Wow, today’s the 1st November already - where did October go? I had an extremely busy month preparing for our annual Stamp ’n’ Scrap Retreat which was held at The Cove in Denmark the weekend before last. I promised I would post photos of the projects we made – everything was based around the Beau Chateau collection….

 Friday night we covered an on board journal with Beau Chateau fabric. This one is based on one made for our demonstrator retreat by one of my downline Sharon Tunbridge (thanks Sharon!) To cover this one we opened the spiral and removed the covers and pages.

Saturday morning we spent creating a double page scrapbooking layout using Beau Chateau DSP and the Creative Elements stamp set. The concealed journaling tag is made using the scallop ended tag from the Two Tags Die.

This is the second page of the double layout. We cut an extended tag using the folded tag from the Two Tags die, to enlarge the tag so a small photo could be added with journaling inside the tag. These photographs are copies taken of my maternal grandparents taken during WWI and also on their wedding day in 1921. The shoes are my grandmother’s which she wore on her wedding day – I can remember trying them on when I was little! We are fortunate enough to still have them in safe keeping. I am yet to add titles and journaling to my pages.

Next on the agenda to make was the Beau Chateau and Creative Elements Card & Envelope Compendium. I love how there are so many different uses for this stamp set – it’s just so versatile!

The pocket holds an assortment of tags made using Teeny Tiny Sentiments stamped onto Very Vanilla  card and punched out with the Word Window Punch and adhered to a Modern Label punched in Soft Suede card. A label can be chosen according to the occasion and can be adhered across the oval on the face of a card.

An assortment of cards made using Beau Chateau DSP and Creative Elements.

One of the Saturday afternoon/night projects was the Card Organiser made using the Elisabeth stamp.

The pages are made from 12×12 card and folded to make pockets to hold finsihed cards to give.

Scraps of Beau Chateau DSP were then used to decorate a Tri-Shutter card.

I just love the coordination in the DSP!

One of the last projects to make was a Drawer Box Easel Card. We made 3D flowers using the new Lace Doiley Layering punch.

Last but not least to make was the 3D frame – stamped with Creative Elements, embossed in gold and gently watercoloured. Elegant! Thank you to everyone who came on the retreat!

Our Stampin’ Up! Regional Training was held in Perth last Saturday, and I was privileged to be asked to present a Workshop Wow again this year!  Last month you may remember I made a cute little chocolate box (and it still holds the chocolates – uneaten!) and a centre step card stamped with the Dreams Du Jour stamp set ? I made some cute little scrunched up flowers to decorate the box and the card. I also used the same technique to make a flower to decorate a 3D frame, of which I  made another 10 to give to each of my downline as a thank you gift for attending our demonstrator retreat last month. I initially came across this technique by Joanne Leddy for making the flowers, and wondered what they would look like made with other punches. So, I just had to experiment! I got some stunning results with the new layering punches and the Fun Flowers Bigz L die, so decided I just had to share my Spring flower fest at regionals! 

This is my 3D frame on display at regionals, made with the Creative Elements stamp set .

I also made this gift box using the scruptious Mocha Morning DSP. The middle sized flowers are made by using the new Doiley layering punch, and the tiny ones are made by using the little pointy flower on the Boho Blossoms punch. I love the vintage look with the Antique brads! I’ll have to buy a truck load if ever they look like retiring!

I also made a heap of assorted flowers – all shapes, colours and sizes, but Sophie asked if she could take them back to Sydney with her and I didn’t get a chance to take a photo! I did however make this one, which reminds me of anemones which I once grew when I had a flower garden on the farm. This flower inspired me to make a poppy using Poppy Parade cardstock, and so inspired this scrap book page…..

The Crumb Cake page is stamped with Creative Elements and Baroque Motifs stamp sets, and I have watercoloured the Creative Elements image. I think I am addicted to that stamp set! The page also features the new Swirls Scribbles Sizzlits die and the the new Lace Ribbon Border punch. The photo is a copy of an original taken of my great uncle in France in WWI. I used the distressing kit (sanding block and inks) to “antique” and distress the photo.

At the end of my presentation Aaron presented me with this gorgeous card and voucher for a stamp set (I’m still deciding which set to order!) A huge thank you to Stampin’ Up! for another fabulous Regional Training!

Oh, and just a reminder – there are only 3 days remaining to order the Mini Starter Kit for $169, or the regular Starter Kit with 20% discount! Did you know that you now don’t need to have an ABN to join?  If you have been thinking about joining the Stampin’ Up! family – don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity! Contact me today for more information!

