Thank you Secret Stampin' Santa!!

Back again - as promised, to share with you the wonderful treats I received from my ESAD Secret Stampin' Santa. This swap was amongst a group of Aussie Stampin' Up! demos who all belong to the ESAD forum. We committed to secretly sending a parcel of goodies to our sister demo, it was to contain handmade goodies and a gift to a set value. We then had to guess who our Secret Santa was - a very tricky proposition!

I was thoroughly spoilt by my Secret Santa - it was so exciting opening the wonderful box of goodies she sent me! Here are some pics of my gifts.

My goodies as they arrived - all co-ordinated beautifully using the Pink Flamingo DSP - so stunningly bright and breezy.

Inside the large parcel was a Pretties Kit! This has been on my wish list for sooo long, but never quite made it to the top. I am absolutely thrilled to have one and can't wait to make some gorgeous projects with it! I think the first one will be a thank you card to my Secret Santa!

Inside the box was a container of Yummy Chocolate - I have had to hide this one from hubby and Number 1 son!

A close up of the lunch pail - inside there are recipe cards, my Secret Santa even took the time and trouble to write a few of her own for me! It is beautifully decorated with some of the Styled Silver Hodge Podge (also on my wish list!) and the gorgeous red polka dot ribbon from the Summer Mini Catalogue.

Thanks again Secret Santa - I had a ball opening my goodies and will enjoy using them in the months to come.

Cheers

Claire

Merry and Bright

Hello and Merry Christmas and best wishes for a wonderful New Year! It has actually been Merry and Bright here in Tassie for once, the best Christmas Day weather we have had for years, and it continues to improve! New Year's Eve promises to be quite hot, which will be a real treat. I thought I would stop in and share with you some of the fabulous Happy Mail I have received in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

One of the great things that has happened since I became a Stampin' Up! Demo is that the number of hand made cards I receive at Christmas has increased hugely. Here are the wonderful creations that I have been grateful to recieve. Thank you so much to the people who took the time to create them.

From Barbara and from Christine

From Kirsty and from Lisa K

From Lou and from My Mum!



From Sarah

I hope you like them as much as I do, why not leave a comment and let these lovely ladies know that you appreciate their inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by. I will be back soon to share the wonderful Christmas gift I received from my Secret Stampin' Santa. A busy few days coming up though with Number 1 son's 11th birthday and a big New Year's bash to attend, so I will get back when I can!

Cheers

Claire

A new obsession!

Hi all! I am here today to share a guilty secret with you - I have a new crafting obsession! No, don't panic, I have not abandoned my Stampin' Up! - I have just discovered a new way to use the supplies I already own. You gotta love that!

My new obsession began out of a Splitcoast Stampers Technique Lovers Challenge, which involved creating buttons out of cardstock and Designer Series Papers. If you would like to know how this is done, visit this thread here It is a fab way to use up your scraps of cardstock and DSP. As a result I have been feverishly punching, layering and Crystal Effecting (I know that's not a real word!!) every spare moment. I now have a great stash of gorgeous buttons - all different shapes and sizes to use on cards and scrapbook pages. For me this is the real beauty of this technique - you can ALWAYS have a button that matches your page!

Here are a couple of cards I have made with my new buttons.

First a Christmas Card

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Kraft, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Real Red, Old Olive, Ski Slope DSP (retired)

Inks: Old Olive

Stamps: Warm Words

Technique: Faux Buttons

Accessories: Heat and Stick Powder, Green Supernova Glitter. Red Cord (from my stash, for tying on buttons)

All stamped images are copyright Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated

The second card, is a birthday card, again using a star shaped button, the rockets were coloured using an AquaPainter and markers.

Project Recipe:

Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Bashful Blue Pumpkin Pie, Watercolour Paper, Washington Apple DSP

Inks: Stazon Black

Stamps: Pun Fun

Technique: Faux Buttons, Watercolouring

Accessories: White Gel Pen, Earth Elements Brads

All stamped images are copyright Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated

I hope you like my Faux Button cards - why not give them a try yourself, they are so easy and great fun to use on your projects. If you do, leave me a comment with a link to your card - I would love to see what you have created! If not leave a comment anyway - it's always fab to know who has stopped by.

Cheers

Claire

Happy Mail!

Hi all!

