Friday, June 12, 2009

Good News and Bad News...

I know, I know it's been a ridiculously long time between posts - but I can explain! I've been busy with something very, very exciting ... I've just launched my new business PaperArtsy
PaperArtsy is an online store that sells papercrafting kits. Each month I release three new kits: a Scrapbooking Kit, a Card Making kit and an Off-The-Page kit. Each kit contains heaps of yummy products and a set off detailed instructions on how to create the projects. The idea is that I do all the designing, sourcing, coordinating and instructions and so you just get to create and have fun! How good is that? So please head on over and take a look HERE.
Well that's the good news, so what's the bad? Well as we all know, you can't have your cake and eat it too, which means I've had to resign from Stampin' Up. I know, it's heartbreaking! But having my own online business has been a dream of mine for so so so so long, and thanks to my wonderfully supportive and encouraging hubby Rob and also my fabulous brother Ji, it's become a reality. But for those of you that are desperate to get your hands on SU product - I have contacts ;-) Just email me and I'll put you in touch with someone!
So this will be my last post at blogspot - you can keep up to date with all that is going on at my NEW BLOG HERE. Please drop on in and say hello!!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

More Scrap Creations

Thanks to the school holidays, I've managed to squeeze in more playtime! Once again, I put these cards together using scraps left over from another project. There's something really satisfying about using up your scraps ... possibly the fact that it comes with the feeling that I can justify buying more papers because I've used some up (although I know that if I never bought another piece of paper again I still have more than enoughto keep me going for years - but where's the fun in that???)

So here's my scrappy cards...








Thanks for stopping by :)

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Check this out!!

I got up the other morning to the sound of my kids laughing hysterically and this is what I found...



One of the kids came out to get something out of their bag and found Dora Puss hanging out in Jordyn's Pre-school bag! I suspect she had deliberately sourced a quiet spot away from the kids but it didn't last long for her. She aint called "Dora the Explorer" for nothin'!!

Using up Scraps

I had some left over scraps of some Kaiser papers sitting on my desk from a scrapbook layout of my boys that I'd made. In fact I've got great mileage out of these papers as the pieces I used for the layout were scraps that I'd used on my clipboards some time ago - so I guess I've used scraps from scraps!! Anyway, I love these papers and couldn't bring myself to throw away the little pieces that I had left so here's what I made with them...






Sadly I now have no more scaps from this range left :-(

Well , it's bucketing down here so the combination of that and school holidays makes it perfect "lock yourself in your craftroom" conditions. But before I do that, Mikayla and I are going to do a few more rows of knitting on her octopus (now that's a lesson in patience...teaching a 6 year old to knit!!)

Friday, April 10, 2009

Guessing Competition Winner

I forgot to mention the winner for my cake guessing competition. Congratulations Jacob, you were the first to guess correctly ... it was a Banana Split! I'll get a prize to you soon :-)

Some Random Creations

Well I've been having a bit of a tidy up in my craft room and as I was getting organized I found some things that I've had tucked away and thought you might want to take a look. So here's some random creations for you to peek at...


I was asked to teach a little something at our church's Mums & Bubs group, so I put this 6x6 layout together. The mums had the option of either using it as an album page or for those that didn't have 6x6 albums they mounted it onto chipboard and either stuck magnets behind it for the fridge or punched holes in the top and threaded string through to hang as a picture. Gotta love quick & easy!!

Ok, this one's an oldie, but in my opinion a goodie! Just look at how adorable Jordy was when she was little ... she was just so cute!! I absolutely love this photo of her, I've scrapped it so many times in so many ways.

This is a Blessings Book that I made for Mikayla last year. I got quite ill at one stage last year and from that point she became really insecure and started struggling with school and friends and would cry when it was time to go to school and wouldn't want to leave me. It was a horrible time for both of us and absolutely heartbreaking for me. Her lovely teacher suggested that we get her a little book that we could all write positive things in to encourage her. But of course I couldn't just leave it at a plain note book could I???




