Secret Sisters Round 3

Well as you know from the few bits I have posted of the lovely gifts I received from the gorgeous Gardenia (check out her blog here), I have been taking part in a Secret Sister Swap with some other Aussie Stampin' Up! demos. The rules are that we need to make 2 cards and a small gift for our sister for the first 2 months, then in the 3rd month, two cards and a larger gift. Most of the items are to be Stampin' Up! related. So, whilst I was receiving all of the wonderful items Gardenia made for me, I was busily making gifts for Linda Craven. I was really lucky and got to meet Linda at convention and give her last gift in person. Here is a pic of us together at the Awards Dinner. (Linda is the gorgeous blonde on the left!)


Anyhoo, I thought I should share with you some of the projects that I made for Linda (I had so much fun doing this swap - you have no idea!)


This is the first card I made, using the fab Razzle Dazzle stamp set from the Summer mini, i sooo hope this one makes it into the new catty come September! My apologies for the photos, it was a *very* sunny day in Tassie, the day I took these pics... Roll on warmer weather I say!

This next card was one I made for Linda's son, as he turned 4 during the swap, so I got to ink up my brand new Lots of Bots and make a card for him. Again, the photo is not so great but there is lots of masking and embossing going on here!

I hope you like these projects. I know they were received with genuine delight, which makes it all worth while. I will be back again soon with some more of the goodies I received from Gardenia, and some more of the pressies I sent. Thanks for dropping by, leave a comment and let me know you were here!

Cheers

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

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

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