ESAD Autumn/Winter Mini Blog Hop

Good morning everyone!

I hope you are ready for the ESAD Blog Hop! Better go grab yourself a cuppa as you'll be hopping for a while. You may have come to me from the blog of the super talented Charmaine Black if so Welcome. If you are starting with me, follow the link at the end of this post, and that will take you hopping merrily on your way.

What is ESAD you say?

ESAD stands for Extra Special Australian (and New Zealand) Demonstrators and it is an online group just for Australian and New Zealand demonstrators for Stampin' Up!

We so love what we do and not only do we love to share it with our customers, friends and wonderful blog visitors, we share our love for what we do with each other as Demonstrators. We run swaps, challenges, tutorials, product know how and cyberstamps and we are always there to help and support each other when it is needed.

So if you are a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator located in Australia or New Zealand, then please feel free to click here to join our wonderful group.

So what goodies do I have to share with you today? I have to confess, since it arrived I have had eyes only for my bigshot. It has been wonderful playing with it and working out what it can do! My projects today focus on the Bigshot Movers and Shapers Dies and also a card showcasing the Manhattan Flower Embossing folder.

This card is a Z fold card using the ornament from the Movers and Shapers Dies. The DSP is also from the new mini, Cottage Wall, it is soooo yummy!


Another card using the Movers and Shapers ornament die, this time I have cut two, but slightly offset, to create the focal point of the card. The sentiment is from Heard from the Heart, a new stamp set in the mini. I purchased the clear mount option for this set and it just makes positioning sentiments soooo easy!



OK, at this point you could be forgiven for thinking that I am a little mad, designing Christmas Cards in March/April. However, my sideline and I have a lovely group of ladies who join us to make Christmas cards once per month (waving to you girls!) so I am always on the lookout for ideas to share with them... For this card I used the dove from the Movers and Shapers and an idea I saw on Stamp with Heather for using up ribbon scraps. It makes a great Christmas card, but in different colours and with another sentiment, it could easily become a sympathy card.



OK, the last card I have to share with you uses once again the gorgeous Cottage Wall dsp, but this time I have teamed it with the Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder to create a different kind of look. The stamp is also from the new mini, Share a cup.

I hope you like the creations I have shared with you today. I know that the blog hop will provide a great deal of inspiration to anyone looking for projects to create with the wonderful items available in the new Stampin' Up! Autumn/Winter mini catalogue. If you don't yet have one of these minis email me and I will send you one!

We are again offering Blog Candy for our Blog Hop. What you need to do is complete the blog hop until you get back to me. Once you've visited and commented on every blog then you will need to email Sharlene at stampwithsharlene@hotmail.com who will then put your name into the draw for the blog candy. There will be one winner from New Zealand and one winner from Australia.

So start hoppin by going to the next blog, the unique and fabulous stylings of Corinna Buchanan at PinkFlowers and Bling!

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy the hop!

Claire

Testing!

Hi all,

Back again. The purpose of this post is to check and see if I can actually make a scheduled posting work! I have tried unsuccessfully in the past. Sooo, anyway, so that this post is not completely boring for you my lovely visitors. Here is a picture of the beautiful set of 3 cards I received from my lovely secret sister last week. There is a sneak preview of some of the gorgeous products from the upcoming Autumn/Winter mini in her cards, check out the fab new stamp set Cottage Garden, the scrumptious new colour Rich Razzleberry and the new to die for DSP, Cottage Wall.



Now if this preview whets your appetite for more deliciousness from the new Stampin' Up! mini catalogue, be sure and check back tomorrow. From tomorrow you can order these great new products and to showcase them all, there will be another ESAD bog hop! So come back tomorrow, check out my offerings and bunny hop around some treats for Easter that won't cause you to put on weight (lol!)

Thanks for dropping by, hope to hear from you tomorrow!

Claire

HAPPY DANCE!!

Hello again. Well as the post title suggests there was one day this week that called for a Happy Dance! I arrived home Wednesday to once again be disappointed that my pre-order of goodies from the new Stampin' Up! Autumn/Winter min had failed to appear. I consoled myself by getting on line and booking my spot at Stampin' Up! convention this year. Whilst I have been a demo for 3 years now, this is the first time I have been to convention and I am very much looking forward to it :)

So, whilst I am on the computer, there is a knock at the door and my parcel postie arrives with 2 big boxes of pre-order YAY! (He must have been working overtime this week). Perched on top of the two big boxes is an express post package - what could it be?

