Well hello there!  Long time no see hey? I have had a lot going on this past little while and my creative motivation has come to a griding halt… but more on that in a minute.

Tonight I thought I’d share with you these roses I made some time ago now using the Fancy Flower punch.  My friend and fellow demonstrator Pat Carr (who needs a blog) taught us how to make these and whilst they are a little fiddly, once you’ve mastered one, they are quite easy to do and very effective.  They look great on top of a gift box too if you don’t want the single stem. 

Lovely aren’t they?

On a personal note, unfortunately I recently learned that my breast cancer has returned, this time in the form of enlarged lymph nodes in my chest and abdomen. My oncologist has acted really quickly and I’ve already had three sessions of chemotherapy.  I’ll be having ongoing weekly chemo which I imagine will go on for a long while but it’s treatable so we are going to fight hard and hopefully it’ll be third time lucky and we’ll nuke the little suckers once and for all.

I’m feeling remarkably well and positive although it’s extremely difficult to watch Paul, my family and the boys go through this again.  The boys are coping really well and I guess until I lose my hair and start to look sick, it’s not particularly real to them.  The chemo I’m on this time doesn’t seem to have the dreadful nausea and vomiting so I’m feeling ‘quite normal’ most days although I’m told the tiredness and aches will kick in the more treatment I have. 

Please know I am feeling quite good and we are trying to keep things as normal as possible here. We have an amazing support network through the school, my family and many many friends. 

Obviously my focus now will be putting my energies into getting well and so I’m pulling back on my Stampin’ Up! workshops and classes however I’ll still be happy to place orders and help with any queries you may have.  I hope to pop in here every now and then with the odd card or project when I get the urge to dabble in some stamping. 

Thanks for your support, prayers and understanding.  Happy stamping!

Hi there!  I’ve actually managed a little quiet time around the house today as little Sam has a cold and is lazing on the couch and Matt & Paul are at Bunnings (of course) hunting materials for their latest project.  I have a million things to do but decided to photograph some of the items we made at my class last week.  I don’t seem to get time to ‘play’ much anymore so thought I would share this little gift box we made.

Stamp set:  Punch Bunch – Sale-A-Bration
Cardstock:  Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Big Shot, Scallop Square die, Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon, Elegant Soiree DSP, Scallop Circle punch, 1 3/8″ circle punch, Stampin’ Write Markers 

I’ve used a basic pizza box design and attached a square scallop made with the Scallop Square Big Shot die on top and bottom and added a layer of Elegant Soiree DSP, some Early Espresso ribbon and the little scallop circle image from the Sale-A-Bration Punch Bunch stamp set.

Quick and easy and a cute little gift box for some gift cards or a few chocies for Easter! 

The Scallop Square die is only available in the Summer Mini which will finish this coming Thursday, 31 March.  Have another flick through the mini and make sure you don’t miss out on anything you’ve been thinking about for a while. 

Sale-A-Bration also ends on Thursday so be sure to email or call me before midday Thurs if you want to take advantage of this great promotion.

Have a great week and happy stamping!

Cheers

Today for the first time since Christmas Eve I felt the urge to stamp and play (see below).  I had a search through some of the challenge sites I like to visit to give me a rev up and I decided on the Just Add Ink colour challenge.

Here are the colours:

and here is my card:

Stamp sets:  Afterthoughts (hostess)
Cardstock:  River Rock textured, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight
Accessories:  Fancy Flower punch, Big Shot Sizzlits Flower Fusion, Designer Brights Collection buttons, White satin ribbon, white gel pen, glue dots

I’m quite pleased with how it turned out given my absence from my craft desk.  Thanks for looking.  Hopefully it won’t be so long between cards next time.