With the Retired List now out, it’s a good opportunity for a blog hop to say “goodbye” to many of the stamp sets which are retiring! I’m a member of ESAD-SU, which is an on-line group of Stampin’ Up! demonstrators across Australia and New Zealand, and today there are 26 of us taking part in the Blog Hop! We have all chosen retiring stamp sets to showcase on our projects for today’s Blog Hop.

What is ESAD?

ESAD stands for “Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators” and it is an on-line group just for Australian and New Zealand Stampin Up demonstrators.

 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 it is 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 thought I’d give myself a bit of a challenge, and use Dreams du Jour. I loved this stamp set from the first time I saw it, but really on used it on a few occassions. So, it was a good opportunity to get it off the shelf and ink it up again!

First I made this chocolate box. I’ve used Riding Hood Red card for the box, and Chocolate Chip card and Love Letter Designer Series Paper to decorate the lid of the box. I’ve stamped the “Dreams” image in Chocolate Chip ink onto Very Vanilla Card, and watercoloured the image with inks and a Blender Pen. The decorative edge around the box is made with a 1.5cm strip of Very Vanilla card and punched using the Scallop Trim border punch. I’ve added some 3.2mm Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon to the punched strip, and added a bow to the front of the box.  The flowers are made by using the Fancy Flower, Five Petal and Boho Blossoms punches, and layering the punch outs together and inserting an Antique brad. The flowers are spritzed with water and scrunched.

I made an insert for the inside of the box, to help separate the chocolates and keep them in place.

Each chocolate is wrapped in a strip of Vanilla card stamped with the “Love You” image and again watercoloured. I think this would make a lovely Mother’s Day gift, don’t you?

I decided to go with the same romantic vintage theme and make a matching centre step card. This card was so easy, and came together very quickly! The thing I love most about Stampin’ Up! is how everything coordinates – it makes stamping and paper crafting a breeze!

This card is decorated in the same manner as the chocolate box, and I have utilized the other two stamps in the Dreams du Jour stamp set. If you would like to purchase this stamp set, or any others from the Retired List, remember they are only available while stocks last. Contact your demonstrator today if you wish to order.

The next blog to visit on the Retired List Blog Hop is the very creative Tanya Bell

Thanks for visiting, enjoy the Blog Hop and have a great weekend!

1.    Keryn Campbell 

2.    Michelle Martin 

3.    Richelle Fletcher 

4.    Sharlene Meyer 

5.    Karen Southwell 

6.    Carole Stedman 

7.    Sherylee Tutt 

8.    Monique Fielder 

9.    Juliette Chapman

 10.  Rebecca Scurr

11.    Yvonne Walker

12.  Karen Rogers

 13.  Dani Fender

 14.  Cathy Clark

15.  Tanya Bell  

16.  Kelly Nelson

 17.  Sharlene Torres 

18.  Kari Hughes  

19.  Mel Sharp

 20.  Christie Kunkel

 21.  Debbie Lamb  

22.  Clare Mcilhatton

 23.  Michelle Halling

 24.  Nicole VanSteelandt Derendorf  

25.  Elizabeth Dyson

26.  Joanne Kechagias

Aren’t they sweet? They are CASEd from the very talented and inspirational Bronwyn Eastley, and you can view a tutorial on how to make the butterflies here on Bronywn’s blog. We made these last week with my Stamp Club ladies, using Pink Pirouette & Very Vanilla cardstock and the Strength & Hope stamp set. This stamp set can be found in the Autumn Winter Mini Catalogue, and $2 from the purchase of each set is being donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. If you haven’t already purchased this gorgeous stamp set, you only have until the 31st of July!

My butterfly is cased from one shown at Convention. The background is double embossesd. To do this I  embossd a 5 1/4″ x 4″ piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock first with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, then the Framed Tulips embossing folder. This size card sits exactly inside the tulip frame. It’s then adhered to a piece of 22cm x 14.5cm of Elegant Eggplant card – slightly larger than the usual A5 piece to accomodate the emboosed frame.

The butterflies are made by adhering some pretty floral cotton fabric onto Very Vanilla cardstock using a piece of Sizzix Adhesive Sheet (love that stuff!) Then it’s cut using the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die,  and run through the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. Voila! Embossed fabric embellishments! A couple of Vintage brads, some Victoria lace, Stampin’ Dimensionals, and “ta da”!! The label is from the Notably Ornate stamp set. Pretty, huh?

