Sorry for the long pause between posts; as you all know December can be a pretty hectic time of year! Hopefully with the Christmas and New Year breaks I’ll find time to load some projects onto my blog – just to prove I have been busy with stamping and haven’t slackened right off!

Anyway, I just wanted to put a quick post up and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a bright and wonderful New Year!

Silly me – I ordered in our demo pre-order a second Perfect Punches stamp set, forgetting I already had one from Convention! So, as a little thank you for visiting my blog, I have one Perfect Punches stamp set I am giving away as  Blog Candy!  All you have to do is email me an order of $50 or more before Thursday 14^th October to be in the draw.

(Orders that are part of a workshop cannot be included. Sorry, Australian residents only).

Contact me today to place your order and go into the draw!

Just a reminder – the limited time offer to join Stampin’ Up! for only $259 ends on 31 July! If you have been thinking about joining, now is definately the time with the huge $65 saving! Here are some benefits of joining now:

• 20% off the Starter Kit, that’s a saving of $65!
• Earn 30% commission on your first order if placed within 45 days of joining!
• Pre-order from the new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue next month before the release on 1st September!
• Join my team of friendly demonstrators and attend Perth Regional training with us in September!
• Join my team and receive a free pack of materials to help get you started!
• Access the fantastic Stampin’ Up! demonstrator website and Stampin’ Connection!
• Access my demonstrator group website & forum, and gain lots of ideas and inspiration!

Interested? Contact me today for more information – but you had better hurry – this fabulous offer ends 31 July!

 As it’s the school holidays I decided to hold a couple of Mum & Kids Classes. Tuesday afternoon’s class this week was this cute little Pull-Out Scrapbook. I had heaps of the card backing from the 12×12 DSP packs which I used for the cover. I cut two pieces 10cm x 10cm for the front and back and one piece 2.5cm x 10cm for the spine of the folder. The card was then enclosed in DSP from the Pink Flamingo pack.

The inside of the scrapbook is two sets of pull-out pages each 8.8cm square which fold in concertina fashion, and tied with a ribbon. The cardstock pages coordinate with colours from the DSP. I decorated the pages with images from garden Whimsy stamp set.

I also made up a boys version using Autumn Traditions DSP and Bugs & Kisses stamp set. Here’s the outside of the scrapbook…

and the inside…

and the pages folded out…

Mum & Kids classes are fun (and I have fun creating them!)  and are specially designed so that both mum and child can spend some quality time together and each create a project! Stay tuned for more kids classes next school holidays!

I just thought I’d share with you one of the techniques my Hostess Stamp Club ladies have been learning on our monthly club nights. This card is made using Petal Pizzaz, Sanded and Stem Sayings stamp sets. Every month the club members learn a a new technique, make a card and also stamp up a sample for their techniques book, and I print up an instruction card to also include on the page. Two other cards or projects are also made on the night.  Club members are required to place a minimum $30 order each month, and take it in turns to be the hostess and receive the hostess benefits! It’s a fun way to earn some free stamps and product! Each stamp club night is held at my place, and I provided the tea and coffee, materials, tuition and inspiration! The hostess provides the supper! Are you lacking creative mojo? Are you interested in stamping  in a fun, friendly atmosphere? Contact me today for more information or to register your interest.

I’ve finally managed to get this post together ready to upload! I’ve had endless trouble re-sizing the photos, but I’ve managed, so finally…. here’s my news of Convention and some photos of my fabulous time in Sydney to share with you…

The Stampin’ Up! Convention is over for another year…….. and what fun it was! My friend Wendy attended Convention in Sydney with me this year, and we arrived to a very wet Sydney on the Wednesday morning. It fined up later that day, and we managed a trip on the monorail, stopping off at the Queen Victoria Building where we discovered the Pandora shop! The QVB is such a picturesque building, with mosaic tiled floors, stained glass windows and domes in the roof. I put my new digital SLR camera to good use, and I’m delighted with the results of the photos!

Shopping in the Queen Victoria Building

The next day saw us heading over to The Rocks to start our adventure on the Bridge Climb. Yes, I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge! I was a little nervous at first, and tried not to look down too often, but once we got going and reached the top it was amazing to be able to look down and see the traffic passing below! We had the Army training overhead in helicopters too, and got friendly waves in return! It was an awesome experience, and unknown to me Ngaire’s team “The Stamparoos” from Perth were also booked in on the same climb, so that made it extra special that I was climbing with fellow demonstrators and friends I have known for 4 years! After the climb, some of us set off together to catch a bus back to Paddy’s Markets to have a very late lunch/afternoon tea and a browse around the market stalls.

View of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Paddy's Market building

That night I attended a special Manager’s Reception at the Convention Centre, for those demonstrators who have reached Manager or above level. We were greeted by Shelli Gardner, the CEO and Co-founder of Stampin’ Up!, and her husband Sterling. After a friendly welcome and updates by Shelli, we were ushered into another room for a scrumptious supper! Real melted chocolate was being drizzled down and around the sides of specially designed SU! mugs displaying the SU! logo and the image from Share a Cup stamp! The mugs were then topped up with frothy hot milk, and we were given one each and a spoon to stir and slurp to our heart’s content! So yummy and devine! It was a lovely occasion to catch up with everyone before the actual start of Convention, and when we departed we were each given one of the mugs (large enough for several shots of coffee or hot chocolate!) beautifully presented with a Share a Cup stamp set! 