Firstly, I must apologise for the lack of stamping news as I’ve had a few health dramas over the last little while but I’m happy to say all is good now.  It started late November with a deep vein thrombosis in my leg and then during our summer holiday in Walpole I became quite unwell and ended up in Denmark hospital where they decided to transfer me via ambulance to Albany hospital.  After a few days and numerous tests it was thought better to follow it up in Perth so I stayed until I was well enough to travel home and then spent a few more days in Charles Gardiner having what felt like a thousand tests.  All turned out well and what would have been diagnosed straight away as a virus for someone with a less exciting medical history than mine, became a full blown investigation for me. 

It certainly gave us all a scare and put my family under an enormous cloud of worry once again.  I seem to be good at torturing them all.  As a result I have had a much needed rest from classes and workshops and I guess stamping in general.  I’ve enjoyed some reading and relaxing and a bit of tele watching for a change as well as settling the boys back into school and readjusting to the changes in homework, activities and our schedules in general. 

A few updates for you…

As you know we had a few quality issues with some of the new punches and I’m happy to say the Fancy Flower punch and the  2 3/8″ circle scallop punch (Summer mini) are now both available to order again.   They are still working on the issues with the Ornament punch.

The Summer mini is now in it’s last month and as you know we can’t be guaranteed which products may reappear at a later date so if you’ve had your eye on something, now is the time to snap it up. 

Don’t forget Sale-A-Bration is still on until the end of March so now is a fantastic time to get that little ’something for nothing’ stamping treat.  See earlier post here.

 I hope this finds you all well and if you are in WA, surviving this stinking heatwave!

Hi all.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!  I have been enjoying some much needed holiday time with my family and so my apologies for not having popped in before now.

Unfortunately I’ve been quite unwell the last couple of weeks which threw some of our holiday plans into a bit of a spin and had us all quite anxious for a little while but all is good now.  I’ve spent a bit of time in and out of hospital and having loads of tests done but it seems to have been a virus rather than anything more sinister and I’m on the road to recovery. The docs get over enthusiastic with tests as soon as they see my medical history!

Sale-A-Bration

Today marks the start of Sale-A-Bration!  Stampin’ Up!’s most well known promotion of the year.  Here’s how it works….

For EVERY $100 you spend on product you will earn a FREE Sale-A-Bration set of your choice.

You can also benefit by:

Hosting a workshop of at least $600 and you’ll earn a FREE Sale-A-Bration stamp set of your choice.

Joining Stampin Up! during Sale-A-Bration and choose a free stamp from the Ideas Book & Catalogue (valued up to $79.95)

Check out the gorgeous Sale-A-Bration sets today HERE and call or email me with your order or to book your workshop.  Sale-A-Bration runs from 25 January to 31 March so don’t miss your opportunity to get a little ’something for nothing’ with your next stamping purchase.

Cheers

Hi all!

I’m super excited today to be part of the Inkspirations Christmas Gift blog hop.  I know you are just going to love all the Christmas gift ideas and gorgeous projects the girls have put together, so grab a cuppa (and a Christmas chocie perhaps) and sit back and enjoy the ride!

If you have just popped in and this is your first time to a blog hop then you can simply start here and follow the links or go to Makeesha’s Inkspirations blog and start there and follow through but either way you’ll see some amazing ideas and no doubt there will be lots of  “oooh’s and ahhhh’s” along the way.

If you’ve already been following along then you’ve come from Penny Hanuszak and seen her beautiful goodies. 

Today I thought I’d share with you a couple of  last minute gift ideas which you should be able to put together with minimum fuss and little need for extra supplies.

I’ve used the Jolly Holiday DSP with coordinating Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive and Very Vanilla cardstock, inks and ribbons.  I’ve made a little box to hold four cherry scented tealight candles and lined the box with the DSP and a slip cover acetate.  I’ve finished it off with a tag from the Gifted stamp set.  Using my Big Shot and the pillow box die I’ve made a little pouch for the Christmas M & M’s and again the Gifted stamp set and wide oval punch.

