Well its another chilly Sydney winter day here with the temperature just 7.5C (45.5F) so I hope its a little warmer where you are! No doubt my new little gas heater will be keeping me warm today!

As you may have noticed my blog looks a little different this morning and I hope you like the changes. I have been told that a change is as good as a holiday however I think I might like to try the holiday just once! I still have a little ‘tweaking’ to do so hopefully it wont take too long before I’m happy with it.

I know I havent posted in over a week and I apologise for that. I’ve had some health issues and been busy with classes and workshops and these two things have impacted on my time for creating and blogging. If anyone out there has some good time management tips then please feel free to share them with me!

Here is a card I cased from Splitcoast Stampers last week.

I do love how this card turned out and it really is very elegant and very easy to do. Its done using the Friends 24-7 Stamp set and the Friendly Words wheel and really could be given for any occasion at all. There is some sponging involved in this card and really it wouldnt be a card from me if it didnt involve some sponging or daubering somewhere!

Recipe
Stamps: Friends 24-7, Friendly Words Stampin round wheel
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla
Inks: Bravo Burgundy
Accessories: Brocade Blue Stampin Write Marker, Pretties Kit (half pearl), Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Eyelet Border punch, mini glue dots, stampin sponges.

Here is another of the same card. This time I have included the bird stamp from Friends 24-7 which has been stamped and cut out and layered using dimensionals.

This is actually what the original cased card had however I find that leaving the bird off makes this card just as elegant and sometimes ‘less’ is ‘more’.

I do hope you like this card and would love to show you just how easy it is to make so why not email or ring me today to book your demonstration in? We still have the extra bonuses for Hostesses to the end of July so there’s still time to take advantage of this wonderful promotion from Stampin’ Up!®

Wow how special was it this morning when I started up my puta and found not one but three emails advising me that I’d been given a “Beautiful Blog Award” from three friends.

So a very huge thank you to Linda Craven, Nikki Stalker and Mae Collins for this honour

Thanks again to the lovely ladies who awarded me this award – I am very touched

As a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator I’ve met the nicest people not only as customers but Demonstrators who have become good friends as well.

I first met Cheryl when I first joined Stampin’ Up! at the first Australian Stampin Up! Convention. A little while later she recruited the very lovely Melissa and she too become a dear friend.

Now there is a saying that there is a no greater friend than one that comes with chocolate … well at this past convention I was presented with this lovely gift and no there wasnt chocolate inside but ground Toffee Nut Coffee from Gloria Jeans – so now I’ve amended the saying to … there is no greater friend than the one that comes with coffee!!

Mel and Chez gave me this awesome little gift for helping them with some computer/blog bits a few weeks back.  I had a lovely time having them here but who can say no to coffee and especially when its packaged so nicely

Thanks girls for spending the day with me and for the awesome coffee!

While on my way to Memento Mall at Convention I ran into the lovely Jane Norrish who after giving me a hug said “Oh I have something for you!” I prayed it wasnt a bill Lol!!  I recently set up a blog for Jane and she brought me a thank you gift. I was overwhelmed as Jane has paid me to set up her blog but look at this ….

How awesome is this gift??

Jane bought a special insulated mug which she could decorate inside and used my favourite DSP – Cottage Wall. She’s also used the same DSP to create my card. Dont you love the quilted effect used on the Top Note Die?

But wait …. there’s more!

This was inside the mug – mind you I didnt realise this till I’d gotten home after convention!

How cool … and sorry Jane I didnt look inside at convention I was sorta sidetracked by Memento Mall and trying to hand out swaps as we got there later than planned.

So as you can see being with a company like Stampin’ Up! changes everything! They have the best demonstrators and customers.  I’ve been with other craft party plan and the other consultants never treated you like this – they wouldnt share anything in case you took business from them – rather scary really!

If you would like more information about becoming a demonstrator and joining my Stamp A Latte Team please dont hesitate to ring or email me.

You can join at the moment for just $259 and where else can you get your own business for that price?

You dont have to do demonstrations or classes – you can sign just to get your products at a discount if you wish. A couple of other bonuses with joining Stampin’ Up! is there are no annual costs to remain a demonstrator and you can swap between hobby and business demonstrator at any time.

So now I not only have an awesome coffee cup but I have coffee to make and chocolates to eat – gotta luv that!!