Share a Cup mug & stamp set

Convention was well underway with everyone meeting in the Convention centre foyer at 7am to busily swap cards! I managed to make about 80 swaps this year, and received some fabulous swaps in return! Not forgetting to mention a visit to Memento Mall where I purchased this gorgeous card tree! I’ve clipped up some of my swaps to show off…..

My decorated SU! card tree with some of the swaps I received

Then we had a creative morning of making 4 projects for the Make & Takes, with demonstrations and workshop training over the remainder of Friday and Saturday. We also had a special demonstration from Shelli on “vintage” style.

My swaps ready to go!

Tulips for the table centres

Saturday night was topped off with the awards night anddinner. As we entered the room, we were greeted by the paparazzi and the staff of Stampin’ Up! – and we actually got to walk the red carpet! The dinner was sumptuous! I love this time of Convention, where we get to recognise fellow demonstrators and their achievements over the last 12 months. My achievements this year landed me in the $20K Sales Award bracket, and I was also recognised for the Milestone Award which is $100K in career sales!

$100K Career Sales Achievers

And then came that extra exciting part of Convention where the next Incentive Trip is announced – 2011 Incentive Trip Achievers are going to FIJI! It was announced with a little help this year – Fijian dancers and music added to the excitement! Convention 2011 will be in Melbourne from 12-14 May – that’s right – 3 days!

2011 Incentive Trip Announcement - Fiji

Stampin’ Up! make their demonstrators feeI very special, and I feel privileged to be a part of the Stampin’ Up! family!

I’m chuffed! I’ve been awarded the Beautiful Blogger Award by a very talented fellow demonstator Tanya Kitto! Thanks Tanya! Now, as part of me accepting the award, I’m obliged to tell you ten things about myself! So here goes…..

1. I’ve been married for 24  years!

2. I’ve been stamping for over 20 years (my first stamp was a PSX stamp of a goose pulling a wagon!)

3. I did Correspondence School in the 70′s as we lived in a remote area. 

4. I recently acquired my motorcyle licence and bought my first motorbike (never too old to learn something new!)

5. I’m allergic to avocado!

6. I’ve been a volunteer of the Western Australian State Emergency Service for 17 years!

7. I won a contest and met The Black Eyed Peas last October!

8. I’m totally addicted to Stampin’ Up!

9. I’m totally addicted to chocolate too (who isn’t?!)

10. I have all the Bones series books written by Kathy Reichs and I haven’t read them all!

Now, it’s my duty to share 10 inspirational blogs with you…

Joanna Wassens

Simone Bartrum

Kerri Hunter

Bronwyn Eastley

Wendy Todd

Jayne Mercer

Gail Kirby

Shelley Starkis

Mandy Schiller

Miriam Thomas

Just a quick note to let you all know that I am still here and I haven’t vanished off the face of the earth! The last few weeks have been huge – the mad rush to get organised for Convention (well, I did slot in Stamp Club and a class the weekend before I left!), four fabulous days in Sydney (which I will report on shortly) and then coming home to house and dog sit (amidst my morning work) for my father who was unwell and in hospital having tests  – I felt like I was barely home in the 2 weeks since I left for Convention! And I only just found the time to unpack my bag yesterday! Anyway, now that life is getting back to some sort of normality (by the way, what is normal??), I hope to share with you in the next few days my wonderful trip to Sydney and Convention 2010! Be back soon!

Wishing you all a very happy & safe Easter!

Little Grove Fire before the road closures

What a day yesterday! Friday here was a hot day for Albany; I think it got up to 42 degrees celcius at the airport. It was hotter in the CBD than here at Little Grove, but we are close to the water and get the cooler breeze off the southern ocean. We had hot dry  conditions  again yesterday - and a fire started out near the Wind farm. I was in town attending an Air Observer course at FESA – the fire was rather a spectacular sight when we went up for our practical flight. My daughter Laura took this photo on her way into town for make-up and hair appointments in preparation for her school ball. While we were all in town (and DH left yesterday on a week long motorbike trip!)  Frenchman Bay Road, the only road in and out of the peninsula where we live, was closed. A Stay or Go alert was broadcast and the Police were doorknocking in our area to advise of this. My son decided to stay in town, and Laura and I managed to get a ride home across the harbour on the Silver Star boat, which was on it’s way to ferry people stuck at the Yacht Club back to the town jetty.

View of fire from on the harbour

It was nice to be home, and to know our dogs were safe, but after a while the wind changed direction and became quite stong, so we decided it was time to pack some belongings and prepare the house. Needless to say the school ball was cancelled, as it was being held at the Yacht Club which was being used as an emergency evacuation point. Fortunately, soon after the wind picked up a steady rain came which was a blessing to all! That was enough excitement for a while! I hope to get some projects posted up here soon. My pre-order for the Autumn Mini arrived on Friday, so I’ll now have to get cracking on some creations in preparation for my Autumn Mini Launch on 9th April!