Recently I took part in a Secret Bunny Swap for Easter with fellow Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators from ESAD  (Extra Special Australasian Demonstrators – for Stampin’ Up!), an on-line group which I belong to. Now that my gift has been received, I thought I’d share with you what I made to send to my chosen demonstrator.

Here’s what I made – a DSP handbag, complete with flap and front pocket and a match book sewing kit in the pocket. The handbag template is from Becky Roberts Purse-onally Perfect Notes Tutorial, and I added a flap and adjusted the size of the pocket. I originally saw the little matchbook sewing kit on Belinda Tubby’s blog, and had made a stack of them as little gifts for my customers who attended my Autumn-Winter Mini Catalogue Launch. So, in keeping with the Sew Suite theme, I just had to include one in the pocket of the handbag! Oh, and I filled the handbag with Rafaello choccies!

As well as a handmade gift, I included a card – and of course it just had to coordinate with the gift! I decided to make a Never Ending Card; it was so much fun to make with Stampin’ Up!’s sewing range of stamps, DSP and accessories!

If you have never made a Never Ending Card before – they are very easy to make! A pdf of the measurements can be found here in the side bar of my blog.

They are one of those things you can’t put down – they just keep opening…..

and opening…….

Main products used for the above projects (all products are Stampin’ Up!):

• Melon Mambo cardstock
• Sweet Stitches Designer Series Paper
• Pompom Trim Daffodil Delight
• Designer Big Buttons
• Button, Button stamp set
• Sweet Buttons Embosslit
• Sew Suite stamp set
• Ink pads, cardstock and markers to coordinate with the DSP

I’ll be back another day to show you the gorgeous gift I received from my Secret Bunny, but for now I had better go and get some more swaps made for the Stampin’ Up! Convention in Melbourne which is being held in 2 weeks time! I have just over a week to get organised!!

I designed this card for the Make & Take at my Autumn Winter Mini catalogue launch which was held on 3 April. Thank you to all the lovely ladies who came along to make it an enjoyable afternoon! The card is made using the In Stitches jumbo wheel. To get hte three colours I used one of the new Uninked Jumbo Triple Cell Crtridges and iked it up uing re-inkers. If you’d like to have a go at making this card you can download a free pdf tutorial here. Enjoy!

Thought I’d share with you a couple of the cards we made at my Precious Petals card class…

This one’s a Spiral Card and made using a purchased template. I’ve used Love Letter DSP and sponged the edges using the Tea Stain ink cube from the Distressing Essentials kit. The Ridiing Hood Red centre is actually a tiny version of the bigger spiral card, and is held in place with a rhinestone brad…

The tag is stamped using Artistic Etchings stamp set in Early Espresso and Riding Hood Red ink. Here’s the spiral card opened…

The brad is placed through the Very Vanilla base and adhered to the card so that it doesn’t show through to the back. When closed, the petals tuck in behind the next petal to form the spiral! I’ll be back tomorrow to show you the other one!

I just love it! How cute is this! Meet Hooter the Owl – my daughter named him

This is the first time I have used my Two Step Owl punch! I quickly made up this card this afternoon to include as a free project with my monthly newsletter which I email out to my customers. But he is so cute I just had to share him! You can print the instructions on how to make the card here. Most months I include a project with my newsletter, if you would like to go on my email/newsletter list then contact me!

Post Script: My apologies, there was an error on the pdf instructiuons with the size of the Sahare Sand base card. The correct size is A6. I have amended the instructions

 I’m so much loving my Big Shot, and I’m wondering why it took me so long to get into die cutting and embossing! We made this card yesterday at my Punched Cards Class. It’s made using the new Extra Large Two-Step Bird punch, the Originals Oval dies, and the Stampin’ Up! Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (also exclusive to Stampin’ Up!)  The cardstock is Not Quite Navy, Kraft and Very Vanilla, and the DSP is from the Bella Bleu pack. I embossed the Vanilla cardstock and the bird’s wing together in the embossing folder, then placed each colour of card and paper required for the ovals onto the oval die. To save cutting three of each ovals, I cut a piece of paper or card the size of each oval. The lace “frill” is made by punching along the length of an A4 sheet of cardstock, then trimming the card with a cutter to form a narrow lacey strip. Carefully “push” each section of lace together to form pleats so that the lace strip begins to curve, then carefully snip into the straight edge to help ease the lace when gluing it under the oval. It’s a bit difficult to describe – if I get time this week I ‘ll try and post a tutorial on how to make the lace edge! The two smaller ovals are layered together and “popped” using Stampin Dimensionals, as well as the bird and the wing for a gorgeous 3D effect.