder goodies and catalogues on Friday just before the long weekend so I've been busy playing with the new 2014-15 incolours, Work of Art, Traveller stamp sets, and getting happy mail and catalogues ready to send out shortly....love the new goodies as always and just need to now decide if I'm going to play with the Project Life scrapbooking products or the Blendabilities alchohol markers.......decisions, decisions!!!! Take care all, I'm happy to be back "posting".....cheers Sue :)

P.S. Catty goes "live" July 1 !!

Stampin' Up! Zoo Babies Card in a Box and a Valentine Box

Well I finally jumped on the popular "Card in a Box" trending at the moment but instead of a "flowery" one I opted for the sooo cute Stampin' Up! stamp set Zoo Babies. The Valentine one is for my daughter. They are fun and easy to make, I was quite surprised because they do look a little on the difficult side! We did the Zoo Babies one in my class yesterday and whilst there is quite a bit of fussy cutting for the zoo babies I think the result was worth it and everyone else liked it too. Well the weekend is nearly here.....yay! Thanks for looking............Sue :)

Recycling ideas for using Stampin' Up! Brown paper and cardboard packaging.

I was inspired by a friend to see what little gift packaging ideas I could come up with for a fundraiser, so to keep costs down and funds raised higher I decided to have a play with recycling the brown paper packaging that comes in our order boxes (we love our big brown boxes arriving....lol) and some of the other cardboard packaging. I did a little bit of stamping and embellishing with some of my other left over bits and pieces and came up with these ideas! In the middle picture the bottom box is actually one of Stampin' Up! Kraft gift boxes (ready to assemble) so I made the similar one above it out of cardboard and recycled acetate sheet, used the fringe scissors to make the brown paper shredding and just added a bit of embellishment. Enjoy what's left of your weekend and thanks for looking......Sue :)
P.S. Don't forget Sale-A-Bration has started so for every $90 worth of Stampin' Up! product ordered you get to choose a free product from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue!

Male and Female Valentine's Card Ideas made with Stampin' Up!

Here's some "His n Hers" Valentines cards we will be making in my class this week. Have to say I'm not really into much Hooohaa for Valentines Day and I don't have much in the way of Valentine's sentiment stamps but I think the ones I have used work fine and all anyone needs to do is write a happy valentine message inside. They could also work for another ocassion as well! I was pleased with my male card when it was finished I think it much more "blokey" than "mushy" and I had fun playing with the new Stampin' Up! Gold embossed vellum papers for the female card! Thanks for looking, hope everyone's off to a great start to the week!............Sue :)

Male Birthday cards "Rev Up The Fun" Stampin' Up! stamp set.

Here's some male birthday card ideas using the Stampin' Up! Rev Up The Fun stamp set from the main catalogue combined with a few new products which are available starting today! Not only are new products now available from the new seasonal catty, "Sale-a-Bration" starts today as well and is here until March 31. So for every $90 of products purchased from any current catalogue there is a freebie to choose from the Sale-a-Bration catalogue! One of the new products I'm liking much is the Hardwood background stamp which I used on the top two cards. The bottom card is a "waterfall" card and I used a piece of Modern Medley designer series paper for the background, this paper set is also great for male cards. If you would like a copy of the new seasonal and SAB catalogues just contact me by email or phone. Cheers for now.....Sue :)

"Easy As" Gift Card Holders using the Stampin' Up! Envelope Liner Framelits

These gift card holders are "easy as" to make using the Stampin' Up! Envelope Liner Framelits. Just cut two pieces of cardstock, one front half and one back half, score both sides and the bottom about 3/8", cut out the bottom tabs and stick together with red sticky strip! How easy can they get! Oh and just punch some "handles" at the top! The baby one is just whisper white cardstock the other three I just used the Adhesive sheets available in the Stampin' Up! main catalogue to adhere some designer series patterned papers to the cardstock before I cut them in the Bigshot. Goes without saying I'm still having fun with the new Spiral Flower Die which will be available to purchase from next Tues, Jan 28, when all the new goodies from the new Seasonal catty will be available. Not to mention again that for every $90 of products purchased you get to choose a "freebie" from the Sale-A-Bration catalogue! Just contact me by phone or email if you would like to purchase any products or have any questions! Also my classes are starting back up in February. Thanks for looking..........Sue :)

Stampin' Up! Spiral Flower Die Sneak Peek - Bouquet with 13 different flowers from the one die!