Sorry for my absence – I’ve had the lovely Tanya Kitto visit me for a few days so we spent alot of time chatting, laughing and creating.  It was wonderful to finally meet in person and to spend some stamping time with her. Thanks to Robby and the kids for letting her come all this way for a few days.

Just before Tanya arrived I came across these gorgeous little bags using the Scalloped Envelope Die and the booful Big Shot.

I found a video tutorial on Chic n Scratch and just followed that … they are so super easy to make.  They are going to make an awesome make n take for my Open House on 17th September – so mark that date in your diary!

With Tanya visiting we had a couple of friends come along for a ‘play date’ as they knew Tanya as well and wanted to meet her in person. So I showed them how to make these delightful bags and this is the one we made.

Here is a close up of a couple of the bags showing the greeting – oh look its a set from a previous Mini thats going to be in the new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue (which my copy arrived today and its just delishamon!)

Arent these bags just the cutest little things??  They are even better when they come with a Mint Pattie or Golden Rough inside and they happen to fit perfectly!  You can also fit in two Freddo Frogs or several little Chocolate Eclairs – yummo!

Today is cold and raining and I thought I’d share a couple of awards I received from the very lovely Andrea Buckland.

Andrea and I met through being Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators and we met (in real life) for the first time last May at Convention. Andrea and her hubby stayed a little longer to visit family and they stopped in on me while they were here and driving back from Canberra.

I have been so very blessed with the friends I’ve made since joining Stampin’ Up! and Andrea is such a blessing to me and I’m honoured to accept these two awards from her.

Firstly ….

Best Blog Friends Forever Award

I think the name says it all dont you??  Thanks Andrea for giving me this award and now I’ll pass it onto 5 more blog friends being …..

1. Lisa Ryder
2. Libby Dyson
3. Melissa Garland
4. Kerri Hunter
5. Tanya Kitto

The next award Andrea gave me was the ‘One Lovely Blog’ award ….

So sweet of her dont you think??

Now to pass this one on – I’ve selected blogs that I get inspiration and motivation from ….

1. Inking Idaho
2. Creations by AR
3. Claire Daly
4. Jayne Mercer
5. Sharlene Torres

Thanks again to Andrea for the honour.  Enjoy your awards girls

On Thursday I shared with you the new Builder Wheels and how you can use two with the spacers & spindle. Today I’m going to share a card I made using just one of the Builder Wheels and the cute little Share a Cup stamp.

So this is what you get when you combine the new Builder Wheel, the big Shot and a little coffee ….

Card Recipe
Stamps: Share a Cup, Thoughtful Friend Builder Wheel, Itty Bitty Bits
Paper: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Ink: Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Accessories: Big Shot, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Real Red 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon,
Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack

I just love how this card turned out and the colour combination – I’m loving the new colours especially Early Espresso (everyone needs one of these – in the cup and in the inks/cardstock!), Cherry Cobbler and Blushing Bride.

One thing making this card showed me was the need for the wheel guide. I have one and never really used it before with the standard and jumbo wheels however I’ve found you really need it for the builder wheels – especially when your using just one of them.

I do hope you like this card and you’re having a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Its a very hot day here in Sydney – it was 37.6C (100F) at midday so I’m hoping your keeping cool wherever you are.

How special is this!

Last week I received this award from the loverly Tammy Fite – a fellow Utah Diva and Stampin Up Demonstrator from USA and then a few days ago I got the same award from the loverly Nikki Stalker – a long time stamping friend and fellow Aussie Stampin Up Demonstrator.

I am always humbled when I get these awards and especially when they come from fellow Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators.

Now as part of this award I need to share 8 things about me and to pass this award onto 8 bloggers and let them know they too have been awarded with this very prestigious award.

So ……..

8 Things about me ….

1. I am a Christian and think I’d be in a very dark place if I didnt have my faith.
2. I love coffee (you didnt know that did you??)
3. I love to Stamp (didnt know this either did you?)
4. I have a Cichlid Fishtank – and my fav fish is ‘Jack’ my Frontosa who is 15cm long & 7cm high (6″ x 2 3/4″)
5. I was born on my Aunt’s birthday and share my birthday also with my Brother in Law (the one who makes my storage units)
6. I cant wait till Stampin’ Up! Convention in May
7. I cant wait till school goes back next week!
8. I think I need another coffee!