Master 11 insists that we open this one first and inside I find a completely gorgeous set of goodies from my new Secret Sister! Here is what I received:

Two gorgeous cards, this one using very clever masking and sponging


and this one using my absolute favourite Stampin' Up! colours, Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red and my favourite elephant from the Animal Stories stamp set. (I will be very sad when this one retires at the end of the month, I hope it will be ressurected in the new catalogue come September!)

There was also a beautiful pull out box (again decorated with elephants!) containing a box of curry for me to try - I looove a good curry!


closed ....
and open









But wait! That's not all! And I think by now you may notice the trend that is emerging here... There was also a too cute trinket box, decorated with... you guessed it - elephants!! I think my Secret sister took me seriously when I mentioned in my questionnaire
that " a girl can never have too many elephants"! Here it is closed, check out the fabulous rouched ribbons. And another pic with it open, inside you can see my secret sister's thoughtful gift of Jumbo rivets, jumbo eyelets, Twill tape and buttons.












So thanks so much Secret Sister for making an already fab day into an extra special Happy Dance day!

Thanks for stopping by. Till next time.

Claire

Just Add Ink 7 Re-Run!

Ok, so I had all the stuff on my desk still from yesterday's entry into the Just Add Ink colour challenge see here to enter. I wasn't completely happy with yesterday's effort, so I thought I would continue to play with the same sketch (Mojo Monday 128) and colours and see what I could come up with. So here is plan B (lol!)

The colours just "work" a little better for me this time.

Sorry the photo is not so great, it is bucketing rain here in Tassie today, after a very hot weekend, so I had to take the pic indoors with a flash. But you get the idea ...

Project Recipe:

Stamps: Razzle Dazzle (Summer mini)

Inks: Pink Passion, Versa Mark

Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Whisper White

Other: So Saffron ribbon, White Gel Pen, Markers

OK, so, leave me a comment and let me know which one you prefer!

Till next time, thanks for dropping by.

Claire

Out of my comfort zone!

Hello again! Making the most of the long weekend to grab a little extra crafty time. Today I pushed the envelope a little and took on this week's Just Add Ink 7 Challenge. It is a colour challenge, and the colours are definitely ones I find *scary*! See what you think, you can enter and check out the other entries here.

I just couldn't get my head around them. So I went looking for a sketch to inspire me, and happened upon the Mojo Monday sketch for this week 128. It's an incredibly popular challenge and you can check out the entries and challenge yourself here.

I love the Mojo sketches because they are so very detailed.

So, armed with my sketch and my colour scheme, it was then quite a simple task to choose an appropriate stamp set and come up with a card. Here it is - still a bit afraid of the colours, I keep wanting to reach for my sunnies lol! But then it wouldn't be a challenge if it was easy...

I would love to know whether you think I was successful in my trip into the "colour twilight zone" and my use of the sketch.

Project Recipe:

Stamps: Embrace Life

Inks: Basic Brown, Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Green Galore, Whisper White, Versa Mark

Cardstock: Green Galore, Pink Passion, Kraft, Tempting Turquoise, Windsor Knot DSP

Other: White Gel Pen, Aquapainter, Circle Scissor Plus (how easy is that thing to use!!), Bold Brights Brads

Technique: Watercolouring

Thanks for stopping by. See you next time!

Claire

Candy Lane Creation

Hiya! Back at last - where did that month go to?

I am in a fever of anticipation at the moment as my pre-order of products (including the wonderful bigshot) has left the Stampin' Up! warehouse in Sydney and is wending it's way painfully slowly (in my opinion, lol) to Tassie. For the first time in my life I am actually disappointed it is a public holiday on Monday (no mail - torture!)

Anyway, I have been keeping myself busy in the meantime so I have a too cute little box to share with you today. The inspiration for this box was provided by a fellow SU demo Sonia Garbutt, you can check out her fab creation here, don't forget to check out the rest of her creations whilst you are visiting. Sonia was also kind enough to provide a link to the instructions, so if you would like to try one of these gorgeous boxes yourself, visit Andrea Lowcock here and print out her template.

Here 'tis closed




And open


And a close up of the gorgeous Candy Lane Designer Series Paper flower on the belly band.





Project Recipe:

Stamps: Razzle Dazzle, Fresh Cuts

Inks: Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette

Cardstock: Pink Pirouette

Other: Candy Lane DSP, Circle Fire Rhinestone Brad, Curly Label Punch

Hope you like my pretty little box. Leave me a comment, it's always great to know who stopped by.

Until next time,

Claire