Here's a bouquet of flowers I made last week, all with just one die!! Stampin' Up! demos are lucky enough to be able to pre purchase and play with new products coming out before they are available to the public and I think this one is brilliant!! This spiral flower die will be available in the new Stampin' Up! seasonal catalogue starting next week January 28 and not only that "Sale-a-Bration" starts at the same time so for every $90 of products purchased customers get to choose a "freebie" product from the Sale-a-Bration catty as well!
I actually created this bouquet to demostrate ways to use this great new die at a fun "team meeting" last Saturday organised by our team leader, Linda Higgins, SU meetings are always fun and inspirational, getting together with other crafty, like minded ladies!
Well a quick summary of the bouquet is except for the little white buds (I cut half the spiral in half to make these smaller ones) the rest are all created in SU Crisp Canteloupe variations: standard cardstock, designer series paper, Co-Ordinations cardstock, white cs coloured with Crisp Canteloupe ink, bleached cs, fringed (we've got new Fringe scissors too), sanded, distressed and split cs, embossed, sponged and my favourite was to actually do a "double" flower with two spirals together (just start rolling the first and add in the second one just a little further along) and all different types of looks can be created!
My best tip of advice is to "spritz" your spiral with water before you start rolling so it's nice and soft and pliable so you don't end up with a stiff, creased looking flower. Looking forward to sharing and creating with this great new die with my customers in the next few weeks! Thanks for looking............Sue :)

Stampin' Up! Coaster Board Bookmarks with some Sneak Peeks

Well "Happy New Year" all! This is my first post for the year and some creative excitement is starting already, we have a new seasonal catalogue and the yearly Sale-a-Bration beginning at the end of January! One of the best perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is we get to pre-order some of the new goodies coming our way and play with them early! Here are some Coaster Board (available in our main catty now) bookmarks I've been making tonight to give out to my customers with their new catties later this month with just a few "sneak peeks" for them to see and I will be posting more as I get creative with all my new goodies! Thanks for looking.............Sue :)

Just to share a couple of my Christmas Highlights

Hi all, hope everyone had a nice Christmas! Thought I would share just a little of my Christmas highlights! The first photo of Christmas cards is very special to me, my daughter made one for me and one for her Dad, she has quite a talent for art and drawing and drew the lovely pictures on the cards herself. So the fact that I love her art and she knows my passion for paper crafting just made these an extra special thoughtful gift!
The second picture is some kraft boxes from Stampin' Up! that I decorated and filled with little Christmas gifts for my special "crafty" friends and the third picture is us having a wonderful Christmas lunch together, we had a great day sharing and giving each other our handmade creations and gifts, and of course lots of laughs!
Well Christmas is now over for another year and I'm looking forward to another year of creativity and fun! I will say as much as I love "Christmas crafts" I'm looking forward to creating new projects without "red,green and bling" for a while, well until a bit later in 2014 that is!.......cheers for now Sue :)

Christmas Cards - Bow Angels and Santa's List, last lot made and mailed!

Well i got a good early start this year with making my Christmas cards but as usual for some reason I end up rushing them out a week before Ho Ho!! Happens every year! I think perhaps I kid myself with an early start that I'm ahead on time but as soon as December 1 clicks over "time" seems to change to "warp speed"...lol.
Anyhow they are all finished and in the post! Still have some projects to finish this week but am feeling very relieved my christmas "happy mail" is on it's way! Thanks for looking.........Sue :)

Easy Christmas Wreath made with Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper

Well the 1st of December is here so the "silly season" has definitely begun! I saw a tutorial for this "easy as" wreath on Tami White's blog (US demo) and decided to make one for myself. All you need is a 12" foam wreath ring ( think it was about $5 from spotlight) a box of pins, approx. 8 sheets of patterned designer series papers (12" x 12") cut into 1/2" strips, a bone folder and a little patience! It doesn't take that long to make really, oh and a thimble is good idea so you don't get sore fingers from pushing the pins in! I finished it off with a simple silver glitter cardstock bow which I cut with the very versatile Bow Die from the Stampin' Up! seasonal catty which as you can see from my projects lately that I use it a lot! Well back to more projects on my "to do before Christmas List".........thanks for looking......Sue :)

I've actually begun to make my Christmas Cards starting with Santa's List from Stampin' Up!

I can't believe I've got such a good start on my Christmas cards and it's still November for a little while at least! I hope my "momentum" continues...well actually, the "bucket loads" of rain we've had here this weekend is probably why I managed to get a good start. The "Santas List" cards I made in my top pic were inspired/cased from Tami White (one of the top US demos - Stamp with Tami) she has a video tutorial on her blog for that one. The other Merry "thinlits" cards were cased/inspired by one of our very talented Aussie demos, Tenealle Williams. I've been wanting to get out my sewing machine and try a bit of sewing on cards for ages but have been to lazy to drag it out of the cupboard, I will thank Tenealle for her inspiration! I also saw a little tip somewhere on the net on how to add a little colour to the lovely "Frosted Embellishments" currently available in the seasonal catty, just add a few drops of reinker to some Crystal Effects and apply it to the rhinestones with a toothpick! Hope all have a good start to the week.........cheers for now Sue :)