Unfortunately, these aren't the most brilliant photos, I kept getting reflections in the glass but you get the idea. These were some window frames that I had a play with with the intention of selling at the markets, but I just don't know that I can part with them! I think they'll either find their way onto my walls or become gifts for people who I know will appreciate them. Does anyone else find there are some things you just can't part with?

Thanks for dropping in and have a fabulous easter!

Monday, March 30, 2009

A Guessing Competition!

A frightening thing happened on Friday ... my eldest turned 11! He informed me that he is now a "tween". You see, he's not a kid, and he's not a teenager, he's in-be-"tween". And I'd have to agree with him! Each of our kids has a party every second year (you kinda have to do that with 4 kids!!) and as Ryan had his "big"party last year he had one special friend come and sleep over for this birthday. As per tradition, the kids also get their choice of dinner so we indulged in KFC followed by birthday cake with the family (and Sam). So here's where the guessing competition comes in. I had a bit of a shocker with the cake - runny icing, crumbly cake and just a down-right-difficult cake to make! (I might revise my rules about the kids choosing any cake they want!!) So here's a pic, can you guess what it is?? And no, it's not a Viking ship as my grandfather thought (I'll put that down to him being 81!) So leave a comment, first correct answer wins a prize!


Here's a few more pics from the day. I just love this next one as it really shows the difference between my boys ... Jake up and dressed and ready for school and Ryan still with bed head, sleepy eyes and his new shirt thrown over the top of his PJs.


The presents ... oh boy were there presents ... it was like christmas - thanks Noonie!!



And lastly, the cake I made to take to school - far more successful! I know they say don't play with your food, but this was just too cute. Apparently it was a hit with the kids.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

That's My Girl!

As part of her homework this week, Mikayla had to make an Easter card for her buddy, so for Mika this was the best homework eva!! She picked her colours and embellishments all herself and even surprised me by piercing holes for the brads before putting them in. I just had to take a photo of the finished card as I'm so proud of her. But then she really made me laugh...she wanted me to put it on my blog with instructions so all the people who visit can make one too!

So here it is, Mikayla's Easter card tutorial:


"Well first I got a white piece of paper and then in dark purple (it was actually black which tells me it's definitely time to re-ink) I stamped six flowers on and then I got some coloured textas and coloured them in. And then I cut it out. And then I got a purple piece of paper and folded it in half. Well, we got a white piece of paper and we stamped in redish purple "Sharing with you the miracle of new hope and new life through the glorious gift of Christ the Lord" (I had to write the whole quote, I asked if I could just write "the stamp with the words", but no, we had to be very clear!!). And then I sticked the white piece onto the blue piece of paper and then I got a red, a light blue, a green and a dark blue beads and then I put it down and stuck four holes in and I put them in. I put the blue and white piece onto the purple piece. I got a white ribbon and tied it on the side and then I stuck the flowers on. And then I wrote inside. And then I put some coloured bits of texta on the purple and white bits. And then I putd it in the envelope!"


Well at least someone in this family is finding time to do some stamping!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Off the Page in a Big Way!

I haven't been doing much lately, or should I say, I haven't been doing much creating lately! (plenty of other not so fun things - likely swapping the boys bedrooms ... what was I thinking???) So I thought I'd show you something that I created a while back. Those of you who know me, know that I absolutely love to create off-the-page things. This canvas was one of quite a few pieces that I made for our church's art exhibition last year. This was actually one of the pieces that didn't sell so I was contemplating other places I could take it to sell but decided to hang it on our lounge room wall in the meantime to keep it safe. I put it up and straight away my hubby said "NO don't sell it! It looks perfect in our house!" and I have to agree with him! So I finally have a piece of work that I've created and kept just for us!! So here is my giant canvas with one of my favourite quotes...



And here's another picture that shows how big it is in comparison to our furniture...you need the full effect!


