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 :)

3D Explosion/Surprise Boxes made with Stampin' Up!

Hi all! I did an "Explosion" or "Surprise" box class this week with my customers by popular demand and we actually did a "Birthday box themed" class with a card to match. I've been having alot of fun with the new Stampin' Up! Bigz Bow Die that is in the new seasonal catty and decided to make a couple more with a different theme with some of the new DSP papers in the seasonal catty. The silver bow embellished one was really meant to be "Christmasy" but would actually suit a special "Birthday" occasion. The Bow Die I can see getting used lots by me for all sorts of gifting, cards and scrapbooking projects. The Cherry Cobbler bow, I actually used Cordinations cardstock and embossed it and sanded it which gave it a "velvety look" that I'm really happy with! Enjoy your weekend.................Sue :)

Christmas Cards made with Stampin' Up! New Seasonal Catty & main catty products!

Well "hello" September!! August was not a month I care to revisit so here's hoping September brings better things!! I have been doing a little creating with some projects so hopefully I can play "catchup" this month and share them with you! I made these Chrissy cards for my class with some of the new product from the new Seasonal Catalogue which is now live and the bottom card I actually made from product in our main catty - except for the sentiment which is a carry over set called Greetings of the Season and is still available. I actually stamped this one on some of the new Cordinations neutrals cardstock (not Whisper White standard) and it gives it that "canvas" textured look. They are all quick and "easy as" cards and especially the Festive Flurry (snowflakes) stamp set which has framelits to match!! Thanks for looking............cheers Sue :)

Gorgeous Grunge Christmas Card Ideas

I love the new Stampin' Up! stamp set "Gorgeous Grunge"! It has soo many uses, as you can see from the cards above it can even be used on Christmas cards! I'm sure it's going to be one of those stamp sets I use regularly, think I'll just leave it arm's length instead of putting it away on the shelf so i don't have to keep getting up and down for it...lol ! Anyhow I've been busy preparing for my Christmas in July class tomorrow and ended up getting side tracked making these...better be getting back to what I'm supposed to be doing now.........thanks for looking, Sue :)

Stampin' Up! Everything Eleanor cards inspired from Convention

These cards were inspired by a beautiful card I saw at convention in Brisbane last May. It was made in Island Indigo like the one on the end in the top photo and I would love to give credit to the creator but unfortunately I have no idea who that talented person is....anyhow until I saw it I had honestly never really thought twice about buying this stamp set but after seeing not only this card, there were a few other lovely projects on display using this set, well I had to get it! I decided to also try and adapt it to a Christmas card and it worked as well. The bottom card in Calypso Coral is for a friend and I added a subtle "Giggle Greetings" stamp to it for a laugh! Thanks for looking, have a good week...........Sue :)

50th Anniversary Easel Card with Stampin' Up! Memorable Moments

I made two of these cards for my cousin's 50th wedding anniversary only because I wasn't sure which one I would prefer, and I'm still not decided which one to give her!! lol  They were inspired by my own "convention swaps" that I made a few months ago. I used the Stampin' Up Memorable Moments stamp set but definitely needed my stamp-a-ma-jig tool to get the placements just right. Now to pick which one to send???......have a good weekend.....Sue :)

Sunburst Style cards with new Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers

Hi all, I saw a video tutorial the other day on Frenchie stamps aka Frances Martin's blog on how to do this "sunburst technique" so of course I had to give it a go, especially to try out some of the new Stampin' Up! Designer Series Papers. I'm especially drawn to the black and vanilla Modern Medley papers which have that standout "wow" about them and are really suited to making "male" cards. I also used the new "Label Love" stamp set which has a matching punch and the "You are my Sunshine" stamp which is one of several "single" stamps available to be purchased separately. Well that's me for now, thanks for looking......Sue :)

Stampin' Up! New Gingham Wheel and other New Products!

Hi all! The day is finally here for the start of the new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue! Yay !! All the new products and goodies are available to order from noon today! Have to admit I end up having a "mojo meltdown" this time every year, only because I get so excited about all the new product to play with and so many ideas happening that I end up overwhelmed and not knowing where to start!! Anyhow I decided to have a play with the new "Gingham wheel", it gives me a "country cottage" sort of feeling so I ended up watercolouring some stamped images from the new hostess set "Simply Sketched" and the new "Best of Flowers" stamp set. These cards remind me of the older styles of cardmaking but "Oldies are still Goodies" and definitely have that handmade appeal which really is what this papercrafting passion is all about!! It's beautiful to see the sun actually shining today, we've had our fair share of rain this month here! cheers Sue :)

3D Circle Flip Up Card Inspired by the beautiful Stampin' Up! Convention Anniversary Display

I haven't made a 3D circle flip up card for sometime (the tutorial is available on "splitcoaststampers" but was so inspired by the beautiful display at the Stampin' Up! Brisbane Convention of their "Celebrating 25 Years" that I decide to have a try at a more humble version. I was really happy with my result but it definitely is a "wolf in sheep's clothing" project, looks simple but requires alot of time, patience, fussy cutting, bigshotting and hand glitzing!!I wouldn't be making another one in a hurry and "hats off" to the creators of the Stampin' Up! original! Glad we just had a "long weekend" otherwise i probably would not have finished it, now I'd better get on with some other chores that I've been neglecting..........cheers for now Sue :)

Stampin' Up! More Convention Make & Takes - Mixed up my way!

Here's a few more Make & Takes from Stampin' Up! Convention Brisbane that I made at home "my way"! Actually the Christmas one was inspired from a card on one of the display boards at convention. I've played with three new stamp sets on these cards, Gorgeous Grunge, Tag It and Hello Lovely which will be available to all from July 2 (not too far away now!) I'm really liking the "grunge" which is a new style to try for me and "washi tape" is fun too! I've seen it around but haven't played with any till now and it's more fun playing with it than just looking at it! Lol ! I made extra sample copies of these too and sent them to some of my customers and team members that didn't go to convention, just to share the fun around! Well time to get on with my 'real job" and do some more creating later!.....................cheers Sue :)