Hi everyone. It's great to be back on the 'puter and blogging again. I've been stuck in my own little time warp after being knocked for a six with a v-e-r-y nasty chest infection. I actually spent 2 days in bed! But on the mend now and itching to get all inky again.

I've got heaps of great projects to share in the coming days and weeks, but thought for now I'd quickly show you this card I made for my brother-in-law's birthday, yes a big Doctor Who fan. I actually went googling for ideas and low-and-behold stumbled upon this card that the amazingly talented Valita designed. Valita recently joined up as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator under one of the girls in my group, so I'm very proud to say she is in my team now! It really is a small world, isn't it?

I'm having a bit of trouble getting used to Matt Smith as the new Doctor. What do you think? Time will tell, I guess

Happy stamping,

Today's Easter project is a mini treat holder. It has a little chocolate bilby inside!

For our international visitors,  the bilby is an endangered Australian marsupial. Some people say that the Easter Bilby brings chocolate eggs to Aussie kids, instead of the Easter bunny! lol

I added this fun little project to my March workshops, and it's been really popular. Would you like to have a go?

I made my first attempt at a YouTube video. It's only 1 1/2 minutes long but will give you a 'visual' on how to make the closing device! Oh, and you might want to click on it to view the enlarged picture because I made the text a bit too small! As I said, it's my first one so I'd love some feedback (be gentle!) and don't forget to leave me some comment love.

1. Cut cardstock 20cm x 7.5cm (you can get 4 from an A4 sheet, with one of them being a teeny bit narrower than the others).

2. Score at 6cm, 7cm, 13cm, 14cm. Burnish the score lines.

3. Grab your Curly Label punch and just slip one corner of the front flap into the punch, then squeeze! Do the same for the opposite side.

4. Now, grab your Word Window punch and push the bottom flap in as far as it'll go. then Punch!

5. You have now created a closure.

6. Decorate the front as desired, and don't forget to attach your chocolate treat I used Mini Glue Dots (gotta love those things!).

I've made a few of these little yummy treats… would you like one? Anyone who puts in an order via email before 12noon on Wednesday 31st March  will get a  complimentary  Easter Bilby treat in the mail next week! These are the final days of the Summer Mini and  Sale-a-bration catalogues so don't delay.

Happy stamping,

Only a week until Easter, so we're kicking off with some Easter projects over the next few days. Special thanks to today's featured stamper Lorinda Penn for this delightful triangle box. This was Lorinda's swap at a recent team event, and it's such a fun, bright design – and a good size too! Perfect for holding some yummy chocolate eggs.

These boxes are so easy to make. You just need a rectangle of cardstock (this one is 29cm x 10.5cm) and score in half along the long side. Then just find the mid points of each side and create a score line between the four points. This creates a diamond shape. All you need do is fold along the score lines to close up the box, and add a closure (such as ribbon). Clear as mud? LOL. Well if you need better instructions or to place an order before the end of Sale-a-bration, just let me know!

Stamps: A Good Egg

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Rose Red

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Lovely Lilac, Yoyo Yellow, Only Orange, Chocolate Chip, Gable Green.

Happy stamping,

The long-awaited Stampin’ Up! Pop-Up Cards Class is on this Sunday 28th February and I’m really looking forward to it – talk about FUN! The class is booked out, but I’d be happy to run it again if you have a group of friends who are interested. Next month’s "All Occasions" class is also booked out, but I’m looking to add some extra dates to the Class Schedule. Contact me if you’d like to be notified of extra classes.

I thought I’d share some of the projects we’ll be making. You know, pop-up cards can get pretty complicated – but they can also be really simple.

And the real magic happens when you open them up!

This spiral card might look a bit familiar to some of my stamping buddies, because the colours and layout are based on a swap I made for our Stampin’ Up! Convention last year in Canberra. The pop-up part is new though!

I’ve done LOADS of research into pop-up cards lately (and I call this work?? LOL) and I’m blown away with the amazing creations that some talented papercrafters have concocted!

I do like the Pop-up Slider though. I’ve made a few lately, but I like this one which was based on a Make & Take project we did at our Stampin’ Up! Regional Training Day last year.

I’ll share more Pop-up Slider Cards next week.

And of course we couldn’t miss out on a pop-up card with butterflies…. here’s a little sneak peek for now.

