I participated in a couple of swaps over the summer holidays – always a fun way to see other styles and share ideas. I love that about stampers! There is such a sense of community and support as we teach each other new techniques and share projects. (That's why I love blogging too!)

During the week I'll be sharing gorgeous projects I received from Aussie and NZ members of SUDSOL (it's a subscription based online group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators).

I've been a member of SUDSOL for a few years now and really enjoy being part of the group. The majority of members are from the U.S. so there are occasionally things that don't apply to us Aussie demonstrators – but one side benefit is we're also the first to hear of things that are coming up! LOL. The group has an email loop, online galleries and a huge website full of files, info, tutorials, techniques, resources and other things to help us demonstrators. And with the way the Aussie dollar is at the moment it's great value too. (p.s. Demonstrators: You can get a free 2 free trial by clicking here. Not yet a demo? Click here to find out how you can join.)

The card I made for the swap is at the top of this post (click on it to enlarge). It uses the Sale-a-bration stamp set called Bliss (love it!) and the paper daisies that are on p140 of the Idea Book & Catalogue.

Tags: paper daisies

Yay, it's great to be back! But what a busy few weeks it's been – phew!  The big kids are now settled into school and little miss 4 is at Kinder. We're getting into our comfortable routine for 2011, and I have to say it's kind of nice after the eventful summer holidays.

I'm happy to report that 'Project Craft Room' is almost complete, and after having withdrawal symptoms from not stamping in a little while I did manage to sneak in a couple of quick projects, which I'm sharing today. They use the yummy new Sale-a-bration stamps that are FREE with a qualifying order. Gotta love free stamps 🙂

I CASEd this layout from the Sale-a-bration catalogue, swapping the stamp set and colours.

This was a quick and simple card that was inspired by the scrapbook page on p7 of the SAB catalogue! Can you see the resemblance? I love how we never have to worry about not having any ideas. Just pick up the Idea Book or a mini catalogue and you'll see inspiration galore.

I'm really excited to be blogging again, and have already planned my posts for the next couple of weeks – so come back soon!

Before I go, I just wanted to say a quick thank you to Kathryn Mangelsdorf, a guest designer on UStamp with Dawn, who kindly invited me to join this round as her guest.  Thanks Kathryn!

Happy stamping,

Tags: Bliss

Sale-a-bration starts TODAY!

For a full run-down on what it is, how it works, and a peek at the FREE stamps you can choose
CLICK HERE.

Just wanted to share a quick and easy craft project that my girls have been enjoying during the summer holidays (especially Miss 4, our model for today's photos!). With two weeks left to go of the holidays some of us may be looking for activities to keep the kids occupied for a bit.

We picked up a couple of packs of foam from Kmart – I can't remember how much they cost but I know it was cheap ($1 maybe?).

They are the perfect size to fit through the Big Shot and come in a great range of bright colours.

The girls chose the Blossom Party die to make their cut outs (this Sizzix die is exclusive to Stampin' Up!), and made their sandwich stack to run through the Big Shot.

Not hard at all. In fact, this is fun!

They happily spent an afternoon cutting their own foam shapes and popping them out.

Then it was all 'action stations' as they used the shapes for various craft projects that are now decorating our (entire!) home.

(Slightly off-topic here- although I suppose you could liken it to a resist technique – but you might notice the love heart on Miss 4's hand…

True story, she had a Dora the Explorer temporary tattoo on her hand when we went to the beach and the skin around it tanned beautifully even though we Slip/Slop/Slap'd all the time. This is what's left now that the tattoo has gone! Oh dear – LOL.)

If you've got any other crafty activities to share with the kids, let me know in the comments section below.

Happy stamping,

Tags: big shot, children's craft, foam, kids craft

"When we see with our hearts…" card

Supplies used: Every Moment set, Old Olive cardstock & ink, Very Vanilla cardstock, Soft Suede cardstock & ink, Watercolour Paper, Daffodil Delight ink, StazOn, Pearl basic jewels, clips assortment, colour spritzer tool, Scallop Edge border punch, Old Olive 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Daffodil Delight 3/8" taffeta ribbon.

This was one of the four projects we created at our Regional training day a couple of months ago. It uses the masking technique to create the look of a group of flowers together using just a single stamp plus those wonder-of-wonders… the Post-It Note!!

Masking is one of the techniques that hostesses often request for their workshops. If you're interested in getting together to learn this technique, drop me a line. I'd love to share it with you!

Masking is a useful and effective technique that you can apply to your scrapbooking, cardmaking or other stamping projects.

*Don't forget that Sale-a-bration is just around the corner – this is one of the most exciting times to host a workshop because you can claim free stamps with a qualifying purchase of regular products. There are still weekend bookings available for Feb & March workshops, but you'll want to get in quick!

Happy stamping, 

We've all been watching the devastation of the Queensland floods over the past week – so much heartache and loss. So it was almost surreal to learn on Thursday that my own hometown in central Victoria was on flood alert – again. Regular blog readers may remember that the main street was flooded in September 2010, which at the time we thought was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Not so.

The creek rose higher and higher and eventually burst its banks on Friday morning, inundating many homes and businesses. A couple of hours after the peak, I took this photo of the playground at the end of my street.

You can just see the top of the green slide poking out of the water.

And there have been scenes like this in so many other areas!

Unfortunately we had to cancel the team stamping day that I was talking about with much anticipation in my last post. The flood waters have now receded here (although our stamping venue is still being used as the Relief Centre!) but many others from our group were – and still are – affected. I heard amazing stories of people from other towns who'd been cut off from road access and were locked into their properties until the water receded, and others who had friends and family members with homes on flood alert.

When I spoke to one of the girls from Maryborough (hi Jenny!) she was actually working at the Relief Centre registering the hundreds of displaced people from nearby towns. There are so many people wanting to help, and it's heartwarming to see the Aussie spirit alive and well in communities all around the country – from Brisbane to the smallest communities in flood-ravaged Victoria.

Stampin' Up! also wants to help, and recently informed demonstrators that they will donate $2 from every stamp set sold until Feb 15th to the SES and flood relief.

Happy stamping,