I painted the canvas with a neutral colour and then inked around the edges using my Basic Black ink pad. The Live, Laugh and Love words are Kaiser giant monograms painted around the edges and covered in scrapbboking papers (Basicgrey - Scarlett's Letter). The words fully, often and deeply I cut out with my cricut using the "Opposites Attract" cartridge. The flourishes were also done with the cricut.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Photo Fridge Magnets

Another quick post in between running children to various places, unpacking groceries and attempting housework (you can see why I've opted for a post!!)

I made this little magnetic photo frame as a birthday pressie for one of the little girls I look after (I actually made another one for the other little princess as their birthdays are two days apart).
I cut an A4 magnetic sheet in half to give me two A5's. I then cut out the centre leaving a 3.5cm frame all around. I cut it all with my Fiskars paper trimmer but put a blunt blade back in so I didn't wreck a good one (I save most of my "blunt" blades for heavy duty things like this, chipboard, transparencies, etc.) The magnetic sheeting already has adhesive on it, so I just peeled back the cover and stuck the paper onto it ... very easy!! Then the fun part was adding all the embellishments and personalising it, all with bits and pieces from my stash - another economical pressie that I think looks really sweet. Of course it's going to look so much better with a photo of the newly turned 2 year old in it - Happy 2nd Birthday Emily & Chloe! xx


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Going, going, going...

Hi everyone. I'm just popping in with a quick update on the status of retiring products. As you can see, retiring products sell out rather quickly so if there is anything you would like to order I suggest you order it soon!

Item Number Product Description Availability
10756 Flip Flops Unavailable
109020 Wild Wasabi Classic Ink Refill Unavailable
109015 Soft Sky Classic Stamin' Ink Refill Unavailable
109016 River Rock Classic Stampin' Ink Refill Unavailable
109017 Purely Pomegranite Classic Stampin' Ink Refill Unavailable
100381 Earth Elements Eyelets Unavailable
100378 Soft Subtle Eyelets Unavailable
109019 Groovy Guava Classic Stampin' Ink Refill Unavailable
108748 Best Friend Numbers Unavailable
107212 Mateys Map Unavailable
105320 Basic Eyelets Unavailable
103195 Gifts Galore Unavailable
107561 Garden Annuals Unavailable
109610 Confetti Simply Scrappin' Unavailable
104279 Leaf Prints Unavailable
110255 Bundle of Joy Unavailable
112402 Short Order Numbers Unavailable
109018 Blue Bayou Classic Stampin' Ink Refill Unavailable
111852 River Rock A4 card stock Unavailable
108720 Ahoy, Matey Unavailable
105316 Rich Regal Eyelets Low Quantity
101259 Black Hemp Twine Low Quantity
108740 Bareback Low Quantity
106662 Dasey Field Low Quantity
108638 In Color 12"x 12" card stock Low Quantity
109186 Theater Ribbn Originals Low Quantity
105445 Soft Subtle buttons Low Quantity
111850 Wild Wasabi A4 card stock Low Quantity
106610 Basics Outline Low Quantity
103981 Earth Elements Low Quantity
103981 *Earth Elements & Neutrals buttons Low Quantity
100900 Gift sacks Low Quantity
108763 By Land Low Quantity
104065 Fishy Low Quantity
112253 *Dad's Day Low Quantity
108849 It's Your Birthday Low Quantity
105531 Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware Low Quantity
112391 Everything Baby Low Quantity
112310 Fabulous Flowers Low Quantity
107464 Rough Texture Low Quantity
107465 Speckled Low Quantity
107467 Birthday Low Quantity
108923 Stipple Rose Low Quantity
112272 Classic Backgrounds Low Quantity
108929 Symbols of Solicitude Low Quantity
112316 Forever in My Heart Low Quantity
105446 Rich Regal Buttons Low Quantity
108746 Best Friends Alphabet Lower Low Quantity
108747 Best Friends Alphabet Upper Low Quantity


















Thanks for checking in and have a fabulous day!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

We've Been Waiting For This...