Now to pass this award onto 8 Bloggers I love to visit …

1. Lisa Ryder
2. Libby Dyson
3. Patty Bennett
4. Melissa Garland
5. Kerri Hunter
6. Maxine Conrad
7. Jo Dumbleton
8. Gretchen Barron

Make sure you go check these ladies’ blogs out cos they are all uber talented and such lovely ladies as well

Well its been so so hot here the last few days I’ve tried to do as little as possible. It was so hot last night that I decided to pull out the sofa bed and sleep in the lounge room in the air conditioning and think I’ll be doing the same tonight!  I hate heat like this but its nothing compared to what is unfolding in North Queensland – they have a cyclone approaching and its now been upgraded to a Category 5 – I dont think we’ve ever had one this severe in Australia. The worst I can remember here is Cyclone Tracey in Darwin in 1974 and that was a category 4 so I am asking if you will join me in praying for the Queensland people yet again – as if the recent flooding up there wasnt enough.

Today I wanted to share with you a card I made for the Stamp A Stack I did at my Aunt’s last month. I wanted to show the versatility of a stamp set to show that you can use the Just Believe for a masculine card as well.

Recipe
Stamps: Just Believe
Paper: Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Naturals Ivory, Woodland Walk DSP
Ink: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake

I truly love the versatility of the Just Believe stamp set and think this card would make a great card for both male and female.

This is also one of those ‘queasy’ cards so perfect if you need a card in a hurry and for any occasion.

Now I was about to do some stamping however Miss Misty has other plans ….

Good Morning and welcome to another Utah Divas Sketch Challenge!

I have a busy weekend with a Demonstration today and tomorrow. Thankfully they are both doing the same Make n Takes so I dont have to unpack tonite and repack again tomorrow.

Here is this week’s sketch ..

This past week I heard that the father of a demonstrator friend is rather sick in hospital so I wanted to create a card for him to let him know that people are thinking of him and praying for him.

Here’s the card I created …

I wanted this week’s card to be of a male/masculine theme and thing I’ve achieved that.

The background on the base card is done with a wheel called Sandy Speckles and I just love it! I’ve also used it on the piece with the sentiment on it.

I do hope you like my card and now you can skip along to Ruthie B’s blog and check out her lovely creation. Now just in case someone has a broken link or doesnt have their project up as yet here’s a list of all the Utah Divas International Sketch Challenge Team ..

Adriana
Alisa
Barbara
Becky
Elizabeth
Jeannette
Leonie
Ruthie
Tammy
Carol

Have a great weekend!

Happy Sunday to you!  I do hope you are relaxing and having a wonderful day – Sunday is the day of rest after all!

I wanted to share with you the card I made the other week for Janine’s Workshop – she asked for saleabration & razzleberry and this is the make n take I came up with ….

All the ladies loved this card and I just loved creating it – and its such an easy card to make – the hardest bit is gathering the ribbon but once you get the knack of doing that its super easy

I’ve been talking a little about the joys of being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator of late and one of those joys is “being part a large stamping community” and this is so so true – you might think it sounds like guff but really it is very true.  Once you join Stampin’ Up! you realise its more than a company or party plan business – its more like family – but the family you want to have!

One of my lovely Stampin’ Up! sisters awarded me with the Liebster Blog award last week so thought it was time I popped it on my blog. I met Zarna at last year’s convention for the first time although I think we ‘knew’ each other before then just not ‘in person’. Since then we’ve become good friends via Twitter & Facebook (gotta love Social media!) and will be spending more time with her at Convention this year in May which I’m really looking forward to!

Now I have to pass this award on to five more Bloggers I love so here they are …

1. Melissa Garland – Mel is another Stampin’ Up! sister who has become a dear and close friend
2. Lisa Ryder – Lisa is a ‘real’ Stampin’ Up! sister as we have the same upline and become a very dear friend
3. Tanya Kittos – another Stampin’ Up! sister I met online who has also become a great friend
4. Angela Sargeant - Now I’ve know Angela for years (way before Stampin’ Up!) and she is actually my Stampin’ Up! Granny (do you feel old now Ange??) and I love sharing this journey with her. She is definitely a keeper – cos she knows too much about me!
5. Gretchen Barron – I love Gretchen’s Blog as she does the most wonderful cards and projects. I met Gretchen through the Utah Divas International group and yes she is a Stampin’ Up! sister too!

All these ladies (and more) bless me each day and I’m blessed to have them as friends!

A big thank you to Zarna for giving me this award – cant wait till May hun!!

If you’d like more information on becoming a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator and joining this wonderful family then please dont hesitate to contact me.