Since I joined ESAD (mentioned in my previous post), I have had the chance to join some really cool activities. One of them is a Secret Stampin' Sister Swap. I have been given a fellow Aussie demo to spoil - now I can't show you what I have sent her yet, we have not revealed who we are to our secret sisters. But I can show you the gorgeous happy mail I received in my letter box the other day.

My very clever Secret Sister made this beautiful Advent calendar for me, in my fave colours (choc chip and red). How gorgeous is this?! There is so much work and detail here, I am so spoiled. Inside the drawers (I have opened a few now), there are some sweet treats and fab Stampin' Up! goodies. So far I have found some Styled Silver Hodgepodge (from my wishlist), build-a-brads and other brads. It is very exciting looking to see what is in there each day!

She also made me this beautiful card.

I can't wait to find out who she is, so that I can thank her properly and get the instructions for this fab Advent Calendar. Soon I will go back and share the other lovely goodies I have received.

Thanks for dropping by. Leave me a comment and let me know how jealous you are that I have such a fab secret sister!!

Claire

ESAD-SU Blog Hop!

Hello Hoppers! For those who are visiting my blog for the first time WELCOME! I hope you like the fun projects that I have to share. To those loyal blog surfers who check back regularly to see if I am here THANKS! I'm back and hope to be a reformed blogger from now on ...

Welcome to the ESAD-SU Summer Mini Blog hop. ESAD-SU is a great forum for Aussie Stampin' Up! Demos and of course our lovely Kiwi cousins. It is a wonderful place to go for advice and inspiration, there are regular challenges and lots of sharing of ideas. If you are a Stampin' Up! Demo in Australia or New Zealand and would like to join this awesome group click here.

The purpose of this Blog Hop is to share the creations we have made with the incredibly yummy range of goodies in Stampin' Up's new Summer Mini catalogue. If you would like me to send you a copy of the new mini catalogue contact me and I will send you one.

So, enough chit chat here is the main event! The projects I am sharing were made with the gorgeous Animal Stories stamp set and the Tall Tales Designer Series Papers.

This project is a double scrapbook layout featuring the adorable new baby elephant at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney - Luk Chai. On the day we were visiting we watched the elephants come out for play time, whilst the older elephants were showing off their skills, Luk Chai stole the show, and the hearts of the crowd, by nicking the soccer ball from the bigger elephants, dribbling it out from under their feet with his head. Here is my layout "Luk Chai steals the show!"

Project Recipe:

• Stamps: Play Ball (Retired) Calendar Alphabet and Numbers




• Cardstock: Old Olive, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip




• Inks: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, White Craft Ink




• Accessories: Tall Tales DSP (Summer Mini catalogue) Jumbo Grommets (Summer Mini) On Board Timeless Type Chipboard Letters, Chololate Chip Double Stitched Ribbon, Signo White Gel Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Chocolate Chip Marker




• All Stamped Images are copyright Stampin' Up!

The next project is this adorable box with matching 3x3" gift cards and DSP envelopes.

Project Recipe:

• Stamps: Animal Stories (Summer Mini Catalogue), Really Retro (Ideas Book and Catalogue)
  




• Cardstock: Rose Red, Whisper White, So Saffron, Brilliant Blue, Old Olive
  




• Inks: Old Olive, Rose Red, Brilliant Blue, Chocolate Chip
  




• Accessories: Tall Tales DSP (Summer Mini Catalogue) White Gel Pen, So Saffron Marker, Mat Pack and Paper Piercing Tool, Build-a-brad, Flower Designer Brad, Playground Designer Buttons, Brilliant Blue brads, Stampin' Dimensionals.




• All stamped images are copyright Stampin' Up!

As an extra special treat - there is blog candy to be won! Anyone who visits every blog in the ESAD-SU Summer Mini blog hop and comments on each one (there are 30!) will have their name put in the draw to win some delicious Stampin' Up! blog candy. You have until midnight on Wednesday AEDST to comment and then email leonie@stamp-a-latte.com to get in the draw. So get that comment love happening and get your name in the draw!!

Now to move on to the next delectable offering in this feast of Stampin' Up! Summer Mini treats, click on the link to head over to the exceptionally talented and incredibly creative Corinna Buchan at her blog pinkflowersandbling

Thanks for dropping by, enjoy the rest of the hop.

Cheers

Claire