Desk Organiser

My apologies for the lack of new material on this blog over the past couple of months.  Life became quite hectic in November when my Dad as diagnosed with cancer. He is now undergoing treatment and although not "fixed" he is much better.

I now have some time to post a range of projects which I have completed over the past 3 months for you to have a look at.  The first is a Desk Organiser which is a Kaiser Craft product.

 My sister and I spent some time putting these together using the Designer Series Paper, Paisley Petals. All the paper is from the same set but combined to make 2 very different colour schemes.


This was another "off the page" project which I learnt about while I was down in Bright in October. I am looking forward to trying some more.



Name Cards

My friend Greta asked if I would be happy to make some name cards for some little people who are going to a wedding in November.

The wedding has a rainbow theme so I put together these sparkly name cards.  Each card will go on top of a box full of food and games for the children to enjoy on the day.

What a great idea for entertaining small people at a wedding or any other event of the kind.

Hope you enjoy your trip to the wedding Greta, and that all goes well on the day.

Festive Memories Album

I have recently spent some time in Bright, Victoria and while I was there I met Cindy who runs a fantastic scrapbooking shop in the town.

She sells kits and projects and I had the time to create this fantastic album with her in her shop. This project is not made with Stampin' Up products but I have bought the craftwood bases to make another album using the "Letters to Santa" DS paper when I get time at home.

I really enjoyed spending time with a new group of people who love papercraft and making wonderful projects. It certainly took me outside my comfort zone and into a whole new world of 3D creations.

I am looking forward to playing with some of the other materials and projects I bought from Cindy's shop.

Mini Extravaganza - Saturday 23 July

I now have the photos of the two projects my sister, Denise will have for us on our mini Extravaganza afternoon to be held on Saturday 23 July.

The first is a 'Top Note Handbag' with 3 small gift cards inside.  For this project we will use the Big Shot to cut and emboss the Top Note die, construct a small box and put it all together to create a little handbag.  The 3 matching note cards fit inside perfectly.

The second project is this card using the 'Artistic Etchings' stamp set, the Newsprint DS paper and various stamping techniques.

There are only a couple of places left for this afternoon of crafting so if you are interested in joining us please contact me ASAP.  Cost for the session is $30.00 which covers all equipment, the project kits and afternoon tea.

August Stamp Club

The August Stamp Club workshop will be held on Saturday 6 August from 2pm - 5pm.

This time we will be covering a journal that can either be used to keep track of "Important Stamping Business" or might be used as a gift for someone.  The design is a combination of an idea on the front cover of the current catalogue and a design my sister made with her Stamp Club girls.

We will also be making our own version of a card I made at this year's Stampin' Up Convention.  It will give the girls in the Stamp Club group a sneak peak at a new stamp set called "Creative Elements" that will be available in the catalogue due to be released in September.

Although this class is limited to my current ongoing Stamp Club girls if you are interested in either learning how to make a journal or joining a stamp club please contact me.

Mini Extravaganza - Saturday 23 July

On Saturday 25 July my sister, Denise will be down from the Central Coast and we will be running an "Afternoon of Craft". We have called this a mini extravaganza.

At this session we will be making 4 projects - 2 cards, a box and a little handbag that holds notecards. Here are the 2 projects I have designed to make on that afternoon.

The first is an acetate box that can hold chocolates or lollies and the other is a card I have made using a design challenge. They are always fun. You are given a sample layout and then, using any cardstock, papers and stamps you can create your own version of the design.

We will be using a variety of stamping techniques on the day as well as the Big Shot to complete our projects.

I will put up a posting to show the projects Denise will be making with us when she sends me the photos.

There are only a couple of places still available for our Extravaganza so you will need to contact me soon if you would like to come.  We will start at 1.30 pm that afternoon so we can get all our projects completed by 5.00 - 5.30pm.

Cost for the session is $30.00 (cash) which includes all materials and refreshments.

My new Colour Chart

Over the weekend while I was staying with my sister, we decided to make a colour chart showing all the colours available in the Stampin' Up range.  This was one of the many ideas we picked up while we were at the Stampin' Up convention in Melbourne.

We used a "Foldout Scrapbook Page" design and then punched out samples of each of the colours in the Stampin' Up colour families - Subtles, Regals, Brights & Neutrals.  On the front cover we displayed the current "In" colours which will still be with us for another 12 months.  We have left room for the 5 new "In" colours which will be launched with the new catalogue in August.