 The gift bag is made cutting 2 of the largest circles of DSP with my Circle Scissors Plus, cutting a small section off the bottom and adhering a paper bag between them.  These are super cute and great for those homemade shortbreads or rocky road I like to make at this time of year.

 Here is a pic from the side angle so you can see a bit clearer.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my creations and now don’t forget to keep on hopping over to Charmaine Black’s blog to see her fantastic efforts.  She’s just a gorgeous giggling girl with amazing talents, so enjoy!

Thanks Keesh for the opportunity to share this fun blog hop with you and your design team! x

Merry Christmas!!

Hi everyone.   Well who would have thought no posts for weeks and then three in one day!

Sorry about the absence.  Life has thrown a few hurdles at myself and my family lately so I’ve been a little preoccupied just keeping things afloat.  Let’s just say my youngest boy Sam and I are definitely utilising our health insurance quota this year and have seen enough specialists to last a while but when all is said and done we are both ok and I guess that’s the main thing.

Ok, onto some Christmas cards.  Every year I promise myself I’m going to have my Christmas cards made by 1 December and of course I’ve only managed to make a few…. eek!  Looks like when my workshops are done I’ll be using my sample cards to make up the numbers!  Anyhoo, here are a couple of simple cards I’ve made at some Christmas classes that I thought I would share with you.

Both of these cards use the Jolly Holiday DSP with the colour combination of Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla and Early Espresso and the Sparkly & Bright stamp set. 

Accessories: Large Square Punch, Early Espresso wide ribbon, sponges

Accessories:  Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon, Word Window punch, Curly Label punch, cutter kit, sponges

For this second card I have lined the inside base with Very Vanilla cardstock, punched out the Curly Label from the front of the card and used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the reindeer inside.  It was a bit hard to photograph but I hope you get the idea.

I hope you are getting some time to play and make Christmas cards.  I hope to be back soon with some more ideas for you.

Happy stamping.

I can hardly believe it is time for a new mini catalogue already!  Time flies when you’re stamping! 

The Summer Mini Catalogue is available from 1 December to 31 March and has some gorgeous new products available including some fantastic new goodies for the Big Shot.  To see your online copy, click on the link below or email me and I’ll pop one in the post to you.

Click here to go to online catalogue

 Have I got some news for you?! 

Stampin’ Up! are having a frenzy of a sale for the month of December and you can get up to 50% off some of our amazing products.

Check out the link below to see for yourself!

http://www3.stampinup.com/au/ena/7921.asp

Happy stamping!

Hey there!  I’m finally getting around to posting the projects we made for Stamp-a-thon this year.  We made seven projects in all and with 96 ladies in attendance that meant prepping 700 projects!  Between Keesh, Char and I and our various support teams we managed to get them all cut and bagged for our big day.

First off we have my male card which was very simple but I think showcased these wonderful Extreme Elements and Extreme Guitar stamp sets just perfectly. I also used the arrow from a fabulous set called Party This Way.

Next up is my Christmas gift voucher and giftcard holder which was a template I saw made by the fantastic Kirsty Brown during one of the UStamp sessions I did last year.  I just loved this concept and have used it a couple of times since. This was made using the Contempo Christmas stamp set and new slimline Ornament punch.

Next is this wonderful easel card created by the very bubbly and talented Charmaine!  Don’t you just love that Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder with that Artistic Etchings stamp set and Newsprint DSP?

The super whizz Keesh whipped up this cute mini milk carton showing off this wonderful new die, In-Colour papers and gorgeous stamp set Morning Cup.

Keesh also designed this fantastic fold out scrapbook wallet using the Wonderfully Worn background stamp, Greenhouse Gala papers and co-ordinating stamp set Friends Never Fade.

I’ll be back in the next few days with the other two projects because hubby is working at the 4WD Show this weekend and has taken off with the camera and although I’m sure I have taken pics I can’t seem to locate them.

I hope you like what you’ve seen so far.  Let me know if you have any questions about the projects or materials used and I’ll get back to you.

Have a great weekend!