I love this little birdy from the Cheep Talk set. He's cute, and this stamp set is so easy to work with. And it's currently 20% off as part of this month's Two Step Stamp special! We are using this set at workshops during July (see cards below), and it's popular with everyone – beginners and experienced stampers alike. Here are a couple of simple cards perfect for beginners. They use the same supplies, but one is landscape layout and the other is portrait.

I love how this little guy even looks great as a simple no layer card…

I haven't had a chance to update you on our fab Team Day which was on Saturday. Our little country town didn't know what hit it. We had a lot of visitors that day all in the name on Stampin' Up! with team members coming from NSW, from the other side of Melbourne, and lots of other regional towns in Victoria. I'm so amazed that our 'little' group of EurekaStampers now number 50, and what a lovely group it is.

This is my fave photo, even though it cuts a few of us out ;( 
(but oh it was fun to watch Debbie jump up on the table to take this shot).

We did our own version of Prize Patrol (door prizes/lucky numbers), did Make & Takes using new stamps from the yet-to-be-released 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue, swapped and generally had a lovely time. My favourite was watching some of the girls in our team get up and do demonstrations and interesting techniques. Lots of "wows" there!

We don't often get the chance to see each other face to face so it's always special when that happens. Thanks girls for making it a great day.

Stop press: You still have time to join Stampin' Up! while the Starter Kit is only $259 (from 1st of August it will be back to $324, which is still a bargain mind you) More info here. Join up with me or one of the team members in my group and you can join us at our next team day!

We are nearly at the end of school holidays here in Victoria – and it's cold and freezing. We've got both our open fires crackling away and the central heating on too! It's been great to spend extra time with the kids although I think we're *all* ready for school to go back on Monday! I'll be back to regular blogging again from next week.

Happy stamping,

Hope you've had a great weekend and ready to start the new week with a big smile and lots of enthusiasm! (Who said Monday's have to be bad?)

Here are some great cards that were created by some of the talented demonstrators in my team – the EurekaStampers. We come from all over the country, including regional Victoria, Melbourne, NSW and WA. We love sharing ideas and keeping each other inspired!

This first card was created by Wendy from Bendigo. It features the Vintage Vogue stamp set, and Very Vintage wheel. I love what Wendy did with the Rich Razzleberry ribbon.

Debbie from Creswick created this next one. What an interesting fold! I haven't seen a card like this before but I love the look of it.

Kate from Gordon made this great sparkly card featuring the Top Note die and new Melon Mambo cardstock and ink. The base has great texture – thanks to the Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and the Big Shot. There's lots of Dazzling Diamonds glitter on this card, but it doesn't show up in the photo too well.

Julz from Newman, WA, made this fun bird card using the new Two-Step Bird punch. This punch is like 3 punches in one! The bird, the branch and the wing can be used together or separately to create loads of different looks.

I'll post the rest of the cards later in the week.

Check back tomorrow for final details of my next class in Creswick, Vic…. pencil it in your diaries: Sunday 2nd of May. Less than two weeks to go, but still enough time to register.

Happy stamping,

Hi there! I'm back today with a great little technique to use with outline stamps when you don't feel like colouring. This is Paper Piecing!

It's an effective technique…. simply stamp your image once on the base card and again on DSP, cardstock or other decorative paper (hey, you could even make your own with stamps and ink!). Trim the second piece carefully on – or just inside – the line, and adhere this to the base card.

I made a whole bunch of these last week to send to the demonstrators on our EurekaStampers team forum, and it was so much fun!!

Here is a brunette version of Tess.

And if you want to see how she was put together, here it is in just a few simple steps!

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 5

STEP 6

I added heels to this Tess  

And here is Tess's wardrobe. DD6 and I mixed and matched her outfits.

And some of the finished cards…

Tote-ally Tess is one of the stamp sets now available in the Autumn-Winter Mini Catalouge in your choice of wood-mounted OR clear-mounted! If you are a customer of mine you should have received your own copy of the Mini by now – if not just email me and I'll pop one in the post for you.

And finally (phew, this is a long post!!) here's a close up of the tags which were punched out with the super cute new Jewelery Tag punch.

Check back over the weekend to have a look at some fabulous cards that I received from our team card swap. Soooo many great ideas!

Till then, happy stamping!

Here is our beautifully decorated stand at Paperific (lets call this the 'before' photo), where a group of us worked together over the weekend to share the love of Stampin' Up! We met some wonderful people who love this amazing hobby as much as we do, and some who are discovering it for the first time…. yes, we heard lots of 'ooohs' and 'ahhhhs'.