Ok, so it's finally here! Because the new 2009-2010 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalogue is just around the corner (31 more sleeps!!), it's time to say goodbye to some favourites to make room for some new and exciting goodies. So here it is, the official list of retiring products. I know some of you are going to feel a sudden panic set in as you discover some of your favourites from your wish list are on it (I know this because I am doing the same!!) But the good news is that some of the discontinuing sets and other products are being discounted by 25% and 50% - a bit more incentive for you to be able to cross them off your wish list! All products on the retirement list are only available until the end of March all whilst stocks last so to avoid disappointment order soon :) Give me a buzz or send me an email if you wish to place an order.
Cheers!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Another Challenge

I have to say, I am now completely hooked on challenges. After enjoying participating in the Mojo Monday sketch challenges I've decided to go for it and try Makeesha's Colour Challenge.
So here is this weeks Inkspirations Colour Challenge...


And here's what I created...


I just love this "Wild Rose" stamp set, and in all honesty I haven't used it for ages so it got a good dusting off and today our passion was reignited!! I found these colours really nice to work with - they are very pretty and elegant colours which worked well with the roses.
I'm just so impressed that I got the housework AND some stamping done today...all whilst having three children at home!!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Mojo Monday #72

Woohoo!! I've completed another Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge. These are so much fun...and rather addictive!
So here's this weeks sketch...

And now here's my take on it...


This uses the "A Happy Heart" stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalogue, which I borrowed from a friend of mine (thanks Kasey!) I've enjoyed having a play with this set, it's got so many cute and smoochy images. The colour combination I took straight from the Colour Coach - great for when you're having an"I don't know where to start" day. So between the Sketch and the Colour Coach I really didn't have to do much thinking at all :)
So there you have it, a cute little card ready for my hubby for valentines day ... or so I thought ... He just found it and asked if he could have it so that he could give it to me!!! I told him if I'd known that I would have made it in much prettier colours!!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

My Latest Workshop Wow!

Here's my latest creation that I demonstrated and my workshops over the weekend. I have to confess it is a complete CASE from a card of Monica Gale's which you can check out HERE. I absolutely love her work! I've based my colour choices completely on the colours in the "Ginger Blossom" paper that I've used (so I didn't even have to think!!). The stamps are from the "Embrace Life" stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalogue and also "Happy Thoughts" from the main Catalogue. The image was coloured with ink from the Classic Ink Pads (Cameo Coral, Ruby Red and River Rock) and a Blender Pen. I was really pleased with how this turned out, and especially happy that it was so quick and easy to make!! I think I'll make myself up a few more with some different greetings to have on hand.

Thanks for looking :)

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

I've been admiring Mojo Monday Sketch Challenges on everyone elses blogs for a while now, but have finally decided to be brave and jump in and have a go myself. I needed to make a special card for my Great Aunts 80th Birthday and decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to rise to the challenge. So here's my taking of this weeks Mojo Monday sketch.


I really enjoyed working with sketch and I found that once I had decided on the papers and stamps I wanted to use the whole thing just came together so quickly. I'm definitely a Mojo Monday addict now!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Getting Organised!

On Friday my Hubby and boys went off to the cricket in Sydney with some friends for some "boy" time, so that night after I tucked the girls into bed (after a lovely "girly" day followed by a really nutritious meal of crepes with suar & lemon juice and reading a few chapters from Mikayla's fairy book) I locked myself into my playroom for some guilt-free scrapbooking :)

I've had these clipboards sitting on a shelf for ages waiting for me to spruce them up. My idea was to make one for each of the kids to hold their job charts. So, with back-to-school being just around the corner and a serious need for some organisation in our house I set to work making up some job charts as well. I found this fabulous site where you can make personalised job charts for kids. You can take a look at it HERE.





I covered some pencils with matching paper and attatched them to the clipboards so there's always a pencil at the ready and no room for excuses!! So now we're ready to go, only thing is I think it's going to be a shame to cover these up, LOL!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Sale-A-Bration

Join the Sale-A-Bration!

It's Sale-A-Bration time again at Stampin' Up! and free product is what it's all about!

Every year Stampin' Up! gives customers, hostesses, and new recruits the opportunity to earn fantastic, FREE, limited-edition stamp sets they'll enjoy for years to come.