So there you go!

I’ve had some lovely emails this week from my stamping buddies asking why I wasn’t blogging (thanks guys xx). I had one of the lurgies going ’round but started feeling much better when my DD3 presented me with this card – made from my scraps and a glue stick! How creative  

To make life easier I’ve added a new tool to the top right sidebar, did you notice? You now have the option of subscribing to this blog so you can be notified when I’ve updated it or posted a new message. You have the choice of getting the notification by email, or straight to your feedreader. Cool, huh?

Happy stamping,

Sale-a-bration has begun!

From now until the end of March…

Customers: Choose one of 4 gorgeous Sale-a-bration (SAB) stamp sets for FREE with every $100 purchase

Hostesses: In addition to the already generous hostess benefits, choose another SAB set when your workshop total reaches $600

JOIN US!: When you join my team as a demonstrator during Sale-a-bration – regardless of whether you want a discount or a business – choose any stamp set from the Idea Book & Catalogue (up to $79.95) as a bonus to your starter kit.

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I love each of the four Sale-a-bration sets that are available this year. And you can’t beat the price!

This matchbook fold notepad features the new SAB set Good Neighbors. Inside is sliced and diced copy paper, which can easily be replaced when the notepad if full. The sentiment is from another of the free SAB sets, Whimsical Words. 

Stay tuned for more posts featuring the new Sale-a-bration stamp sets.

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,

I have some great projects to share with you today. I can’t take credit for them, but I do plan to CASE them! This gorgeous pop-up card was sent to me by the wonderfully talented Rose Packer. She used the Season of Joy stamp set to create 3 individually attached pop-up Christmas trees.

I LOVE pop-ups and fancy folds and am very excited to finally be including the long awaited "Pop-Ups" cardmaking class in my 2010 Class Schedule.

 Below is a very impressive paper star that Heather McCarthy sent to me in the post! The box got a bit damaged but amazingly the star was untouched. She also included instructions (thanks Heather!) and I’ve been playing with these stars and experimenting with sizes.

Well Christmas is almost upon us. Here’s hoping you are all finished with your preparations and you’re now able to put your feet up and enjoy this special time.

Hope all your Christmas wishes come true,

Are you sick of the candles yet?  LOL. Well I did share some a few months ago – here, and here -  and I’m sure there are more somewhere else too! 

Stamped candles make such a great gift and are soooo easy. And we can use most of the products we already have at home, like stamps, ink, tissue paper, and a heat gun!

This is a candle I started making at stamp club last month when I was demo’ing how to do the technique. It had been sitting here in front of me half-made for the past few weeks so I decided to finish it in time for this month’s get-together. It features the main stamp from Upsy Daisy, some beautiful DSP in basic gray and velvet black ribbon from the Valet Ribbon Originals collection (p150 IBC). This is one of the items on the Gift-Giving Guide.

Don’t forget that there’s only a few days left to claim your FREE punch with the Christmas Gift-Giving Guide Extravaganza. With every $85 in purchases from the Guide you can choose either the Boho Blossoms punch or Square Scallop punch for FREE (value $30.95 plus p/h). Contact me by Sunday night to place your order. 

Come back tomorrow for some more highlights from the Summer Mini, this time featuring the For Everything stamp set. I’ll try not to get distracted by more candles!

Happy stamping,

This is a fun card with a built-in snowglobe! Here we’ve filled the Sweet Treat Cup with water and about a quarter of a teaspoon of Dazzling Diamonds glitter. You can’t see that, though, because the glitter has all sunk to the bottom. But it’s there! I can’t wait to show my stamp club girls and hostess guests in the coming months.  It is sooooo cool to watch (and play with) in person!

I learnt how to do this by watching Corinne’s video on her Stamping With Roxy website. Corinne is a SU demonstrator in Canada, and when I saw her make it I jumped up away from the computer and did it straight away (shhh, it was after midnight).

It’s watertight, hasn’t leaked a bit! Saying that, I wouldn’t send it through AusPost – might just be one of those special hand-delivered cards. What do you think?

Oh, I know you’re going to ask… the red frame was made with the Circle Scissors Plus – the BRILLIANT new tool in the Summer Mini Catalogue. More on that tomorrow  

Happy stamping,