If you are visiting this site after meeting us at Paperific… welcome, and thanks for dropping by! And if you were one of the unlucky ones who were in the building when the freaky storm hit on Saturday, my commiserations! At about 3.30pm the heavens opened with the worst hailstorm in 40 years here in Melbourne, Victoria. Yes, it really was hailing INSIDE the exhibition building at the Melbourne Showgrounds, Flemington.

Hailing inside. Photos courtesy of Juliana Main

Before long, the evac siren was sounding, the main lights went out and water was coming inside from all directions!

Raining inside. Photos courtesy of Juliana Main.

Hailstones at the door

Melbourne was hit badly, with many of us finding dented cars and worse! But, you know what? It was great to see so many acts of kindness and generosity during the whole episode, with strangers looking out for each other.

Even though our papers were dampened, our spirits certainly were not! We even had a few good laughs as we watched someone completing their Make & Takes on another stand before they were ready to evacuate! Papercrafters sure are a hardy bunch. LOL

Here is the simple little Make & Take that I did before all the dramas started. This card demonstrates our beautifully coordinating stamps and punches, and uses the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set from the Summer Mini catalogue and the Heart to Heart punch. The sentiment is the Sale-a-bration set Whimsical Words. Participants also stamped the matching envelope.

On display was another way to use the same punch (CASE source: the very talented  Ilina Crouse).

This card above was also one of our stamp club projects last month, just in time for Valentines Day.

The Summer mini catalogue is in its final weeks – with items available until the 31st of March. Let me know if you'd like the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set or any other item before it's too late! Don't forget, purchases before the end of March help you qualify for FREE STAMPS with Sale-a-bration!

Happy stamping,

The new Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper collection is one that you just have to see in person to really see it,  if you know what I mean! LOL. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, but the colours work so well together and it’s a fun paper that I find myself reaching for a lot.

I made this paper handbag after our Stampin’ Up! team day on Saturday, which was absolutely fabulous. Maree Kirby (Clunes) showed us how to make these bags and they were surprisingly easy! We swapped cards, stamped together and had an all-round great day! All the demonstrators in my group were invited and we had 25 on the day which was absolutely amazing considering we come from far-flung places around Victoria and beyond. It was fantastic to catch up with old friends and meet new ones too! The creativity in the room was soooo inspiring so I’ve got LOTS of things on my ‘to make’ list now, and some great new ideas for workshops, classes and of course my special Stamp Club ladies. 

This desk calendar also features the Kaleidoscope paper, and was made by Juliana Main. Check out Juliana’s amazing punch art creations on her blog along with another version of this desktop calendar.

Apart from being a Stampin’ Up! demo and a mum to 3 young kids I also look after my hubby’s books for his business, and unfortunately I’m buried in paperwork at the moment so I haven’t had too much time to play.  I can’t wait to finish so I can get back to more fun stuff

Happy stamping,

Sale-a-Bration is just around the corner, so I thought I’d share a fun project made with one of this year’s FREE Sale-a-Bration stamp sets. This one is called Happy Moments, and is cute cute cute! LOVE that birdcage stamp.  

 The Tangerine Tango bag (above) is one of the Make & Take projects that demonstrators in my group will be making this Saturday at our Team Day. But I couldn’t resist also doing one in the adorable Tall Tales Designer Series Paper, which is available now in the Summer Mini Catalogue.

The flower tag (above) is made by stamping the image twice and punching both pieces with a large circle punch. Then just adhere the two pieces together, punch a hole and tie with hemp twine. The advantage of doing it this way is that the tag is sturdier and the images are easier to line up.

A decorated regular white gift bag is a super-easy way to present a gift. Pop in a co-ordinating card and a little gift and you’re done.

If you’d like to get your hands on the gorgeous Happy Moments stamp set, then why not book a workshop to be held during the Sale-a-bration promotion? Chances are your friends and family wouldn’t mind earning one of these sets for free too, so it really is a great time to be a hostess. Contact me for more info.

Happy stamping,

 Last month some of the demonstrators in our team participated in a Summer Mini Catalogue swap (yep, that’s them in the slideshow). All the cards were made with stamps from the new Mini Catalogue and we swapped samples with each other. If you’ve been to a workshop or class of mine you’ll no doubt have seen my card box – choc-a-block full of gorgeous cards that I received in other swaps.

I am always so inspired and motivated after seeing the work of the creative ladies in our team of demonstrators.  Sooooo I’m REALLY excited that we’ll be getting together in a week when I host our next EurekaStampers team day. No doubt there will be many more amazing projects to share after that!

We do Make & Takes (no surprises there!) and some team members even get up and ‘wow’ us with cool techniques and project ideas. There’s swapping (of course), nice food and plenty of chatting with like-minded people. If you have been thinking about joining so you can enjoy all the amazing benefits of being a demo – including an invitation to events like our team day – just contact me and we can arrange a time to chat.

Here’s to a fabulous New Year!  Cheers!