How apt is this blog title?? I was trying to think of a name for this layout and as the layout contains photo’s of my girls its so true that they are friends and sometimes they are sweet to each other but then there are those rather sour times!

I had a workshop a couple of weeks ago for Aimee and she wanted to do a scrapbook layout and as Aimee is 14 or 15 I thought I’d need to make it a bit bright and it was also the perfect opportunity to play with my butterfly dies!

So after grabbing my Sweet and Sour Specialty Designer Series Paper and my butterfly dies and with a little help from a sketch by Valerie Salmon at Got Sketch this is what I came up with …

Once I’d measured out the size the strips had to be it was rather quick and easy to put together. Mind you I think I need to take more photo’s of the girls (whether they like it or not) as I’m running out and most of them are a couple years old.  I was pretty impressed that when I’d finished Caitlyn raved how much she liked it and she hates the colour orange so that had to be a good thing – Aimee and her friends loved it too!

Now I know you cant see the layout too well but if you click on the image a larger one will open to give you a better view

How cool are the Stampin’ Up! Beautiful Wings and Beautiful Butterflies dies?? I just love playing with these and must say my Beautiful Wings Embosslits die has had a bit of a workout of late!

The bottom butterfly uses 2 butterflies from the Beautiful Butterflies die and the larger butterfly from the Beautiful Wings die and this one works so well with vellum.

Now as you know that sticking vellum down can be tricky as you can see the adhesive below – well this one I used just a bit of snail in the middle and then applied the rhinestones to cover the adhesive below – perfect!

This image you can see the dimension of the butterflies stuck together.

Now if you wanted to you could apply this layout to a canvas or pop it in a shadow box frame so you could keep the wings up on your butterfly.  I have mine in my album and it still looks good and can see the three layers – they are just lying flat.

Now the butterfly in the top right corner again is one from each die – the smaller one from the Beautiful Butterflies and the larger one from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.

I have again used snail to stick them together and just applied the rhinestones to cover the adhesive showing through.

This is the layout that we will be creating at the Tween Scrap class during the school holidays on 21st April.  So if you are free or your daughter is free and would like to create this layout then please contact me to book your spot. Class will be $15 and if you spend $30 at the class you’ll get $5 back from the class fee!

If you cant make the class and would love to make this layout well you can purchase the kit with full instructions for just $10 plus postage.  If you wish to purchase the kit then please email me your mailing details and I will send you details on how to pay.

The Tween Scrap Class will be the first of my monthly Scrap Classes so if you’d like to attend those then please let me know – if I have enough participants I may just start a Scrap Club.  This will run similar to a Stamp Club where we will meet every month and each participant will agree to a minimum monthly spend and each month one participant will be the ‘hostess’ and receive the hostess benefits. I will also offer kits & instructions for each monthly Scrap Class.

Firstly, thank you to all those who have sent messages regarding the passing of my Father in Law – they are much appreciated and each one of them touches us deeply.

I have a few cards I’ve made lately that I havent shared yet so hopefully I can be more consistent and get back to the blogging and sharing of my work.

Today’s card is one I made a few weeks back and not only is it another Queasy card but its also a very cute little card. Wouldnt this be a great card to invite friends over for coffee or to meet at your favourite coffee shop?

I know youre thinking … not again .. not those cups!!  Sorry but I just love this set so much and I love the Sweet and Sour Specialty Designer Series Paper – they both seem to just go so well together!

This is a simple little card and I’ve used the Scallop Square die to  cut the card base. I pop in a folded card and make sure the fold line is inside the scallops on one side so its not cut through and there you have an instant scallop square card!

I just then added the layers and I find its good practice to add a white layer if you want to ‘lift’ a particular layer and give a card some depth.

I’ve simply stamped the cup stack on a piece of whisper white and coloured the cups in the colours used in the Sweet and Sour Specialty DSP pack.

Now people often ask me why I dont do inserts for cards and my answer to this is that I dont really think they need them. If you use a dark card as your base you can always write inside the card with one of our lovely White Gel pens and when using lighter coloured cardstock you can use a regular pen or even one of our Stampin Write Markers (the fine tip obviously) as you can use a complimentary colour and shows just how colour coordinated you really are!

In saying that I have popped a sweet little insert into this little card …

I have a few different ideas on how to use our scalloped square and circle dies with the Big Shot and if you’d like me to show you how why not contact me today to book your workshop in and dont forget our “Last Chance” list will be available 1st August so you’ll want to have a workshop so you can get all those retiring stamps and accessories before its too late and earn some free products at the same time!