Here's how Sale-A-Bration works:

Customers
When you spend $100 on Stampin' Up! merchandise, you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward. There's no limit--for every $100 you spend, you can select another free Sale-A-Bration reward!

Hostesses
When you host a workshop of at least $600 (before tax and shipping), you'll receive a free Sale-A-Bration reward--in addition to all of the regular hostess benefits!

Recruits
During Sale-A-Bration, anyone who joins as a demonstrator can choose any stamp set--a value of up to $79.95--from our current Idea Book and Catalogue!

The Sale-A-Bration promotion starts on 1 January and runs through 28 February, so don't miss your chance to earn free products! Talk to your demonstrator today to book your workshop or learn more about this promotion. Your demonstrator has a full-colour Sale-A-Bration brochure full of beautiful project ideas you can make using these limited-edition Sale-A-Bration sets. You can also view the Sale-A-Bration brochure online.

Wedding Bells...

Our lovely friends Chris and Rachel got married on the weekend at Gerringong. It was the most beautiful wedding, simple and elegant. The church was at the top of a little hill and overlooked the ocean - it was just stunning! When Rachel walked down the aisle I don't think there was a dry eye in the church - she looked absolutely beautiful. The reception was great and we all had a really fun night. I made two cards for the occassion as I was unsure about the first one. But as it turned out, Rob and Paula preferred the first one. So here's the reject...


I felt so good making this one because it used all scraps! I didn't cut into a new sheet of anything for this one - don't you just love those cards!
And yep, you guessed it...I didn't take a photo of the other one before I gave it away!!

Colouring-in is not just for kids!!

The other night I treated myself to a bit of relaxing with my good friend Coral. I stamped up some images from my "Summer by the Sea" stamp set onto water colour paper and then spent the evening chatting and colouring with water colour crayons and an aqua brush. It was so relaxing and colouring these particular images took me right back to our recent holiday at the beach...



I did make a third one which was probably my favourite but promptly gave it away to our neighbour to say thankyou for fixing our leaky toilet!! Note to self - photograph cards before giving away (I am notorious for doing this with everything I make!!)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I'm Back!

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous New Year. My sincerest apologies for the lack of posting. We've actually had three weeks away in sunny Queensland with family - 2 weeks in Brisbane and 1 week in Coloundra. We got back a week ago but that week was filled with a variety of dramas and I haven't had a chance to post anything!
Our holiday was lovely and it was wonderful to spend time with family and friends and the kids especially enjoyed being able to catch up and play with their cousins. It was so nice to see them play together and amazing to see that although there are many miles between them they can just pick up where they left off last time.
We had a lovely Christmas and a fun filled new year with my sister in law Ang's birthday and Jordyn's 4th birthday thrown in there as well, so the week at the beach was a great way to unwind from the busyness of everything. The kids just loved being able to swim in the pool and if they weren't in the pool they were watching everyone else in there from our balcony! The beaches were lovely (although our very first day at the beach included a blue bottle sting for Jake) and the weather was just perfect.
But after 3 weeks of living out of suitcases it was great to get home. I tell you, there's just something sooo good about sleeping in your own bed. The first couple of days of being home my kids didn't wake before 9am and one of them 10am (yep Jordyn!!) so they too were loving being in their own beds - and I'm sure Noonie is enjoying having her bed back to herself!!
So since being back we've had to buy a new washing machine (so glad I've ordered it as the old one finally died today and being without a washing machine with four kids is not good) and a new kettle as that had decided to give it up while we were away too. We also came home to a leaking toilet, kitten poos in our bedroom and the christmas tree stripped of decorations and smashed on the floor also care of the kittens - NICE!!! All of this after a sixteen hour car trip. Our neighbours welcomed us home with the house taped off like a crime scene and the outline of a body on the driveway - thanks Tim!! But despite all of our dramas it is still so good to be home.
So now I'm absolutely desperate to get back into some stamping and scrapbooking using all of our lovely photos from our time away. Fingers crossed, I might get a bit of "me" time tonight and have something to show you soon.
xxx