Stampin' Up! Mosaic Punch card ideas

I would have to first admit that after buying and having a little play with the Stampin' Up Mosaic Punch that I bored of it very quickly and so it stayed barely used in my punches drawer. Anyhow one of my customers put an order in for one this week so I challenged myself to have another go at this punch to see what I could come up with, the other part was just to use the Mosaic Punch and not the co-ordinating stamp set, Mosaic Madness, which does give its uses more options. Well, here's the result of today's effort! thanks for looking...............Sue :)

A 16th Birthday Card and Thank You Card Inspired by the Stampin' Up! Eastern Elegance DSP

Well my "baby" daughter turned sweet sixteen the other day so I wanted to make her a card that wasn't too "pink or little girlyish" and was inspired by the freshness of the Stampin' Up! Eastern Elegance Designer Series Papers, the new incolour "Coastal Cabana" (blueish/turquoisey) is just soo clean, light and fresh and yet goes so well with the Smoky Slate (light silvery sort of grey) and Crushed Curry (mustardy sort of yellow), hope you understand my way of describing the colours.....lol !! I made a matching envelope with new "must have" Envelope Punch Board and wrapped and decorated a gift to match as well. Today I was wanting to make a thank you card for a very thoughtful friend who did me a lovely favour so I just picked up where I left off from my DD's birthday card and the thank you card came together effortlessly!! Wish that were the case more of the time.The angel is so easy to make with the new Stampin' Up! Bow Die which is still available in the current seasonal mini catty until Feb 1, 2014. I know the bow die was money well spent for me, I am using it "lots"!..........the weekend is nearly here, have a good one! .........Sue :)

Chatterbox cards (aka "Nit Pickers") made with Stampin' Up!

Here's a couple of pics of some "Chatterbox" cards (apparently also called "Nit Pickers") that we made in one of my classes some time back. I hadn't actually got around to completely finishing mine off till recently, like alot of other projects I start and come back to at a later date!! lol ! Ideally I think this style card is most suited to a little girls' birthday card over anything else but it still works as a "fun" style of card. Ok now I'm going to turn away from the computer and spend the rest of my Sunday finishing off some more uncompleted projects!!............Hope everyone is having a good weekend......cheers for now....Sue :)

Punch Art - Girly Golf Birthday card

Here's a punch art card I made for a good friend's birthday who enjoys playing golf. I cased it from a card I saw a few years back (sorry don't know who to give credit to for this one) and just "girlied" it up to a female card. All made with Stampin' Up product except the "19" number stickers! Funny that we are always looking for male card ideas then I decide to "girly" up a male card for a female....lol !! Thanks for looking.....Sue :)

"Breathable" Soap Box Gift Idea - Made with Stampin' Up!

I recently stumbled across some great video tutorials on Youtube made by a talented UK demo, Sam Donald of "Pootles Papercraft", she has made quite a few 3D gift ideas which are one of my favourite projects to make. These particular "breathable" boxes for handmade soaps have a punch hole near the top which allows the soap to breathe and the lovely fragrances to waft out from them, I love Aromatherapy!
Lucky for me I am able to purchase varieties of fragrance and colour soap for a very reasonable price at my local market and am actually able to coordinate the soap colours with the great colour range Stampin' Up! offers. I already made a dozen or so and plan to make quite a few more for Christmas gifts :) By the way if my calculations are correct it is now 71 days till "Ho Ho".........thanks for looking, Sue :)

Gift Bow Bigz Die Card Ideas

Hi all, I've been playing with the "Gift Bow Bigz Die" from the Stampin' Up Seasonal Catty and it sooo versatile!! There's lots of different ways to use it besides the obvious making bows for gift boxes, which I reckon is alot cheaper to decorate gifts by making your own than buying gift toppers, even from the cheap shops! As you can see I've used it for birthday, christmas and wedding cards here and I think it would be great for baby ideas,girls and masculine projects as well. Not to mention great for some scrapbooking pages as well! I definitely think this die was well worth purchasing (my customers have bought it too and are also really happy with it!). Thanks for looking......have a good day, Sue :)

Candle Stamping with Stampin' Up! Christmas stamps

Just for something a bit different I showed my class how to stamp on candles a few weeks ago, the class went really well which was great because I had had some concerns of anyone being heavy handed with the heat gun may end up with a "melted , misshapen project" but thankfully this did not happen!! lol!

The Festive Flurry and Snowflake Soiree stamp sets have great "decorative style" designs in them which are perfect for decorating a candle I did some in the traditional christmas "red and green" but my favourite is the "Coastal Cabana" blue with the silver, it's such a lovely colour!! Hope everyone is having a nice week....cheers for now...Sue :)