Book your August workshop in by 18th July and receive a bonus Ink Pad when you hold your workshop (conditions apply)

Thats how you spell it right??

Well how surprised was I to find out that the very lovely Lynda Shrimpton had bestowed on me this Go-Juss Award!

I would like to thank my family, the academy …. nah seriously … thanks so much Lynda – its an honour to get this award and so blessed to know you consider my blog so GoJuss

• Cristena Bagne
• Libby Dyson
• Tanya Bell
• Sharlene Meyer
• Vicki Burdick

These ladies inspire me daily and I just love all the creations they make and share!!

Again thank you to Lynda for nominating me for this award Lynda is one of those quiet encouragers and I thank God for you!!

Well its another chilly Sydney winter day here with the temperature just 7.5C (45.5F) so I hope its a little warmer where you are! No doubt my new little gas heater will be keeping me warm today!

As you may have noticed my blog looks a little different this morning and I hope you like the changes. I have been told that a change is as good as a holiday however I think I might like to try the holiday just once! I still have a little ‘tweaking’ to do so hopefully it wont take too long before I’m happy with it.

I know I havent posted in over a week and I apologise for that. I’ve had some health issues and been busy with classes and workshops and these two things have impacted on my time for creating and blogging. If anyone out there has some good time management tips then please feel free to share them with me!

Here is a card I cased from Splitcoast Stampers last week.

I do love how this card turned out and it really is very elegant and very easy to do. Its done using the Friends 24-7 Stamp set and the Friendly Words wheel and really could be given for any occasion at all. There is some sponging involved in this card and really it wouldnt be a card from me if it didnt involve some sponging or daubering somewhere!

Recipe
Stamps: Friends 24-7, Friendly Words Stampin round wheel
Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla
Inks: Bravo Burgundy
Accessories: Brocade Blue Stampin Write Marker, Pretties Kit (half pearl), Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon, Eyelet Border punch, mini glue dots, stampin sponges.

Here is another of the same card. This time I have included the bird stamp from Friends 24-7 which has been stamped and cut out and layered using dimensionals.

This is actually what the original cased card had however I find that leaving the bird off makes this card just as elegant and sometimes ‘less’ is ‘more’.

I do hope you like this card and would love to show you just how easy it is to make so why not email or ring me today to book your demonstration in? We still have the extra bonuses for Hostesses to the end of July so there’s still time to take advantage of this wonderful promotion from Stampin’ Up!®

Wow how special was it this morning when I started up my puta and found not one but three emails advising me that I’d been given a “Beautiful Blog Award” from three friends.

So a very huge thank you to Linda Craven, Nikki Stalker and Mae Collins for this honour

Thanks again to the lovely ladies who awarded me this award – I am very touched

Good Afternoon!  I have a rather sweet shaker card for you today using the gorgeously sweet Cool Treats Bundle.

Told you it was sweet didnt I?   This is just one of the many project ideas that come in the Quarterly Magazine you receive as a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator.

Cool Treats Bundle ..

I do love the sweet projects you can make with the Cool Treats Bundle …

Now you may have noticed that this Cool Treats Bundle is on the Retiring List.

I am happy to let you know that, while it wont be sold as a bundle in the new Annual Catalogue, these products (Stamp Set & Framelits) will be available in the new catalogue, just not as a bundle so it will be back to full price when purchasing both items.  So if you have this on your WishList be sure to grab it by the end of the month and save yourself 10%! Get your four free tutorials for this Bundle when you purchase this bundle from me this month!

This card is quick, easy and so much fun to make and I’d love to show you how.  How about we get some friends together and I’ll bring all the things we’ll need to make it and I’ll show you just how easy and fun this card is.  You’ll all then have the sweetest Birthday card to  give to a dear sweet friend.

All you need to do is invite your friends and provide the table – I’ll bring the rest .. even the Tim Tams … or the fruit platter if that’s what you’d prefer!

The Magazine that I mentioned earlier, that we get as Demonstrators has lots of ideas for projects, workshops, parties and business tips from top Demonstrators.  If you’d like more information about the magazine or becoming a Demonstrator please don’t hesitate to contact me or check out all the details here.

Thanks for stopping by ..

Today we are partying with Jennifer and her friends!

We will all be making some gorgeous Christmas projects and having lots of fun and it’s all for free!

Check out the rewards you can get when you host your party!

Contact me today to book your party!