It is an easy way to see exactly what all the cardstock looks like and works well with the Colour Coach which provides ideas for mixing and matching the various colours. 

My first "Bonnie Box"

You will be pleased to know that I have returned from Melbourne and my first Stampin' Up Convention full of great new ideas to try and share.

The first of these is, what I have christened, the "Bonnie Box".  A Stampin' Up demonstrator from the US, Bonnie Thurber showed us this as a part of one of her demonstrations.  She showed us many other great creations (including a fascinator fit for a royal wedding) and her presentation had us all laughing so much that it was hard to remember everything she showed us.

This box is made using the Big Shot and the scallop envelope die.  You cut 4 little envelopes and then stick them together using Sticky Strip.  I have made this model in Baja Breeze with some Elegant Soiree Designer Series paper for trim.  It is the perfect size to hold a cupcake or could be used to hold any number of other small gifts.

If you are interested in learning how to use the Big Shot to create cards and boxes just contact me and I will put together a workshop for you.

As I create more of the samples and ideas from Convention I will post them here.  I have over 50 swaps from other demonstrators with so many great ideas I am sure it will take me all year to share them with you.

Project Class - 25 June - Card Wallet

This is the card wallet we will be making at the Project Class on Saturday 25 June 2.00 pm - 5.00 pm.

I cased this card wallet from Marelle Taylor. It is very easy - made out of a sheet of A4 card stock with 4 score lines and it comfortably holds four cards with matching envelopes.

The final result is a set of four cards using only stamps from the "Simply Said" set with a matching card wallet. Colour scheme - Baja Breaze & Night of Navy.


If you are interested in coming along to this class please contact me by email or phone.  Cost for this class with be $20.00 (cash).

A Simple Card Wallet

This week I received another Stampin' Up box full of goodies.  Among them was the stamp set called "Simply Said".  Normally I am not into lots of hearts and flowers but I was looking at this set with one of my Stamp Club girls and thought it had lots of potential.

I have also been wanting to make this card wallet which I have cased from Marelle Taylor.  It is very easy - made out of a sheet of A4 card stock with 4 score lines.  It comfortably holds four cards with matching envelopes.

So the final result is a set of four cards using only stamps from the "Simply Said" set with a matching card wallet.  Colour scheme - Baja Breaze & Night of Navy.

I will be offering a Project Class later in the year (probably June) to make this set.  Once I have set a date I will let you know.

New Chocolate Wallet

This is a new Chocolate Wallet I have cased from Marelle Taylor and then my sister Denise.

It is so easy to make. You can make them using just half a sheet of 12x12 DSP and 2 Top Notes.

Just fold up one edge of the DSP about 10cm to form a pocket. Then fold it in half and half again, accordian-style. Put some adhesive to separate the individual pockets (I used SNAIL on the inner fold and Sticky Strip on the 2 outside "open" edges). I might try Sticky Strip on all next time as I didn't feel the SNAIL held very well. Then stick a Top Note to the front and back, tie it closed with a ribbon and decorate as desired. I put the 2 Top Notes through the Big Shot with embossing folders to add some texture.

You can put anything you like into the pockets, gift vouchers, fancy tea bags, I used chocolates which I purchased from Aldi, called "Moser Roth" $2.49 for a pack of 5 chocolates. You only need 4 for the wallet, so you can treat yourself whilst making the wallet!!

Christmas Chocolate Wallets

My Stamp Club girls decided they would like to make a chocolate wallet as our final Stamp Club project for 2010.  We made the wallets with a Christmas theme and I hear that some of the girls went on to make quite a few more wallets for friends and family.  These wallets hold 8 small chocolates from the Aldi "Merci" range,  can be adapted to suit any occasion and are a great gift.



Christmas Wreath

This is an advent wreath I made leading up to Christmas.  This idea was published in a Cardmaking Stamping and Papercraft (CSP) magazine and was designed by Marelle Taylor.  It took a while to collect the tools and products I needed to create it but I was happy with the end result. 

The little envelopes were made using the "scallop envelope" die through the Big Shot, one of the small circle punches was used as a backing for the numbers.  Inside the envelopes at the back a "sweet treat cup" was inserted, inside the sweet treat cup, rub ons or stamped images were placed. A Christmas message was stamped on the opening inside flap of the envelope.  Inside the "sweet treat cup" was of course a sweet treat.  The envelopes were tied with 1/8" taffeta ribbon and some 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon was used around the wreath for further decoration.  The envelopes were attached to the wreath using a hot glue gun.